Ever since that day, Xiao Su had become a different person; he would no longer do anything that would cause Jiang Xiaobai to be upset. Now, he would only show up whenever she needed him and would disappear from her sight whenever he was no longer needed.
This was a different Xiao Su to Jiang Xiaobai—he was not the Xiao Su who would stick around her all day. At the outset, she was surprised to see this change, as she thought that he was probably afraid of making her upset again, so he kept his distance. After giving it more thought, Jiang Xiaobai reckoned that this was just a change in his tactics. However, no matter what kind of tactic he was employing now, nothing could ever change Jiang Xiaobai’s mind: she still insisted on being separated from him for a while.
However, after spending a lot of time with her child recently, the child seemed to get attached to her. Perhaps this was something magical between a mother and her son that people often talked about whether or not it was real. She had the hunch that her child somehow knew that she was going to leave. Every time he looked at her, he would give her a pitiful look and be particularly obedient whenever he was around her. It was as if her child was telling her, ‘I will behave well. Please don’t leave me behind.’
Perhaps Jiang Xiaobai was overthinking things; it could just be that her child was always obedient. Sometimes Jiang Xiaobai would gently stroke his cheek and pinch it while he was in her arms before asking, “If you had to choose, would you pick Daddy or Mommy?” Of course, a newborn would not respond to her question. So, Jiang Xiaobai would continue bitterly, “I’ve probably lost my mind. Why would I ask you that question? You don’t even understand what I’m saying, much less give me a response.” As she said this, she gently stroked his head. She realized that the little hairs that he had on his head were so soft. And she would continue to stroke it.
“It kills me to leave you. Do you think Daddy is going to be upset if I were to bring you with me? However, I don’t think he’ll let me go that easily if I were to take you with me.” Jiang Xiaobai exhaled gently and placed her face against her child’s cheek. A teardrop rolled down her cheek.
Jiang Xiaobai initially thought she would be able to leave her newborn child. But after a few days of nursing him, she found it increasingly difficult for her to do so. That was why she reckoned she should not even have contacted or carried the baby when she foresaw that it was going to be difficult for her to be parted with him. D*mn it. Why did I cave that day? Even though she knew that it was their plan, as the mother of the child, she could not help but enter the room.
As the days went by, after her confinement period, no one had the right to keep Jiang Xiaobai in the house any longer. During her confinement, Jiang Xiaobai had done ample preparation—she made a lot of purchases for the child after doing extensive research on the internet. She had probably purchased everything that the child would need until he turned eighteen.
Xiao Su saw everything and had also thought it through. That was why he did not stop her from doing all these. When everything was done, Jiang Xiaobai purchased a flight ticket, packed up, and quietly took her suitcase with her to head downstairs where she ran into Xiao Su.
Seeing her with her suitcase, Xiao Su’s heart sank. All this while, he had tried to show up in front of her less so that he would not annoy her, hoping to give her some time to calm down. He hoped that she could get through it. But perhaps, he was too ambitious.
This unexpected encounter surprised Jiang Xiaobai. Is he trying to stop me from leaving?
“Do you really have to go?”
However, what surprised her more was how calm Xiao Su sounded—it was emotionless as if he was mentally prepared for this to happen.
Looking at how calm he was, Jiang Xiaobai did not want to start a fight, so she nodded. “Uh-huh.”
Expecting that Xiao Su would get upset, she was shocked to find him remaining calm. He nodded and asked, “Did you buy a train ticket or a plane ticket? Let me give you a ride.”
Before Jiang Xiaobai could react to his question, he had already taken out his car key.
“That won’t be necessary.” It would be strange for him to give her a ride since she was the one who wanted to leave. So, Jiang Xiaobai decided to reject this offer.
At this point, Xiao Su walked up to her and helped her with the suitcase in her hand. “Let me give you a ride. One last time.”
His proximity enabled Jiang Xiaobai to smell the thick cigarette smell on him. Before this, Jiang Xiaobai had learned that Xiao Su would drink a little when he was having a bad day. But this was her first time finding out that he smoked. “Did you smoke?” she asked subconsciously.
Xiao Su paused before answering, “Just a bit.”
“Did you recently pick it up?”
“Not really. I picked it up a while ago.” He lied—he picked up smoking a couple of days ago—as he feared that telling her the truth would saddle her with a burden. Since he had already decided to let her ago, he did not want to burden her anymore.
Hearing his response, Jiang Xiaobai stopped asking. Later on, when Xiao Su was carrying her suitcase and putting it into the trunk, Jiang Xiaobai noticed his bony back while he bent over. He had lost considerable weight, and his eyes had sunk. Even though seeing that made her feel miserable, she still could not get over what happened. Jiang Xiaobai turned around and got into the passenger seat, fastening her seatbelt.
After Xiao Su got into the car, she said, “To the airport.” Then, she closed her eyes, indicating to him that she no longer wanted to speak.
The entire car ride was extremely quiet on the midnight road. The whole city had gone to sleep apart from the lights on the road that were still brightly lit, seemingly accompanying them to the airport.
When they had arrived, Xiao Su took her suitcase out of the trunk. Before Jiang Xiaobai could reach for it, he commented, “I’ll walk you to the security checkpoint.” He then proceeded to walk with her suitcase. Seeing this, Jiang Xiaobai had no choice but to follow suit. Then, Xiao Su helped her with all the procedures before bringing her to the line at the security checkpoint.
Even though it was the middle of the night, there were many long lines at the airport. Some of them were shorter, but Xiao Su intentionally picked a longer one and waited in line with her. As the crowd was moving, he asked her in an extremely calm voice, “When will you be back?”
“I don’t know,” Jiang Xiaobai responded.
“Okay. I’ll wait for you at home, so you can come home whenever you want.”
Jiang Xiaobai remained silent, causing the atmosphere between the two to be awkward. When it was almost her turn at the security checkpoint, Xiao Su pulled her into his arms. Jiang Xiaobai was startled by his sudden act. Before she could respond, Xiao Su had already ruthlessly placed his lips on hers.
This is an airport! Jiang Xiaobai tried to push him away, but Xiao Su’s hands were wrapped tightly around her shoulders, and his lips were firmly attached to her lips, which caused her to be in pain.
