SAG -Chapter 8 Complicated Feelings

Shanghai

After finishing her night shift, Liu Lu returned home, dragging her exhausted body through the door.

So many doctors had been urgently reassigned from the hospital that the remaining staff were overwhelmed. She hadn’t rested once all night.

“Taotao, time to get up! Mommy bought breakfast.”

Liu Lu called out while changing her shoes.

“Mommy!”

Zhang Xiaotao had already gotten dressed. Hearing her voice, he immediately ran out.

“Where’s your dad?”

Liu Lu asked, stroking her son’s head.

“He’s still sleeping.”

“But yesterday, Daddy seemed kind of sad.”

“Mommy, did something happen?”

Concern appeared on the little boy’s face, making him look especially adorable.

Liu Lu crouched down and kissed him.

“Nothing happened. Don’t overthink it.”

“Be good and eat breakfast. Mommy’s going to wake Daddy.”

She walked to the bedroom door and opened it.

But Zhang Sicheng wasn’t inside.

Liu Lu frowned.

Where had he gone so early in the morning?

Had he gone to work?

No, that didn’t seem right.

The quilt was still neatly folded.

After so many years of marriage, Zhang Sicheng had never once folded the blanket.

Looking closer, she realized it was still folded exactly as she had left it before.

It hadn’t been touched.

Where had he gone?

Whenever Zhang Sicheng had to leave suddenly, he always sent her a message.

But now he had vanished without a word.

After thinking for a moment, Liu Lu told their son to eat breakfast, then headed upstairs.

In the past, whenever Zhang Sicheng encountered something upsetting, he would sit alone on the rooftop.

Sure enough—

When she reached the roof, she found him lying on the lounge chair.

His entire body was curled into a ball.

His phone was clutched tightly in his hands.

His brows were furrowed, as though he had run into some terrible difficulty.

Liu Lu crouched beside him.

Feeling a pang of heartache, she gently rubbed the crease between his brows.

Her touch was light, but it still woke him.

“Ah…”

“Honey, you’re back.”

As Zhang Sicheng spoke, he couldn’t help shivering.

Even his voice sounded different.

He had clearly caught a chill during the night.

The previous evening, his mind had been such a mess that he hadn’t even known what he was thinking.

Somehow, in a daze, he had fallen asleep there.

“Husband…”

“Did something happen?”

“Tell me.”

Liu Lu’s voice was gentle.

Zhang Sicheng thought for a moment.

This was something he should tell his wife.

After all, they were family.

It concerned all of them—not just him alone.

But when he opened his mouth, he suddenly didn’t know where to begin.

Liu Lu didn’t rush him.

She simply crouched beside him, quietly waiting.

After a long while, Zhang Sicheng finally sighed.

“My dad…”

“…came back.”

Liu Lu: “????”

“Didn’t you say your father already…”

She didn’t finish the sentence.

Zhang Sicheng smiled bitterly.

“It’s complicated.”

“Let’s put it this way.”

“Before last night, I also believed my father was dead.”

After saying that, he once again fell silent, unsure how to continue.

“Alright.”

“Let’s go back inside and talk slowly.”

“You should also take the day off.”

“You don’t look well.”

Although Liu Lu was shocked, she could still keep herself composed.

The two returned home.

First, they sent their son off to do his homework.

Then they sat down to eat breakfast while Zhang Sicheng explained.

Liu Lu’s emotions were complicated too.

After all…

How had she suddenly gained a father-in-law out of nowhere?

“I never told you before…”

“My mother became pregnant before marriage.”

“And I never met my father.”

“Back then, he went abroad for a while to handle some matters.”

“When he was returning, the cruise ship he boarded encountered a maritime disaster.”

“So everyone believed he had died.”

Zhang Sicheng chose his words carefully.

The moment Liu Lu heard this, she recalled the news she’d heard at the hospital last night.

Startled, she asked, “Was it the Goddess of Fate?”

Zhang Sicheng wasn’t surprised.

By now, the news had spread everywhere.

Something so shocking was likely known across the world.

“Yes.”

Liu Lu opened her mouth, stunned.

She had never imagined something so fantastical would land directly on their own family.

After a moment, she couldn’t help asking, “So what are you planning to do?”

Zhang Sicheng rubbed his hair in frustration.

“I don’t know.”

“My feelings are a mess right now.”

“I don’t know how to face him.”

“And you must’ve heard too…”

“The people on that cruise ship are still exactly as they were back then.”

“For us, twenty-eight years have passed.”

“But for them…”

“It may have only been an instant.”

Zhang Sicheng truly didn’t know how to face the biological father who had suddenly reappeared.

His emotions were indescribably complicated.

Pretending he didn’t know wasn’t something he could live with.

But going to acknowledge him felt awkward too.

Liu Lu naturally understood her husband’s conflicted state.

After thinking for a moment, she said, “You still need to meet him.”

“After all, he is your biological father.”

“No one can erase that.”

“And twenty-eight years have passed.”

“The world has changed too much.”

“How is he supposed to survive in modern society?”

“If you don’t help him, he may not be able to adapt.”

“No matter what, as his son, there are things you should do.”

Zhang Sicheng felt grateful hearing his wife’s words.

But at the same time, he smiled bitterly.

“Honestly…”

“That part doesn’t worry me at all.”

“Hm?”

Liu Lu didn’t understand.

Wasn’t that exactly what they should worry about most?

Modern society was practically a different world from twenty-eight years ago.

Zhang Sicheng opened his mouth.

In the end, he could only say, “Whether you believe it or not…”

“Thirty years ago, my father already predicted how society would develop today.”

Seeing Liu Lu’s expression clearly saying, You’re bragging, Zhang Sicheng could only smile helplessly and stop explaining.

Only he and his younger sister, who had personally experienced it through their mother’s stories, would believe such a thing.

How could anyone else possibly accept it?

Even they had been deeply shaken when every one of their mother’s repeated predictions came true.

But at this moment, Zhang Sicheng had already made up his mind.

Just as Liu Lu had said—

A meeting was necessary.

Besides, he truly was curious about his father.

What kind of man was he?

What kind of charm did he possess…

That had made Zhang Sicheng’s mother remain so devoted for all those years?

“What about Xiaoyan?”

Liu Lu asked.

Zhang Sicheng thought for a moment.

“I called her yesterday, but couldn’t get through.”

“Let’s not tell her for now.”

“When she naturally hears about it, we’ll talk to her then.”

“Things at her home haven’t been peaceful lately either…”

He let out a heavy sigh.

Hearing this, Liu Lu said nothing more.

She knew a little about her sister-in-law’s situation.

Although she and Zhang Siyan weren’t especially close, they got along well enough.

“Why don’t you go bring Susu here for a while?”

Liu Lu said.

“I’m worried the child might be affected.”

Of everyone, Liu Lu felt the most sympathy for little Susu.

“Alright.”

“I’ll go over later.”

Zhang Sicheng also loved his niece dearly, so he agreed immediately.