"No, no, no," Shen Xi waved her hands repeatedly, involuntarily taking a step back. "It was Chen Chen who came to find you at Zhuo Sheng. That time we met at the restaurant, you mistook Shuo Shuo for Chen Chen. I was afraid it would be complicated to explain, so I defaulted to it. And subsequently, I had to cover it up."
"Complicated to explain? What's so complicated? It's just a sentence," Qin Si Ye's gaze turned icy, his voice suddenly rising. "You had many chances to clarify this. For example, when Shuo Shuo was sick, or when I saw Yan Yan at the wetland park, you could have told the truth. But you didn't. You even went as far as to say that Yin Xi had twins back then. And I, like an idiot, brought three cakes every time. Did you think playing me for a fool was fun?"
Shen Xi hadn't expected him to be this angry. Flustered and stammering, she said, "Mr. Qin, I'm sorry. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have hidden this from you from the beginning. At the time, I thought this matter wasn't that important to you, after all, Yin Xi and you only knew each other for a little over a month, and the child..."
"Enough. Don't always use time as an excuse." Qin Si Ye suddenly took a step forward and shouted, "I hate it the most when people lie to me and treat me like a clown!"
Shen Xi trembled with fear, unsure of what he intended to do. She immediately closed her eyes. Facing the streetlights, Qin Si Ye looked at the familiar yet strange face so close to him, and couldn't help but raise his hand, wanting to uncover its true features. However, just as he was about to touch it, he gently lowered his hand. When Shen Xi opened her eyes, she only saw Qin Si Ye's enraged retreating back.
Sitting in the back seat of the car, Qin Si Ye closed his eyes lightly, took a deep breath, and suppressed the anger in his heart. As the car drove out of the residential gate, a WeChat message notification sounded. He opened his eyes and looked, seeing the following line of text displayed.
"Uncle Qin, have you left? Did you trouble Mommy?"
Qin Si Ye's face still held a trace of anger as he asked harshly, "Who are you?"
The reply came quickly: "I'm Chen Chen. I'm alone in the room now."
After a long pause, Qin Si Ye said, "You actually colluded with your Mommy to deceive me. I can't believe I trusted you so much."
Chen Chen quickly sent a crying emoji. Then he sent the following message:
"Uncle Qin, we really didn't mean to hide it from you. When we first returned to the country, Mommy always told us that you had a fiancée and asked us not to bother you. Later, when you mistook Shuo Shuo for me, Mommy didn't clarify, and we all cooperated with her actively. But I think Mommy did this to avoid affecting your life."
After reading this, Qin Si Ye immediately asked, "You guys also knew that your Mom and I knew each other before?"
Hearing this, Chen Chen broke out in a cold sweat. He had only wanted to put in a good word for his mother, but he had unintentionally "drawn fire upon himself." Mommy was wearing a mask now, so he probably didn't know she was the Yin Xi from back then. But why would he ask such a question? Who was Mommy referring to in his words? Was it Yin Xi or Shen Xi?
Chen Chen pondered for a moment and replied vaguely, "Yes. We found information about you from back then online. Actually, there are reasons why Mommy is hiding things from you."
"Are you saying that besides this matter, she is hiding other things from me?" Qin Si Ye pressed immediately.
Chen Chen was startled again and quickly replied, "Uncle Qin, everyone has their privacy. Mommy is just a casual friend to you now, and she can't tell you everything. No matter what she is hiding from you, you just need to remember one thing: she has her own difficult circumstances and helplessness. If you genuinely consider her a friend, you shouldn't care about these things."
Casual friend? Did Shen Xi really see him as just a casual friend? He remembered that just a few days ago, she had said that the relationship between them was merely between a patient's family member and a doctor, and that he should maintain boundaries. What was wrong with him today? Why was he so angry? Besides the anger of being deceived, there seemed to be a layer of care and emotion involved. Could it be because these three children were Yin Xi's?