Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
On the day of Xu Ruyun's discharge, she took the initiative to have Liu Shuhan come to pick her up.
Liu Shuhan had visited the hospital so many times in the past few days without even seeing Xu Ruyun's face. It was unusual for Xu Ruyun to ask her to come pick her up; it was too strange.
When something is out of the ordinary, there must be something going on. Liu Shuhan couldn't make up her mind alone, so she sought advice from Cheng Qiuyi.
"Qiu Yi, do you think I should go?" That day happened to be Liu Shuhan's day off, and she was too lazy to get up early to make breakfast. She asked Cheng Qiuyi to bring some breakfast upstairs when she went for a run. Afraid of the cold, she simply stayed in bed, playing on her phone until Cheng Qiuyi returned from her run around eight o'clock, still buried under the covers.
Cheng Boming had just finished his training and was so hungry that his stomach was growling. When he saw the buns and steamed buns in Cheng Qiuyi's hands, his eyes lit up like a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey. Cheng Qiuyi swung her arm, and the bag of buns shifted from her left hand to her right hand. In that brief moment, Cheng Boming naturally missed his chance.
Not willing to give up, Cheng Boming tried to grab them again, but Cheng Qiuyi didn't even move her feet. With a few quick dodges, Cheng Boming couldn't even touch the corner of the bag.
"Master, I'm starving! Please give your disciple a bite to eat..." After several failed attempts at snatching food, Cheng Boming hung his head in defeat. The refreshing energy he had in the morning had completely dissipated. It seemed he still had a long way to go if he wanted to defeat Cheng Qiuyi...
Only then did Cheng Qiuyi give him breakfast and reminded him, "Leave the Soup Dumplings and steamed dumplings; those are for your master’s wife."
Cheng Boming devoured his food but, upon hearing Cheng Qiuyi's words, carefully moved the Soup Dumplings and steamed dumplings aside.
As soon as Cheng Qiuyi entered the bedroom, she heard Liu Shuhan mumbling to herself, "Qiu Yi, do you think I should go?"
Cheng Qiuyi smiled and leaned back on the bed, resting her head on Liu Shuhan's shoulder. "Of course you should go."
"Qiu Yi? Didn't you go for a run? Why haven't you left yet?"
In early spring, when the temperature was still quite low, Cheng Qiuyi had just returned from outside. With her cold hands suddenly reaching under the covers to tickle Liu Shuhan's waist, she said, "Shu Han, I think you're still half asleep."
“Hmm…” Liu Shuhan gasped, rolling away from Cheng Qiuyi's grasp and pouted, “Cheng Qiuyi, it's freezing!”
“Then get up quickly. I bought Soup Dumplings; they won't taste good when they're cold.”
Hearing the words "Soup Dumplings," Liu Shuhan's eyes lit up, and she quickly got up to wash up. While she was brushing her teeth, Cheng Qiuyi leaned against the bathroom door and asked, “Shu Han, where did you say you were going?”
With a mouth full of foam, Liu Shuhan replied indistinctly, “My mom is being discharged from the hospital; she wants me to pick her up.”
“Go on then. Your mom finally wants to see you; why not go?”
After finishing brushing her teeth and washing her face, Liu Shuhan said, “You don’t know; my mom is quite cunning. I'm afraid she has some tricks up her sleeve again.”
Cheng Qiuyi smiled and hugged her freshly dried head, giving it a kiss. “Your mom is cunning, yet she raised someone as clueless as you?”
“Get lost! I don't have a wife like you!” Liu Shuhan glared at her.
Cheng Qiuyi replied seriously, “You have to go. Even if it's a trap, you must go; after all, she is your mother.”
That made sense. Liu Shuhan realized she had been overthinking things.
At the breakfast table, Cheng Boming was still very attentive to Liu Shuhan, chattering away about his recent studies. He reported that he scored an A+ in Chinese and English, became the school's flag bearer, and shared what skills he learned from his master… until Cheng Qiuyi poked him with her chopsticks. “Don't talk while eating or sleeping. Didn't your teacher teach you that?”
Cheng Boming rubbed his reddened hand and pouted in grievance but kept serving food to Liu Shuhan.
