His mother really looked like she was about to leave. The little guy immediately dropped his plush toy and ran up to Chu Ying.
“Mom, why are you holding a bag?”
His childish voice made Chu Ying feel at a loss. She really couldn’t bring herself to tell Youyou that she had to leave and would come back to see him in a couple of days.
“Mom?”
The little guy raised his hand to hold his mother’s finger, his face full of confusion.
“Mom, we have plenty of spare rooms anyway. How about…” Shen Yan walked over, his eyes full of reluctance.
The little guy seemed to sense something. He tilted his head and asked, “Is Mom not sleeping with Youyou tonight?”
He had behaved so well today! He had even brushed his hair neatly. Why wasn’t Mom going to sleep with him? Under the gaze of her three sons, Chu Ying began to waver. Her eyes looked towards Shen Minyan, who was standing to the side.
“Chu Ying, stay.” The silent man’s voice was a bit low, his dark eyes holding the same sentiment as his sons’.
They were already divorced, and the divorce agreement was very clear. Chu Ying and Shen Minyan each took custody of one child. Shen Minyan had given her eighty percent of the Shen Corporation’s assets, and ten percent to Shen Lin. As for his other businesses, anything that made a decent profit also had a share for Chu Ying.
After the little guy was found, he gave his own ten percent to Youyou. Shen Minyan was now just a tool-dad working to earn money for his sons. Chu Ying felt a bit embarrassed. When they signed the agreement, facing Chu Lan’s obvious challenges, Shen Minyan had raised no objections throughout, as if the assets weren’t even his, casually handing them over to Chu Ying.
It was precisely because his divorce settlement was generous enough that, after the divorce, the Chu family turned a blind eye to Shen Minyan visiting Chu Ying at the hospital and maintaining contact with Shen Yan. She was the one who had wanted the divorce. What would it look like if she moved back in now?
But faced with her innocent youngest son, how could she explain to him that she and his father were already divorced and couldn’t live together anymore? Her palm was poked by a soft finger. “Mom, where are you going? Are you going to work?”
“Youyou will wait at home for you to come back from work.”
The little guy was already used to the idea of his parents going out to work. In his mind, his mother hadn’t come home before because she was sick. Once she was better, she would come home. Now that Mom was leaving again, she must be going to work. He would just wait at home for her to come back. Youyou had always been a patient little boy. Chu Ying thought it over, then put her bag on the cabinet instead. She picked up the little one and said, “Mom isn’t leaving. How about I stay with Youyou every day?”
The little guy smiled happily. “Good! Mom will be with Youyou every day.”
After dinner, Shen Minyan had a room prepared for Chu Ying. It was on the second floor, next to the three sons’ rooms. Chu Ying and Shen Minyan seemed to have reached some silent agreement — they wouldn’t interfere in each other’s lives. Even living under the same roof, they wouldn’t discuss anything other than the children.
The wounds from three years ago had healed, but time wouldn’t fade the scars carved into their bones. Shen Minyan watched the scene of the one adult and three little ones playing in the living room, a faint smile curving at the corner of his lips. He didn’t want Chu Ying to forgive him, just as he would never forgive himself. Just seeing them together and happy was enough for him.
—
Compared to the Shen family’s harmonious week, the Pei family across the way seemed a bit clouded. Pei Yi and Hua Zhao’s primary problem was that Pei Xu refused to go to kindergarten. The second problem was that Pei Yi had taken Pei Xu to see a psychologist, who diagnosed Pei Xu with post-traumatic stress disorder and a tendency towards self-isolation. In short, Pei Xuhad a mental illness – two, in fact.
Pei Xudidn’t understand. He had only answered a few questions from the doctor uncle. How had he suddenly gotten sick? He looked at the doctor uncle in front of him with suspicion, frowning with his dark eyebrows.
You’re the one who’s sick. I’m perfectly fine.
The doctor smiled awkwardly and signaled to Pei Yi and Hua Zhao with his eyes. Hua Zhao smiled as she crouched down to coax the child. “Qiqi, how about we go to the children’s play area? There are lots of other kids there.”
Pei Qiqi was completely unimpressed. The doctor uncle’s frantic signaling to his uncle and aunt couldn’t escape his eyes. He saw it all. The doctor uncle was definitely going to talk behind his back and say bad things about him to his uncle. This doctor uncle was really mean. The cool, aloof Pei Qiqi had completely seen through the doctor uncle’s little scheme. He sat on his stool, turning his face away from the doctor, giving him a cold, dismissive look.
But… when his aunt gently patted his head and took his hand with her warm, dry palm, the little cool guy who had been expressionless just a moment ago hesitated. Finally, Pei Qiqi scrunched up his face, gathered his strength, jumped off the stool, and reluctantly took his aunt’s hand. He wasn’t obeying the doctor. He just didn’t want to keep his aunt waiting.
Being polite to girls was what his father had taught him. Before leaving, Pei Qiqi, dressed in a grey tracksuit, shot a warning look at the doctor uncle. If the doctor uncle dared to say bad things about him to his uncle, then, then he would… then he would never answer any of the doctor uncle’s questions again. Next time he came, he would be an uncooperative, disobedient child.
Hua Zhao led him to the children’s play area next door. As she had said, there were many children inside playing with toys. Pei Xu stood at the door, looking in. The children’s play area was warmly decorated, with a slide, rocking horses, and other children’s play facilities. Beautiful cloud-shaped lights hung from the ceiling, and colorful decorative lights were all around. It was the kind of place all children loved.
Pei Xu just stood at the entrance, showing no sign of wanting to go in. He didn’t like this kind of place. He deeply resented places with lots of children. Older children would bully younger ones. They would steal their toys. Children with parents there would rely on their parents’ backing to pick on other children. The children inside clearly noticed the arrival of the unfamiliar child. They clutched their toys tightly, staring curiously at the boy at the door.
Hua Zhao didn’t force Pei Xu to go in. She bent down and said, “It’s okay if you don’t want to go in. Auntie will get some toys for you to play with out here.”
With that, she let go of Pei Qiqi’s hand and walked inside. Pei Qiqi looked at his now-empty palm, feeling a sense of loss. Hua Zhao quickly dragged out a small blue rocking horse with a pair of golden horns.
“Auntie remembers Qiqi has a blue rocking horse too, right?”
Pei Qiqi looked down at the little rocking horse and squeezed out an “Mm” from his throat. Hearing his answer, Hua Zhao smiled, picked him up, and sat him on the rocking horse.
Pei Qiqi: “?”
A few seconds later, he thought to himself, so why did he spread his legs and let his aunt put him on the rocking horse?
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