Volume One, Chapter 20: Seeing One’s Own Son in Another’s Home

Fu Che shook his head. “I’m in the shop all day long. Other than watching over Shanshan, I’m just watching over Shanshan.”

“Not paying attention to any other woman.”

Fu Heng took the cigarette box, rubbed it in his hands for a moment, then set it down and left.

The next day.

When Bai Xuanshuan woke up, Fu Che and Jiang Yan were already in the living room.

Jiang Yan held the child, coaxing him to eat.

Seeing her awake, Fu Che quickly stood up. “I made some noodles. Want to eat now?”

“I’ll serve you a bowl.”

She glanced around nervously, then smiled and added, “My brother left this morning. He won’t be home for a while.”

“Don’t worry. When he gets back, I’ll kick him out and make him sleep in the dorm.”

Bai Xuanshuan smiled and greeted Jiang Yan before moving a chair aside and sitting down.

She looked up and froze.

What was going on?

How could she be seeing her own son in someone else’s home?

She closed her eyes and opened them again.

No mistake—he looked exactly like her son!

Fu Yuan stared back with large, shining black eyes. His usually listless little face suddenly lit up.

“Mom.”

Fu Yuan called out and reached out his tiny hands, wanting to be held. “Mommy, hold me, Mommy, hold me.”

Startled, Bai Xuanshuan jumped up, and the chair behind her clattered to the floor.

She hurried to pick up the chair, her mind racing for a second before she finally realized what was going on!

She hadn’t even taken her things and instinctively tried to run out, but Fu Che grabbed her arm.

“Shanshan, what’s wrong?”

Bai Xuanshuan stammered, “I-I think I’ll just… stay at the guesthouse.”

Fu Yuan, seeing her about to leave, cried out loudly, “Mommy, Mommy!”

Jiang Yan scolded Fu Yuan awkwardly, “You brat, why do you call every pretty lady ‘Mom’?”

“Your mom went to heaven and became a star. This isn’t your mom.”

Fu Che shot Fu Yuan a sharp look and took Bai Xuanshuan’s hand to comfort her. “Shanshan, don’t be upset.”

“Maybe the child’s fever is making him confused. Don’t take it to heart.”

His gentle gaze turned cold and fierce as he glared at Fu Yuan. “Shut up!”

“Call me Auntie, understand?”

Tears welled up in Fu Yuan’s eyes as he began to wail loudly.

“Mommy, I want Mommy!”

“Mommy, don’t go!”

Bai Xuanshuan clenched her fists but sat back down.

She recalled the last time Fu Heng left—she was at the supply and marketing cooperative helping feed the pigs, and when she returned home, the house was empty.

The child was gone, and her husband was gone too.

Opening the wardrobe, their clothes and belongings had vanished.

A kind neighbor told her they had already gone to the train station.

Disheveled, she ran there, but the train had already departed.

She chased after the speeding train, shouting, “Don’t go! Don’t go! Don’t leave me behind!”

All that was left for her was a fading green light and the shoe she lost while running.

The pain of being abandoned, left behind, was etched deeply into her soul.

She would never forget.

Her husband was untrustworthy, but she refused to be like him—she would not carve such a deep scar across her child’s pure childhood.

Calming herself, she knew Fu Heng had gone to Yingcheng, and Fu Che had said he wouldn’t be back for a while.

She decided to stay here to care for the child for now. If the child wanted to leave with her, she would take him.

After all, there were still about two weeks until Fu Che’s stabbing incident from her last life.

She wanted to wait until that was resolved before leaving.

She tugged at Fu Che’s arm. “I’m fine. Please don’t be harsh with the child.”

She reached out to embrace Yuan Yuan. “Come here, Godmother will hold you. Godmother will feed you, okay?”

Yuan Yuan cried again, his heart resisting those words.

“Mommy, I’m sorry. I won’t eat Godmother’s chocolate anymore!”

Bai Xuanshuan sniffled, and a thin veil of tears blurred her clear eyes.

She smiled and nodded. “If you like me, you can call me Mommy too.”

She pondered over how to explain this strange coincidence to Fu Che and Jiang Yan.

She just wanted to leave quietly.

Suddenly, everything shattered her plans.

Fu Yuan obediently nestled in her arms, eating a little more porridge than usual.

Bai Xuanshuan peeled an egg for him. He wasn’t picky like before and even wrapped his arms around her neck to kiss her cheek.

He whispered softly in her ear, “Mommy, I love you.”

Bai Xuanshuan’s voice was faint, choked with emotion. “Mommy loves you too.”

She fed him spoonful by spoonful of cooled porridge, her thoughts sinking deep into past memories.

She didn’t want to be entangled with Fu Heng any longer.

She kept telling herself she was now Bai Shanshan. Bai Xuanshuan was dead.

As for Fu Yuan, she could take care of him as his godmother. If he wanted to call her Mommy, that was fine.

A godmother is still a mother.

Jiang Yan watched carefully from the side. Yuan Yuan was very fond of Shanshan, clutching her clothes tightly.

Shanshan took care of him well—holding him steadily, feeding him carefully and patiently.

Even if her own food grew cold, she paid no mind and fed Yuan Yuan thoroughly.

Rubbing his round little belly and looking at Fu Yuan, her eyes glowed warmly.

Her impression of this future daughter-in-law improved significantly in that moment.

This child had no mother, but if the eldest auntie was willing to love him, he was indeed fortunate.

Seeing Jiang Yan rubbing her temples, Bai Xuanshuan thought of how the child had been sleeping with her lately and how exhausting it must be, so she took Jiang Yan’s hand.

“Auntie, you’ve worked hard lately. Please rest well.”

“I’ll take good care of him. Don’t worry.”

Jiang Yan had indeed been sleepless recently, so after a few polite words, she went upstairs to catch up on sleep.

After the meal, Bai Xuanshuan dressed Yuan Yuan in a beautiful knitted sweater and overalls and took him to visit Tiananmen Square.

He was very happy, pointing at the five-star red flag. “When I grow up, I want to be like Dad and protect the country.”

By the afternoon, the child had fallen asleep. Fu Che didn’t want her to hold him the whole time, so he firmly took him into his arms.

Bai Xuanshuan had worried that Fu Che might not know how to hold a child properly, but he held him well and raised an eyebrow.

“When my brother was little, he was very fussy. I often held him.”

Back home, the child woke up and looked at her with innocent eyes. “Mommy, where’s Daddy?”

Darkness flickered in Fu Che’s eyes, a feeling of unease and sorrow stirring within.

After thinking for a moment, he realized this child was too attached to Shanshan. Since Shanshan would always have children with him in the future, how could she possibly share all her love with Yuan Yuan?

His voice turned cold. “Yuan Yuan is getting older and is about to start elementary school. He should sleep on his own.”

“You have light sleep yourself. Don’t try to sleep with him and make yourself sick.”

Bai Xuanshuan didn’t mind.

Before, Yuan Yuan always slept with her; only when Fu Heng came home would he be put in the small bed beside her.

She didn’t find it strange to sleep with Yuan Yuan.

Listening carefully nearby, Fu Yuan tugged her sleeve. “Mommy, I want to call Daddy.”