Chapter 2

"In my dream, I saw myself sitting in a spacious and bright office, dressed in a suit, standing straight in front of a clear floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the countless people below the hundred-meter skyscraper... Behind me, a beautiful and sexy secretary reported my schedule for the day with her smooth and melodious voice! I had a standalone villa in a prime location, surrounded by blooming flowers and expensive land! I had a graceful and charming wife, and a child who was just learning to speak, calling 'dad' 'ya ya'..."

"Most importantly, in the dream, my mother was still alive... She was quietly watching over me from behind. When I turned around, she would give me an encouraging smile! That was the brightest color in my life! It reminded me of my past, my present, and my future..."

The white walls were tinged with a faint gray, and the wooden floor, which was already two or three decades old, had grown countless bumps, making the experience of walking on it quite unpleasant.

The ceiling was covered with a light layer of gray dust, and a black spider was happily weaving its web there.

The light blue curtains fluttered slightly, and the fiery red sunlight filtered through the gaps, casting a startlingly crimson glow on the walls as if they were on fire.

When I returned from the dreamlike world to reality, the reality was as dim and occasionally ominous as the red light inside the room.

The man lying on the bed was about thirty years old, with a full beard, and his still bright eyes gazed blankly at the busy little spider in the corner of the ceiling, letting out a sigh of unknown meaning.

It had been a year.

It had been a year since my mother passed away.

In that year, I quit my unsatisfactory job;

In that year, I lived like a hermit in a suite of only eighty square meters;

In that year, my biological father finally remembered he had an elder son and called to inquire about my well-being;

In that year, my biological father's current wife also called, warning me in her words that she did not welcome me back to the Song family.

In that year... I suddenly realized that a year had already passed.

The man, lost in thought, vaguely heard the doorbell ringing, or perhaps it was the neighbor's doorbell. After a long time, he realized it was his own doorbell—over the past year, it had hardly ever rung.

The man gave a self-deprecating smile.

Wearing a faded blue pajama set, the man walked out of the room, his body swaying like a soulless shell as he opened the door. The orange light from the hallway lamp shone through the slowly opening door onto his face, and he instinctively covered his face with his hand, feeling a strange sensation.

In an instant, as if a thousand years had passed, he seemed to see himself passing through a bizarre and fantastical world. Just as he was about to confirm it, the phenomenon disappeared. But he heard a voice that was very familiar, a voice that could make him feel heartbroken.

"Mom forgot her keys... Hmm? Xiao Chen, whose clothes are you wearing?"

Li Wan, holding a bag of groceries, looked in shock at her son standing at the door, his hand shielding his face, wearing a large and old blue pajama set. Although it wasn't exactly a child wearing an adult's clothes, the difference was significant. This scene made Li Wan, who had been depressed for over a year after the divorce, smile faintly.

Song Chen, hearing the voice, lowered his hand in surprise and found his mother, who had passed away a year ago, smiling at him, her cheeks showing two charming dimples. If it weren't for the obvious wrinkles on her forehead and her skin, no one would have believed that this woman was already over thirty.

"Mom... Mom?"

In an instant, Song Chen's eyes were already moist.

Song Chen was born in 1979 in a small village in the middle of Dongguang Province. In 1985, when he was seven years old, his father, Song Hua, began traveling south and north to sell electronic products from Pengcheng, making some money. In 1987, with a small foundation, Song Hua joined forces with people from Dongou, Jiangnan Province, and gradually expanded his business. However, good times didn't last long. In 1990, Song Hua and his friends were imprisoned due to the turbulent political climate, charged with the crime of 'speculation and profiteering,' which was only officially abolished eighteen years later.

In 1992, after Song Hua and his friends were released from prison, they made a comeback and founded the Da Song Company in Dongou City. Li Wan then moved with her twelve-year-old son to Dongou City, where they lived for five years. The Da Song Company, which initially only dealt in clothing and shoes, grew into a billion-yuan conglomerate spanning clothing, leather goods, and real estate.

