Chapter 54 Chapter 54 "To like or be nice to others is not...

In the office, Teacher Li briefly explained the situation...

When the teacher mentioned that Luo Xuanji's brother had also intervened, Yu Sixie frowned slightly, but ultimately said nothing.

They checked the scrapes and bruises on Xizhi's arms and elbows. Xitong's heart tightened, but she simply stroked her son's hair and whispered, "Does it hurt anywhere else?"

Xizhi shook his head, his little face still tense, with his own stubbornness and grievance.

Yu Sixie looked at Luo Xuanji, who had her head lowered and her fingers twisting the corner of her clothes. The child's shoulders were twitching slightly from crying, and she really looked pitiful.

He spoke in a steady tone, addressing both the teacher and Luo Xuanji:

"Teacher Li, we have a general understanding of the situation. The children are all emotional and have suffered injustice. Since Xiaozhi's injury is not serious, we will not delve into the other brother's responsibility. Let's leave it at that for today. Let's take Xiaozhi back to calm down."

Xitong nodded in agreement.

She took Xizhi's hand and said softly, "Let's go home first."

The family of three left the office.

The corridor became quiet, with only the sound of their footsteps remaining.

Xitong's heart was not completely calm.

Just now in the office, a detail was like a small thorn, piercing her heart - from beginning to end, Luo Xuanji was the only one there.

Her parents did not show up.

Walking out of the teaching building, the afternoon sun was a bit dazzling.

Xitong subconsciously glanced back at the office window. For some reason, the image of the little girl standing alone in the corner, with no one to support her, overlapped with a vague image deep in her memory.

When she was a child, she also attended parent-teacher conferences alone. Seeing other children accompanied by their parents, she still remembers the mixed feeling of envy, loss and forced alienation.

She understood that kind of loneliness.

"Yu Sixie," Xi Tong suddenly stopped, her tone carrying a subtle hint of urgency. "I...I think I left my scarf in the office. You guys go wait for me in the car first, I'll be right back."

Yu Sixie glanced at Xi Tong, seeming a little puzzled as to why she still cared about a silk scarf at this moment, but he didn't ask any more questions, just nodded and said, "Okay."

Xitong turned around and walked quickly back to the teaching building.

She didn't really leave any scarf behind, it was just an excuse.

There was a knock on the office door, and Teacher Li was a little surprised to see Xitong come back.

"Teacher Li, I'm sorry,"

Xi Tong gave a slightly apologetic smile and lowered her voice, "I'm just... a little worried about Xuan Ji. Seeing her alone, her parents..."

Teacher Li nodded in understanding, sighed softly, and lowered his voice.

"Mother Xizhi, to be honest, Xuanji's family situation is a bit special."

"Her parents are very busy, the kind who fly around the world. They rarely come to school, and are usually picked up and dropped off by a nanny and driver. I contacted her mother about this today, but she just said she understood and would chastise the child, then hung up."

She paused, her tone filled with pity: "Xuan Ji, this child, looks lively and cheerful, smiling at everyone, but actually..."

"She always seems a bit distant, and it's not easy to truly open up to someone. Speaking of which, she seems to be particularly fond of your Xizhi and is willing to get close to him. I often hear her muttering, 'Xizhi said this,' 'Xizhi said that.'"

"With this incident, I guess she's feeling more upset than anyone else, but she just can't express it."

Xitong listened quietly, and the guess in her mind was confirmed.

A complex emotion spread in her heart - pity for the child, disapproval of the strange parents who were too busy with their careers to accompany her, and an inexplicable, indescribable touch.

"So that's how it is... Thank you, Teacher Li."

Xitong thanked him softly, already having a plan in mind.

She didn't say anything more, but carefully took in the name "Luo Xuanji" and the information "her parents are very busy" and "she is only close to Xizhi" in her heart.

Xi Tong did not expect that this information about the loneliness of a little girl, which she obtained inadvertently, would become a subtle bond connecting two families and even expand the scope of her career in an unexpected way at some point in the future.

She simply sowed a seed called "understanding" out of the instinct of a mother and a woman who had once been lonely.

She turned and left, her steps more steady than when she came.

Luo Xuanji hid in the corner of the corridor, watching Xitong coming and going, and quietly listening to her whispers with the teacher.

When she heard the words "I'm worried about Xuan Ji's child", her eyelashes trembled slightly.

She pursed her lips and watched the gentle figure leave. Her gaze lingered for a long time at the end of the empty corridor, and her little hands unconsciously clenched the corners of her clothes.

…

The night was gentle, and through the off-white gauze curtains, a hazy light was cast in Xizhi's bedroom.

The walls were a soft light blue, covered with several of his own crayon drawings of planets and rockets; the wooden bookshelf against the wall was neatly arranged with picture books and several assembled Lego spaceships; a soft plush bear sat at the head of the bed, looking very adorable.

The warm yellow bedside lamp was on, casting the figures of two people, one big and one small, snuggling together, on the wall.

