Jing Mian picked up a piece of fish for the little one and silently changed the topic, “Here, Luo Luo, eat more.”
Jing Luo thought for a moment, “Why can’t it be a sister?”
Jing Mian braced himself to explain, “Because it’s random, Mr. Ren and I can’t decide.”
After hesitating for two seconds, Jing Mian suddenly realized that he had also been led astray by Jing Luo, “It’s not a sister, if your brother has a baby, it would be your niece.”
Jing Mian added, “And it’s not certain that we will have one.”
Jing Luo listened carefully, seemingly a bit disappointed.
Even the fish in his bowl didn’t seem as tasty anymore.
The family dinner ended.
Jing Mian put on his down jacket and hugged Jing Luo before leaving.
Jing’s father and Li Qiao both saw him to the door. Jing Guozhen coughed lightly and reminded Jing Mian to keep in touch with Mr. Ren more often recently. It was okay to take a few days off from school, but he shouldn’t let the Ren family feel neglected before the wedding.
Jing Mian secretly imagined what expression Jing Guozhen would have if he found out that he had already been living with Mr. Ren for over half a month.
Jing Mian put on his shoes and turned to leave the house.
Jing Guozhen wanted to have the driver take his son, but Jing Mian declined, as the uncle thought the destination was still the school. He didn’t want the Jing family to know about his and Mr. Ren’s residence or the fact that they were living together.
However, not long after Jing Mian left, Li Qiao suddenly picked up a beautifully wrapped gift box from the tea table in the living room and stood up, “We brought back some specialties from Sanya! I forgot to give them to Mian Mian, I’ll go and take them to him.”
Jing’s father didn’t pay much attention, just said okay, and went back to his study to rest.
Jing Mian came out of the courtyard, walking through the tree-lined path, hesitating whether to call Mr. Ren first.
Not sure who would get home first, Ren Xingwan or himself, Jing Mian decided to inform Mr. Ren to avoid the man coming home to an empty house.
Just as Jing Mian dialed Mr. Ren’s number, he suddenly heard a voice from behind:
“Jing Mian.”
Jing Mian was startled.
He quickly turned off the phone screen, not noticing that the call was still connected on the black screen.
Jing Mian turned around and found that the person who had come out was Li Qiao.
At this moment, the woman was holding a delicate gift bag, her face pale from the early winter chill, her usual gentle demeanor completely gone.
She smiled, her voice slow but cold, “Jing Mian, you don’t really want to have a child with that illegitimate child of the Ren family, do you?”
Jing Mian paused, surprise slowly appearing in his eyes.
“I knew it, Ren Xingwan wouldn’t tell you, and he never will let you know.” Li Qiao’s eyes showed a silent coldness, “If it weren’t for his mother who died early, he wouldn’t have returned to the Ren family and competed with his two brothers for the inheritance.”
Jing Mian pursed his lips slightly, his voice unusually calm when he spoke, “What do you want to say?”
Li Qiao found that, contrary to her expectations, Jing Mian didn’t show an expression of being hard to accept upon hearing that his future husband was an illegitimate child, not the imagined master of the situation.
In fact, the young man’s surprise was only momentary, and he quickly calmed down, as usual.
Li Qiao clenched her fists, her lips exhaling lightly. Seeing Jing Mian about to leave, she said angrily, “What, is Mr. Ren that good? You’re completely enchanted by him now, forgetting your own identity, aren’t you?”
Li Qiao’s eyes showed a fierce look, “Have you forgotten what I said to you the first time we met?”
Jing Mian’s footsteps paused slightly.
…
Of course, he couldn’t forget.
A year after his mother’s death, the woman Jing Guozhen brought home, the first time they met, she bent down and handed him a prepared candy from her pocket, introducing herself with a gentle and kind smile.
Jing’s father watched from the side, extremely pleased.
However, when Jing Guozhen turned to answer the phone, Li Qiao threw the candy to the ground, her gentle smile disappearing, the atmosphere turning cold instantly.
