Xu Binchen stared at Shi Nian through the transparent glass on the door, beside him was Doctor Chun. The elderly man sighed in lament. “She really asked you herself?”

Xu Binchen hummed, his gaze straying to the girl’s eyes which started to turn red. Her lips pursed as if trying to choke back any emotion.

“She is too sensible, too mature for her own age. It is reasonable for her to ask for her own mother. We should leave her be and give them some time alone.” Doctor Chun smiled gently and walked down the hallway.

Xu Binchen didn’t leave though. Instead, he sat down on the metal chair and closed his eyes to rest.

In his heart, he thought; finally, she showed some traits of teenagers of her own age.

***

“Shi Nian, forgive mama ah. Mama is still swarmed with work. Are you comfortable there? Is Doctor Chun good to you?”

Shi Nian looked at the woman’s haggard appearance through the screen and her nose turned sour. She lowered her eyes to hide the tears that sprung up and typed. [It’s okay. Doctor Chun is very good to me. Mama…are you very tired?]

Qiang Fei sniffled and smiled in tears. “Mama is okay, not tired at all. Be good and listen to Doctor Chun okay? Don’t think about anything else…don’t force yourself to recover…” Qiang Fei choked on her words, a drop of tears slid down her cheek. “It’s okay. As long as you’re alive, Mama is happy already…”

Shi Nian’s fingers traced on the woman’s thin face on the screen, her vision blurred with tears. [Ma, I miss you…] This was the first time they had talked ever since Shi Nian disappeared, it had been almost four months, plus ever since she regained her past life’s memories, Shi Nian always felt that she had been through a lifetime, the longing inside her heart was incomparable.

In her last life, she didn’t have a mother, but there were sisters who would always take care of her. All of them ended up being executed or killed when they were running away from the fugitives, leaving Shi Nian alone which ended up saved by General Jiang Jinyan, and she belatedly found out that her mother’s face resembled one of her closest sisters in her past life, even their name was the same.

“Mama misses you too, baby.” Qiang Fei smiled brightly, her eyes glittering like a sea of stars. “Wait for a while, mama will go home soon, okay?”

Shi Nian nodded sensibly, her heart filled with unprecedented warmth.

[Mama, I…]

“Hmm? What do you want to say?”

Shi Nian hesitated. Throughout her sixteen years of life, there had only been the two of them, living while supporting each other. Shi Nian had never kept any secret from Qiang Fei, the mother and daughter pair could always talk about everything.

But the thing about past life, should Shi Nian talk about it?

She pursed her lips and shook her head. [I just want to say, don’t work yourself too hard. I am recovering fast. Doctor Chun and the others said that I have superb physic!]

“En.” Qiang Fei nodded happily. “When mama returns later, we will eat hotpot together, okay?”

She nodded, her light pupils squinted in joy.

The talk lasted for almost an hour. They didn’t talk about Shi Nian’s kidnapping, nor did they discuss her PTSD or the fact that she could no longer speak. Qiang Fei treated her the same as always, but Shi Nian could see how the woman tried to suppress her sadness.

It made her feel bad as well as giving her a burst of energy to recover more swiftly so that she could no longer worry everyone.

She ended the call and walked toward the door, opening it only to find Xu Binchen outside. Hearing the movement, the man cracked his eyes open and asked. “Finished?”

Shi Nian nodded and handed the phone back to him. [Uncle, thank you. I will pay you back later. International calls are quite expensive.]

“Save it.” The man grunted and checked on his phone for miscalls and unread mails. “Just a bit of money, I can afford.”

Shi Nian seemed to remember Nurse Zhang saying that Xu Binchen had some connection with the director of the hospital. Once again, she was reminded how he was totally unlike a detective. He looked well off, so why did he have to go through so much suffering to chase after criminals and solve cases?

[Uncle.] She sat down beside him and glanced at his sharp profile. [Is being a detective fun?]

Xu Binchen stared at her for a while as if trying to discern what was running through her mind. “If you count all of those sleepless night to do undercover, as well as the threat of losing your life at any moment and after all of that, you would only not get many appreciation but also had to endure being cursed by public…it should be fun?” he shrugged his shoulders with utter indifference, no longer paying her any attention.

Shi Nian was rendered speechless, her melancholy and sadness evaporated instantly.

Could it kill him not to be sarcastic for a second?!