Divorce Is An Absolute Must! - Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Intrigued at First Sight

◎I liked her at first sight.◎

Xiao Bao’s teacher followed behind, pushing her luggage. Seeing the situation, she quickly went to help, picking up the breakfast boxes.

“Yanqiu, don’t be so clumsy,” the teacher said sternly to Xiao Bao, handing the breakfast to Qian Cancan. “You’ll knock the auntie over.”

Xiao Bao was crying with all her might. Her crying stopped for a moment when she heard the teacher, but she remembered she was in Zhu Qing’s arms, so she felt like she had a backer and immediately continued her crying.

The teacher said in a cold voice, “I’m counting to three.”

Xiao Bao secretly peeked at the teacher with one eye. Seeing that the teacher was serious, she was scared and quickly looked up, grabbing Zhu Qing. “Zhu Zhu, I want you to hold me.”

Zhu Qing was a little embarrassed. She looked at the teacher, then at Qian Cancan.

“Okay, then stop crying.” Zhu Qing hadn’t held a child in a long time, so her movements were stiff. She almost made Xiao Bao fall backwards when she picked her up.

The four of them got into the car. The teacher took the driver’s seat, and Xiao Bao became a koala hanging on Zhu Qing.

Qian Cancan touched Xiao Bao’s hair, feeling that the child had gotten a little tanner.

“She ran away twice on this trip,” the teacher calmly listed Xiao Bao’s misdeeds. “She let the cows out of the farm and then squatted in front of an Egyptian pharaoh’s mummy in the British Museum, refusing to leave, insisting on returning someone else’s ancestor. ”

Xiao Bao was a little guilty at first, but when she heard this, she immediately sat up straight and said righteously, “They stole a lot of things. Other things were clothes, jewelry, paintings, and stones, but that was someone’s ancestor! Why would they dig up someone else’s grandpa’s grandpa and steal him! And there was a cat mummy. The little cat was so pitiful…”

“Then you should study English properly,” the teacher mocked. “You just cried, and they had no idea what you were saying.”

Xiao Bao’s face turned beet red. She said weakly, “I, I’m only five. I’ll learn it well.”

Zhu Qing let out a little laugh and touched Xiao Bao’s face, which was flushed with anger.

“Xiao Bao is right,” Zhu Qing couldn’t help but laugh. She didn’t expect this child to be so principled, considering Li Lan raised her. “Don’t you know English?”

Xiao Bao nodded and then shook her head. “I just started learning.”

The teacher said to Zhu Qing, “She didn’t start learning English until she was two. She actually knows how to say some things, but she forgets how to say them when she’s in a hurry. This study trip was supposed to last for another half a month. Yan Xiaobao, your English homework is going to be doubled.”

Xiao Bao pouted aggrievedly, tugging on Zhu Qing’s sleeve and not letting go. “Zhu Zhu, I don’t want to do my homework.”

Zhu Qing noticed the teacher suddenly leaning her head towards her. She could see from the rearview mirror that the teacher’s expression had become tense. The only way to describe it was “as if she were facing a formidable enemy.”

Zhu Qing hesitated. “Huh?”

Xiao Bao stared at Zhu Qing, and the hand that was tugging on her sleeve shook violently. She repeated loudly, “I don’t want to do it!”

“How about I ask your mom?” Zhu Qing’s scalp was tingling. It was a kind of awkwardness and discomfort mixed with unfamiliarity. In her mind, this was a completely strange child. “It’s not my place to interfere with your homework, is it?”

Xiao Bao paused for two seconds and then lowered her head.

Zhu Qing wondered if she had said the wrong thing. She explained, “If your mom agrees, can we just do less homework?”

The teacher said faintly, “Ms. Li would only think her homework is too little.”

Zhu Qing became even more embarrassed.

There was nothing she could do. Li Lan was Xiao Bao’s mother. Most parents cared about their children’s grades. She couldn’t possibly let Xiao Bao neglect her studies. If she did, Li Lan would definitely complain about her, and she would lose points before she even started wooing her.

But Xiao Bao was Li Lan’s daughter, and it didn’t seem right to make her unhappy.

Besides, Xiao Bao was just a cute and adorable little girl. Zhu Qing, out of her own selfishness, also wanted to be nice to her…

Before she could finish her sentence, Xiao Bao’s body suddenly started to tremble.

Zhu Qing looked down in surprise and was instantly startled.

Xiao Bao was lovely and cute, but at this moment, her face was flushed, her whole body was trembling, and she opened her mouth in a breakdown.

“Zhu Zhu doesn’t care about me anymore! Zhu Zhu doesn’t love me anymore!”

She wasn’t just bawling. She first shed big tears, then she couldn’t breathe, her mouth wide open, gasping for air while whimpering, crying so heartbreakingly.

“Zhu Zhu, Zhu Zhu doesn’t want me anymore, wuuuh, don’t, don’t throw away Xiao Bao, Xiao Bao will be good, waaah…”

Qian Cancan couldn’t help but say, “Comfort her!”

Zhu Qing fumbled around, pulling out tissues to wipe Xiao Bao’s face, but Xiao Bao’s tears were like a floodgate had opened. The more she wiped, the more tears flowed. Zhu Qing was completely helpless. “Don’t cry. Please don’t cry.”

