Stealing Your Heart

“What task? What new names?” Zong Yanxi asked, overhearing the end of the conversation as she placed the milk carton onto the dining table. She blinked and inquired, “What secret did you guys share when I was gone?”

Qin Ya pinched her cheeks. “Little girl, why are you so curious about everything?”

“Ouch! It hurts!” The girl widened her mouth, showing her pearly teeth in protest as she creased her brows. It did not hurt, as Qin Ya barely pinched her, but the girl was a good actress.

Qin Ya laughed, “You can be an actress on the television if you keep this up.”

“I’m pretty, so I’ll be popular, right?” Zong Yanxi looked stumped. “What if many people fall in love with me?”

Qin Ya stared at her in silence.

Then, she shifted her gaze to look at the ceiling. Who did this girl take after? Why is she so narcissistic?

“All right, let’s eat. You’ll need to go to school later.” Qin Ya served their breakfasts and opened the milk cartons for them before sliding them over. She urged, “Hurry and finish it. I’ll send you there later.”

Zong Yanchen shook his head. “We’ll go there ourselves. It’s quite close. Also, did my Mommy sleep late last night again?”

His school was in the neighborhood, so he did not need to leave the area. He was familiar with the route as it had been nearly a month since he started studying there.

Qin Ya nodded. “Yes. Your mommy’s trying to be a superwoman.”

“I’ll need to talk to her after school tonight. How can she not rest? Even if she doesn’t take care of herself, she has to take care of the baby. I can’t let my younger sibling disappear before I get to see him or her.”

Zong Yanxi mumbled nearly incoherently as he was still chewing on his food. However, Qin Ya heard his words clearly. She could not help but sigh. She knew about Lin Xinyan’s matter because the two had a long talk after she came back.

Her identity stunned her, and Qin Ya sighed at how fate worked. Once upon a time, she used to be jealous of Lin Xinyan and Zong Jinghao’s relationship. It was difficult for them to get together, but now…

She lowered her eyes, not wanting to show her emotions when the children were still around.

Zong

and Zong Yanxi froze before

 Adults are getting less and less reliable. He muttered, “Aunt Qin

“Aunt Qin Ya, you’re asking Yanchen to give you a name? Are you serious? He

girl’s words as she patted the latter’s head. “Let’s not doubt him first. Let’s listen to his reason for picking this name. If you can’t

Yanxi nodded. She was jealous. Her teachers liked her brother better than her, and now Qin Ya was asking him to name her.

from ‘Nine Changes’ in the poetry collection, The Song of Chu. The line I took the word from was describing the lotus on the surface of the water, beautiful and gentle. That means the bearer of this name is someone like

very serious injuries in the past, and that incident had been the reason for her change in appearance. Although she stayed strong in front of him and

she was a woman. Although she was still pretty, she was no longer as lively and friendly as she used to be. Those were things that were permanently taken

Yanxi fell silent and focused on

that Zong Yanchen

right by Yanchen’s side

eyes were wide, and so was her mouth. She did not expect the boy to give her such a profound reason. This boy is a gifted child. Are children this age supposed to

what your teacher has been

one. They’re treating us like fools. I don’t

even more bewildered by his

That’s shocking.

Aunt Yanyan, okay?” Zong Yanchen stared at Qin Ya with bright eyes and a

sincerity of the boy. However, she was curious as to how

me where you’ve seen the ‘Nine

has a lot of books, and I saw this one day. I don’t think Mommy knows what it means because I saw a website about the poem on

at this

an extra dose

Shrugging off the thin jacket she had worn when she went out,

rice to cook herself porridge. While Qin Ya was cleaning up the