Chapter 1

Chapter 1

After saying those final words, I turned off my phone and swapped out the SIM card.

From this moment on, I had no connection left to this city.

Sitting next to me was a little girl about the same age as my son. She stared at me with round, wary eyes.

I used to love children.

But now, I didn’t love anything at all.

The little girl wasn’t noisy; she stayed quiet the whole way. Her parent, however, spent the entire trip shouting into her phone, cursing and complaining without pause.

I simply put on my headphones and closed my eyes to nap.

I don’t know how much time had passed before someone cautiously tugged at my sleeve.

I opened my eyes and looked at her.

The little girl pursed her lips. “Auntie, my mommy is gone. Can you help me find her?”

The aisle seat of our three-person row was now empty.

I didn’t know what had happened, so I immediately called for the train attendant and the railway police.

After a brief investigation, they discovered that the girl’s mother had gotten off at a mid-way stop.

Before disembarking, she had kept looking back warily as she walked, terrified that the little girl might follow her.

In other words, the child had been abandoned.

The carriage was filled with a cacophony of voices as passengers gossiped. They were reckless, saying right in front of the little girl how heartless her mother was and how pitiful she was.

The little girl remained seated, motionless, neither crying nor making a scene.

After a moment’s thought, I showed my ID to the railway police and left my home address and contact information.

And so, when I stepped off the high-speed train…

In addition to my phone, my ID, and a bank card with a meager balance…

I had one extra child.

I officially settled down in my hometown.

I cleared out the overgrown, desolate courtyard and planted fruits and vegetables.

I had my grandmother’s portrait framed and hung it right in the center of the living room.

I gave the little girl a name: Song Xiaoxiao.

I completed the paperwork and registered her under my household. From then on, my household registration booklet was finally no longer just a single, lonely page.

Xiaoxiao didn’t like to smile at all. She always had a stoic face, looking at me with a serious expression.

She understood everything; despite her young age, she was exceptionally mature. Even though she was only four, during the days when I was sick, she would climb onto a stool to cook porridge for me.

I thought of my biological child.

The young master of the Jiang Family, Jiang Zilan-the boy who would receive an entire ski resort as a gift when he wanted to go skiing, or an entire candy factory when he wanted sweets.

They were so different.

Xiaoxiao asked me why I had adopted her.

She said she was just a burden.

I stroked her head and replied:

“Because I’m very lonely. So, could you stay with me from now on?”

She looked at me, silent for a long time, before nodding vigorously.

Fine, I’ll stay with you for the rest of my life.