Heart Flutter

Chapter 161

Tang Yan panicked instantly. She was terrible at lying, and now her words started stumbling. “W-Who told you that? I-I resigned…”

“Doesn’t matter who told me,” Tang Huiyi’s voice over the phone was firm and aggressive. “I’m just asking you one thing—did you resign? Tell me the truth.”

Tang Yan knew she was cornered. There was no point hiding it anymore—secrets had a way of coming out. Better to come clean and get it over with.

“…Yes. I resigned.”

Hearing this, Ji Yuqing, who had been hovering by the bathroom door, suddenly froze. She immediately guessed the topic of the phone call.

On the other end, Tang Huiyi took a deep breath. “Why did you resign all of a sudden? Do you have a convincing reason?”

Tang Yan couldn’t possibly tell her the real reason. After a quick moment of thought, she came up with a random excuse. “The workload was too much, and the pressure was overwhelming. I couldn’t handle it anymore.”

“You kid…” Tang Huiyi sounded both disappointed and frustrated. “Fine. I get it. So, what’s your plan now?”

“I don’t know yet. But I won’t stay idle for long. I’ll start looking for a new job right away.” Tang Yan knew the most important thing now was to keep her mom calm.

“Alright, I’ve got other things to take care of.” Tang Huiyi sounded rushed.

“Okay, bye.” Tang Yan put down the phone, still a little shaken.

Ji Yuqing walked over and sat at the edge of the bed. “She found out you resigned?”

Tang Yan nodded. “What are the chances? I just resigned two days ago.”

“Probably overheard it somehow, otherwise she wouldn’t have called you so urgently,” Ji Yuqing said.

Tang Yan nodded again and placed a hand over her chest. “I don’t know why, but I feel this heavy pressure in my chest. Like something bad is about to happen.”

“Don’t overthink it. It’ll be fine.” Ji Yuqing tried to soothe her. “Are you hungry? Come on, get up and get ready. Let’s go eat.”

Meanwhile, back in her room, Tang Huiyi sat alone for a long time after the call ended. The more she thought about it, the more unconvinced she became by Tang Yan’s excuse. She couldn’t just accept that explanation—something felt off. Maybe it was a mother’s instinct, but she felt like her daughter was hiding something bigger.

Thankfully, during a recent chance encounter, she had exchanged contact info with Chen Yuyan, the CEO. Though they hadn’t spoken since, she decided to give it a shot and called her.

The phone was picked up, but not by the CEO.

“Hello, this is Chen’s secretary. She’s in a meeting. May I ask what this is regarding?”

“Oh, I’ll wait then. I’ll try calling her after her meeting.”

“Alright, have a nice day. Goodbye.” The secretary hung up.

As fate would have it, Chen Yuyan stepped out of the meeting shortly after and asked, “Who was that?”

“A woman. She asked for you but wouldn’t say why. Said she’d call back herself.”

Chen Yuyan raised an eyebrow, picked up her phone, and returned the call.

When Tang Huiyi saw the call coming back, she answered quickly. “Hello?”

“Hello, this is Chen Yuyan.”

“Hi, I’m Tang Yan’s mother.”

Chen Yuyan was a little surprised but kept her composure. “Hello. What can I do for you?”

“I heard Yan Yan already left your company?”

“So you already found out,” Chen replied calmly.

“I just want to know why. Was she underperforming? Did she mess something up?”

“No, none of that,” Chen said with a slight smile. “Maybe you should go find that answer for yourself. I have to get back to work now.”

“Oh, sorry for bothering you then.”

After the awkward call, Tang Huiyi sat in silence. Now she was even more convinced that Tang Yan was hiding something. But how was she supposed to figure out what?

She eventually managed to get Zhao Xiaoyun’s phone number through several connections. She knew Zhao was close with Tang Yan and had been living in Huadu for years. Surely, she knew something.

Zhao Xiaoyun was stunned to get a call from Tang Yan’s mom. “Auntie—hi, hello.”

