Chapter 3 – Concubine  

lilina

Editor: Lady Blue

Today was the premiere of the company’s huge budget movie《The Lodge at the End of the World》, and the heroine, Qiu Ming Yan, was an old lover of Song Zi Cheng. So, both in public and in private, he had to lavish her with compliments. Although, his assistant had reminded him earlier that today was the day Song Xiao would be released from the hospital.

Song Zi Cheng felt a little awkward about this situation.

This child had been unsociable since he was small, he wouldn’t cry or even laugh. The doctors said that he had a slight autistic disorder and it hindered his ability to express his emotions.

As the head of an entertainment industry, Song Zi Cheng frequently appeared under the spotlight. He was unwilling to let others know about his son’s imperfection, so he always raised him as a normal child and didn’t even send him to a special school.

If he went to the hospital to pick up his son and not to the premiere, there’s a huge chance it would draw in paparazzi. He heard that Song Xiao had lost his memories, and could possibly be weirder than he was in the past. It would be bad if the media were to know about it.

Therefore, Song Zi Cheng decided to stay at the premiere, and after cutting the ribbons, he sat down to watch the movie. Qiu Ming Yan, who was sitting beside him, said to him in a low voice: “I heard that today Xiao Xiao will be released from the hospital. Your child will be sad if you don’t go.”

And so, with the advice of Qiu Ming Yan, Song Zi Cheng walked out of the cinema while the studio was still dark, and went to the hospital quietly. This time Song Xiao got hurt and it drew some attention from the media, waiting to dig up some scandal. So while he let Song Xiao know that he’ll be coming to pick him up, he didn’t really have much motivation to fulfill it and didn’t care whether he’d be able to make it to the hospital or not.

In Song Zi Cheng’s point of view, Song Xiao had never been close to him, and he would go so far as to say that the child never seemed to see him as a father. The way the child looked at him had no difference with the way he looked at the air. He would never have imagined that Song Xiao would say those words about him.

“Xiao Xiao…” Song Zi Cheng looked at the young boy within the room, now with a firm gaze and lively expression, a little afraid to believe his own eyes.

Song Xiao raised his head and saw a man in his forties standing speechlessly by the door. Although he had cut his hair and his clothes were completely different, he can still recognize that face: “Father!”

Auntie Chen grabbed Song Xiao in shock: “Xiao Xiao, you can recognize him?”

Song Xiao blanked out and suddenly remembered that he was supposed to not have his memories. But this person looked so much like his father from his previous life that he almost stood up to pay his respects. After seeing the reaction of Auntie Chen, he knew that this person is definitely his father in this life; and so, he acted as if he were unsure and said: “Am I… wrong?”

“Not at all, not at all!” Song Zi Cheng knew that Song Xiao has lost his memories, and all that he remembered was his own name. He never thought that this child still remembers his father. Suddenly, he became very excited and went beside the bed to hold Song Xiao’s hand.

This time, it was Song Xiao’s turn to be speechless. His father in his previous life was a disagreeable scholar. He only became a magistrate of a prefecture after spending half of his life within the official circles. His father had always been very strict with him, had never hugged him since he was young, much less held his hand when he was already this old.

Feeling his son go rigid, Song Zi Cheng felt a little awkward.

“For father to personally come, this child is very happy.” Song Xiao was sharp enough to notice that his father was at a loss of what to do and took the initiative to grasp back. The book about etiquette said that the people of modern times stressed the manners of shaking hands; one should shake back firmly when others shook your hands.

Song Zi Chen scratched his chin and turned his head to ask Auntie Chen: “Why is this child speaking in such a weird way?”

“Oh, that’s because after he lost his memories, he has been reading history book for the past few days, so the way he speaks became this way.” Auntie Chen smiled as she explained.

Lee Wei Wei, who saw this scene of a loving father and a filial son, couldn’t help but curl his lip: “What’s this, President Song? Since you’ve actually come here, then I’ll take my leave first.”

Song Zi Cheng, who just remembered that he made Lee Wei Wei pick up Song Xiao, let out a cough before saying: “All of you should leave first, I’ll go see the doctor.”

Song Zi Cheng’s secretary was discussing Song Xiao’s medical report with the doctor in the corridor. When he saw his boss walking towards him, he took the medical report for the release and gave it to him: “The doctor said that Xiao Xiao has lost his memories, but his autistic disorder took a turn for the better, and can now communicate normally with others. Also, there is no problem with his IQ.”

“There’s no problem with his IQ?” Song Zi Cheng was a little shocked. Before, this child didn’t have a high IQ, and his scores were really bad. He just graduated from third year of middle school, but couldn’t even get into a local high school, so he never held out any hope for him from the start.

The chubby nurse who walked by suddenly seemed very unhappy. How did someone like him become a father? Can it be that he would rather his child’s IQ turn negative when he hurt his head? She couldn’t help but speak up: “How could you say something like that? Are you not happy if there’s nothing wrong with your child?”

“No no…” Song Zi Cheng hurriedly waved his hands.

“We have done some simple tests and for now it would seem that there’s no problem with the patient’s IQ; in fact, it might be even higher than that of a normal person.” The doctor pushed his glasses up and didn’t try to explain the chubby nurse’s misunderstanding.

