I Want Her to See Only Me - Chapter 4
Xia Yu remained tucked quietly into the bathtub like a little quail, while Xia Xiuyin searched for a clean washcloth to gently scrub her thin shoulders.
Xia Yu was very skinny, the bones protruding from her back especially stark. Xia Xiuyin noticed several scars, most of which had faded, but a few appeared to be quite recent. Her fingers lingered briefly over the wounds before swiftly retreating without leaving a trace.
There were burns, and some thin… Xia Xiuyin caught a glimpse of a small handkerchief hanging to dry in the bathroom, likely left by the clothes dryer.
Her eyes darkened, and an expression of displeasure flashed beneath her gaze as Xia Xiuyin’s movements became even gentler. “You can wash the rest yourself, okay?” She handed the washcloth to Xia Yu, whose cheeks reddened, and said, “Good girl.”
Xia Xiuyin had a seven-year-old niece who was as cute as a button, about half a head taller than Xia Yu, and often stayed overnight at her aunt’s house. Since Xia Xiuyin hadn’t had time to prepare, she could only bring clothing that was slightly too big for Xia Yu: cotton underwear and dresses.
As for Xia Yu’s clothes, she asked Aunt Chen to clean them and put them aside, either to be kept as memorabilia or discarded, whatever Xia Yu decided at the time.
“They’re all new, and have been dried in the sun twice, so they’re very soft,” Xia Xiuyin explained, knowing Xia Yu’s sensitive nature.
Wrapped in a towel, Xia Yu stood on a non-slip mat, her delicate toes gripping the surface as she stood uneasily on one foot.
Xia Xiuyin waited beside her. It didn’t take long before she felt a tug on her fingers, gentle as if afraid of hurting Xia Yu.
“Sister…” Xia Yu called, chirping like a little bird.
Xia Xiuyin looked down to meet Xia Yu’s teary gaze. The little girl held the skirt up before her, already having pulled on the shorts underneath. She likely didn’t know how to put on a skirt, and wanted Xia Xiuyin’s help.
Xia Xiuyin took the skirt from her, crouched down, and opened the zipper.
Even with the skirt draped over her head, Xia Yu’s eyes were still fixed on Xia Xiuyin, as if intent on carefully memorizing every one of her movements.
The corners of Xia Xiuyin’s lips curved slightly upward.
“Good girl.”
As Xia Xiuyin walked Xia Yu past the bedroom, the little girl’s eyes followed a plate of savory-sweet mochi filled with egg yolk on the tea table.
Before entering the bathroom, Xia Xiuyin worried the child might be hungry and asked Aunt Chen to deliver a snack. The little girl obediently accepted one, despite not being allowed to eat more.
“We’re going down first to have some congee and warm our bellies,” Xia Xiuyin said. “The egg yolk snacks are a bit hard; we don’t want to eat too many.”
Xia Yu’s eyelashes were long, the same pure color as her irises. She blinked, then shyly tugged at her dress.
The sweet, light white dress with its puff sleeves exuded a sense of girlish fantasy and innocence, fitting Xia Yu well aside from the sleeves, which were a tad tight.
She nodded, her straight bangs covering her eyes, and Xia Xiuyin gently tucked them behind her ear.
Xia Yu’s hair was rather thin and brittle, revealing a light brown hue that suggested poor nutrition but was soft to the touch.
While drying Xia Yu’s hair, Xia Xiuyin couldn’t help but think that braiding it would make the little girl even cuter.
By the time they arrived at the dining room, Aunt Chen had already poured two bowls of congee, each at the perfect temperature.
Golden shrimp and potato cakes, sprinkled with bits of carrot, crunchy snowflake mangoes cut into small pieces, and a small cup of silky, soft, and tender steamed egg custard, garnished with a leaf of parsley.
Xia Xiuyin took a bite of the crispy mangoes and tried the congee. Xia Yu watched carefully before picking up his spoon and taking a small bite, too timid to reach for the food on the plate. Aunt Chen noticed this and, with a smile, placed a small plate beside Xia Yu, where Xia Xiuyin stacked a few pieces of the potato cakes and mangoes.