The hand that had offered the candy instead grabbed Jing Mian’s chin.
“Are you Jing Mian?”
Jing Mian’s eyes froze.
“What I’m about to say, I’ll only say once in my life, listen carefully.”
Under the beautiful boy’s slightly stunned gaze, Li Qiao smiled, “No matter who your mother was, or how long she’s been dead, remember, from now on, I am the mistress of this Jing family.”
Hearing the first part, little Jing Mian’s breath trembled, he started to struggle, couldn’t help but call out ‘Dad’, but his voice was weak, as if afraid to disturb Jing Guozhen.
It seemed he had no one to turn to for help.
Li Qiao frowned, seeing the child was not behaving, she tightened her grip, her thumb and forefinger almost digging into his flesh.
Jing Mian’s eyelashes trembled, he whimpered in pain, tears rolling down his cheeks.
The flawless face soon had blood seeping from both sides.
“You don’t think your father still loves you after what happened, do you?”
Li Qiao’s eyes showed sarcasm, “So in the future, whether we remarry, I give your father a new brother or sister.”
“It’s none of your business.”
Li Qiao let go of Jing Mian’s face, reached out her fingers, wiped the blood from his face, and said softly, “But if you dare to compete with your brother or sister, even for a tiny bit…”
“I’ll make you relive the feeling of wanting to die but not succeeding.”
Later, under the same roof.
Li Qiao acted like that for over ten years.
Pretending to be a well-educated wife, a gentle and virtuous mother, always speaking softly for Jing Mian when things happened, the most gentle mother in front of the young Jing Luo, even when Jing Guozhen wasn’t around, Li Qiao still wore that mask, never taking it off.
She never showed that side to Jing Mian again, to the point where people were misled into thinking that Li Qiao was quite indulgent towards the eldest son of the Jing family from the previous wife, as if the fierce woman who had threatened her stepson had never existed.
But Jing Mian remembered clearly.
And could not forget.
Even though he had grown from that little boy into the man he was now, even engaged to someone else, he still kept a distance from this young stepmother, avoiding her.
And now, the fact that he and Mr. Ren might have a baby in the near future seemed to have successfully provoked Li Qiao.
To the point where she chased after him, revealing that image buried deep in Jing Mian’s memory.
“And don’t forget.” Li Qiao crossed her arms, gritting her teeth, “This marriage was also something I fought for for you. When the Jing family was on the verge of bankruptcy, I went around arranging a family marriage for you, which saved our dire situation at that time.”
“Although I didn’t expect the most unattainable Ren family to agree so unexpectedly, and even actively promote this marriage…” Li Qiao paused, then said coldly, “It’s all thanks to your mother, who gave you such a pretty face.”
Last time in the car, Li Qiao had once gently used this sentence to provoke Jing Mian.
But now, Jing Mian was inexplicably calm, perhaps because he had just seen the doctor in the morning, or perhaps because of Mr. Ren.
Jing Mian smiled silently, opened his lips, and said, “When the Jing family was on the verge of bankruptcy, I was treated as a commodity by you, arranged into a family marriage, the great merit might be my face, or perhaps thanks to my mother.”
“But how did the final merit become the matchmaker’s?”
Li Qiao’s face instantly turned pale.
Probably never expecting Jing Mian to retort to her, after all, this young man who had always been obedient and gentle since childhood, had never looked directly at her face and calmly spoken such sharp words that made her look bad.
Li Qiao was so angry that her breathing became rapid, she took two steps on the spot, as if thinking of a retort, but then the woman changed her tone and directly asked Jing Mian, “You’re deliberately planning to have a baby with Ren Xingwan, aren’t you?”
Although Jing Mian hadn’t thought about this issue, being questioned so angrily, he instead felt that having a child with Mr. Ren didn’t seem like a bad thing.
After all, deep down, he also vaguely longed for a warm family, enjoying the companionship around him, so whether it was living together with Mr. Ren or being respectful to each other with their own thoughts, as long as he wasn’t alone in the future, perhaps it wouldn’t be so scary.