After all, the doctor didn’t exactly have a good opinion on this person who calls himself a father. Not once did he come to visit his son who had been hospitalized for so long; and even when told that his son’s IQ had returned to normal, he actually started worrying about it.

Song Xiao followed Auntie Chen outside. This was his first time going out after staying in the hospital for so long, and he looked at the large metal box waiting for them outside the door curiously.

“This is your family’s car.” Lee Wei Wei went up to open the car’s door, but suddenly jumped with a loud “Whoa”, shocking the woman within the car.

“Da Wei, you’re as lively as always.” The woman with heavy makeup walked out of the car, fixed her sparkly mini-skirt, and smiled as she spoke.

Song Xiao frowned slightly as he looked at the woman. The moment she walked out of the car, he was able to recognize the hidden animosity within her gaze. If he didn’t guess wrongly, this woman must be his father’s mistress, the one called Qiu Ming Yan. They said she’s a famous actress from his family’s theatrical group and is very well-known all around the Chinese country.

“Why did Sis Ming Yan come here?” Lee Wei Wei forced a smile as he said this, and looked around him. Not surprisingly, he was able to see paparazzi’s car stopping not too far from here. This woman definitely did this intentionally, drawing reporters here to let them catch Song Xiao making a fool out of himself.

“It’s done. Get in the car.” Song Zi Cheng walked out of the hospital, and pointed at the car in front of him to let Song Xiao get in.

“She’ll be coming to our house as well?” Song Xiao pointed at the woman who was standing by the car’s door. Since she’s only a mistress, then she should have no rights to come to the house.

Not too far away, the paparazzi became very excited when they saw this scene. Qiu Ming Yan is the lover of the president of Xing Hai Entertainment, and they even had an illegitimate daughter together. This was something that everyone within the circle knew about.

The two had been going out with each other as lovers for the past few years, and had even silently acquiesced to marry soon. Before this, they had never been able to take a shot of the young master of the Song Family and didn’t know what he think of his stepmother. With today’s happenings, this could be big news!

“This is your Auntie Qiu. Since Little Zheng is having her summer vacation right now, they have been staying at our house.” Song Zi Cheng explained quietly. Before, he didn’t feel anything while displaying affections towards her in front of his son, but with his son returning to normal, he felt a little embarrassed.

Song Xiao stood there, unmoving, frowning as he looked at the woman who was preparing to enter the car. Even if she had already entered their household, she’s still a concubine. He’s the legitimate son, so how could he possibly be in the same car as his father’s concubine? Not only was it impolite, it would also be an insult to himself. He turned his head towards Song Zi Cheng’s assistant and said: “Servant, you should go and get another car here.”

Assistant Si was frozen by his words, as he never thought that Song Xiao still remembered that Si is his surname[1]. He hurried to reply, but only reacted properly a little after: “There’s another car outside. It belongs to Miss Qiu.”

“Then let her ride that one,” Song Xiao put one of his hands behind him, while his other hand stroked his chin, “How could a concubine possibly sit in the same car as a legitimate son? Truly discourteous.”

Everyone in the vicinity was stunned after hearing what he said.

The paparazzi who heard this almost screamed and the “Ka Ka Ka” sound of the shutter resonated nonstop. Their luck today sure was amazing! They now have tomorrow’s headline news, and even the hot topic is included! “The Young Master of the Song Family Indignantly Denounced Qiu Ming Yan a Concubine and Refused to be in the Same Car as Her!”

“You…” Qiu Ming Yan was unable to keep her smile on anymore. She was so angry that her face started to turn blue. This little brat had never acknowledged her before, and now he actually had the nerve to call her a concubine to her face!

“Xiao Xiao, how could you say something like that to your Auntie Qiu?” Song Zi Cheng felt embarrassed but was unable to rectify the situation.

Song Xiao looked at Song Zi Cheng incomprehensibly.

The young boy who had just recovered from a serious illness was still a little pale. His skinny face made that pair of wide eyes appear even bigger, making his confusion and shock within those eyes very obvious.

Song Zi Cheng’s heart softened at that. His son had just lost his memories and was unable to understand anything at all. Since he had only been reading history book, it was understandable that his mind was only filled with the theories from ancient times. He sighed and spoke to Qiu Ming Yan: “You should get in another car. Xiao Xiao had just recovered.”

The hidden meaning of his words was: My son is more important right now, so don’t make him angry.

Qiu Ming Yan gritted her teeth and forced a smile as she replied: “Since Xiao Xiao is still so stubborn, then auntie won’t stick around to bother you.”

She knew that Song Zi Cheng was biased towards his son. Although his son was an idiot, he still treated him fairly, and she didn’t get any recognition even though she bore him a smart and healthy daughter. Breaking a crystal studded fingernail in secret, Qiu Ming Yan turned outside and walked away.

Song Xiao knitted his brows. The concubines of this era sure are very arrogant.

_______________________________________________________________

Translation Notes

[1] Song Xiao called the assistant 小廝 (Xiǎo Sī) which means servant in ancient times, but the assistant, whose surname is 司 (Sī), thought that Song Xiao was actually calling his name, albeit in a pretty familiar way.