After Shen Yunmian left, Yu Sheng and Gu Wanqing's vacation life finally returned to true peace.
For the remaining half month or so, Gu Wanqing stayed with her. Sometimes they strolled along the beach, sometimes they chatted on the hotel terrace, but more often they simply stayed quietly, enjoying this rare, leisurely time.
Under careful care, her body gradually recovered.
The faint pain in her lower abdomen disappeared, and a bit of color slowly returned to her face.
More importantly, away from those suffocating people and matters of the Shen family, her state of mind became much calmer and more open.
They often talked about the future.
"Sheng Sheng, when you go back… are you really going to get a divorce?" Gu Wanqing asked while lounging on the sofa.
"Yes. I have to. But I can't just divorce without any plan." She turned her head, a thoughtful light flickering in her eyes. "Qiyun Film is a starting point. Wanqing, I've mostly reviewed your short drama proposal, and I think it has great potential. Once I take over and sort things out, we'll start preparing and set up your department."
"Really?" Gu Wanqing sat up excitedly. "That's great! With Qiyun's resources, it'll definitely become a hit!"
"Mm." Yu Sheng nodded. "So this month isn't just for fun. You need to refine your team-building plan and polish those scripts you're most confident in."
"No problem, leave it to me!" Gu Wanqing was full of motivation.
Compared to Yu Sheng's increasingly clear plans and peace, Shen Yunmian, on the other side, fell into an unprecedented state of restlessness.
Back at the company, she tried to numb herself with high-intensity work, but her efficiency dropped significantly.
She would often zone out while looking at documents, uncontrollably recalling Yu Sheng's tearful accusations and that hard slap.
Several times, she picked up her phone, opened the still-blocked number, wanting to try calling again, but didn't know what to say, and couldn't bring herself to lower her pride.
Apologize? She didn't think she had made any principled mistakes in how she handled things.
Show concern? Yu Sheng didn't seem to need it.
This stalemate and sense of helplessness felt unfamiliar and irritating.
Her relationship with Yu Sheng seemed to have sunk into a cold mire—the more she tried to analyze and resolve it rationally, the deeper she sank.
During this time, Grandma Shen called several times, her tone growing harsher each time.
Shen Yunmian could only vaguely assure her that Yu Sheng would return after a month.
Time quietly passed under their completely different states of mind.
As the one-month deadline approached, Yu Sheng ended her vacation a few days early.
She didn't return directly to the Shen family. Instead, she bought an international plane ticket and flew to the country where her mother was recuperating.
Her mother's health had never been very good. She had heart problems and had undergone a major surgery abroad earlier that year, and had been resting there ever since. Yu Sheng had deliberately hidden her miscarriage and left home, afraid of worrying her and affecting her recovery.
But now, she has decided to divorce. She needed her mother's understanding and support.
Seeing her daughter suddenly appear, Yu Sheng's mother was very happy.
But she quickly noticed the hidden exhaustion and unfamiliar calmness in Yu Sheng's expression.
"Sheng Sheng, why did you suddenly come? Why does your complexion look so bad? Did something happen?" her mother asked worriedly, holding her hand.
Seeing the concern in her mother's eyes, Yu Sheng's nose stung.
She stopped hiding anything and told her everything that had happened—the truth of the miscarriage, Shen Xingyao's recklessness, Zhou Yaqin's harshness, Shen Yunmian's indifference, and her final decision to divorce.
As her mother listened, her face grew paler and paler. Tears streamed down uncontrollably, and in the end she pulled her daughter tightly into her arms, her voice choked with emotion. "My precious child, you've suffered so much, why didn't you tell me? It's my fault… I didn't protect you…"
She stroked her daughter's hair again and again, crying uncontrollably.
Yu Sheng couldn't hold back her tears either, but she tried to smile and comfort her. "Mom, I'm fine now. It's all in the past. I just want to leave the Shen family and start a new life. I need your support."
