reignition

Hearing Song Wan's voice, Jiang Mian was startled!

She quickly adjusted her emotions and breathing before turning to look at Song Wan.

"I'm just... a little sentimental." Jiang Mian smiled at her.

Song Wan didn't speak, she just stared at her intently.

Jiang Mian's heart pounded with anxiety!

Song Wan stepped forward and said, “Don’t worry too much. My daughter was just as sensible as Xiao Chi when she was in kindergarten.”

“I was very anxious at the time, and I was worried every day that she was not eating or sleeping well at kindergarten. So even though she was also very anxious and scared, she still came to comfort me.”

Jiang Mian listened to her mother's words with a somewhat dazed look in her eyes.

She can no longer even remember the specific details of her early childhood.

But in her mother's memory, those memories remained as clear as yesterday.

Jiang Mian suddenly felt very sorry for her mother, who had lost her daughter in middle age, a white-haired person sending off a black-haired one.

She will spend the rest of her life recalling those memories from childhood to adulthood.

How sad and painful that must be.

Jiang Mian didn't know how to comfort her for a moment.

She didn't know how to comfort a mother who had lost her child so that she wouldn't be sad.

Jiang Mian even wondered if she should just give the go.

Just as she hesitated, Song Wan had already looked towards the kindergarten.

It was as if I could see Jiang Mian's small figure, carrying a little schoolbag and with her hair in pigtails, walking into kindergarten across the vast expanse of time.

"Anyway, thank you," Song Wan said. "I apologize for my bad attitude towards you before."

"Thank you. Without you, Lu Bozhou wouldn't have agreed to let Xiao Chi attend our kindergarten." Song Wan sighed softly.

“He barely lets us see Xiao Chi. Just because we once wanted custody of Xiao Chi. He treats us like thieves…”

As Song Wan spoke, she glanced at Jiang Mian, her gaze carrying a subtle, unspoken meaning.

"Although I don't know why he suddenly stopped being wary of us, I think it must be thanks to you."

Jiang Mian gently bit her lip, not responding to that.

I don't know if it's just my imagination, but my mother's words seemed to be full of probing.

"You're too kind. You and Xiao Shitou are family; blood ties can't be severed," Jiang Mian said.

Song Wan stared intently at Jiang Mian with a meaningful look in her eyes, and repeated, "Yes, blood ties cannot be severed."

Jiang Mian felt a chill run down her spine and wished she could leave immediately.

To my surprise, Song Wan asked, "Have you had breakfast?"

"Uh, not yet. I have guests this morning, so I'm going to drop Xiaoshitou off at kindergarten and then go to school," Jiang Mian answered truthfully.

A smile seemed to appear on Song Wan's face. "You're still a child yourself, yet you have to take care of children. Take care of yourself first. Come with me. There's breakfast at home. Eat it before you go to school."

Reason told Jiang Mian that it was better to let it go, even though she didn't know what her mother had figured out.

The longer she stays, the more flaws she will reveal.

However, I just can't bring myself to say no.

Before I could even react, I was already home with Song Wan.

There was clear chicken broth in the pot, and a tomato and egg sauce was still warming on the stove.

I blanched some rice noodles and put them in chicken soup, then poured on some gravy, and a bowl of fragrant homemade rice noodles was ready.

I don't know if it was because the chicken soup was too hot, but when Jiang Mian ate it, she felt her eyes getting hot too.

After she finished eating, she washed the bowl clean.

"Thank you." Jiang Mian went to the living room to thank Song Wan. "Well then, I'll be going now."

Jiang Mian noticed that Song Wan's gaze remained fixed on the coffee table.

She then noticed that the family photo, which had been under the dining table, had been moved to the glass of the coffee table.

The mother's gaze remained fixed on the photograph.

Song Wan didn't look up, still staring at the photo, her voice sounding somewhat ethereal.

"You look a lot like my daughter. You know that?"

“I know,” Jiang Mian nodded.

“When my daughter was still alive, Lu Bozhou used her as a substitute, tormented her, and exhausted all her emotions.”

"That's why I hate the idea of ​​using someone as a substitute. When I found out you were doing this for Lu Bozhou, I resented you even more."

Hearing her mother's heart-wrenching words, Jiang Mian only wanted to escape.

But my feet felt like they were nailed to the ground, and I couldn't move an inch.

"But how could I have known? I would end up doing the same thing as Lu Bozhou."

Song Wan laughed, a laugh tinged with self-mockery and sadness.

Jiang Mian even wanted to say that she didn't mind, didn't mind her mother using her as a substitute.

Song Wan raised her reddened eyes and stared at her intently.

Jiang Mian opened her mouth, but under that gaze, she couldn't utter a single word.

Song Wan said, “My daughter has been dead for five years. I’ve thought countless times that it would be fine if she came back no matter what, but she has never even appeared in my dreams.”

Jiang Mian lowered her eyes and bit her tongue.

I am sorry.

She silently said in her heart, "Mom, I'm sorry..."

"If you have time when you bring Xiao Chi over in the future, like today, come and have breakfast together."

“…Okay.” Jiang Mian nodded gently.

Song Wan's emotions seemed to gradually recover.

But Jiang Mian's emotions took a long time to recover.

During class, Zhan Meng was still a little worried about her.

"Mianmian, are you alright?"

"Ok?"

"You don't look too well. Did you have a fight with Lao Niu?" Zhan Meng asked worriedly.

Jiang Mian couldn't help but chuckle when she heard this, "What's an old ox...?"

Zhan Meng said, "Then isn't he an old cow eating young grass? So he is an old cow."

Jiang Mian could tell that Zhan Meng still felt sorry for her, always thinking that she was compromising in this marriage because of her family's circumstances.

"No, we didn't argue, but I had a fever and a cold over the weekend, so I wasn't feeling well."

Zhan Meng was relieved.

After class, because Xiao Shitou started kindergarten, Jiang Mian no longer needed to rush to have lunch with him.

"So you can have my way with me now?" Zhan Meng winked at her. "There's a newly opened clay pot restaurant next door, let's go eat there."

"it is good."

"you please."

"it is good."

Zhan Meng and Jiang Mian left the school together.

But before they had gone far, a middle-aged woman blocked their way.

“Mian!” Mu Xiaomei grabbed Jiang Mian’s hand.

Zhan Meng was startled, and reacted very quickly, prying Mu Xiaomei's hand away.

"Hey, Auntie, who are you? Talk to me, don't hit me!"

Zhan Meng was very wary, having long heard of middle-aged men who preyed on female college students, playing the victim to swindle money.

Jiang Mian's expression remained quite calm. She glanced at Zhan Meng and said, "She is my mother."

Zhan Meng was taken aback.

Mu Xiaomei rubbed her hands together with a smile, looking a little awkward, "Hey, hello, hello."

Zhan Meng leaned closer to Jiang Mian, "Is that the mother who helped your dad trick you into going back, causing your dad to steal your money to gamble away, forcing you to take a year off from school to work and save money?"