Xiaotong was still wearing yesterday's school uniform. The cute little doll, who used to look like a pink-and-white carved figurine, now seemed a bit downcast. He opened his big eyes and looked at the three adults waiting for the truth. The experience this time still scared him a bit, and he nodded timidly.
Li Qiyu noticed Xiaotong's fear. She sat down beside him, put her arm around his shoulder, and asked gently, "Xiaotong, be a good boy. Don't be afraid. It's okay now. Mom, Dad, and aunt are all here with you. Can you tell aunt what you've been through in these past two days?"
Xiaotong still had the matter of his parents' divorce on his mind, so his eyes kept darting towards Ming Yuezhu and Li Yuanhua. Li Qiyu had spent so much time with Xiaotong that she knew he must have something on his mind when he behaved like this. She thought of the note and immediately understood. She said to Li Yuanhua and Ming Yuezhu, "Brother and sister-in-law, I'll stay here with Tongtong. You go and receive Accountant Liu first."
Li Yuanhua and Ming Yuezhu exchanged a look. They were helpless about the fact that their child liked his aunt more than them, but for now, they could only leave it to Li Qiyu.
The two left the room. At this time, Li Qiyu asked Xiaotong again.
"Xiaotong, be a good boy. Can you tell aunt what happened?"
Xiaotong pursed his lips, looking on the verge of crying.
"Uncle Liu said that my mom and dad are getting divorced."
"Was that note in your desk given to you by Uncle Liu?"
"Yeah." Xiaotong nodded obediently.
"Do you know what divorce means?"
"The kids in class said that divorce means separating and never getting back together."
Although the children in the kindergarten are all young, since today's kids are exposed to electronic products at a very young age, they take in all the content that they shouldn't see or hear. So when Xiaotong took the note and asked his little friends, they all made it sound extremely scary.
That his mom and dad would be separated forever and abandon him.
That his dad would marry a new mom who would treat him badly.
Actually, although Xiaotong is young, he's not completely ignorant. For example, he knows that his current grandma, Jiang Yongfeng, is his dad's stepmother.
A child's intuition is very sharp. Although Jiang Yongfeng isn't particularly bad to him and does what a grandma should do, Xiaotong just instinctively rejects her. Just thinking about having a stepmother in the future makes him feel upset.
"What happened next? After you got this note?"
"I knew you would come to pick me up after school. I didn't want to go to big aunt's house. I wanted to find Mom and Dad. I wanted them not to separate and not to find me a new mom."
"So you slipped away secretly?"
Xiaotong lowered his little head. "Yes."
"Why didn't you come to big aunt? Big aunt could have helped you persuade your mom and dad."
Xiaotong looked up at Li Qiyu and said, "Uncle Liu said that big aunt knew about this a long time ago and was deliberately lying to Tongtong. Big aunt, did you lie to Tongtong?"
Li Qiyu apologized sincerely, "Yes, big aunt is sorry. But Xiaotong also made big aunt sad. Xiaotong would rather believe a stranger than big aunt. How could big aunt hurt Xiaotong?"
Hearing this, Xiaotong quickly hugged Li Qiyu's waist and buried his head in her arms to apologize. "Sorry, big aunt. Tongtong was wrong."
Actually, when Xiaotong woke up and found himself in a strange room, he was very scared. He kept shouting that he wanted to go home, but no one paid attention to him. It wasn't until later that Uncle Liu showed up and took him home.
"It's big aunt's fault." After comforting Xiaotong for a while, Li Qiyu continued to ask, "What happened next? Did Uncle Liu take you away?"
Xiaotong shook his head and said, "I remember the address of home. After I ran out, I wanted to take a taxi back to the Li Mansion. But in the flower bed, it seemed like someone covered my nose from behind. After that, I fell asleep."
Xiaotong demonstrated while talking.
Although the child didn't speak very clearly, through his demonstration, Li Qiyu understood that Xiaotong had been drugged and knocked out.
Xiaotong continued to say intermittently, "When I woke up, I was already at Uncle Liu's house."
But children are still innocent. At this time, he still thought that Accountant Liu had saved him. "Uncle Liu said that he picked me up on the road and wanted to take me home."
Xiaotong was willing to believe Accountant Liu because Accountant Liu had told him about his family before. Since Accountant Liu knew these things, he must know the people in his family.
Children don't think so much. In a strange environment, it's easier for them to feel close to someone who has a little something in common with them.
The combination of giving the note and "finding" Xiaotong is quite interesting.
Li Qiyu confirmed, "Xiaotong, are you sure it was Uncle Liu who gave you the note?"
Xiaotong nodded and said, "Although Uncle Liu was wearing a hat and had a beard when he gave me the note, my uncle taught me before that when looking at people, we shouldn't just look at their appearance but at their eyes. Eyes are the hardest to deceive. I recognize Uncle Liu's eyes. It's the same person."
"Could it be him who covered your nose?"
Xiaotong shook his head, indicating, "I don't know. I didn't see."
Now, Xiaotong had provided all the information he could. Li Qiyu knew that this was the greatest effort this frightened child could make. She lovingly stroked his little head and said, "Okay, Xiaotong is a good boy and is very brave. Remember in the future, not everyone who knows about your mom and dad is a good uncle. Your mom is a big star, and many people know her."
Xiaotong nodded. But what he was more concerned about at the moment was his parents' divorce.
"Big aunt, are my mom and dad really going to separate?"
Facing this question, Li Qiyu thought of the state of Li Yuanhua and Ming Yuezhu. She could feel the affection between them. She had a hunch that Ming Yuezhu and Li Yuanhua's divorce might be like hers and Song Yian's, from death to rebirth. Separating was for a new beginning.
Li Qiyu explained kindly, "Xiaotong, do you still remember your Ultraman toy?"
Xiaotong nodded. He liked Ultraman very much and always played with his Ultraman figurines.
"When Xiaotong went to big aunt's house and didn't take Ultraman with you, weren't you separated from Ultraman?"
Xiaotong continued to nod obediently.
But he didn't understand why big aunt was talking about Ultraman.