Imperfect Desires

Su Xixi thought for a while before she followed her daughter and stepped into her room. Ying had just laid down when she saw her mother at the door and instantly sat up. "Mom, what are you doing here?"

Su Xixi didn't reply to her as she locked the door of the room. Ying's gulped at the sight.

"Mom, why did you lock the door? Are you gonna beat me now?"

Su Xixi gave her a disdainful look before she moved to the french windows and checked the balcony before locking the windows. Then she even checked the bathroom. Seeing her mother moving around in her room so cautiously, Ying felt apprehensive.

"Is she really planning on beating me? Is that why she is making sure there is no one around?"

Su Xixi rolled her eyes at her daughter saying, "If I had ever touched you in your life, you wouldn't have been so willful today. Besides, I don't dare beat an old lady like you. What if you cracked a few bones? The only guy who likes you might also run away."

"Mom, how can you call your own daughter an old lady?" retorted Ying unhappily. 

"You're the one who complained to me last time that you were having back pain and your joints hurt. Doesn't that mean you're an old lady now?" Su Xixi shot back.

"If I am an old lady, what does that make you?"

"Oh, sorry! I neither have back pain nor joint pain. I'm a very healthy person."

Ying couldn't find anything to retort to that. When she complained about that back pain, it was the time when she was put on desk work. She wasn't used to sitting down in one place, obviously, her back would hurt from so much sitting. Who knew she gave her mother another reason to taunt her? She really dug her own grave by sharing it with her mother.

Clearing her throat, she said, "It doesn't matter. Even if I have a few cracked bones, my boyfriend will still be with me."

Su Xixi squinted her eyes at her daughter before she pulled a chair to the side of her bed and sat down. She crossed her legs as she leaned back languidly in the chair with her eyes on Ying's face. 

"Anyway, why did you lock the door?" asked Ying changing the subject.

"Because I don't want to disturb us and I don't want anyone to listen to us," replied Su Xixi straightforwardly.

"That's why you're doing the thorough inspection?" questioned Ying. "But did you really think someone would tap my room? And that too in Zizi's villa?"

Su Xixi shrugged her shoulders, "I have always been a cautious person. Just because your think it's a safe place, doesn't mean it is. I guess you haven't learned anything on the field in all these years."

"Mom, would you stop trying to tell me what is wrong with me?"

"If I won't say it, how else will you fix it?" retorted Su Xixi making Ying's eyes widen in surprise. "Magically? I don't think you're that magical enough to figure out what's wrong with your conduct. That's why I have to keep reminding you from time to time." She took a pause before adding, "That's the only thing I can do because of the distance you put between us."

Ying pursed her lips and stayed quiet in reply. Her mother would never let a chance go to remind her that it was her own choice to stay behind. It wasn't her parents who left her behind, it was her who chose to stay. Usually, it's parents who abandon their children, she was the child who abandoned her own parents.

"How's dad?" asked Ying trying to change the topic yet again. "I heard he bought an island and was busy with redevelopment plans. How is it going?"

"Isn't that old news now?" retorted Su Xixi. "The construction is almost done now."

"Oh," was all Ying could say. "Did you have something to say to me?"

"No," replied Su Xixi and Ying heaved a sigh of relief or at least tried to but before she could completely relax, Su Xixi added, "But I have something to ask you."

Ying coughed slightly before saying, "What do you have to ask me?"

"You have been looking for Chen Hana," stated Su Xixi making Ying avoid looking at her face. 

"How do you know that?" she asked.

"Is that something you should be concerned about right now?" retorted Su Xixi. "Your concern should be on explaining why you're looking for her."

Ying was weighing the pros and cons of lying to her mother. She had to say cons were a lot more than pros. And it'd be a disaster if her mom figured out her lie which was highly likely. 

"I have my reasons," said Ying.

"Don't give me that crap!" was Su Xixi's reply. "You have ten seconds. Come clean or..." She didn't finish her sentence but Ying could feel her impending doom from that incomplete sentence. "10... 9... 8... 7..."

"Mom, stop counting! Let me think!" Ying tried to negotiate but it was all futile.

"4... 3... 2..." She took a pause to stare at her daughter. "And..."

Ying her hand and said, "Stop! I'll tell you everything. How can there be secrets in the family? Right? You always said I can share anything with you, so how can I hide anything from you?"

"That's ironic considering how much you had been hiding from me," said Su Xixi. "However, I never forced you for anything."

"That's also ironic since you're forcing me right now," replied Ying.

"Let me finish," said Su Xixi. "I never forced you about your personal decisions. Currently, we are not discussing your personal matters. We'll get to that later on."

Ying struggled internally before taking a deep breath, "Mom, do you believe in miracles?"

"I do," replied Su Xixi plainly. 

"You do?" Ying was taken aback slightly. "I didn't think you'd believe in miracles."

"Which miracle is the one you want me to believe?" asked Su Xixi.

Ying opened the drawer of the bedside table and took out the same velvet pouch that Zhou Jinhai had passed to her. She extended it towards her mother saying, "The miracle is inside. See it for yourself."

"I never thought miracles came it velvet pouches, what a surprise!" remarked Su Xixi. She opened the pouch and spilled the content onto her hand. Something cold touched her skin and when her eyes fell on it, she paused for a split second. She hurriedly turned the bracelet in her hand around.

The back side had a very familiar carving on it. She would never mistake it. The character 'Xiu' was engraved in a somewhat clumsy way. According to the one who engraved it, it was perfection while she had said it looked ugly. 

She exhaled a long breath before asking, "Where did you find it?"

"It belongs to someone really unexpected and yet, it doesn't surprise me anymore," replied Ying in a vague manner.

"What do you mean by that?" questioned Su Xixi.

"Mom, since the time I came back everything I touched seemed to lead to the very same person. Do you think it's a coincidence? Or fate?"

"Every path you take in life is planned. Every person you meet is already planned. As for whether the planner is a human or a higher power, that's a different discussion." Su Xixi leaned over and asked again, "Now tell me, where that planner is leading you?"

"Chen Xiu," replied Ying. Su Xixi frowned at her reply. "I don't think that name is unfamiliar to you as well." She took a pause before she went on, "It's already been confirmed that Chen Xiu wasn't Chen Hana's daughter. But she was raised by Chen Hana. And Chen Xiu had this bracelet on her. Also, I heard how she adored this particular piece of jewelry. No matter the occasion, she'd always wear it. Her fans even used to say it seemed like it was a part of her."

Su Xixi looked very calm even after hearing all of this. And Ying was wondering how her mother was still able to maintain her calmness. Was it because she wasn't believing her speculations at the moment?

"Mom, you do realize what I am implying right?" she asked.

"You're implying that Chen Xiu was Xin Xiulin," replied Su Xixi in a leveled tone. "But is this proof enough for you to come to that conclusion? It's highly likely that she found this bracelet somewhere. Although I won't deny the fact that this is bracelet belongs to Xiulin, I would like you to bring me solid proof to make me believe that Chen Xiu was Xiulin."

"As Ah-Li for that proof then," said Ying. "I've been looking for Chen Hana to find that solid proof. But apparently, Ah-Li has something more convincing than this."

"He also believes in this?" asked Su Xixi.

Ying nodded her head in reply, "He does. He believes in it more than I do."