Jing Mian sighed inwardly and said, “Even if Mr. Ren and I have such a plan… it’s our family matter, not something you have the right to interfere with, is it?”
This time, real panic and anxiety appeared in Li Qiao’s eyes.
The atmosphere was silent for dozens of seconds.
Seeing that the woman didn’t speak, Jing Mian turned around, intending to leave.
But at this moment, a fierce voice suddenly came from behind:
“Jing Mian, are you worthy?”
Jing Mian’s footsteps paused.
Li Qiao stood still, her eyes gradually showing a sharp light, she smiled while pursing her lips, suddenly saying seriously, “Are you worthy of happiness?”
“Mian Mian, have you forgotten how you caused your mother’s death?”
Jing Mian got into a taxi.
Not long after driving, the driver couldn’t help but glance sideways.
This kid, looking less than twenty years old, was clearly a student.
But compared to the students he usually drove, he was too quiet.
Even though he tried to liven up the atmosphere from time to time, the other party didn’t speak, just slightly lowered his eyes, his knuckles white, the oversized hoodie covering the boy’s face.
The driver actually felt quite sorry for such a quiet child, a car that’s been suppressed for too long would have all sorts of problems that need fixing, let alone a living person.
So, as they were about to reach the destination, he took a brand new doll toy from under the front windshield and handed it to Jing Mian.
“This is a random gift for the hundredth customer this week.”
“My daughter bought it, haven’t had the chance to open it yet.”
Jing Mian silently took it.
Through the plastic packaging, he saw a fluffy alpaca inside.
“Thank you.” The driver heard the boy say in a low voice.
When Jing Mian got out of the car to pay, he didn’t scan the WeChat code, but handed over cash. However, when the driver glanced at the bills Jing Mian handed him, he noticed faint bloodstains on them.
Jing Mian arrived at his doorstep, silently lowering his head.
His fingers were frozen stiff, Jing Mian’s fingertips trembled as he pressed the fingerprint, but it couldn’t be recognized due to the bloodstains. He then entered the password, but found that after several attempts, it kept showing an error.
After three times, the keypad automatically turned off.
The password lock screen went dark.
Jing Mian instinctively searched for the key card, but after a while, he realized he didn’t have it with him.
Jing Mian’s breathing became rapid, accompanied by trembling breaths, his back, which had been soaked earlier, now felt cold and shivery.
Soon, the heavy shadows before his eyes became increasingly dense, he started to feel out of breath.
Jing Mian slowly sat down on the ground.
He was forced to start breathing heavily.
His eyes felt hot, his nose tingled with sourness, as if someone was choking his throat, Jing Mian wanted to find the spare key, to quickly get back inside.
But he seemed to have never asked Mr. Ren.
Fragmented images began to flash before his eyes, sliding light streams, the swaying leather seats in the car, screams… and the sound of a sudden brake.
However, Jing Mian suddenly noticed that the phone in his pocket seemed to be making a faint sound.
He was startled, the flashback was abruptly interrupted, Jing Mian lowered his head, reached into his clothes with his sleeve, and took out the phone.
Jing Mian picked it up and looked.
—It was Mr. Ren.
He looked at it in a daze for a few seconds, then put the phone to his ear, his breathing slightly trembling.
“The spare key is under the doormat.”
The man’s voice sounded in his ear.
Jing Mian was slightly stunned, instinctively lowered his head, felt the edge of the doormat, and indeed found a hard, round metal ring.
“The keyhole is below the door lock, in the middle.”
Jing Mian pursed his lips, searching for the place Ren Xingwan mentioned, successfully finding the lock core he had never noticed before.
Jing Mian’s trembling hand inserted the key into the lock, turned it.
With a click, the door opened.
The faint light from inside fell on Jing Mian’s face.
“One more kilometer.”
Mr. Ren’s voice was slightly deep:
“Wait for me to come back.”