Chapter 253: You Want to Be Alone With Me?

Returning to the city was already late; Xia Xi didn't go to the company and went straight home.

On the way back, Xia Xi drove, and Huang Shiyu told her to just drop him off at the subway station.

When they arrived home, Su Jinru was organizing the two children's school bags, with school starting in a few days. The kitchen was occupied by Xia Yue, who was preparing dinner. Xia Xi had just changed her shoes and walked into the living room when she heard an "ah" cry, quickly put down her bag, and ran to the kitchen.

Su Jinru also heard the noise and rushed over, asking, "What happened?"

Xia Yue covered her hand, blood seeping from between her fingers, and smiled at Xia Xi and Su Jinru as if nothing were wrong: "I accidentally cut my hand."

The cutting board had chicken chunks, clearly chopped; Xia Xi frowned, anxiously grabbed her hand to examine it—her left index finger had a deep gash, blood kept flowing, and even the nail bed was sliced open.

"I'll take you to the hospital!" Xia Xi ran to the living room to get the first-aid kit, first simply treated the wound to prevent more bleeding, saying, "The wound is too deep; you need a tetanus shot."

"No need, just stopping the bleeding is enough."

"You can't be careless about this." Xia Xi pulled her out of the kitchen.

Su Jinru followed behind, advising, "Listen to your sister and go to the hospital right away. I'll cook the meal; we'll eat when you return."

Xia Yue couldn't argue with them, so she took off her apron, put on her coat, and left with Xia Xi.

After a trip to the hospital, the two returned; Su Jinru had already prepared the meal. Youyou ran up to Xia Yue, whom she now knew well, and gently took her hand, asking, "Does it hurt? Let me blow on it."

Xia Yue felt no pain, only happiness; she squatted to touch Youyou's little face, saying, "The doctor gave me medicine and a shot; it's not bleeding anymore and will be fine in a few days."

"Then let's eat quickly." Youyou took her hand to the dining room, saying, "Mom said that when you're unwell, eating nutritious food helps you recover faster."

Xia Yue wiped her hands with a wet tissue, sat down to eat. Youyou saw that her fingers were thickly bandaged and inconvenient, so she voluntarily peeled shrimp for her.

Xia Yue's eyes were moist, the corners of her mouth curving into a smile: "Thank you, Youyou."

"You're welcome." Youyou twisted in her chair, pleased to be of service.

Xia Xi watched the two getting along happily, feeling deeply reassured.

After the meal, Xia Xi cleared the dishes, took them to the kitchen, loaded them into the dishwasher, then came out and said to Su Jinru and Xia Yue, "I have something to discuss with you; shall we talk in the room?"

Su Jinru and Xia Yue exchanged a glance and nodded.

Xia Xi first settled the two children, turned on the TV, and asked them, "What do you want to watch?"

Zi Heng wanted to watch Ultraman, but Youyou pouted in disagreement, insisting on watching the Disney cartoon Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Zi Heng crossed his arms and gave her a sideways glance: "You've already watched it twenty times!"

She knows all the lines by heart and could perform it herself without any problem.

Youyou: "I want to watch it."

Zi Heng relented: "Okay, okay, let's watch."

Xia Xi smiled, ruffled her son's head, found the Snow White animation, opened it, turned up the volume a bit, then went into the room and closed the door.

Su Jinru and Xia Yue waited inside, not knowing what she wanted to say, being so mysterious and deliberately avoiding the children.

Xia Xi sat on the sofa, casually grabbed a pillow to hold, without preamble, directly informed them: "I'm going to live together with Xu Yanfeng from now on."

Her words were like a thunderclap out of a clear sky; Su Jinru and Xia Yue's expressions mirrored each other, both astonished. Su Jinru stared at her face: "Did you get back together with him?"

Xia Xi shook her head: "No."

After she explained the full background, the room fell silent for a few seconds, and Xia Yue first raised a question: "Are you going to accompany him alone, or bring the children as well?"

Xia Xi hadn't specifically asked Xu Yanfeng about this, but he constantly said he wanted to cultivate feelings with the children, so of course she would bring them.

To get a definite answer, Xia Xi took out her phone and messaged Xu Yanfeng for confirmation: "Do you want me to live with you, bringing the children, for a hundred days?"

Xu Yanfeng: "Do you want to be alone with me?"

