Chapter 501 You may come, I will wait for you
Han Lingcui stood under the camphor tree at the entrance of the park, stroking the screen of his mobile phone repeatedly with his fingers.
That anonymous message was posted half an hour ago.
“At three o’clock, on the west lawn of Central Park, I’ll give you solid evidence that Shen Hanxing stole the child. Don’t let her find out.”
The wind blew the broken shadows of camphor leaves onto her shoes. She glanced down at the succulent leaves in her pocket.
I picked it from the windowsill when I went out this morning. The leaves were plump and the edges were a little red from the sun.
When I saw the anonymous message this morning, my temples started throbbing again. Those implanted fragments...
“Chen Hanxing pushed you down the stairs” and “robbed your child” popped up again.
But Xuanyuan Ge’s words last night were like a stone weighing on me.
"My mother transferred money to Xi Muxuan. Those surveillance videos are fake. Don't believe them."
She walked slowly toward the West Lawn.
The afternoon sun made the lawn warm. Laughter came from the children's playground in the distance. A small figure in a blue jacket was chasing a white butterfly. Every two steps, he turned back and shouted, his voice crisp.
It’s Xunxun.
Han Lingcui paused.
A small area was cordoned off on the lawn, covered with an off-white picnic mat. Shen Hanxing sat on the edge of the mat with a thermal bag on his knees.
She was not wearing her usual professional attire, but a light grey sweater. Her hair was loosely tied behind her head, and on her exposed wrist she wore a thin silver bracelet, which Han Lingcui had seen in her office last time.
At that time, Shen Hanxing said that it was made in the handicraft class of Chengcheng Kindergarten. Although it was crooked, he wore it every day.
At this moment, Chengcheng was sitting next to her, holding a dinosaur-shaped biscuit in his hand and handing it to Xunxun.
Xunxun ran back, took the biscuit while panting, but did not eat it immediately. Instead, she broke off half of it and stuffed it into Chengcheng's pocket.
"You eat the big one, and I'll eat the small one."
Chengcheng shook his head and pushed his piece back.
"Mom said to share. This is for you. I have more."
Chen Hanxing smiled and reached out to wipe the sweat from Xunxun's forehead.
Her movements were very gentle, and when her fingertips rubbed Xunxun's temples, Xunxun subconsciously leaned towards her hand, like a kitten relying on people.
Then she turned to Chengcheng, straightened his messy collar, and said softly, "Run slowly, don't fall, there are stones on the edge of the lawn."
The two children responded in unison, "I know, Mom," and ran hand in hand to chase butterflies again.
Shen Hanxing looked at their backs, the corners of his mouth curved, and he reached out and took out two bottles of yogurt from the thermal bag, both of which were at room temperature.
“Auntie Han!”
A crisp shout broke Han Lingcui's stunned state.
Xunxun had changed direction at some point and was running towards her. The hem of her blue coat was blown up by the wind, and she almost tripped over her shoelaces after taking a few steps.
Chen Hanxing stood up behind her, but didn't call out to her. She just smiled and raised her chin towards Han Lingcui. There was no surprise in her eyes, as if she had known she would come.
Xunxun ran up to her, looked up at her with her little face, and grabbed her sleeves with her little hands.
He didn't pull hard, but held it gently, as if he was afraid of damaging her clothes.
"Auntie Han, why are you here? Are you here to play with me?"
His eyes were shining, with a hint of sunlight on his eyelashes.
"Has the succulent I told you about last time grown new leaves? My mom said that succulents need more sun to grow fat."
Han Lingcui's fingers stiffened.
She forgot how she answered last time, but looking at Xunxun's expectant eyes, she subconsciously squatted down and looked at him at eye level.
"It's grown. It's fatter than last time. Like a little peach."
"Very good!"
Xunxun clapped her hands and laughed, then took her hand and walked towards the lawn.
"Then you must bring it to me! Chengcheng wants to see it too. He says he's never seen a succulent plant like Little Peach."
Han Lingcui was led along by him, her steps slowing down to match his rhythm. Her palms were wrapped in the child's small hands, warmer than the succulent leaves in her pocket.
She looked up at Shen Hanxing, who was standing by the picnic mat waiting for her with an unopened bottle of yogurt in his hand. When he saw her looking at him, he handed the yogurt to her.
"Room temperature. You have a bad stomach, so you can't drink ice cold. You always said you'd get acid reflux if you drank ice cold."
Han Lingcui paused as she took the yogurt.
The two words "before" were like a thin needle, gently pricking her, but it did not bring pain, but instead a kind of indescribable sourness.
She didn't say anything and followed Xunxun to sit on the picnic mat. Chengcheng had already run over and sat next to her obediently, holding a building block doll in his hand.
"Hello, Aunt Han. I'm Chengcheng. Xunxun said you can grow succulents. Can you teach me? I want to plant one for my mother."
"sure."
Han Lingcui looked at Chengcheng's serious expression and suddenly smiled.
This child is very similar to Chen Hanxing. There is a gentleness between his eyebrows and eyes, and he even speaks softly. He is not as lively as Xunxun, but he has a reassuring steadiness.
Shen Hanxing pushed the plate of cut fruits in front of her. The grapes in it had been peeled and seeded, and the strawberries had been cut into small pieces.
"You used to dislike eating grapes with the skin on, saying it was troublesome to spit out the seeds, so I just cut some."
She didn't look at Han Lingcui when she spoke. Her attention was on Xunxun who was chasing butterflies. She was afraid that he would run too far away, but her tone was as natural as if they had just met yesterday.
"I originally brought them here today because Xunxun said she wanted to fly a kite. Look, the kite is still over there."
Han Lingcui looked in the direction she pointed. Next to the picnic mat was a blue kite with Ultraman painted on it, which was Xunxun's favorite pattern.
The wind blew the kite string gently, and she suddenly asked, "You...why aren't you surprised that I came?"
Shen Hanxing then turned to look at her, the sunlight falling into her eyes, bright and soft.
"Qi Moxun sent me a message this morning, saying you might come."
She paused, and before Han Lingcui could speak, she added.
"I didn't let him stop you. I think that some things are clearer to you than to others."
Han Lingcui tightened her grip on the yogurt bottle.
She actually came to ask for evidence, to confirm whether Shen Hanxing really "took the child to control her" as the anonymous message said.
But now looking at everything in front of me...
The peeled grapes, the room temperature yogurt, and the unguarded closeness between the two children, she couldn't utter the word "evidence".
Xunxun was tired from running, so she ran back and sat next to her, resting her head on her arm and whispered.
"Auntie Han, I'm a little tired."
His hair rubbed against her arm, soft like the fur of a small animal.
Han Lingcui subconsciously reached out and touched his head, so gently that he didn't even notice it.
This action was so natural, like I had done it a thousand times.
Shen Hanxing looked at this scene, the corners of his mouth curved: “Look, how close Xunxun is to you.
He rarely gets this close to strangers. Last time at the mall, an auntie wanted to hug him, but he hid away. But with you, he took the initiative to pull you over and talk to you.
Han Lingcui finally asked.
“Chen Hanxing, aren’t you afraid?”
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