Over here, the mother and son were enjoying a heart - warming moment, while over there, Qi Shifeng wore a displeased look on his face.
Xu Tingyu soon noticed and tried to tone it down.
After all, no matter what, he had raised Youyou on his own until now. He would surely feel jealous seeing Youyou so close to her.
But she couldn't bear to let go of her son. So she said to Qi Shifeng, "I don't have any work tomorrow morning. Can I take him to school? Can he sleep here with me tonight?"
As soon as she said this, Youyou also looked at Qi Shifeng expectantly.
However, the man remained unmoved. "He hasn't taken a shower yet, and there are no spare clothes for him here."
"I can go buy them right away."
Xu Tingyu remembered there was a mall opposite. It should be half an hour before it closed. If she took Youyou there now, they would definitely make it.
She could tell that Qi Shifeng's words about clothes were just an excuse.
But she was so eager to be with Youyou that she could only pretend to be naive.
Qi Shifeng glanced at her and suddenly said to Youyou, "I need to talk to Mom alone for five minutes. Why don't you go inside and play for a while, okay?"
Youyou didn't know what problems there were between his parents, but since Qi Shifeng said so, he still nodded obediently.
Then he slid off Xu Tingyu's lap and walked into the bedroom, looking back every few steps.
After the bedroom door closed, Qi Shifeng's expression turned even colder.
"Miss Xu, I hope you understand that you were the one who abandoned your son. Now you're acting so affectionate towards him, as if you love him deeply. What exactly are you up to?"
"Moreover, as far as I know, you came back this time for work and are staying in a hotel. You don't seem to have any intention of staying for long, right?"
"In that case, you should keep your distance from Youyou. He's a very emotional child and can't bear to be abandoned by his mother twice."
He was really cruel, knowing exactly where it hurt Xu Tingyu the most and hitting right at that spot.
She did owe Youyou a great deal. Facing his accusations, she felt a bit overwhelmed.
But after only a moment of silence, she looked up at him seriously and said, "Leaving Youyou was never my intention. Mr. Qi, if you're willing, I can raise him."
She knew that in the past four years, Youyou hadn't been sent to the old mansion but had always been raised by Qi Shifeng.
It was precisely because of this that she could sit down and talk to Qi Shifeng properly now.
"Leaving him was never your intention? So back then, you left him because of me?"
"Now you want to take him back? Xu Tingyu, what on earth do you take our father - son relationship for?"
Perhaps due to his agitation, Qi Shifeng's eyes even seemed a bit red.
Xu Tingyu didn't dare to meet his gaze at all.
Her eyes instinctively swept across his chest and then landed on the sofa cushion beside.
"Youyou is my son. I love him and miss him."
When talking about Youyou, she was always gentle, just like when she talked to baby Youyou four years ago.
But Qi Shifeng sneered.
"I've always been considerate of Youyou's feelings and haven't exposed you. Don't you really think you're a good mother?"
"If you really loved and missed him, you would never have abandoned him. Back then, even if the old master had great influence, he couldn't have really snatched the child away."
"Weren't you prepared with a bunch of means to expose the matter? Why didn't you use them in the end and just left?"
He stared intently at Xu Tingyu, his tone getting harsher with each word.
But Xu Tingyu's attention was all on the words that she wasn't a good mother.
She really wasn't a good mother.
On this point, she had nothing to say.
"Fine, even if you couldn't go against the Qi family back then, what about later? I sent you pictures of Youyou. If you really missed him, how could you be so indifferent?"
Seeing that she didn't say a word, Qi Shifeng's anger grew stronger.
How dare she just disappear for four years without a trace and then come back and say she loved and missed the child?
They had shared a bed for more than four years, and she had always harbored hatred for him.
Youyou was his son. Did she really love him without any reservations?
Xu Tingyu instinctively wanted to defend herself.
"I wanted to respond, but I was afraid of being discovered. I was afraid of bringing trouble to him."
After all, when she left, the old master had given a warning.
If she dared to contact Youyou privately and still harbored the idea of taking the child away, he would rather ruin the child than let her succeed.
Qi Shifeng thought this explanation was extremely weak.
"Trouble? Do you think these two words can offset everything?"
"Do you know that when he was one year old, he had pneumonia and almost went into the ICU due to a high fever?"
"Do you know that when he was two, he saw other kids with their moms and followed a strange mom for a long way out of envy?"
"You know nothing. You even try to make up for all the things you've missed with just a light - hearted apology."
From Youyou's perspective, Xu Tingyu was indeed an irresponsible mother.
She had left him when he was only four months old and disappeared without a trace.
Xu Tingyu's eyes turned red, and tears welled up in her eyes, but she didn't dare to let them fall.
She seemed afraid that the man in front of her would see her vulnerability.
The atmosphere fell into a strange silence for a moment.
Finally, Youyou, who had waited for five minutes, couldn't wait any longer and rushed out, running straight to Xu Tingyu's side.
Seeing that her face looked bad and she seemed about to cry, he immediately asked worriedly, "Mom, what's wrong?"
Xu Tingyu shook her head and said, "I'm sorry."
"But Mom didn't do anything wrong. Why are you apologizing? Did Dad bully you?"
"Dad is like this sometimes. He just looks fierce, but actually he's not fierce at all. Mom, don't be afraid of Dad."
Little angel Youyou reached out and touched Xu Tingyu's face, comforting her not to cry.
He had once been to Dad's office and seen Dad scold a beautiful aunt until she cried.
Some people said Dad was very fierce, but he didn't think so. Dad was gentle most of the time.
After thinking for a while, he turned to Qi Shifeng and said, "Dad, did you scold Mom? You shouldn't be like this. Mom just came back. It's not nice of you."
Then he ran over and grabbed Qi Shifeng's hand, pulling him to Xu Tingyu's side.
"The teacher said that kids who quarrel should shake hands and hug each other, and then they're not allowed to quarrel anymore."
"Dad, Mom, you two shake hands and hug each other too."
His eyes were full of eager light as he grabbed their hands.
Xu Tingyu felt a bit embarrassed and偷偷 glanced at Qi Shifeng.
She didn't want to appear vulnerable in front of her son, but Youyou seemed to have misunderstood.
It made her seem like a scheming woman.
Fortunately, Qi Shifeng's face was cold, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
"Why aren't you saying anything? If you keep quarreling, how can you participate in my parent - child activity together next week?"
Youyou was a bit angry.
Why were Mom and Dad acting like kids? They were still unwilling to make up after a quarrel!