Yun Muxi stood at the door quietly, watching Gong Yu drink the water that Tong Nan gave him and Tong Nan even wipe the water on the corner of Gong Yu’s mouth attentively. Tong Nan was careful and considerate like a newly-married pretty wife. Yun Muxi was startled by this thought, and her heart dropped a beat. Tong Nan’s sweet smile pierced her heart as if she had been punched by a bodkin.
Yun Muxi put down her hands silently, turned around and walked to the end of the corridor. At the other end of it, Seventh Brother returned with a shopping bag and saw Yun Muxi hurriedly going downstairs. He walked into the ward with some confusion and asked casually, “Did Xiao Xi come here?”
Tong Nan and Gong Yu lifted their heads and looked at Seventh Brother, puzzled. Seeing their expressions, Seventh Brother guessed they did not know it, so he said, “I caught a view of someone’s back. It looks like Xiao Xi. Perhaps I was wrong!”
Gong Yu frowned and recalled what had happened just now—Tong Nan had been pestering him to talk with her, which annoyed him a lot. But since Tong Nan had saved him, he had no choice but to bear it. Later, a nurse came to send the medicine, and Tong Nan took it and asked the nurse to leave immediately. Tong Nan imposed herself on him, requiring to feed him the medicine. At first, he did not agree. And Tong Nan threatened to feed him with her mouth if he did not allow her to give him the medicine herself. So he had to agree, and then Tong Nan took the cup and offered it…
At the thought, Gong Yu arched an eyebrow and threw a glare at Tong Nan. He turned over, got off the bed, and stepped to the window. He stood there for a long while and could not catch the view of Yun Muxi. He could not help feeling disappointed. Perhaps what Seventh Brother said was right—he had mistaken someone for Xiao Xi!
…
In the hall downstairs. Yun Muxi was about to leave when someone patted her shoulder. She looked back, only to see Lu Yang’s big smile, bright and gleaming like sunshine. Yun Muxi was taken aback and asked surprisedly, “Lu Yang? Why are you here?”
Lu Yang laughed clearly and said, “One of my comrades is injured and living in this hospital. I come to see him. Why are you here? Are you sick?”
A flicker of loneliness flashed in Yun Muxi’s eyes, but soon a faint smile took on her face. She said, “I just came to see a friend, too.”
Lu Yang looked at his watch and said, “Are you done? I can take two hours off. And I am free now. Let me take you home!”
Yun Muxi paused and said plainly, “No, thanks. I can go back by myself!”
Lu Yang’s face fell and sank his voice to say, “Are you worried because of what happened yesterday? It is my business that I like you. Whether we will be together and you like me or not, we’re still friends, even if we will not become lovers.”
Hearing this, the worry in Yun Muxi’s heart faded a bit. And she said, “All right!”
Immediately, Lu Yang’s iconic, shiny smile returned to his face. He said, “Let’s go. My car is parked in the underground parking lot. And the elevator is over there.”
After getting on the car, Lu Yang did not mention what happened yesterday and chatted with Yun Muxi aimlessly. Lu Yang’s brightness resolved the embarrassment between them. The atmosphere was rather easy till the car drove to the downstairs of Yun Muxi’s home. Lu Yang did not stop long and said goodbye to Yun Muxi directly.
Yun Muxi turned around to her home. When walking out of the elevator, she saw Gong Yu’s door and dismal welled up in her heart again. Tong Nan’s sweet smile hovered in her mind like a charm, which she could not get rid of. Seventh Brother’s words—”external blow”—prodded her heart like a blunt object. She could feel a stabbing pain from her heart.
Yun Muxi turned back to walk to her house. The moment she shut the door, she leaned on the door and sagged gradually on the ground. Yun Muxi suddenly felt if she was born with bad luck. When she was 15 years old, her mother was dead in a traffic accident; her father passed away at her age of 20; Niannian was detested from an early age because she had no father. And Gong Yu and Mou Yichen fought against each other because of her, and one was injured and the other was in hospital. It seemed that nothing good happened on the people around her…
Sometimes, the moment of being depressed was the most dreadful. Under this circumstance, she was easy to muddle wildly. The more she thought, the more she felt all the mistakes came because of her and that she had brought disasters to all the people. She even thought whether she would continue to bring something worse to the people around. Should she stay away from them…
Yun Muxi felt too miserable, holding her knees and weeping in a sad voice.
Yun Muxi did not stand up until she found she almost had no more tears to shed. She walked into the bathroom and washed her face. She knew that after crying, the days had to go on. She would go to the kindergarten to pick up Niannian. She could not allow herself to continue sagging like that. She should cheer up, even for Niannian.
…
In the following three days, Yun Muxi did not go to see Gong Yu, nor did she call Mou Yichen, let alone Lu Yang. It seemed that Yun Muxi had blocked them from thinking, asking or mentioning.
This morning, Yun Muxi got everything ready for Yichen and was going to take her to the kindergarten. Today, a parents-children sports meeting would be held in Niannian’s kindergarten. When they got downstairs, they saw Mou Yichen leaning on the car door and waiting for them quietly. With some hesitation, Yun Muxi came up and asked, “Yichen, why are you here?”