Xia Xi was choked up, put down her phone without replying, lifted her head and told Xia Yue: "Bring the children."

Xia Yue suddenly clenched her fingers, a sharp pain in her fingertip made her realize her hand was injured; exerting herself could easily cause bleeding, so she quickly loosened her grip and hesitated: "Then Youyou would also have to..."

Saying that, Xia Xi suddenly realized that Youyou still didn't know her own background; she couldn't just take Zi Heng and leave Youyou behind. But if she also brought Youyou, the older sister had finally built a bond with Youyou and couldn't separate them.

Xia Xi pulled the pillow from her arms, sat upright, and looked somewhat worried.

Xia Yue thought for a moment, not wanting to see Xia Xi troubled: "Then let's bring both children; it's not like we can't see each other—on weekends when there's no school, I can go visit Youyou, or you can bring her back. Although I'm her mother, right now she prefers to stay with you, Xi Xi."

Su Jinru was a bit worried: "Is Xu Yanfeng doing this for the children's sake, or just making excuses to give Xi Xi a hard time?"

"Based on my understanding of him, he shouldn't be that kind of person." Xia Yue lightly patted the back of her mother's hand, giving her a look to hint she shouldn't say more; perhaps the two would get along if they kept interacting.

That would be the best outcome for everyone.

Xia Yue shouldn't only think of Youyou; she also had to consider Xia Xi, who had sacrificed so much for this family—it was time to think about her own feelings. She trusted her judgment; she wouldn't misjudge Xu Yanfeng.

Xia Xi hadn't made up her mind yet when she noticed the door pulled open a crack, two little heads huddled together, unknown how long they'd been eavesdropping.

Zi Heng's face was full of surprise, Youyou's full of sorrow. Xia Xi's heart jolted; she sprang to her feet: "Youyou..." She began to recall what they had just said, wondering if Youyou had heard anything.

Hearing Xia Xi's voice, Su Jinru and Xia Yue, who had their backs to the door, turned around simultaneously.

The door was flung fully open; Youyou rushed in, tears streaming, pointing at the somewhat panicked Xia Yue and asked Xia Xi: "Xiao Yue says she's my mother—Mom, is that really true?"

Xia Xi opened her mouth, but the words of denial wouldn't come out.

Earlier she and Xia Yue had talked, considering many gentle ways to confess to Youyou; who could have expected the truth to be revealed so abruptly?

"Mom, say something." Youyou sobbed, gasping, insistently asking Xia Xi for an answer.

Her little face was full of hope, wishing her mother would tell her she had misheard, that it wasn't true, that she was her mother's child, not someone else's.

"Youyou, listen to me..." Xia Yue anxiously tried to explain, wrapping her arms around her.

"I don't want to listen!"

Youyou understood everything, shoved her away forcefully, turned and ran out.

Xia Yue was unprepared, knocked to a sitting position on the floor by the little girl, quickly regained her composure and gave chase; Su Jinru and Xia Xi followed after her.

Youyou had already run into the children's room and locked the door from inside.

Zi Heng was dazed, lagging behind as he ran out, only to see his grandmother, mother, and aunt pounding on the door, calling Youyou's name, their faces full of anxiety and worry.

Zi Heng turned and ran to the TV cabinet, pulled out the spare key from the drawer, patted his mother's arm, and handed it to her.

Xia Xi lowered her head, looking at the key pinched between Zi Heng's fingers, her mind in turmoil—she had actually forgotten there was a spare key. She took it, inserted it into the lock, turned it twice, and opened the door.

Entering the room, they searched everywhere but saw no trace of Youyou, and they were terrified.

Xia Yue's legs went weak, and she instinctively looked toward the window.

The weather was cold, the window was shut tight, still locked.

Zi Heng shook his head, let out a sigh, grabbed Xia Xi's hand and shook it twice, pointing to the pink little tent in the corner of the room, its fluffy texture like a fairy‑tale cottage. Youyou called it her "secret base," forbidding anyone to visit; when she had nothing to do, she hid inside to eat snacks, play with Barbie dolls, read storybooks, and when tired from playing, she would flop down and sleep.

Xia Xi walked over, lifted the tent's flap, and sure enough Youyou was inside, her body wrapped in a blanket, her head not showing at all, like a small hill.

The little hill trembled, letting out a whimpering sound; Youyou was crying bitterly.