Shu Shu saw four-year-old Shu Lingchen.
The setting seemed to be in a hospital.
A tiny little child was being held in his kindergarten teacher’s arms, crying with red eyes and a hoarse voice, shouting, “Mom, I want Mom…”
His soft, aggrieved cries made passersby turn their heads.
Someone sighed softly and said regretfully, “Sigh, what a tragedy. I heard the child’s mother was stabbed to death. There’s no one else in the family, leaving such a small child behind. How will he live on his own from now on?”
Shu Shu froze.
This was… after she died?
Then the scene changed.
“Leave the child with us and rest assured. We will definitely take good care of him.”
Shu Shu saw little Shu Lingchen being handed over to a woman wearing reading glasses. Behind her was a sign that read “Lucky Children’s Welfare Institute.” She smiled and took the silent little Shu Lingchen by the hand.
This woman seemed to be something like the director.
Shu Shu observed her carefully. Seeing her gentle brows and kind expression, she seemed like she would be a good director.
But very soon—
Shu Shu heard Shu Lingchen’s cries again, accompanied by painful sobs.
“Auntie, please stop pinching me. I’ll be obedient. I’ll be obedient…”
A wooden door appeared before Shu Shu. The sound was coming from inside. She reached out and pushed the door open hard, then saw a scene that shocked her deeply.
Little Shu Lingchen was curled up in the corner while a woman glared at him viciously, constantly twisting his arm with her hand.
As she did it, she cursed, “I told you not to spill food everywhere while eating! Do you know how tiring it is for me to clean up? Did you come to this orphanage just to torture me?!”
A four-year-old child had delicate skin.
In no time, his fair arm became covered in bruises, shocking to see.
Shu Shu’s eyes burned with rage.
Shu Lingchen had been raised very well by her. He had learned to eat by himself very early. He cherished food and ate politely. There was no way he would spill food everywhere.
Shu Shu heard little Shu Lingchen defending himself.
“Auntie, it wasn’t me. I didn’t do it.”
But the woman didn’t listen at all, as if she was simply venting her anger. Her violence didn’t stop.
Shu Shu’s anger shot straight to her head. She wanted to rush through the scene and drag that woman out to beat her, but she couldn’t leave. She was trapped in another space, spinning in panic, able only to watch helplessly.
Night fell.
Shu Lingchen’s small body curled up on the orphanage bed. He slept restlessly, tears at the corners of his eyes, murmuring in a sobbing voice, “Mom…”
As if only the word mom could give him a sense of security.
Shu Shu desperately wanted to walk over and hold her son in her arms to comfort him.
Shu Lingchen had always been very attached to her. Every night he would hug his little pillow and come urge her, and every day he would fall asleep peacefully while listening to the bedtime stories she told.
Now, his mother wasn’t there.
Only he was left alone.
Shu Shu’s heart ached terribly, and she stayed beside her son like that, “watching over” him the entire night.
Fortunately, when the scene changed again—
She saw the vicious woman being taken away by the police, and Shu Lingchen was also taken out of the orphanage.
He returned to Yujing Garden.
Soon, people from a professional agency matched Shu Lingchen with a foster family.
It was a young couple who couldn’t have children but were wealthy.
When they saw Shu Lingchen for the first time, they liked him very much. They bent down and took the initiative to talk to him.
At first, Shu Lingchen was very wary, shrinking behind the property staff and unwilling to get close.
But the young couple was very patient. After that, they came to Yujing Garden every day to accompany Shu Lingchen, cooking for him, playing with toys, and playing games together.
There was laughter everywhere and the atmosphere was wonderful.
Gradually, little Shu Lingchen slowly began to accept their kindness.
Seeing this, Shu Shu felt comforted.
Just as she was expecting to see her son go to the new family and begin a new life, the scene suddenly changed again.
Shu Lingchen’s small face looked serious as he slapped away the hand of the young woman who was about to become his new mother and declared, “I hate you. I won’t go to your house. I won’t go!”
His rejection was extremely intense.
In the end, he indeed didn’t go to the foster family.
Shu Shu was completely confused.
What had happened that made Shu Lingchen suddenly change his attitude and become so resistant to the young couple?
But she wasn’t given any chance to figure it out.
The scene froze there and never moved again.
…
Shu Shu opened her eyes.
The warm light from the small lamp on the bedside table illuminated the bedroom.
She realized that she had woken up from the dream.
It had been a long time since she had such a long and chaotic dream.
Shu Shu let out a breath and glanced at the time—three in the morning.
She felt a little thirsty. She lifted the blanket and got out of bed, went to the living room to pour herself some water, and after drinking it, prepared to return to her room. But when she passed by Shu Lingchen’s bedroom, her footsteps paused.
Shu Shu faintly heard a sound.
It sounded like… a muffled sob.
Shu Shu immediately raised her hand and knocked on the door. “Shu Lingchen?”
No one answered from inside.
Shu Shu leaned closer to listen. She hadn’t heard wrong—it really was a sobbing sound.
“Shu Lingchen? What’s wrong?”
Still no response.
“Mom’s coming in.”
After saying that, Shu Shu pressed down the handle of Shu Lingchen’s bedroom door.
“Shu Lingchen?”
She turned on the light and walked inside. She saw the blanket fallen on the floor. On the gray bed, the boy was drenched in sweat, curled up tightly, murmuring fearfully in broken words, “Mom… save me.”
Shu Shu frowned and walked forward. She bent down and patted Shu Lingchen’s shoulder gently, calling softly, “Xiao Chen?”
The boy took a heavy breath and suddenly opened his eyes.
For a moment there was confusion in his gaze. Then when he saw Shu Shu, his pupils focused and clarity returned. In a hoarse voice he asked in confusion, “…Mom?”
“Mm.”
Shu Shu asked, “Did you have a nightmare?”
Shu Lingchen blinked, turned his head to look around, froze for two seconds, and after realizing what was happening, sat up awkwardly, his eyes shifting. “Ah, yeah. I dreamed that I was playing a game and was about to destroy the enemy crystal, but all my teammates died. I even turned on voice chat to scold them.”
As he spoke, he showed an indignant expression.
Shu Shu: “…”
Shu Lingchen absolutely didn’t want his mom to know that he had cried in his dream. A seventeen-year-old man crying—how could he still be a school bully if that got out?
The boy ran a hand through his somewhat damp red, yellow, and blue short hair and seriously showed it to Shu Shu. “Look, I even sweated from scolding them.”
Shu Shu pointed at the tear marks at the corner of his eyes. “And then you scolded yourself into crying?”
Shu Lingchen: “…………”
He subconsciously wiped his eyes and stubbornly said, “Yeah. That match in the dream was a promotion match! Very important!”
Shu Shu raised an eyebrow and nodded, indicating she understood.
She saw through him but didn’t expose it. Instead she said, “I can’t sleep. The sweet soup I made earlier should be chilled by now. Do you want to drink some together?”
Shu Lingchen answered without hesitation, “Yes!”
In order to quickly skip this topic, he immediately agreed.
Most importantly, the sweet soup his mom made was absolutely amazing.