Chapter 96 Happiness

Chapter 96 Happiness

Shortly after Shen Shiyan brought Zhong Yurong back, she went to the hospital for a comprehensive check-up. The doctor's expression was grave; Zhong Yurong was diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer that had already begun to metastasize, and treatment should start as soon as possible.

When the doctor said this, the tassels on the butterfly hairpin that Shen Ci had used to style her hair swayed gently.

She had known about it for a long time, but it hadn't been this severe a year and a half earlier.

On the way home, Shen Shiyan contacted everyone he could think of who might have access to good doctors. Song Xianghan was the most efficient, offering to help broker a connection with a foreign expert to come to the country for treatment.

Zhong Yurong sat in the passenger seat, head down, picking at a hangnail on her hand. In the brief pause after Shen Shiyan hung up, she said softly, "Xiao Shi, Mom doesn't want treatment."

Shen Shiyan frowned but didn't answer her, dialing another number instead.

Zhong Yurong gently placed her hand on Shen Shiyan's shoulder, her expression tender. "Xiao Shi, at least Mom doesn't want to be in a hospital ward right now. Let me stay by your side for a few more days."

The hand holding the phone grew heavy. Unable to insist, Shen Shiyan finally relented and nodded.

"At most two weeks," Shen Shiyan said as he stopped at a red light. "I'll arrange for a hospital room and treatment at Yuncheng First Hospital."

Zhong Yurong hesitated before nodding, her neck looking so frail it seemed it might snap at any moment. She let out a long sigh, her tone lightening. "Mom still owes you so much, Xiao Shi."

Shen Shiyan pursed his lips and watched the light turn yellow. "Mom, this isn't your fault."

Zhong Yurong looked at his profile. Her refined features, polished by time, showed a calm that came from having seen much of life. But time had been unkind to her; faint lines at the corners of her eyes betrayed deep illness.

"Mom should have been braver back then and taken you away," Zhong Yurong said, her body swaying gently with the soothing music in the car. "But Mom was too cowardly."

Before Shen Shiyan could respond, she continued, lost in memory, her hands forming the shape of a baby. "When you were born, you were just this big, and you cried and fussed so much."

Her expression turned wistful. "I never expected you'd grow up to be so composed. You know, Xiao Shi, Mom always longed for knowledge and a stable life. Back then, because you were a boy, he spent a few hundred yuan to hire a fortune teller to tell your fortune and pick a name."

The car slowed down.

"I was holding you like this," she said, mimicking holding a baby, her outer hand gently patting. "The fortune teller said a lot of things, but Mom didn't understand any of it. I only knew he chose the second character of your name, 'Shi,' and told us to think of the third character ourselves."

Zhong Yurong traced the character "Shi" on her leg with her finger.

"Mom spent a few days with her grandfather when she was little. He was a calligraphy enthusiast, obsessed with an expensive inkstone he treasured. When he was calm, he'd hold me and say, 'Look, little one, this inkstone is the most important thing—it represents knowledge and cultivation!'"

She mimicked her grandfather's tone with exaggerated enthusiasm, and Shen Shiyan was caught up in her mood, a gentle smile appearing on his face.

"That's when I thought, let's call him Shi Yan—inkstone Yan. Mom begged him for so long, but he said Mom wasn't fit to appear in public, and a child born to her didn't deserve such a meaningful name. So he only kept the 'Shi' from the fortune teller. When registering the birth, the character for 'inkstone' was replaced with the character for 'disgust.'"

Shen Shiyan's eyes grew hot. He bit the soft flesh inside his cheek to hold back tears.

"So Mom always called you Xiao Shi. I never liked the last character," Zhong Yurong said, looking at Shen Shiyan. "But it's okay. You turned out just as Mom hoped—steady and cultured."

There were only three minutes left to drive back to Yunjing Mansion. Shen Shiyan lowered the window a crack, letting the warm breeze hit him.

"I'm an adult now. Tomorrow, Mom, come with me to change my name," Shen Shiyan said, a slight tremor in his voice. "To the inkstone character Yan."

Zhong Yurong was stunned for a long moment, until the community gate emitted a beep and the barrier slowly rose. Then, with tears in her eyes, she nodded and said yes.

She murmured that one "yes" over and over.

That evening, during a late-night snack, Shen Ci learned that Shen Shiyan planned to change his name. He cheerfully put his arm around Zhong Yurong's shoulder, trying to cheer her up. "Auntie picked such a lovely name—it has real depth. Even though the pronunciation is the same, changing just one character changes the whole feel!"

"Don't exaggerate," Zhong Yurong said, her cheeks flushing.

Shen Shiyan set out three pairs of chopsticks and teased, "He's best at sweet-talking people."

Shen Ci shot him a glare. "No way! Shen Shiyan, I think you're just jealous that Auntie has someone to cheer her up."

Zhong Yurong blushed, leaning into Shen Ci's arm, feeling a genuine happiness she hadn't felt in a long time.

The name change process went smoothly. Seven business days later, Shen Shiyan received his new ID card, acquiring a name full of his mother's love and hopes—Shen Shiyan (now written with the inkstone character).

Amidst his busy senior year, Shen Ci made sure to dress Zhong Yurong up like a pretty, young girl, and finally, reluctantly, saw her into the arranged hospital room.

"Don't be scared, Auntie. I'll come visit you often," Shen Ci said, holding Zhong Yurong's hand. Nearby, the foreign expert brought in at a high cost was discussing the condition with Shen Shiyan in fluent English. Shen Ci understood some of it and added, "If it hurts a lot, Auntie, remember to cry. There's no point in holding it in. Crying will make you feel better."

Zhong Yurong looked at him serenely and smiled, nodding. "I know. Thank you, Xiao Ci."

Shen Ci insisted on seeing Zhong Yurong off, but he only had a half-day leave from school. After arranging everything, Shen Shiyan sent him back.

When he returned to the hospital room, Zhong Yurong had just cut an apple. She had nimble hands—the apple pieces in the small dish were cut into cute little rabbit shapes. Shen Shiyan stared at them for a while, thinking that if Shen Ci were here, he would certainly love these rabbit-shaped apples.

"Xiao Shi." Zhong Yurong picked up one and handed it to Shen Shiyan. "You like Xiao Ci, don't you?"

Shen Shiyan came out of his daze, paused a few seconds, then took a bite. It was crisp and sweet.

"Yeah," he said, his eyes downcast. "I've loved him for a long time."

"Xiao Ci is a good kid." A large window stood beside the bed, and the sun streamed in at two in the afternoon, warming them. Zhong Yurong reached out her hand, and Shen Shiyan took it. "Mom has seen too many men's loving gazes. In your eyes, there's very little of that deep affection, almost none."

From the time Zhong Yurong was old enough to fall in love, she had been deprived of the ability and opportunity to experience happiness like a normal person.

"Your eyes are always full of tender pity and affection." Zhong Yurong shook Shen Shiyan's hand lightly, her tone light, offering her best wish. "My dear Xiao Shi, may you and the one you love be happy forever."

Those words sounded familiar.

Shen Shiyan quickly remembered the last time he had heard those words—in that fragile dream on that feverish morning.

Not a single word had changed.

"We will, Mom." Shen Shiyan smiled, patting the back of her hand with his other hand. "Even though he seems to like someone else."

Zhong Yurong turned to look at the glaring sunlight outside the window and said, "Then I hope you two will be happy. Xiao Shi, Mom will always wish for the two of you to be happy."