When one's emotions were too negative, one would sometimes automatically lock them away and not think about the cause of the negative emotions.
It was like a self-preservation function.
However, upon meeting certain conditions, those locked up emotions might escape and erupt.
In that life, this was how Liu Qing's emotions were unlocked.
The moment he saw Ding Yun, all his locked memories were awakened. He could not suppress his feelings and he immediately exploded.
The difference between this life and that life was that he had already gone through that outburst and catharsis in that life. Although his emotions were unlocked again in this life, it was not so explosive.
His tragic end in that life also made Liu Qing understand that this was the only chance for him to escape from a tragic ending.
He must control his emotions.
Taking a deep breath, he glanced at Ding Yun and nodded. "Yes."
That was all he said.
After saying it, he turned his face to the side, afraid that he would not be able to control his emotions if he looked at her again.
Although Ding Yun had taken good care of herself, she was already in her 50s. She was the kind of woman who looked beautiful at a glance but who looked her age upon closer inspection.
The most outstanding thing about her was the way she looked so wealthy.
Behind her stood a young woman about 1.75 meters tall, dressed in a black suit. It was not clear if she was the driver, the secretary or the bodyguard.
Ding Yun obviously knew what she had done in the past. Before she came, she had prepped herself to be scolded by her son. As long as she was not scolded particularly badly, she would be able to stand it.
Although Liu Qing's current attitude was not what she wanted to see the most, it was still a normal reaction. His attitude was already much gentler than she had imagined.
Although she could see the hatred in his eyes as he glanced at her, at least he did not react too strongly and he did not scold her.
She felt strangely relieved.
She said gently, "You recognize me, don't you, my child?"
Liu Qing continued to face the other side, but he nodded.
By this point, his earlier expression had already betrayed his emotions. He also knew that it was impossible to put on a show of mother and son hugging each other and crying together. That would seem too fake now.
It was all he could do to stop himself from cursing at her and saying something provocative.
He kept reciting in his heart.
"This is a business transaction."
'I'm dealing with a client.'
"That's all."
Ding Yun asked the woman behind her to back away and then she lowered her voice to speak to Liu Qing.
"I know I've let you and your father down. It was wrong of me to abandon both of you. I don't want to defend my wrongdoings in the past. It was indeed all my fault. I was selfish and greedy. It's been hard on you all these years. My child, I've let you down."
Liu Qing thought to himself, "So you do know that you have let me down."
He remembered that year when he was just a teenager and had not even graduated from middle school. He had to drop out of school to stay at home and take care of his bedridden father. He had watched his father's health worsened day by day until he finally died in bed.
The sadness he kept inside him was awakened and he could no longer control it. He was a man who was almost 30 years old, but his eyes turned red at that moment.
Ding Yun's eyes reddened as well as she said, "I've let you down and I've let your father down. If your father hadn't agreed back then, I wouldn't have been able to get a divorce. But he still agreed because he didn't want to hold me back. He was a good man. I've let him down and I've felt guilty all these years."
Liu Qing did not say anything. He concentrated on controlling his emotions.
Ding Yun continued, "It's not that I haven't missed you in the past decade, but I dare not look for you. I was afraid that if I did, I would lose the life I had. I admit that I'm a selfish person. I love myself more than anything."
Liu Qing finally spoke. "Then why are you looking for me now?"
Ding Yun said, "As you know, after I divorced your father, I married a rich man. Last month, that man died in a car accident. I inherited all his assets and he can't control me anymore. I want to make it up to you, and no one will be able to interfere now. After the accident, I searched for information about you and found out that you work here, so I'm here to look for you."
After saying this, she looked at Liu Qing with heartache.
"My child, how much are you suffering by sitting here in such hot weather without even an air conditioner? Come with me. I'm now the chairwoman of a large company with tens of billions in assets. If you come with me, you won't have to suffer this anymore. After all those years of suffering, you can have the happiest days of your life in the future."
Liu Qing was silent for a while and only spoke when he was in a calmer mood.
"My life now is much better than when I first came out to work. Back then, I owed tens of thousands of dollars for my father's medical treatment. I had to pay it back in a hurry and did some very hard work. For me to get paid by sitting here, it's already a very easy life."
Ding Yun felt both guilty and heartbroken and tears streamed down her face. She wept as she said, "My child, I have failed you. You've suffered all these years."
Liu Qing let out a long breath and smiled.
"It's fine. I'm a man. What's a little suffering? The conditions are already like that. If I don't try to survive the hardships, do I just wait for death to come?"
"It won't happen again," Ding Yun said. "Come with mom. I won't let you suffer like this again."
Liu Qing said, "This is too sudden. I'm not mentally prepared at all. Can you let me think about it?"
"You still hate me, don't you?" Ding Yun said sadly.
Liu Qing finally turned his face towards her and smiled. "If I say that I don't hate you at all after all these years, you won't believe me, will you?"
Ding Yun lowered her head. "I know. I'm the one who did wrong things in the past. But you have to believe me. I'll make it up to you."
"I believe you," Liu Qing said. "If you aren't sincere about that, you wouldn't be here today."
He knew an additional thing—if his attitude was too hostile, Ding Yun would leave and never look at him again.
A selfish person would still feel kinship, but kinship was not an important thing to her.
Ding Yun was delighted. "My child, have you forgiven me? Have you?"
Liu Qing thought to himself, "I choose to forgive the money."
He said, "Whether I forgive you or not, you're still my mother. I can't deny that. I don't have a father anymore. I don't want to not have a mother as well. I don't want to have no family in this world."
His words touched Ding Yun to the core.
The more sensible her child was, the more pity she felt for him.
As she wiped away her tears, she said, "My child, trust me. Mom will always be the person closest to you."