Chapter 8 008 A low, soft chuckle drifted into his ear. ...
Meng Ran took several photos of the succulents with her phone.
I found Chen Sulin's profile picture on WeChat, clicked on it, typed and deleted, but still couldn't send him a message thanking him.
She and he were so unfamiliar that she had to think twice before sending him a message to determine if it was appropriate.
After hesitating for a long time, Meng Ran decided to bring it up with him in person that evening.
She then sent another message: "I found my old WeChat account. Should I use this one to contact you from now on?"
Chen Sulin didn't reply immediately, and Meng Ran thought he might be in a meeting or something.
Jiang Yuqing sent a message first, saying that she was flying back to Beicheng tonight and asking when would be a convenient time to meet in the next few days.
The two made plans to have dinner together the day after tomorrow.
When Meng Ran was having lunch, Chen Sulin finally replied: "[Okay.]"
Meng Ran was glad she hadn't asked him about the succulents directly. Otherwise, Chen Sulin would have been busy with work all morning and would have thought she was being tactless if she bothered him with such a trivial matter.
After lunch, Meng Ran continued to stroll around the villa in the afternoon.
Who would have thought that she, who once lived in a cramped space of just a few square meters, could now use the verb "browse" at home.
Yesterday, Chen Miaoying had already given her a tour, so Meng Ran had a general idea of what to expect. This time, she visited the rooms that interested her the most.
As she went down the stairs, Meng Ran almost stepped on a ball of fluff. Looking down, she realized it was the "little sister" that Chen Miaoying had specially introduced to her before.
The villa was too big, and cats are elusive creatures, so Meng Ran almost forgot that she had such a little cat at home.
The person and the cat were both surprised when they bumped into each other.
The cat turned around quickly and ran back to the pet room in a flash.
Meng Ran hesitated for a moment, then followed.
When she was little, she really wanted to have a cat, so she asked her mother. Her mother said that when she grew up and was able to take care of a cat herself, she would be allowed to have one.
“You can give it a name first,” her mother told her.
The child's ideas changed every day, and Meng Ran gave her future kitten more than a dozen different names.
Unfortunately, none of those names could be used, because before she could truly grow up, her mother, who had promised to raise cats with her, passed away.
The pet room was quite large, and Meng Ran searched around before finally finding the kitten in a corner behind the curtains.
She crouched down, looking the cat in the eye from a meter away: "I remember your name is Anna?"
Anna looked at her and meowed.
Meng Ran: "I am your mother."
No response.
Meng Ran: "Are you afraid of me? But your father is Chen Sulin, he should be much scarier than me, right?"
After saying that, he couldn't help but laugh.
She's really childish, coming all the way here to talk bad about Chen Sulin to a cat.
I stayed in the pet room for a while when my phone vibrated in my pocket.
Chen Sulin sent a voice message.
Meng Ran was somewhat surprised. She couldn't explain why, but she always felt that someone like Chen Sulin would prefer to use written language.
When I turned on the voice recorder, a clear child's voice came through the speaker: "Mommy, it's me, Princess Yingying."
Meng Ran smiled.
It's undeniable that Chen Sulin has a beautiful voice, but compared to that, she definitely prefers to hear a young girl's strong and resonant voice.
Chen Miaoying: "Dad has picked me up, and we'll be home for dinner soon! Mom, we haven't seen each other for so many hours, have you missed me?"
Meng Ran couldn't help but chuckle and replied by pressing the bottom of the screen: "Of course, Mom misses you very, very much."
When talking to children, she subconsciously switched to a sweet, coquettish voice, only remembering after sending the message that the WeChat account belonged to Chen Sulin.
The thought that her saccharine voice message would remain in the man's chat history made her blush.
Chan Miu-ying: "I miss my mom so much too!"
He said "very" three times in a row, one more than Meng Ran.
"Oh, right, Mom," Chen Miaoying added, "I also have my own WeChat account. Mom, can you add my friend as a friend?"
Meng Ran agreed, "Okay."
Chen Miaoying exclaimed excitedly, "Then I'll have Dad send my account number to Mom!"
A few seconds later, a WeChat name card popped up in the chat box.
Meng Ran clicked on the link and sent a friend request, which was quickly accepted.
Then Chen Miaoying sent a voice message using this new account: "Mom, is that you?"
Meng Ran: "Yes."
