Chapter 180: Chapter 180

Cheng Jin stepped out and jogged up to Wei Ronghua, holding her hands together nervously, her smile somewhat restrained: "Madam, you came."

She hadn’t interacted much with her husband’s mother, having only met her twice. Her impression was that this lady was elegant and poised, approachable. Perhaps due to her aristocratic background, even when Mrs. Fu smiled, there was an inherent sense of dominance that made one hesitant to truly get close.

"Is Jichen home?" Wei Ronghua switched her handbag to the other hand, lifted her skirt with her right hand, and walked up the stairs.

Her visit to Yunding Palace at this time clearly indicated she had inquired beforehand and knew Fu Jichen had returned from Jiang City. Asking was merely a formality.

"He’s home." Cheng Jin replied promptly, "He just got back not long ago."

Wei Ronghua wanted to ask how he was but reconsidered. Since she was already here, seeing him in person was better than hearing about him from others.

After entering and changing into new slippers, Wei Ronghua smelled the aroma of stir-fry wafting from the kitchen: "Is someone cooking?"

"After Mr. Fu returned, I worried he hadn’t eaten well while traveling, so I asked the chef to start preparing dinner early." Cheng Jin followed up, "Would you like to stay for dinner?"

"It has been quite a while since I last had a meal with him." Wei Ronghua placed her handbag on the sofa, with a hint of lament in her tone.

"I’ll ask the chef to prepare a few more dishes." Cheng Jin, not knowing the dynamics of their mother-son relationship, felt somewhat relieved at her words, "If you stay, it might lift his spirits a bit."

"Is he in a bad mood?"

Wei Ronghua sat down on the sofa, picking up on the key words in her speech, her expression slightly tensing.

Cheng Jin realized she had misspoken and was visibly embarrassed; she should not meddle in her employer’s affairs.

"It’s okay, go on. I came here to see how he’s been lately." Wei Ronghua sighed, after all, she’s just a mother concerned about her son’s life, no different from other mothers out there, "He rarely comes back to the old house and is often busy with work; even seeing him is not easy for me."

Cheng Jin, having a child working in another city, barely gets to see her child throughout the year, understood her feelings: "Mr. Fu lost a lot of weight this time and seems emotionally down. I heard he fell ill in Jiang City but I’m not sure if he’s fully recovered. He doesn’t speak much, so I didn’t dare ask too many questions."

Wei Ronghua was taken aback, her heart sank a bit: "He was ill?"

This was news to her. Fu Jichen has always been robust, rarely falling ill since childhood. Thinking back, the last time was probably during his school days.

"Yes, I heard he was bedridden with a high fever in a hotel for several days. Fortunately, a friend of his was nearby to help take care of him." At this point, Cheng Jin unintentionally thought of Shen Jianian, and her mood darkened.

Wei Ronghua adjusted her shawl, her brows slightly furrowed with concern for Fu Jichen’s health. Having spoken for so long without a glimpse of him, she asked Cheng Jin: "Is he upstairs?"

"He went upstairs right after coming back and hasn’t come down since," Cheng Jin replied, "Would you like to go up and see him?"

Wei Ronghua hesitated for a moment before abandoning the idea: "No, I’ll wait for him here."

Cheng Jin nodded, turned to the kitchen, and made tea, also telling the chef to prepare a few more dishes. She placed the teacup on the coffee table in front of Wei Ronghua and then went upstairs to call for him.

During the elevator ride up, Cheng Jin clasped her hands together, feeling somewhat anxious.

Not finding anyone in Jianian’s room, she proceeded to the next room, pausing outside the closed door to deliberate for a few seconds, then lightly knocked, speaking: "Sir, the Madam from the old house is here to see you."

After a moment, the door opened from the inside, and Fu Jichen came out.

He had showered and changed into casual home clothes—black pullover, dark gray casual pants—looking refreshed, though the signs of thinning and fatigue weren’t easy to change in such a short time.

Cheng Jin steadied herself and said softly: "The Madam is waiting downstairs. She’s been here for a while. I chatted with her a bit; she cares about you a lot."

Fu Jichen said nothing, went downstairs to the living room, and indeed saw Wei Ronghua seated on the sofa, holding one plate in her hand and the other on the teacup handle, sipping tea slowly.

Hearing footsteps from behind, Wei Ronghua put down the teacup and turned her head, seeing was more straightforward than hearing from others.

Unable to restrain herself, Wei Ronghua stood up, scanning him up and down with visible heartache. Her once confident and vigorous son now appeared gaunt, the loose sweater draping emptily over him, his face unnaturally pale, exuding a sickly look.

"Why did you come?" Fu Jichen asked, his expression unchanged, his voice still fairly calm.

