Love in the Midst of Mistaken Identities

She turned her face away and wiped away her tears surreptitiously, but Xia Ruoxin was still unmoved. Her heart was still like a dead sea, with no waves or ripples. There was no hurt, no scar... no pain.

It was as if it was a stranger in front of her saying, “Hi, hello. Sorry, I’ve got the wrong person.”

Xia Ruoxin rested her chin on top of her daughter’s head and hugged her even tighter.

She stared at Shen Yijun somberly as she declared. Shen Yijun listened closely.

“If you really want to help, then please don’t inform the Chu family about Rainy. She’s not my daughter. I can’t give birth.

“She’s someone else’s.”

Shen Yijun choked a sob. She covered her mouth as if she was scared that she would make a noise.

She nodded profusely, muffled sobs tearing out of her throat.

“Thank you.” Xia Ruoxin bowed deeply to Shen Yijun with Rainy in her arms, and then she stepped away in the field of fallen leaves.

A leaf would always go back to its roots. The trees were the mother leaf of all fallen leaves. They would protect their children from birth to their fall. No matter where the leaf drifted, it would return to its mother’s embrace in the end.

“Mommy, is that aunty Mommy’s mommy?” Rainy asked Xia Ruoxin sensibly. She didn’t know much and couldn’t conjecture much, but she heard Shen Yijun refer to herself as Mommy’s mother.

If she was Mommy’s mommy, then she was her grandma?

So she had a grandma. She nibbled on her fingers. Then why didn’t Grandma come and visit her? When she was sick, only Mommy and Daddy were there. No one else was present.

So Grandma must not have liked her.

“Yes, she’s Grandma.” Xia Ruoxin didn’t hide the truth. She had to come clean with some things. Rainy’s comprehension skills were quite good so she would be able to understand some things.

“She doesn’t like Rainy?” Rainy tugged at her mother’s clothes, her lips forming a pout. She looked sad.

“No.” Xia Ruoxin was walking very slowly, and she spoke deliberately. “It’s not that she dislikes Rainy. She just doesn’t like Mommy. Rainy is so obedient and cute so a lot of people adore you.”

Upon hearing these words, her pout transformed into a smile.

She pressed her cheeks to her mother’s slightly cold face. “Don’t cry, Mommy. Grandma doesn’t like Mommy, but Rainy likes Mommy. I will like Mommy forever and ever, only Mommy.”

Xia Ruoxin put her daughter down on the ground and took her hand.

I will hold your hand for eternity... from the day of your birth.

The day I loosen my hand could very well be the day I leave this world.

You’re my life’s continuity, my everything.

Rainy took huge steps forward with her short legs, picking up the leaves from the ground cheerfully. Sometimes, she brought them up to the lips and blew them away. After she collected a huge pile, she ran to the tree and placed them all beneath it.

This was how the leaves returned home.

Night fell, and Chu Lui returned home for meals. Song Wan’s heart went out to her son when she met him. He was becoming sadder and sadder. Even though he wasn’t the smiley type in everyday life, he wasn’t living like a robot like what he was doing now.

She reached her hand out and squeezed Chu Lui’s arm.

“Mom, is your hand hurting?”

Song Wan shook her fingers and answered truthfully, “Yes, it hurts. Son, don’t you hurt?”

Chu Lui touched his arm. “A little.” His skin was thick, and his flesh was chunky so he could take on a little more force.

Song Wan sighed. She finally believed that this was her son of blood and flesh and knew pain. She thought he wouldn’t know what pain felt like.

“Manni is still not back yet?”

“Mm.” Chu Lui continued eating. He seemed like he didn’t like the question.

“Let her stay at the Li household longer. As long as her mood is good, my grandson will grow up fine.”

The word ‘grandson’ made Chu Lui’s grip on his chopsticks tighten.

“I saw Ruoxin today.” Song Wan recalled her afternoon and said without thinking through. “She was carrying a child, around three to four years old of age.”

Chu Jiang’s eyes widened instantly. Three to four years old?

“Not ours.” Song Wan knew what her husband’s expression meant, but this wasn’t a TV drama where a pregnancy panned out after a divorce. Their house wasn’t lucky enough to encounter a situation like this. A drama was a drama, and this was reality.

“Then?” Chu Jiang was legitimately disappointed. He thought that he would be able to carry a ready-made grandson, even though he was about to have one. However, he would be happy with an additional one, too, and a ready-made one at that. A white and delicate grandchild.

“It could be the child of the man she found.” Song Wan assumed. “That’s good, too. She’s sterile and won’t be able to have children. At least in the future, she’ll have a child by her side.”

“True.” Chu Jiang’s heart was more at ease now, subconsciously.

The two of them chatted in their own world. They didn’t notice Chu Lui’s eyes darken and drown in pain.

“Dad, Mom, I’m done eating.”

Chu Lui put down his chopsticks. “I’m going back to my room.” He stood up and strode forward. His footsteps seemed heavier, and the heavy thuds on the ground seemed to match his heartbeats.

“This child...” Song Wan was still worried about her son. After all, Xia Ruoxin was the one he had set his sights on since he was young, but a mistake was a mistake. Now, they both had their own families. Nothing could happen now no matter what.

“Don’t worry.” Chu Lui patted his wife’s shoulders. “Ah Lui is not a child anymore. He knows what he can and cannot do.”

“That’s what I’m most worried about.”

Song Wan rested her fists on her knees. She had a bad premonition. She was scared he would have a bee in his bonnet and never escape these thoughts, exactly because of his character.

The Xia Ruoxin now was his kryptonite. Just a light touch would cause him immense pain.

“Trust him.” That was all Chu Jiang could say to console his wife. However, he knew his son well. No matter what situations he encountered, Chu Lui was still Chu Lui. He would never bend.

Chu Lui drove away from his parents’ house. No matter how late it was, he still wanted to go back there. Not because there was warmth, not because someone was waiting for him, but because that was his home. His father’s was loving and successful, but his was a failure.

He returned home, opened the door, and turned on the lights.