Chapter 13: Mom Asked You to Plead, Not to Yell and Scream

Chapter 13: Chapter 13: Mom Asked You to Plead, Not to Yell and Scream

"Mommy, you smell wrong!"

The moment Shu Yao returned, Xiao Juzi caught the scent of that awful person on her, his face clouded with displeasure.

Shu Yao put on a stern face. "So are you going to have the robot throw Mommy in the trash can, too?"

"No!" Despite disliking the scent, Xiao Juzi leaped into her arms and snuggled against her. "I’d never get rid of Mommy!"

"Yaoyao, come sit," Shu Xin called her over to the sofa. "Your uncles want to talk to you."

Sensing this wasn’t good, Shu Yao whispered in her son’s ear, "You have to stick up for Mommy later, okay?"

Before she could even sit down, she heard Shu Guohua’s furious voice:

"If you don’t like that Ah Bao, why did you marry him!"

So much for sticking up for her. Xiao Juzi was scared to death. He burrowed under his mother’s arm, hiding his head but not his bottom, not daring to even glance at his grand-uncle’s terrifying expression.

Shu Yao sat up ramrod straight, her eyes darting around, and stammered out an explanation:

"With him... I guess you could say our love was forged in adversity. I did like him."

Shu Guohua was still stern, but his voice had lost its anger, replaced by a trace of resignation. "You two have a child together. You never thought about contacting him?"

"After Xiao Juzi was born, I did think about him a lot. But the thing is, I didn’t know anything about his background back then, or his family situation.

What if he already had a family? If I showed up with Xiao Juzi, wouldn’t I become the other woman? I never wanted to destroy someone else’s family.

More importantly, I didn’t want Xiao Juzi to be influenced by a warped view of relationships. Once you’re labeled an illegitimate child, it’s not a tag that’s easy to remove."

One could tell these were Shu Yao’s heartfelt words.

Shu Guohua’s expression softened.

Sensing the atmosphere in the room was no longer so heavy, Xiao Juzi wriggled out to defend her. "Mommy did nothing wrong!"

Shu Yao lightly patted his little bottom. "Mommy asked you to stick up for her, not to shout!"

Xiao Juzi pouted, a little hurt.

When he spoke again, his voice was tiny, soft, and childlike. "Mommy didn’t do anything wrong. Grand-uncle, please don’t be mad at Mommy, okay?"

Shu Guohua’s heart melted.

"Alright, alright, I won’t blame her, I won’t!" He picked up Xiao Juzi and pressed cheeks with Zaizai. "Our little Xiao Juzi knows how to protect his mommy at such a young age. Such a good, sensible boy!"

Who would have thought that the ever-serious Shu District Chief had such a loving side?

"Yaoyao," Shu Chao Yu asked from the side, "From what Ah Bao said, you two met during the Battle of Ice City. How did you get involved in that?"

Shu Yao seemed to drift away, lost in her memories.

Shu Chao Yu: "Yaoyao?"

Shu Yao snapped out of it, touching her head and forcing a smile. "Sorry, I just remembered something unpleasant... What were you saying, Uncle?"

Shu Chao Yu and Shu Guohua exchanged a look.

Then he shook his head at Shu Yao with a smile. "It’s nothing."

"Yaoyao, your uncle..." Shu Xin began anxiously, but a look from Shu Chao Yu stopped her. So she softened her tone and said gently, "Your uncle is just concerned about you. Don’t overthink it."

Shu Yao nodded with a smile. "I know."

Xiao Juzi struggled out of his grand-uncle’s arms and jumped onto his mother. His fluffy little body and head snuggled into her embrace as he gazed worriedly at his unhappy mother.

Shu Yao made a silly face, making him giggle.

Little Zaizai was easily placated, but the adults beside them keenly sensed Shu Yao’s evasion and concealment.

Shu Xin couldn’t help but say, "Yaoyao, if something is wrong, you have to tell Mom..." but she stopped herself from telling her not to keep everything bottled up inside.

Shu Yao smiled and nodded, but there was a sense of distance about her.

Shu Xin felt a pang of disappointment but didn’t let it show, not wanting to place any more mental burden on her daughter.