I Am Your Little Sunshine

In the single ward, Chu Xi hung his head and was peeling a large orange. The fragrant scent of orange stimulated the mucous membrane of his nose. He could not help but sneeze. Zhao Lishu suddenly opened her eyes, seemingly confused. As she looked at the man in front of her, whose face was 80% similar to hers. Her eyes suddenly filled with affection, but the words that came out were not affectionate.

"How come you've come back to China?" Zhao Lishu's voice was hoarse as if it had been sharpened by sandpaper. It was a little uncomfortable to hear.

Chu Xi looked up at Zhao Lishu, who had been severely tormented in her hospital bed. He remembered that her mother had been a beauty when she was young. However, she had not been able to withstand the passage of time, and the end of her life was a bit tragic. But he was not a sentimental person and had not experienced the sensuality of women. Naturally, he did not understand the sadness of Zhao Lishu, who had lost her beauty.

He took away the orange filaments from the orange cloves with the concentration of a physics experiment and then handed them to Zhao Lishu. He spoke slowly, sort of answering her question, "Aren't you sick. I came back to take a look."

Zhao Lishu snorted lightly and picked up the orange in his hand. However, she did not immediately put it into her mouth. Instead, she said in a harsh tone, "What is there to see, to see me make fun of myself? You haven't been back for ten years, but you came back at this time. If not to laugh at me, then what for?"

Chu Xi took out a tissue and wiped the orange residue from his fingers, responding to her accusation in the same tone, "You have nothing to laugh at. I stayed away so I wouldn't cause you any trouble. What have I done to upset you again?"

After hearing this, Zhao Lishu's chest rose and fell twice. When she looked at the face that looked 80% like her own but the eyes that looked twice like that of her unloving ex-husband, she finally couldn't resist throwing the orange at him. She raised her voice to shout, "What kind of words are you saying! I brought you up, and this is how you piss me off! I almost broke all of my family ties for you! What, I can't even yell at you! If you had been normal, I wouldn't have spent all my energy with you and let that bitch have a chance to get into that bastard's bed! So, now it's all your fault! If I had known that you would be as heartless as your father, I wouldn't have given birth to you. I wouldn't have accompanied you everywhere to study!"

As Chu Xi listened to Zhao Lishu's blustery shouting, he was calm, and his mind was flooded with memories of his childhood. Zhao Lishu accompanied the young Chu Xi to the junior class at the University of Science and Technology in Beijing, not as an ordinary child but as a genius with an IQ of 142. The teachers, parents, and society all praised him. But also looked down on him as if he were a spectator, waiting to see how he would rise to the top of the building and how one day the guests would suddenly disperse. How he would be able to make his way to the top. 

Chu Mao is the chairman of the Jiangcheng City Chusheng Heavy Industry Group. He is surrounded by all kinds of women and girls, and in the past, with Zhao Lishu by his side, he could still resist. But once he was free from his wife's control, he was like a bird flying into the forest, dazzled by all kinds of flowers and butterflies, and lost his mind. As young Chu Xi's talent developed, Zhao Lishu had to shift her focus to educating this gifted youngster. Zhao Lishu began to live apart from Chu Mao for long periods. This separation led to the breakdown of Chu Xi's original home, which was a direct result of the split. From that moment on, Chu Xi became the source of all the tragic stories. It was as if he had suddenly become guilty, no longer receiving any understanding or liberation from Zhao Lishu. This conviction of guilt makes every step he takes extremely heavy and difficult and is most obviously reflected in his indifference and silence.

He shook his head gently and pushed away Zhao Lishu's rebuke and anger from his mind. He remained expressionless as he bent down to pick up the dusty oranges that had rolled around on the floor and threw them into the rubbish bin under the bed. He got up and looked at Zhao Lishu, who was pale, and said indifferently, "You don't like oranges? Then I'll go and buy you some apples. You can rest first. I'll be back soon."

Zhao Lishu's breath caught in her throat, and she looked at his back as he walked out of the ward. She slammed her pillow hard, and tears came out of her eyes.

As soon as he stepped out of the ward, a voice leapt over: "Professor Chu, is Ms Zhao resting?"

He looked at the young woman in front of him. Her eyes were large and dark like glass beads. Her face was plump and round. The corners of her mouth were slightly curved upwards. She seemed to be smiling at all times, her hair was tied up in a high ponytail, and as they stood facing each other, even the soft hairs on her face were visible. He paused, seemingly thinking about something, and did not immediately answer the young woman's question.