Qian Cancan took a tissue and gently pressed it on Xiao Bao’s eyes. “Sweetheart, your Auntie Zhu Zhu has amnesia. Her brain is a little messed up right now. She doesn’t not want you.”

Xiao Bao gasped and asked back, “So if I stop crying, will she get better?”

“Yes. If you talk to her nicely, she won’t be silly anymore.”

Xiao Bao didn’t know she could have such an effect. Her attention was instantly diverted. She looked at Zhu Qing with swollen red eyes and pointed a finger. “Turn, turn back to normal.”

Zhu Qing: …

Zhu Qing felt like the two of them were deliberately insulting her, but she couldn’t find any evidence. She felt wronged as she touched Xiao Bao’s flushed face and said softly, “I forgot a lot of things and don’t remember Xiao Bao. How about we become friends again?”

Xiao Bao nodded with tears in her eyes.

Then Xiao Bao suddenly caught the main point. “Did you forget Mom too?”

Zhu Qing rubbed her nose, feeling guilty. “Ah, yes, I forgot both of you. I’m sorry.”

“Then you don’t love Xiao Bao anymore?” Xiao Bao sobbed. “You used to help me with my homework, so Mom wouldn’t punish me. You would secretly buy me delicious snacks and take me out to play. You never used to let Xiao Bao cry.”

By the end of her sentence, Xiao Bao started to cry silently again.

Zhu Qing also started to feel sad. The impact of her memory loss on the people close to her was only just beginning to show.

It was likely that Li Lan once had the same feelings as Xiao Bao. Zhu Qing said softly, “Of course I love Xiao Bao. But you have to give me some time. Didn’t we just say we’re getting to know each other again and being good friends again?”

Xiao Bao raised her big, red eyes. “Then is Zhu Zhu going to get back with Mom again too?”

Zhu Qing said shyly, “Yes, we all have to get to know each other again.”

“Then can I call you Mom?” Xiao Bao suddenly asked.

Zhu Qing was startled.

Xiao Bao nestled into Zhu Qing’s arms. A child’s mind is sensitive. From the first moment she saw Zhu Qing, she could feel the adult’s strangeness and distance, but she was too young to know what to do to get the familiar adult back. She could only approach her again and again and cry to her again and again.

Zhu Qing slapped Qian Cancan in shock. “Don’t just watch! Help me!”

Qian Cancan twitched her lips. “Help you with what? Help you confirm it? You used to love taking care of Xiao Bao, to the point where you would do all the nanny’s work. You spoiled her so much. That’s why I said you became a ‘good wife and loving mother’ in the first place.”

Zhu Qing was dumbfounded. “How is that possible? Do I look like the kind of person who likes to take care of children? Even if I am, she can’t call me Mom!”

Qian Cancan sighed. “Who knows what’s on a child’s mind?”

Zhu Qing returned home feeling guilty for having “abducted” a child. The teacher tried to assign homework, but Xiao Bao’s tantrum interrupted her. Xiao Bao’s nanny also called to ask if she should come take care of the child. Under Xiao Bao’s wronged glare, Zhu Qing temporarily didn’t let the nanny come over.

This awkwardness and stiffness lasted until the afternoon, when Li Lan made a video call.

Zhu Qing had just put Xiao Bao to sleep. She opened her phone, and what she saw was a sunny beach with golden specks of light gently shimmering.

In a beach chair, Li Lan was wearing a light gold tulle dress, looking at the camera indifferently. Her gaze was clear, like a feather, lightly floating onto Zhu Qing’s face.

After being apart for a day, Zhu Qing suddenly realized that she missed Li Lan a little.

“Xiao Bao didn’t give you any trouble, did she?”

Li Lan spoke, her voice rising slightly at the end. It was clear and moist with a faint smile, like a little hook scratching at Zhu Qing’s ear.

Zhu Qing’s heart skipped a beat. She had a fleeting suspicion that Li Lan was doing it on purpose, but after a moment’s thought, she knew it was just her imagination.

Li Lan had a kind of ultimate elegance. Her facial bones were exquisite and perfect, her skin fit her bones flawlessly, and her entire frame was slender and long. Her figure and looks were an enormous advantage. Many bloggers had analyzed Li Lan’s appearance, and the conclusion was always the same: “She was born to be successful.”

Someone like her could be popular in any style. She first became famous for her classical Eastern beauty. A magnificent Tang dynasty-style dress and a delicate and gorgeous Hanfu with a curved hem, although both had been modernized, still stunned the entire runway show and quickly started a wave of “Eastern fever.”

This popularity spread back to China and attracted Li Lan’s first batch of fans.

Later on, Li Lan appeared more in a dignified and elegant image, but in Zhu Qing’s eyes, Li Lan was very alluring.

Even though her every move was full of restraint and grace, and even though she looked like a meticulous watercolor painting, when Zhu Qing looked at Li Lan, every one of her subtle movements seemed like a silent provocation.

The indifferent glance, the shadows of her eyelashes when she looked down, her soft and gentle breathing, the faint lines of her collarbones under her clothes—all of it made Zhu Qing’s throat feel tight.

She always felt that Li Lan’s true nature should be more passionate. Her lips should be redder, her waist should be softer, and her gaze should be more aggressive.

This liking was almost instinctive, causing Zhu Qing’s gaze to follow her without fail.

From the very first glance, she was completely smitten.