LIGHTNOVELONLINE
Chapter 102
"Mommy, I want to catch the little rabbits!"
Baby Shang suddenly stopped in his tracks, whispering, "Mommy, can I eat them?"
Shang Xi also crouched down, kissing her son's chubby cheeks. "You can eat them if you want, no problem. But you need to get the owner's permission first. The owner here has given their consent."
"Okay, Mommy is the best!" Baby Shang smiled, revealing his tiny fangs.
The wolf led them to a pavilion behind the house, pointing to the vast green meadow and the short forest beyond. "Mr. Gu, that area over there is where the cubs practice hunting."
"Currently, there are three cubs hunting in there."
The rain had lessened compared to earlier, but a light drizzle continued to fall.
Shang Xi opened her mouth but remained silent.
Her son wasn't an ordinary human; she couldn't treat him like a normal child.
She had to raise him like a wolf cub and get used to it.
Other wolf cubs were hunting, so there was no reason for her son to be weaker.
Gu Wen was right; if her son couldn't catch prey in the wild, how would he integrate into his pack?
The more survival skills he learned, the better it would be for his long life ahead.
She needed to learn to let go.
"Do you need to transform into a full wolf form?" she asked.
The wolf had kept his head lowered the entire time. "That's up to the cub's free will, but for the initial hunting, a full wolf form might be better."
Baby Shang had been eager to start, instantly transforming into a plump, solid wolf cub.
Excitedly, he ran around, circling his parents.
"Owoo... Owoooo..."
"Little cub, be careful and don't get hurt," Shang Xi said, still a hint of worry in her eyes despite trying to let go.
Such a tiny cub was going to learn how to hunt.
"Owoo..." The wolf cub nudged Shang Xi's hand with his round head, then stuck out his little tongue to lick her. "Owoooo..."
"Good boy, I'll be waiting for you here. Go on."
The little wolf cub let out an "owoo" and eagerly dashed out, his chubby, round body bounding across the damp meadow, his little tail wagging.
Shang Xi let go.
Watching the little one run farther and farther away, it felt like... one day, he would grow up and leave her, braving the rain and venturing out into the world on his own. And she would remain where she was, growing old, watching him run farther and farther away.
He had his own world.
Look at how eager he was to explore the outside world and catch little rabbits.
Shang Xi realized this was just the beginning.
Her little cub would eventually go very, very far away. And what about her?
For the first time, Shang Xi felt a sense of panic. She had thought that having a son was all she needed, that loneliness didn't matter, that beautiful scenery and delicious food didn't matter as long as she had her son.
She had worked hard to earn money to support him, to feed him well, to keep him warm, to raise him healthily.
Back then, they were poor, so she had no time to think about such things, just work and more work.
Now, with Gu Wen as her son's wealthy father, her son would never worry about food or clothing, and she benefitted from the prosperity as well.
Now, her son no longer needed her to be busy all the time, stressed out, or go hungry or cold.
One day in the future, he would live his own life.
And her...?
Would she return to the loneliness of her childhood?
She had always pressed forward, rejecting those who wanted to accompany her on her journey.
It was her own choice to reject them.
This path of dread was her own choice.
Shang Xi's face turned pale, and she felt lost.
The little wolf cub had already disappeared into the forest.
She remained motionless in her spot.
The wolf who had led the way had left.
In the pavilion, only Gu Wen and Shang Xi remained.
His sharp gaze fell upon the woman, and they were alone together.
"The cub is just going hunting, what's with that expression? As if the whole world has abandoned you?"
"...No." Shang Xi regained her senses, looking away as she leaned against a pillar carved with a wolf's head.
She felt...
From that moment on, Gu Wen's words had started to sting again.
She remembered when they first talked to each other half a year ago, he spoke in a stinging, unpleasant manner, making it difficult to get along with him.
But after that, he had never spoken like that again.
She couldn't help but look up at him. "What's wrong with you?"
Surely she hadn't offended him in any way.
"I heard you."
"What?" Shang Xi was momentarily confused.
Gu Wen said, "If you find South Wind Manor too noisy, I can take you and the cub to another place to stay."
Shang Xi's lips parted slightly. He suddenly mentioned changing their residence, and then he said he heard her.
That could only mean...
"Why were you eavesdropping on my conversation with Grandma?" Perhaps influenced by the emotional thought of her son eventually leaving, her anger flared, and she used the hurtful term "eavesdropping."
Her face flushed with outrage at being offended. "Your keen hearing is amazing, isn't it? You know everything in the world, don't you?"
Gu Wen's hands clenched at his sides, his thin lips curling in derision. "So, this is how you see me?"
