Sitting on the bus ride home, Cheng Su couldn’t help but take out that portrait from her bag again, scrutinizing the person in the picture, as if trying to discern something from it.

However, she couldn’t see anything at all.

This person, she had no impression of whatsoever. She even doubted whether, in these two lifetimes of hers, any memory of such a person existed.

Cheng Su closed the portrait, shut her eyes, and began to recall carefully. After a long while, she opened her eyes again.

Truly nothing.

To her, this person was merely a passerby, not even having brushed past her, let alone anything else.

Who could he be, and what was his relationship with Little Cheng Su?

If a relative, they should have taken him away, but if not, then what role was he playing?

Cheng Su pondered but couldn’t think of any clues; she really couldn’t figure it out. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Or maybe her life was too comfortable and peaceful now. She didn’t even want to approach Little Cheng Su’s loneliness. Especially now, with Qi Xiaoqi, she even somewhat avoided it, thinking it was enough for Little Cheng Su to grow up steadily.

Was she ultimately being selfish?

Cheng Su looked at the portrait again for a while, sighed deeply, folded it up, and put it back in her bag.

Looking out the bus window, the scenery outside flashed past. Entering the city, the crowd was bustling, faces passing by; how difficult would it be to find such a person in this vast world?

...

Back home, Cheng Su heard Qi Xiaoqi’s laughter and saw him lying on the sofa, with Father Qi teasing him.

Walking over, he was using his chubby little hands to bend his foot, trying hard to put it into his mouth.

But it was winter now; although Guangcheng wasn’t as cold as Qing City, it was time for winter clothes. Qi Xiaoqi, this little one, was dressed warmly by the adults at home.

He was wearing thick cotton pants, and even his usually bare little feet were covered with cotton socks. Trying to bend his foot into his mouth with so much bulk was really tiring.

So, his little face was all red from the effort, but he was still giggling, the crisp bell-like laughter dispelling the gloom in Cheng Su’s heart.

"Why are you so silly today?" Cheng Su, having been out all day, missed him too, and picked up her son to laugh and ask.

It’s normal for little children to like to eat their toes, but Qi Xiaoqi hadn’t done it before. It was because Cheng Su had once said his feet were not soft, couldn’t bend to reach his mouth. Other little kids had flexible muscles, could lift them over their heads. She tried to lift him with one hand, which got Mother Cheng scolding her, saying she was going to break her son’s leg.

Afterwards, Qi Xiaoqi was afraid of his legs being broken and suddenly one day managed to put his toes into his mouth.

As the son, it was tiring too, constantly afraid his first-time mom would pull another crazy trick on him.

So, to show his legs were flexible, even if he looked silly eating his toes, he had to let her see it.

Qi Xiaoqi lay on her chest, dozing off.

"You’ve just come back, why don’t I put him to sleep?" Father Qi felt sorry for his daughter-in-law running outside, afraid she was tired.

Cheng Su was tired too, mentally tired, but she felt sorry for her son, so she said, "No need, I’ll feed him and lull him to sleep."

Saying this, she took him back to the room.

In just a moment, Qi Xiaoqi fell asleep, but Cheng Su lay staring at the ceiling light in a daze. In her mind, sometimes she saw Little Cheng Su, sometimes the mysterious man, but they never merged. Eventually, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep in a haze.