The kiss was strong and painful. Jiang Xiaobai was unable to push him away as he freely rubbed his lips against her lips and teeth. She felt that he had a strong cigarette smell on him earlier when she stood close to him, but now that they were practically all over each other, that cigarette smell had amplified and made her wonder how much he had smoked.
After some time, Xiao Su let her go. He placed his forehead against hers and affectionately looked her in the eye. “You may go now. No matter how long it is, I’ll always be here waiting for you.” Xiao Su loosened his grip on her shoulders and gently pushed her to the security checkpoint. Just as Jiang Xiaobai thought he was never going to let her go, that kiss turned out to only be a goodbye kiss.
“Don’t look back. If you don’t want to be with me, please don’t give me any hope.” Xiao Su’s eyes turned red.
Just like that, a man over six foot tall stared at Jiang Xiaobai, teary-eyed, in that crowded place. She felt a sharp pain in her heart. Nonetheless, she forced herself to walk up to the security checkpoint before her tears rolled down her cheeks.
After passing the checkpoint, although she felt a pair of eyes locked on her, Jiang Xiaobai never looked back. After she retrieved her suitcase, she moved along. From Xiao Su’s perspective, her receding figure showed nothing but determination and resoluteness.
Even though he had told her not to look back, it was her own teary face that caused her to not have the boldness to do so. After spending so much time together, her feelings toward Xiao Su had intensified. Choosing to leave at this point made her heart ache. But, without leaving him, she felt that she could never get through certain things. She did not want to keep compromising herself for her child, as she believed that Xiao Su had the sense of responsibility to raise the child by himself. She was indeed a cruel mother.
Dragging her suitcase, Jiang Xiaobai hurriedly moved on, as she did not have the mental capacity to be bothered by the strange and curious looks given by those around her. After arriving at the departure gate, she went to the bathroom to freshen up. After that, she tapped her cheeks and tried to let out a smile while looking in the mirror. Everything’s fine. Since he doesn’t love me, I’m leaving. I should be happy for myself for being able to make such a decision. If he no longer loves me, I’ll be making a fool of myself to try to still be with him. Look at how brave you are, Jiang Xiaobai. After encouraging herself, Jiang Xiaobai felt slightly better and started to walk toward the departure gate with her suitcase.
On the other side, after pushing the door open, Xiao Su was planning on taking a look at the nursery but instead saw Liang Yahe and Du Xiaoyu sitting in the living room; they were teary-eyed and had the lights on. He could tell that the two had just cried.
After they saw each other, Liang Yahe abruptly stormed up from the couch and began yelling at and hitting Xiao Su. “You trash! It’s such a waste to give birth to you. What can you achieve in your life when you can’t even keep your wife with you?”
Xiao Su did not fight back or resist her yelling and hitting—he stood there like a dummy, taking in everything.
In the end, Du Xiaoyu could no longer bear it. She walked up and stopped Liang Yahe. “That’s okay. Stop it. Xiaobai has already left. It won’t change anything even if you beat him to death.”
“Why won’t it change anything? At least I can vent my anger. I’m utterly disappointed in this b*stard!”
“Stop it!” Du Xiaoyu increased her volume as she pulled her aside. “Can you please stop? Even though Xiao Su is your child, it doesn’t mean you can do this to him. Just forget it. Xiaobai isn’t entirely right either. Since these young ones have the right to choose what they want, we shouldn’t interfere.” Du Xiaoyu paused before she continued, “Despite what the fortune-teller told us last time, they still insisted on getting married. We should just react the same way and respect their decisions.”
Liang Yahe was convinced and silenced by Du Xiaoyu’s words and closed her eyes. All of a sudden, the baby in the nursery started to give out a loud and angry cry that prompted Liang Yahe and Du Xiaoyu to quickly go check on him, leaving Xiao Su by himself.
He was still able to stand straight while relying on Liang Yahe’s grip on his collar earlier. Now that she had let go, he weakly fell to the wall and slid to the floor. Xiaobai is gone. She’s really gone. She’s left me. Is she ever going to come back? Even though he was willing to wait for her, would he manage to see her return? Xiao Su closed his eyes. His heart was completely shattered, and flashing through his eyes were images and memories of him and Jiang Xiaobai.
Unbeknownst to him, his heart was already occupied by that loud and generous lady. Due to his ignorance, he had been dragging his feet and never confessed his feelings to her in a serious way. If he could go back in time and relive this part of his life, would he still do the same? The thought of this kept circling in his mind, causing him much pain.
The following morning, Du Xiaoyu made some porridge and asked him to have some.
“Thanks, Mom, but I’m not hungry.” After Xiao Su indirectly rejected her thoughtful offer, he got up and began walking toward his room.
“Stop, Xiao Su!” Du Xiaoyu called him out. “Are you going to starve yourself and not sleep? Do you think Xiaobai is gonna appreciate that?”
Xiao Su paused.
“Xiaobai is already gone. If you don’t pull yourself together, how are you going to take care of the child? She left the child so that you can raise him well.”
Du Xiaoyu took a deep breath and continued slowly, “I know these words may sound selfish coming from Xiaobai’s mother, but Xiaobai is my daughter, and I understand her well. She would never do something so drastic without reason. I believe there must be some reason that caused her to leave, but I choose not to find out what it is.”
Her words hit home. Indeed, Xiaobai left for a reason, and the reason was him. “My apologies. It’s my fault.”
“So what do you think you are doing now? After telling Xiaobai about what the fortune-teller told me, she still insisted on marrying you. I’ve never seen her so stubborn about something growing up. And what happened? I thought she had finally found her true love, but it didn’t take long before something like this happened after you two got married. Now, tell me the truth—did you have an affair?”
Xiao Su could not bring himself to answer this question from his mother-in-law.
“Are you unable to answer or are you too ashamed to answer?”
Xiao Su remained silent.
“If you can’t give me an answer, go and finish your breakfast then get some rest and pick yourself up. I understand my daughter well. Once she’s thought it through, she might come back.”
All of a sudden, Xiao Su’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
