Chapter 207: Mom Has Changed
Chapter 207: Chapter 207: Mom Has Changed
But Nan Zhi wasn’t so easily fooled.
She had heard Lu Shixu say that Nan Yi had just happened to run into him...
’Just happened to?’
How could Nan Yi, who was supposed to be at home, just happen to run into Lu Shixu in the middle of the night?
Nan Zhi figured out the truth with almost no effort.
She gripped Nan Yi’s small hand tightly, her body leaning forward slightly with worry.
"You went out? By yourself?"
As she spoke, her voice trembled.
Nan Yi, who had been looking eagerly at his mother, immediately started darting his eyes around, looking everywhere but at her.
Of course, Nan Yi didn’t want to make his mother sad.
Perhaps it was the sliver of camaraderie born from weathering the storm together yesterday that made him cast a pleading look toward Lu Shixu. After all, besides Lu Shixu, there was no one else here who could help him.
But instead, Lu Shixu placed a hand on Nan Zhi’s slender shoulder and said,
"Don’t worry. He just panicked out of concern for you."
Nan Yi: ’...This unreliable man!’
He turned back to his mother and saw the corners of her eyes were red, a thin film of moisture glazing her pupils as she looked at him with lingering fear.
Nan Yi suddenly panicked.
"Mom, d-don’t cry! I was wrong! I was wrong!"
Nan Zhi shook her head, unable to bring herself to blame Nan Yi.
"It’s my fault."
Lu Shixu’s hand tightened on her shoulder unconsciously.
"You’re sick. How is it your fault?"
He stared intently at the boundless tenderness and tolerance Nan Zhi showed toward Nan Yi.
Suddenly, a profound sense of defeat washed over him.
It felt as if the atmosphere between mother and son was one he simply couldn’t penetrate.
In the end, Lu Shixu could only stand quietly to the side, watching the mother and son cry in each other’s arms, comforting one another. He alone was the odd one out.
Lu Shixu’s expression darkened, and he silently took two steps back.
Then, someone tugged at the corner of his shirt.
He turned around with a cold look, startling the old woman in the next bed.
However, Lu Shixu quickly composed himself, restraining his emotions with practiced civility.
"Can I help you?"
His attitude shifted so quickly that the old woman thought she must have imagined it.
Composing herself, the old woman said gossipily,
"What are you just standing there for? Go comfort your wife and child."
’They’re not my wife and child...’
The explanation lingered on the tip of his tongue, but in the end, he didn’t say it.
He lowered his voice slightly and simply said,
"They don’t need me."
"You silly boy. If they don’t need you, don’t you know you’re supposed to butt in anyway?"
The old woman’s experienced tone was a wake-up call.
It reminded Lu Shixu of what Fu Yunfeng had said about "knowing your place."
His expression visibly softened, like ice cracking and melting away.
"I understand."
Lu Shixu took out a handkerchief, stepped forward, and interjected at the right moment.
"He was very brave. If it weren’t for him, who knows what would have happened last night."
With that, he offered the handkerchief to Nan Zhi.
Nan Zhi, hugging Nan Yi who was as docile as a little kitten, looked up.
Due to her illness, her face was pale and bloodless, save for a faint touch of red spreading from the corners of her eyes.
Frail and leaning against the hospital bed, she looked like a fragile piece of glass, stirring a sudden softness deep in Lu Shixu’s heart.
"Don’t cry..."
He bent down slightly, wanting to wipe the tear stains from Nan Zhi’s face with the handkerchief.
Nan Zhi turned her face away, avoiding him.
Lu Shixu froze.
Nan Zhi hadn’t forgotten how abruptly this man had appeared. She was just surprised.
"Why are you here?"
Yanjing and Guisheng Province were a world apart.
’A chance encounter?’
’What a joke!’
Lu Shixu heard that her tone wasn’t one of annoyance, just simple curiosity.
