Love in the Midst of Mistaken Identities

Li Manni was smiling very brightly, be it from glee or happiness. Without Xia Ruoxin or the kid, she felt like Chu Lui was really hers. Now, they were really happy.

Chu Lui collected his thoughts and then saw the smile that could be said to be blissful on Li Manni’s face. Was she happy now? He, however, was not happy at all.

His heart was weighed down.

He pursed his thin lips. He would just go with this life, living every day like this. He was already a father expecting a baby. There was nothing more he could wish for.

He lowered his head, pressing his thin lips against Li Manni’s forehead. Yet, his heart was still. Without a single ripple.

In the hospital, Xia Ruoxin was feeding Rainy the cake spoon by spoon. Rainy only took a few bites before stopping.

“Mommy, Rainy is not hungry anymore.” Rainy blinked her eyes and pushed away the cake that used to be her favorite. Her stomach was full and bloated, and she did not want to eat anymore.

“Then Mommy will save some for you tomorrow, okay?” Xia Ruoxin put down the cake in her hands, not forcing her daughter.

“Okay, then Rainy will eat it tomorrow morning,” Rainy said and put her arms around Xia Ruoxin’s neck, but she picked up a milk bottle and put it in Rainy’s hands.

“Then drink the milk first, Rainy.”

Rainy shook her head. She did not want to drink it.

Her small hands hugged the milk bottle in her arms, reluctant to speak.

“Mommy went through a lot to make you this. If you don’t drink it, Mommy will be sad. Xia Ruoxin softly stroked her daughter’s face. If she didn’t drink it, she would not have the energy to persevere.

Rainy pouted reluctantly but lowered her head and sipped on the milk in the end. Even though she did not want to drink the milk, she didn’t want pain in her mother’s eyes even more.

Xia Ruoxin’s hand was always on her daughter’s bald head. Rainy blinked weakly and then finished the milk in the bottle in mouthfuls.

It tasted awful. She would never drink milk again in the future.

She shook the bottle in her hands and showed it to Xia Ruoxin. “Look, Mommy, Rainy finished it all.” She placed the milk bottle in Xia Ruoxin’s hands, then climbed into her arms, and gently rubbed her face against her mother.

“Mommy, Rainy is tired… want to sleep. Remember to wake Rainy up tomorrow.” Her eyes closed shut slowly. Her lips lifted into a slight smile. Her mother’s arms were the warmest. She liked it best.

“Rainy likes Mommy. Rainy loves Mommy a lot,” She said softly, her eyelashes fluttering weakly. Then, she fell silent as she slept quietly.

She was always obedient when she slept. As long as she had the doll, she could sleep till the next day without making a fuss.

“Mommy loves Rainy, too.” Xia Ruoxin kissed her daughter’s cheeks and covered her with a blanket. She patted her daughter’s small back gently, wanting to let her sleep with more peace of mind.

The surrounding was silent. The warm light fell on Rainy’s beautiful face. Faintly, the child’s skin was so white it was almost transparent. It was an abnormal white, a sickly white.

Xia Ruoxin continued holding her daughter and patting her shoulder occasionally as if she did not know fatigue.

Time passed slowly, and her actions became slower and slower. She was actually suffering more than anyone else. Rainy was tired, and so was she. Really, really tired…

She maintained the same position and carefully protected the daughter in her arms. Her hand was on Rainy’s small back, but her eyes were already closed shut. She rested her chin on top of Rainy’s head. She fell asleep in that position.

Dark green circles were obvious at the bottom of her eyes. She did not have a good sleep since and have not had a good dream.

Xia Ruoxin woke up suddenly. She lowered her head and hugged her daughter, and she then realized that she was still asleep. Her face had finally regained some color. She continued patting her daughter’s back again, and unknowingly, the sky had turned bright.

Another day had come. It was great to see the sun rise, wasn’t it? Rainy. She gently rubbed her daughter’s cheeks against her own, feeling the slight chill on her daughter’s body.

She laid a blanket over her, took her small hand, and held it in her own.

Rainy, are you cold? Mommy will give you some warmth so you won’t be cold anymore.” She kept blowing hot air on her daughter’s hands, rubbing her small hands with care. Her hands were really like chicken feet, thin without a piece of meat.

“Rainy, when you recover, Mommy will definitely raise you till you’re chubby. I’ll let you eat all that you couldn’t recently. Then I’ll have to call you Piggy instead of Rainy.”

She kept blowing air on her daughter’s hands, but they grew colder and colder, to the point where they might even drain all the heat from her body.

“Don’t be scared, Rainy. Mommy is here. I’ll make you warm again.” She placed Rainy’s hands against her own body. The pair of small hands was almost void of temperature, and she just looked tenderly at Rainy’s face.

She placed her hand on her daughter’s face once again.

“Rainy, you are Mommy’s greatest happiness, you know. If it weren’t for you, I would have already been dead so you must accompany your mother. I’ll watch you grow up, I always will.”

The day grew brighter, and the hospital was starting to break the silence of the night. People were coming and going. Xia Ruoxin kept talking to Rainy.

The doctor pushed open the door and walked in. Upon seeing the child’s slightly blue face, his heart jolted.

Could the child be…?

“Miss Xia, leave Rainy to us, okay?” The doctor reached his hand out, but Xia Ruoxin did not spare him a glance as she continued to pat her daughter’s back. Her eyes landed on the cake on the table, and she carefully tapped her daughter’s small nose.

“Rainy, it’s morning. Didn’t you ask me to wake you up in the morning to eat the cake? See, if you don’t wake up, Mommy is going to eat your cake. Don’t blame Mommy if you wake up late and have no more cake left.”