When Xia Xingchen bought the soy sauce and brought it to the kitchen, Xia Dabai had already gotten up. He was in the kitchen, lingering around his grandmother, craving for pancakes. Xia Xingchen just called "Mom" and said nothing. She put down the soy sauce and went out quietly.
She simply packed up the remaining things and went back into bed.
Shen Min peeked out of the kitchen, looking worried, while Xia Dabai also stood on tiptoe and watched. After a while, he asked worriedly, "Grandma, is Dabao sick?"
"I'll go see her." Shen Min was worried, so she took the pancakes out of the pot, wrapped three in oil paper and gave them to the child. Then she said, "You go out and play with Da Mao and Er Mao. I'll go see your mother."
"I want to see Dabao, too."
"It's okay, grandma can just go and see. Go and play. Da Mao and the others have been waiting for you at the door for a long time." Da Mao and Er Mao are new friends that Xia Dabai met here. They are two boys one or two years older than him, and he likes them very much. The toys they play with are all things he has never seen in the city. Occasionally, some children will dig in the soil to catch earthworms, climb trees to catch caterpillars. Yesterday, Da Mao caught a black caterpillar and scared the three-year-old girl next door so much that she sat on the ground and cried.
Although Xia Dabai was half innocent, when the little girl's mother complained, she also reported him to jail, and when he came back at night, he was scolded by Xia Xingchen. However, even so, it did not affect Xia Dabai's friendship with those naughty kids at all.
Shen Min watched him walk out of the yard, gave one of the cakes in her hand to each of the other two children, and then ran back inside. She ran to the door, poked her head out and said a few words to Xia Xingchen before going out to play with the other children again.
When Shen Min entered the room, Xia Xingchen was still buried in the quilt.
"Xingchen?" Shen Min called out worriedly, "Is he catching a cold?"
She poured a cup of hot water, put it aside, and squatted down. Xia Xingchen poked her head out from under the quilt. Shen Min saw her red eyes and felt heartbroken. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"
It would have been fine if she hadn't asked, but once she did, Xia Xingchen almost couldn't hold back her tears.
"What happened? Talk to mom."
Xia Xingchen felt a little weak. She sat up, hugging the quilt. Not wanting her mother to worry about her, she silently swallowed the bitterness in her heart. She just curled her lips, met her mother's concerned eyes, and pretended to be relaxed and said, "Mom, I'm fine. It's just... Today is Dabai's father's wedding..."
She didn't say any more.
Shen Min was surprised, "He has a family?"
“…” She didn’t say anything, which meant she agreed.
Shen Min had not expected this to happen. She had originally thought that her daughter would be fine if she married a caring man, but now...
"Just get married. You can't get involved with a married man, no matter how much he wants to, you can't touch him!" Shen Min was very sensitive about the "third party". Naturally, she had a very low impression of that man. When she mentioned him, her expression became much colder. "Give him the hairpin when you go back. It's too expensive and we can't afford it."
Xia Xingchen groaned in frustration. She had to go back eventually. She came to the small town to see her mother and also because of Song Weiyi's request.
She agreed to Song Weiyi because she wanted to coax her and not let her cause trouble at the press conference. Anyway, now that she and Bai Yeqing were married, she wouldn't be stupid enough to turn out those photos and give them to the reporters.
Doing so would only bring shame to the family.
… … … …
Xia Xingchen didn't sleep much the night before, and wanted to lie down again to catch up on some sleep. However, after lying down for a while, she heard Xia Dabai crying outside.
She cried so sadly that it made people terrified.
"What's going on!" Shen Min hurried out.
Xia Xingchen was not sleepy to begin with, and had a splitting headache, which was even worse now. He opened the quilt, put on his shoes, and went out without even bothering to put on his coat.
As soon as I opened the door, I didn't expect Xia Dabai to be standing there.
He was wearing white sneakers and a beige windbreaker with ox-horn buttons. He looked up and stared at her. His eyes were red like a little rabbit. It was obvious that he was too much of a shock. His flat mouth twitched because of the grievance, and he looked very pitiful.
Xia Xingchen understood it in an instant. He couldn't hide it after all. He was playing outside, and every household had a TV, and every household was paying attention to the news about the President and the First Lady. It was impossible for him not to see it.
"Mom, don't worry about it, he's fine. He'll be fine after crying for a while." Xia Xingchen and Shen Min said.
Shen Min was wiping the child's tears with tissue, and guessed that the child might know something, so she sighed and said, "Talk to him."
Xia Xingchen nodded, opened the door, and let Xia Dabai in. Xia Dabai refused to move, stubbornly standing there, staring at her with red eyes. Xia Xingchen sighed, "It's useless to stare at me. If you still want to cry, come in and cry. It's cold outside."
"I'd rather freeze to death." Xia Dabai's voice became hoarse as he spoke. Anyway, I have a father but no mother, or a mother but no father, so I'd rather die!
Xia Xingchen was wearing thin pajamas, and the cold wind made her shiver. She rubbed her arms and carried the child inside. Xia Dabai was really angry. As soon as she hugged him, he immediately twisted his body and struggled. Xia Xingchen couldn't do anything about him, so she put him down and locked the door.
Xia Dabai stood there, tears falling down. She felt so miserable watching, but she couldn't cry with the child.
"Cry for a while, and then mom will wash your face. Otherwise, your face will be as chapped as a kitten's."
When she said that, Xia Dabai started to cry even harder. "Why are you so annoying? So annoying! I don't want Xiaobai to get married! I don't want Xiaobai to marry another woman!"
The child was so sad that his voice was shrill. Xia Xingchen had never seen him so sad before. He had high expectations before, so he found it even harder to accept now.
Xia Xingchen squatted down and held him in his arms.
"It's okay... Be good, even if Xiaobai marries another woman... you are still his son... he still loves you the most..." She comforted him softly, and it was also the truth.
But Xia Dabai obviously didn't buy it. "I don't want him anymore! I don't want his love! I don't want it! Let him marry another woman, let him have children with another woman! I hate him so much!"
Xia Dabai sobbed and cried, saying he hated his father over and over again, but Xia Xingchen heard it clearly, the trauma that his small and fragile heart had suffered and the disappointment he had in his father, and it felt like a knife was cutting his heart.