Chapter 3, Section 003: A scorching temperature that contradicted his icy demeanor. ...
None of the things Meng Ran feared happened.
The little girl didn't cry or make a fuss; she looked at her with her big, dark eyes and called out "Mommy."
Meng Ran's heart softened suddenly, and she subconsciously replied, "Yes."
Upon hearing her response, the little girl smiled, revealing two tiny dimples at the corners of her mouth—exactly the same as Meng Ran's.
"I knew I wouldn't mistake you, you really are my mom!"
Meng Ran squatted down: "You... know what I look like?"
The little girl nodded emphatically, her face full of pride: "Of course! I have a great memory. My teachers all say I remember things the fastest in the class! I remember every single picture of my mom that my dad has shown me!"
Meng Ran felt as if her heart had been struck by something.
According to Jiang Yuqing, during the five years she was missing, almost everyone assumed that she was no longer alive.
After all, in this modern society where information is readily available, if a living person disappears into thin air and is not heard from for five years, anyone would think that her chances of survival are so slim as to be negligible.
Meng Ran could hardly imagine what Chen Sulin was feeling when he showed her her photo to his daughter, or how he explained her whereabouts.
But this is clearly not the time to pry into a child's past.
Meng Ran suppressed the turmoil in her heart and smiled gently, "So that's how it is."
"Oh, right," Meng Ran glanced behind the little girl, "Isn't your father with you?"
Upon hearing this, the little girl suddenly became serious: "No, it's because my dad gave me a very important task that I have to complete all by myself!"
Meng Ran: "What kind of mission is it?"
The little girl answered solemnly, "Introduce my family members to my mother!"
The little girl puffed out her chest and said seriously, "Let me start! My name is Chen Miaoying. Miao means wonderful, which means I am the most wonderful little princess in the world! Ying means lots and lots, like a cup full of sweet candies. Every day of mine is sweet!"
He spoke at length, vividly and without a single stumble, clearly having said it countless times on various occasions and knowing it by heart.
"Oh, right." After introducing herself, Chen Miaoying seemed to remember something important: "Dad said that my name was given to me by Mom!"
"Mom..." Yuan Yuan looked at Meng Ran expectantly, "Do you remember?"
Meng Ran: "..."
Her throat tightened, and the word "remember" was on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't bring herself to say it.
Meng Ran forced a smile and said, "I'm sorry, Mom doesn't remember many things."
Disappointment flashed across the little girl's face.
But soon, Chen Miaoying said loudly, "It's okay, I'm not sad at all, and Mom, you mustn't be sad either!"
It was as if he was comforting her, and also as if he was encouraging himself.
Meng Ran smiled, then felt a lump in her throat.
She was actually comforted by her five-year-old daughter.
Meng Ran ruffled the little girl's hair: "Okay, Mommy isn't sad."
Chen Miaoying nodded vigorously, then quickly remembered something else: "Oh right, Mom, I only introduced myself, I haven't introduced my sister to you yet!"
Meng Ran was stunned.
What's going on? Doesn't she only have one daughter? Where did Chen Miaoying get a younger sister?
Could it be that another woman had given birth to Chen Sulin's child during these five years?
In an instant, countless melodramatic plots from wealthy families flashed through Meng Ran's mind, and she immediately felt terrible.
Chen Miaoying was completely unaware of the turmoil in Meng Ran's heart.
The little girl held her mother's hand and led her through the living room and hallway on the first floor until they arrived at the door of a certain room.
The moment she pushed open the door, Meng Ran let out a long sigh of relief.
The "little sister" that Chen Miaoying mentioned was a black and white calico cat, which was currently curled up on the carpet and dozing off.
“This is my sister, Anna!” Chen Miaoying leaned over and gently patted the cat’s head with her small hand.
The cat lazily raised its head and rubbed against Chen Miaoying's palm.
After recovering from the near-miss, Meng Ran asked with lingering fear, "Does Anna's name also have any special meaning?"
Chen Miaoying wore a matter-of-fact expression: "Because I'm Princess Elsa! So my sister is Anna!"
Meng Ran suddenly realized what was going on when she recalled the blue tutu that had appeared frequently in the photo album.
It seems the little girl's idol is the Snow Queen.
Chen Miaoying then took Meng Ran for a walk around the villa, introducing her to every staff member they encountered.
