“Ah Lui, you be the judge.” Song Wan finally found someone to complain to. “It’s all your dad. You have no idea. Rainy snatched Xiang Xiang’s dolly, and she shoved her. I wasn’t even done talking, and your dad…”
However, Chu Lui cut her off before she could finish.
“Mom, Rainy only likes one dolly. She won’t want any of the other ones you give her.”
He stood up after he spoke. He did not say much. He left his mother to mull over things, but he knew that his daughter would never do anything like this, no matter the cause.
His heart ached for his obedient little girl.
He gently pushed the door open. Rainy was curled up in the bed, which made her seem extra small.
He walked over, and Rainy opened her eyes. They were red, like a little rabbit’s.
She climbed up from the bed and hugged Chu Lui’s neck.
“Uncle, Rainy misses Mommy. Rainy wants to go home,” the child said with a pout as tears streamed down her face. Chu Lui hugged his daughter tightly. He had hardly seen her cry. He remembered what she was like the first time. A tiny blob that neither cried nor threw tantrums. She had a straight face, and she bowed and thanked him when she left.
Was that to thank him for saving her?
However, he did not save her in the end.
That might be his greatest and irrevocable regret this life.
He took off his coat and picked up his daughter.
“Uncle, where are we going?” Rainy gripped onto Chu Lui’s clothes, her voice soft and meek.
Chu Lui pressed her face into his chest.
“Uncle’s sending you home to see Mommy, okay?”
“Okay.” Rainy’s eyes lit up at the thought of seeing her mommy and listening to her mommy’s stories. She stopped crying and wiped her eyes with her tiny hands.
Chu Jiang and Song Wan stopped quibbling when they saw Chu Lui walk out with Rainy.
“Where are you bringing Rainy?” Song Wan hurried over to try and grab her granddaughter. She had barely spoken to the child, and she intended to sleep with the child tonight.
“I’m bringing her home to her mother.” Chu Lui caressed his daughter’s soft hair.
“Mom, she’s still young. She needs her mother at night.”
Song Wan pursed her lips, but she could do nothing but turn away and keep silent in the end.
“Go, be careful on the way.” Chu Jiang patted his son’s shoulder. Even though he could not bear for his granddaughter to leave, he did not have much of a choice. He saw the wronged expression on his granddaughter’s face, and he had tried cajoling her to no avail earlier. He only left when the child fell asleep. They never really spent much time with the child. They were practically strangers to her.
They could deal with that when she was older.
Song Wan cupped her face in her hands and cried out after Chu Lui left with the child.
“Did I make a mistake? But I…”
Chu Jiang patted his wife’s shoulders comfortingly. “You’re fine. However, the child’s not familiar with us. She’s not Chu Xiang, whom you’ve been bringing and is close to you. It’ll get better with time.”
Song Wan actually intended to apologize. She reprimanded Rainy before she thought things through so she felt guilty and had nothing to say. She then swore to herself that she would not do that the next time she saw her granddaughter. It was just a misunderstanding. As an adult, she should not have stepped in between a child’s quibble.
…
Xia Ruoxin was perusing a book recommended by Chu Lui’s secretary. It was a good book so she borrowed it to pass time when she was free. She was reading it because she could not fall asleep.
With Rainy gone, she did not have anything to do.
Knock, knock. There was a knock at the door. She closed the book and looked at the door. It was almost nine. Who could it be?
When she opened the door, she saw Chu Lui who was covered in a drizzle of rainwater. There were minuscule beads of water in his hair. He was in a white shirt, and his sleeves were casually rolled up to his elbows, leaving half of his muscular arm out.
There was something in his arms that was covered up in his clothes. He might have been caught in the rain, but whatever he was carrying did not get a drop of rainwater.
He wrapped his arms tightly around it, but it was clear that he was cautious and gentle.
“I brought her back.” He smiled before entering without an invitation.
He brought Rainy directly to the bedroom, set the sleeping child down, and tucked her in bed. The child was in deep sleep as she pinched on her blankets. She seemed a little uneasy at first, but she settled down quickly later—perhaps from the familiar scents.
“Mommy…” Rainy gripped her blanket again as she habitually looked for her mother. Xia Ruoxin picked Dolly up and placed it in her daughter’s embrace. She was sleeping very soundly now. She would not wake up even if there were thunder and lightning.
There was a sudden rumble of thunder from outside, followed by bouts of lightning. Xia Ruoxin suddenly recalled that the weather had been forecast for a thunderstorm, and citizens were advised to stay home.
She tucked Rainy in, and the child slept soundly, unaffected by the thunder.
When Xia Ruoxin came out, Chu Lui was still there. He was standing on the balcony without his coat. His shirt was a little crumpled from carrying Rainy earlier, and he leaned on the railings as he smoked a cigarette, looking rather rugged and distant.
The storm from outside could be heard as rain drifted into the balcony. The man seemed unbothered, remaining still as the rain drizzled on him.
There could not be rainbows without rain, but he had lost his rainbow no matter how many storms he would go through.
“She’s asleep?” Chu Lui snuffed out his cigarette and asked as he walked over.
His clothes were a lot wetter than before. One could wring water from his sleeves.