Chen Miaoying: "Then I can send WeChat messages to my mom from now on! Dad said I need to protect my eyes, so Mom, let's chat when I get home!"
Meng Ran smiled and said, "Okay, see you in a bit, baby."
Out of curiosity, Meng Ran clicked on the account's homepage and was surprised to find that it actually had a WeChat Moments.
The most recent post was a photo of a child's drawing, captioned: "This is my drawing."
Below that is a mini cake: [My dad bought this for me.]
Next up is a photo of her wearing a princess dress: "[This is my new dress.]"
Meng Ran scrolled to the bottom and found that this account started posting on WeChat Moments a year ago, when Chen Miaoying was about four years old.
Such a young child can't recognize all the characters and doesn't know pinyin, so it must have been an adult who typed the words for her.
Meng Ran scrolled through all of Chen Miaoying's WeChat Moments in one go, feeling both warm and somewhat regretful.
She missed out on her daughter's life before she was five years old.
Before six o'clock, Chan Miu-ying and Chan Suk-lin arrived home together.
While Chen Sulin was still loosening his tie, Chen Miaoying had already rushed into Meng Ran's arms like a small cannonball.
Meng Ran was nearly knocked off balance by the impact, but managed to regain her footing.
"Mommy, Mommy!" Chen Miaoying looked up and asked, "What did you do at home today?"
Meng Ran told Chen Miaoying about a few things she had done, and the mother and daughter chatted happily.
When it was time for dinner, they went to the restaurant, and the three of them sat in the same seats as yesterday.
After Meng Ran sat down, she kept wanting to ask Chen Sulin about succulents, but she couldn't find a suitable opportunity to speak.
It was Chen Miaoying who noticed her mother's actions and realized that her mother seemed to have looked at her father several times today, but had not said anything.
"Mom," Chen Miaoying asked, "do you have something to say to Dad?"
Meng Ran's body stiffened.
Feeling the man's gaze on her face, she cleared her throat: "Um, I went to your study today."
Meng Ran was a little nervous when she said it. Although Chen Sulin had said she could go into his study, he hadn't guaranteed that he wouldn't be angry if she actually went.
Yes, in her mind, Chen Sulin was such a petty and difficult man.
It's because this man questioned her for no reason on their very first meeting yesterday.
Upon hearing this, Chen Sulin remained expressionless and gave a faint "hmm".
Meng Ran thought, thankfully, he probably isn't angry.
She continued, "I saw the succulents on your windowsill."
Chen Sulin paused with his chopsticks and hummed in agreement again.
Meng Ran observed his reaction: apart from that brief pause, the man's expression remained calm, as if she had just casually mentioned a trivial matter.
Perhaps those succulents weren't anything special to him; he was just too lazy to take care of them and had his aunt look after them.
Meng Ran pursed her lips, inexplicably unwilling to give up: "So much time has passed, why have you kept it all this time? Why didn't you have someone throw it away?"
Chen Sulin: "Why did you throw it away?"
Meng Ran: "..."
That's why some people can be so rude and hurtful. Her original intention was to thank Chen Sulin for keeping her flowers, but now she couldn't even say "thank you."
Chen Miaoying, who had been listening to her parents' conversation, finally found an opportunity to interject: "Mom, are you talking about those little potted plants in Dad's study?"
Meng Ran composed herself and smiled, "Yes, my darling has met you before?"
Chan Miu-ying: "Yes, I have."
Not only had she seen them, but she also really liked the patterns on the flowerpots and asked her father if she could take care of the flowers.
However, her father refused, saying she was too young and he couldn't take good care of her.
She promised her father several times, but it was no use; her father just wouldn't agree.
"Dad was so stingy back then," Chen Miaoying thought.
However, her father is very good to her at other times, so she should not expose her father's shortcomings in front of her mother.
...
After dinner, Aunt Zhang, as usual, took Chen Miaoying to the enlightenment room.
Meng Ran returned to her room and opened WeChat.
She didn't have many friends to begin with, and after seven years, she still keeps in touch with even fewer.
Fortunately, Jiang Yuqing told her that the news of her disappearance had not spread among her classmates, and everyone thought that she had just kept a low profile all these years.
Since Meng Ran almost never posted on WeChat Moments in the past, no one found it strange.
Occasionally, acquaintances would ask Jiang Yuqing about her recent situation, and Jiang Yuqing would always make excuses for her.
