She had never called this number before. She had only found it from her father this morning. Her father said that he had gone through a lot of trouble to get it.
"Hello, who is this?" The phone rang for a long time before a middle-aged woman's voice came from the other end. When Xia Xingchen heard it, her eyes suddenly turned red.
Even after all these years, she could still recognize her mother's voice immediately.
"Hello?" There was no response from this side, and the other side called out patiently.
"Mom." As soon as Xia Xingchen opened her mouth, she began to cry, "It's me, I'm Xingchen."
"..." It seemed that the person on the other end was too shocked to come back to his senses for a long time. When he woke up again, he could only hear the suppressed sobbing in the microphone. Xia Xingchen's tears suddenly flowed down, and he could no longer hold back.
Xia Dabai was so anxious that he kept wiping her tears with his sleeve and trying to comfort her. She was afraid of scaring the child, so she smiled and said they were tears of joy.
… … …
After talking to Shen Min on the phone, Xia Xingchen felt relieved to go. The taxi took a long time to get to the town, and it was already past 7 o'clock.
At this time, it was completely dark. The night here was not like that in the city. At this time, the neighbors had just finished dinner and were visiting each other. It was quite lively.
Xia Dabao had never been to such a small town before, and his eyes were rolling around with great curiosity. He bounced on the bluestone road with his little feet, and he found it very fun.
"Xingchen!" She showed up with her luggage, and Shen Min was already waiting at the door. Xia Xingchen looked at the middle-aged woman and paused for a long time, feeling a little homesick.
Time has passed, and the years have left some traces on her face. But even so, my mother is still the gentle and elegant woman in my memory. Her hair is tied up behind her head with a jade hairpin. She is dressed in green, and in the twilight, the ancient town is like an elegant landscape painting.
"Dabao, grandma is calling you." Xia Dabai pulled her trouser leg to remind her, and she came back to her senses, put down the box, and walked over quickly. The mother and daughter looked at each other, hugged, and their eyes were red again.
I had a lot to say and a lot of thoughts to express, but in the end, they all turned into tears.
…
After entering the house, Xia Xingchen discovered that there was no one else in the house except them. Her father said that her mother had remarried, but in this clean and warm house, there was absolutely no trace of a man.
"Come in, the room is a little shabby, but it's still spacious. Let's go in and talk." Shen Min seemed very happy, with a faint smile on her face. She arranged a tidy room for the mother and son, and then went out to close the door.
The bed here is a tatami, very simple. Xia Dabai thought it was very fun, so he took off his shoes and rolled around on the bed.
When Shen Min came in, Xia Dabai stopped acting rashly and sat down obediently next to Xia Xingchen.
"Dabai, call me grandma." Xia Xingchen pulled Xia Dabai. Xia Dabai immediately called out sweetly, "Grandma."
Shen Min looked very surprised. She glanced from her daughter's face to the child, "Your child?"
"Yeah." Xia Xingchen touched the child's head.
"You're married?" Shen Min had a complicated expression. She was happy for her daughter, but she was also sad and regretful. Marriage is a lifelong event, but as a mother, she missed it...
"No." Xia Xingchen curled her lips and shook her head. As if she knew what her mother was thinking, she reached out and held her hand again, "If I really get married someday, you will definitely be the guest of honor."
only…
She actually hadn't thought about getting married. With Xia Dabai, she could also consider not getting married. It's just that her grandmother has been urging her to do so in the past two years.
Shen Min obviously didn't react, "Not married? Then this child..."
Xia Dabai quickly hugged Xia Xingchen's arm and said, "I am our Dabao's biological child."
Shen Min looked at the child, then at her daughter. The two looked very similar. They were undoubtedly her biological child.
But, not married, but having a child
"The child's father..." Shen Min was worried, afraid of touching upon something that would make her daughter sad, so she stopped talking halfway through the question.
Xia Xingchen lowered his head slightly, his eyes falling on the two people's clasped fingertips, and after a while he said in a muffled voice: "Actually, it was... an accident. However, it has been so long, there is nothing to mention."
She tried to make herself look more optimistic. If her mother knew what Li Lingyi had done to her, she would be heartbroken and hate her father to the core!
Shen Min sighed, feeling unhappy. Xia Dabai seemed to notice that the atmosphere between the two was rather dull, and interrupted crisply, "Grandma, don't worry, my dad will marry Dabao soon! He is a responsible man, and he will definitely not abandon Dabao!"
"Really?" Shen Min was half-believing and half-doubting the child's words. She looked at Xia Xingchen inquiringly. Xia Xingchen thought of what Song Weiyi said at the press conference today, and felt bitter in her heart. She couldn't even utter a word "hmm".
… … … …
That night.
Xia Xingchen and Xia Dabai slept on the tatami, and she tossed and turned but couldn't fall asleep. It was only now that she realized that her mother had never remarried. After the divorce, her father, who had made a mistake, had been begging for reconciliation, and her mother had no choice but to choose to return to the countryside.
Now, after going around in circles, there is still no one around me.
Xia Xingchen couldn't help but think of herself. She didn't know what kind of man she would meet in the long years ahead.
only…
When there is such a person in your heart, it would probably become difficult to even compromise with other people, right
"Dabao, you've seen your mother, why are you still not happy?" Xia Dabai turned around and faced her. Xia Xingchen glanced at him and curled her lips, "I'm not unhappy."
He blinked his eyes twice, "You miss Xiaobai, don't you?"
"… No."
"You're lying. You must be thinking about Xiao Bai."
Xia Xingchen bit her lip, unable to speak. Xia Dabai suddenly got up from the tatami and crawled out of the bed.
She whispered, "It's cold, come back soon."
"We agreed to call Xiaobai." Xia Dabai took out her phone from her bag and went back into bed. Xia Xingchen gathered the quilt around him and turned off the light. His little hand turned on the phone screen, and the faint light illuminated his little face.
"I'm going to call Xiaobai now. He must be still awake."
"Don't call." Xia Xingchen wanted to take the phone back. "He didn't even call you, why did you call him?"
"You said so. He was busy and didn't call me. I can forgive him."
As Xia Dabai said this, he had already skillfully flipped through Xiaobai's address book. Xia Xingchen knew that she couldn't stop him, so she just let him go. She turned around and pretended to sleep.