Xitong leaned against the head of her son's bed, while Xizhi curled up in the quilt with only his small head exposed. His washed hair lay softly on his forehead, and the Band-Aid on his arm was particularly eye-catching.

The air is filled with the faint milk and honey scent of children's shower gel.

"Xiaozhi," Xitong's voice was as gentle as the night breeze, "Mom wants to know why you are so determined to Xuanji this time? You always helped her in the past."

She chose her words carefully, "Do you... like Xuan Ji?"

Xizhi was silent for a moment, staring at the star stickers on the ceiling with her big eyes, and then she said softly but clearly, "I like it."

"I like Luo Xuanji."

Xitong was slightly stunned. She didn't expect Xiaozhi to be so frank about his feelings.

Just as I was about to continue talking about this topic, I heard Xizhi continue talking, his tone was as calm as if he was stating a matter of course:

"Just like Brother Wen also loved Mom and was very kind to her, but in the end, Mom didn't stay with Brother Wen and chose Dad."

This sentence was like a silent thunder, suddenly exploding in Xitong's ears.

She froze instantly, her blood seeming to freeze for a second.

Xitong lowered her head in disbelief and looked at Xizhi's still calm profile.

The cozy atmosphere of the bedroom seemed to be torn open, revealing the child's sharp and precocious observation that she had never noticed.

"So," Xizhi turned his head and looked at his mother with his black and white eyes. There was an almost calm insight in them that was extremely inconsistent with his age.

"It's useless to like someone or be nice to them. You may still end up breaking up."

"Then why should you be unconditionally nice to Luo Xuanji? It's meaningless."

Xitong's heart seemed to be tightly grasped by an ice-cold hand, contracting and causing a burst of intense sourness and stinging pain.

She opened her mouth, but found her throat too dry to make a sound.

Wen Yanming, Yu Sixie... those things that she thought were well hidden in the adult world and would never reach the children's corner... It turned out that these clear eyes had already silently observed and interpreted them, and came to such a cold and biased conclusion.

The huge shock and overwhelming heartache left her speechless for a moment.

Xitong took great effort to steady her voice and prevent the trembling from leaking out.

"Xiaozhi," she reached out and gently stroked her son's soft hair, looking him in the eye seriously, "Listen to what mom says. Things... are not what you think."

She took a deep breath and tried to organize her words, trying to restore the child's distorted understanding.

"Brother Wen is very good, and Mom is very grateful to him. However, whether two people can finally be together is not just about 'good or bad' or 'like or not'. There are many, many complex factors involved, just like... just like when you build Lego, not all the pieces that look like they can be put together will eventually fit perfectly into the shape you want. Adjustments may be needed, and you may need to wait for more suitable pieces."

She saw a hint of confusion in her son's eyes and continued patiently:

"Mom chose Dad because we tried hard to understand and tolerate each other, even though we always made mistakes and hurt each other."

"But no matter what, we are willing to face everything together. This is completely different from whether you are good to Xuan Ji."

Xizhi blinked, as if digesting his mother's words.

"Also, Xiaozhi," Xitong's tone softened, "you said you don't like being unconditionally nice to others. To some extent, you're right. Love isn't just about giving and obeying blindly."

Xizhi's little face showed an expression of "just watch".

"But," Xi Tong changed the subject and said solemnly -

"The other side of love is understanding and tolerance. Just like Xuan Ji, she did something wrong, made you angry, and hurt you. But have you ever tried to think about why she acted that way? Maybe she just didn't know how to express her care, or maybe she was afraid of losing you as a friend, so she used the wrong method."

"Mom talked to the teacher today and found out that Xuanji's parents are very busy and rarely have time to spend with her. She might be... lonely."

"So she particularly hopes that someone can accompany her unconditionally at all times and obey her, so as to confirm that she is important."

Xitong spoke softly, observing Xizhi's reaction.

"Mom isn't asking you to forgive her right away or continue to treat her the same way you did before. What I'm hoping is that you won't jump to conclusions so quickly and try to... understand her a little bit more. See if behind her noisy and willful behavior, there's a little girl who doesn't know how to make friends and is afraid of being left behind."

Xizhi listened quietly, her long eyelashes drooping, covering her eyes, and no one knew what she was thinking.

The only lights left in the bedroom were the warm lights and the gentle breathing sounds between mother and son.

"Love is not a transaction, it's not 'I'm good to you, so you have to be with me'."

Xitong concluded, her voice gentle but powerful.

"But love requires courage. It requires us to try to understand why the other person does what they do, and it requires a little tolerance. Even if we find that we can't be good friends in the end, at least we tried to understand each other instead of just closing the door. Don't you agree?"

She lowered her head and gently kissed Xizhi's forehead: "My little man, the world is big and people's hearts are complicated. We need to learn slowly."

"good evening!"

Xizhi didn't speak immediately. She just huddled under the quilt and muttered softly, "Good night, Mom."

Xitong tucked in the quilt for him, turned off the bedside lamp, and left the door slightly open.

She stood outside the door, her back against the slightly cool wall, her heart still in turmoil because of Xiaozhi's words just now.

It turns out that children's eyes can see so clearly.