“Hello, Xiaoyun.” Tang Huiyi greeted her warmly. She knew Zhao’s parents and had seen her mom marry into the village years ago, though they hadn’t had much interaction since. “I just wanted to ask about Yan Yan.”

“Yan Yan?” Zhao paused, feeling a little guilty. “Sure, go ahead.”

“Did you know she quit her job? Is it because she’s dating someone in Huadu? Did she quit because of that person?” The barrage of questions caught Zhao completely off guard.

“I’m not really sure. Maybe you should ask her yourself,” Zhao said, refusing to betray her friend.

“I know you’re her best friend, but hiding the truth from me is only going to hurt her in the long run.”

“Auntie, I really don’t know anything. I just figured it was work stress,” Zhao insisted.

Seeing she wouldn’t get anything more, Tang Huiyi had to end the call.

But the more people stayed quiet, the more suspicious it all became.

So she opened Tang Yan’s WeChat Moments. She normally didn’t check it, but this time she noticed something shocking—she had been blocked. Her own daughter had blocked her. It stung. The lack of trust hit her like a slap in the face.

She tried every contact and connection she could think of and finally managed to get access to someone else’s view of Tang Yan’s Moments.

And what she saw there left her speechless.

Declarations of love. Sweet captions. Intimate selfies. All of it—photos of Tang Yan and Ji Yuqing, side by side. Things she’d never seen before.

She wasn’t blind. Anyone with eyes could tell what was going on. She’d just never thought to look for it before. Ji Yuqing… how could you do this to my daughter?

Disappointment. Anger. It all boiled inside her.

That night, Tang Huiyi tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Beside her, Lao Wang couldn’t sleep either. He rolled over and put a hand on her.

“Babe, what’s going on? Why aren’t you sleeping?”

Facing away from him, Tang Huiyi started crying silently. Once she thought of what she’d seen, she couldn’t stop.

“Why are you crying? Who upset you?”

“Just go to sleep. Leave me alone,” she mumbled, biting her hand to keep from sobbing out loud. Deep down, guilt gnawed at her. If she hadn’t encouraged Tang Yan to seek out Ji Yuqing… maybe none of this would’ve happened.

“Still upset about her quitting?” Wang tried to comfort her. “Kids need to figure things out sometimes. She’ll come around.”

“I said don’t worry about me. Just sleep.” Tang Huiyi got up, grabbed a coat, and left the bedroom. She stood alone on the balcony, shaking with rage under the pale moonlight.

She didn’t sleep a wink that night.

The next morning, she called Tang Yan again.

Tang Yan, still in bed with Ji Yuqing, was jolted awake by the ringtone. After yesterday, she dared not ignore it. She got up and answered immediately.

“Hi, Mom. It’s early.”

Her mother’s voice was cold. “Tell me. What exactly is going on between you and Ji Yuqing?”

Tang Yan felt like her heart had just been punched. She could barely breathe. “Mom, what are you talking about? What do you mean?”

“Cut the crap. I’ll ask one last time—what is your relationship with Ji Yuqing?” Her voice was icy and firm, on the verge of exploding.

The phone was on speaker. Ji Yuqing heard everything.

She had known this day would come—just didn’t expect it so soon, without warning. She reached over and held Tang Yan’s hand, a silent signal of support. No more hiding. Whatever happens, we face it together.

Encouraged by her, Tang Yan took a deep breath and sat up straighter.

“We’re… we’re together. We’re in a relationship. I’m sorry, Mom, for hiding it from you for so long.”

Tang Huiyi felt her heart shatter.

It was like being stabbed, slow and merciless, by someone you loved the most.

She ended the call abruptly, completely overwhelmed. When Lao Wang woke up, he found her crouched on the balcony, looking like she’d been there all night. Just as he was about to speak, she said first, “Book me the earliest flight to Huadu.”

He froze. “A flight?”

“I said book the flight. Didn’t you hear me?” she screamed.

“Okay, okay. Don’t get upset. I’ll book it right now.” He turned and went to grab his phone.

Left alone, Tang Huiyi hugged her knees and sobbed uncontrollably, all while digging her nails into her arms, cursing herself.