Chapter 15 The Truth About His Family
The person who came to find Shen Xiuming was his mother's current husband.
Apparently, the man had been pestering him for days.
Only then did I learn that Shen Xiuming's parents had divorced when he was very young. His mother had abandoned him early on.
When they met again years later, he suddenly had a half-sister—He He.
He He was more than ten years younger than him, yet she idolized her big brother completely. Every time they met, she followed him around like a little tail.
She was so proud to have such an outstanding brother.
On her fifteenth birthday, He He suddenly collapsed. Tests showed acute leukemia.
His mother was devastated and begged Shen Xiuming to get tested for bone marrow compatibility.
He agreed.
A while back, because of work, he had to hand in his phone and was out of contact when the results came out.
Even after he got back and immediately asked about the results, his mother's new husband—He He's father—still worried he might back out.
Listening to Shen Xiuming tell his own past in that calm, third-person tone, my heart ached. I reached out and held his hand tightly, wanting to give at least a little warmth to the lonely boy he used to be.
"Sorry for scaring you today," Shen Xiuming said, lowering his eyes. He looked exhausted.
I stood up and wrapped my arms around him, rubbing my cheek lightly against his stubbled jaw. It prickled.
"It's okay. I'll go to the hospital with you tomorrow."
"Okay." He hugged me back hard. The warmth felt so reassuring.
The next day, Shen Xiuming and I bought a fruit basket and a cute plush toy that little girls usually like. We headed to the children's hospital.
A thin girl was curled up on the hospital bed. At the head of the bed were things that looked way too familiar.
They were... Chen Xu's fan support plushies?
A wristband in Chen Xu's fan color was looped around her slender wrist.
"Brother, is this my future sister-in-law? She's so pretty!" The girl buried her small face in the pillow and gave me a bright deer-like smile. If not for her pale face and dry lips, it was hard to believe she was seriously ill.
"Just call me Cen Cen."
"Sister, I heard you like Chen Xu too! Me too!" She happily pointed at the posters stuck near her bed.
"My brother bought them especially for me." Then her head drooped sadly. "But I got sick and missed Chen Xu's concert in North City."
I glanced back at Shen Xiuming. In an instant, everything clicked—the scattered pieces of how we met finally formed a complete picture.
I took He He's hand. "It's okay. When you're better, I'll take you to see him."
"Really? Promise! And bring Brother too!" She lit up with excitement.
"Hey, you want to go without me?" Shen Xiuming let out a low chuckle.
...
When we left the ward, I let out a long breath.
"So the person who was supposed to watch the concert with you but couldn't make it... was your sister?"
Shen Xiuming nodded.
"We're so far apart in age. At first I didn't know how to get along with her. Then I found out she liked this singer called Chen Xu, so I joined the fan group, learned how to grab tickets, and managed to get two for the concert. But a month before the show... she was hospitalized."
"I thought about going in her place and video-calling her from the venue so she could at least feel the atmosphere. But something came up at work."
"Later when you contacted me about sending the concert souvenirs, I realized those things were from her."
"She was so happy when she got them. It's just that the Chen Xu head cookies you made all ended up in my stomach. She couldn't eat them."
Back then, to thank Brand for generously transferring the tickets, I had specially baked those big-headed Chen Xu cookies by hand.
I never expected Shen Xiuming to eat them all.
"So... were they good?" I asked, a little embarrassed. Baking wasn't something I did often.
"Yeah. Really delicious. The little note you wrote was cute too."
Shen Xiuming was about to say more when someone called out, "Xiuming, you're here."
A middle-aged woman walked over carrying a thermos box.
Walking beside her was someone unexpected—Qiao Zhi.
The woman's features looked a lot like Shen Xiuming's, but her expression was tense. She reached out to grab his hand.
"I heard he came looking for you. He didn't cause you any trouble, did he?"
Shen Xiuming stepped back so she couldn't touch him. "It's fine."
She must be Shen Xiuming's mother.
Her face showed embarrassment. When her peripheral vision caught me sitting nearby, her expression grew even worse.
"I have something to say to my son. Could the young lady give us a moment?"
"Where she is, I am. Say whatever you have to say here." Shen Xiuming didn't budge. He stood protectively in front of me.
I was stuck in the middle and felt awkward. Then an idea hit me. I linked arms with Qiao Zhi.
"You two talk first. I have some questions for Qiao Zhi."
Shen Xiuming's mother looked like she wanted to say something, probably hoping Qiao Zhi would stay so I would leave.
No way.
But I wouldn't go far either.
I turned the corner, clutched my stomach pretending to be in pain, and told Qiao Zhi to go ahead while I handled a restroom emergency.
