Although Xuanxuan had returned safely, everyone had lost the mood for camping. They packed up their things and headed home.
On the way back to the Yan family's mansion in the luxury RV, Xuanxuan lowered his head and stood in front of Xu Zixi and Yan Yincheng, admitting his mistake in a low voice, "Daddy, Mommy, Xuanxuan knows I was wrong."
"Humph," Xu Zixi snorted. "Tell me, how on earth were you lured away by him?"
So Xuanxuan told them the whole story. When Xu Zixi heard that her son had used the words about the Goddess of Mercy that she had made up a long time ago to comfort Bai Xuanhe, she let out a long sigh and hugged Xuanxuan in her arms.
Now, she somewhat understood Bai Xuanhe.
It was Xuanxuan's kindness that had earned him Bai Xuanhe's special treatment. Bai Xuanhe was indeed a person who was extremely starved of love, which was why he wanted to have a child like Xuanxuan who could bring him the power of healing by his side.
Gently stroking his hair, Xu Zixi said, "Baby, Mommy hopes that you will be happy all your life and not be affected by any negative emotions. Your world should be bright. Don't resent anyone. Just stay the way you are now. That's perfect."
"Then is Mommy not angry anymore?" Xuanxuan asked, looking up.
Xu Zixi kissed his little cheek and said, "I'm not angry anymore. My baby is an angel who has brought happiness and joy to many people. Mommy is more than happy. Look, even Uncle He wants to love and care about you now. That's a good thing."
Xuanxuan wrapped his arms around his mommy's neck, buried his face in her arms, and nodded vigorously. "Yes! Xuanxuan will work hard!"
Smelling the familiar scent on his mommy, Xuanxuan felt so at ease that he fell asleep without even realizing it.
When they got home, they put the kids to bed. Xu Zixi left the room and saw Yan Yincheng standing under the starry sky on the terrace.
She walked up to him and hugged him from behind. Tears welled up in her eyes uncontrollably.
"Just a little bit. Just a little bit..."
Yan Yincheng knew what she was sad about. He turned around and held his woman tightly in his arms, patting her on the back gently to comfort her. "Don't be sad, and don't blame yourself. We just need to do our best."
Xu Zixi murmured in his arms, "I know. I just didn't expect that Bai Xuanhe wanted to take Xuanxuan away for such a reason. So, in the past life, did he take Xuanxuan in because he thought Xuanxuan's experience was similar to his own?"
"That was in the past life. It doesn't matter anymore. What matters is that Xuanxuan is with us this life, and Bai Xuanhe has chosen to let go of his hatred."
"From now on, no one will be able to threaten us. So, please do your best to treat my eyes. I can't wait to open my eyes and see this world."
"To see how beautiful my wife is and how excellent my children are. They are so excellent that even someone like Bai Xuanhe can be won over. I'm really looking forward to our future and our children's future. What about you?"
Yan Yincheng asked softly.
Xu Zixi smiled. All her uneasiness and self - blame disappeared. She said, "I'm looking forward to it too."
...
In Alex's apartment, Bai Xuanhe and Alex were sitting on the carpet, drinking. There were cans of beer all in front of them.
Bai Xuanhe popped open a can, took a sip, and asked Alex, "Were the things that Yan said just now true?"
"Yes, they were," Alex replied. "The teacher always carried pictures of you and his wife with him. Whenever he saw someone who looked like you or his wife when they were young, he would be in a daze for a long time. To be honest, when Yan was a kid, he looked quite serious and unsmiling, just like you."
Really? Bai Xuanhe thought absent - mindedly. If that incident hadn't happened twenty - five years ago and he had grown up safely like an ordinary person, would there have been a chance for him and her?
"When you knew that I was still alive in this world, didn't you ever think of telling me all this?" Pushing aside the inappropriate thoughts in his mind, Bai Xuanhe asked Alex beside him.
"I did," Alex said. "But at that time, you were full of hatred and only believed your own judgment. Even if I had told you, you would have thought that I was just making excuses for the teacher."
Bai Xuanhe laughed softly. Yes, he only believed in himself, which made him miss a lot of things that he deeply desired. If he hadn't been so paranoid, everything would have been different.
Bai Xuanhe felt his cheeks getting cold. He reached up and touched them. He didn't even know when he had started crying.
He remembered what had happened on the day when Tang Qian had an accident.
When he learned that Tang Qian had found a way to cure Yan Yincheng's blindness, out of jealousy, he sneaked into the manor one night, planning to steal the data while Tang Qian was sleeping.
But he didn't expect Tang Qian to wake up. Even though they hadn't seen each other for twenty - five years, Tang Qian seemed to recognize him immediately. The old man got out of bed in a hurry and tried to grab him, but he dodged. The floor was a bit slippery because the servants had just cleaned the house that day, and Tang Qian fell to the ground.
Even though he hated his father for abandoning him back then, he never intended to hurt him. When he found that the old man was in a bad state after the fall, he checked and confirmed that the fall might have caused a cerebral hemorrhage. After making a noise to attract Han Bei, he hid in the dark and left only after watching them take the old man to the hospital.
After Tang Qian had the accident, he kept calling out "Yan" instead of his name.
This made Bai Xuanhe even more miserable. He took the data and left the manor, then burned it.
But now, he might understand Tang Qian's feelings at that time. Tang Qian had always thought that he was dead, so the scene before he fell into a coma might have just been a hallucination to him.
The reason why Tang Qian called out another name before he died was out of his responsibility for the promise he had made to a child to find a way to treat his eyes. That was all.
But Bai Xuanhe couldn't help but wonder. If Tang Qian had still been in good health, would he have dared to recognize him?
The answer was no.
His hands were stained with dirt that could never be washed off. He was in the darkness, living with snakes, rats, and insects all day long. He had already lost the chance to stand in front of Tang Qian openly as "Bai Xuanhe".
So, he would rather never see him for the rest of their lives.
After that, he and Alex very awkwardly changed the topic. They no longer talked about the past and only talked about Xuanxuan.
Alex told Bai Xuanhe a lot of interesting things that had happened when Xuanxuan was learning medicine with him. He also praised Xuanxuan as a very talented child. As long as he was taught once, he could learn it and even draw inferences from one instance.
Alex studied Western medicine, so the knowledge he taught Xuanxuan was about Western medicine. But the Bai family had a background in traditional Chinese medicine. Thanks to the foundation he had laid in his childhood, Bai Xuanhe also had a solid understanding of traditional Chinese medicine theory.
After finishing the beer in his hand, he thought to himself that he would work with Xiaofei to make this child the most outstanding doctor in the world.
Before they knew it, they had finished all the beer. Under the influence of alcohol, Bai Xuanhe fell asleep groggily.
Then, he had a very strange dream.