Mr. Bo, Madam Is Pregnant!
Chapter 263: There Are Difficulties

Chapter 263: Chapter 263: There Are Difficulties

Jiang Li heard the voice, turned his head, and saw a cute, exquisitely carved child that looked very... familiar.

It wasn’t immediately clear why the child seemed familiar, but something about him was definitely recognizable.

Jiang Li watched him intently.

The look in Jiang Li’s eyes probably scared Zhao Xiaole. The child stepped to the side and cautiously hugged the wall as he slipped past Jiang Li, heading straight to Su Lu and opening his little arms in a protective stance.

He asked quietly and warily, "Uncle, who are you? Are you trying to bully my mom?"

Jiang Li’s eyes suddenly widened. "Mom... mom?"

He stared at Zhao Xiaole for a moment, then violently raised his eyes to Su Lu, glancing back and forth between them several times.

Finally, Jiang Li understood why he felt such a sense of recognition when he first saw Zhao Xiaole; he figured out where he had seen those familiar features.

The child looked like a combination of Su Lu and Bo Jingshen; it wasn’t difficult to spot Su Lu’s shadow in his features, nor was it hard to find traces of Bo Jingshen.

This is...

"You and..." Jiang Li hadn’t finished his sentence when Su Lu interrupted him, "This is my son, Zhao Xiaole. Xiao Le, say hello to Uncle Jiang."

"Hello, Uncle Jiang," Zhao Xiaole greeted him.

Seeing that Zhao Xiaole was in the company of someone familiar to Su Lu, he relaxed, letting go of his previously protective stance. Quickly, he said, "Mommy, mommy, I need to pee."

"Go on, I’ll wait for you here," Su Lu said, patting the child’s head.

Zhao Xiaole hurried into the men’s restroom.

Jiang Li thought for a moment. Perhaps Su Lu had interrupted him just now because she didn’t want him to mention Bo Jingshen’s name in front of the child. That might mean the child didn’t even know about Bo Jingshen’s existence.

Jiang Li frowned and couldn’t help but turn his head to the side, gesturing for a private word.

Su Lu nodded and followed him a few steps aside.

"That’s Brother Shen’s son, isn’t it?" Jiang Li asked.

Su Lu neither confirmed nor denied, effectively admitting it without words.

Jiang Li: "Does he know?"

Su Lu was silent for a moment. "Xiao Le? He doesn’t know."

Jiang Li: "I’m talking about Brother Shen!"

"He doesn’t need to know," Su Lu said calmly.

Yet Jiang Li felt that such calmness was more like a coldness devoid of any warmth. He suddenly remembered the time, more than five years ago, when Su Lu came to Ying Xi’s hospital room and asked him to relay a message to Bo Jingshen.

Her complexion had been so poor then, yet her gaze was so resolute.

Perhaps from that moment on, she had let her once warm heart drown completely in a sea of ice.

A heart could no longer radiate warmth, which is why it now bears such a temperatureless, indifferent calm.

Jiang Li urgently said, "How can you say it’s unnecessary! This child is Brother Shen’s too!"

Su Lu looked at him indifferently.

Jiang Li, with her gaze upon him, always felt a chill in his heart.

Jiang Li said, "He doesn’t even know the child exists. This is unfair to him."

Su Lu observed Jiang Li, and actually, she had always admired him; no matter what terrible things he had encountered, it seemed he still possessed a pure heart.

He had experienced such terrible things, but now, just by listening to him, it was not hard to discern his bright inner world, and his wish for everything to improve.

So Su Lu thought that speaking with such a person required a softening of tone, to not make them too upset.

After pondering, Su Lu finally said, "After I knew about the child’s existence, I wanted to tell him, but I couldn’t reach him all day, every day. Then I realized, oh, my number had been blacklisted by him."

Jiang Li was taken aback, his mouth agape, but he could not find the words to reply.

Su Lu simply smiled, faintly, as if time indeed had the power to erase all traces, and she could now discuss these matters so calmly.

"But I still didn’t give up. I wanted to talk to him in person, to seriously discuss the child’s existence, our future. That day, I mustered all my courage, sought a stylist, who dressed me in the most beautiful gown, styled my hair exquisitely, and applied the most stunning makeup. I got all dolled up and went to attend Boss’s grand opening banquet at Yunding."

Su Lu spoke leisurely of the past events.

When she talked about it, she felt quite... helpless. After so many years, she had never mentioned it, and had seldom even recalled it. Logically, she should have long since forgotten, but, as it happens, the memories of some hurts are so deep-seated that even fading them is an understatement.

Shadows never faded.

Whenever she remembered, each detail was vivid, and the embarrassment, pain, and disorientation was still sharp and clear.

Jiang Li also recalled that day, which was truly beyond redemption. Even as Bo Jingshen’s close friend, he felt it had been a bit too much. From Su Lu’s standpoint, it was even more unforgivable.

"Don’t go on..." Jiang Li tried to stop her from continuing.

But Su Lu kept narrating, and as Jiang Li listened to her serene recounting, it was like watching her peel back old wounds, revealing the raw and ugly scars beneath.

"I attended in all my finery, yet I couldn’t even get in. I forced a smile and watched you all enter. Later, a... heh, a kind gentleman helped me get inside, considerately enabling me to witness Bo Jingshen announcing his engagement," Su Lu said in a soft voice.

Jiang Li pursed his lips, unable to say anything, and after a moment, he managed, "Brother Shen he..."

Without letting him finish, Su Lu said on her own, "... had his difficulties, I know. So I still gave him a chance. When we went on the training camp, he suddenly followed along. Although I wasn’t very willing because of what happened before, I didn’t resist too much in the end, right?"

Jiang Li thought about it, and that was indeed the case. Su Lu was a bit reluctant then, but ultimately, she went with Bo Jingshen, partly due to his audacity at the time.

"But I couldn’t trust him anymore, so I hid the child’s existence and didn’t plan to tell him. I hoped that after regaining trust in him, I would tell him. Then that malicious incident occurred, and to be honest, I was extremely upset; it’s no exaggeration to say my heart was torn. "

Su Lu raised her hand to her temple, "I wanted to face everything with him. But he pushed me away at a moment when he was vulnerable, when I was vulnerable, when we both needed each other’s warmth. He pushed me away, leaving himself out in the cold and thrusting me into an ice cave as well."

Jiang Li opened his mouth, struggling to speak, "He..."

"Had his difficulties, I know," Su Lu said with a faint smile.

Jiang Li thought of the words Su Lu had asked him to convey to Jing Shen, yes, her intentions were clear even then.

No matter what his difficulties were, she didn’t want to forgive.