“Children need to eat more so they can grow tall.” Aunt Chen took out two small sweet potatoes from the microwave, peeled them, and placed the orange flesh beside Xia Yu’s bowl. “My grandson can finish these in no time.”
Feeling helpless, Xia Yu looked at Xia Xiuyin, whose eyes were filled with laughter. “Darling, thank you, Aunt Chen.”
“Thank you…” The words were quiet but sincere.
Aunt Chen couldn’t bear to see a child suffer. Seeing how obedient and sensible Xia Yu was, she felt even more compassion for him.
“No need to say ‘thank you’ when you’re eating,” Aunt Chen scolded gently. “If you really want to thank me, then eat up and fill your belly. That will make me happy.”
Aunt Chen truly was a kind person.
Xia Yu carefully took a bite of the soft, sweet, and savory potato pancake, lost in her thoughts.
———-
Li Conghao received Xia Xiuyin’s text message as soon as he woke up in the morning. He was ready to contact the hospital when he realized the appointment was at 8:30 P.M. after dinner, and she had requested he bring all basic examination equipment.
I have a child here, the message read.
Li Conghao was puzzled as to why Xia Xiuyin needed a child’s physical examination at her residence, but because she had provided very little information, he could only reorganize and replenish the items in his medical kit to fulfill her request.
At around 8:15 P.M., he swiped his card to exit the building, only to see a familiar license plate in the parking lot.
Liu Zhi rolled down his car window and greeted him, “Good morning, Dr. Li.”
Liu Zhi had only picked him up from this residential community a handful of times, and three of those occasions had been because of the Xia family’s old patriarch.
His eyelid jumped, and he leaned in. “Did ‘he’ arrive?”
Liu Zhi unlocked the car, gesturing for him to get in.
“No.” Liu Zhi shook his head. “It’s a little girl, around five or six years old.”
After fastening his seat belt, Li Conghao asked, “Why not go to a specialized pediatric hospital for a thorough physical examination?”
“The child is new here, and the mistress doesn’t want her to make the trip while she’s still adjusting,” Liu Zhi explained with a smile. “Dr. Li, the mistress asked you to go take a look at her so that she can be at ease.”
Li Conghao also smiled politely and said, “No worries.”
The Xia family’s mansion was so stern and imposing it made one gasp; even the large rose garden in the courtyard couldn’t alleviate the severity of the architecture.
Li Conghao stepped through the doors, where he saw Xia Xiuyin with her chin resting in her hand, her expression gentle and gaze soft. Her wrist was exposed, pale as jade, and behind her, the thick, heavy bookcases filled the space like an illustration.
Following Xia Xiuyin’s gaze, he noticed a very small child crouched on the ground, no bigger than a kitten. Her face was devoid of expression, but her eyes darted about attentively as she stared at the puzzle piece in her hands—the child was engrossed in her task.
“Hello, Miss Xia,” Li Conghao greeted her, though he felt he had to interrupt.
Xia Xiuyin stood up and nodded. “Hello, Dr. Li.”
The child on the ground glanced anxiously at him before reaching out to touch Xia Xiuyin, to whom the girl gently reached out in return.
“This is Dr. Li,” Xia Xiuyin softly introduced the man to the girl.
Xia Yu’s small face appeared from behind Xia Xiuyin, then slowly leaned by her leg, allowing Dr. Li to see her. Her clear, black eyes were heartwarming.
Li Conghao took Xia Yu’s vital signs in the guest room and ran some tests, then finally frowned. “This child is… very thin, severely malnourished. The rest is relatively fine.”
Li Conghao’s tone wasn’t particularly gentle, and Xia Yu’s eyelashes fluttered slightly like delicate butterfly wings, startled by his words.
Was her body not healthy? Did Sister still want to raise a child who wasn’t healthy?
Her mind filled with these sorts of questions, extreme terror painted her face stark white.
