C8 Chapter 8

Xia Yanyou came back to the classroom hugging a ball just as the teacher was introducing Saang Yuxin to the class. “…I hope everyone will get along with our new friend.”

The teacher glanced around the room, considering where to seat him, when Xia Yanyou suddenly shot his hand high into the air, practically bouncing with excitement. “Ms. Teacher, Ms. Teacher! Let Saang Yuxin sit next to me!”

The teacher blinked, clearly not expecting that much enthusiasm from a student.

Xia Yanyou had only transferred in yesterday, and the seat beside him happened to be empty, so the teacher smiled and nodded. Pointing to Xia Yanyou’s desk, she said to Saang Yuxin, “You can sit next to Xia Yanyou from now on.”

Saang Yuxin looked over at Xia Yanyou expressionlessly.

The grin on Xia Yanyou’s face hadn’t even faded yet. The moment he saw Saang Yuxin looking at him, his smile widened even more, warm and eager.

Saang Yuxin lifted an eyebrow slightly. His new deskmate looked a little goofy, but at least he was just as good-looking as he was, which made him far from annoying.

It was rare for Saang Yuxin not to dislike someone on sight. Keeping a calm expression, he walked over to Xia Yanyou’s desk and sat down beside him.

The second he sat down, Xia Yanyou leaned in close. “Don’t worry. I promised your dad outside just now that I’d take really good care of you. If there’s any toy you want to play with, I’ll get it for you. If anybody picks on you, come find me and I’ll back you up. If you need anything—”

“Wait.” Saang Yuxin frowned. “You promised my dad?”

“Yeah! Right outside the door. That tall man in the black suit? He asked me himself.”

From the way Xia Yanyou said it, he didn’t seem to be making it up.

Saang Yuxin’s frown deepened.

Had his dad lost his mind?

He needed another kid to take care of him?

And of all people, his dad had picked a classmate this dramatic to do it?

More importantly, his dad—who was usually cold and distant—had actually talked to a kindergartner.

Saang Yuxin looked up at the sky, puzzled. The sun wasn’t rising in the west today, so what was going on?

Xia Yanyou was still chattering in his ear. “Your dad is so handsome! Even more handsome than my Uncle Xu! I wish I had a dad that handsome too...”

Xia Yanyou’s eyes were full of envy, his dark, obsidian-like pupils darting around.

Saang Yuxin listened quietly, rarely responding. He simply pulled out his sketchpad from his backpack and started drawing in silence.

At that moment, in the cemetery on the south side of town, Xia Bing was dressed in black, holding several bouquets of flowers.

Her father, her mother, her fiancé, and Ms. Ann—a woman she had only met by chance, who had saved her life at the cost of her own.

Xia Bing visited each grave in turn, placing flowers in front of every headstone.

The sky was dark and heavy, clouds rolling overhead.

On the surface, Xia Bing looked calm, but inside, her emotions were already surging.

Her thoughts drifted back to five years ago. That was the year her family fell apart, and her fiancé became gravely ill. To save the man she loved, who was hanging by a thread, she became a surrogate. But instead, she ended up in the hands of a ruthless client.

He refused IVF and locked her away in a villa on the outskirts of town, tormenting her for a month.

For the money, she endured it. But shortly before she was due to give birth, she overheard his people saying that once she delivered the baby, they would make her disappear without a trace. Terrified, on the day she went into labor, she fled in a panic after giving birth to only one child.