Chapter 29 - Lifen Ma (1/2)
Xinyi was so happy to see another lady with her and keep her from getting lonely. With another human around, her cheery disposition came back. Relieved was the word to describe the Qilin and the bird's feelings to see her smiling and laughing now.
That morning, she was so low in spirit and thought of selling her jewelry so she could travel and find Yan Ma. They tried to stop her, but she said she wouldn't change her mind. So, they brought in more animals to comfort her, but it added to her sadness instead. Xinyi thanked them but expressed to live a normal life with people.
The two tried to encourage and console her in any way they knew but to no avail. Then, they tried to make her laugh while playing in the pool, then this human came and played with her. So, they welcomed Madame Lei with open arms.
Actually, the two didn't know she was Xinyi's mother-in-law. Only the panda knew. Even though Shíjiān was a Qilin, she was still young and lack experience. She couldn't sense anything out of the ordinary from Madame Lei aside from the ring.
Later, while changing with Xinyi's clothes, she saw the painting got wet. ”Oh my, I hope it's not damaged.” She opened it and saw the color didn't fade or smear. Only the acc.u.mulated dust darkened the cloth. ”Whew! Thank goodness, it wasn't ruined.”
While staring at it, Madame thought of Ming and the panda's warning. She sat with her hands folded on her chest. ”What could have happened? Anyway, he's living here. I can ask him later. For now, I need to give this ring and painting to Xinyi.”
She left her room and brought the two objects to Xinyi's room. ”Xinyi, may I go in?”
”Come in,” said Xinyi.
Madame Lei watched Xinyi busy arranging her clothes in her bundle. The mother-in-law sighed and thought of keeping her true identity from Xinyi until she had a good talk with the panda.
”Xinyi, my name is Lifen but I want you to call me Ma. I'm not that very young as you think and I want a daughter like you. So please, just call me Ma.” She heard Xinyi's painful past from Yan Ma and Grandma Liu and felt sorry for the child. Now that she was here with her, she wished to fill the hole in her daughter-in-law's heart and make this child happy and to bring the newlywed couple together.
Xinyi turned around and softly said, ”Lifen Ma.” Her heart swelled as she said those words and tears welled up on her eyelids. ”I love it too. It's wonderful to have a Mama,” she said and became self-conscious and wiped the tears with the back of her hand. ”Don't mind me…” and moved to turn her back.
However, Lifen Ma didn't let her. Instead, she pulled Xinyi into her embrace with no hesitations. ”Don't hide your tears from me because I am your Ma now.” Those words had layers of messages but in Xinyi's ears, it only meant she had a mother now and broke the floodgates of tears and heartaches deep inside her.