“Dr. Li,” Xia Xiuyin reminded him.
Li Conghao softened his expression.
He simply hadn’t expected a child raised in a family like the Xias to be in this sort of physical state, so he had been instinctively displeased.
“How old are you, little one?” he asked gently.
Xia Yu had already let go of Xia Xiuyin’s hand. She placed her small hands behind her back, fingers interlaced as she unconsciously scratched her nails.
Her shoulders curled, her back stiffened, and her knees pressed together, a defensive posture, yet her eyes glistened with pleading.
Xia Xiuyin glanced at her empty hands.
Xia Yu wanted to understand the expression on her sister’s face, but she also felt her neck was heavy, as if she couldn’t move it.
“Five?” Li Conghao asked gently.
Xia Yu bit her lip and shook her head.
“Four?”
Xia Yu remained unresponsive, blinking rapidly to slightly cover up her nervous glances.
“It’s all right if you don’t remember,” Li Conghao said, unable to bear the child’s fearful appearance. This simple questioning had turned into an interrogation, making him feel uneasy as well.
“Eight…” Xia Yu’s voice was nearly inaudible.
Li Conghao thought he misheard. “What?”
“Don’t be afraid, little one. Uncle won’t bully you. Speak up.”
“Eight.” Xia Yu raised her voice, though a clear undertone of crying followed.
Xia Yu lifted her head, tears rolling down her cheeks as she looked at Xia Xiuyin, her gaze both pained and despairing.
She spoke loud enough for Aunt Chen and Uncle Liu to hear.
Now they all knew she was a problematic child.
Xia Xiuyin calmly looked at Xia Yu, choosing not to comfort her.
Within those black eyes, washed over by tears, shone a gaze filled with only her, looking so pitiful, pleading with her not to abandon her.
She was beautiful.
“Before you finish putting together this puzzle, Sister will be back.” Xia Xiuyin brushed her fingers through Xia Yu’s hair, which was growing out.
Xia Yu knelt on the carpet, the layers of her bubble skirt beautifully creased. Her eyes followed Xia Xiuyin until her figure disappeared behind the living room’s bookshelf wall.
“My suggestion is to go to the hospital soon for an X-ray to check her bone age, as well as assess her hormone levels and pituitary gland secretion. At eight years old, she’s only 105 centimeters tall and weighs 36 kilograms—she’s far too small.”
After hesitating, Li Conghao asked, “Miss Xia, is this child…”
“My sister,” Xia Xiuyin said. “My sister who will live with me in the future.”
Before Li Conghao could digest the meaning behind these words, a mocking laugh came from the corridor on the third floor.
“Your sister?” Fang Duan, still in his pajamas, exposed a small portion of his chest. His hand leaned on the railing, his expression lazy as he spoke, “Your sister and your mother died last year at the Macao Tower, two hundred and thirty-three meters above ground. One corpse, two lives, both smashed into a pulp.”
The corners of his mouth tugged upward. “I remember taking a photo for you. Did you already forget?”
Li Conghao sucked in a breath; he hadn’t expected to overhear such a secret.
What kind of father would take a photo of his wife’s death and send it to his daughter? What kind of father could nonchalantly rip open his daughter’s wound after the fact?
How absurd.
He turned to Xia Xiuyin with concern.
The young girl stood upright like a stalk of bamboo in the snow, quietly meeting her father’s gaze while the other servants continued cleaning the house as usual.
A new lily flower, soft and slightly opened, replaced the previous one in the vase by the entrance.
“Dad… how could I forget…” Xia Xiuyin spoke slowly, “Receiving news of your wife’s death while she was in another man’s bed always brings a smile to my face.”
Like fine and exquisite porcelain, Li Conghao could see a crack slowly form around her, ready to shatter her at any moment. Despite her fragility, she lifted her chin slightly and smiled. “Remember to keep it confidential, Dr. Li.”
Li Conghao felt a chill run down his spine, sweat rolling from his forehead. He managed to lift the corner of his lips in response.
“I will.”