Chapter 58 (1/2)

Cheng Zhiyan was sitting next to his mother, and, upon hearing what she’d just said, he started to tear up as well.

As he thought about Xiaotu, he couldn’t help but lift his head and glance upstairs in the direction of his bedroom.

And there, in the spaces between the stairway handrails, he caught sight of a chubby little face.

Under the dim lights of the wall lamp by the stairway, Xiaotu’s fair-skinned and rosy-cheeked face was illuminated by a lustrous glow. Her large, animated eyes were full of tears as she stared fixedly in his direction without even blinking.

“Xiaotu…?” Cheng Zhiyan blurted out her name without even thinking.

Upon hearing him call out Xiaotu’s name, Zhou Ling and Zhou Yue immediately stopped talking.

Zhou Ling quickly wiped away the tears from her eyes, and she lifted her head, following the direction of Cheng Zhiyan’s eyes.

The stairway was empty, with no one in sight.

“Yan Yan, did you just see Xiaotu sitting up there?” Zhou Yue turned toward her son and asked him in a choked voice.

“I…” Cheng Zhiyan hesitated. Then he glanced toward the stairway again, and he shook his head as he said, “I’m not sure either.”

Zhou Ling and Zhou Yue exchanged glances, and their eyes were full of worry.

“Yan Yan, can you go upstairs to check and see whether or not Xiaotu is still sleeping?” Zhou Yue asked him. “It’s getting late anyway. You should go to sleep as well. I’ll stay and talk to Auntie for a little while longer. Don’t tell Xiaotu about this, understand?”

“…”

Cheng Zhiyan was silent for a moment, then nodded his head.