"I was eavesdropping?" He almost laughed bitterly, staring at her. "Who the hell wants to hear your words that are as sharp as a knife!"
"I hate this damn good hearing too!"
With a casual, coaxing tone, she had said: He and I could never be!
She said it so lightly, as if it were a joke.
Strangely enough, Shang Xi thought, if it were anyone else, she wouldn't want to engage in such a pointless argument. She would be too lazy to bother.
But facing Gu Wen, seeing his anger-tinged expression, what was this? Was he being rude to her? How could he treat her like that...?
Her anger suddenly flared up.
"So what? You heard what I said to Grandma, and now you're being sarcastic and stinging me with your words, right?"
She glared at him, her eyes filled with anger. "Tell me, did I say anything wrong? In front of Grandma, I didn't say anything bad about you, did I?"
Gu Wen took a deep breath, pursing his thin lips. After a moment, he tried to keep his voice calm. "If you're not comfortable staying at South Wind Manor, we can move to another place."
"I just want to take my cub and go home!" Shang Xi finally understood, looking at him with a hint of disbelief. "You heard that I planned to leave South Wind Manor in a month, didn't you? So you're backing out? You don't want me to take our son away anymore?"
The more she thought about it, the more she felt that was the case.
"I get it now. That's why you have that expression and why you're speaking in a stinging manner again, just like when I first came to South Wind Manor. No matter if it was back then or now, you only get angry with me because of our son."
Shang Xi's face flushed red with excitement as she breathed heavily. "You don't want me to take our son away, do you?"
Upon hearing this, Gu Wen's brow deeply furrowed, and he stared at her intently, word by word. "I want you and the cub to stay."
"You're lying!" Shang Xi was on the verge of being consumed by her jumbled emotions.
"You only care about our son, just like Gray Tail said before. You only accepted me because I'm his mother. All your kindness towards me is because I'm your son's mother."
"Now, at the last step, you want to back out, don't you? You can't keep up the act anymore, can you? That's why from the moment until now, you've been talking to me like this!"
Shang Xi hadn't been this angry in a long time, nor had she argued with anyone like this. Perhaps her emotions were too intense, and her eyes turned red with anger.
Her vision blurred.
"I won't be foolish enough to believe anything. In this world, besides my son, there is no one who truly loves me! I've never been the one firmly chosen."
Shang Xi's blurred vision was obscured by tears, and she couldn't see anything.
Her voice cracked with sobs, "You only wanted our son all along. You put on an act for a few months, but when you heard that I still planned to take our son away, you didn't want to pretend anymore. You were too lazy to keep pretending. You've become arrogant again."
Thinking that one day her son would have to live his own life, recalling the various experiences from her childhood, and seeing the man who had been so amiable towards her for so long now revealing his true face, Shang Xi couldn't hold back her emotions any longer, like floodgates bursting open.
Why?
Why did her life have to be a tragedy? Why was her happiness and joy always so limited?
She thought that once she grew up, once she endured through it, things would be better. But now she's already grown up, so why can't she live her life well?
Was everything her own fault?
Was she deserving of all this?
Gu Wen wouldn't let her take Baby Shang away, and she was completely powerless.
The more Shang Xi thought about it, the more tears streamed down her face: "I hate you... I don't like you at all... You're no different from them, I thought you were..."
Her reddened eyes, her sobbing voice, her heart-wrenching words - Gu Wen had never felt so panicked and helpless before. As Shang Xi's red lips moved, in that instant his mind went blank. Stop, stop crying...
Stop it.
How could he stop her tears, stop her anguish?
"Mmm..."
Her red lips were forcefully sealed, Shang Xi opened her eyes wide in disbelief.
"Mmm mmm mmm...!!!"
She was trapped between the man's arms, her chin grasped, forced to tilt her head up as unfamiliar, slightly cool lips pressed hard against hers.
"Mmm..."
Shang Xi was kissed and suckled on desperately and madly by the man, who wouldn't let go.
I'm late to the party, my brain is fried after writing all day. This chapter made me cry so much.
Let me explain: From the very first chapter, I mentioned that the female lead is not a strong female lead, not a powerful woman. If you want that type, you can remove this from your bookshelf. In my opinion, Shang Xi is simply an ordinary woman with psychological trauma who craves love. Some readers hope she will be as "tough" and "clear-minded" as steel, living an independent and beautiful life. I disagree - that would go against her character setting. If I wanted to write about a strong female lead, I would do that instead of writing her this way. That would be too cruel to her. I hope she will receive the love of her child and partner. Her different attitudes towards the Gray Wolf, her displays of various emotions, show that she has already started to open her heart. Otherwise, why would she act so crazily towards an irrelevant man?