Having spent some time with them, Liu Shuhan still found it strange that she had never known this little chubby boy before, yet he was so eager to please her upon seeing her.
Now Cheng Boming was still a bit chubby, but in a month or so, he might not even be called a little chubby anymore. This just goes to show that children in their growth phase have great physical resilience; as they grow taller, they naturally start to slim down.
He had lost weight, and his eyes increasingly resembled Cheng Qiuyi's, while the shape of his face was more similar to Shen Wenqin's. Aside from the eyes, everything else was worlds apart from Cheng Qiuyi, which relieved Liu Shuhan. She could not accept a male version of Cheng Qiuyi, especially since his mother had once tried to harm them.
After breakfast, Cheng Boming had two hours of television time. He was watching cartoons on the children's channel when he saw Liu Shuhan and Cheng Qiuyi getting ready to go out. He quickly stood up and asked, "Sister Shuhan, where are you going?"
"My mom is sick, and I need to visit her," Liu Shuhan replied.
"But you promised to help me with my homework today!" This promise had been negotiated two weeks ago when Cheng Boming had persistently asked Liu Shuhan, eventually trading it for excellent grades in language and math. How could Liu Shuhan go back on her word?
However, Sister Shuhan's mother being sick seemed quite important. After weighing the situation, Cheng Boming said, "Sister Shuhan, I want to go with you!"
"No way," Cheng Qiuyi vetoed.
Liu Shuhan thought about how she had indeed promised Cheng Boming two weeks ago. Adults should not go back on their word; children would learn from them. Cheng Boming had finally started to correct his bad habits, and Liu Shuhan did not want him to continue mimicking that behavior. So she agreed, "Then let's go; the more people, the merrier."
Liu Shuhan held absolute voting power here with Cheng Qiuyi. Once she agreed, even Cheng Qiuyi could do nothing about it. Cheng Boming cheered, "Great! Sister Shuhan is the best!"
When they arrived at the hospital, Liu Sen had already completed the discharge procedures. Seeing a child accompanying Liu Shuhan, he curiously asked, "Who is this little friend?"
"Uncle, my name is Cheng Boming, and I am Sister Shuhan's friend," Cheng Boming said seriously as he extended his hand to shake Liu Sen's. Liu Sen looked about the same age as his father; calling him "uncle" felt a bit inappropriate, so he decided to just call him Uncle since his deceased father wouldn't jump out to compare ages with Liu Sen.
Liu Sen found him amusing. "Alright, little friend looks spirited; you will definitely have a bright future."
Liu Shuhan hesitated for a moment and said, "Dad, my mom..."
"Your mom is inside; she's finished packing and is waiting for you," Liu Sen said worriedly. "This Xiaoxu fellow doesn't know what crazy idea she's come up with again."
Having not seen her mother for several days made Liu Shuhan feel a sudden wave of timidity as she pushed open the door to the hospital room. Her voice was faint as she called out, "Mom, you... you were looking for me?"
Xu Ruyun gestured to the chair beside the hospital bed and said, "Sit."
Liu Shuhan sat up straight like an elementary school student.
"I've already bought the train tickets. We're leaving this afternoon. You're coming back with me."
"Back?" Liu Shuhan looked confused.
"Back to City Z."
"I'm not going back!" Liu Shuhan's emotions flared up. "Mom, why won't you give me and Qiu Yi a chance?"
Xu Ruyun crossed her arms and scoffed, "What chance? How old are you? Do you even know what love is? You're only in your twenties, and you dare to talk about a lifetime. Have you even thought about how long a lifetime is?"
"I know my own heart. Do you think I can spend my life with a man just because of that? Even if I despise him to the core?"
"I don't care. I've bought the tickets, and you're going whether you like it or not."
"I'm not going!"
The atmosphere was tense when suddenly the door to the hospital room opened a crack, and a round head peeked in.
Cheng Qiuyi and Liu Sen had gone to discuss serious matters, leaving Cheng Boming with nothing to do. He wanted to sneak in and play with Liu Shuhan but was startled when he saw the situation between Sister Shuhan and her mother. How should he put it? Cheng Boming had recently learned a new term: "a standoff."
