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Chapter 12
Editor: Princess
Mo Shanshan rested her chin in one hand, watching Mo Siyuan practice his calligraphy stroke by stroke with gentle eyes.
The little boy’s fair side profile looked particularly adorable, his big bright eyes shining, but what stood out the most was his small yet well-defined, straight nose—it looked exactly like her little uncle’s. No wonder everyone assumed he was her little uncle’s biological son. He would definitely be the kind of man who made girls swoon when he grew up.
The more Mo Shanshan looked, the more she liked him. She couldn’t help but smile, reaching out to ruffle his hair gently.
“Sister Shanshan…” Mo Siyuan’s small body stiffened for a moment. He lifted his little face, looking up at Mo Shanshan with a bit of confusion. But when he saw the warmth in her eyes, his tightly pressed lips curved into a faint arc. Then, turning his head, he picked up his small notebook and held it up in front of her. “Sister Shanshan, do you think my writing looks good? Will Daddy praise me?”
Mo Shanshan took the notebook with a smile and looked through it. The child was only six, so while his strokes were quite large and exaggerated, each one landed firmly on the paper, showing just how seriously he was practicing. He was an innocent child, purely wanting the praise of the adults around him.
She nodded hurriedly while praising him, “Of course! Our Xiao Yuan is the smartest! Look at how well you’re writing. When Daddy sees it, he’ll definitely praise you!”
Mo Siyuan’s big, watery eyes instantly curved into crescent moons. “Then I’ll write a few more characters…”
But as if suddenly remembering something, he stopped mid-sentence, the bright smile on his little face fading.
“What’s wrong? Does Xiao Yuan not want to show it to Daddy? If Daddy sees how much you’ve written, he’ll definitely be very happy.” Mo Shanshan said, unable to bear seeing him looking so down. Bending down, she scooped him up onto her lap, pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead as she comforted him softly.
“Daddy didn’t come home last night… or the night before… He hasn’t come home for three days. Sister Shanshan, will Daddy come back today? Does he not want me anymore?” Mo Siyuan looked up at her, his little face full of sadness.
He really missed his father. Even though his father always looked serious and rarely smiled, he knew deep down that he loved him very much. In this house, only his father, Sister Shanshan, and the uncles around his father really cared for him. Grandma and everyone from Grandma’s family didn’t like him.
Even though he was young, he actually understood a lot of things. He knew he wasn’t his father’s biological child, and the one who told him this wasn’t anyone else but his grandma, the person who disliked him the most.
When he first found out he wasn’t his father’s real son, he had felt really sad and scared, afraid his father would abandon him because of it.
Grandma even told him that he wasn’t allowed to call him “Daddy” or her “Grandma”. She said he was an unlucky child, that his birth had caused his real parents and grandparents to die, and that their company was lost because of him. She said he was a bad child, and bad children weren’t allowed to enter the house.
But his father told him that it didn’t matter whether he was his biological child or not—he would always be the child he cherished the most.
So, it didn’t matter if Grandma liked him or not, hence he wasn’t sad anymore. As long as his father cared about him, that was enough. Besides, he still had Sister Shanshan and Uncle Fengyu.
Uncle Fengyu also told him that a real man shouldn’t cry just because someone didn’t like him. As long as the people he cared about liked him, that was enough.
Even though he didn’t fully understand everything, there was one thing he did get—Uncle Fengyu said that Grandma hadn’t liked his father in the past either, but he never cried about it. And now, there were so many people who liked him, especially the pretty ladies—they all adored him.
Of course, Uncle Fengyu was the one who told him all this. But hearing that so many people liked his father made him really happy. In his heart, his father was the most amazing person in the world. Everyone had to listen to him. Uncle Fengyu even said that as long as he stayed strong, he could grow up to be just as amazing as his father.
Mo Shanshan froze for a moment. Mo Siyuan was already six years old, at the age where he could remember things clearly and tell when someone was lying. She didn’t want to use lies to comfort him, so she simply held him tighter and reassured him, “Xiao Yuan, how could Daddy not want you? Daddy loves you the most! He’s just busy with work. Once he’s done, he’ll definitely come back to be with you.”
“Really? But I miss Daddy…” Mo Siyuan hugged her arm, swinging his little legs lightly. He already knew he wasn’t his father’s real son, so he had stopped asking why he didn’t have a mom. He knew he never had a real mom or daddy to begin with.
