Chapter 114 - So, it's OK to cry

After about 30 minutes, she went back to Jenny's new room.

As she was going towards the room, she could hear loud voices coming all the way from the floor above.

..

Jenny was annoyed by Tian Le who kept chatting with Layla and tried to involve her in their conversation even though she ignored him.

"Right, Jenny?"

"Don't you think so, Jenny?"

"I think you'd like it here, Jenny."

She eventually had enough when Tian Le asked her to give him a smile so that he can see if she was at her prettiest or if she can actually be prettier.

All the adults were nice and patient to her, but she hated how faked their face were.

They would try to talk to her but when it was clear to them that she had no intention of speaking, they would start to chat with each other and completely ignored her presence.

But the boy sitting next to her on the bed was different.

Even though she ignored him, he kept talking as if she was in the conversation and despite there being no reaction from her, he would still asked for her opinion.

It was getting a little overwhelming for Jenny.

Pushing him off the bed, she yelled, "Shut up! I can't smile! You don't know what it's like to have your mother taken away from you!"

"Jenny!" scolded Layla as she went to help Tian Le up.

It was the first time Jenny said something after the accident.

She hit the stumps where her legs used to be at and in her anger and frustration, her eyes started to well up with tears as she yelled,

"You don't know what's it like to wake up and no longer have your mother or your legs..."

Leaning against his crutch, Tian Le scratched the back of his neck as he said awkwardly, "You are right..."

When she glared at him, he smiled, "I don't have a mother so I don't know what it's like to have one taken away..."

Glancing down at his missing left leg, he continued with a smile, "I was born without my lower leg so I also don't know what it's like to have it taken away."

"ARGH!!!!" Jenny yelled out in frustration when she heard him. Glaring at him, she asked, "How can you keep smiling!"

He sat down on the desk and looked out the window at the trees that the children often played under. After a while, he admitted,

"I don't know what else to do. I have cried, I have threw multiple tantrums, I have blamed everyone...but at the end of the day, what is gone is gone."

Jenny glanced down at her stumps and the tears kept falling despite her rubbing at her eyes furiously.

Layla felt a little awkward staying there when she had nothing in common with them.

Seeing her discomfort, Kai Xin walked in and signaled that she would take over from here.

She went to Jenny and knelt down on one knee next to her wheelchair before saying,

"It's OK to cry, Jenny. You have lost your most important person in the world. You can cry for your losses. No one would blame you. Throw tantrums if you want. Just don't keep it in yourself, OK?"

"B-But Tian Le didn't cry..."

"Tian Le did..." said Kai Xin as she exchanged glances with the boy, "...but he stopped crying."

Turning back to Jenny, she smiled, "So, it's OK to cry. Cry as hard as you can and as much as you want. Once you are done, dust it off and start all over again."

When Jenny heard her words, she released all her self control and finally allowed the tears to fall.

She cried for her mother who had abruptly left her alone in this world.

The doctors and nurses told her to be brave and not to cry.

Her uncle had scolded her when she looked at him sadly. She had wanted some comfort from him but he scolded her and told her to keep quiet.

Afraid of being abandoned, she had kept everything bottled up.

In the end, the pressure of keeping everything in was slowly killing her.

Kai Xin hugged her as she cried loudly on her shoulders.

As she slowly rocked back and forth, she whispered comforting words to the child.

When Tian Le realized that his role here was done, he air-fived Kai Xin before leaving the room with his crutches.

Jenny cried until she was completely exhausted and fell asleep in Kai Xin's arms.

Once she placed her back in the bed with Layla offering to look after her, Kai Xin went to look for Tian Le.

When she did not see him in his room, she asked his roommates, "Where's Tian Le?"

However, the kids shrugged and shook their head.

She walked around the building until she found him at the library with his nose buried deep in the book.

Even though she felt mean to have a favorite, but she cannot deny that Tian Le held a special place in her heart.

When she first held him in her arms, she was constantly worried that she would drop him and for a while, she would only hold him while sitting down.

When he first called her 'Mum', she had felt guilty because she knew that she was using him as a replacement for Zi Han.

When he told her that he did not want to get adopted, she was secretly happy despite scolding him for having such a thought.

Looking at the back of his head, she sighed with a heavy heart.

She was unable to bear the thought of him leaving, yet in her heart, she knew that it would be better if he was with a family that could love him as much as she does.

Placing her hand on his head, she smirked, "Tian Le."

Startled, Tian Le frowned, "Mum...You know that I hate it when other people touch my head."

"Yeah, but I'm your Mum, not other people..." said Kai Xin. Sitting down beside him, she asked, "What are you reading there?"

"Just a book on the designs of prosthetics that I borrowed from school."

"How was school?"

He hesitated for a moment before saying, "It was fine."

Kai Xin frowned when she heard his tone, "It doesn't sound fine. Is someone bullying you?"

Tian Le shrugged, "It's expected."

"What do you mean it's expected?"

He smiled wryly as he flipped to the next page,

"I'm a one legged freak with no family. Kind of a good target to bully."

"No!" snapped Kai Xin. She turned his face so that he would look at her, "You are not a freak. You are Zhen Tian Le, son of Zhen Kai Xin!"

Tian Le's lips quivered and he quickly turned away, "Mum, you are getting cheesier as you aged. I can handle my own war."

Looking at him with a worried face, she said, "Seriously, if it gets worse, let me know, OK?"

Tian Le nodded, "Did you have a good talk with Zi Han?"

"Yeah."

"What did you talk to him about?"

Kai Xin looked at Tian Le and ruffled his hair, "Nothing a kid like you should ask."

"Hey!" growled Tian Le, "I'm almost twelve now. I'm no longer a kid."

Leaning closer, he whispered, "Is it about the man you told us last time?"

She stuck her tongue out at him and ran out of the library before he can questioned her further.

She chuckled as she walked around the orphanage, "That boy..."

Tian Le managed to guess correctly. She did asked Zi Han about letting someone else into her heart.

She could have swore that when a heavier and louder gust of wind passed by, she heard a soft reply.

"Yes..."

Maybe it was real, and maybe it was an imagination caused by her subconscious, but somehow, she was ready to give DX a reply.