He Xiyan stood in front of the door to the classroom.
“Yuan Yuan…” she said.
Yuan Yuan turned and ran over happily to take her hand in his when he saw that it was his mother.
“Mom, I’ve already marked my attendance and dad has collected my new school uniform,” Yuan Yuan said.
He Xiyan nodded with a smile and she entered the classroom to greet Yuan Yuan’s form teacher.
Then, she led Yuan Yuan out of his classroom.
There was still slightly more than an hour before the school opening ceremony was about to begin. She was leading Yuan Yuan to get some stationery near the school’s premises.
“Mom, dad was asking if you were available to have lunch with us later?” Yuan Yuan said as he looked up at his mother and passed the message his father had asked him to.
He Xiyan pursed her lips into a wry smile.
She finally shook her head some time later and said, “Yuan Yuan, I’ll be heading home soon. Why don’t you ask your father to take you to eat your favorite food?”
She could not give in to his request, so she rejected Mo Yixuan just as she rejected Ye Hao earlier.
Yuan Yuan bit his lips and he looked a little disappointed but he did not make things difficult for his mother.
He already heard from Auntie Xiaomin the true reason his mother had left his father. She said that his father had fallen for Auntie Xia before he was born. His father did not want to live with his mother any longer and wanted to live with Auntie Xia, so he had worked with his grandmother to chase his mother out of the house. Thereafter, his mother was reluctant to return home and hardly spoke to his father.
Yuan Yuan was still young, so he didn’t really understand the conflicts faced between adults but he understood that his mother was reluctant to speak to his father because she had been chased out of the house.
Mo Yixuan who trailed behind them heaved a loud sigh. He had already been separated from her for a total of seven years. He had tried all sorts of methods and put in a lot of effort in order to woo her back to his side but she was drifting further and further away from him.
It was just like this instance when she was so close to him but he couldn’t even hold her hand.
He had truly lost her.
Mo Yixuan looked up at the cloudy sky and he was equally depressed. It was only early autumn but he felt very cold because his heart had grown cold and hardened.
He Xiyan brought some stationery for her two children. Then, she turned to look calmly at Mo Yixuan and said, “Bring Yuan Yuan back to his class to prepare for the opening ceremony at 10 AM. Oh, and do remember to bring him back earlier after you’ve had lunch with him.”
She had never once forbidden Mo Yixuan or Ye Hao to see their children and she hoped that her children would be able to grow up with their fathers for they needed their father’s love just as much as they needed a mother’s love. She could not rob them of their chance of obtaining their father’s love.
Mo Yixuan’s lips curved into a wry smile before he nodded and said, “Sure.”
He wanted to tell her so many things but he didn’t know where to begin because he knew that she wouldn’t listen.
——
He Xiyan drove to a mall that sold goods specifically targeted at children after she left the school’s premises.
She was a frequent customer of this mall since she was a mother of two and she would buy new clothes, toys, and educational products for her children here.
She would buy a lot of things each time she came, especially new clothes for Xi Xi.
