Chapter 411 He is your father
When Shen Hanxing pushed open the door, the little bear pendant on the keychain hit the door panel, making a slight ding sound.
There were little leather shoes scattered around the entrance, one with the toe facing inward, and one leaning next to the shoe rack, like an abandoned little animal.
This is his unique way of taking off his shoes, and he always says "this way the shoes can breathe."
She bent down to put the shoes in place, and her fingertips touched the remaining warmth on the shoe surface. The heavy feeling in her heart fell down again.
The afternoon sun slanted across the living room, casting patterns of gauze curtains on the floor, as if someone had embroidered a delicate net with gold thread.
Xunxun was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the carpet with his back to her, his small body swaying slightly as he turned the pages of a book.
The cover of "The Little Prince" had been worn to a shine, and the spine had been taped three times. These were all caused by the last time Xunxun took the book to kindergarten and the children tore it when they were scrambling to read it.
Shen Hanxing was squatting under the lamp mending her book, and he lay on the carpet next to her, holding up a crayon and drawing a rainbow circle on the tape, saying, "This way, the book that mom is mending will become magical."
"Mom is back!"
Xunxun heard the noise and turned around immediately, the page of the book still pinched between her fingers, revealing the illustration of the little prince sitting on the planet.
His hair was a little fluffy from the sun, fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and the tip of his nose was red, as if he had just secretly eaten strawberry jam.
Shen Hanxing paused while changing his shoes.
Her face was reflected in the dressing mirror at the entrance, and there was an unconcealable dark shadow under her eyes.
She hardly slept last night. The blood-soaked gauze on Xuanyuan Ge's arm kept flashing before her eyes, mixed with Xunxun's even breathing while she was sleeping, like two entangled threads, making her heart tighten.
She took a deep breath, hung her briefcase on the hook, and tried to sound normal: "Did you behave in kindergarten today?"
"good!"
Xunxun pushed the picture book aside, crawled over using her hands and feet, hugged her calves, and there were some chocolate stains on her upturned face.
"Teacher Li said that my family portrait is the most beautiful and has even been posted on the bulletin board. Look, Mom, I drew long hair for you, longer than a fairy's."
He opened his arms as if presenting a treasure, gesturing an exaggerated length, and there was a little crayon blue on his little arms.
Shen Hanxing bent down and picked him up, his palm touching the warm skin on the back of his neck and a few strands of naughty hair.
This child has grown from a tiny one who was so skinny that you could feel his shoulder blades to the chubby one he is now.
The soreness and swelling in her arms had long become a habit, just like she was used to him sneaking into her bed at night, putting his cold little feet on her legs, and saying, "Mom's legs are radiators."
"Mom bought you strawberry pudding."
She laid him on the couch, her fingertips brushing against his chocolate-covered cheek.
"Go wash your hands. Let's finish our pudding and then tell the story, okay?"
Xunxun immediately slid down from the sofa and rushed to the bathroom on a small stool.
The plastic bench rubbed against the floor, making a crackling sound, a sound that once gave Shen Hanxing a headache.
Until one night, when she came home late from work, she saw Xunxun put a bench at the door with his teddy bear on it. The aunt said that he had been waiting for two hours and insisted on opening the door for his mother himself.
From then on, she actually felt that the crackling sound also carried a bit of warmth.
When the sound of running water sounded, Shen Hanxing walked into the living room and picked up the book "The Little Prince".
There was a kindergarten drawing between the pages of the book. In the drawing, there were two crooked people. One had long braids and was holding a pudding in her hand, and the other had an afro and was holding a balloon in her hand. Next to it were written "Mom and Me" in crooked words.
Her fingertips stroked the little man with long braids, and her fingertips touched the uneven texture of the paper.
Xunxun always wanted to draw her mother "brightly", so she painted several layers of gold crayons.
The sound of water in the bathroom stopped.
Xunxun ran out, shaking off the water droplets on her hands. The ends of her hair were still dripping, leaving small wet marks on the carpet.
"Mom, where's Pudding?"
He jumped to the sofa, sniffed with his little nose, and his eyes were bright as if there were two stars in them.
Shen Hanxing stuffed the painting back into the book and met his gaze when she looked up.
Her shadow was clearly reflected in those eyes that were like black grapes, so pure that you could see through it.
It was these eyes that looked at her carefully with timid curiosity when she first saw them;
On the day she took him away, he clutched the corner of her clothes tightly, like grabbing the last piece of driftwood;
When she was bedridden with a high fever, he held his small cup of water and stood on tiptoe to feed her water, not caring even if the water spilled all over his body.
My heart was suddenly gripped by something, and it started to hurt intensely.
She walked to the refrigerator and when she opened the door, the cool air hit her face, making her hot eyes feel a little more comfortable.
The strawberry pudding was placed in the top compartment, with water droplets condensing on the plastic box. I bought it when I passed by the dessert shop this morning.
Xunxun kept saying last week that she wanted to eat it, saying, "Mothers of kindergarten children all buy it."
"Mom?" Xunxun's voice sounded behind him, with a hint of cautious temptation.
Shen Hanxing turned around, holding the pudding in her hand, her fingertips numb from the cold air.
She walked to the sofa and sat down, patted the empty space beside her, and watched Xunxun climb up. His calves didn't even reach the ground, so he dangled in the air like a happy little swing.
"Xunxun," she put the pudding on the coffee table without opening it, but her fingertips were circling the plastic box, "Mom has something to tell you."
"Um!"
Xunxun nodded vigorously and moved her little body closer to her, with the tip of her nose almost touching her arm.
He had a light milky scent mixed with the smell of sunlight. It was a scent that would make Shen Hanxing feel at ease whenever she smelled it during countless tired nights.
Shen Hanxing's Adam's apple rolled, and his eyes fell on the family portrait on the corner of the coffee table.
That photo was taken on Xunxun’s birthday. She was squatting beside him, and he was holding a birthday hat and leaning it on her shoulder. They were both laughing so hard that their eyes were narrowed into slits.
Next to the photo was an adoption certificate, the edges of which had turned a little yellow.
"Do you still remember...the uncle who came to see you a few days ago?"
Her voice was as light as a feather, almost floating in the air. "She's the one with the white bandage wrapped around her arm and who bought you chocolate."
Xunxun's little brows immediately frowned, and her little hands unconsciously grabbed the tassels of the sofa cover.
"I remember. He said the chocolate was a secret and I couldn't tell Mom."
He secretly looked up at her with a hint of cunning in his eyes.
"But I only ate half of it. I hid the rest under my pillow and wanted to leave it for my mother."
Chen Hanxing's heart felt like it was pricked by a needle, and a sour feeling spread along his blood vessels.
She reached out and rubbed his hair, her fingertips running through the soft hair and touching the warmth of his scalp.
"His name is Xuanyuan Ge."
She paused, each word coming out like she was lifting a stone, "He's your father."
The air suddenly froze.
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