Xia Xingchen looked at his slightly bewildered expression and guessed what the professor was thinking at first, so she smiled and said, "My name is Xia Xingchen. You can call me Xiao Xia."

"Uh... Sorry...Xiao Xia, right?". The slightly embarrassed Chu Xi said. However, he had always had a blank expression. This slight embarrassment did not show on his face as he stuck his hands in his pockets and said, "Are you looking after my mother?"

Xia Xingchen nodded her head, her voice full of emotion, "Yes! The college has informed Ms Zhao's family. But they seemed busy, and Ms Zhao is very kind to us students, so I volunteered to look after her! Professor Chu, you just got off the plane, aren't you tired? You haven't eaten either..."

As she watched Xia Xingchen's mouth go up and down, he suddenly thought of the bulging pufferfish, which also looked like this bulging shape. Suddenly he was poked in the arm. He looked back and found Xia Xingchen staring at him with a burning gaze. This gaze felt familiar to him----, the same gaze as the women who once saw him as prey, fierce and greedy.

He subconsciously took a step back to distance himself from Xia Xingchen and asked: "What's wrong?"

Xia Xingchen grinned: "Professor Chu, are you suffering from jet lag just now? In that case, I'll make it short. I haven't eaten either. Mr Zhao said you're often abroad, I'll take you to have some hometown food, to remind you of the taste of your hometown, how about it?"

Chu Xi was a bit shocked by Xia Xing Chen's familiarity. For someone like him, who had entered the Buddhist realm at a young age, this kind of familiarity was simply asking for trouble. So, in response to Xia Xingchen's overly enthusiastic invitation, he shook his head coldly, "Thank you. I don't want to remember the flavour of my hometown."

When he entered the ward to see Zhao Lishu, she had already taken out her mobile phone to search all the restaurants within a kilometre of the area. She had racked her brains to come up with a few topics that would interest the professor and was waiting to implement them later if only they would resonate with him. She had already seen a picture of Professor Chu Xi, and in the words of her best friend Li Ting, he was a true beauty! Men love beauty, and women love men too. So, when she found out that the most beautiful man on earth was about to land in China, Xia Xingchen spent almost all of her time on Zhao Lishu's side, waiting to see what this most beautiful man on earth was like! 

However, in just half an hour, she had a rough idea of how good Professor Chu Xi was. Faced with this blunt refusal, Xia Xingchen was only slightly stunned. But soon, she was generous with herself, waving her hand and smiling, "Hey, it's okay. If you don't want to eat, then I'll take you back to your home. You just returned to China, so you might be a bit uncomfortable with the changes in your hometown. I have to take you home safely for Ms Zhao!"

Chu Xi looked at her smile and found it a bit of an eyesore. Even the words sounded unpleasant. He took a step back again, reached out his hand and tightened his grip on the lever of his suitcase, looked at her with cold eyes and replied in a matter-of-fact tone: "Ms Xia, when did the people back home become so warm-hearted?"

Xia Xingchen laughed cheekily and took a step closer to him, "Yes! Professor Chu is feeling my enthusiasm! Do you agree with me taking you home? Let's go. I have a car. It's very convenient!" She said and went to pick up Chu Xi's suitcase.

Chu Xi looked at her white hand as if he saw a beast and took a big step back. Xia Xingchen missed the suitcase lever and looked at him with a puzzled face, only to hear his voice hit her one by one, "Miss Xia, don't you know how to respect other people's wishes? I don't need your hospitality. Of course, I appreciate your care for my mother, but I came back to visit my mother, not to feel the atmosphere of my hometown. I have things to do, goodbye!"

Chu Xi finished his sentence and turned around, instinctively feeling the hot eyes of the woman behind him would burn a hole through his back. His nature was cold. This kind of passion was useless to him. He did not need it.

Xia Xingchen, who was frozen in place, her eyes widened. As if she hadn't recovered from Chu Xi's indifferent words. After a long time, she finally swallowed her saliva, touched her red face, recalled Chu Xi's handsome face, and decided not to take his cold words seriously. As she looked up at his walking back, she was suddenly inspired by anger and shouted at him, "Professor Chu Yi, take a good rest. I'll see you tomorrow."

Chu Xi, who had been walking steadily, almost stumbled at Xia Xingchen's sudden words. He hurriedly steadied himself, adjusted his breathing, and continued to walk with his head held high towards the door.

T/N: My first language isn't English, and there may be some grammatical errors. But I try not to deviate from the authors narrative. If there are any errors or non-sensical sentences, feel free to comment