Still, sometimes he couldn’t help but wonder, what did his real parents look like? Were they really gone?
One night, when his father was holding him as he slept, he couldn’t resist asking, however he remembered that his father’s expression at that time had made his heart ache, so he never dared to ask again. He didn’t want to make him sad.
Rubbing his head gently, Mo Shanshan smiled. “If Xiao Yuan misses Daddy, you can call him! Daddy would be really happy to get a call from you. You can even ask him yourself when he’ll come home.”
Mo Siyuan’s eyes immediately lit up, but then he quickly lowered his head and shook it. “I can’t… I can’t disturb Daddy while he’s working…”
“Silly boy!” Mo Shanshan hugged him tightly, feeling sorry for him. “Our Xiao Yuan is such a little fool. No matter how busy Daddy is, you will always be his precious baby. How could you compare yourself to his work? If you keep thinking like that, Daddy will be sad!”
Hearing this, Mo Siyuan’s face broke into a bright smile. He wriggled out of her lap, climbed onto the chair, and picked up his notebook again. As he started writing, he said seriously, “Then I’ll practice a few more characters and call Daddy later to tell him I wrote a lot today!”
“Good boy. Our Xiao Yuan is the best.” Mo Shanshan patted his head gently.
Looking at the well-behaved and sensible child, she couldn’t help but think of her past self. She, more than anyone understood what it felt like to be lonely and unloved by one’s family. She didn’t even understand what despair was back then. She only knew how to cry silently, feeling endlessly wronged and sad.
Then as she grew older and met more people, she realized that because of her family background, people either feared her, humored her, or tried to gain benefits through her.
But she had come to terms with it. Because no matter what, there were still a few people in this family who genuinely cared about her. At least her parents still treated her as their daughter, and her little uncle, Mo Shaoheng, was one of those few.
Which was why, when he brought Mo Siyuan home, she often helped take care of him in his place.
As for the rest of the Mo family, expecting anything from them would just be self-deception. That was the reality of being born into a wealthy and powerful household.
“Sister Shanshan!” Mo Siyuan suddenly looked up and called out.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Mo Shanshan asked gently, “What’s wrong?”
Mo Siyuan hesitated a little, his fair little face scrunching up. After a long pause, he finally spoke carefully, “Sister Shanshan, what does it mean to be a special person? What kind of person is considered special?”
Mo Shanshan was surprised. “Why are you suddenly asking this?” This wasn’t something a six-year-old should be thinking about.
Mo Siyuan looked a little nervous. He put his pen down, scooted closer to her, and whispered, “If I tell Sister Shanshan, can Sister Shanshan not tell Daddy? I don’t want Daddy to feel sad.”
Mo Shanshan nodded. “Alright, I promise. We won’t tell Daddy. So, can Xiao Yuan tell Sister Shanshan now?”
Mo Siyuan tilted his little head, thinking hard about how to put it into words. After a long moment, he finally said slowly, “Daddy said that Xiao Yuan’s real daddy was a very special person. What does that mean? Sister Shanshan, have you ever seen my real daddy?”
Mo Shanshan’s eyes widened in shock. She never expected that her little uncle would actually say something like this to a child. A six-year-old was already at the age where they could start remembering things—whatever the adults said, the child would remember it in their heart.
Back when her little uncle brought Mo Siyuan home, he had only been three years old. A three-year-old didn’t understand anything, and so suddenly being placed in a completely unfamiliar environment, surrounded by strangers, of course, he cried and threw tantrums, asking for his daddy and grandparents. But as time went on, he gradually forgot who his real father was and ended up treating Mo Shaoheng—someone who really loved him—as his own father.
Sometimes, Mo Shanshan really resented her Grandma. How could she be so cruel to a child who didn’t even understand the world yet? From the moment she was born until now, her Grandma had never once shown her a kind face. No matter how hard she tried, she could never figure out what she had done wrong to deserve such cold treatment.
After her little uncle brought Mo Siyuan back, not only did she refuse to let the child into the main house—fine, that was understandable since her little uncle had already moved out over a decade ago— she even took the chance to tell the child cruelly when her little uncle wasn’t at home later that he wasn’t a part of the Mo Family and that he wasn’t really her little uncle’s son.
