Before he could finish his question, her face turned red and she choked on her rice. He calmly passed her a bowl of heated broth and stroked her back reassuringly as she tried to clear her throat of residual rice.
She had to take three gulps of the broth before she could swallow her food with difficulty. She looked at Youyou who seemed to know something.
Why did he ask this question out of the blue? Did he detect something…?
He saw how panicky and helpless she was and gave her a reassuring smile; he did not know anything.
She slapped her forehead in horrid realization!When Youyou was much younger, he used to ask her this question. She had lied to him to satisfy his curiosity, but she could no longer recall what she had said to him back then.
If her reply was inconsistent with that one from before and he still remembered what she had said at that time, he would find out that she had lied to him!
She hesitated and decided to change the topic. “Hey, precious, come over and give mommy a massage. I’m aching from working the whole day.”
She saw him give her a contemptuous look.
She broke into a cold sweat. “Youyou, what is that look for?”
She felt so guilty.
Youyou sighed and said, “What will I do with you?”He stood up, sat beside her, and proceeded to rub her shoulders. She furtively sighed in relief for managing to get out of the sticky situation.
She of course did not see her precious son’s pensive look as he was standing behind her.
He saw her skeptical look and gently asked, “I called you this morning, but an uncle answered the call, instead.”
“What…” She was dumbstruck.
Was it that man?
“Who is that uncle?”
Youyou’s innocent voice only served to make her feel nervous.
She carefully probed, “Did that uncle ask you anything… like your name, perhaps?”
“Nope! And even if he did, I wouldn’t tell him! Mommy instructed me not to give my name to strangers,” he replied with a pout.
“Youyou is such an obedient child!” She was truly consoled by her son’s answer.
“I even asked uncle to increase your wage!” he added innocently and then flashed her a toothy grin.
Her eyes welled up with tears as she asked him in a hoarse voice, “Youyou won’t leave mommy, will you?”
He immediately replied, “Youyou will never leave mommy! Why did mommy ask such a question?”
“If…” She took a deep breath and then resolved to say, “If one day your daddy asks to have you…”
“Never! I will always be mommy’s Youyou! I only love mommy!” The heartfelt confession from the child made the mother burst into tears!
She held him tightly as her uneasiness dispersed.
No one could take Youyou away from her!
Feeling contrite, she looked at him and said, “Youyou, mommy will never leave you alone at home again.”
Youyou’s face flushed with embarrassment when she held him close to her bosom, but he continued patting her back reassuringly.
This was when he spotted the ugly cut at the corner of her mouth. He froze up and asked with a frown, “Mommy, what happened to your lips?”
