If You Could Hear My Heart

"Tell me, how did she escape from prison?" Shen Chi asked as he cooked.

"Mostly because the people at the police station were too careless," Xiao Mo said calmly. "She requested to visit Jiang Zhilan and claimed that she had evidence the police wanted, which was with Jiang Zhilan. So, the police brought her over. At first, there was no problem, but then she said she needed to take Jiang Zhilan to point out a location."

"And then she escaped from the car?" Shen Chi frowned.

"Yes, that's roughly how it happened. She even took a little boy from the side of the road as a hostage."

"What about the little boy? Is he okay?" Xu Chaomu asked from the side, looking a bit worried.

From the remote feed, the little boy seemed around Xiaobao's age, equally adorable.

Xiao Mo paused; he hadn't noticed Xu Chaomu was there.

He said calmly, "Mrs. Shen, he's fine. The boy was a little shaken up and is currently being checked at the hospital. His parents are with him."

"That's a relief. Thank goodness it wasn't Xiaobao. If it were Xiaobao, Bai Man would definitely stop at nothing to harm him this time," Xu Chaomu said.

Both Shen Chi and Xiao Mo agreed with Xu Chaomu. If Bai Man had caught Xiaobao this time, she would have undoubtedly killed the child without mercy.

"What's past is past," Shen Chi said flatly.

"Alright, Mr. Shen, I won't disturb you any further," Xiao Mo said. "I'm going to check on a few construction sites."

Before Shen Chi could respond, Xu Chaomu cut in, "It's Saturday, the weather is nice, why are you going to construction sites? Go date someone."

"…" Shen Chi's lips twitched.

Xiao Mo was also momentarily stunned but then smirked a few seconds later, "I think visiting construction sites might be easier."

With that, Xiao Mo ended the call.

"Mr. Shen, why don't you care about your employees' personal lives?" Xu Chaomu scolded Shen Chi.

"Is that something I'm supposed to care about?"

"Fine. Isn't Miss Xu's birthday coming up? I'll help Xiao Mo find a pretty girl then."

"Do you think he'd appreciate it?" Shen Chi raised an eyebrow.

"…" Xu Chaomu wasn't confident about that.

Shen Chi continued cooking on the side, while Xu Chaomu alternated between supervising him and scrolling through her phone.

As she casually opened her social media feed, she happened to see Xia Chuqing had posted a few photos taken by the Seine River.

The key point? Xia Chuqing wasn't alone in the pictures. There was also a guy next to her…

Xu Chaomu clicked on the enlarged version. Wasn't this guy the one she had seen at C University before?!

What was his name again… Song Heng.

But it had been a year since they last met. The guy looked handsomer now, carrying himself with a more mature vibe.

Because of the sunny weather, both Xia Chuqing and Song Heng wore sunglasses. Standing together, they looked rather compatible.

"Look! Isn't this Song Heng?" Xu Chaomu shoved the photo in front of Shen Chi.

"Don't know him."

"Fine, forget it, doesn't concern you anyway."

Xu Chaomu commented under Xia Chuqing's post: New boyfriend?

"They look quite matched," Shen Chi added quietly.

"Sigh, Chuqing's a good girl. I hope she finds happiness. Some people don't know what they've missed, but it's fine. Chuqing deserves someone better," Xu Chaomu murmured to herself.

"What are you mumbling about? Who are 'some people'?" Shen Chi asked indifferently.

"You wouldn't understand. Men are all dense," Xu Chaomu replied bluntly to Shen Chi.

"…"

Before more could be said, Xia Chuqing replied to Xu Chaomu's comment with a grinning emoji.

Xu Chaomu was baffled. What does this stupid emoji even mean? Yes or no?!

If the answer was yes, then she'd genuinely wish Chuqing well, as long as Song Heng treated her kindly.

If the answer was no, then she'd still wish her the best and to find someone even better.

Still, that photo of the two standing by the Seine River was truly striking; a beautiful couple indeed.

"Mom, Erbao's crying! He's being naughty," Xiaobao suddenly ran into the kitchen.

Xu Chaomu turned her head, "Crying again?"

"Yeah, super naughty."

"No way, your little brother is way more well-behaved than you were at his age," Xu Chaomu countered.

"Mom, you're being mean! You're becoming bad like Old Shen!"

"…"

Xu Chaomu walked into the nursery; sure enough, the baby was bawling nonstop, with a maid flusteredly trying to change his diaper.

Upon seeing Xu Chaomu, the maid called out, "Madam, the little young master is crying."

"Is he hungry?"

"Well… no." The maid looked troubled.

"Hmm? Why is he crying then?"

"Young Master Xiaobao said the little young master was picked up from the street, and the little master started crying," the maid explained.

Hearing this, Xiaobao realized he was in big trouble and quickly bolted.

That maid is so annoying. Why rat him out? Xiaobao didn't know that Erbao would fall for it so easily. He thought Erbao wouldn't understand!

Xu Chaomu's face was full of black lines. Picked up from the street? How could Erbao even understand that?

"Alright, alright, stop crying, baby," Xu Chaomu said soothingly to the little one. "Baby is Mommy's biological child. Baby is much cuter than your brother. Mommy loves you the most."

Overhearing this, Xiaobao felt deeply hurt.

Out of spite, Xiaobao locked himself in his room.

When it was time for lunch, Xu Chaomu went to call him. Xiaobao refused to respond.

"Come out and eat," Xu Chaomu said.

"I'm not eating. Mommy doesn't love me," Xiaobao pouted.

"If you don't come out to eat, Mommy really won't love you," Xu Chaomu said. "And by the way, stop saying nonsense to your brother. Come out!"

Shen Chi simply grabbed the key, opened the door, and yanked Xiaobao off the bed.

"Getting rebellious now, huh?" Shen Chi scolded. "Refusing to eat? Scaring your brother? Fine, go stand outside in the sun!"

Saying this, Shen Chi hauled Xiaobao outside and dropped him under the scorching sun.

The blazing white sun was beating down on the ground. Today's temperature was really high. Xiaobao pouted and silently stood under the sun.

Ling, the butler, saw this and hurried to plead, "Fourth Young Master, Xiaobao is still young. Let him come back inside. If he gets tanned, it won't look good."

"Let him sunbathe, it'll give him some calcium!" Shen Chi said sternly.

"…" Xu Chaomu couldn't help but laugh. What was she supposed to do? This reminded her of herself years ago.

No one said another word. Xiaobao, being clever, used his hands to shield his face, but it couldn't block out the intense sunlight.

"Oh, right, where's Ayu?" During lunch, Xu Chaomu couldn't help but ask Shen Chi.

That morning, Ayu had come to the Shen Family to protect them, but she hadn't really seen him around much.

"He went back to the police station."

"Coming and going like a shadow, and you didn't even invite him to stay for a meal."

"He had already left."

"Is Miao Xiu still chasing after Ayu?" Xu Chaomu asked curiously.

"He won't stop until he reaches the Yellow River. Last time, he chased her too aggressively and got beaten."

Xu Chaomu's mouth twitched. Beaten? She couldn't imagine Ayu beating someone up.

"Well… aren't they both police academy graduates? Isn't Miao Xiu supposed to be a match for Ayu?" Xu Chaomu asked, confused.

"Simply outmatched."

"It just goes to show you have to study hard," Xu Chaomu said with feeling. "How did he even get beaten?"