Her eyes fluttered open when she felt someone caress her cheeks.
She hurriedly sat up to tend to her baby's needs, but what came into her view was a boy with black hair staring at her with his grey eyes holding unshed tears.
Tang Li Mei squinted her eyes and observed her surroundings.
The little bun continued to stare at his mother, who was silently crying in her sleep a moment ago.
Seeing her like that filled his heart with sadness.
"Mama?" he called out in a whisper.
That one word brought her back to reality. She realized where and who she was.
A mocking smile appeared on her tear-filled face.
She wiped away her tears and looked at the little bun, who was on the verge of crying, her heart filled with guilt.
"Xun'er, it's okay!! Mama just had a nightmare; that's why Mama got scared." She carefully replied, not wanting to scare her child.
That's right, this is her child now. She had already lost one, and she didn't dare lose another.
The little boy's lips quivered as he stared at his mother a little more before throwing himself in her arms and wailing loudly.
"waaaaaahhhhh!!!"
"Xun'er was scared too when Mama was not waking up!! Mama shouldn't scare Xun'er like that again," he replied in a muffled voice.
Tang Li Mei hugged him tightly and patted his back while singing him a lullaby.
The little boy hiccuped, trying to control his sobbing, and after some time, he dozed off in her arms.
Tang Li Mei placed the little bun on the bed and covered him with a blanket.
She rested her head on the bed's headboard, listening to the little one's snores.
Her eyes looked hollow, with no emotion in them.
Her baby is gone now... Far away from her reach... Her heart ached with so much pain at the thought of never being able to see him.
How cruel was that to a mother?
She could never hear him calling her 'mother' or smiling at her adorably.
Her baby never asked for anything.
He was so innocent, but he was ruthlessly taken away from her.
Her child... That morning, Tang Li Mei quietly mourned for her child, whom she would never be able to see or hold onto.....
When the little one woke up from his slumber, he extended his hands to hug his mother, but what he felt was emptiness.
He quickly sat up and looked around to check for her, but the room was empty.
In a moment of panic, he ran out of the room.
"Mama!!" he called as he hurriedly ran downstairs.
"I'm here in the kitchen, baby," she called out.
When he saw her standing in the kitchen, his eyes teared up.
He ran up to her and jumped into her arms.
Tang Li Mei quickly pulled the little bun into her arms and caressed his back.
He snuggled into her arms and held onto her tightly.
'He'll never let his mama get out of his sight!!'
Aunt Lan smiled as she stirred the soup pot.
"Aunt Lan, I'll take Xun'er for a bath," she politely informed the old woman. Aunt Lan nodded and resumed her work.
Tang Li Mei took him to his room and filled the bath. His gaze was stuck on his mother even while he was taking off his clothes.
Tang Li Mei was very amused at the little bun's alertness.
"Mama is here, baby; Mama is not going anywhere; don't worry," she consoled him.
Still, the little boy held onto her arms tightly the entire time she bathed him.
'So her baby was in the mood to be clingy today.'
She dressed him in warm clothes and dried his hair. After their breakfast, he pulled her aside to watch a movie.
Tang Li Mei let him drag her wherever he wanted to since she gave him quite a scare today.
Guilt filled her heart at the thought of this.
"Mama, stay with Xun'er today. Xun'er will also sleep with Mama tonight," he declared. She quickly nodded her head at all of his requests.
She felt warm, but somewhere in her heart, there was a feeling of emptiness.....
*********************************
Tang Li Mei was going through a few contracts with Li Suyin when she received a call.
"Hello"
"Hello, is this Tang Xun's mother??" The person on the other end asked.
Tang Li Mei suddenly became very alert as she took a quick look at the number.
"Miss Wan, what happened?" she asked the teacher, her voice laced with worry.
Li Suyin, who was replying to some emails, immediately stopped and looked at Tang Li Mei in worry.
As time went by, Tang Li Mei's face looked more and more furious.
Her entire body gave off a dark and dangerous aura.
A shiver ran down Li Suyin's spine as she glanced at her boss.
"Alright, I'll be there in fifteen minutes!!" She informed her while quickly putting on her baby blue windbreaker.
Her secretary closed her laptop and stood up along with her.
"President??"
Tang Li Mei tossed the car keys toward her and walked out.
"Let's go; I'll fill you in with the details in the car," she replied in a monotonous voice as her gaze turned murderous.
The woman took the car keys from her and followed her out.
Tang Li Mei got into the passenger seat of the car and swiftly dialed a number.
"Li Jun, listen to me carefully." After giving some instructions, she disconnected the call and gazed into the distance.
Li Suyin understood that something had happened to their little master.
"President, where to??" She asked when they reached the parking exit of their office.
