"When is the Business Summit?"
Nuo asked Siying as she was wrapping up with her work that Jian shamelessly but pitifully dumped onto her with the excuse of spending time with Leina and their boys. She had her own restaurant and while Jian handled Natusukashi's affairs, he would sometimes take Nuo's help here and there.
Idiot brother, she sighed.
Siying, who was overloaded with his son's cuteness as he played with Muyang, said, "I don't know how to thank you enough for giving birth to Muyang..." he sniffled. "He is too adorable just like you."
"..."
And this person is just like Bro Nian!
Two years old Muyang seemed to be in a very deep thought as he held two colorful marbles in his hand. After much contemplation and careful calculation, he handed one marble to his father with a sparkling smile. "Dada pink!"
Siying burst into tears. "You are sharing your precious marble to play with me? You are so kind."
Muyang placed another marble in Nuo's hand and grinned. "Mama blue!"
"Aww, thank you. You are the best!" She kissed his cheeks.
Siying was close to fainting. He could only see bubbles and flowers all around his wife and son.
Nuo pinched the space between her brows. "I asked you a different question, you doting father."
He sincerely held onto the gift from Muyang and replied. "The Business Summit, right?"
"So you were listening."
He dropped a peck on her forehead. "How can I dare ignore you? Of course, I was listening to you. But Muyang..."
Nuo could see his eyes well with tears again. "No, stop! No more crying!"
Muyang mimicked his mother. "No stop! No mo cwying!" Then he laughed.
Siying squeezed his son in his embrace. "You looked and sounded just like your mother. You are awesome, Muyang!"
A knock sounded on their door and a figure stepped in. Her black hair fluttered at the back just beyond her shoulders. The earrings chiming on her ears followed the same rhythm. From a twenty odd year old young girl, Shui had matured into a beautiful, wise woman.
"Bro is being bro, huh?" She kept her bag aside and smiled.
"Please talk to him," Nuo sighed.
"Well, I cannot completely blame him because my nephew is such a cinnamon roll!"
"So it's set! Bro will be the hard laborer here while you and Muyang visit the Liu family~ Bro has no right to complain, okay?"
"When did I ever?" He shook his head.
Shui grinned and handed Muyang back to Nuo. "I have to rush to the hospital now. See ya!"
Muyang waved his hand in a goodbye and she returned it with a flying kiss.
"She figured out that I stayed back because of her, right?" Nuo sighed.
"I told you she would."
"I know but I just couldn't..."
"It's okay, Nuo. Today was going to be difficult." Siying pursed his lips. "She spoke about Jin very normally."
"She wants me to visit the villa because she wants to show that she is okay with Jin's return. But she is not. That's why she doesn't want to go to the Business Summit. She knows she will see him there."
"She...can't be running away like this forever," Siying shared a look of concern.
Nuo let out a strained smile in return. "She can't and neither can Jin. We can only hope that these six years would have made them stronger."
—
Shui opened the door to one of the hospital's private wards and stepped in silently. A woman laid on the bed unconscious. A monitoring machine and some other medical equipment were connected to her through tubes.
Shui replaced the old flowers with a fresh bouquet in the vase and then sat on the chair beside the bed. A second vase contained another set of fresh flowers.
"How are you doing, Alix?" She smiled. "The tulips are so fragrant, right? Do you like the scent? It feels so calming. I guess Xue beat me in coming here first today," she chuckled. "She put that second bouquet there, right?"
She got no response but she continued to talk about random everyday stuff. The machines continued to softly beep in the background.
"You know, Jin is back," Shui whispered after some time.
"You remember him, right? You met him in Guangzhou when he and I were on a business trip. Yes, the same man with whom you had clashes and he made you apologize to me. But let's not dwell into the past," she coughed awkwardly.
Shui felt like she wanted to talk more, but she stopped at that sentence. She simply stayed beside Ren Alix in silence, giving her quiet company.
Suddenly, the machines beeped louder and a moment later, Shui noticed her finger move ever so faintly.
Her eyes widened in disbelief. "A-Alix?"