He was no longer a young man of eighteen or twenty.
Having lived so long and achieved so much, how could he not have had a woman or two by his side?
"Miss Chu, could I ask you for a favor?"
"Go ahead."
"I can't have children—I don't have a uterus. Please don't tell Nangong, okay?"
Chu Lingzhi was startled. "He doesn't know that you..."
Ouyang Ruobing shook her head with a faint smile. "I didn't let him know back then, and I don't want him to know now."
"You love him so much. Why not be honest with him?" Chu Lingzhi asked, a bitter taste in her heart.
Ouyang Ruobing's eyes dimmed, a trace of sorrow flickering through. "It's all in the past. Now I just hope he can be happy and safe."
Chu Lingzhi looked at her—truly a foolish woman.
"When two people love each other, your inability to bear children wouldn't make him despise you."
Ouyang Ruobing smiled bitterly. How could Nangong go without his own offspring?
"Miss Chu, promise me you'll take good care of Nangong and love him well, okay?"
Chu Lingzhi paused for a moment. "I promise you."
Hearing this, Ouyang Ruobing felt both joy and worry.
She looked at Chu Lingzhi. If it were any other woman staying by Nangong Yehen's side, she might have been sad.
But she was Chu Lingzhi, Yichen's biological mother.
Facing her, Ouyang Ruobing couldn't bring herself to dislike her at all.
Moreover, there was an inexplicable sense of closeness. With her looking after Nangong Yehen, she felt at ease.
"Miss Chu, can I call you Lingzhi from now on?"
"Of course." Last time, she thought she'd told her to just use her name directly.
"Thank you for all these years!"
Chu Lingzhi was surprised. "Thank me for what?" She hadn't helped with anything all these years; they'd only just met recently.
"Thank you for giving me such a smart and handsome son like Yichen."
Having Nangong Yichen allowed her to experience what it felt like to be a mother.
Thinking of Nangong Yichen, Ouyang Ruobing's expression softened, becoming more gentle and less sorrowful.
Chu Lingzhi looked at her sincerely. "I should be the one thanking you. You've taken such good care of him."
"I treat him as my own son," Ouyang Ruobing said with a smile.
"I'm happy for you to always be his mother," Chu Lingzhi replied with a smile.
Ouyang Ruobing was deeply moved. "Lingzhi, thank you!"
With Nangong Yichen, it didn't matter if she could never bear children in this life.
"Having you as his mother and me as his mommy is a blessing from his past life," Chu Lingzhi said lightly, lifting Ouyang Ruobing's spirits as well.
After a moment's thought, Chu Lingzhi added, "If you're not too busy with work, you could take him to your place to keep you company."
Ouyang Ruobing wished she could, but Nangong Yehen wouldn't allow it—he was thinking of their son's safety.
"I just got back to T City and I'm still quite busy. You should take the time to bond with him. Yichen may seem cold on the outside, but he's a very filial child."
"I can tell," Chu Lingzhi said with a happy smile. Thinking of her two sons, her heart felt as sweet as candy.
As they ate and chatted, Chu Lingzhi could clearly sense from Ouyang Ruobing's words that she was a good woman.
She loved Nangong Yehen and cared deeply for Nangong Yichen.
She was the daughter of the Ouyang family, yet she had no trace of a spoiled heiress's airs.
By the end of the meal, they had come to understand each other and become good friends.
But being misunderstood as being in love with Nangong Yehen left Chu Lingzhi feeling like a mute swallowing bitter herbs—unable to explain her pain.
She truly had no feelings for Nangong Yehen at all.