Disciplinary Code

atured.
It didn’t seem surprising.

In fact, there were countless left-behind children in the world.
If Jiang Yi hadn’t started sleeping around, XiaoTong and he would have struggled together for more than ten years, built a stable family, and it would have been a story of hardship followed by sweetness for them.

But it just happened at the moment of sweetness that everything fell apart.

Ji Yao suddenly understood why Jiang Heng hated his father so much, enough to say, “I’ll never go back to Shanghai.”

Because to Jiang Heng, Jiang Yi was not just a family betrayer but also the one who shattered his hopes.

Afterward, the family fell apart, and XiaoTong started drifting.
Jiang Heng officially entered the boarding school, and from then on, he took care of himself.
XiaoTong felt guilty, so she worked even harder to earn money, hoping to make up for it materially.

Advertisement

However, the more she wanted to earn money, the busier she became.
Seeing XiaoTong busier, Jiang Heng didn’t want to trouble her even more, so he handled everything himself, refusing to ask for help.

Jiang Heng reported good news without mentioning the bad, always hiding his sadness, anger, and sorrow behind his back, leaving XiaoTong with a mature and rational good son.

But because he didn’t speak, XiaoTong believed that this compensatory pattern was correct.
Thus, they quickly fell into a vicious cycle of caring about each other but being misaligned.

Until he grew up into an adult, transformed into a strong and self-reliant man, he seemed to have truly forged a steel-like character that was immune to harm, a person who could withstand any poison, storm, and who actively persuaded XiaoTong to find her new world.

Indeed, Ji Yao thought.

If it weren’t for XiaoTong, Ji Yao might never have known these things.
His impression of Jiang Heng’s family would have remained at the light-hearted “fishing in the river and playing pool” level.
Ironically, Jiang Heng hadn’t lied; he had just shared only half of everything, turning his heavy emotions into casual conversation.

Ji Yao suddenly realized that Jiang Heng might have hidden his emotions so many times over the years that he had given people the impression that he was a different person.

“I’ve been an irresponsible mother,” XiaoTong said softly.
“I always thought he didn’t need me, not until the winter two years ago when he suddenly came to find me.”

Two years ago, Ji Yao quickly calculated in his mind, that should have been a year after they broke up.

“At that time, he looked very upset.
He drank quite a bit that night and lay on the couch, hugging a cushion and resting it on my lap,” XiaoTong said.

At that time, XiaoTong had just been married for a whole year, and she missed her son even when she was in a foreign country.
When she saw Jiang Heng suddenly coming, she was overjoyed, and all her attention was focused on him.

But Jiang Heng’s mood was uncharacteristically low that night.
He had too much to drink, rolled over, and hugged her waist.

“Mom,” Jiang Heng had softly asked, “Can I stay with you for a few more days?”

At that time, XiaoTong didn’t understand what was going on.
She looked at Jiang Heng in confusion and reached out to stroke his hair.

“Of course, you can stay as long as you want,” XiaoTong said.
“If you’re willing, when you finish school in the UK, come live with us here in France.
That would be the best.”

Advertisement

Her words seemed to soothe Jiang Heng, and he mumbled a response, leaning against XiaoTong, not saying a word for a long time.

But that night, unfortunately, in the late hours, Amber suddenly developed a high fever.
Charles didn’t want to disturb their mother-son conversation, so he quietly went to the living room to search for the first-aid kit.
However, he wasn’t familiar with its contents, and after a clattering search, he let Jiang Heng know.

The next day, Jiang Heng boarded a train and left, saying he was going to Sweden to see the snow.

At that time, XiaoTong still didn’t understand why he had suddenly left.
It wasn’t until a week later, while eating at the dining table, that she suddenly realized.
It was only then that she discovered Jiang Heng didn’t think he didn’t need her; he just didn’t want to be a burden to her—even though XiaoTong had never considered him a burden.

Some realizations come in an instant, especially when it’s too late, making the pain even more intense.

Ji Yao’s throat tightened, and he didn’t know how he managed to squeeze out the words from his throat: “Why did he… suddenly come to find you?”

“I don’t know.
Maybe he wasn’t in a good mood at the time,” XiaoTong replied, shaking her head.
“It happened to be Christmas Day, and I thought he came to celebrate our wedding anniversary with Charles and me.”

Ji Yao suddenly understood.

Only today did he have a clear concept—Jiang Heng had learned and lived everything on his own.
He had undergone surgery and celebrated the days by himself, and he had signed the surgical consent forms himself.
From the day Ji Yao met him, it was as if he had emerged from the cracks in a stone.

He had friends from all over the world but no family.

He had once tried to consider Ji Yao as family, but Ji Yao had let down his trust.

It turned out that during all those years, among all the choices made by everyone, Jiang Heng had been the one at a disadvantage, the one who had been abandoned.

Maybe, on that same day, he and Xiao Tong had abandoned Jiang Heng.