Rong City.
After Xia Xi and An Xiaoyu reached an agreement, he casually bought two boxed meals and prepared to find Qin Zhizhi to explain the situation.
If Qin Zhizhi didn’t want to leave, he might even have to put in the effort to persuade her or something. Just thinking about it gave him a headache.
Xia Xi, carrying the bag with the boxed meals, walked quietly to Qin Zhizhi’s bedside.
Unlike before, her hospital room now had a roommate. Since that person was still sleeping, Xia Xi lightened his footsteps to avoid disturbing their rest.
“Why do you keep coming to see me so often lately?”
Qin Zhizhi didn’t yell like last time, nor did she question him or tell him not to come as soon as she saw him.
Xia Xi thought this was better; at least he wouldn’t get scolded, right?
Speaking of which… if he were bringing food to Qin Zhizhi, what would An Xiaoyu herself say?
“Hmph, who wants to come see you! I just went out to eat and accidentally ordered too much. I didn’t want to waste food, so I’m giving you the leftovers!”
Xia Xi’s words sounded exactly like something An Xiaoyu herself would say, even his expression and tone were spot-on. There was no way Qin Zhizhi would notice anything wrong!
However…
“You’re not Xiaoyu, are you?”
Xia Xi: “?”
No, how did she see through it this time?
Xia Xi reckoned his performance just now perfectly matched that girl An Xiaoyu’s personality. How could Qin Zhizhi have seen through it at a glance?
Could it be… she’s trying to trick me!
Yes, it must be because of his strange behavior last time, which made her suspicious, so she’s acting to trick him.
Having figured it out, Xia Xi crossed his arms and turned his head away.
“If I’m not An Xiaoyu, then who is? Qin Zhizhi, has your treatment made you stupid?”
Qin Zhizhi didn’t reply, just chuckled softly a few times, then waved her hand, signaling him to sit by the bed.
“You don’t believe me?”
“I do, of course I believe you. Then… Xiaoyu, what did you come to tell me today?”
Xia Xi blinked. Seeing the smile on Qin Zhizhi’s thin face, he knew she didn’t believe at all that he was An Xiaoyu.
Clearly, it was the original body, and he tried his best to mimic the personality. Where exactly was the flaw?
“I’ve booked plane tickets… Go with me to Yu City tonight…”
Since she didn’t believe he was the real one, and he couldn’t fool her, he might as well stop pretending.
“Okay, whatever you arrange is fine.”
Xia Xi originally thought Qin Zhizhi would at least ask for a reason, but she just nodded and agreed directly.
“Aren’t you going to ask why?”
He stared into Qin Zhizhi’s eyes, trying to see something in them. But those dark pupils held nothing except the reflection of An Xiaoyu.
Qin Zhizhi shook her head, enveloping Xia Xi’s small hand with her somewhat dry palm.
“Sweetie, I will support you in whatever you want to do. Even if you don’t take me with you and leave me in the hospital, I won’t complain at all.”
She tucked a strand of hair behind Xia Xi’s ear for him, then touched his face.
“These years must have been hard, right? Earning money alone, facing An Hu alone, and being burdened by a sickly person like me.”
“You know, the luckiest thing in my life was finding you by that trash can…”
Then she said a lot more, mostly about things from An Xiaoyu’s childhood. Xia Xi listened with great interest. It wasn’t until Qin Zhizhi’s eyes became slightly red that she let go of his hand.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t be saying these things to you… but there’s no better opportunity than now…”
“What do you mean, ‘no better opportunity than now’?”
Xia Xi’s mind was having trouble keeping up.
She clearly suspected he wasn’t the real An Xiaoyu, yet it seemed like she was genuinely saying these emotional words for “An Xiaoyu” to hear. He couldn’t figure out what she was thinking.
“It’s nothing. Let’s go handle the discharge procedures. There are some things at home I’d like to pack up.”
Qin Zhizhi’s hand inadvertently brushed past her eyes, and then she started to get out of bed.
Xia Xi quickly supported her to prevent her from falling.
Just like that, the two completed the discharge procedures and returned to An Xiaoyu’s small house.
“Um…”
Seeing the atmosphere was a bit silent, Xia Xi finally decided to speak up and ask.
“You know I’m not her, right?”
Qin Zhizhi didn’t turn around, jus proceeded on her own to open the wardrobe and pulled out an intact wooden box from the corner.
“Of course I know. How could I not know?”
Xia Xi didn’t speak, quietly waiting for her to continue.
This thin but particularly spirited woman slowly opened the box and revealed its contents to Xia Xi.
“Look, these are her photos from childhood until now. I’ve saved them all.”
Xia Xi watched as she displayed the photos one by one, unsure of what she intended to do.
Playing the emotional card with him? But he wasn’t the real An Xiaoyu; that tactic wouldn’t work on him.
Besides, even if the emotional card worked, what could she possibly gain from it? Wanting him to tell her the real An Xiaoyu’s whereabouts? It didn’t seem like it.
But then again, that girl An Xiaoyu was quite cute when she was little.
Two small canine teeth, a braid tied behind her head, a naive and ignorant look in her eyes – in elementary and middle school, she would absolutely have been the ‘white moonlight’ type.
But in the later photos, the light in An Xiaoyu’s eyes gradually faded, making her resemble a little girl with autism or a melancholic personality.
Xia Xi thought it probably had something to do with her family environment.
And that was indeed the case.
“It’s a pity that when she was 16, in high school, An Hu caused such a scene that she had to drop out… He insisted she go work in a factory…”
Qin Zhizhi said this while gathering up the photos she had just shown.
“Sir, has my Xiaoyu caused you any trouble?”
She suddenly changed the subject, posing a question to Xia Xi.
Xia Xi, sitting in the gaming chair, made a fist with his hand and propped his chin on it.
“How did you know I’m a man and not a woman?”
Qin Zhizhi smiled: “I was in that line of work. I’ve seen too many men; I know all their common characteristics clearly… like, for instance, their eyes that automatically lock onto certain things?”
“You know I’m a man, yet you aren’t worried about your daughter at all? Instead, you think she might be causing me trouble?”
Xia Xi always felt Qin Zhizhi was being a bit too calm. Knowing her daughter’s body had been taken over by someone else, why was she reacting like this? Looking at her flipping through the photo album and talking about An Xiaoyu’s childhood, she didn’t seem like someone who didn’t care about An Xiaoyu.
“You are a good person. I feel reassured knowing An Xiaoyu is under your care.”
Huh?
What did I do to be a good person?
Is that how you just hand out ‘good person cards’ so casually?
Xia Xi found it strange. Luo Xinyu also said he was a good person, Bai Xiaocha also said he was a good person. Did he really come across as just a pushover nice guy in everyone’s eyes?
Seeing Xia Xi tilt his head in confusion, Qin Zhizhi continued to explain…
