(TRIGGER WARNING! THERE MIGHT BE WORDS AND SCENES THAT MAY TRIGGER SOME READERS.)

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Chapter 5.1

After washing his head, Li Xiao’s entire face turned hot red. Jiang Rou thoughtfully found clothes and prepared the bath water for him.

Li Xiao, wiping his damp hair, calmly went to the room after witnessing this scene. He touched the bathwater in the basin, then nonchalantly went to the kitchen and fetched a bucket of cold water for himself.

Jiang Rou, still feeling triumphant, smiled at him and said, “I’ve adjusted the water temperature for you, it’s just right.”

Li Xiao silently glanced at her, picked up the bucket, and left without saying a word.

Jiang Rou looked puzzled but didn’t think much about it. She sat under the stove, continuing to boil water, thinking that after he finished bathing, she would also take a bath, and he might wash her clothes together.

Hehe, she really was a clever little ghost.

As Jiang Rou expected, when Li Xiao finished his bath and came out, she asked him to pour out the bathwater, saying that she also wanted to take a bath.

After Jiang Rou finished bathing, it stopped raining outside. Li Xiao directly took her clothes and went to the well in the yard to wash them together.

In the evening, Jiang Rou cooked. She braised two crucian carp, steamed eggplants, and made a soup with lean meat and green beans.

Among the three dishes, Li Xiao’s favorite was actually the steamed eggplant. The method for steamed eggplant was simple. Slice the eggplant and place it in the pot for steaming rice. Then, put a small bowl with seasoning on top. The seasoning was not much—sesame oil, lard, chili flakes, and salt. After the rice is done, put the eggplant into the bowl and stir it well with the sauce. It was soft and spicy and very appetizing.

Perhaps because the two of them had cooperated a bit in the afternoon, Jiang Rou felt that the relationship between them had become closer, and she no longer felt so restrained.

During dinner, Li Xiao still didn’t speak. The room was very quiet. Jiang Rou was a lively person and couldn’t stand it. After some contemplation, she couldn’t resist opening her mouth, but she didn’t have much to say. After thinking for a while, she managed to squeeze out a sentence, “Mom hasn’t come over for several days. When you’re not here, she comes every day to deliver vegetables.”

Li Xiao, who lowered his head to eat, heard this and suddenly looked up at her.
Jiang Rou didn’t know what his looks meant, so she blinked her eyes as she looked at him.

Li Xiao looked at her calmly, but she didn’t know what was on his mind.

Suddenly, he chuckled lightly and reminded her. “Summer vacation.”

Then he lowered his head to continue eating.

Jiang Rou’s chopsticks paused, and it took a while for her to realize the meaning of his words.

Summer vacation meant that Li Xiao’s stepbrother had also returned.

Li Xiao’s mother was also mentioned in the information the police had gathered. After Li Xiao’s father died, she had been with two other men.

A few years ago, she was still a factory worker. After being deceived by an old man from a poor village, not only did she give her job to the man’s daughter, but she also went to the village to work like a slave. However, before long, the true nature of the man was revealed. He often abused her, and in the end, Li Xiao, at the age of thirteen, led people to beat him up. She obediently went back with him.

After returning to the county town, Li Xiao’s mother found a job selling vegetables and then met the third man of her life, who is now Li Xiao’s stepfather. He was in poor health, had a son who could read, and was also good at coaxing people. He coaxed Li Xiao’s mother into earning money for the family and treated the man’s son as her own.

In her previous life, when Jiang Rou had meals with some old detectives from the police department, she heard from one of them, a senior detective who had been to Li Xiao’s hometown, say that Li Xiao’s stepfather and stepbrother were not good people. He suspected that the reason Li Xiao dropped out of school was because of the father and son, especially since he had been a detective for over ten years. With his sharp eyes, he could tell whether someone was lying or feeling guilty with just a few questions.

