Chapter 435: It Wasn’t a Warm Welcome
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
To his own surprise, Sheng Jian found himself welcomed into the house far more quickly than he’d expected. He had thought it would take a considerable amount of time to warm Rong Qi’s heart.
‘Like mother, like daughter,’ he mused. It was remarkable, considering Rong Qi had not been raised by her mother, Chu Jing, how much the two resembled each other in temperament.
Once inside, Sheng Jian settled himself in the living room. However, it wasn’t Rong Qi who played host; it was Ye Nanshen. Rong Qi had retreated to the kitchen and barely made an appearance, save for occasionally walking by to grab something.
Placing a small piece of porcelain on the coffee table, Sheng Jian said, “Take this. Consider it a gesture from me to Little Qi.”
The overly familiar term, ‘Little Qi,’ prompted a subtle frown on Ye Nanshen’s face. His eyes, deep and inscrutable, suggested he had already guessed the relationship between Sheng Jian and Rong Qi’s mother. Likely, he was the man Rong Qi’s mother had run off with.
Ye Nanshen finally spoke, his voice icy. “I have just one question. Why did Madam Chu Jing give birth to Little Qi only to abandon her?”
Letting out a sigh, Sheng Jian pondered where to start. The whole matter was as complicated as it was simple. At its core, it was all about marital discord. No one had expected that Rong Qi’s mother, Chu Jing, would actually dump her newborn child in a trash bin.
“If you don’t want to discuss it, then don’t. And don’t bring up anything about her mother to her. Eat your meal and leave,” Ye Nanshen warned, his voice colder than ever. “She’s been doing just fine on her own. She doesn’t need your sudden concern. The best protection you can offer her is to not disturb her life.”
Hesitating, Sheng Jian finally spoke. “Her mother left her out of a momentary lapse in judgment. She had a difficult childbirth and almost didn’t survive. Her b*stard husband, Rong Tianshi, wasn’t even there at that crucial moment.” “So what does that have to do with Rong Qi?” Ye Nanshen retorted, his mouth curling in derision. “She was just a newborn. How is she to blame for her parents’ issues?”
Knowing it would take more than this to win Rong Qi over, Sheng Jian added, “Her mother’s dying wish was to see her once more. But by the time we found out where she was, she’d been taken back to the countryside, and we lost track of her. Her mother died with that regret.”
“It wasn’t a warm welcome. I was ‘brought’ home.” a voice came from behind them, devoid of any emotion. Rong Qi emerged, holding a dish in her hands. “Dinner’s ready.”
Setting the dish on the dining table, she began to eat without a word. Ye Nanshen’s eyes flashed with a brief, concealed pang of sorrow.
The next morning, Ye Nanshen drove Rong Qi to the university before heading to his office. The first semester was nearing its end, and the atmosphere had grown noticeably more studious—even in Cla.s.s 7, where they seemed to have found a newfound enthusiasm for learning.
They liked to a.n.a.lyze the events from various cases. They were no longer against doing the test papers. They even complained that Rong Qi’s cla.s.s time was too little and asked for extra lessons. More importantly, the showdown between Cla.s.s 1 and Cla.s.s 7 was about to begin. In the past, they had been very unconfident, but now that they had found the knack of learning, they were even more motivated.
“Rong Qi, someone’s looking for you,” a student from Cla.s.s 7 announced at the cla.s.sroom door.
Glancing up, Rong Qi saw it was He Jinghan. She stepped outside, meeting him in the hallway. He held a small, elegantly wrapped box, which he extended to her. “I got you a cake. I know you’ll love it.”
Accepting the gift without fuss, she simply said, “Thank you.” She considered it his way of returning a favor. Observing He Jinghan’s somewhat pallid complexion, she took his pulse. “Your illness hasn’t improved. I’ll write you a prescription.”
Whipping out her phone, she quickly typed a prescription and sent it to him..