Then I crept back quietly. From a distance, I could already hear Shen Xiuming's mother arguing with him.
"Qiao Zhi is such a great girl—high education, good looks, and her family owns a hospital. This time she helped our family so much. Without her, could your sister get a private room like this? Could we get such top specialists?"
"That little kid just graduated, right? What can she help you with? You should break up with her quickly."
"If people at school find out about you two, think of all the gossip. How much would it affect your career..."
Shen Xiuming stood with his back to me. His broad shoulders looked like a wall.
"Are you finished?" he asked coldly.
"Xiuming, Mom is doing this for your own good. If you—"
"For my own good? Then eighteen years ago you wouldn't have given up custody and flown away."
"And when I grew up, you suddenly showed up again—with someone else's child. I do like He He, but that has nothing to do with you."
"I'm willing to donate bone marrow to save her because she deserves it herself."
"I actually know," Shen Xiuming said with a self-mocking laugh, "I checked that man's family medical history. Several women in their family have had leukemia. It's probably genetic. The reason you came back to find me..."
His voice cracked, filled with resentment, anger, and mostly pain.
"...was just in case one day your daughter gets sick, so I'd be a ready blood and marrow match—"
Slap!
His mother struck him hard across the face.
Shen Xiuming didn't move an inch. She stumbled and fell to the ground.
I couldn't stand seeing anyone bully my person—even if it was his mother.
I rushed forward like an arrow and pulled Shen Xiuming behind me.
"Auntie, what you just said doesn't just underestimate your son's ability. It also underestimates Qiao Zhi."
I glanced at Qiao Zhi, who was still standing at the corner and hadn't come out, then continued.
"Qiao Zhi and my Xiuming have known each other for many years abroad. From work to life, they've always supported each other. Can't people have feelings other than romance?"
"I believe Qiao Zhi helped you and your daughter because of her long friendship with Xiuming over the years."
"If she knew you were pushing someone who doesn't like her to choose her only because of her family's background and resources, that would be an insult—to her and to Xiuming."
"You got angry and hit him because he suspected your motives for coming back weren't pure. Then why can't you put yourself in Qiao Zhi's shoes? How angry would she be if she found out Xiuming was only with her for his sister's sake?"
"That's not what I meant—" Shen Xiuming's mother tried to argue.
"I know that's not what you meant," I kept going, "but that's exactly how it came across."
"Do you even know how good Xiuming is? Even after you abandoned him for eighteen years, when you showed up again with your daughter from another man, he still accepted you both. He's an amazing brother. Even if you and your husband never asked, he would still save his sister."
Remembering the way her husband had threatened Shen Xiuming yesterday, anger surged in me.
"And of course, your husband using me and Xiuming as leverage against him—that was really despicable."
"You—"
She raised her hand again, seeming ready to repeat what she had just done to Shen Xiuming.
This time, Shen Xiuming stepped in front of me and easily caught her wrist.
"Mom!" He didn't give an inch, shielding me completely.
"You two...!" Shen Xiuming's mother let out a deep sigh and dropped her arm in defeat.
"Do whatever you want!"
...
Shen Xiuming and I didn't leave right away. We sat side by side on a bench in the hospital's central garden.
Autumn had already started. Fallen leaves swirled at our feet.
I bought an ice pack from the convenience store and carefully pressed it to the swollen side of his face.
"Are you an idiot? You didn't even try to dodge."
A man over six feet tall got slapped silly by a woman barely five feet.
I blew gently on the red handprint. "There, that should feel better."
His gaze was deep, filled with swirling emotions. Finally he caught my hand, tossed the ice pack aside.
"It's okay. It doesn't hurt anymore. Don't freeze your hand."
The usual Shen Xiuming was always proper and serious, tall and dependable.
But now, leaning against me, he looked rare and vulnerable.
"I don't actually blame her. I understand why she made that choice back then.
In those early years my dad poured almost all his time into research.
After I was born, he basically left me with my mom and his mother.
People called him a great physicist, but to me he was a terrible husband and a failed father. "
"When I was little, facing four empty walls alone, I wondered why they didn't want me but still brought me into the world."
"Later when I grew up, I started to understand my dad's obsession with his career and the pain my mom endured. Understanding is one thing, but bringing it up still makes me lose control."
I squeezed the soft spot between his thumb and index finger. "That's normal. You're always so calm on the outside, but you feel things deeply."
Shen Xiuming suddenly smiled. "But I'm lucky. I met my sun."
His large hand wrapped around mine. His palm was warm and dry.
He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to my forehead.
The leaves rustled, just like my fluttering heart.
When we left the hospital, we ran into Qiao Zhi at the entrance.
Knowing they probably had things to say, I got in the car first.