While the situation remained at a standstill, the middle-aged lady’s phone suddenly rang and she quickly answered it.
After she finished talking on the phone, the woman suddenly walked away and stopped pursuing the matter with Ning Ran and Cheng Xiangyun.
“She just left like that? She’s not demanding compensation anymore?” The woman’s abrupt departure stunned Cheng Xiangyun.
“Can’t you tell? Her objective wasn’t to get compensation in the first place. She was just in a bad mood and wanted to find someone to vent her frustration on. You were just unlucky to have happened to cross her path at the wrong time. Let’s leave now. We’ll be trapped here for God knows how long if she turned back.”
Ning Ran starting pulling Cheng Xiangyun towards the car park urgently.
A black jeep was parked at the ‘D’ zone of the airport parking lot.
The middle-aged lady opened the back door of the car and saw Nan Chen, who was seated there.
“Chen… “
Nan Chen looked at Bai Hua. He wanted to greet her but found it difficult to utter the word ‘mom’.
He was not yet prepared to face his mom.
All the old memories came surging back.
Nan Chen’s nanny was the one who had told him about the events of the past.
After Bai Hua gave birth to Nan Chen, she refused to breastfeed him as she did not want to risk her breasts sagging.
After he made it to a full month in age, his mom had freed herself and started to become more involved in networking activities within the social circles of the upper class. She attended all sorts of cocktail parties, auctions and fashion shows.
Bai Hua had never been interested in having kids in the first place. She was merely fulfilling her obligations towards the Nan family by giving birth to the Nan brothers. The woman wasn’t fond of kids because she did not want to be tied down and forced to become a housewife.
In fact, she had already achieved her objective. Even though she was already over 50, Bai Hua still looked like she was 30. Age had not left its mark on her.
As compared to other women her age, she was much more youthful-looking. Her figure was still well-maintained, and there were hardly any wrinkles on her face.
Even though she was Nan Chen’s mom, their relationship was not any closer than that between two strangers.
As far as Nan Chen could remember, his mom was hardly around.
The only times they met were when their entire family gathered during formal events held by the Nan family.
Bai Hua only showed her presence at such functions. Only then was Nan Chen able to spend some time with his mom.
However, the woman preferred Nan Xing over Nan Chen, as the younger boy was more smooth-tongued. She did not feel close to Nan Chen, who had a more reserved personality. As such, she did not gravitate towards her elder son.
When Nan Chen was younger, he did crave for his mom’s affection. But no matter how hard he tried and how well he performed in school, Bai Hua did not seem to care.
Regardless of his other accomplishments, Nan Chen had never gotten to enjoy the love from his parents. There appeared to be a constant rift between them. Familial love seemed to be something which was out of his reach.
There was one year during a summer camp when Nan Chen ventured to the lakeside alone and it had suddenly started to rain heavily.
It was the fiercest thunderstorm the city had seen in ten years. There was practically zero visibility outdoors and Nan Chen was unable to find his way back. He only made it back to Flower City after getting some help.
When Bai Hua saw her son, she gave him a tight slap. She called him immature and reprimanded him for making others worry by going off alone.
Nan Chen only found out much later that Bai Hua was so furious over that incident because it had caused her to miss an important fashion show.
Bai Hua had slapped away any illusions the boy had regarding motherly love. After that time, Nan Chen grew more independent and introverted. At the same time, he also became more outstanding.
The man had studied abroad since his early schooling days and had not seen his mom during the years when he was overseas. The last time he was in contact with her was when his parents committed that unforgivable act, which almost caused the downfall of the Nan family.
When the Old Master chased Bai Hua and Nan Zhiyuan out of the family, Nan Chen stayed neutral and did not have any outward display of expression.
Bai Hua was enraged with Nan Chen at that time and resented him for being ungrateful. She also said that she regretted giving birth tohim.
Even then, Nan Chen kept his silence.
He was wordless.
In a blink of an eye, another few years had passed.
The man still had nothing to say to his mom when he saw her again after the passage of time.
“Chen, thanks for coming to pick me up. I thought no one cared about me anymore… I don’t have much time left in this world and just wanted to see you and Xing again… “
As tears started streaming down Bai Hua’s cheeks, Nan Chen felt awkward and did not know how to react.
Embracing his mom and crying together with her was definitely not an option for the man.
He wasn’t entirely unemotional though. His mom’s reaction had still managed to create some ripples in his heart.
After all, the woman in front of him was his one and only mother, the one who gave him life. Without her, he wouldn’t even have the privilege to see this world.
“Don’t feel that way, please get in.”
Nan Chen got out of the car and bowed respectfully to his mom.
He was polite, but there was obvious distance felt between the mother-son pair.
Bai Hua finally got into the car, but when Nan Chen re-entered, he chose to sit in the front passenger seat instead.
The distance between them grew yet a little further.
“Chen, why are you driving such a lousy car? Aren’t you the president of the Nanshi Corporation now? This car is not good enough for someone of your status,” Bai Hua commented.
It was actually Qiao Zhan’s car, but Nan Chen did not bother to explain.
The purpose of his mother’s return was solely to seek medical treatment. Otherwise, there was no way she would be able to set foot in the country again.
It wasn’t Nan Chen’s original plan to pick the woman up at the airport. But after giving it some thought, he decided that he had a duty as a son to welcome her back.
However, he made a conscious decision to not drive an attention-seeking luxurious car, as Bai Hua and Nan Zhiyuan would always be perceived as sinners to the Nan family to him, as well as the entire Nanshi Corporation.
Moreover, the sin which they had committed would never be forgotten, nor forgiven.
As such, Nan Chen hoped to deal with any matters related to their return in a low profile manner. He even arranged for his parents to travel on separate flights and arrive at different timings.
It would be too noticeable if the couple was present at the airport together. If their picture was taken by some nosy passersby, it would surely create an uproar once again.
Nan Chen’s grandpa had previously vowed to make sure his parents would never return to Flower City ever again.
If it was being discovered that the elderly man went back on his words, the Nan family’s credibility would be lost and it would impact the family negatively.
However, Bai Hua was obviously not happy with such an arrangement. To her, she used to be the Nan family’s Madam. Even though she had already been banished, she still desired a grand return to Flower City, as well as to the Nan family.
As such, when she found out that the men who were sent to pick her up were just two low-level bodyguards from the security team, the woman was both disappointed and frustrated.
Therefore, when Cheng Xiangyun had spilt coffee on Bai Hua’s dress, she naturally became the target of the woman’s wrath.
In fact, the dress meant nothing to Bai Hua at all.
She just needed to vent her anger on someone. After she knew Nan Chen had arrived to pick her up, she could not care less about the coffee-stained dress.
Nan Chen did not respond to Bai Hua’s comment on the car he was driving.
He merely remained silent, just like how he usually was.
The woman looked at her son and tried to strike a conversation with him. “Chen, have you been well all these years?”
“Yup,” Nan Chen replied.
“That’s great. I heard from some of the company’s older employees that you have done a good job leading the company. All because of you, the corporation has been consistently achieving good results.”
“It’s okay,” Nan Chen answered.
The atmosphere in the car was so tense; Bai Hua was beginning to feel increasingly uneasy.
“I heard you’re dating someone. She’s that actress with the last name ‘Luo’ right?”
“That’s already in the past,” Nan Chen responded.
“How about now? What’s your current relationship status?”
Nan Chen did not answer.
He felt that his mom did not ask this question out of pure concern for him, but there was a hidden meaning to it.
As for what it could be, he wasn’t able to figure it out.
That was the reason he chose to not reply.
