Five years without pregnancy means you're too weak; I remarried a powerful man and had triplets

Xu Zhesheng has been suffering at Ai Junyu's place these past few days. He lost five pounds in just a few days, and his once full cheeks have become visibly sunken, with his cheekbones sticking out.

He hadn't said anything, and Zhang Feng hadn't looked closely. But when he did, Zhang Feng leaned closer to take a look, and her eyes immediately welled up with tears of heartache.

"What happened? That bitch Su Manman didn't cook for you? What has she been doing all day? What's the point of having a woman who can't even take care of a man?!"

Zhang Feng was furious. She cursed as she turned and walked towards the refrigerator, pulling out all the meat and vegetables she had just bought. Her movements were quick and urgent, as if her son would faint from hunger if she was a minute late.

She tied on her apron, and the knife slammed down on the cutting board, the thuds filled with heartache and anger.

Xu Zhesheng slumped on the sofa, feeling like his body was falling apart. He didn't want to move at all, but Zhang Feng's words kept echoing in his mind.

He used to think he knew everything and understood everything.

But now I realize that all my previous feelings combined are not as profound as this bowl of hot soup.

He recalled the time when he was with Su Manman; she always spoke softly and gently, like a still pond.

She never said no to any request he made of her.

She always looked at him with eyes full of stars, as if every decision he made was right, and every word he said, even if she didn't understand it, would give him endless emotional value, making him feel that he was worshipped and needed.

At that time, he thought this was gentleness, this was cuteness, this was understanding him.

Unlike Shen Zhiyi, who would only ever reason with him, cold and rigid, he was always unable to refute her reasoning, and that feeling of being suppressed gave him a strong sense of frustration.

So he plunged headlong into Su Manman's gentle embrace, thinking he had finally found someone who understood him.

But now he realized that Su Manman's obedience back then was all an act.

What she valued was nothing more than his status, his money, the resources he could provide, and his role as a stepping stone.

She didn't care at all about his health, his quality of life, or whether he had a hot meal when he came home late at night from work.

Shen Zhiyi was supporting him, taking care of his life so that he could pursue his art and dreams without any worries.

Su Manman, from beginning to end, only thought of herself.

A woman cares deeply about his stomach, ingrains his habits into her very being, and keeps his home spotless, yet he finds her boring.

The other woman only knew how to use sweet words to make him happy, and couldn't even cook a meal properly, yet he found her gentle and lovely.

Xu Zhesheng closed his eyes, feeling a tightness in his chest.

The sounds of Zhang Feng working in the kitchen could be heard, and with a sizzle from the oil pan, the aroma finally wafted over.

He took a deep breath, and the long-lost smell of home brought tears to his eyes.

But in front of his parents, he dared not show the slightest cowardice. The surging emotions were stuck in his throat, and he swallowed them down, making his chest feel tight.

Half an hour later, Zhang Feng came out of the kitchen carrying dishes.

Both Zhang Feng and Liu Tehui and her daughter made two dishes and a soup, but the results were worlds apart.

At least the food in front of you looks cooked and smells good.

Xu Zhesheng sat at the dining table and mechanically picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks.

A plate of stir-fried lotus root slices, with the lotus root still attached after being broken apart, makes a crisp "crunch" sound when you bite into it; it's his favorite crisp lotus root.

Zhang Feng didn't know he liked crispy food before, and he himself had never mentioned it.

It was only after Shen Zhiyi bought lotus root and tried cooking it repeatedly that she noticed he ate this dish the most and remembered his taste.

Later, the family only bought this one type of lotus root, and Zhang Feng's side also switched to this variety.

A bowl of carrot, yam, and pork rib soup, the broth milky white, with a few goji berries floating on top.

When he used to have stomach aches, Shen Zhiyi would always stew this for him to drink.

Fearing that Zhang Feng wouldn't remember the steps, she specially wrote the recipe on a sticky note, clearly indicating how long to stew and how much salt to add, and stuck it on Zhang Feng's refrigerator door.

There was also a plate of sweet and sour pork ribs, each piece of rib coated in a bright red sauce. They were all the same size and stacked in a circle in the center of the plate, with a small handful of white sesame seeds sprinkled on top for garnish.

This arrangement was also taught to Zhang Feng by Shen Zhiyi.

She said that this arrangement looks nice, gives the dish a sense of ceremony, and makes people's mouths water.

He ate bite by bite, each bite a taste of Zhang Feng's cooking, but his heart was filled with the sweetness of Shen Zhiyi.

Those details that he used to overlook so casually have now become sharp needles, piercing his heart one by one.

Although Zhang Feng's cooking was a hundred times better than Liu Tehui's, it was still missing something in the taste. It lacked the care that Liu Tehui had ingrained in Zhang Feng's preferences, and it lacked the gentleness that Zhang Feng still showed even when Liu Tehui didn't appreciate it.

The more he ate, the more his inner dam seemed to crumble.

He tried desperately to suppress his emotions, telling himself he couldn't cry and couldn't let his mother see it, but emotions are like that—the more you suppress them, the more violently they rebound.

A tear fell into the bowl, followed by a second and a third.

"Drip, drip," the sound hit the soup noodles, creating a small ripple.

Xu Zhesheng was completely unaware.

"Oh dear, what's wrong with you, child?" Zhang Feng sat down next to him and, seeing his expression, quickly grabbed a tissue to wipe his eyes. Her voice was full of panic. "Are you feeling unwell? Or is the cooking not good? If it's not good, we'll just order takeout. Don't make yourself suffer..."

Xu Zhesheng hurriedly waved his hand, wiped his face haphazardly, and lowered his head to frantically shovel rice into his mouth, one mouthful after another until his cheeks were bulging and rice grains were stuck to the corners of his mouth. He mumbled, "No...it's too delicious...it feels like I haven't eaten Mom's cooking in a long time..."

He tried to force a smile to reassure his mother.

But as soon as she smiled, her tears started falling even more fiercely, like a floodgate that couldn't be closed no matter what she did.

He couldn't swallow the food in his mouth, and it spilled from the corner of his mouth, along with snot, making him look utterly pathetic.

"I told you to eat slowly! Eat slowly!" Zhang Feng was terrified. She quickly patted his back to help him catch his breath and wiped the rice grains from his mouth with a tissue. "No one's going to take it from you. What if you choke!"

Xu Zhesheng forced himself to swallow the food in his mouth, but tears were already completely out of control.

He suddenly hugged Zhang Feng's waist, pressed his forehead against her stomach, and cried as if he had suffered a great injustice as a child, his whole body trembling.

Zhang Feng was stunned.

She paused for a moment, then realized that his words, "It's so delicious," were not a compliment at all.

The child is heartbroken, so heartbroken that he can't bear it anymore.

She put down the tissue, gently patted his back with one hand, and said in a very soft voice, "What's wrong? Tell Mom, what happened? Even if the sky falls, Mom will hold it up for you."

Xu Zhesheng held her tightly, his sobs muffled by her clothes, heart-wrenching.

Ten minutes later, he managed to lift his head, his eyes swollen like peaches, his face covered in tears and snot, with bits of rice still stuck to his nose, and his voice so hoarse it was almost inaudible.

"Mom... I did something wrong... I did something wrong... What should I do...?"