"To the Sacred Heart Hospital!" she announced.
The secretary's eyes widened, and she hurriedly took a turn and drove to the hospital.
*******************************
In a private room in a hospital, two four-year-olds were lying on separate beds.
Both looked quite worn out, but one looked worse than the other.
The doctor, who was tending to the boy with brown hair, glanced at the other one from time to time.
The wounds were not major, just some scratches, but the only thing that piqued his interest was the broken tooth that he was currently treating.
He sighed. 'Kids'
The other one also had scratches on his knees and elbows.
At the same time, the wound on his forehead looked severe, but compared to the one he was treating, it didn't seem serious.
The little bun looked quite troubled as he stared at his knuckles, which had been scraped.
The door to the private room opened as a man dressed in a white coat walked in with a file in hand.
He looked like those models straight out of the magazine, with his pale blue eyes and exquisite features.
However he had an unapproachable aura surrounding him.
"Doctor Lu!!" he called out to the attending doctor. Doctor Lu turned around to look at the person calling to him.
"Chief??"
Han Zhixin nodded his head as he went through the file in his hand.
"I heard there was a shortage of doctors in your department today, so I came to help." He replied.
Dr. Lu nodded with a grateful smile.
Han Zhixin was taken aback as he glanced at the brown-haired boy, who had broken teeth.
The boy was crying, and it was getting rather difficult for Doctor Lu to treat him.
His gaze then landed on the other one, who was sitting there quietly with his injuries unattended.
The little boy looked up when he heard the nearing footsteps and saw a handsome man in a doctor's coat standing there with widened eyes.
He stared at the boy curiously while the other party did the same.
"Hello there, little one, my name is Han Zhixin; you can call me Doctor Han!" He introduced himself with a smile while settling the file.
The little bun quietly observed the man before nodding his head lightly.
His eyes twinkled at the little one's response, which was quite similar to someone else's.
Someone who kicked him and ran away from his proposal two days ago.
"Can you tell me what happened?? He asked, starting a conversation while he took a seat.
He wanted to distract the little bun so that he wouldn't feel more pain when he was cleaning his wounds.
The little one squirmed while his gaze lingered on the other boy.
The chubby boy was agitated by his stare.
"Do you wan to geth beeten ahain??" He wanted to scare Tang Xun off, but because of his swollen face, he sounded rather comical.
The black-haired boy snorted.
"Why?? Wasn't getting beaten once enough for you?? Do you want me to pull out all your teeth?" He mocked.
The brown-haired boy was angered when his teeth were mentioned.
"If ith washn't fhor Qinqin, i woudh hav bee-beeten you toh pulph" the chubby boy retorted.
"What are you talking about?? If it wasn't for Qinqin, I would have punched you till all your teeth came off." Tang Xun sneered and showed off his knuckles.
The chubby boy's eyes widened in fear, and tears filled his eyes.
'Here we go again!'
Doctor Lu's eyes twitched from the boy's loud crying.
"Why the hell did I ever choose to become a doctor??" he questioned himself.
The pale, blue-eyed doctor had an amusing glint in his eyes when he looked at the black-haired boy.
'What a sly little kid!!' he mused.
***************
"I fought with him," Tang Xun replied to the doctor, pointing at the boy on the other bed.
The brown-haired boy glared at him with tear-filled eyes, but soon felt pain in his mouth and looked away.
Han Zhixin's lips hooked up while he listened to the boy. 'So honest, just like her,'
"Why did you fight?" he questioned as he gently cleaned up the wound on the little boy's forehead, but to his surprise, the little one didn't make any fuss as he expected.
"Bao'er was talking badly about Mama!!" he replied in a quiet voice.
Bao'er quickly turned around to refute, but he couldn't utter a single word due to the pain.
The little one knew what he did was wrong, but he didn't like anyone talking badly about his mother.
Han Zhixin looked at the little one, who was sadly staring at his hands.
Glancing at the scrapes on the little bun's hands, his eyes sparkled.
"So you broke his teeth?" he asked in an amused manner.
His smile widened.
Previously, he thought the boy was just teasing the other kid, but he was actually telling the truth.
'If that's the case, then this kid is too black-bellied.' Han Zhixin clicked his tongue.
"I didn't mean to.." The little bun struggled to answer, so he looked up and nodded.
Han Zhixin laughed, and the little one felt very ashamed of his actions.
His cheeks reddened.
"You did a good job!!" He whispered while patting his head.
The little boy's eyes sparkled, and a smile bloomed on his face.
He didn't know why, but he liked this kid.
Han Zhixin's eyes shone with curiosity, and he wanted to ask some more questions but was interrupted by a loud noise.
"BAMMM!!"
The door was slammed open as a beautiful woman with cold grey eyes walked in...