Chapter 363: Chapter 363: Aunt Zhou, Long Time No See
The familiar scent of perfume wafted to her nostrils just like that.

Xu Chaomu hadn’t worn high heels and seemed just a tad shorter than Zhou Ran. She slightly lifted her eyelids, and her lips trembled ever so slightly.

It felt as if there was always something stuck in her throat, rendering her speechless.

However, Zhou Ran, accustomed to seeing the world, was the first to speak, “Chaomu.”

Zhou Ran’s voice was clear and elegant, always comfortable to the ear, but Xu Chaomu felt far from comfortable inside.

Xu Chaomu bit her lip, biting until it hurt, only then did she realize that all of this was real.

The Zhou Ran standing right in front of her was indeed real, not the Zhou Ran who had appeared numerous times in nightmares over the past five years.

Yes, she had many nightmares over these five years.

She would dream of Bai Man telling her word for word, “Xu Chaomu, your mother was killed by Shen Chi’s mother.”

She would dream of bullets piercing her back, staining her clothes red with blood, the pain unbearable.

She would dream of Zhou Ran tampering with the gas cylinder, leading to an explosion and raging flames.

She would dream of being ten years old again, crying and making a fuss to rush into the blaze only to be forcibly held back by Uncle Mo, who covered her eyes.

Each time she woke from these nightmares, she was always drenched in cold sweat.

Being in a foreign land, the hardest was the first half year after arriving in Paris, when she brushed shoulders with death countless times.

How many people knew of what she had gone through? She also was not accustomed to talking about it to anyone.

“Aunt Zhou, long time no see.”

Xu Chaomu finally managed to suppress all her emotions, but when she spoke, her voice still came out hoarse and choked up.

She still called her “Aunt Zhou.”

“When did you come back? I heard Achi has been looking for you for five years,” Zhou Ran said indifferently.

“Not many days.”

“Where have you been these five years? Have you been well?”

“Quite well,” Xu Chaomu’s voice was also lacking in flavor and brief in words.

She didn’t know what else she could say to Zhou Ran.

Zhou Ran seemed to sigh, gazing at Xu Chaomu’s face with a complex look in her eyes.

“Did you come to the hospital because you’re not feeling well?” Zhou Ran asked.

“Yeah,” Xu Chaomu responded.

Seeing that Xu Chaomu was very calm and didn’t exhibit any particular emotion, Zhou Ran didn’t know what else to say.

Between them, it was as if they were strangers familiar with each other.

Xu Chaomu looked up at the No. 3 consultation room and said indifferently, “Aunt Zhou, it’s my turn. I’m going in first.”

Without waiting for her consent, Xu Chaomu lowered her head and walked towards the consultation room, brushing past Zhou Ran.

Zhou Ran stood still, her lips pursed slightly.

Five years had passed, and Xu Chaomu had come back. Everything seemed inevitable, unable to escape destiny.

Zhou Ran held her bag, her heart filled with myriad emotions, complex, very complex.

“Mumu, Mumu…”

Just then, Shen Chi came over with a bottle of drink in his hand.

He first glanced at the seats, didn’t find Xu Chaomu, then scanned the electronic screen and saw her name.

Just as he was about to sit down and wait for her to come out, he saw Zhou Ran, his mother.

Since Zhou Ran’s divorce from Shen Cexian thirteen years ago, Shen Chi didn’t have many opportunities to see her each year.

In fact, it could be said they were scant.

Like this year, this was their first meeting.

Zhou Ran finally showed a hint of different emotions on her face, surprise and confusion.

Were Shen Chi and Xu Chaomu still together?

“Mom,” Shen Chi called out in a deep voice.

“Achi, you’re here too.”

“Yeah, Chaomu’s not feeling well, so I came with her.”

“Didn’t she just come back a few days ago?”

“Yes.”

“Do you still love her?”

“Yes, I love her,” he said with unwavering confidence and no room for negotiation.

Zhou Ran looked up; her son was still the same. Stubborn and unyielding, once he made up his mind, there was no changing it.

If she could have foreseen the future, thirteen years ago, she definitely wouldn’t have brought Xu Chaomu back to the Shen Family.

She never thought that the girl Shen Chi once called “skinny and ugly” would, thirteen years later, occupy his whole heart.

“Achi,” Zhou Ran sighed, “you clearly know that you can’t marry her.”

“I’ve held out alone in the company for five years, nearly isolated and powerless, and I’m not afraid to hold out for a lifetime more.”

“Your father only allows you to marry a daughter of the Bai Family, so if you marry Xu Chaomu, he will sign Shen Shihan’s name on the company’s authorization document. You know this better than I do.”

“If it comes to choosing between the company and her, I will choose her.”

“Your father is as stubborn as you. Once he decides something, it’s impossible to change. You need to think this through,” Zhou Ran said faintly.

“I’ve thought it through,” Shen Chi frowned.

“I have long since had no relation with the Shen Family. Thirteen years ago, I forced him to hand over the position of company president to you. Now, I can’t make him sign the authorization document. In his heart, he has probably forgotten about me a long time ago.”

“I have my own plans. Power is something you slowly wrestle back for yourself. By the way, Father’s health is very poor, you should come back to see him when you have the time.”

“He doesn’t want to see me.”

“You are always this stubborn.”

“I understand him better than you.”

“If you insist on thinking that way, I won’t persuade you further.”

Shen Chi knew not only was his father headstrong, but his mother was even more so.

If they could both be a bit more forgiving, they wouldn’t be in the current situation. So, he and Xu Chaomu would definitely not walk the same old path again.

Xu Chaomu was stubborn, and he could bow his head. In love and marriage, there always has to be one who backs down. If both people maintain their pride, how could they peacefully and comfortably walk through life together?

“Achi, I’m going back first. You should wait for Chaomu here. Honestly, I don’t hope for you to marry her, and don’t expect me to facilitate your relationship with her,” Zhou Ran said.

The crease in Shen Chi’s brow deepened, and he remained silent.

Zhou Ran didn’t say anything more. She went on her way, taking the elevator from the fourth floor to the first.

Shen Chi watched her leave without attempting to keep her there.

In these thirteen years, almost every meeting with his mother had been like this, hurried in coming and going.

The sun moved slowly to its zenith, approaching the hottest part of the day.

The hospital was pervaded with an air of irritation and unease, and even though it was almost noon, many people were still queueing.

If it weren’t for Xu Chaomu not allowing him to make a call, he would never have experienced such a commonplace and tedious process in his whole life.

Sometimes this ordinariness was precious.

But as long as she was by his side, whether ordinary or extraordinary, it was all blissful.

Soon, Xu Chaomu came out with a piece of paper in her hand.

She walked forward with a stern face, not looking very happy.

“Mumu!” Shen Chi called out to her, taking long strides toward her.

Xu Chaomu raised her eyelids slightly. Perhaps because she had just seen Zhou Ran, she didn’t feel much like talking to Shen Chi at the moment.