Doctor Du noticed that after returning from the garden, Qiqi’s state seemed a bit off. Fortunately, Pei Yi and Hua Zhao had also just returned. Pei Yi was holding a transparent bag containing all of Qiqi’s various examination reports. Hua Zhao first thanked Doctor Du and confirmed the next appointment time, then crouched down and patted Qiqi’s hair.
“Qiqi, let’s go home.”
Pei Qiqi lifted his eyelids, his gaze falling on Hua Zhao’s gently smiling face.
“Mom,” he said very quietly, almost to himself.
But Hua Zhao caught it keenly. Her smile faded slightly.
“What did you say, Qiqi?”
Pei Qiqi sat on the sofa, one small arm resting on the armrest, his expression blank.
“Auntie, I saw my mom.”
He had seen his mother. And his mother had become someone else’s mother. And that someone happened to be the bad kid who had bullied Youyou. Everyone present froze. They all knew the harm Qiqi’s birth mother had caused him and immediately became alert.
“Qiqi, what did you say? You saw your mom?”
Pei Yi’s fists immediately clenched. That woman dared to show her face in front of Qiqi again! Pei Qiqi nodded. He wouldn’t be mistaken. That was his mother. The mother who had abandoned him. Qiqi’s condition had only just started improving. Why did that woman have to show up now of all times?
No matter how mature Qiqi was, he was still only a four-year-old child. Coupled with his complicated experiences, he was far more sensitive than other kids his age. He wasn’t a child who was willing to show his inner emotions. The three adults looked at each other, all a bit helpless. Back then, right after his father passed away, Pei Qiqi, traumatized, had run a high fever for days.
He lay alone in his hospital bed, looking so pitiful that the hospital nurses took turns taking care of him. Outside the window, heavy rain poured down, raindrops pounding the ground like stones. Pei Qiqi lay on the windowsill, his round eyes devoid of light. That was when Fang Qin had come to the hospital. On a freezing cold day, wearing a beautiful dress and high heels, she complained as she opened the door.
“What terrible weather! It’s ruined my new dress.”
“Pei Xu, put your clothes on. I’ve checked you out of the hospital.”
The woman’s tone was impatient, whether because her new dress was wet or for some other reason. A nurse came in with new medicine to change Pei Xu’s IV. As she entered, she heard what Fang Qin said and immediately stopped her.
“Pei Xu’s mother, the child can’t be discharged yet.”
Fang Qin had already walked to the window and grabbed Pei Xu’s wrist. As she passed the nurse, she gave her a disdainful look. “Pei Xu is my son. If I think he’s better, then he’s better. The doctor said he could be discharged. Are you more professional than the doctor?”
The nurse hesitated for a long time, then finally fell silent, watching helplessly as Fang Qin took Pei Xu away. On the afternoon of his discharge, Pei Xu was dropped off at the kindergarten gate. The reception teacher was waiting there. As soon as she saw the expensively dressed Fang Qin, she put on a smile and promised that the kindergarten’s teachers would take good care of Pei Xu.
Pei Xu clung to her, his little hand gently gripping the hem of her skirt. He looked up at her with big, questioning eyes. Because his father had just passed away, he had been very reliant on his mother at that time. Fang Qin took his hand, pointed at the children inside the classroom, and said to him, “Qiqi, I’m very busy right now. I’ll come pick you up when I’m done. You have to listen to the teachers at kindergarten, okay?”
Pei Xu bit his lip, his eyes red as he shook his head.
Seeing him refuse to cooperate, Fang Qin got a little angry. She crouched down and said, “If you don’t behave, I’ll never come see you again.”
After that, Pei Xu was very well-behaved every day. Even when he was targeted and bullied by those children, he was obedient and never caused any trouble. As time passed, the teachers’ attitudes toward him, combined with the fact that his mother never came to see him again, told him one thing: his mother was a big liar, and he had been abandoned.
Snapping out of his memories, Qiqi looked at the scene before him. Now he was still in a hospital, and he had encountered his mother again. But this time, the sky outside was a clear blue, the air fresh and pleasant, and everywhere he looked, there was vibrant green. Sunlight streamed through the window, falling on his uncle, aunt, and Uncle Du’s backs, making them look like angels draped in golden light. On the day he was sent to the kindergarten, the cold wind had cut straight through him. But today it was warm, and his uncle and aunt stood on either side of him, a comforting, warm presence.
“Uncle, my mom has become someone else’s mom.”
A childish voice, speaking such mature words.
Pei Yi’s heart trembled, aching so much. “Qiqi…”
The tall, laughing man was about to cry, but because he didn’t want to show too much negative emotion in front of the child, he forced a smile. After all that, Pei Qiqi saw his uncle’s face, which looked worse than if he were crying. The air was still for a moment. Then, Pei Qiqi suddenly jumped off the sofa and threw himself at Pei Yi. Pei Yi had been crouching on the floor. Now he had a soft little nephew in his arms. After a moment of shock, he patted the child’s hair with his large hand.
“Qiqi, it’s okay. It’s okay to cry. Forget that nonsense about men not crying easily.”
Pei Xu didn’t cry. Not a single tear.
His short little arms wrapped tightly around his uncle’s neck. Pei Qiqi pressed his face against his uncle’s and whispered softly in his ear, “Uncle, I love you.”
Pei Yi thought his ears must be playing tricks on him. His arms froze as he held Qiqi.
“Uncle, I love you.”
Receiving no response from his uncle, Little Pei Qiqi solemnly expressed his love once more. In the following moments, Pei Qiqi still got no response from his uncle. Instead, he heard a deafening sob. Thirty-year-old Pei Yi sat on the floor holding Qiqi, completely losing his composure as he threw his head back and wailed.
Qiqi had said he loved him.
It was something he had never imagined.
Was he dreaming?
“Qiqi, can you say it one more time?” The uncle, now crying like a messy kitten, touched his face, his voice choked. Pei Qiqi was a bit disgusted by his uncle’s tear-streaked face and pushed him away.
“No.” This cool little one wouldn’t say such mushy words again. It was too embarrassing.
Pei Yi didn’t force him, though he felt a bit regretful. He should have started recording the moment Qiqi said he loved him. Hua Zhao, who had been so worried about Qiqi being saddened by seeing his birth mother, also breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing the affectionate interaction between uncle and nephew sitting on the floor, she smiled.
Even Doctor Du was surprised. A child with a psychological disorder suddenly showing such a dependent and expressive side toward his guardian- what did that mean? It meant Pei Qiqi’s condition had seen a major breakthrough! After returning home, Pei Yi shamelessly kept pestering his nephew, nudging him with his head until Pei Qiqi nearly fell off the sofa several times.
“Qiqi, say it one more time! Just once! I didn’t react in time at the hospital…”
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