Pampered by Short-Lived Bigshot

She couldn’t articulate the complexity of her emotions. She hadn’t expected Jiang Yanting to bring the child; she was very reluctant to meet this child, but seeing him stirred a peculiar feeling inside her.

But this child…

His eyes were swollen like two walnuts, and his face was swollen too. He had a bruise on his face from fighting with someone. Overall…

He looked a bit ugly at the moment!

Was this child… abused?

“I went out to buy some things.” Shen Zhixian gathered her thoughts and looked at Jiang Yanting suspiciously. What was he doing bringing the child here?

“You didn’t bring your phone?”

“I didn’t even bring my keys.” Shen Zhixian walked to the apartment door; three of them, staring at each other, meeting for the first time without tears or crying, strangely awkward.

“Don’t you have a spare key?” Jiang Yanting frowned, puzzled by her carelessness.

“It’s at the Xie Family’s. But I saw a small ad on the wall; let’s call a locksmith.”

Jiang Yanting nodded. He went to find the advertisement and make a call, while Shen Zhixian and Jiangjiang looked at each other again, unsure how to start the conversation.

“What is your name?” Shen Zhixian finally broke the silence.

“Jiang Wenyan.”

Jiangjiang, notorious as a little tyrant in the Jiang family, difficult to deal with, now appeared shy, his voice much softer.

“You must be four years old, right?” Shen Zhixian had checked on him; according to the official records, he should be four this year, though he was quite tall.

“Five.”

Shen Zhixian frowned. “What?”

“After the new year, I’ll be five.”

“You’re five years old!” Shen Zhixian felt confused. “Aren’t you four?”

“Grandma said I was born abroad. When we returned, we missed the registration period, so someone pulled some strings, but they got my age wrong and never corrected it.” Jiangjiang furrowed his brow, somewhat skeptical whether the woman in front of him was his real mother.

Shen Zhixian leaned forward, staring at him, trying to discern something, but his little face, swollen from crying, resembled a pig’s head, his eyes deformed…

Jiangjiang, embarrassed by her scrutiny, mimicked Jiang Yanting and turned his head away, showing a bit of pride, which made Shen Zhixian laugh out loud.

“Are you really five?”

“Yeah,” Jiangjiang confirmed.

“And your… your mom?”

Jiangjiang really wanted to say, “Dad said that you are my mom.”

But since she didn’t indicate it, he didn’t dare take the initiative and haughtily said, “Dad said I popped out from a crack in the rocks…”

Shen Zhixian’s fingers trembled, itching to touch his face, but she held back, staring intently at him, her eyes inadvertently reddening, thinking, five years old…

Five years old!

Jiangjiang stood there awkwardly, unsure what to do, until Jiang Yanting finished his call and came over, then he hurriedly ran to him and hugged his leg.

It was too nerve-wracking, too overwhelming!

It was almost suffocating.

Shen Zhixian squatted where she was, biting her lip as she watched Jiang Yanting, her eyes rimmed with red, her expression complex, seemingly doubting something, yet afraid to ask, lest she was overthinking.

Jiang Yanting patted Jiangjiang’s head, “Didn’t you say you were bringing a cake for your mom? Why not give it when you see her?”

Mom?

A simple word, but it exploded like thunder in her mind; she squatted there, her body trembling, staring fixedly at Jiangjiang, her mind going blank…