It's clear that Chen Miaoying gets along well with everyone here. She greets people in a loud and enthusiastic voice, and every staff member who is called by the young lady will temporarily stop what they are doing and respond gently.
Meng Ran felt inferior to such a social butterfly.
Meng Ran counted that there were at the moment a housekeeper, two maids, a security guard in charge of the security system, and a gardener tending to the flowers and plants in the yard.
The villa consists of a main building and an annex, with the main building having three floors.
Chen Miaoying was as energetic as a little sun, and she dragged Meng Ran from the living room, dining room and pet room on the first floor, to the children's room and multi-functional enlightenment room on the second floor, and then to the home theater on the third floor.
Just as Chen Miaoying was about to pull Meng Ran to the garden outside the villa, Aunt Zhang, who was in charge of taking care of her, came over: "Madam, Miss, dinner is ready, and the master is already waiting for you in the dining room."
As soon as she finished speaking, Chen Miaoying excitedly grabbed Meng Ran's hand and shook it, "Great, Mom, let's go to the restaurant to find Dad!"
The little girl looked extremely excited, and Meng Ran could only force a smile: "Okay, let's go."
God knows, she didn't want to have dinner with Chen Sulin at all.
She admitted that her impression of the man had changed considerably during the time she had spent with her daughter after receiving the photo album.
Clearly, Chen Sulin is a good father; otherwise, even with the help of others, it would have been impossible to raise Chen Miaoying to have such a cheerful and generous personality.
Moreover, the fact that their first meeting went so smoothly must have been largely due to the guidance of their father, Chen Sulin.
Otherwise, no matter how smart and sensible a five-year-old child is, it would be impossible for him to accept a mother he hasn't seen in five years so quickly.
Meng Ran was very grateful for all of this.
only……
A good father and a good husband are two completely different roles.
...
Chen Miaoying skipped and hopped ahead, glancing back every now and then to see if her mother was following.
Dad said that today is the first time Mom is meeting her, so she might be a little shy.
She has known her mother for several years, so she needs to be more proactive!
Her father showed her pictures of her mother, and in every single one, her mother looked exceptionally beautiful, just like the mother she met today.
Every year on Mom's birthday, Dad and Dad would prepare a gift for Mom together.
However, Dad said that he couldn't tell Mom about the gift in advance; he wanted to surprise her on her birthday.
She's an expert at keeping secrets; she'll never let anything slip beforehand!
The restaurant was on the first floor of the villa. When Meng Ran followed Chen Miaoying in, she saw Chen Sulin sitting at the dining table.
Upon seeing the two, the man naturally stood up.
The next second, Chen Miaoying quickened her pace and rushed over, giving Chen Sulin a big hug: "Dad!"
Chen Sulin squatted down and stroked his daughter's hair: "Have you completed the task Dad gave you?"
"Of course!" Chen Miaoying tilted her head up, as if to take credit, and said, "I introduced everyone I met at home to my mom, including Anna!"
After speaking with her father, Chen Miaoying extended a warm invitation to Meng Ran: "Mom, Dad usually sits across from me, would you like to sit next to me?"
Meng Ran: "Okay."
Besides, there doesn't seem to be any other more suitable location.
Chen Miaoying's dining chair is noticeably different from the other chairs; it is sky blue and has Elsa stickers on it.
Meng Ran sat down next to this chair.
Before dinner, Meng Ran was worried that if the atmosphere between her and Chen Sulin was as stiff as it was in the bedroom last time, the child might notice something was wrong.
Fortunately, most of the dinner was spent talking non-stop about what happened at kindergarten: building a castle with her friends in the morning, and having her favorite pumpkin porridge for lunch...
The little girl is very good at "sharing the love equally." If the first few sentences are addressed to her father, the next sentence will turn to Meng Ran, starting with "Mom, do you know?" to steer the conversation towards her.
Meng Ran doesn't need to say much. As long as she is a good straight man and occasionally responds with "Really?" or "That's amazing!", she can make the girl talk even more enthusiastically.
If you ignore the fact that there was almost no eye contact or conversation between her and Chen Sulin, the scene at the meal could actually be considered harmonious.
After dinner, Aunt Zhang, who was in charge of taking care of Chen Miaoying, came over and led Chen Miaoying to the multi-functional early childhood education room for her class.
Meng Ran understood. Chen Miaoying must have a complete schedule, with different arrangements for the time after meals every day. Today, it was a total of one hour of English reading and writing and watching cartoons.
