Love in the Midst of Mistaken Identities

The elevator rose, and the one opposite them reached the first floor. The man inside the elevator was carrying a child in one hand and resting his other hand on the handlebar. The child in his arms was staring intently at Du Jingtang.

Du Jingtang turned around abruptly. He hadn’t even had the chance to hold Rainy, but the father and daughter had already gotten off the elevator and were heading towards the exit.

“Bro, look.” Du Jingtang pulled Chu Lui’s sleeves. “My little cutie. Isn’t she pretty?”

“Mm?” Chu Lui looked back, but he didn’t see anything.

Du Jingtang pulled a face. “She just walked out.”

Chu Lui’s gaze landed on Du Jingtang’s face. “I think Aunty gave birth to you with a screw loose.”

Du Jingtang huffed. “I have a high IQ-and one more screw than others.”

“Mm.” Chu Lui didn’t bother arguing with him this time.

“Bro, you agree?”

“I agree.”

“Bro, you have good eyes.”

“No.” Chu Lui rolled his sleeves up and replied, his voice calm but slightly cold, “An extra screw for you to hang yourself with.”

Du Jingtang, “...”

Outside the mall, Gao Yi wrapped Rainy inside his coat. Rainy was obedient and quiet inside the warm and silent space where she could even play with her toys.

They became much warmer instantly when they reached home. There were thin streaks of snow on Gao Yi’s hair, but Rainy’s cheeks were rosy, without any sign of being cold.

Gao Yi was really the perfect father. He poured some water for the child first and then brought her to wash her hands and face. After that, he let her watch some cartoon shows herself. They had both eaten so they didn’t feel hungry.

Night came, and Xia Ruoxin finally returned home. The moment she stepped across the door, her leg was hugged by none other than her little daughter.

“Mommy’s back! Are you tired?”

Xia Ruoxin squatted down to her daughter’s height and rested her palm on Rainy’s rosy cheek. Her smile was innocent and adorable. It had been a long time since she saw her daughter so elated.

“What did you do today?” Xia Ruoxin asked. She gestured at her growing hair, which was almost touching below her ears. When New Year’s reach, it would be a beautiful head of hair.

Rainy counted with her fingers.

“Daddy brought Rainy out to play and bought me lots of pretty clothes, but Daddy said I have to eat one less meal to buy the clothes. Mommy,”— Rainy pounced into Xia Ruoxin’s arms—”so I can’t eat tonight because I have to return Daddy the money?”

Xia Ruoxin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Mm, one less meal and a lot fewer snacks in between. Only Gao Yi could come up with this kind of excuse.

“Mommy, I’m tired.” Rainy rubbed her eyes. She had been out playing the whole day and must have been tired, but she pressed on to wait for her mother’s return. However, her eyelids were almost about to shut.

A hand reached out and lifted her tiny body.

“She kept waiting for you. Her stubborn personality doesn’t resemble yours at all.” Gao Yi let Rainy’s head rest on his shoulder and reached a hand toward Xia Ruoxin. “Stand up. You must be tired, too. It’s a good thing this little one fell asleep. Then, you can get enough rest.”

Xia Ruoxin took his hand and pulled herself up. It was obvious she rushed back in a hurry from her weary clothes.

She held her daughter’s hand. “Thank you, Gao Yi.” Perhaps a word of gratitude wasn’t enough to express much. There was so much she had to thank him for, and she owed him a lot. Right now, all she could do was thank him. That was all she could say and express.

“Don’t be silly.” Gao Yi wrapped an arm around her shoulder, bringing both mother and daughter who had suffered tremendously into his embrace.

“I told you that you don’t have to thank me. I’m the one who should be thanking you. If I hadn’t met you, I won’t even know how many empty spaces there are in my life. It would still be dark and gray.” As he said this, his eyes darkened slightly.

He had lived for almost thirty years. Meeting this pair of mother and daughter was an accident as well as a blessing. It did not matter to him whether she was divorced or if she had a daughter. He likes her, plain and simple. No reason needed.

Xia Ruoxin leaned her head against Gao Yi’s shoulders. Her hazy vision was starting to blur.

“Thank you, Gao Yi.”

No matter how much you don’t want my thanks, I still want to tell you that I’ll remember your kindness for my whole life. A lifetime is short, but it’s long, too. I don’t know any sweet words; neither do I know how to say honeyed phrases. I just want to say that I’ll stay by your side if you choose not to chase me away. Unless a time comes when you let go of my hand.

She shut her eyes. She was also exhausted and didn’t feel like getting up, but in the end, she picked herself up and took Rainy from Gao Yi’s arms, brought her to bathe, and changed her clothes.

She had done these things for three years, during which her daughter grew up from a puny little baby to now, when she was still small and frail. Sometimes, she caught herself thinking how good it would be if Rainy never grew up and stayed like this forever. She would always be her Rainy and never leave her.

Alas, Rainy would grow up and leave her mother eventually. Every time she thought of this, she’d become depressed for some reason. She and her daughter had been depending on each other for so long.

She laid her daughter on the bed, looked for the doll, and then stuffed it under the blanket. Rainy hugged it automatically, murmuring something under her breath. Mommy or Dolly? Xia Ruoxin couldn’t make out the words.

She took her daughter’s clothes to wash, but she felt an object in Rainy’s pocket. She fumbled around and retrieved a lollipop that was wrapped nicely in a wrapper.

She placed the lollipop on the table, but she stared at it blankly all of a sudden. During the time when she and Rainy were still suffering, her monthly salary was only enough to cover their living expenses; and the money that she saved was for when Rainy fell sick. She seldom bought candy for her daughter, and now, Rainy doesn’t like to eat them anymore.

She sat down and softly caressed her daughter’s cheeks. It’ll be better in the future. She promised that she would work hard to earn money and give her daughter a better life like how she had aspired to in the past.