Volume 1, Chapter 29: You Didn't Use to Call Me That

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Lu Xiaoman arranged the sliced apple pieces into the shape of a little rabbit. Just as she was about to carry the plate into the living room, she heard a suppressed cough from inside. Her hand trembled, and the porcelain plate nearly fell to the floor. Her plaster cast struck the countertop with a dull thud.

After returning from the Shang residence yesterday, Lu Mingxi had developed a persistent high fever. Fortunately, they had fever medicine at home.

After a whole night of turmoil, the little boy’s fever had finally gone down.

“Xiaoxi?” Holding the plate in one hand, Lu Xiaoman hurried into the living room.

Lu Mingxi was curled up in the corner of the sofa, his little face flushed with fever. Thick gauze was wrapped around his neck, and every breath came with a faint, raspy hiss, like a tiny animal with its throat caught in someone’s grasp.

Usually, the little boy was like a small cannonball, chasing after the cat. Now he lay listlessly huddled up, with beads of moisture still clinging to his lashes. When he saw the redness around her eyes, he suddenly reached out and patted the back of her hand.

“Mommy, d-don’t cry.” His voice was hoarse, as though it had been scraped raw by sandpaper. Every word was followed by two coughs, and his little face paled with the effort, yet he still tried to curve his eyes into a smile. “Xiaoxi… doesn’t hurt. It’s just like… like being bitten by a mosquito…”

Lu Xiaoman’s heart clenched at the sound of his ragged voice.

Lu Mingxi turned and took out a drawing. “Mommy, look! I drew a fire engine that can fly!”

“Our Xiaoxi is so clever.” Lu Xiaoman placed the apples on the coffee table and gently touched her son’s burning forehead with her right hand.

Lu Mingxi immediately grasped her finger. His tiny hand was hot as a piece of coal. “Mommy, eat an apple. It’s sweet.”

“Mommy will feed you.” Lu Xiaoman speared a piece of apple with a fork and brought it to his lips.

When Lu Mingxi opened his mouth, the movement tugged at the wound on his neck, and a trace of pain crossed his little face.

A sharp ache pierced Lu Xiaoman’s heart, and her throat felt as though something had lodged in it.

“When Xiaoxi gets better, shall we go to the amusement park and ride the carousel?” she coaxed.

“And eat cotton candy too!” Lu Mingxi suddenly broke into a violent coughing fit, his tiny body trembling faintly in his mother’s arms.

Lu Xiaoman was heartsick. Then she heard her son whisper in her ear, “Mommy, don’t worry. Xiaoxi doesn’t hurt…”

The doorbell suddenly rang. Before Lu Xiaoman could rise, Lu Mingxi was already running toward the door, his eyes lighting up.

“It’s Superman Uncle!”

Shang Linyuan stood outside, carrying a toy box and a bag of medicine. Tiny droplets of water speckled the cuffs of his suit.

When he saw the bandages around Lu Mingxi’s neck, his pupils contracted sharply, and his long fingers unconsciously tightened around the medicine bag.

“Uncle!” Lu Mingxi rushed over and hugged his leg. His upturned little face looked like a wilted flower. “I’m sick…”

“Xiaoxi!” Lu Xiaoman pulled her son back with one hand. Her plaster cast scraped against the doorframe with a harsh sound.

Her back went rigid, and the wariness in her eyes bristled like raised thorns. “What are you doing here?”

Shang Linyuan’s gaze fell on the bandages around the child’s neck. His Adam’s apple moved, and guilt surged through him like a rising tide.

He was about to speak when Lu Mingxi suddenly reached out to him, his little arm wavering.

“Uncle…”

That soft, childish form of address made Shang Linyuan’s heart tremble.

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He cautiously took the warm little hand before him. The child’s fingers immediately curled tightly around his thumb, as though he had seized a piece of driftwood.

“Does Xiaoxi feel uncomfortable?” he asked, his voice carrying a tenderness he himself did not notice.

Lu Mingxi nodded, then shook his head. Coughing, he said, “Xiaoxi doesn’t feel bad. Uncle, don’t worry about Xiaoxi.”

Shang Linyuan crouched down to meet the boy’s eyes and took a glowing robot from the toy box.

“I heard from Xinxin that she broke your robot. She asked me to apologize to you for her, so Uncle brought you another one.”

The little boy’s eyes lit up at once, but he still glanced at his mommy first.

Seeing that Lu Xiaoman did not object, he carefully accepted the toy and said through his coughs, “Thank you, Uncle. I stopped being angry with Xinxin a long time ago.”

“Shang Linyuan, what did the police say?” Lu Xiaoman suddenly asked.

Shang Linyuan withdrew his hand, though he could still feel the warmth of the child’s palm on his fingertips. Meeting the woman’s distrustful gaze, he said in a deep voice, “The case has been formally filed. Whoever is responsible will be dealt with according to the law.”

