Hearing the familiar voice, Xia Anxin whipped her head around.
Sure enough, she saw her best friend, Wen Li, sprinting toward her through the crowd.
The village where Xia Anxin had grown up was surrounded by beautiful scenery. When Wen Li was young and often ill, she had spent several years there recuperating.
Wen Li was the only child who hadn’t looked down on Xia Anxin for the birthmark on her face. The two had been close and played together every day.
Later, Wen Li’s parents brought her back to Yecheng. Their lives had become so different that Xia Anxin didn’t dare disturb her, and they only kept in touch sporadically.
After giving birth to Yinuo, Xia Anxin had no idea who to ask for help. She didn’t even have the fare to get back to the village, so she called Wen Li on a whim, just to see what would happen…
To her surprise, Wen Li had come rushing over without hesitation and helped her with everything.
For the past few years, Wen Li had even returned to the village now and then to visit Yinuo.
Behind Xia Anxin, Xia Yinuo heard Wen Li’s voice and immediately poked out his little head, waving at her. “Godmother!”
A smile spread across Xia Anxin’s face. She raised her arms to give her best friend a big hug.
But Wen Li darted straight to Xia Yinuo, scooped him up, and planted two kisses on his soft cheek. “It’s been so long, my precious Nuonuo! Godmother missed you so much!”
Xia Yinuo had striking features and enormous eyes. Whenever he looked at someone, they glistened as though he were pleading with them.
Wen Li’s words made him giggle in her arms. He wrapped his arms around her neck, sweet as could be.
Xia Anxin’s raised arms closed around nothing. She awkwardly lowered them and folded them across her chest, watching the pair beside her put on a display of “mother and son, all sweetness and light.”
Xia Yinuo gestured for Wen Li to put him down.
Once on the ground, he bowed like a little gentleman, then raised his small hand and waved it through the air. A rose suddenly appeared in his hand.
He offered it to Wen Li, his expression earnest and his voice adorably childish. “Godmother, this is for you~ I hope you’ll be as pretty as this little flower, more and more every day~”
Wen Li’s face lit up with delighted surprise. “Wow, Nuonuo, your magic tricks keep getting better and better…”
Xia Yinuo’s smile was both innocent and irresistible.
Though he was only three and had grown up in a remote village, Xia Yinuo was astonishingly clever and learned anything at a remarkable speed.
He also seemed to have the luck of a koi fish. Xia Anxin had found that whenever she took him along, everything went especially smoothly. He was practically her little lucky charm.
Even Xia Anxin hadn’t known Xia Yinuo was preparing this little magic trick for Wen Li, and she watched, clicking her tongue in admiration.
Wen Li patted Xia Anxin’s arm and laughed, hands on her hips, smug and completely unselfconscious. “All right, all right. I know you’re jealous, as his real mom, but what can I do? My godson just likes me. Nothing I can do about it!”
Xia Yinuo made faces at his mother, Anxin, and secretly slipped a little flower into her palm to comfort her.
Laughing and chatting, the three of them headed out of the station.
Not far away, a little boy emerged with the crowd as well.
Two bodyguards followed behind him, one on either side, keeping him protected.
Although he looked only three, he wore an expensive outfit and a little hat. He had a cool air about him, and no one dared approach him casually.
The little boy had been walking out with an expressionless face, but when his gaze fell on Xia Yinuo, his eyes suddenly widened.
He stared at Xia Yinuo in disbelief.
How could this child look exactly like him?!
Who was he?!
Without thinking, the little boy ran toward Xia Yinuo, wanting to find out.
But the moment he moved, the bodyguard beside him reacted. He hurried forward and grabbed the boy’s arm. “Young Master, what’s wrong? What happened?”
The little boy frowned and snapped coldly, “Let go of me!”
The bodyguard looked troubled. “Young Master, it’s crowded in the station. Don’t run off. If you need anything, we can get it for you.”
“Let. Go. Of. Me!” the little boy shouted, struggling as he anxiously looked in the direction Xia Yinuo and the others had gone.
But the station was crowded, and in the briefest moment, Xia Yinuo had disappeared.
The little boy froze.
Nearby, a man who had just finished a phone call noticed the commotion and walked over. “What’s going on?”
His voice was deep, his build tall, and a chill radiated from him that warned everyone to keep their distance.
The bodyguard quickly gave Leng Shaoting a brief account of what had happened.
Leng Shaoting glanced at the little boy, lifted him into his arms, and looked at him with a questioning, warning gaze. “Leng Xingyang?”
Leng Xingyang feared no one, but he wouldn’t dare act up in front of his own father, Leng Shaoting.
Unwillingly, he lifted his head and looked toward the spot where Xia Yinuo had disappeared. His little mouth moved, but in the end he said nothing and only shook his head.
Leng Shaoting narrowed his cold eyes and followed his son’s gaze. He saw nothing out of the ordinary.