Love in the Midst of Mistaken Identities

She shook her head. Two clusters of gray had appeared below her eyes, underneath her curly eyelashes.

“I won’t be coming to visit you anymore. Trust me. You will be fine because you can’t bear to part with everything you have right now. You simply refused to allow the existence of your defeat, and I refused to be the stepping stone to your success.”

When she was finished, she turned around. In her heart, there were still no traces of wavy colors.

Suddenly, she heard the wailing cries of Shen Yijun. It was shrieking.

Filled with self-mockery.

If crying would resolve problems, she was willing to cry tanks and tanks of tears. However, it wouldn’t. Nothing would.

When she came out of the hospital, a gust of wind suddenly blew at her locks of hair which was above her shoulders. Waves of refreshing coolness met her as she combed her hair with her fingers. She fiddled with her messy black fringe. As she looked up, a man’s silhouette from afar fell into her line of vision. He was harder than a rock; his heart was more volatile than the red sea. He was harder to figure out than the abyss.

This was the kind of man that a woman should steer clear of. She was the only stupid one to throw everything that she had into a relationship with him. Now that she thought of it, it was actually quite laughable.

That man was also stunned to see her. Perhaps, he might not have expected to. Sparks suddenly flashed in his dark eyes which erupted into fireworks and vanished in an instant. He strode over with steady steps. However, only he knew that his heart was thumping so loudly that he could hear it vividly. He started to become giddy; his spirit tensing. Even his hands were sweating so badly.

He never dreamed of a day when he would be so stressed up. Even when he was negotiating all those billion-dollar deals, he had never been afraid. Yet—now, he was scared, worried, and hesitating.

Yes. He should say something to her.

Hi. It’s such a coincidence that you are here, too.

What are you doing here?

How have you been?

However, regardless of the numerous openings and different approaches, he found it hard to say anything. In the end, his lips merely parted and closed. It seemed as if a lump of cotton was stuck in his throat.

“Ruo...”

Before he could finish what he was about to say, Xia Ruoxin turned around abruptly without a backward glance and left. She stretched her hand out and hailed a taxi. There was no hesitation in her actions.

Chu Lui’s thin lips moved. He pursed them tightly, and he could vaguely taste the hint of bitterness.

“Ruoxin, I’m sorry.”

Xia Ruoxin did not need this kind of apology. Like she had said, some apologies were not a means to an end. If they really wanted to dispute what to hate, she was willing to give him one so they would go their separate ways and not have anything to do with each other.

Xia Ruoxin sat in the taxi and crossed her fingers between one another unconsciously as she turned her face away. The reflection of her side profile could be seen on the window of the car. She wanted to laugh. However, she could not bring herself to move the corners of her lips. Truly, they should stop harassing her. Couldn’t they?

Whether it was Shen Yijun or Chu Lui.

Once she reached home, that silence finally caused her turbulent heart to calm down gradually.

She walked to the table and picked up a piece of note. This was Gao Yi and her way of leaving a message for each other. Using a mobile phone might have been easier, but Gao Yi preferred this method. Compared to the current generation’s dependence on modern electronics, a handwritten note coupled with the smell of ink and his calligraphic handwriting conveyed his caring, consideration, and warmth.

“I took Rainy out to eat KFC. Remember to eat when you come back. Don’t ill-treat your stomach. You won’t go wrong with a doctor’s instructions.”

There was even a smiley doll drawn on the note—a circle with an egg and four matchsticks. However, above the egghead, there was hair. On each matchstick, there were even smaller egg faces scribbled with a few words. However, she could see each word clearly. It was definitely written very seriously.

She couldn’t help herself from laughing out loud and felt much better.

It would seem that her daughter took after her. The little girl sure had some artistic talent. In the future—as her mother, she would encourage her daughter to pursue her dream if she really liked it.

She kept the note and went into the kitchen to cook herself some noodles. As she sat at the table, she suddenly felt a sense of loneliness.

Was it because it was too quiet? Or her heart was just too confused?

She had simply cut off some ties which she should have done a long time ago and seen someone she shouldn’t have.

She smiled faintly in self-mockery. Yet, no one saw the bitterness in her eyes.

So a day had arrived when many people would try ways and means simply to apologize to an unwanted woman like her.

She took out her sketchbook, sat on the sofa, and started drawing. After a few strokes, it became a drawing that one could easily understand. Her strokes were soft, and the sketch was finished in one try. Her level of painting was self-taught. As she drew, her interest grew. When her hand began to ache, she put the sketchbook down and realized it was almost five o’clock. Those two should be back any time. She should go and do some marketing quickly, or else all of them would have to be hungry.

She took her purse and left. No matter who she saw or what she encountered in the day, she was still her. She was not unfeeling, but a woman who decided to take things as they were because she had gone through too much.

Once she returned as she stood outside the door, she could hear the childish voice of Rainy. She was asking Gao Yi all sorts of trivial questions. At times, even Xia Ruoxin would be stumbled by Rainy’s questions. She had not known that a child would have so many thoughts; neither had she seen other children asked so many tough and weird questions.

This was definitely not from her.

She pushed the door open. Rainy looked around and ran barefoot straight into Xia Ruoxin’s legs. She hugged her mother’s thighs and started to tell Xia Ruoxin about her day. “Mommy, I went to the park today to fly a kite. It flew so high, and it was pretty.”

“Mmm, I know.” What a showoff. Xia Ruoxin squatted and carried her daughter using her right hand. Rainy kissed Xia Ruoxin’s cheek hard, and then she proceeded to bury her little face into her mother’s nape as though she was tired.

Gao Yi was sitting at the side. He smiled at Xia Ruoxin, subtly indicating to her that he had something to say; but he was in no hurry.

Xia Ruoxin knew Rainy’s routine well. After playing for such a long time, she must be really exhausted. She must be very sleepy from the way she kept rubbing her eyes.