CH 46

“You said that you’ve seen Lin Ran?” Song Zhi Xu had some surprise, he thought Lin Ran had been sent out since he was a child. 

Since that is the case, then did Lin Ran ever lived in the Lin family as a child?

It was already such a long time ago, Xiao Shilan had some difficulty in remembering, so when Song Zhi Xu asked such a question, she was even more unsure, “I was far away and I took a quick glance, it looked like him.” Xiao Shilan thought back carefully. 

Back then, she thought the child was good-looking and gave it a glance. She even asked Mrs. Lin about it, but she said it was the maid’s child, so she didn’t ask again.

Song Zhi Xu was silent for a long time, he had been to Lin Family’s house once when he was fourteen and even fell into the pond, after that he had never been there again, but it was true that he had never seen Lin Ran back then.

“Ma, did I pull Lin Mu into the water that day, right?” Song Zhi Xu asked again after a while.

“That’s right, he tried to save you but was pulled down by you, and because of this, he had a high fever for several days. It’s lucky that your Uncle Lin didn’t count on this matter.” Xiao Shilan was a little confused as to why he was suddenly asking this question, so after a pause she added, “We also went to see him before we left. You forget?” 

“I didn’t forget.” Song Zhi Xu said in a low voice.

Lin Ran changed the turtle’s water and came down from upstairs with the fish bowl, glancing at the sofa before trotting over to sit next to Song Zhi Xu and show him Xiao Guai inside. 

Song Zhi Xu came back to his senses and touched the top of Lin Ran’s hair. He shook his head to stop himself from thinking too much, Lin Ran should not have been at the old Lin family residence at that time, moreover, he had even visited Lin Mu after he fell into the water.

Lin Mu was lying in bed, his fever was high and his face was burnt red while he was still sleeping. Song Zhi Xu felt guilty and stood by the bed as he apologized to Lin Mu but at that time Lin Mu was still in a coma. 

Later on, Song Zhi Xu met Lin Mu again at the university and felt guilty about him, so he subconsciously paid more attention to him.

“Song Zhi Xu, Xiao Guai spitting bubbles just now.” Lin Ran said in small voice to Song Zhi Xu. 

Song Zhi Xu glanced at the little turtle in the fish bowl with all four paws stretched out, and only after a while did he say,

“It can’t stay out of the water for too long, it’ll get thirsty.” 

Luckily, he bought a turtle for Lin Ran, if he had bought a fish, the fish would die after some time Lin Ran put it in his pocket.

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“Papa? Has Auntie seen Ran Ran’s dad?” Lin Ran was also a little surprised when he heard about his dad.

Not many people had ever seen his dad’s because he didn’t like to show it to people.

“That’s right, Auntie and him are good friends.” Xiao Shilan hurriedly said. Song Zhi Xu’s mobile phone rang and after looking at it, he gently patted Lin Ran and told him to sit by himself as he got up and went to the window to answer the phone. Xiao Shilan sat on the sofa and spoke to Lin Ran intermittently, while Song Zhi Xu stood by the window with little expression, answering the phone and occasionally glancing at the sofa.

Only when he hung up the phone did he walk over to the sofa again. Xiao Shilan had already sat down next to Lin Ran who unusually, did not resist very much. “Mom, Dad called and asked you quickly to come back.” Song Zhi Xu knew it, his mother must have sneaked back again, if not, how could his dad let her return to their country alone?

Xiao Shilan’s face changed, revealing a look of dissatisfaction.

“That kind of life it’s impossible to live. Your father puts on a dead face all day long, I can’t even eat when I look at him. I’m going to divorce him and live here with you from now on.” Xiao Shilan said while panting with rage.

Song Zhi Xu showed a bit of helplessness.

“Mom, that’s what you told me too. You said that I put on a dead face so I shouldn’t come back too often, so that you wouldn’t have the appetite to eat.”

“That’s right ah, both you father and son, all the same, but here we have Ran Ran, and Ran Ran can accompany me.” Xiao Shilan put another smile on her face and tried to hold Lin Ran’s hand, but as soon as she got close, Lin Ran immediately stood up in shock and jumped into Song Zhi Xu’s embrace, clutching Song Zhi Xu’s clothes with his hands. It was because Xiao Shilan was Song Zhi Xu’s mother, plus she knew his father and mother, that Lin Ran wasn’t very scared of her, but once she got too close and breached the safe distance, Lin Ran still subconsciously tried to run away.

“Eh? This…?” Xiao Shilan was surprised.

She herself wasn’t that scary ba? She unexpectedly had scared someone away.

Song Zhi Xu gently patted Lin Ran’s back and half-shrouded him in his arms, not pushing him away again, but said to Xiao Silan who was sitting on the sofa, “Mom, Ran Ran is afraid of people. You should not get too close to him, you will scare him. You stay here for today, tomorrow you should buy a ticket and go back, otherwise my father will personally come and take you back.”

“How can I scare him? I am not scary.” Xiao Shilan whispered and added, “Don’t give your address to your dad. I will not go back with him.”

Song Zhi Xu had known since he was a child that this husband and wife were inseparable and always stick to each other, so he didn’t take this matter seriously and dragged Lin Ran upstairs to clean up Xiao Shilan’s room.