After three days, it was hard to find any trace of injury on Mou Yichen. He stood ahead of Yun Muxi in high spirits, squatted down and held up Niannian. He said softly, “I have made an appointment with my baby Niannian to take part in the sports meeting. How can I forget? Am I right, my baby Nianian?”
On hearing it, Niannian grinned joyfully and said, “Yes. I thought Daddy Chen would not come!”
These two days, Yun Muxi was in a bad mood. Niannian behaved very well, and she would like to ask if Mou Yichen would come to the sports meeting but held back. This morning, Niannian received no message from Mou Yichen and thought Mou Yichen would not come. But out of expectation, she caught sight of Mou Yichen when going downstairs. At that moment, she was filled with hope. And hearing Mou Yichen would take part in her sports meeting, she was wild with joy.
Hearing it, Yun Muxi looked uncertain. These days, she had blocked and neglected them intentionally. But now Mou Yichen came out unexpectedly, which made Yun Muxi disconsolate again.
Mou Yichen ignored Yun Muxi and held Niannian to put her into the car. When getting in, Niannian urged, “Mommy, hurry up. Don’t just stand there. We cannot be late for the sports meeting. Today, a lot of children will look at me taking Daddy Chen to join in the sports meeting!”
Seeing Niannian’s excited look, Yun Muxi could not bear to disappoint Niannian, so she fought back the depression and got into the car.
The kindergarten was quite lively today, and many children came with their parents. Niannian held Yun Muxi by one hand, and Mou Yichen by the other hand, walking to the kindergarten. Niannian greeted her classmates actively and proudly. Her voice was so loud that it attracted many people’s attention. They looked sidelong at Niannian holding Yun Muxi and Mou Yichen. The two adults were a perfect match with a cute and adorable daughter. The picture of this three-person family was too perfect and harmonious, which was very enviable.
A white and clean little boy beside called Niannian suddenly, “Niannian? Is this your father?”
Niannian held Mou Yichen and flaunted with great pride. “That’s right!”
Yun Muxi knitted her eyebrows slightly, and she was about to correct Niannian when Mou Yichen grasped her by the arm and signalled her to stop her from exposing Niannian’s thought on the spot.
And then, Mou Yichen said to Niannian affectionately, “My baby, is this child your classmate? Please introduce to me!”
Niannian blinked her big eyes and gave a sweet smile. How cute she was! She said, “This is Momo from my class. He often likes teasing me most.”
Mou Yichen frowned slightly at these words, looked at Momo and said unhappily, “Momo, little boy, you cannot tease my Niannian. If I know you tease Niannian again, I will tell your parents and let them punish you!”
Momo’s parents felt awkward at Niannian’s complaint. She smiled apologetically and said, “Niannian, I’m so sorry. I will teach Momo a lesson when I go home. And I will not allow Momo to tease you any longer!”
In fact, Momo’s parents felt guilty because they knew the reason why Momo bullied Niannian in the kindergarten was that they had never seen Niannian’s father, so they guessed Niannian was probably a feral kid without the father, and the kid in Niannian’s words, who had slandered that she had no father was Momo. Undoubtedly, Momo learned to say that from his parents’ chatting. Momo’s mother was scared that Momo would unmask them publicly, so she led Momo to leave in a hurry after she made an apology.
The little incident was over. Three of them came to the kindergarten playground, where teachers had placed barriers properly. Parents-children sports meeting mainly required that children finished the game in coordination with their parents. Niannian looked up to Mou Yichen eagerly and said, “Daddy Chen, you should go with me to finish all the activities. Mommy is smart, but she is not good at sports. So I want Daddy Chen to take me to get first prizes.”
Mou Yichen smiled and nodded gently. He turned to Yun Muxi and said, “Xiao Xi, you just wait and see how my daughter and I win all the first prizes.”
Yun Muxi gave a deep look at Mou Yichen without saying anything.
The sports meeting started. Yun Muxi stood aside, holding Niannian’s and Mou Yichen’s coats. And the other two went up to the playground center closely to participate in activities. Momo’s mother came up and chatted with Yun Muxi with laughter, “Niannian’s mother, your husband is really handsome. I seldom see him come to the kindergarten. Is he very busy?”
Yun Muxi felt embarrassed at once and braced herself to reply, “Yes, he is very busy at ordinary times.”
Momo’s mother asked again with care, “But I find Niannian’s father looks quite familiar. Isn’t he a famous person?”
Momo’s mother thought that Mou Yichen seemed familiar but could not recall when she had seen him before at the moment. So she rummaged desperately in her mind.
Yun Muxi denied it directly and said, “He is just a dead ringer of certain stars. Many people have said that he looks like some stars. Actually, he is just a man in the street.”
Momo’s mother nodded but cried suddenly, “Oh, dear! “It suddenly occurred to me that I had browsed a report in a financial magazine introducing the young president of Mou’s Group. Your husband looks like the young president a lot!”