Thinking back to that moment, Mo Shanshan still regretted bringing the child back. Why did she have to be so obedient?
Back then, her little uncle happened to be out of the country for a few days. Before leaving, he had specifically asked her to take good care of Mo Siyuan. That day, after school, she had gone to pick the child up from kindergarten like usual, but the driver told her that her Grandma was waiting for them at her little uncle’s house and that she should take Mo Siyuan back immediately.
Even though she really hadn’t really wanted to go back, that was still her elder, so, after picking up Mo Siyuan, she followed the driver home reluctantly. She had already prepared herself for a scolding, but she never expected to hear such heartless words come from an elder’s mouth.
That was the first time in her life that Mo Shanshan really hated this so-called family member. She had long since accepted that her Grandma would never like her—after all, she was born into the Mo Family, so she had no choice. But Mo Siyuan was innocent! He was just a child her little uncle had adopted. Why did he have to suffer this kind of humiliation?
That was also the first time she ever defied her Grandma’s orders. Because picking up the crying Mo Siyuan, she turned around and walked upstairs without looking back. And no matter how much her Grandma yelled about her being unfilial and uneducated, she ignored her completely.
After all, in her Grandma’s eyes, nothing she did was ever right. Being good at painting was wrong, having friends was wrong, taking care of Mo Siyuan was wrong. Basically, unless she disappeared completely, there was no way she could ever earn her approval.
Of course, there was no way to hide this from her little uncle even though he was overseas. She didn’t really care about what happened afterward, but she did hear Qi Fengyu scoff and say that when her little uncle returned, he went straight to the main house. And after he left, the butler of the main house hurriedly called for the family doctor. It seemed that the high-and-mighty Old Madam had been absolutely furious.
For the first time, Mo Shanshan felt genuinely satisfied. In this family, the only person who could put that Old Madam in her place was her little uncle.
“Sister Shanshan, what’s wrong? Sister Shanshan…” Mo Siyuan’s little voice pulled her back from her thoughts. He tugged at her sleeve.
Mo Shanshan quickly snapped out of it and patted his head apologetically. “Xiao Yuan is so good. Sister Shanshan was thinking about your other daddy just now…”
“Sister Shanshan, you’ve seen my other daddy? What’s his name?” Mo Siyuan’s big, curious eyes stared up at her.
Mo Shanshan smiled gently. “Mhm, Sister Shanshan has seen him before. Your other daddy’s name is Ning Xue. He was a student at the same university as me. But by the time I got there, he had already graduated. But I still saw his photos at school. He was a very, very famous person, and a lot of people liked him. Even though he graduated years ago, many students still admire him.”
“Really?” Mo Siyuan tilted his head. “Then compared to Daddy, who’s more famous?”
“Uh…” Mo Shanshan was speechless for a moment. Then reaching out, she pinched the little guy’s chubby cheeks, half-laughing, “They’re both famous!”
Covering his cheeks, Mo Siyuan asked eagerly, “Can I see my other daddy’s photo?”
Mo Shanshan paused for a second, then nodded. “Alright. I’ll go to school tomorrow and take a picture of it for you. Then I’ll bring it back for Xiao Yuan to see, okay?”
“Is he handsome?” Mo Siyuan was full of curiosity. “Compared to Daddy, who looks better?”
Mo Shanshan sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead, then she pinched his cheeks again. “Why do you always compare everything to your Daddy? They’re both your dads, you know? Of course he’s very, very handsome! Otherwise, how could our Xiao Yuan be so cute? You look just like him!”
“I really look like my other daddy?” Mo Siyuan asked, tilting his head.
“Of course!” Mo Shanshan nodded with a smile. “Alright, Xiao Yuan, that’s enough questions for now. Weren’t you practicing your handwriting? After that, don’t you have to call Daddy? Did you forget?”
At the mention of calling his father, Mo Siyuan immediately slid off her lap and ran off to continue practicing.
Chuckling, Mo Shanshan shook her head. However just then, steady footsteps echoed from outside the hall. She looked up and saw Mo Shaoheng walking in, followed by a visibly awkward Qi Fengyu and the expressionless He Jingyi. Patting Mo Siyuan’s head, she said with a lighthearted smile, “Xiao Yuan, Daddy’s here!”
Obrigada pela tradução 💕🥰