Chu Yunxing held her in his arms tenderly and whispered, "Our child will be alright."
These words left Song Mai speechless for a moment, her eyes widening: "Our child?"
Chu Yunxing hadn't expected that he would say the wrong thing unintentionally. He wanted to make amends, but he didn't know what to say.
However, Song Mai didn't have much time to dwell on these things right now; her mind was preoccupied with An An's whereabouts.
She thought and thought, but her head was throbbing with pain.
Fortunately, the Shen family's security was always tight, and they quickly found An'an hiding in the bushes in the garden.
The moment Song Mai saw An An, she broke down and hugged her tightly, as if she was afraid that she would disappear if she let go.
An'an looked at her with a confused expression and cautiously asked, "Mom, what's wrong?"
"Didn't I tell you not to leave your mother?" Song Mai's tears flowed uncontrollably, feeling a sense of relief after surviving a catastrophe.
"Mom, an auntie just said you're busy with work, so she asked me to play hide-and-seek with her first. But I haven't found her yet. Do you know where she went?"
At this moment, Shen Xiujing approached the group with a serious expression.
Song Mai guessed that he wanted to talk about Qian Xiran, and gently shook her head at him.
Since the child doesn't believe there are bad people in the world, there's no need for me to shatter her illusions myself.
Song Mai picked up An'an and said cautiously, "Auntie lost, so she has to be punished now. But Auntie has other things to do and can't play games with you anymore."
"Mom, is this aunt a bad person?"
Everyone present looked at each other in bewilderment.
For a child, as long as someone can play with her, they are not considered a bad person in the true sense.
After hesitating for a moment, Song Lan gently came to her side: "Don't worry, An'an, with us protecting you, you will definitely not encounter any bad people."
An'an nodded in understanding: "I see."
Thankfully, An'an is safe and sound, but what did Yunxing mean by what he just said?
Chu Yunxing touched his nose guiltily; his words had indeed aroused Song Mai's suspicion.
[Furthermore, why does Shen Xiujing call me "sister"? And who is Miaojing, whom they just mentioned?]
Chu Yunxing turned his head awkwardly, increasingly unsure of how to react.
Song Mai was unaware that Chu Yunxing had overheard her thoughts. She cautiously turned around and looked at his slightly flustered expression, subconsciously assuming that he was hiding something else from her.
"Do you have anything else to say?"
Song Mai hadn't yet recovered from the tension she'd just felt, and her tone unconsciously became a bit more serious.
Chu Yunxing thought she had begun to doubt him, so he said cautiously, "Actually, I found out about this by accident. I didn't tell you because I was worried you wouldn't accept it."
"Since it has already happened, there is no need to cover it up."
Although Song Mai didn't know what had happened, she still spoke in the same tone as before, trying to trick Chu Yunxing into saying something.
"Actually, An'an's background..."
Chu Yunxing was speaking when he suddenly froze.
He frowned instinctively, unsure of what to say for a moment.
Logically speaking, Song Mai shouldn't be able to perceive what she's thinking, let alone make any guesses based on a single sentence.
He was indeed hiding something from me. What was it?
Song Mai looked at him with a puzzled expression.
With this thought in mind, Chu Yunxing realized that Song Mai had never known the truth of the matter from the very beginning.
He shook his head slightly, a smile playing at the corners of his lips.
"It's nothing really, I just wanted to tell you that I will find An'an's father as soon as possible."
Song Mai looked around in confusion, only to suddenly realize that everyone except Lin Ran and Jiang Jibai had a look of hesitation on their faces.
It seemed as if everyone was hiding something from her, and she had no clue what was going on.
With the danger over, the birthday banquet resumed its lively atmosphere.
Everyone treated it as a simple little incident and didn't take it to heart.
Only the person involved is still shaken.
Song Mai held An'an's hand tightly and whispered, "You must never leave your mother again, or your mother will worry."
An'an nodded obediently: "An'an will never play games with other aunties again. An'an will be a good girl and listen to Mommy."
Just as the two were still interacting, Grandma Shen walked over with a smile.
"Your name is An'an, right?"
The old lady's voice was kind, and her smile was not harsh at all.
An'an felt a strong liking for her because of her appearance, and nodded gently: "Grandma, how do you know my name?"
"Grandma has always liked you very much, so she was secretly watching you. Were you playing around just now and made Mom unhappy?" Grandma Shen jokingly shifted the conversation to Song Mai.
Song Mai greeted her with a smile, "Hello, Grandma Shen."
"You've grown so much." Grandma Shen looked at her with tears in her eyes, her tone full of praise.
This sight made Song Mai subconsciously frown, a look of confusion on her face.
Are you talking about me?
Grandma Shen smiled without saying a word and continued to change the subject: "Today's events have caused you so much trouble, it's because our Shen family hasn't been hospitable enough."
"It's alright, this has nothing to do with the Shen family after all. It was my oversight that caused everyone to panic."
Song Mai felt extremely guilty. The birthday banquet was meant to bring good luck, but because of her and An'an, Old Madam Shen had to live in fear.
She smiled and took out a gift from her bag, saying softly, "I didn't know what you liked, so I prepared a jade pendant for you."
This jade pendant is carved in the shape of Maitreya Buddha and is extremely exquisite.
She looked at Old Mrs. Shen with a smile, hoping to see a hint of expectation in her eyes.
Unexpectedly, Grandma Shen's eyes were filled with tears as she nodded approvingly, "Good child, truly a good child."
Song Mai found it very strange and subconsciously looked at her: "Don't you like this gift?"
"Of course not, it's just that I thought of her because you're about the same age as my granddaughter whom I've been separated from for many years."
No wonder Old Mrs. Shen said those words the moment she saw him.
Song Mai assumed she was just projecting her emotions and said with a soft laugh, "Grandma, if you don't mind, you can treat me as your granddaughter."
After saying this, a look of joy appeared on Grandma Shen's face.
Seeing that the old lady was about to lose control of her emotions, Shen Xiujing strode forward and said, "Grandma, you can't help but miss my sister again."
"Your sister..."
"Actually, I've always thought of you as my older sister, which is why I called you that in an emergency."
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