Chapter 412 No one can take you away, no one!
Xunxun stopped holding Liusu's hand, her eyes wide open, as if she didn't understand.
The wind outside the window blew through the treetops, the leaves rustled, and cast swaying shadows on the ground, as if someone was gently swaying his steps.
"And... Aunt Lingcui who gave you the bunny doll last time,"
Chen Hanxing's fingertips began to tremble, and she had to clench the sofa cover tightly. The texture of the fabric dug into her palms. "She is your mother. The mother who gave birth to you."
She said the word "give birth" very softly, but it was like a stone hitting the calm lake.
The tassel in Xunxun's hand slipped from his fingers. He lowered his head and looked at his little feet dangling in the air. After a long while, he asked in an almost inaudible voice.
"Like...like a kitten giving birth to kittens?"
Shen Hanxing’s eyes suddenly became hot.
She remembered that not long ago, a stray cat in the community gave birth to kittens, and Xunxun squatted by the flower bed and watched them for the entire afternoon.
When I came back, I asked her, "Mom, does the kitten's mother think they are too noisy?"
At that time, she hugged him and said, "No, mothers all love their babies."
"yes."
She heard her voice trembling. "They encountered a lot of trouble before and couldn't be with you, but they... have always missed you."
Xunxun fell silent.
He slid down from the sofa, walked barefoot to the center of the carpet, and picked up the book "The Little Prince".
His fingers gently stroked the face of the little prince on the cover, his movements very slowly, as if he was studying some difficult problem.
Shen Hanxing sat on the sofa, looking at his small back, her heart seemed to be tightly grasped by an invisible hand, even breathing became difficult.
She was afraid that he would turn around and ask "Why don't you want me?", afraid that he would suddenly cry and go find his biological parents, and even more afraid that he would look at her with that timid look.
She was afraid that she didn't give enough, that she wasn't good enough, that one day he would find out that she wasn't his only support.
This fear is like a vine, silently lingering for a long time, until today, when a rainstorm is finally coming.
"Mother."
Xunxun suddenly turned around, still holding the picture book in her hands. There were no tears in her eyes, she just looked at her steadily.
The sunlight fell on his face, dyeing his eyelashes golden and casting a small shadow.
Shen Hanxing dug her fingertips into the sofa cushions, her nails almost embedding into the fabric.
She waited for his question, for the crack that might make her completely collapse.
"Will they ask me to leave?"
Xunxun's voice was very soft, with a barely perceptible tremor.
"Just like... just like what Qiqi said, her grandmother wants to send her away because she is not her parents' biological child."
Shen Hanxing stood up suddenly, and his knees hit the coffee table with a dull thud.
She ignored the pain and walked over to Xunxun, squatting down and hugging him tightly. His back was very soft, and through the thin T-shirt she could feel his small shoulder blades, like two folded wings.
"No."
Her voice was choked with sobs, and she was so anxious that she didn't even realize it.
"Xunxun, you can be with whoever you want. No one can force you. Mom will never let you go, never."
Xunxun moved in her arms, slowly wrapped his little arms around her neck, and buried his face in the crook of her neck.
His breath, sweet like strawberry milk, caressed her skin gently. "But... I already have a mother."
Shen Hanxing's movements froze instantly.
"Last week I had a fever and my mother got up in the middle of the night to wipe my body. She touched my forehead every hour and her eyes turned red."
Xunxun's voice was muffled and a little nasal, but every word was clear.
"And last time, Zhuangzhuang pushed me into a mud pit. Mom took my hand and went to the teacher to ask Zhuangzhuang to apologize to me."
He paused and rubbed his little head against the crook of her neck.
"The uncle's arm was bleeding, and when he smiled, the corners of his mouth turned down. When the aunt gave me the doll, there was something bright in her eyes, as if she was about to cry. They looked so sad, I didn't want to go to their place."
"Mom, here I have strawberry pudding, a magic book, and a night light that glows at night."
He stretched out his little hand and gently patted Shen Hanxing's back. His action was very similar to the way she usually comforted him. "It's warm here with mom. I want to stay here with mom."
When the last few words fell, Shen Hanxing felt something exploded in his heart.
It was not pain, nor sadness, but a surging warm current that almost drowned her.
The days they spent together flashed before her eyes like a movie. Those fragmented, warm, and down-to-earth moments had already formed an impenetrable web in her heart, tightly entwining her and this little child.
She always thought that she was protecting him, but it turned out that he was using his tender shoulders to support her heart which was deeply hurt by the Shen family.
"Mother?"
Xunxun felt warm liquid falling on the back of his neck. He raised his head and saw Chen Hanxing's tears falling down her cheeks like beads with broken strings.
He quickly stretched out his chubby little hand, placed his palm on her cheek, and rubbed it carefully, "Why are you crying, Mom? Did I say something wrong?"
His palms were damp from freshly washed hands, and had a hint of the sweetness of strawberry soap.
That bit of temperature fell on the skin, like a spark igniting a fuse, and the emotions that Chen Hanxing had accumulated for too long suddenly burst out.
She hugged Xunxun in her arms, resting her chin on the top of his soft head, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably.
It wasn’t the calm and self-possessed Mr. Shen in the conference room, but just a mother whose soft spot was touched by her child’s words.
The fear of facing the Xuanyuan family those days, the anxiety of losing Xunxun, and the uneasiness as an adoptive mother, all turned into hot tears at this moment, rushing out, hitting Xunxun's back and soaking a small piece of cloth.
“That’s right…”
She choked with sobs, her voice swollen with tears, "Xunxun is right..."
"Mom is here, she's always here..."
She tightened her arms, as if she wanted to rub this tiny child into her bones and blood. "No one can take you away, no one can..."
Xunxun was held a little tightly by her, but she did not struggle.
He simply stretched out his little hand and patted her back again and again, just like she usually did to coax him to sleep, and said softly in his still milky voice, "Mommy, don't cry. Xunxun is holding you."
The sunlight slowly moved across the carpet, climbed up the edge of the sofa, and illuminated the unopened box of strawberry pudding on the coffee table.
"The Little Prince" was spread out on the carpet. The wind blew through the pages, making a rustling sound, and finally stopped on the page with the illustration of a rose.
There were no earth-shaking vows in the room, only the cry of a mother who had taken off all her armor, and a child's clumsy comfort, like two entangled wisps of wind, slowly settling in the afternoon sun.
Shen Hanxing cried for a long time, until her throat became hoarse and her eyes ached, then she slowly raised her head.
Xunxun's hair was wet with her tears, and it stuck to her forehead like a wilted cloud. He was looking at her with his eyes as big as black grapes, and her tears were still on his eyelashes, like fallen diamonds.
"Mommy, please stop crying, okay?"
He stretched out his finger and poked her cheek, "If you cry any more, the pudding will melt."
Shen Hanxing looked at his serious expression and suddenly laughed, but tears were still falling.
She wiped the tears from her face, kissed him on the forehead, then took his little hand and walked to the coffee table and opened the box of strawberry pudding.
The moment the spoon touched the plastic box, her mind suddenly became clear. What the answer would be in three days no longer seemed to matter.
What’s more important is that the child in her arms, holding a pudding and with sparkling eyes, is her weakness, and also the armor that she must protect with all her might.
The sunlight outside the window was just right, falling on the two people's clasped hands, warm and cozy, like a spring that would never go away.
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