"Shu... Sister Shuhan..." Cheng Boming timidly entered, holding a test paper in his hand. "The teacher wants a parent to sign..."
"Where's your master?" Liu Shuhan asked.
"Master is chatting with Uncle."
"Come in."
Cheng Boming, regardless of his character or appearance, is quite endearing—a chubby little boy who is slightly overweight. To the older generation, he is considered "sturdy." The elderly love children and are somewhat kind to Cheng Boming. "Shu Han, who is this child?"
"Auntie, my name is Cheng Boming, and I am a friend of Sister Shuhan," Cheng Boming replied obediently, standing in front of Xu Ruyun. He had not yet entered puberty, and his voice was still a sweet childish tone. When he smiled, the chubby cheeks on his face squished together, making him look festive.
"He is Cheng Qiuyi's half-brother," Liu Shuhan added.
Xu Ruyun was quite surprised to hear about the half-brother. After thinking it over, she recalled that Cheng Qiuyi mentioned her mother had passed away, which made sense.
Cheng Boming had been practicing his skills in charming and flattering people at Liu Shuhan's place recently, and he used all of it on Xu Ruyun, making her very happy. Liu Shuhan found it hard to interject and quietly slipped away to find her father and Cheng Qiuyi.
"What a good child! You are so polite; your mother must be very happy," Xu Ruyun said while patting Cheng Boming's round head.
"My mother... she is a bad person," Cheng Boming said with a dim expression. "She was taken away by the police uncle and went to jail; she can't come back."
At such a young age without a mother, Xu Ruyun felt even more heartbroken for him. "It's okay; your mother just made a mistake for a moment. She went to correct her wrongs and will come back as a good person. You should live well with your father and wait for her return."
"My father is dead too," Cheng Boming said as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "There is no father."
"Then who are you living with now?" This Cheng family must have committed some sins; all their misfortunes seemed to fall upon this child.
"I'm living with Cheng Qiuyi," Cheng Boming thought for a moment and added, "and Sister Shuhan."
"Sigh..." Xu Ruyun sighed; every family has its own difficulties.
Cheng Boming wiped his tears and thought for a moment before saying, "Auntie, please don't take Sister Shuhan away, okay? Cheng Qiuyi... even though she seems fierce all the time, she's a good person."
Although they were half-siblings with only one parent in common, Cheng Qiuyi and Cheng Boming had a deep sibling bond. Xu Ruyun thought to herself and sarcastically remarked, "She's your sister, of course you would say good things about her."
As for Liu Shuhan's orientation, after being persuaded by Liu Sen for several days, Xu Ruyun had actually come to accept it. However, Cheng Qiuyi... it was clear that she was not an ordinary person. Her own daughter was naive; if Cheng Qiuyi was just playing around, Liu Shuhan might end up being taken advantage of and would still help her count the money.
"My mom used to be called a fox spirit," Cheng Boming said, lowering his head to pick at his fingernails, his voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz. "I always thought my mom was a good person, but later I found out she was a bad person. She took away Cheng Qiuyi's family and even caused her mother's death, driving Cheng Qiuyi away."
Cheng Boming recalled the time he finally went to see Shen Wenqin last year. That time, Cheng Qiuyi didn't ask anything, and he didn't say anything either.
Shen Wenqin acted like a complete lunatic, overly excited, talking about killing Cheng Qiuyi and wishing her a miserable death. Her wild gestures frightened Cheng Boming.
"The medicine Zhou Guohui took was something I urged Cheng Tianhong to give her. Boming, my good son, I am her mother's enemy; she won't let you go! Strike first! You must kill her!"
Cheng Boming remembered Shen Wenqin's ferocious face and jolted back to reality. He pleaded with Xu Ruyun, "Auntie, even though I want to marry Sister Shuhan as my wife, Cheng Qiuyi really treats Sister Shuhan well. Auntie, please let them be together."
"Auntie, if you're worried, I'll keep an eye on Cheng Qiuyi. If she bullies Sister Shuhan, I will definitely teach her a lesson!" Cheng Boming declared confidently while waving his fist.
Xu Ruyun chuckled softly, "You want to marry Sister Shuhan? You probably won't get the chance in this lifetime."
Comment 0 Comment Count