books44 Chapter 96 Her Daughter
Chapter 96 Her Daughter
Shen Xi watched as Xiao Jiangdu ate very politely, taking small bites at a time. She took out a tissue and wiped the scallions off his lips.
Suddenly, the light in front of me dimmed.
Jiang Po immediately stood in front of Shen Xi, completely obscuring her view so she couldn't even see who it was.
"What a coincidence, Mrs. Shen."
Jiang Po didn't move an inch; the burly man stood straight in front of Shen Xi.
Xiao Jiangdu tilted his head as he watched and ate.
Su Su raised her eyes curiously.
This lady has an outstanding temperament; she's a typical gentle and beautiful woman, except... she's a bit too thin.
Chu Li's voice was as gentle as water, completely out of place in this noisy environment.
"Excuse me, who are you...?"
Chu Li didn't recognize the burly, dark-skinned man in front of her, nor did she know why Jiang Po would recognize her.
She thought it was probably at some banquet.
Jiang Po wasn't embarrassed; his voice was hoarse, and he got straight to the point.
"I am a bodyguard from the Jiang family. I've noticed you've been looking in this direction for a while. May I ask what business you have with my wife?"
He was still very polite.
Chu Li hesitated for a moment. She clenched her fair fingers into a fist at her side and pinched herself hard before she could finally speak.
"I think this young lady looks a bit like me, and I quite like her. I wonder if I could say a few words to her?"
Her fingertips turned white, and she paused, her words tinged with a pleading tone.
"I won't take up too much of your time, just a few words will do, okay?"
Her gaze swept past Jiang Po's side, trying to get a clear look at the little girl sitting there.
Jiang Po hadn't spoken yet.
"Jiang Po, invite this lady to sit down for a while. There won't be any problems if we just chat."
Shen Xi put down the paper in her hand, looked up and spoke.
The lady spoke in a soft, gentle voice, with a touch of the soft, melodious tones of the Wu dialect, in a slow and unhurried manner.
As Jiang Po dodged...
Shen Xi's face was directly exposed to Chu Li's gaze. Her heart was pounding, she clutched her chest and gasped for breath, feeling numbness in her limbs and a direct shock to her soul.
She looked at Shen Xi through teary eyes, her eyebrows curved, and clear tears slid down her thin, pale cheeks to her chin. Chu Li's heart was trembling silently, her whole body was shaking, and a voice was screaming in pain.
This...this is her child!
Even without genetic testing, she could tell that this was the daughter who had disappeared without her ever seeing her at birth!
She was panting heavily, her thin, peeling hands clenched tightly as she pounded her suffocating chest.
Shen Xi and Su Su were both startled.
The two women moved swiftly, one on each side supporting the woman who appeared agitated and had a pale complexion.
"Madam, what's wrong? Let us take you to the hospital to have it checked out."
Shen Xi looked down at Chu Li, her expression somewhat worried.
Following Shen Xi's lead, Chu Li tightly grasped her soft, boneless hand. She shook her head, took a breath, and after a while, her emotions finally calmed down. Her voice was somewhat faint and weak.
"Thank you all, I'm fine. It's just an old ailment; I'll be alright after sitting for a while."
Shen Xi and Su Su didn't say much upon hearing this, and carefully helped her sit down.
Xiao Jiangdu looked at this... handsome stranger, a hint of confusion flashing in his clear black and white eyes.
This stranger looks...so familiar.
Has he seen her somewhere before?
Jiang Po was also puzzled by the current situation. He remained silent, standing there motionless like a mountain.
Chu Li reluctantly held the young woman's hand, but she was trembling all over, her eyes red-rimmed, and she didn't know what to say at this moment.
She choked up several times before finally speaking.
"May I ask your name?"
"My name is Shen Xi, Shen as in the water radical and Xi as in stream."
"Excuse me, do you know me?"
Shen Xi was very puzzled. This lady kept staring at her, as if she knew her. Did she know the Shen Xi from before?
But at this moment, Shen Xi didn't feel annoyed or offended at all.
Chu Li was taken aback when she heard her name. She murmured to herself, "Surname Shen?...What a coincidence?"
Shen Xi didn't understand what was so clever about this coincidence.
Chu Li's tone gradually softened, and she forced what she thought was an ugly smile, "Shen Xi... Shen Xi, what a beautiful name. Did your mother choose this name for you?"
Shen Xi shook her head honestly, "It was my mother-in-law who named it."
Chu Li was momentarily confused. What mother-in-law?
Was her child stolen and used as a child bride?!
Chu Li's face flushed instantly at the thought of this possibility, and she nearly collapsed.
Seeing that the person seemed to have misunderstood something, Shen Xi quickly waved her hand and began to explain.
"You may have misunderstood. The mother-in-law I'm talking about is the hospital director who raised me. I'm used to calling her 'Grandma' or 'Grandma'."
Chu Li felt a sense of relief for a moment, but she still felt very sad and guilty. She knew that her obedient daughter was already married.
She heard the muscular, dark-skinned man next to her call her "Madam".
She deliberately avoided looking at the child next to her.
Because... she didn't dare.
She couldn't imagine how her daughter had managed to live all these years, at least she was happy.
But what if fate really is so unfair to her?
What will happen to her daughter?!
"You..." Chu Li was at a loss for words. Her usual poor speech was now fully exposed as a disadvantage, and she felt somewhat annoyed.
Do you like me?
Shen Xi suddenly spoke.
Chu Li immediately replied, "I like you very much."
Shen Xi was somewhat confused.
"Why? Because this is the first time we've met."
Chu Li's eyes were filled with tears, and her lips were somewhat pale.
"Because...because you look a lot like my daughter."
Upon hearing this, everyone present was stunned.
No one expected this to happen.
Shen Xi was also slightly taken aback, but immediately realized that this lady must have lost her child. Her eyes flickered, and there was some pity in them.
Chu Li was, after all, a lady from a prominent family, and she was very sensitive to the look in her daughter's eyes. Her heart ached, but she dared not rashly recognize her true feelings.
She asked cautiously, "Can I add you as a contact?"
“I live alone in a nursing home not far from here, and sometimes I get a little bored. Can I chat with you?”
Shen Xi instantly filtered these words in her mind, and the fragmented information automatically strung together into a story: This elegant lady lost her child, couldn't accept it psychologically, and her body gradually deteriorated, so she moved into a sanatorium. Today, she ran into her daughter, a woman who might look very much like her daughter, and thus found solace in her.
Chu Li carefully observed her daughter's expression, and why... did her gaze become even more pitying?