"Your father said you’ll attend tomorrow’s board meeting, so I knew you were back and came especially to see you. I heard you were ill; how did you become so thin?" Wei Ronghua said reproachfully, "You’re all grown up, yet you don’t know how to take care of yourself."

Cheng Jin left enough space for the mother and son to talk, while she went to the kitchen to watch over the chefs as they cooked.

Fu Jichen simply said, "I’m fine, you can go back."

Wei Ronghua felt a little choked up and said sadly, "I told Cheng Jin that I’d stay and have dinner with you tonight. Are you in such a hurry to send me away because you don’t welcome my visit?"

Fu Jichen detected the intentional warmth and the subtle grievance in her voice, uninterested in dealing with it: "If you want to stay, then stay."

He sat down on a single sofa, crossed his right leg over his left, and the pant leg slid up, revealing his bony ankle.

Fu Jichen took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, found a lighter under the coffee table, lit a cigarette, and smoked quietly, having no extra topics to discuss with his mother.

Wei Ronghua sat back down, watching him smoke, frowned slightly, and expressed her disapproval implicitly: "You start smoking whether you’re better or not, why don’t you take care of your own health."

Fu Jichen listened to her but did not respond.

Wei Ronghua felt heavy-hearted, sometimes not knowing what attitude to take towards him, often feeling weary from trying her best to please and accommodate her son, who didn’t offer even a slightly warmer demeanor.

What kind of mother-son relationship is this?

She used to assume that as he grew older and mature, his disposition was calm and introverted, emotions never on display, but still cared about her as his mother. But she didn’t have only Jichen as a son; Fei Bai wasn’t .

Wei Ronghua sighed silently, knowingly asked, "Cheng Jin said you were in a bad mood when you returned, what’s wrong?"

She certainly knew it was because of that Shen Jianian. When she first heard about Shen Jianian’s car accident, she was terrified and worried, fearing her son would find out she had sought Shen Jianian and pressured her to leave, blaming her for it, which would only freeze their already dull mother-son relationship into bitterness.

Now she felt it was for the best that Shen Jianian was dead, since keeping her around was like a time bomb, not knowing when Jichen would find her again, further complicating matters due to unresolved feelings.

With her gone, there was no need to worry about these things anymore.

No matter how sad he looked now, as time passed, with his mind occupied by other concerns, he would naturally forget about her.

Fu Jichen removed the cigarette from his fingers, light smoke spilling from his lips, and didn’t tell the truth, dismissively explaining, "It’s business matters, the people below mishandled things, causing trouble, nothing going smoothly."

Wei Ronghua took small sips from her teacup, relieved to see he didn’t mention Shen Jianian, a faint smile emerging on her lips: "That’s a reason to be upset."

There weren’t many topics for the mother and son to discuss; with just a few exchanges, they reached the end.

Cheng Jin came over to say dinner was ready, breaking the tense atmosphere.

After dinner, Wei Ronghua didn’t linger long, announcing her return to the old house, and Fu Jichen got up to see her off, saying, "I’ll have the driver take you back."

"No need, I’ll call Old Liu, he’s dining nearby." Wei Ronghua smiled as she slung her bag over one shoulder and patted his arm lightly with the other hand. No matter what, her care for this son was genuine; between mother and child, there was no real resentment. It is said that a broken bone still connects with tendons, "Work will always be there, don’t tire yourself out too much, remember to balance work and rest. Your grandfather might reach out to you often regarding the engagement, don’t defy him again, he’s only doing it for your good."

At the mention of the engagement, Fu Jichen lifted his eyelids coldly, seeing his mother off, then turned and went upstairs, returning to the empty bedroom.

Sitting on the edge of the bed lost in thought for a moment, he picked up his phone and called Xiao Zheng.

When the call connected, he got straight to the point: "I need to know who she met in the last few days before she left Beicheng."

Xiao Zheng was momentarily stunned, soon realizing who he referred to as "she," and had to prepare himself to take it seriously.

"Miss Shen didn’t meet anyone special those days; she shuttled daily between Yunding Palace and Yan Qiusheng’s Half Mountain Villa." As Shen Jianian’s schedule was quite simple, Xiao Zheng found it easy to recall, "She ate alone at a private kitchen once, visited Miss Bai’s mother in the hospital, then went to the jade carving workshop owned by Miss Bai’s family... that’s about it."

Remembering something, Xiao Zheng quickly added, "Oh, right, the day she ate at the private kitchen, she received a call in the car. I don’t know who called her, as Miss Shen hung up after exchanging only a few words."

"Which private kitchen?" Fu Jichen asked.

Xiao Zheng thought briefly, with a strong impression of the name: "Fengyashong Private Kitchen."

Fu Jichen wasn’t unfamiliar with this name; he had heard it from Shen Jianian, recalling her words: one day she saw a nice private kitchen online, and since it was on the way, decided to try it out.

He had replied to her: next time, let’s go together.