This year, international speculative capital targeted the seemingly prosperous but fragile Asian countries, and the Asian financial crisis, which swept through the region, seemed very distant to Song Chen, who was still in high school! But in that year, a beautiful woman only a few years older than Song Chen appeared in the once-harmonious family—Song Chen didn't know what it meant at the time!

Arguments, compromises; arguments, cold wars. Everything was kept secret from Song Chen, as his parents, the only son of Song Hua and Li Wan, were in the crucial period before the college entrance exam, and the couple did not show their emotions.

In front of Song Chen, they were still a model couple admired by others.

After the college entrance exam, Song Chen happily told his parents that he felt he had done well, expecting encouragement and praise from his parents. But what he received was a bolt from the blue!

"Divorce!"

Song Hua and Li Wan, who had been married for over twenty years, chose to divorce. They went to court over custody of their child, giving Song Chen a choice: to stay with his father or his mother.

In court, his father tried hard to win Song Chen's agreement; in front of Song Chen, Li Wan tearfully begged him to stay.

If it were the Song Chen of a dozen years later, who had experienced the hardships of society and the coldness of the world, and whose sharp edges had been worn down by reality, he might have chosen his father, who had a successful career.

But...

When Song Chen saw the woman who looked younger than him, heavily made up, and who glared at him with a cold smile but pretended to be kind, out of fear for the future and instinct, he chose his mother.

They had relied on each other for fifteen years!

That year, Li Wan's parents, Song Chen's grandparents, and relatives came to Dongou City to curse Song Hua.

In the same year, Song Chen's grandparents fell ill and passed away shortly after returning home, which was a huge blow to Li Wan.

Although Song Hua was unhappy with his son's choice, he still provided the tuition and living expenses for his university and gave the house in Dongou City to Li Wan. In the same year, less than half a year after the divorce, Song Hua married Huang Zhen, who was over twenty years younger than him, and they had a second son the following year.

That year, due to the sensitive emotions of a child from a divorced family, Song Chen clearly felt his father's favor shift to his half-brother after his birth. He gradually became more reserved and reduced his visits to his father's house.

Even more so, when Huang Zhen insulted him as a "free eater and drinker" in front of his biological father and received only a mild scolding from Song Hua, Song Chen, ignoring his father's reprimand, left decisively.

For this, the resentful and stubborn Song Chen refused his father's living expenses and university tuition. At the same time, because his mother worked hard doing cleaning and other heavy jobs to support the family, Song Chen gave up his university studies and chose to work as a salesperson at the well-known Zhai Kuo Electrical Company.

Li Wan scolded, beat, and begged, but could not persuade the "self-destructive" Song Chen. In deep sorrow, she felt that she had ruined her son's future and could only humbly ask her ex-husband, Song Hua, to persuade him.

Song Hua's arrival did not change Song Chen's decision; he only received a closed door from his biological son.

Song Hua, angry and embarrassed, left in a fury; Li Wan, helpless, had to accept the reality.

Song Chen worked at Zhai Kuo Electrical for five years, but later, due to the power struggle among the company's successors, the management became unstable, and Song Chen, who had limited achievements, chose to leave and look for other opportunities. However, he still found nothing.

In 2011, the Da Song Group was valued at over 20 billion yuan, and Song Hua, as the chairman, was worth billions. He was also a well-known entrepreneur, philanthropist, and member of the People's Congress in Dongou City. His two children (from Huang Zhen) had grown up, and he could be considered successful and renowned.

That year, Li Wan, who had always felt guilty about her son's fate, held her son's hand and passed away after a long illness, filled with endless pain and regret.

That year, the grief-stricken Song Chen returned his mother's body to their hometown and buried her next to his grandparents' graves. At the funeral, Li Wan's ex-husband, Song Chen's biological father, never appeared, nor did he ever appear again.

That year, Song Chen, who had failed in the power struggle at work and was devastated by his mother's death, fell into a deep depression and never recovered.