Her mother, eyes red, didn't hesitate at all and nodded quickly. "Support! Of course I support you! As long as my daughter can be happy, nothing else matters! Even if… even if our family goes bankrupt, I won't let you suffer in the Shen family!"
Yu Sheng froze for a moment, sharply catching the anomaly in her mother's words. "Mom, how could our family go bankrupt?"
Only then did her mother realize she had let something slip. Her eyes flickered, and she began to stammer, "No… it's nothing…"
"Mom!" Yu Sheng grasped her mother's hand, her expression turning serious. "What exactly is going on? You have to tell me. This concerns my decision."
Under Yu Sheng's repeated questioning, her mother finally wiped her tears and, with difficulty, revealed the truth.
It turned out that in the later stages of her father's severe illness, the Yu Group's operations had already run into serious problems. Several major investments had failed, and the cash flow was extremely tight. Before his death, the reason her father had pushed so hard for the marriage alliance with the Shen family was largely because he wanted to entrust his daughter to them—hoping to rely on the Shen family's financial strength and Shen Yunmian's ability to help the Yu family through the crisis.
"After your father passed away, I didn't understand business at all. The company has been entirely managed by people Yunmian sent over," her mother said in a low voice. "All these years, if it weren't for Yunmian continuously injecting capital, bringing in resources, and helping handle those tricky debts and contracts, the Yu Group would have… would have collapsed long ago. Sheng Sheng, our family now is practically surviving by relying on the Shen family…"
This news struck Yu Sheng like a bolt from the blue!
She was completely stunned, her whole body turning cold.
She had always known that her family business relied on Shen Yunmian, and her father had hinted at the commercial benefits of the marriage alliance, but she had never imagined that the situation had already reached such a precarious, almost dependent state!
The fallback she thought she had in returning to her family turned out to be nothing more than an empty shell—one that even needed this marriage to sustain it.
Divorce was far from as simple as she had imagined.
What it involved was not just emotions, but the intricate economic ties between two families.
If she insisted on divorcing, would Shen Yunmian continue to help the Yu family?
Given her understanding of Shen Yunmian's almost cold rationality, the answer was nearly certainly no.
Without the Shen family's support, the Yu Group might collapse instantly. She herself could grit her teeth and live an ordinary life, but could her mother—who had been accustomed to this lifestyle—adapt? Not to mention the enormous medical expenses that required financial support.
Being reborn didn't mean being omnipotent. She did not yet have the ability to manage a massive enterprise.
Reality was like a basin of icy water poured over her from head to toe, instantly sobering her from her impulse to divorce. Looking at her carefree mother, who had lived as a wealthy lady her entire life, she knew she couldn't act recklessly.
Yu Sheng fell silent for a long time—so long that her mother began to feel afraid and called out cautiously, "Sheng Sheng…"
Only then did she raise her head. The vulnerability and confusion in her eyes were forcefully suppressed, gradually returning to calm.
"Mom, I understand. I won't bring up the divorce for now."
"Sheng Sheng…"
"Don't worry, Mom." Yu Sheng held her mother's hand in return, forcing out a reassuring smile. "I know what to do. I'll handle it."
But that smile was filled with bitterness and heaviness.
She had no choice but to accept the cruel reality: before she gained the ability to independently support the Yu Group, she couldn't afford to divorce.
An overwhelming sense of powerlessness swept over her, followed by deep regret—regret for spending the past seven years immersed in a hopeless relationship, for not learning the company's affairs earlier, for placing all her hopes on someone else.
Now, wanting to break free from the cage, she realized she was already tightly bound by invisible threads, unable to move.
At this point, she could only go back first.
Back to that suffocating Shen family, back to Shen Yunmian's side.
But this time, her purpose in returning was completely different.
She was no longer the wife yearning for love, but someone who would endure hardship and bide her time—using Shen Yunmian's power and resources to learn how to manage and operate a corporate group, and how to reclaim control of the Yu Group!
This path was destined to be difficult, but she had to walk it herself.
—
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