She was afraid that if she held her baby, she would become reluctant to leave? Had she actually planned to leave since the beginning? Du Xiaoyu was frightened by her thoughts. Then, she immediately grabbed Jiang Xiaobai’s hand and questioned, “Did you refuse to hold your baby because you planned to leave? Xiaobai, promise me you won’t do something stupid, alright? You and Xiao Su have not been married long. He treats you so well, and his mother adores you from the bottom of her heart! Besides, your child is a newborn! It can’t be without a mother!”
Jiang Xiaobai was moved by her words, and her eyes turned red. “But, Mom, this entire marriage is a joke. From the start until the end, it was always a one-sided relationship for me. I can only blame myself for being too conceited, thinking that there was nothing I couldn’t do.” Unfortunately, life has given me a heavy punch in the gut.
“What do you mean by a one-sided relationship?” Du Xiaoyu squinted. “Silly girl, what are you talking about? Aren’t you and Xiao Su happy together? You were dating of your own accord!”
“That’s right; it’s because we chose to date on our own.” No; we weren’t really dating out of choice either. Although a relationship was a two-person affair, if Jiang Xiaobai and Xiao Su had not slept together the other night, they would not have started a relationship in the first place. It was no different from a marriage of convenience.
“Seeing as you chose each other by choice, then what nonsense are you talking about? If Xiao Su doesn’t love you, would he marry you? He treats you so well! Even your wedding rings were custom made! You silly girl.”
Is that so? Does Xiao Su… like me? Jiang Xiaobai had never considered this idea despite how long they had been together as a couple. However, the reason why she didn’t think about it was that she didn’t even dare to think about it. She was afraid that if she gave it some serious thought, she would start to become disappointed and fall into despair. Still, after listening to Du Xiaoyu’s words, Jiang Xiaobai had no choice but to face this question squarely. Does Xiao Su really like me? “Mom, can we not talk about this, please?”
“Why not? If we don’t spell it out clearly, you will just wallow in this state. If that happens, can you hold your head up in front of your child? You won’t even hold your baby. If we don’t talk this through, what will happen when you leave?”
Jiang Xiaobai said nothing in response.
“Xiaobai, if a man doesn’t love you, the person involved would know best. Ask yourself this: does he really not love you? On the day of your labor, you were unconscious after giving birth. When I walked in, I saw him staying next to you, holding onto your hand tightly. He didn’t even glance at the baby. The moment I saw that, I thought to myself that you married the right guy. At the very least, this man knew how to cherish you and understood your pain. But, to cherish you requires inherent feelings toward you. Is he somebody that would care for others without reason?” Then, Du Xiaoyu reached out and rubbed Jiang Xiaobai’s head. “So, you shouldn’t overthink it.”
After listening to those words, Jiang Xiaobai felt surprised. While she was unconscious that day, she had woken up to see Xiao Su right by her side. At the time, she had not felt touched by his actions because she was already under the impression that she was going to leave him. However, she could picture that scene from that day in her mind’s eye after listening to her mother’s descriptions. Perhaps she really was overthinking it? The incidents of that day were already in the past. Still, why did she become so petty and unreasonable when the person he helped turned out to be Yan? Then, she closed her eyes and threw aside all the disordered thoughts in her head. “Mom, I got it. Why don’t you go out first? I need some time to think it through.”
“Alright then. Get your head together, and think about what I just said.”
That night, she lay on her bed with her eyes closed, but she couldn’t sleep. All of a sudden, a baby’s wailing cries rang out from the room next door, making her stiffen in response. The crying sounds seemed exceptionally piercing in the silence of the night and listening to it felt like needles stabbing into her heart. Even so, she did not move. There were others to take care of her baby. However, a long time passed but the baby’s cries continued, and no sound of footsteps came from the room.
Jiang Xiaobai slowly opened her eyes as doubt crept into her mind. Don’t tell me both my mother-in-law and my mother aren’t around? It can’t be; they’re usually very attentive toward the baby. So, they should be around somewhere. Then, why are they doing this? Soon, she figured out the reason why. Perhaps Liang Yahe had also been informed of the conversation she had with her mother this afternoon. Therefore, the two of them were deliberately ignoring the baby, forcing her to go over and take care of him.
After that, she continued to lie there motionless as the baby’s cries continued for several minutes with no signs of stopping. Then, she became more and more disturbed as the cries continued. In the end, she couldn’t stop herself from getting up. She got off the bed, ran over to the room next door barefooted, and pushed the door open.
Once the door opened, the baby’s wailing cries became noticeably louder. There were two cradles in the room—one pink and one blue. In the blue-colored cradle, she saw a tiny, little figure lying in it. Moreover, the baby was fully clothed in light-blue. These were clothes she had bought herself. At that time, she was determined to leave, but she did not know whether her baby was a girl or a boy. So, she had bought one of each. Even the cradles were a set of two. Having given birth to a boy, all the blue-colored clothes, items, and the cradle were used for the baby.
During this period, she had not paid attention to any of these. Taking it all in now, she was overwhelmed by an emotion deep in her heart. Then, she slowly made her way toward the blue-colored cradle, the emotions surging up within her chest.
As the cries became louder and louder, it wormed its way into her heart. At the same time, the little blue-clothed baby lay there, kicking and flailing.
She walked until she stood before the cradle and finally saw her baby’s face clearly. Throughout this period, she had not even looked at him properly, much less held him. The baby that was lying there was tiny and soft; the fairness of his skin was highlighted by the light-blue clothes he wore and his cheeks were chubby. Unable to hold herself back, she reached out and pinched his cheeks—it was soft and bouncy. Then, she couldn’t resist giving it another gentle pinch.
At first, the baby was wailing uncontrollably. However, after being pinched twice by her, he unexpectedly stopped crying as he widened his dark, round eyes and stared at her curiously. The moment their gazes met, Jiang Xiaobai felt her heart went numb. Afterward, she reached out and picked him up with red-rimmed eyes. She was afraid of hurting him, so she moved cautiously while picking him up. Then, she coaxed softly, “Don’t cry; Mommy’s here. Don’t cry, alright?”
In another room not too far away, Xiao Su, Liang Yahe, and Du Xiaoyu were hiding together. Xiao Su was fidgeting anxiously, pacing around the room. Du Xiaoyu was his mother-in-law, so she said nothing to stop him. However, his pacing was giving Liang Yahe a headache. Thus, she scolded, “Sit down right now! Why do you keep traipsing around?”
“Mom, Xiaobai—”
“How dare you criticize Xiaobai? You useless good-for-nothing!”
