From Broken Family to Life Winner: A Reborn Mother's Journey

Wu Qihua became more animated as she spoke, sharing a story with Su Li about the time Wu Sheng refused to find a wife and the advice a nosy neighbor gave her.

”She said Wu Sheng would be an old man if he waited any longer. They gave me a lot of ideas, and one of them was just priceless.”

”She said I should lock Wu Sheng in a room with a girl and not let them out until they had a baby... Hahaha, that old lady was just in the Imperial City for a few days visiting relatives, but I’ll remember her for the rest of my life because of that idea.”

”I’d laugh every time I thought about what she said. I was laughing for days.”

As Wu Qihua roared with laughter, Su Li was left speechless.

She wanted to laugh but felt it would be a great disservice to Wu Sheng.

After her fit of laughter, Wu Qihua noticed Su Li’s expression and quickly waved her hands dismissively.

”Don’t take it seriously, Su Li! I would never actually do that. Haha, they didn’t know the real reason Wu Sheng wasn’t married was simply that I wasn’t forcing him.”

”I’ve always felt that you only get married once in your life, so why force it? If you don’t like someone, it’s better not to get married at all. It’s better to wait for the right one than to settle.”

’Better to wait for the right one than to settle.’

Su Li wanted to give Wu Qihua a thumbs-up when she heard that.

’That phrase is quite popular in modern times. To think Wu Qihua was saying it so long ago.’

After chatting for so long, both Wu Qihua and Su Li felt much more at peace.

That night, they both finally managed to get a decent night’s sleep.

「After the skies cleared, good news finally started to arrive.」

The TV stations and newspapers all reported that thanks to the swift and decisive rescue response—evacuating when necessary and providing powerful aid during the rescue—the disaster situation was much better than predicted.

Amidst the increasingly positive news, ten days after Wu Sheng had left, Su Li finally received a call from him.

A call to let her know he was safe.

Even though the call lasted less than a minute, Su Li felt it was wonderful—impossibly so.

The call was short. She just asked a few simple questions, mainly whether Wu Sheng was injured, sick, or if anything else had happened to him.

Wu Sheng’s voice was hoarse, and even through the phone, Su Li could hear the exhaustion in it.

No matter how he tried to sound energetic or hide it, Su Li could tell.

’But as long as he was safe, a little exhaustion is nothing.’

”Find some time to rest when you can. And remember to eat and drink water.”

Su Li added as a final reminder.

”Alright, you’re turning into a little nag now.”

Wu Sheng laughed. ”Okay, I can’t talk any longer. There are a lot of other people waiting to call and report they’re safe.”

The ”little nag” Su Li could only agree. ”Okay.”

”If nothing unexpected happens, I’ll be back in two days. We can talk all you want then. Goodbye.”

”Goodbye,” Su Li said as well.

But she didn’t hang up the receiver.

Wu Sheng had been waiting for her to hang up, but unexpectedly, Su Li didn’t.

He closed his eyes and touched the stubble he hadn’t had time to shave these past few days, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

”Su Li, hang up. If you don’t, I won’t shave before I come back, and I’ll poke you with my stubble.”

”You...” Su Li’s lingering reluctance was shattered, and she hung up the phone without another word.

She didn’t know that on the other end, Wu Sheng had listened reluctantly to the DIAL TONE for two seconds before putting down the receiver.

He patted the colleague waiting in line behind him and walked away, unable to stop himself from muttering.

”She hung up way too fast...”

Like many of his colleagues, Wu Sheng hadn’t had a chance to shower, his hair was dirty, and of course, his unshaven stubble had grown out.

The once untamable and aloof Wu Sheng now had an added touch of maturity and masculine charm to his handsome features, all thanks to the stubble.

He had transformed into a handsome and charming ’older man.’

In short, even with a beard, Wu Sheng was a captivating ’older man’ who could charm the masses.

The charming ’older man’ Wu Sheng quickened his pace and threw himself back into his work.