Lu Xiaoman stared at him for a long while. Seeing not the slightest trace of evasion in his eyes, she finally asked, “Given your relationship with Chu Yutang, will they really handle it according to the law?”

“My relationship with Chu Yan…” Shang Linyuan’s gaze darkened. He wanted to explain to Lu Xiaoman that his relationship with Chu Yan was nothing like what outsiders believed.

Lu Mingxi suddenly began coughing again, his little face turning bright red.

Shang Linyuan immediately dropped to one knee and gently patted the child’s back, moving with the ease of someone who had done it countless times.

Lu Xiaoman noticed the crayon marks on his suit trousers, left there when her son had thrown himself at him moments earlier.

“Uncle, the big monster said… said he did it for his little sister…” Lu Mingxi suddenly rasped. His small hand clutched Shang Linyuan’s cufflink tightly. “But Xiaoxi didn’t take his sister’s toy.”

Shang Linyuan’s hand stilled. The metal cufflink gleamed coldly between the child’s fingers.

He looked up at Lu Xiaoman, his eyes filled with guilt. “I’ll have someone follow the entire investigation and make sure—”

“Make sure?” Lu Xiaoman interrupted him. Her plaster cast looked ghastly white beneath the light. “Does Mr. Shang know that the injury to Xiaoxi’s throat may leave lasting complications? He isn’t even six years old…”

Lu Mingxi suddenly threw his arms around Shang Linyuan’s neck and pressed his feverish little face against his shoulder.

“Uncle, Xiaoxi isn’t afraid of the big monster…”

The child’s hoarse voice reddened both adults’ eyes.

“But Mommy’s hand hurts so much. Uncle, will you blow on it for her?”

Shang Linyuan’s body stiffened.

He gently carried the child to the sofa. When he turned to face Lu Xiaoman, emotions she could not understand churned in his eyes.

“Your hand…”

“There’s no need for Mr. Shang to concern himself with it.” Lu Xiaoman took a step back, but staggered, and her plaster cast struck the shoe cabinet with a dull thud. “As long as you keep the people around you under control, my son and I will naturally be safe.”

Shang Linyuan hurriedly reached out to steady her swaying body. The warmth of his palm passed through the cast to her skin.

“Careful.”

Seeing the resistance written across her face, he lowered his voice until it sounded almost like a sigh.

“I’ll give you an explanation for what happened.”

Lu Xiaoman was just about to push him away when Lu Mingxi suddenly began coughing again.

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The two adults immediately separated, yet both reached out to support the child at the same time.

Three hands touched briefly in midair, then withdrew as quickly as though scalded.

“Uncle, will you stay for dinner?” Lu Mingxi asked, his eyes shining. “Mommy makes the most delicious sweet-and-sour ribs!”

Lu Xiaoman was about to refuse on the grounds of her injury when Shang Linyuan had already crouched down to meet the child’s eyes.

“Does Xiaoxi want to hear a Superman story? Uncle can tell you one.”

“Really?” Lu Mingxi brightened at once, but still glanced at his mommy first.

Only after seeing that Lu Xiaoman did not object did he clap his hands happily. The movement tugged at his wound, however, and he began coughing again.

Shang Linyuan carefully carried the child back to the sofa and began, in a gentle voice, to tell him a story about Superman defeating a monster.

Lu Xiaoman stood at the kitchen doorway, watching the scene. The pain in her plastered arm suddenly seemed distant and indistinct.

Outside the window, the setting sun bathed everything in golden light, stretching Shang Linyuan’s shadow far across the floor.

Lu Mingxi leaned against his shoulder, one small hand still clutching his tie. He had already fallen asleep.

Shang Linyuan gently carried the child to bed. When he returned, he was holding a damp towel.

“I’ll wipe his hands. Children with a fever sweat easily.”

“I’ll do it.” Lu Xiaoman took the towel, and her fingertips accidentally brushed his hand.

Both of them pulled away as quickly as though they had been burned.

Shang Linyuan looked deeply at her. “I’ll have the driver take you both to the hospital for a follow-up examination tomorrow.”

“There’s no need…”

“An examination of Xiaoxi’s throat is very important.” He cut her off, his tone leaving no room for refusal. “I’ll personally oversee it.”

Lu Xiaoman looked at him.

The man was dressed impeccably in a suit, yet crayon marks stained his clothes, creating a striking contradiction.

She suddenly realized that this man, who was always so composed and in control, now had a trace of panic in his eyes.

She smiled unexpectedly. “Are you feeling guilty?”

Shang Linyuan’s body stiffened. He turned to look at her, his gaze so deep it seemed capable of drawing her in.

“What if I am?”

Lu Xiaoman’s heartbeat missed a beat. Flustered, she turned her eyes away.

“Mr. Shang really doesn’t need to go this far. My son and I can’t afford it.”

Shang Linyuan suddenly stepped closer, his tall figure completely enveloping her.

“You didn’t used to call me that.”