The mournful sobs, humble and pitiful, once again shattered Su Ning’s heart.
In an instant, Su Ning seemed to see her own reflection in Nian Nian.
The little Nian Nian she’d never met over the phone resembled her three-year-old self, sharing the same unfortunate fate!
Her father had an affair and ran away. Living with her mother, she was often left alone at home while her mother worked various jobs.
That despair, helplessness, and fear—only she knew it.
Yet she couldn’t ask for too much from her mother, because her mother already had so little and was already pitiable!
But this Nian Nian only had a daddy, no mommy.
Putting herself in Nian Nian’s shoes, a father’s care surely couldn’t match a mother’s attentiveness, so she was even more pitiable than herself.
Thinking this, Su Ning’s heart softened again: “Alright, Nian Nian, give me your address. I’ll come find you right now.”
After hanging up, Su Ning quickly washed her face in the restroom, then went to settle the medical bill.
When Nian Nian sent the address, she immediately headed over.
After a twenty-minute drive, Su Ning arrived at the location Nian Nian had given.
She thought Nian Nian was like her—a pitiable person.
Living in the slums with pothole-ridden, muddy cement roads everywhere.
Little did she know, what appeared before her was a villa in Jiang City’s affluent district.
In an instant, Su Ning was completely stunned.
She even doubted she was hallucinating.
She deliberately rubbed her eyes and pinched herself, but it was still unmistakably a villa in the wealthy neighborhood.
Immediately, she specifically called Nian Nian to double-check the address before proceeding according to the house number.
Nian Nian, who shared her unfortunate fate, lived in the affluent district—it seemed her father must be a servant in a wealthy household.
Involuntarily, her sympathy for Nian Nian deepened again.
Soon Su Ning found the place by the house number. Beyond the white marble carving gate, various flowers and greenery were neatly trimmed.
The cream-colored castle-like villa stood majestic and exquisite amidst lush, verdant trees.
Before Su Ning could ring the bell, a middle-aged woman emerged and proactively opened the gate for her.
“Miss Su, please come in. Nian Nian is waiting for you inside.”
The overly polite tone made Su Ning somewhat dazed, almost thinking she’d come to the wrong place.
“Thank you.”
Su Ning followed her inside, all the way to the living room, where she saw a little girl wearing a pink princess dress sitting on the sofa.
She had naturally curly hair topped with a pink bow, a chubby pinkish face, and two large eyes as dark and bright as water-soaked black glass.
Perhaps from recent crying, her thick black eyelashes were damp, still glistening with crystal tears.
Coupled with her bright red pouty lips, she was the spitting image of an adorable Barbie doll.
In that moment, Su Ning’s expression grew dazed again. Even her face stiffened as she spoke: “I’m looking for Nian Nian.”
“Mommy!”
The little girl suddenly burst into loud sobs.
Su Ning was completely bewildered. This little princess who looked like a Barbie doll was Nian Nian?
This Nian Nian was completely different from the one she had pictured in her mind.
She had imagined Nian Nian like herself—wearing an old plaid dress, with two high ponytails, clutching a tattered doll.
A dirty little face marked by two perpetually wet tear trails.Only the hollow eyes held grievances, helplessness, fear, and a dread of loneliness that mirrored her own.
Clearly, she wasn’t her mother. Clearly, she knew her own attire was utterly mismatched with this villa and the people in it.
Yet, upon hearing that soft, tender call of “Mommy,” she couldn’t help but feel her eyes well up.
She walked toward Nian Nian and saw that the child’s chubby little legs and feet were covered in dense clusters of white blisters, large and small.
“Mommy, you finally came. Nian Nian’s legs hurt so much.”
Nian Nian threw herself into Su Ning’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
Her two small arms clung tightly to Su Ning’s body. Though they couldn’t fully encircle her, she kept trying to wrap them around, as if afraid Su Ning would run away.
Su Ning wasn’t a mother and had no idea how to comfort a child.
She could only mimic how her own mother had soothed her as a child, gently patting Nian Nian’s small shoulders to comfort her.
“I know. I’ll take you to the hospital right now.”
“Mommy, carry me.”
“Okay.”
Su Ning closed her sore eyes for a moment, then picked up Nian Nian and headed outside.
The middle-aged woman promptly reminded her, “Miss Su, the car is waiting outside. Little Nian Nian refused to go to the hospital and insisted on waiting for you.”
Su Ning couldn’t help but complain, “She’s just a child. In a situation like this, she must be taken to the hospital immediately. How could you let a child act so willfully?”
Thankfully, she had been released from prison. Thankfully, the scene had stirred her emotions and moved her to pity for Nian Nian.
What if she hadn’t been released or hadn’t come? Would they have let Nian Nian wait like this indefinitely?
Su Ning didn’t even dare to think about it.
The middle-aged woman wasn’t angered by Su Ning’s reproach.
Instead, she calmly explained again, “The master happened to be away on a business trip, and the old madam is abroad. Little Nian Nian was suddenly scalded by boiling water. She wouldn’t listen to us, and there was nothing we could do.”
In her urgency, Su Ning didn’t want to say anything more. She carried Nian Nian in one breath and got into the car.
After boarding, they rushed straight to Jiang City Hospital.
Jiang City Hospital.
After two hours of emergency treatment, the burns on Nian Nian’s legs were finally taken care of.
Having endured the pain for over two hours, she finally fell asleep.
Yet her small body still nestled in Su Ning’s arms.
Her chubby little hands clutched Su Ning’s clothes tightly, as if afraid she would leave.
After finishing the final procedures, the doctor left the ward.
The middle-aged woman standing nearby took the initiative to thank Su Ning.
“Miss Su, thank you so much.”
Su Ning replied calmly, “It’s nothing.”
Out of curiosity, she voiced her doubts to the middle-aged woman, “Nian Nian is so young. How did she suddenly get scalded by boiling water?”
As a wealthy young lady cared for by servants, Nian Nian shouldn’t have had access to boiling water.
Mentioning this, the servant Song Ma lowered her head guiltily. “Little Nian Nian has sleepwalking. It was my fault for not watching her properly. She turned on the water heater and scalded her own legs and feet.”
Hearing this, Su Ning fell silent.
Sleepwalking?
Nian Nian actually suffered from sleepwalking?
Su Ning found it hard to imagine.
Though she wasn’t a sufferer herself, she had heard more or less about such conditions.
Undeniably, sleepwalkers are inherently in danger, let alone capable of causing harm.
So, it was only natural for Nian Nian to accidentally turn on the water heater, raise the temperature, and scald herself.
Misdialing a number and mistaking a stranger like her for her mother was also within reason.
After a moment, she still couldn’t resist speaking up to remind, “In the future, it would be best to have a dedicated caregiver accompany her.”
Mentioning this point, Song Ma’s heart was filled with tears.
“How we wish we could do just that, but unfortunately, little Nian Nian is very particular. Over the past five years, aside from me, we’ve changed countless people back and forth, and not a single one has been able to meet her standards or satisfy her.”