Chu Xiyue looked at Mrs. Ji, who was scolding Mo Xiang, then at the obediently bowed Mo Xiang, and marveled at the strange twists of fate.
"Mrs. Ji, haven't you noticed anything wrong all these years?" she asked.
[Who in real life would imagine something like this could happen? Mrs. Ji had once wondered why her son did not resemble her, but her husband brushed it off by saying their son looked like his late grandfather. But how did Ji Peng resemble anyone from the Ji Family? He looked like his biological mother!]
[Mrs. Ji had been kept in the dark and did not know that her son was not biologically hers. But her son was different. He had known about his background since childhood and had reunited with his biological mother. Still, he was clever enough to know that an illegitimate son was not the same as a legitimate one. All these years, he had only met his mistress mother in secret, while putting on the appearance of a good son before Mrs. Ji.]
Chu Xiyue frowned. "So Mrs. Ji and Mo Xiang are the only two people who've been kept in the dark about this whole thing?"
Chu Xiyue glanced at the elegantly dressed Mrs. Ji. Though Mrs. Ji was sharp-tongued, competitive, and mean-spirited, that was no reason for her to raise a mistress's son while her own child suffered outside.
Mo Xiang had it even worse. She had been kidnapped by traffickers as a child, going from a wealthy young lady to a child at the Orphanage. When she grew up, she met a scumbag—and worse still, that scumbag was the very person who had stolen her life.
Why should the scumbag enjoy wealth and glory while the victim suffered hardship and exhaustion?
Just as Mrs. Ji brought up the matter of children with Mo Xiang again, Chu Xiyue looked at her. Her bright, piercing gaze made Mrs. Ji uncomfortable, and she frowned. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I was listening to Auntie Ji and Sister Mo talking just now, and it suddenly reminded me of a friend of mine. Her situation was somewhat like Sister Mo's," Chu Xiyue said with a smile. "Like Sister Mo, my friend had been married for many years without having a son."
Women Mrs. Ji's age were naturally interested in other people's gossip. Her attention was caught, and she leaned forward slightly. "What happened after that?"
In a gossiping tone, Chu Xiyue said, "After that, she went to the hospital. A year later, she gave birth to a pair of twins—a boy and a girl! The children are already in kindergarten!"
"Really?" Mrs. Ji grew excited, as if she could see a grandson and granddaughter running toward her. Her eyes lit up as she looked at Chu Xiyue, and she became much friendlier. "Which hospital did your friend go to for treatment? I should have my daughter-in-law go take a look too. The doctors at these hospitals in Shenzhen are useless. They ran a whole pile of tests and still couldn't find any problem."
Chu Xiyue tilted her head. "She didn't receive treatment at a hospital."
Mrs. Ji:?
She slapped her forehead. "Look at me, I didn't explain it clearly. She and her husband went to the hospital for examinations and discovered that the problem was with her husband. So she changed husbands, and then she really did get pregnant—naturally, too. Boy-and-girl twins. How rare!"
Chu Xiyue glanced at Mo Xiang meaningfully. "Auntie Ji, you said yourself that the hospital didn't find anything wrong with Sister Mo. Have you considered that perhaps the problem isn't on Sister Mo's side?"
Mrs. Ji suddenly fell silent.
She had never considered that possibility before. Whenever she brought up children, Ji Peng would hint, directly or indirectly, that Mo Xiang was the reason they could not conceive. So even though she knew Mo Xiang was healthy, Mrs. Ji had instinctively believed that Mo Xiang was the reason she had no eldest grandson.
She looked at Mo Xiang. Could there really be something wrong with her son?
She instinctively denied it. "Impossible. How could there be anything wrong with my son? He's perfectly healthy!"
Though she said that, she did not sound very confident.
Still preoccupied with the grandson she had yet to see, Mrs. Ji chatted with Mrs. Shao for a while before preparing to leave with Mo Xiang.
"Wait," Chu Xiyue called after them. She looked at the somewhat awkward Mo Xiang and smiled. "Sister Mo, do you like flowers?"
Following behind Mrs. Ji, Mo Xiang hesitantly nodded.
Chu Xiyue bent down and took a rose from the vase in the living room, holding it out to Mo Xiang with a smile. "Sister Mo, this flower is very beautiful. As they say, flowers suit a beautiful woman. This one is for you. Remember to be a little happier."
Chu Xiyue was exceptionally beautiful. Her slender, fair fingers held the stem of the rose, while her radiant features seemed to shine. Mo Xiang stared at her blankly for a moment before coming back to herself. Blushing, she accepted the flower, and a faint smile appeared on her lips. "Thank you," she said softly.
Mrs. Ji's mind was in turmoil, and she did not urge Mo Xiang along as she usually did.
After leaving the Chu Family home, Mrs. Ji looked around before frowning at Mo Xiang. "Xiao Mo, tell me honestly. You and Peng'er have been together for so many years without having a child. Is the problem with you, or with Peng'er?"
Mo Xiang's hand trembled. "Mom, Ji Peng and I... he..."
Mrs. Ji found Mo Xiang's meek, indecisive manner irritating. "I'm asking you a question. Is it really that hard to answer? Is the problem with you or Peng'er? You can't even make a few words clear. What use are you?"
Mo Xiang lowered her head even further. But as she did, the delicate, vibrant rose in her hand entered her sight, and Chu Xiyue's radiant smile surfaced in her mind.
Under her mother-in-law's pressure, Mo Xiang suddenly found courage. Clutching the rose stem, she said in a voice barely louder than a mosquito's, "It... it was Ji Peng who told me not to tell you."