Song Zhi Xu was still a bit uneasy about leaving Lin Ran and Xiao Shilan alone downstairs, so he took Lin Ran with him then he would feel more at ease. What was more, he was really not very good at tidying up the room, since the housemaid had been doing it before. Moreover, Xiao Shilan was fussy and everything on the bed had to be made of satin.

Lin Ran helped Song Zhi Xu. The two of them laid the sheets together, changed the pillow cases and the slipcover for a quilt. The room was carefully cleaned as well as the furniture and the floor were all wiped clean again before they were ready. Song Zhi Xu looked sideways at Lin Ran beside him several times, but finally asked.

“Ran Ran, when was the time that you were sent outside?” Song Zhi Xu knew that asking this question might make Lin Ran think of something bad, but he really wanted to know if it was true what Xiao Shilan said about seeing Lin Ran in the old Lin family residence.

Sure enough, at the mention of what happened before, Lin Ran’s body trembled for a moment a touch of panic surfaced in his eyes, subconsciously he leaned towards Song Zhi Xu again until he was sticky close to him, then he settled down. Lin Ran looked at Song Zhi Xu, still thinking seriously according to what he had asked him, but finally Lin Ran shook his head and said in a small voice, “Ran Ran doesn’t know, Ran Ran forgot.”

Lin Ran’s memory wasn’t very good, he didn’t remember much of what had happened before. He had lived in that one big house for as long as he could remember, with the auntie nanny looking after him, and occasionally the aunty would bring her son there.

The days of constant housework and there was nothing to eat, he lived for a long, long time like that, until he was picked up by his Gege and met Song Zhi Xu that he got better.

Lin Ran’s eyes were unconsciously red and his body trembled a little. Song Zhi Xu hurriedly took him in his embrace, patted his back gently and whispered to comfort him,

“Fine, just forget it if you don’t know, don’t think about it again. The past is all in the past.”

Song Zhi Xu’s eyes were full of doting, distressed for him, kissing Lin Ran on the cheek several times and holding the person tightly again.

“It’s good to have Song Zhi Xu.” Lin Ran nodded and asked carefully again, “Will Song Zhi Xu send Ran Ran back again?”

“No, I will keep you by my side forever and keep a close eye on you. No one is allowed to take you away, okay?” Song Zhi Xu said seriously.

“Okay, then it’s a deal.” When Lin Ran heard that Song Zhi Xu would not send him away again, he became so happy that hugged Song Zhi Xu tightly around his waist.

Xiao Shilan, who was sitting downstairs, saw that the two of them hadn’t gone down, so she took the initiative to come upstairs to look for them and when she pushed open the door of the guest room, she saw Lin Ran standing with Song Zhi Xu with his eyes a little red.

Xiao Shilan’s first thought was that Song Zhi Xu had bullied Lin Ran, so she reached out and slapped Song Zhi Xu on the arm.

“What’s wrong? Why is Ran Ran crying? Did you bully him?” Lin Ran was a little surprised that Song Zhi Xu had been hit, he hurriedly walked to Song Zhi Xu’s side, blocking him behind him, biting his lips and said in a small voice that she was not allowed to hit Song Zhi Xu.

Xiao Shilan showed her surprise and once she looked up, she accurately caught the smile in Song Zhi Xu’s eyes.

“He is bullying you yet you still protecting him, are you stupid?” Xiao Shilan raised her voice.

“Ran Ran is silly, but Song Zhi Xu didn’t bully Ran Ran.” Lin Ran felt as if the other party was angry therefore he was a little scared, but with Song Zhi Xu behind him, he still didn’t dare to run away.

Song Zhi Xu’s face changed and he pulled Lin Ran’s wrist and pulled him to his side, not letting Xiao Shilan continue talking.

“Forget it mom, you take a look at the room and see what else is missing, then I’ll get it for you. Dad said he ordered clothes for you and it should be delivered after a short time.”

Xiao Shilan was having a fight with Song Zhi Xu’s father and secretly returned back from abroad by herself. She didn’t bring anything with her except the clothes she was wearing and she didn’t have any luggage, so when Song Zhi Xu called his dad just now, his dad said that he would have the clothes sent over directly.

“Hn, it’s good that he still remembered.”

Xiao Shilan’s face showed a smile again as she nodded her head. 

It was only when Song Zhi Xu pulled Lin Ran’s wrist out of the room that she reacted with a jolt, since the clothes had been ordered, had Song Zhi Xu told his father the address here?

When the evening came, Xiao Shilan rarely and personally cooked a lot of dishes and the three of them ate together. 

Just after they had finished eating and put down the chopsticks, Lin Ran immediately stood up and cleaned up the dishes on the table and took them into the kitchen. Then after a while, he came out again to carefully wipe the table and set the chairs.

Song Zhi Xu would always clean up the kitchen after cooking, but this time Xiao Shilan was the one who cooked dinner, so the kitchen was naturally a bit messy. Lin Ran washed the dishes and carefully cleaned up the cooking counter and the floor, putting everything in its place one by one. 

Xiao Shilan looked around and asked Song Zhi Xu, “I’ve been here all day, where’s your nanny?”

Song Zhi Xu said honestly, “The previous nanny quit so I haven’t looked for another.” 

Xiao Shilan pointed to Lin Ran who was kneeling on the floor in the kitchen, carefully scrubbing the floor, “He’s your Uncle Lin’s son, you brought him here just to let him do the housework for you and be your housemaid? Song Zhi Xu, are you still human?”