Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
“Xunxun, say ‘uncle’.” He Yibin let Xunxun sit on the sofa and crouched down in front of her, lowering his eyes to the same level as hers.
Xunxun’s wide and beautiful eyes stared into his, but she just would not speak.
He Yibin waited for a while and still could not hear what he was hoping for, so he held his finger up and pointed to Lu Yi who was standing by one side.
“Who is he?”
“Daddy.”
Xunxun opened her tiny mouth. She spoke with clear words and there was not even a hint of babbling heard. Again, He Yibin confirmed that Xunxun definitely knew how to speak. After all, she was almost two years old now, she could hear and think, so having her call out daddy was not a big deal. It was just that her mother went missing so she could not bear it at the moment. Therefore, she refused to speak.
“How about him?” He Yibin pointed at Lu Jin. It was fine for her to not call him ‘uncle’, but she should know the word ‘grandpa’.
However, Xunxun still had her gorgeous eyes wide open; it was just that she was unwilling to utter a single word.
“And her?” He Yibin did not give up. He then pointed at Ye Shuyun, “She is grandma.”
Ye Shuyun was also waiting anxiously. She was over the moon when she heard that her granddaughter knew how to speak. Especially the moment when the word ‘daddy’ came out from her tiny mouth, she could not ask for anything more than that.
Xunxun was the one she was worried about the most. She refused to speak and was treated as a mute by others. However, it was her granddaughter they were talking about, and obviously her Xunxun was nowhere near mute.
Though Xunxun had only called her father, she did not call her grandfather. She hoped that Xunxun would call grandma, but Xunxun was still the same old her – she kept her mouth shut. Opened was her pair of large, sparkly eyes. As though they were two black, ravishing gems, glittering yet as clear as pure crystal. Reflected was your face, your soul mirrored, your whole self exposed to them.
They were the world’s most dazzling diamond, the purest gem of all.
“This has already exceeded my expectations though.” He Yibin patted the little girl’s head. The little girl cocked her head and held her arms out to her father, signaling for him to carry her.
Lu Yi lifted his daughter up in one swift move of his long slender arms.
“She knows how to say ‘daddy’, how to call out to daddy and she also knows how to say ‘yes’.” Lu Yi looked down into his daughter’s eyes, “Darling, say ‘mommy’.”
“Mommy.”
This time around Xunxun called out straight away. She did not doubt even for a single moment.
“Say ‘daddy’ again.”
“Daddy.” The little girl finally halted her crying and smiled whole-heartedly, it was just that she still seemed to be lethargic.
“Let daddy carry you to the window okay?” Lu Yi pointed at the french window near him.
“Okay.” Xunxun nodded. She finally knew how to make use of those little lips of hers, unlike back then, when she only knew how to shake and nod.
He Yibin thought for a while, “This is a good start, you guys should talk to her more often, then she would be able to speak fluently in no time.”Just as what he said before, the ability to speak was one’s natural instinct, it was just like eating, sleeping and going to the toilet. Since she was not born a mute, she must know how to speak eventually then.
Furthermore, Xunxun was still young, she would recover slowly soon enough.
Lu Yi was still standing near the window, carrying his daughter in his arms. Just like that, Xunxun and her father watched the outside world through the window. Her father was quiet, and she was also as silent.
“Darling, who did you see last night?”
Lu Yi asked Xunxun.
In Xunxun’s arms was a fluffy stuffed rabbit which was her favourite toy.
Xunxun rested her stuffed rabbit against her face and rubbed her tiny face against it. She then blinked and remembered what her father had asked her.
“Mommy.”
She saw her mother.
Lu Yi left Xunxun to play on her own. He then stood up, took out his phone and called Lei Qingyi, “Have you found the surveillance?”
“Yes, found it,” Lei Qingyi was still looking through the surveillance. Not only did he have to find the surveillance at the door, but other places as well. Of course he also did a background check on the woman, though not much information was available.
“That woman was with some of the janitors. According to them, they thought she was starving because she looked skinny and pitiful. So, out of empathy, they took her in and let her collect the cardboard boxes and bottles to sell them for money. That should get her some food and plump her up a bit more.”
“But…” Lei Qingyi examined the woman in the surveillance camera footage closely, “She really is skinny. No wonder those janitors pitied her, I would feel sorry for her too. Just look at her, she looks like a walking ghost! God knows how long it had been since she had her last meal. If it was not for her bringing Xunxun back, I would think that she might just gobble Xunxun up! Just thinking about it sends chills down my spine!”
“Is that it?” Lu Yi waited for a long time but Lei Qingyi was still silent.
“Yeah.” Lei Qing Yi put both his legs on the table, “There is nothing more we can do, this was all I got. Other than these, no one seemed to know much. She was just like a roaming spirit, no matter how hard I tried, I could not seem to grasp more in-depth information about her. It was as though there was no such person in this world. Don’t you think it is weird too? Lu Yi, Lu…”
“Hello…” Lei Qingyi called out to his phone for a long time. He then shook his phone and realised it was not disconnected, but it was just that Lu Yi had hung up on him.
“He hung up on me?”
Lei Qingyi threw his phone to one side, absolutely displeased.
He had poured his whole heart into this and that guy did not even treat him to a meal! His stomach was still grumbling up till now! Oh right, since Little Xunxun was back now, he should pay her a visit. It has been too long since he had seen that little girl.
There were too many men in the house, but there was nothing unusual there. Little Xunxun was the only apple of their eyes. She was gone for only a day and yet everyone was frantically looking for her, not to mention not seeing her for a long time.
He drove to the Lu family home after packing up his stuff.
“Is there any food, aunt? I am hungry.”
Lei Qingyi howled right away when he went in. He had been running around the whole day and had not eaten anything, so of course he was famished. He was so famished to the extent where his stomach was thinning to his back, making him feel like crying.
“Let me have the housekeeper make you a bowl of noodles.” Ye Shuyun called out to their housekeeper and ordered her to prepare some noodles for him, “We just had our meal and there were no leftovers. So, she will make something new for you. Noodles are the fastest to prepare, you can eat them right away after being cooked.”
“Sure, noodles it is.” Lei Qingyi was not picky, he was okay with whatever food that was served.
“Oh yeah,” Just as he was about to take a few steps forward, he turned back to her again, “Is there anything that is ready-made, aunt? Anything is fine, I am extremely famished.”