“If they really said you were missing, they would definitely ask a lot of questions, it would be such a hassle,” Jiang Yuqing said. “Besides, I don’t want you to become the subject of their gossip.”
Thanks to Jiang Yuqing, Meng Ran no longer has to worry about being mistaken for a ghost if she happens to run into an acquaintance on the street.
Meng Ran casually scrolled through her WeChat Moments, without any particular purpose; she just wanted to see what everyone had been doing over the years.
Time is a magical thing. Meng Ran was surprised to find that her classmate who had firmly stated that she was childless by choice had actually gotten married and had children a few years ago and now often posts photos of her children.
Some classmates who were determined to take the civil service exam back then have now quit their government jobs and are starting their own businesses.
Several of them have also traveled abroad, and they occasionally share photos of beautiful scenery overseas.
As Meng Ran flipped through the pages, she suddenly felt a little lost.
What will she do in the future?
Meng Ran had good grades when she was an undergraduate, and she found a job with good pay at a large company without much trouble after graduation.
If she had continued working as usual and hadn't disappeared for so many years, her salary would probably be quite considerable now.
But there are no "what ifs". Given her current situation, if she were to write a resume and look for a job, she would probably have difficulty even getting an interview.
Meng Ran sighed deeply, deciding to think about these things later.
At least after Chen Sulin gave her that bank card, she didn't have to worry about money for a long time.
At 8:50 p.m., Meng Ran went to the children's room to say goodnight to Chen Miaoying.
Having learned from last night's experience, Meng Ran felt that her mindset had improved a lot, and she was able to calmly and confidently place goodnight kisses on the little girl's forehead one after the other with Chen Sulin.
Perhaps she was starting to get used to her new life, because Meng Ran slept much more soundly that night than the day before.
I woke up feeling refreshed, and after washing up, it was only a little past seven o'clock.
Going out at this time might lead to running into Chen Sulin, but Meng Ran couldn't resist the temptation to see what little Chen Miaoying looked like when she woke up in the morning.
After much hesitation, she finally went downstairs.
In the restaurant, little Chen Miaoying's breakfast time was coming to an end, and Aunt Zhang was wiping her mouth with a napkin next to her.
On the other side of the table, Chen Sulin was leisurely sipping his coffee.
Upon seeing her mother, Chen Miaoying exclaimed excitedly, "Wow, Mom, you got up so early today!"
Meng Ran smiled and nodded, ignoring the man beside her.
Anyway, he didn't seem to have any intention of greeting her.
Chen Miaoying's eyes darted around, as if she had come up with a good idea: "Mom, can you help me braid my hair today?"
Meng Ran was taken aback, then heard a man not far away say, "Mom hasn't had breakfast yet."
She looked at Chen Sulin with surprise and gratitude: she hadn't expected him to speak up for her.
Hearing her father say that, Chen Miaoying drawled out an "Oh," and said, "Okay."
Although he tried to hide it, he still looked somewhat disappointed.
Meng Ran: "..."
In a moment of impulsiveness, she blurted out, "It's okay, Mom can comb your hair first before you eat."
As soon as she finished speaking, Meng Ran regretted it. Why did her maternal instincts suddenly kick in and she blurted out the agreement?
She has never braided a child's hair.
But it was too late to take back her words, because Chen Miaoying immediately cheered, "Yay, long live Mom!"
Aunt Zhang pushed over a small cart filled with all sorts of hair ties, hair clips, and combs: as expected of a princess from a wealthy family, she has a special cart for styling, and it even comes in Elsa's color scheme.
Without anyone urging her, Chen Miaoying sat up straight in her chair, full of anticipation: "Mom, come quick, I'm ready!"
Meng Ran clenched her fist silently. She had promised to do it, and she had to bite the bullet and do it anyway.
She's never braided a child's hair, but she often braids her own, so it probably isn't that difficult, right?
Thinking this, she took a rubber band from the stroller and picked out the most ordinary-looking comb, then stood behind Chen Miaoying.
The child's hair was so fine and soft that Meng Ran hesitated to touch it for a long time, afraid that she might accidentally hurt her.
Unconsciously, she raised her head and her eyes met Chen Sulin's gaze across the table.
When their eyes met unexpectedly, Meng Ran's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly looked away as if she had been burned.
My hand slipped, and the hair tie I was holding fell to the ground.
Meng Ran hurriedly bent down to retrieve it, and a low chuckle drifted to her ear.
A note from the author:
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66 small red envelopes [cheers!]
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