Hearing that Jiang Xiaobai was back to see her kid, the middle-aged woman suddenly didn’t know what to say. After all, she had wanted to introduce her son to Jiang Xiaobai before, but Jiang Xiaobai already had a family and even a son. This was rather awkward to her. “Wow, you look so young. You don’t look like a mother at all!”
In the end, the middle-aged woman could only say something random to pass off the topic, while Jiang Xiaobai smiled and nodded politely at her. After Jiang Xiaobai got down from the car, she took a train back. Then, she booked a hotel room at a nearby hotel. After putting her luggage away, she started thinking of ways to see her kid.
After all, her son was still very young. It wasn’t realistic to go to his home to see him, but how should she get him to come out? Jiang Xiaobai had rushed back here before she could really think about her current relationship with him. If she went to his house to see him, would Xiao Su think that she had come back for him instead? Until now, she still didn’t know how she truly felt about him. Even though she missed him all the time, that moment when he abandoned her was etched too deeply in her memory. Since the pain from that incident hadn’t dissipated even the slightest yet, she had no way of looking past it. Her return this time was only to glimpse her son and then leave. I’ve got to think of something! Should I just call my mom? After all, this is the most straightforward plan, but if I let my mom know that I’m back, will she tell Xiao Su?
After thinking back and forth about it, in the end Jiang Xiaobai still hadn’t thought of anything good. She stayed in her hotel room for two days and didn’t leave at all. Whenever she was hungry, she would get the room service to deliver her food. The days passed by in a daze. In the end, she drank some wine to muster up her courage and called Du Xiaoyu.
As the call connected, Jiang Xiaobai mocked at herself internally. She had never thought that she would one day need to drink some wine to muster up courage before calling her own mother. It’s really pathetic when I think about it! My life used to be so carefree. But why am I like this now? What has happened to me?
“Hello?” Du Xiaoyu’s trembling voice pulled her back to reality.
Jiang Xiaobai came back to her senses and tugged her lips. After a long time, she finally found her voice. “Mom…”
Hearing her voice, Du Xiaoyu almost broke down in tears on the other end of the line. Since Jiang Xiaobai had left home so resolutely, she had never contacted her mother even once. Du Xiaoyu wanted to contact her badly, but all her calls failed to connect. Thus, it was truly surprising that Jiang Xiaobai would take the initiative to call her on that day. That was why Du Xiaoyu became really agitated. “X-Xiaobai.”
As both of them called out to each other, their eyes started welling up with tears.
“You finally called me. I thought that you didn’t care about me anymore.”
Jiang Xiaobai’s eyes were red as she kept widening her eyes, trying her utmost not to let her tears fall. She pressed her lips together lightly before saying slowly, “No, why wouldn’t I care about you anymore? It’s just that I didn’t dare to call you all this time. I was worried that you’ll keep persuading me.”
“Silly girl.” Du Xiaoyu reprimanded her in a soft voice, “This is your own choice, so why would I scold you for it? I’m just worried that you won’t be happy. It’s been half a year, have you thought about this properly?”
As she brought out this issue, Jiang Xiaobai fell silent. Du Xiaoyu knew that she had said something wrong when she didn’t hear a reply from Jiang Xiaobai after a long while. She laughed awkwardly and changed the topic, “How could I ask such a question? Our Xiaobai can do anything she wants, right? Where are you now? Are you still overseas?”
Jiang Xiaobai didn’t respond for some time. Her gaze fell on the windowsill and stared at the bright sunlight filtering in from outside. Closing her eyes, she savored the warmth from the sun before speaking softly, “I’ve returned, actually.”
Hearing this, Du Xiaoyu almost jumped in shock. It was a pleasant surprise that her daughter had called her, but it was even more of a bombshell that Jiang Xiaobai was in the country! For a moment, she was so excited that she didn’t know what to say. She kept stammering for a while because she was afraid that she would say something that Jiang Xiaobai didn’t want to hear, which would then cause the latter to hang up on her or, even worse, disappear again. Her daughter had left home for half a year. It was so difficult to pass the time when one was pining and yearning for one’s daughter. It wasn’t just simply yearning. There were so many other mixed emotions and concerns. She was concerned all this time whether her daughter could sleep, whether she had suffered, whether she had met someone bad or whether she had fallen sick. Thus, Du Xiaoyu had to mind her words.
Mom isn’t like this toward me just half a year ago. Ever since I rebelled against her once, she has become so cautious toward me in both her words and actions. Since when have we become like this? As she thought about it, Jiang Xiaobai felt her heart squeezing with pain. She took a deep breath and said softly, “Mom, don’t be flustered. Just say what you want to say. I won’t hang up the phone, so don’t worry.”
Du Xiaoyu didn’t expect that her daughter could see through her thoughts and felt both awkward and touched. She sniffled a bit before saying, “I just want to ask you if we could meet?”
After the call ended, Du Xiaoyu hugged her phone closed to her as her body wracked with an onslaught of sobs and tears. Her husband Jiang Yanke came in and saw his wife’s terrible condition. Thinking that something bad had happened, he rushed over to her. “What’s wrong?”
Du Xiaoyu lifted her head as tears continued to stream down her cheeks. “Our daughter called me just now.”
Hearing this, Jiang Yanke was startled for a moment. “She finally called you?”
“Yeah.”
“Sigh. This girl is now all grown up and has her own thoughts and plans. She’s now beginning to leave our control, so you have to think on the bright side of all this. After all, she’s an independent individual.”
“It’s not that I’m not thinking on the bright side. I’m just worried that she would face problems out there. She doesn’t even call back often.” In other more brutal words, she was worried that something really bad would happen to Jiang Xiaobai, yet they would have no idea of it. That was probably the worst thing that could happen to any parent.
Jiang Yanke knew what she was thinking about. Walking toward her, he sat down beside her and reached out to hug her. “Now, now, don’t think too much about it. She has already called you, so she’s safe and well. But have you told the in-laws about this yet?”
“Not yet.” Du Xiaoyu shook her head and continued, “When Xiaobai called me, she didn’t bring them up and didn’t tell me directly whether I should let them know. But through our conversation, I felt that she doesn’t want to contact Xiao Su.”
“This girl is really…”
“You’re not allowed to criticize her! As long as Xiaobai is willing to come back, everything is fine. We’re going to meet and have lunch later, but don’t tell anyone about it!”
Jiang Yanke smiled helplessly, “Okay, I got it. I’m Xiaobai’s father after all, so it goes without saying that I’ll support you both. In any case, I’m not a blabbermouth.”
“Okay.”
In the afternoon, Jiang Xiaobai came to the small restaurant where they had agreed to meet. She had booked a cubicle so that they could chat more conveniently. Furthermore, a cubicle would be quieter and offered more privacy. However, it would attract much attention if they inevitably broke down during the meeting later.
