- Old Villa at Tongzhou, Beijing -
Knock! Knock!
"Who is it?" Cai Sheng opened the door.
"Mom! I'm back!" ShenYi hugged her tightly.
Cai Sheng was stupified. Her daughter had changed a lot! She almost mistook her as a celebrity. Her looks was very different to ShenYi even when she's still young.
She hugged her back and welcomed her inside.
"You've been on a long trip, rest on the sofa. Hay, I almost forgot today was the National Day!"
"Why mom? Everytime National Holidays are upcoming, you know I'll come home. What's bothering you and father lately?"
Hearing ShenYi's question, Cai Sheng tensed up.
"S-Speaking of your father, y-you're father was ill since the other day." Cai Sheng looked agitated.
"What? How come? What happened? Mom, why didn't you tell me immediately?" ShenYi was worried to her father's condition.
The two sat down. Cai Sheng held ShenYi's hands and comforted her from her worries.
"You know this is a remote area and the signal here is quite unstable. It's always raining here in Tongzhou no wonder your father caught a flu from the outside. However, the supervisor already approved his sick leave."
"Then why father's sickness hasn't subsided yet?" She kept on being distressed with her dad's situation.
"He's going to be okay today. I know with you beside, his recovery will be faster. I'm glad that you didn't encounter heavy rains on your way here."
"Thanks mom. I'm going to see dad now." ShenYi walked towards the bedroom.
"Hao, introduce yourself! You've become a grown up lady now!" Cai Sheng reminded her laughingly.
"Ai mom, dad's eyesight isn't that bad." She chuckled and opened the door.
.....
Creak!
"Dad, I'm back!" ShenYi greeted her father who was openinghaving a hard time opening his eyes.
"Xiao Yi! You're back!" With his hoarse voice, Cai HongBai opened his arms slowly, longing for a hug.
Sensing her father's signal, she hugged her lightly, fearing that she might hurt him if she will squeeze him from her hug.
Cough! Cough!
ShenYi stood up and helped him to sit down. She softly patted Cai HongBai's back.
"It's okay, my dear daughter. It's only a light cough, nothing worse." He knew that ShenYi study hard to help their family, he couldn't bear to give her another problem again.
"Whether it's light or heavy, I couldn't stop myself to care."
Suddenly, Cai Sheng entered the room with her newly cooked soup for Cai HongBai while a two stir fried rice water for ShenYi and herself.
"It's almost time for lunch, let's eat together." Cai Sheng told them.
"Hmmm... That stir fry smells so good. Sweetheart, I want some of that too." Cai HongBai pleaded.
"Ai, you're not going to eat this until you get well." Cai Sheng slightly scolded him while feeding him the soup.
ShenYi couldn't help but to feel warm while witnessing the scenario before her eyes.
'Ai, nothing's much better than home.'
"Mom, you're drowning me with your PDA! I'm so attacked!" ShenYi teased them.
"Ai, our beautiful daughter is getting jealous of us! Tell me, is there someone chasing your heart?" Cai Sheng taunted her.
ShenYi blushed. The first thing the popped in her mind was Zhang Feng.
'Why the heck are you thinking of him?! He isn't even connfessing towards you. You didn't even know what's the thing between you two!'
"Ah, our Xiao Yi is starting to blush. Who is that man? Let me check him." Cai HongBai warned ShenYi.
"N-No it's not like what you think, dad! I'm still focusing on my studies now." ShenYi shooked her head. She was starting to get nervous.
"Sweetheart, don't pressure our Xiao Yi. It's part of her life. Let her experience it." Cai Sheng patted Cai HongBai.
"Dad, let's not talk about that! Let's eat!" ShenYi suggested.
"Hao."
.....
Slurp!
"Mmm... Mom's food is the best!" ShenYi praised Cai Sheng's skills.
"Have you ever brought into practice those cooking methods I taught you?"
"Mhm! Actually, I was the one often cooks in our dorm! My friends are complimenting my food!" ShenYi proudly told them.
"So you got many friends? Who are them?"
"My friends are my dorm mates, Han Ri and Ju Ri. I also have another friend from class. They are Xue Mi, Sun Yang and.... Zhang Feng."
Since ShenYi didn't clearly know the thing between her and Zhang Feng, she could only introduce him as a friend.
After hearing ShenYi's last words, the two stiffened.
Cough! Cough!
"Eherm! Water!" Cai HongBai stated.
"Dad! What's wrong?" ShenYi worried again.
"Nothing.... I-It's okay." Cai HongBai gulped a glass of water. ShenYi patted his shoulder.
"Take care of yourself. I'm going to talk to ShenYi."
"En." He nodded.
After Cai HongBai calmed, Cai Sheng led ShenYi outside and talked to her personally.
"Xiao Yi, I'm so happy that you've got new friends. But remember to protect yourself. You know what happened to you on your past university." Cai Sheng reminded her.
ShenYi let out a smile.
"Mama, don't worry. I already learnt from it. I'm stronger than before."
"B-But can I ask you something?" Cai Sheng tried to ask her a favor.
"Mhm? What's that?"
"Can you keep your distance from Z-Zhang Feng?" Cai Sheng was stuttering.
ShenYi was taken aback. 'Why mom is very wary with Zhang Feng? How did they knew him? I feel something was wrong.'
She kept on thinking why, until she asked her mother.
"W....Why mom? H-How did you know him?"
Cai Sheng got even paler.
"I-It's because we saw... we saw him at the financial news section. He's from a wealthy family..... Y-You know what did those kind.... of rich people did to us in the past." Cai Sheng explained to her.
However, ShenYi still have doubts in her heart. She felt that wasn't the real reason. Still, for now, she was relying to her mother's explanation.
'Why do they need to hide something from me? Mom, dad, please don't break my heart in the future.'
guys!!! one chap for today, ai, I'm quite busy... I'm in the school for the week long brigada eskwela...
however, with your comments, I'm doing ny best to work hard.
this story will not exceed up to 100 or 150 chapters... wait patiently!
3rd vol. hooray!!!