After all, at that time, he was very poor, and only Li Xiao’s mother earned money at home. Li Xiao and his stepbrother were both attending high school, which was undoubtedly a heavy burden. He dropped out, and the only beneficiary was the stepfather’s son.

When Li Xiao later moved out, life became even better, and neighbors said they often smelled the aroma of meat.

Of course, there was more to it than that. Jiang Rou even had a terrifying speculation from those records: when “Jiang Rou” ran away with someone, it was during the crucial period when Li Xiao was starting a business in the south.

After Jiang Rou’s disappearance, left with no choice, he left his daughter in the care of his mother. However, Li Xiao suddenly took back his daughter when the child was four years old. Li Xiao hired a nanny and even beat his stepfather severely. The stepfather lay in bed for more than half a year, and from then on, the two sides had no contact.

Everyone speculated that it might be child abuse, but Jiang Rou suspected that the stepfather might have molested Li Xiao’s daughter.

Just six months later, one day out of the blue, a group of thugs barged into Li Xiao’s stepfather’s home and brutally injured Li Xiao’s stepfather’s legs, leaving him unable to stand up again.

The son of that stepfather subsequently lost his job, and everything went downhill for them.

This wasn’t an ordinary grudge.

She didn’t tell anyone about her speculation.

In fact, she hoped she was wrong.

From the brief memories of interacting with “Jiang Rou,” it was evident that Li Xiao’s mother seemed to have a people-pleasing personality. Despite providing for the men in her life, she lacked assertiveness and worked hard to keep them happy.

As soon as the stepson returns home, the biological son has to stand on the side.

Now that the stepson was back home for summer vacation, Li Xiao was naturally forgotten.

It was like those men who flaunt wealth outside, caring more about their image than the well-being of their own family, forcing them to endure hardship.

Jiang Rou looked uncomfortable, but the man across from her continued to eat, seemingly indifferent.

Jiang Rou couldn’t continue their conversation either, so she had to silently lower her head and eat honestly.

——

At night, when it was dark, the two lay in bed.

Li Xiao had one arm under his head, lying on his back without speaking, and it was unclear what he was thinking.

After this day, Jiang Rou was no longer very afraid of him. After all, he wouldn’t hit her, and fearing him wouldn’t change anything.

Jiang Rou lay on her side beside him, ignoring him, amusing herself by playing with her belly and talking softly, “Kick again.”

The little one inside, whether understanding or not, really kicked again.
Jiang Rou couldn’t help but smile and continued to gently touch her belly and urge the little one inside to continue kicking.

This time, the little one didn’t kick again but turned lively in her belly. Its little hand even pushed against her belly, causing a ticklish sensation.

Li Xiao next to her suddenly turned his head and looked, watching her smile. He, who rarely spoke, asked. “Did the boy kick you?”

Jiang Rou lifted her face to look at him, with a strange expression on her face. “Do you prefer a son?”

Li Xiao gave her a faint glance and didn’t speak, but the expression on his face plainly told her: ‘Wasn’t that a silly question?’

His gaze fell to Jiang Rou’s belly, and his usually indifferent eyes softened a bit. “It must be the son, he’s so lively.”

Jiang Rou touched her stomach and didn’t speak for a moment, but felt disdainful in her heart.

Who might be the person in her previous life who braided his daughter’s hair, bought many little dresses, and even wanted to avenge her by running away for more than ten years without considering giving up?

For some reason, Jiang Rou didn’t argue and nodded earnestly, “Yes, it’s a son.”

“Um.”

The man mumbled in response, seemingly satisfied.

In a rare occurrence, he added, “I’ll go out to earn money in a few days and come back in two months.”

Jiang Rou looked up at him again, and Li Xiao had already turned over and turned off the light. Suddenly, the room fell into darkness, and nothing could be seen.

Looking at the dark figure, she swallowed the words that had come to her lips.

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Notlucia: Sorry for not updating! I’ll be more active this year and I don’t want to give up translating this novel~ Thank you for waiting~

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