No wonder they come from a wealthy family; they started receiving elite education at the age of five.
Before class, Chen Miaoying gave her parents a hug each.
"Mom." Chen Miaoying patted Meng Ran's hand, "I'll come find you after I finish my class. Be a good girl and wait for me."
Her tone and actions were just like a little adult's, Meng Ran guessed that Aunt Zhang probably spoke to Chen Miaoying like this all the time.
Meng Ran smiled and nodded, watching Chen Miaoying leave with a hint of reluctance.
Besides being reluctant to part with her daughter, she was also left alone in the restaurant with Chen Sulin after Chen Miaoying left.
The man's unpredictable moods during our last time alone together were still fresh in my mind.
To avoid saying too much and making mistakes, Meng Ran decided to wait for Chen Sulin to speak first this time.
She observed the man opposite her without making a sound. He stood tall and straight like a pine tree, wearing a dark shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, revealing smooth muscle lines.
Meng Ran could clearly sense that Chen Sulin was also looking at her.
She was on high alert, her mind focused.
If there were instruments to measure it, then when she was with Chen Sulin, her brain cell consumption rate would definitely be several times higher than usual.
The air remained silent for an unknown period of time.
For several moments, Meng Ran felt a burning heat in the man's gaze that lingered on her face, a heat that seemed incongruous with his icy demeanor.
But before she could see clearly, the heat quickly disappeared into her eyes, so fast it seemed like just her imagination.
Meng Ran thought that perhaps he wanted to ask her something.
But in the end, Chen Sulin simply said, "There's no one else here now, so you can ask me anything you want."
Meng Ran paused, unsure whether to feel relieved or disappointed.
After calming herself down, she asked an urgent question: "Am I going to stay in the same room tonight?"
Before dinner, Meng Ran made a special observation and found that the bedroom she stayed in during the day was the secondary bedroom, while the master bedroom next door was Chen Sulin's usual room.
Chen Sulin's gaze narrowed slightly as he silently looked at her.
Meng Ran's heart tightened: He wouldn't say anything like they were husband and wife, so they should share a bed, would he?
Fortunately, the man only paused for two seconds before saying, "Yes, if there's anything we need to buy, we can tell the housekeeper."
Meng Ran breathed a sigh of relief: "Okay."
Although she felt that Chen Sulin probably didn't want to sleep with her either, she felt much more at ease after getting a definite answer.
As long as she didn't have to sleep with this man, she really had nothing to complain about: any room in this villa was much better than any place she had ever lived before.
"Is there anything else you'd like to ask?" Chen Sulin asked again.
Meng Ran answered him in her heart: Isn't that obvious?
After a seven-year hiatus, she had a lot of questions she wanted to ask.
How did she and Zhao Yanzhou break up? What is his opinion on her being his childhood friend and ex-girlfriend? And how exactly did they get married?
But Meng Ran wasn't stupid: if Chen Sulin intended to tell her the truth, then from the time they met until now, he had many opportunities to take the initiative to explain everything.
When she first woke up from her amnesia, the evasive words of the housekeeper and those around her were enough to explain his attitude.
Can she really get the real answers to the questions she wants to ask from Chen Sulin?
Countless thoughts intertwined in my mind.
After a moment, Meng Ran carefully spoke: "If you have any new plans for our marriage... you can tell me, and maybe I can help you."
Although the previous incident about "Chen Miaoying having a younger sister" was a misunderstanding, it still served as a wake-up call for Meng Ran: whether or not to get a divorce is not a decision she can make alone.
After weighing the pros and cons, she felt that maintaining the status quo was the best option for the time being, but who knows if Chen Sulin might not think so?
Too much can happen in five years; Chen Sulin might have already found someone else to marry.
As a result, this "dead person" suddenly came back to life. Didn't that ruin someone else's good thing?
If Chen Sulin intends to divorce her, Meng Ran feels it's better to know sooner rather than later and prepare accordingly.
She's had enough of staying at someone else's house for money; she didn't want to do it again.
The atmosphere, which had been relatively peaceful, turned icy the moment Meng Ran uttered those words.
Chen Sulin's gaze darkened as he looked at her. His deep eyes, as black as a deep pool, made Meng Ran feel uneasy.
After a long pause, Chen Sulin coldly uttered a few words: "I have never thought about divorce."
A note from the author:
----------------------
66 small red envelopes dropped in the comments section! [heart]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com