“Xing Tuo held her hand tightly, gripping her so hard that her fingers began to hurt.
He buried his face deep in her palm, and the temperature of his palm suddenly increased. Qianzhi felt a warm dampness in her palm.
“Xing Tuo…” she called softly.
“Mm.” Xing Tuo’s hoarse voice came from her palm.
“I’m sorry, it was all my carelessness, making you worry. Are you… okay?”
“Mm.” His face remained in her palm.
“The child… is it okay?”
Xing Tuo raised his face and gazed at her, his black eyes wet: “The child is in the NICU, just too weak and needs to stay in the incubator for now.”
“Oh.” She sighed with relief, as long as the child was fine.
“Xing Tuo… I want to see the child… is that okay?” She looked at him expectantly.
He refused, saying: “No, you just had surgery. The nurses will take care of the child, don’t worry.”
“I… I just want to take a look…” she bit her lip, her voice lowering.
Xing Tuo looked at her, and after a long time, finally sighed softly: “Okay.”
She stood there motionless, and after a long time, she finally turned around gently and left. “Book a flight to the United States for me.” Her face regained its calmness, her gaze lowered, concealing the dimness in her eyes.
Three years later. Xing Family Ancestral House. Autumn was already deep. Maple leaves were dyed red like flames across the entire mountain, while the tall fir trees and robust camphor trees in the courtyard seemed even more lush and dense under the thin sunlight. Xia Qianchi stood before the massive floor-to-ceiling window, watching two children happily chasing each other on the green lawn, unconsciously revealing a gentle smile.
“What are you smiling about?” A pair of large hands quietly wrapped around her waist. She lowered her head, her slender fingers gently covering his distinctly jointed hands. When she looked up again, another figure besides the nanny had appeared on the lawn, and through the glass, she could seemingly hear the children calling out “Grandma.” Qianchi’s smile deepened: “Mother rarely comes back, yet both children seem to like her very much.”