These past few days, he hadn’t had a single good night’s sleep, let alone rested for more than two hours at a time. Wu Sheng wanted to follow Su Li’s advice, but time simply didn’t permit it.

Fortunately, it would all be over soon.

After receiving Wu Sheng’s call, Su Li slowly began to relax, simply waiting for him to return.

But just as she began to feel at ease, she ran into Bai Xinyue the very next day while out doing interviews near her school about the Wucheng disaster relief efforts.

Well, it wasn’t so much that she ”ran into” Bai Xinyue; Bai Xinyue was the star of the disaster relief story they were covering.

Bai Xinyue was representing the Bai Family to lead the disaster relief efforts.

Truck after truck of supplies created a huge stir. It wasn’t just people from Su Li’s school who went; television stations, newspapers, and more were all there.

When the Bai Shi Group did charity work, they naturally wanted to boost their public image, so they made sure their good deeds were well-publicized.

They made a big show of their relief efforts, and the scale of their aid was massive. The sight of truck after truck of relief supplies was spectacular.

As the young miss of the Bai Family, Bai Xinyue was going to the disaster site personally to help the victims.

”When disaster strikes one place, help comes from all sides.”

Bai Xinyue’s words and actions were all perfectly polished.

The classmate who came with Su Li to do the interviews was incredibly moved by the scene.

”That girl is so kind, so amazing.”

Su Li sighed. ”Yeah, she is.”

’Disaster relief is always a good thing.’

Su Li sighed because she had a feeling that Bai Xinyue, by making such a huge scene and going in person, was targeting Wu Sheng.

”I hope I’m just overthinking this...”

Su Li muttered.

Unfortunately, Bai Xinyue quickly shattered Su Li’s hope.

As Bai Xinyue was leaving, she brushed past Su Li and, in a voice only Su Li could hear, spoke a single, rapid sentence.

”I’m going to find Wu Sheng. Are you?”

Su Li froze for a moment, then spun around to look at Bai Xinyue’s departing figure.

Surrounded by a crowd, Bai Xinyue headed toward the truck, making it seem as if that sentence had just been Su Li’s imagination.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t her imagination.

When Bai Xinyue got into the vehicle and turned to wave goodbye to everyone, her eyes met Su Li’s. They were filled with deep meaning and a faint provocation.

’Su Li, I’m going to find Wu Sheng. Can you?’

’You can’t, so don’t blame me for stealing him away!’

Brimming with provocation, Bai Xinyue got in the truck and left, leaving Su Li speechless.

Su Li’s face darkened.

For some reason, aside from anger, she had a very bad feeling about Bai Xinyue going to find Wu Sheng.

Su Li had thought about going to find Wu Sheng a thousand times, but she knew she couldn’t be impulsive. Wu Sheng would be furious with her if he found out. She never expected Bai Xinyue to go find him directly.

She trusted Wu Sheng and knew he wouldn’t do anything with Bai Xinyue, but she still had a very bad feeling.

Her heart slowly sank.

”If I had the means, I’d contribute too,” the classmate next to her said with emotion, grabbing Su Li’s arm, not noticing anything was wrong with her.

Su Li snapped back to reality and nodded.

”Yeah.”

She agreed, and in fact, she already had.

She just hadn’t done it as flamboyantly as Bai Xinyue.

Fengcheng County wasn’t far from Wucheng. The factory manager there had already sent batches of supplies over.

Food, drinks, medicine, and so on.

Su Li hoped that Wu Sheng might be able to have a bite of that food.

Su Li had arranged for several deliveries over a few days, and on this day, Wu Sheng finally got to eat some of it.

Unfortunately, on the same day he ate it, Wu Sheng saw someone he absolutely did not want to see—Bai Xinyue.

Wu Sheng frowned the moment he saw Bai Xinyue, while Bai Xinyue took a deep breath and walked over to him.

Her eyes were full of delighted surprise.