His worries subsided, and he explained a bit awkwardly,
"I recently wrapped up a project at work and wanted to take a vacation in the mountains."
This was his standard public excuse.
But Nan Zhi watched him without a change in expression, her face clearly saying,
’You really think I’m buying that?’
Lu Shixu: "..."
He avoided the wolf-cub-like glare from Nan Yi, who was in Nan Zhi’s arms, and said,
"I wanted to come be with you."
He lowered his head, his posture looking somewhat humble.
Nan Zhi was suddenly moved, reminded of the Lu Shixu from the past.
Before their conflict erupted, he had been just like this. No matter how proud and aloof he was in front of others, he would always lower his head for her, silently carrying her on his back through the long, snowy night...
"Who are you thinking of?"
Although Lu Shixu tried his best to suppress it, his question inevitably revealed a hint of cold hostility.
Nan Zhi snapped back to reality and looked at Lu Shixu with a strange expression.
She could naturally tell that Lu Shixu’s question was filled with jealous inquiry.
’No matter how calm he seems on the surface, he’s probably fuming inside.’
’Wait a minute.’
’Is he asking that because he thinks I’m looking at him but thinking of someone else?’
Realizing this, Nan Zhi almost burst out laughing!
’Just because he has amnesia, is Lu Shixu jealous of himself right now?’
’This is really...’
’Too interesting!’
However, in Lu Shixu’s eyes, Nan Zhi’s expression was interpreted completely differently.
He quickly calmed down.
"Sorry, that’s not what I meant."
Nan Zhi hummed noncommittally.
Lu Shixu felt that something wasn’t right.
But he didn’t dare to ask.
So he could only change the subject.
"Are you hungry?"
Nan Zhi didn’t want to trouble him and was about to shake her head.
GROWL.
Her stomach traitorously rumbled first.
She hadn’t felt well yesterday, so she’d eaten very little for dinner before going to sleep.
By now, she’d had an empty stomach for more than ten hours.
It would be strange if she wasn’t hungry!
Nan Zhi was quite frank and didn’t feel embarrassed.
"Okay, I am a little hungry."
Lu Shixu stood up without a second thought.
"I’ll go buy you breakfast."
Nan Zhi’s expression was normal, not seeing anything wrong with his offer. She just reminded him,
"Don’t forget Yiyi."
Nan Yi, still nestled in Nan Zhi’s arms, didn’t even lift his head.
Lu Shixu nodded.
He understood better than anyone that to be with Nan Zhi, Nan Yi was a wall he absolutely had to scale.
So, what was preparing an extra breakfast for Nan Yi?
If he had the chance, he would gladly make Nan Yi his one and only child and heir!
"Wait five minutes."
Lu Shixu got up briskly and vanished from the doorway in the blink of an eye.
Nan Zhi didn’t think anything of it.
But the old woman in the next bed muttered under her breath,
"And they say they’re not a family? He’s clearly a henpecked husband..."
The quiet muttering reached Nan Zhi’s ears, but she couldn’t make it out and looked over in surprise.
The old woman was a little embarrassed but didn’t pass up the chance to talk to Nan Zhi. She said admiringly,
"Look how obedient your husband is! Not like mine—he wouldn’t even pick up a broom if it fell over!"
Nan Zhi was taken aback.
"He’s not..."
The old woman’s phone suddenly rang, forcing Nan Zhi to cut her explanation short.
As the old woman got up and went into the hallway to answer her phone, only the mother and son, Nan Zhi and Nan Yi, were left in the room.
Nan Yi spoke sullenly.
"Mommy, you’ve changed."
"Hm?"
Nan Zhi was caught off guard.
Nan Yi pouted.
"Before, when Mommy looked at that uncle, your eyes were cold. But it’s different now."
Nan Zhi froze, speechless for a long moment.
When it comes to emotional changes, children are even more instinctively sensitive than adults.
’Could it be...’
’Have my feelings for Lu Shixu really changed?’