“Nothing…” The boy’s voice was muffled, monotonous, and oddly vulnerable. “I want to be with Mommy—”
Yun Shishi’s eyelids suddenly fluttered. She frowned, vaguely aware that perhaps the boy had overheard her conversation with Alice. Even though she had kept her voice low, the boy might have heard her and taken it to heart.
Would he think that she was worried about Gong Fan but no longer regarded him as the most important? Unsure how best to comfort him, she tightened her arms around the boy and smiled at the actor and Alice before turning away with him in her arms.
There was a long silence on the way back.
It was only when they were about to enter the villa that Youyou asked quietly, “Mommy, are you… worried that Gong Fan will never come back?”
Yun Shishi was stunned by the boy’s question. It was a long time before she found her voice. “I’m a little worried… After all, it’s so unusual that he hasn’t shown up in so long.”
“Mommy… if… if he disappears forever… please don’t get upset with me, okay?” Feeling helpless, the boy said earnestly, “I was worried, too. I was afraid he’d suddenly disappear. I was actually prepared to co-exist with him, but… I don’t know what happened, he just disappeared. I had no way of finding him.”
Yun Shishi was at a loss for words! Why would he think that way!
“Why would you think that? Why would Mommy get upset with you for this?” Yun Shishi knew full well that the boy had found out about her fears and helplessness. He was overwhelmed by guilt and therefore feeling uneasy. She was frustrated. It was her failure to control her own emotions that created the unease in the boy. “Don’t worry, it doesn’t bother me too much. Don’t be sad. Besides, isn’t it a good thing if Gong Fan disappeared? At least, it means that you’ve recovered?”
The boy gave a small nod.
Yun Shishi carried him back to his room and reassured him. “Stop imagining things, okay?”
“Alright…” The boy, however, was reluctant to return to his room. “Mommy, I want to go out to the sea,” he told her.
“Sure, we can go out to the sea. We’ll get Daddy and Little Yichen to go out to sea together, okay?”
“What about Little Sister?”
“Little Sister gets seasick. Besides, the sea breeze is too strong and the sun is scorching. Little Sister has tender skin. It won’t be worth it if she gets burned.”
“Okay.”
Having given her word, she got Mu Yazhe to charter a boat and the family of four set sail.
The trip out to sea took a full day. Lunch was served at sea. It was mostly freshly-caught fish from their trip. They did not season the fish too much.The food retained its original taste and was very delicious.
Out at sea, the twins sat back-to-back with each other, fishing by the boat, while Yun Shishi carried a fresh coconut, drinking and basking in the sun, losing herself in the moment.
When she returned in the evening, she made a point of checking on Natalia. Fortunately, as Alice had said, her temperature had gone down quickly and although it had not yet returned to normal, at least it meant her condition was improving.
Relieved that Natalia’s fever was subsiding, Yun Shishi urged Hua Jin to take good care of the girl and quickly took her leave.
