Chapter 518 - Blood-related and Adoptive
Little did she know that for the amount she cared about Song Wan kneeling down today, she was going to regret her decision just as much later on.
That day, she dressed her daughter up to the nines and stuffed her soft hair into a hat. The small child’s sharp chin, stunningly bright, large eyes, extremely white skin-each of these features resembled her mother’s. With such stunning features—wherever she went, she’d have a fairly good advantage.
“Mommy, where are we going?” Rainy was sensitive and could tell that this day was not like any other day because she wore new clothes. Wearing new clothes meant that there was going to be a celebration, but it was not a festive season yet?
“Mommy is bringing you to see your grandparents.” Xia Ruoxin gently patted her daughter’s small face that increasingly resembled hers. A warm smile was plastered on her lips. Actually, she was still feeling reluctant. However, she couldn’t show it. Her child was very sensitive; she was afraid to do
it.
“Rainy has grandparents?” Rainy blinked her eyes. Then, she pulled her mother’s sleeve. “Just like Xiao Jiejie’s1 grandparents that helped her be the bad guy? The grandparents that bullied Rainy?”
Xia Ruoxin paused for a moment before she carried her daughter up into her arms. Gently, she rested her chin on her daughter’s head. “Yes, those kind of grandparents.”
Rainy bit her thumb. Actually, she didn’t like that kind of grandparents.
“Let’s go, baby; we’re going.” Gao Yi walked over, taking Rainy into his arms.
Rainy loved being carried by Daddy because Daddy’s hugs were safe. She didn’t have to worry about falling. Furthermore, Daddy was very strong so his hands wouldn’t hurt.
Within the grip of two large hands was a tiny hand. Gao Yi’s left hand was holding Rainy’s doll on top of her hand, the doll that she brought with her everywhere. Was this child worried that somebody would steal her doll?
Or was it just that this child still had no sense of security? He lowered his head to look at Rainy who was only at his knee height. That small face was especially quiet; practically not a word had come out of her.
Sometimes, this child’s character was a little weird.
Just then in the Chu family, Chu Jiang and Song Wan uneasily watched the main entrance. They didn’t dare to move away. The table was already lined with food that children loved to eat. Beside them was an entire floor of dolls. Everything was bought just for their granddaughter.
They almost bought all the dolls in the department store for her. Don’t blame them for being so excited. They were originally in despair. They never thought that the heavens would give them such a treasure—their little granddaughter, their three-year-old granddaughter.
“Go check if she’s here.” Chu Jiang could not sit still again. Almost every minute, he had to stand up and make a round just to check whether his granddaughter had arrived.
“They said ten.” Song Wan was about to stare a hole through the table. “Children have to sleep in; if she woke up earlier, then she would have gotten less sleep.”
“Look at Xiang Xiang, when she sleeps a minute lesser, she gets sluggish the entire day; and her temper also becomes nastier.”
The moment Song Wan mentioned Chu Xiang, she halted for a moment. She had seemingly forgotten about Chu Xiang.
“What are you going to do about her?” Chu Jiang was also at a loss. He had a lot of troubles pressing on his heart. Originally, he thought that he would never get to meet his grandchild for his entire life. That’s why he adopted one. The paperwork had all been processed. They were resigned to their fate. However, just like today, the heavens suddenly gave them a blood-related grandchild. Nevertheless, Chu Xiang-that child-had already been adopted into their family. She was registered as Chu Lui’s daughter and their granddaughter.
“What else can we do?” Song Wan sighed. “We can’t just throw Xiang Xiang back into the foster home, right?” She had grown attached to Chu Xiang. For the past few months, she was the one who took care of her, ate with her, and slept with her. Even spending so much time with a cat or a dog would make someone grow attached to it, what more of a human-a child?
“Money isn’t an issue for our family; Xiang Xiang is still our granddaughter. In the future, we will have two granddaughters. Isn’t that better? With our granddaughter coming home, she won’t have to feel lonely anymore, and she will have somebody to play with. Isn’t that good? Right?”
Song Wan thought that it was a good thing. Honestly, she just couldn’t bear to part with Chu Xiang. Chu Jiang, on the other hand, thought that things were not going to be so simple. He knew that there couldn’t be two tigers in a mountain. Chu Xiang was an extremely possessive child. The things she did in the nursery, he wasn’t unaware of them. He was afraid that the child would start to have bad ideas.
Suddenly, as if he had a premonition, his eyes landed on the door upstairs. The door opened and closed repeatedly. Chu Jiang’s eyes darkened. No matter what, he just needed to know this: his blood-related granddaughter was family, and his adoptive granddaughter was adopted. Don’t blame him for playing favorites.
In the first place, he was never really fond of Chu Xiang, unlike Song Wan who protected the child every day. If Chu Xiang stayed in her place, he wasn’t going to care much. Chu Xiang could continue being the eldest daughter of the Chu family and live the rest of her life without having to worry about money—from rags to riches. However, if she really started to have some bad ideas, he was just going to send the child away.
“I’ll go take a look at Xiang Xiang.” Song Wan suddenly felt worried about Chu Xiang. Recently, she had been so busy settling her close granddaughter’s things that she often left Chu Xiang with the nanny. This made her feel somewhat apologetic. Although she was about to meet her actual granddaughter, Chu Xiang was still the child that she personally raised for a few months. Despite not being blood-related, she still had feelings for her. She stood up; she would have to introduce Chu Xiang to her younger sister in a moment.
The door to the room opened. Chu Xiang’s small body was curled under her blanket, seemingly crying.
“Xiang Xiang.” Song Wan walked over. Upon seeing Chu Xiang like that-frankly speaking, her heart ached for her granddaughter.
“What’s wrong, Xiang Xiang?” She smiled while pulling down Chu Xiang’s blanket. “Did somebody bully our Xiang Xiang? Tell Granny, Granny will help you get revenge.” Chu Xiang rubbed her eyes and sat up. Her mouth flattened, and tears fell rhythmically onto the floor. Seeing her cry, Song Wan’s heart softened. She scooped Chu Xiang into her arms, gently rubbing her hair.
“Xiang Xiang, tell Granny, what happened? Why are you crying?”
Chu Xiang choked with emotion, further squeezing her small self into Song Wan’s arms. “Granny, do you not want Xiang Xiang anymore now that you have Meimei2.Meimei is how Chu Xiang addresses Rainy? Are you going to send Xiang Xiang back to that dark, dark place?”
“How could that be?” Song Wan comforted Chu Xiang, her hands patting the child’s small shoulders. “Meimei is Meimei, Xiang Xiang is Xiang Xiang. Meimei is granny’s granddaughter, but Xiang Xiang is, too. In the future, Xiang Xiang will have a younger sister; then you will have somebody to play together with you. Xiang Xiang, are you happy?”
1 Xiao Jiejie is the way Rainy addresses Chu Xiang.