Raelle walked inside the tea house and went straight to the private room she had been told about beforehand. Sliding open the door, as she stepped inside, she noticed how Song Xin'ai was about to get up but then sat back down.
Raelle found this small movent quite interesting.
It seed her mother was very excited to see her but didn't want to show it either. Hmmm... It was because she didn't show her emotions so much that her own children found it difficult to approach her. It was like you couldn't read what was on Song Xin'ai's mind at all.
"You're here," she said.
"Yes," replied as she took a seat before her.
Song Xin'ai looked at the door before asking, "You ca alone?"
"Who else was I supposed to co with?" asked Raelle.
Song Xin'ai didn't know what to reply to that. "Right. Maybe I was thinking too much. I thought your husband would be here with you."
"He's outside," replied Raelle.
And finally, Song Xin'ai had a knowing smile on her face. That's right. That's what she thought. Shui Xian gave her the impression that he was a bit clingy. So, she had expected that he'd have followed Raelle here.
"You should have called him inside," said Song Xin'ai.
"He's having a eting close by," answered Raelle.
Song Xin'ai wanted to ask how she was but she also figured, Raelle won't like that question. So, she was left hesitating.
"I'm doing very well," said Raelle surprising Song Xin'ai who had yet even to decide whether to ask or not.
Song Xin'ai smiled at her softly, "That's good to know. You look like you're doing better."
Raelle agreed with that. She also thought she looked like she was doing better than before. The pills she took definitely had so effect that even she could perceive. Her sleep got better and so did her appetite. Shui Xian was almost going crazy from happiness when he noticed how her appetite recovered.
No, it didn't just recover. It got even better.
Since they had no topics to actually hold small talk about, Song Xin'ai got to the point, "I wonder why you wanted to see in person."
"I have to ask you about soone," said Raelle. "Do you know Chi Xirui?"
Song Xin'ai's brows furrowed a little but she nodded, "She was a student of mine."
"What do you know about her?" asked Raelle.
Song Xin'ai was quiet for a mont as she pondered on that question of hers. What did she know about Chi Xirui? She didn't think she knew that much but she could share whatever she knew.
"Is there anything specific you want to know?"
"I don't mind anything," replied Raelle.
"I was a visiting professor at her university when I t her. She was a very lively and friendly person. Everybody seed to like her a lot. Her personality just appealed to people a lot. With my personality, it isn't easy to get close to but she still managed to beco one of the students I rember and soone I looked at highly. She was ant to be an excellent doctor one day." Song Xin'ai seed to reminiscing and Raelle didn't interrupt as she listened carefully. "So, you can say that she was sowhat my favorite student. She didn't mind my cold personality and kept trying to take care of . When I asked she said, 'Professor, you look tired. I just want to help a little in my way.' The last ti, I t her it was when she volunteered to be a doctor in a disaster area due to floods. I never saw her again. But she used to send postcards. Then the postcards stopped coming. I thought she finally got tired of or my cold personality froze her heart as well."
She went silent for a mont and took a sip of the tea to moisten her throat before saying, "It was just recently I learned that she didn't get tired of . She was no more. It felt uncomfortable knowing she was no longer around."
"What do you know about her family?" asked Raelle.
"Nothing," replied Song Xin'ai. "There were plenty of tis when I noticed how she seed to always avoid the topic of family. I never understood why but I never asked her for the reason either. Everyone has their own difficulties. It's not like I have a picture perfect family, why should ask about hers? It just didn't feel right."
"Then do you think she ca from a very strong background?"
Song Xin'ai frowned at that and shook her head, "No way. She lived such a simple life. Always running to get to her part ti jobs, trying to get scholarships to subsidize her expenses. She even lived in a small apartnt. Even though with d school, she wasn't supposed to have all that much ti apart from studying but she still juggled around to make things work. I don't think she had a strong background."
Raelle didn't ask anything else as she sat there with her hand on the tabletop and slowly, her index finger started tapping on the tabletop.
From what she heard, Chi Xirui seed like a normal happy-go-lucky girl. But if she was that normal why wouldn't Anna able be able to find anything about her? It's always the one who seem normal that are to be worried about. They couldn't be that simple.
All the things that Song Xin'ai said, Raelle only picked up on one useful thing. So, she asked, "The flood rescue team... When was it? Which volunteer group did she join?"
"It was a few years back," Song Xin'ai said thoughtfully. "About 6 or 7 years ago."
"Thank you," said Raelle.
Song Xin'ai shook her head to show it wasn't a big deal but she still had to ask, "Why are you asking about her? I don't think you're soone who'd be interested in soone for without a reason. So, what's going on?"
"Don't worry, it's nothing big," replied Raelle. "Let's just say, I want to learn more about her."
"But why?" asked Song Xin'ai. "Did you even know her?"
"No," said Raelle. "It hasn't even been a month since I first heard her na."
Song Xin'ai was even more confused with that answer, "Then why this sudden curiosity about her?"
"Even if I didn't know her, that student of yours seed to know about ," said Raelle. "So, I'm just wondering why."
Song Xin'ai scratched her edge of the table with her fingernail lightly as she lowered her head.
"Do you have sothing to tell , mother?"
Song Xin'ai pursed her lips and looked at her, "She had seen the pictures of my kids on my desk."
"You have a photo of mine?"
Song Xin'ai nodded and said, "It's from your childhood when you won in that science fair."
Raelle nodded her head. It was difficult to find her pictures online because her family protected her so well but it was easier for Song Xin'ai to get that photo from the organizers considering she was from the sa field.
"She said I saved her life," added Raelle on her own accord. "And soone to pay back for saving her life. The thing is, I don't recall saving her. Do I look like a living budhistava who'd save anyone? I don't know how I got the hat of being a kind person. I'm just interested in knowing how and when I saved her life."
Even Song Xin'ai fell into contemplation when she heard that.
"Maybe you don't rember it?" suggested Song Xin'ai but then she shook her head. "Right, that is hard to believe that you won't rember it."
"That's what I thought," said Raelle. "Since I saved her life, I should know more about her. That's why I called you to ask. Sorry for taking your ti for such a small matter."
"That's alright," replied Song Xin'ai. "I don't mind."
They sat together for a while and since they had nothing personal to discuss, these two won started talking about the common interests they had in life. Who knew if it was surprising or not, but they had way too much in common. Even if they worked in completely different fields, they had a lot of common ground to discuss.
"Are you going back to the lab?" asked Raelle.
"Yeah."
"Why? Didn't you say, you have a few days off?"
"I do."
"Then you don't know what to do with those days off?" asked Raelle.
Song Xin'ai didn't deny it. "It's been a long ti since I don't know what to do with my ti off. I have nowhere to be. Maybe that's why I spend more ti in my lab. At least, I have sothing to look forward to. I'd say it's where I'm free."
"Is it? I'd rather call it your cage," said Raelle. "But then again, you chose that cage for yourself."
Song Xin'ai sighed heavily as she stared at this daughter of hers, "You... You really know how to hurt your mother. But I can't even get mad at you for that."
"People often find it difficult to get mad at ," was Raelle's cheeky response that wasn't really like her. But it made Song Xin'ai chuckle and relax around her.
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