Chapter 14 She Feels Like a Mother to Me

• Back at the Ning Residence, Zhang was seeing the doctor off. Then, to Ning Shaochen, he said, “Young Master Shaochen, the doctor said that she’d merely passed out due to fright.” At the same time, he raised his arm and used his sleeve to dab at the sweat on his forehead before breathing a sigh of relief.
• If it weren’t for Ning Shaochen who’d seen her in time and because he’d been deliberately driving slowly to look for Ning Xiaoxi, the woman would’ve probably lost her life today. Even now when he recalled the incident after a few hours had passed, the lingering fear still haunted him.
• “Madam Shen did that… to save me.” Ning Xiaoxi, who hadn’t said a single word ever since they’d come back, suddenly walked out of the room. He was speaking with a choked voice and his eyes were slightly red and swollen. He looked as though he’d cried for a long time. After all, he was still a child no matter how high his IQ was, so he was naturally afraid after his near brush with death.
• Ning Shaochen’s tightly clenched hands gradually loosened. He swept his gaze over him, his expression a tad disgruntled. “So, you’re all grown up now, huh? You even know how to run away from home now.”
• Ning Xiaoxi hung his head and muttered in a low voice, “Who asked you to kick Madam Shen out?” However, he knew that he’d almost caused a tragedy, so he kept his head lowered and dared not look at Ning Shaochen.
• From his father’s tone, he knew that it was definitely not Madam Shen who wanted to leave of her own volition. Hence, he feigned sleep, and when she left, he furtively went out through the back door and followed her out of the villa.
• Ning Shaochen stared at Ning Xiaoxi, lost in thoughts. At that time, he was sitting in the back of the car with his eyes firmly fixed on the roadside, afraid that he’d miss Ning Xiaoxi. Thus, he saw everything that had happened in front of him. If it weren’t for that woman, Xiaoxi would’ve been in grave danger…
• “Dad, are you afraid that she’s interested in you? Is that why you kicked her out?” Ning Xiaoxi asked in a murmur, his tiny hands tugging at Ning Shaochen’s sleeve. “She’d said numerous times that she’s not interested in you. Please… Please let her stay. I can pay her salary, no problem,” he continued upon receiving no reaction from Ning Shaochen.
• At this time, Ning Shaochen finally reacted. He looked down at his son, a hint of surprise and anguish in his eyes; this child was exactly like him in terms of temperament, so begging someone wasn’t something they would do. What kind of allure does this woman have that she could win Ning Xiaoxi’s heart in such a short time?
• “I can find you someone better than her,” he declared in a slightly hoarse voice. His tone, however, was colored by a distinct hint of compromise.
• Upon seeing that Ning Shaochen was unwilling to relent, Ning Xiaoxi retracted his hand and dropped to his knees. After a while, he said, “She feels like a mother to me.” As he said that, he was surreptitiously observing Ning Shaochen out of the corner of his eye. Then, he lifted his hands and rubbed his eyes. “Other women who approach me and treat me well do so because of you. She’s the only one... whom I think is doing so because of me…”
• Ning Shaochen’s eyes darkened. Ever since Ning Xiaoxi had an understanding of the world, this was the first time he’d ever heard him utter the word ‘mother’. Also, when he heard that she wasn’t doing so because of him, an inexplicable sense of chagrin assailed him.
• “Daddy…”
• If Ning Shaochen had previously worried that this new nanny harbored untoward intentions toward Ning Xiaoxi, he’d dismissed that thought the moment she was willing to give her life to save Ning Xiaoxi. However, he was now even more puzzled. Could it truly be because she likes children, and in particular, Xiaoxi, that she was willing to save a child who isn’t related to her in any way without regard for her life?
• If it weren’t for her appearance that looked nothing at all like Ning Xiaoxi’s, there was even a moment when he’d suspected that she was Xiaoxi’s mother. However, that was impossible since Xiaoxi looked nothing like her. Instead, Xiaoxi was extremely beautiful, so he concluded that Xiaoxi’s mother must be a veritable beauty.
• Ning Shaochen lifted a hand and stroked Ning Xiaoxi’s head. “Go and sleep. I’ll let her stay.”
• A person’s words and deed could be feigned, but there was only one life. Since she was willing to risk her life to save Ning Xiaoxi, he indeed no longer had any reason to kick her out. The strange thing was that at that moment, he was truly afraid that she might suffer an injury or even worse, die.
• “For real?” Ning Xiaoxi immediately stood up when Ning Shaochen nodded in affirmation.
• All at once, he dashed toward the room beside him. However, just as he was about to step foot in the room, he was pulled back by Ning Shaochen. “She hasn’t awoken yet. The doctor said she needs rest, so come back tomorrow morning to see her.”
• Then, when Ning Shaochen noticed that there were no tear stains on Ning Xiaoxi’s face, he shook his head; this son was deliberately given to him by his old man to defy him.
• The next morning, Shen Beiyi was stunned upon seeing the familiar ceiling when she woke up. Am I at the Ning Residence? But she had left on the previous day. Massaging her temples, she slowly sat upright. Then, when she felt a prickle of pain radiating from her knees, she flipped the covers, only to see white gauze wrapped a few times around both her knees.
• As she thought back about it, she abruptly recalled the incident last night. Swiftly jumping out of bed, she ran toward the door.
• “Ah!” She felt as though she’d slammed into a solid wall.
• “Why are you running? Where’s the fire?” It was uttered in a voice devoid of emotion and threaded with impatience—it was Ning Shaochen’s voice!