The car drove away swiftly from the airport and, after quite some time, Sheng Yeting began gazing straight forward and said aloofly, “Let go of my hand.”
Xia Xingcheng didn’t regain her composure until this moment. She let his arm go from her hand right away and began awkwardly playing with the baby hairs around her ears. “Thank you so much just now.”
Bao, sitting beside her, shouted in appreciation also, “Thank you, Daddy!”
“Don’t talk randomly.” Xia Xingcheng immediately reached out to cover the little one’s mouth and signalled him to shush by putting her index finger up to her lips. “It’s not good to call others Dad randomly.”
“Why?” Bao blinked, looking at her with slight confusion, “Wasn’t it Daddy who just helped us, so we didn’t get bullied by those baddies..?”
Xia Xingcheng suddenly paused because of his remark. She didn’t know why Bao would treat this man as his father, nor did she know the explanation for this good deed by Sheng Yeting.
She gave a gentle cough, looked at Sheng apologetically and then talked to Bao in a soothing voice, “This gentleman is not your dad. He gave us a helping hand out of goodwill when he saw us being bullied by those baddies.”
She poked her son’s nose tenderly and smiled. “So you shouldn’t call him Daddy anymore, okay?”
Sheng Yeting stared out of the window, seemingly lost in thought, until he heard this remark from Xia Xingcheng. He snorted and replied coldly, “I made a move only for the sake of the kid. Don’t get me wrong and take my goodwill as charity or think that you can get it at anytime and anywhere for free.” Tilting his head he sized her up for a while and then folded his arms, turning to the front, “I certainly don’t want to be misunderstood as having some relationship with an improper woman like you.”
Obviously Sheng Yeting had heard those curses from Xu Hao who had called Bao a bastard. This comment touched a raw nerve in Xia Xingcheng, making her face turn cold also. She was only just feeling appreciative for his kind help but now she felt that he was no different from Xu Hao and Xia Xingyan who saw her as being lowly as a grain of dust.
“Stop the car.” She didn’t want to say another word and, without emotion, signalled the driver to stop.
Sheng Yeting stared at her in confusion, watching her drag Bao out of the car after it stopped. “What are you doing?”
Xia Xingcheng took out her suitcase, fished out a hundred yuan note and threw it down on the seat. “Thank you for your momentary goodwill and here is the taxi fee. See you nowhere.” After throwing her words at him she held Bao’s hand, pulled up her suitcase and strode to the platform to call a cab, giving no time for Sheng Yeting to even think about it.
Sheng Yeting stared at the one hundred yuan note and squinted with a rather dangerous look. Never had he been treated so abruptly by women as this. Who would dare give him such attitude? In any case, he had never suffered from any slight.
He clenched his teeth in resentment, threw the bank note out of the window and waved his hand to the driver, “Drive on.”
…
After Xia Xingcheng got out of Sheng Yeting’s car, she didn’t go directly home but called a cab to her grandma’s. The yard hadn’t changed a bit in all the years that had passed and remained the same as in Xia Xingcheng’s memory, however grandma had aged a lot. Xia Xingcheng walked quickly, putting her arms around the elder, and suddenly somewhere in her heart was stirred with a warmth which left her eyes welling up. “Grandma, I missed you so much…”
“Xingcheng, my baby girl…” The old lady patted her back gently, talking in a soft voice and smiling calmly. “I wonder how much you have been suffering in the outside world.” Grandma already felt joyful when she saw her baby granddaughter, moreover she couldn’t be happier to see the adorable and clever Bao. The old lady had been through so much in her life and knew very well what she was supposed to ask and what she was not. Since her granddaughter did not seem willing to talk about the boy’s origins, she didn’t go into the details.
Xia Xingcheng took a good rest at grandma’s and then went out with Bao to take a stroll. As she recalled some places that she had been when she was a little girl she felt excited and joyful, but she did not expect to bump into Xu Hao and Xia Xingyan who were looking for her as she walked to the gate of the apartment complex.
She immediately took back her smile and stared at the two of them with a sharp coldness. “I don’t think I have anything more to discuss with you, and hope that you will never come to disturb my life again.”
Coming here is not what Xia Xingyan wanted to do since she hated Xia Xingcheng so much that she would not imagine coming to find her, especially knowing that Xia Xingcheng would have nothing at all nice to say.
“You thought that I want to come?” Xia Xingyan snorted, folding her arms with her lips twitching. “It is dad who wants to see you and he asked us to bring you home.”
Hearing it was that person’s request, Xia Xingcheng became silent all of a sudden. She knew very clearly that she did not want to have anything to do with that family but she was yet to draw a line between them and herself, so she needed to make that clear to them.
Xia Xingcheng stood there silently for some time, then held Bao’s hand and climbed directly into their car. Everyone brooded over their own thoughts and no one said a word.
In a short while the car reached the villa block and, looking though the car window, the scenery in the garden hadn’t changed too much since she had left; but time passed by and “out of sight is out of mind”. She could by no means face this family in the same way as she used to do.
“You are finally home.” The moment she had stepped into the house the stepmother, Song Qiong, had already come to her, posing in a considerate manner. “You must be exhausted from your journey. Have you settled in here alright? Are you hungry? Auntie has cooked something for you.”
Xia Xingcheng felt sick seeing her pretentious looks. She didn’t even call me in the five years I’ve been away, nor did she care whether I was alive or dead, so why bother pretending to be a caring mother now?
“I know you’ve never liked me.” She gave her stepmother an ungrateful, cold look. “Don’t bother to act like that.”
“Watch the way you speak to your mother!” Mr. Xia’s sulking voice was soon resonating in the living room. He stood up and walked to Xia Xingcheng after seeing the boy she held in her hand and immediately glared at her, frowning. “I sent you abroad to let you reflect on yourself and your behaviour, but see what you have done! You bring a bastard back here!” He quivered with anger and pointed to Bao who hid behind Xia Xingcheng. “I tell you! I will never accept him as the offspring of our Xia Family!”
