Mama's Princess Is Daddy's Beloved

When Li Xue came inside the auditorium, she sighed with disappointment to see the seats almost full inside. Only if they had not faced the traffic, they would have come here early to attend the event. Why was the traffic always so unpredictable?

Sighing in heart, she gave a fleeting glance towards the crowds of the audience and was about to turn to walk deeper to find herself a seat when suddenly a familiar voice took her off guard.

"Hey, Li Xue, what are you searching there? Come here we saved you the spot here."

Hearing Feng Yi Lan's voice out of nowhere, Li Xue's brows showed creases in between as she turned around to check. And she wasn't hallucinating because not too far away towards the front, she saw Feng Yi Lan standing while waving her hands toward her. Beside her stood Director Qi.

Have they also planned to come here today?

Not sure about it, Li Xue quirked a brow of surprise as she walked down the small stairs to get to the front seats. Reaching them, Li Xue greeted

"Li Xue, see, I have saved you and Brother a spot here. When we arrived here and didn't see you two around, we thought that you guys might be getting late. So, we reserved the seats here." Feng Yi Lan said and Li Xue just raised her brows of doubt at her.

"You have plans to come here today. How come you didn't call to tell me about it?" She asked while her eyes darted to look at Qi Shuai, before smiling at him.

Feng Yi Lan simply rolled her eyes. "What plans? I, myself, didn't know that I had to come here today. It was not until early in the morning that I received the call from my father and he asked me to come here on his behalf." She said, and Li Xue was further confounded.

"On his behalf?"

Feng Yi Lan nodded. "Yes, the little chipmunk had the time to call him and invite but she didn't think to invite her Aunt. I would ask her later about it. Anyways, since I am here, I am really excited to see her on the stage. I heard that her performance is getting put in dance-drama form, portraying the story of Cinderella."

"Although WeiWei has not said much about it, still she was preparing for the dance. I am sure of it. She was preparing it as if it was a surprise for us, so I decided to play along." Li Xue spoke as she tried to take a peek backstage behind the curtains. "Umm … Yi Lan, you sit here. I will come soon."

She said and Feng Yi Lan curiously asked, "Are you going to look for WeiWei?"

Li Xue nodded. "Yes, it would be better for me to go and check on her before the event start. She must have looked through the audience before and not finding us here she might get upset. It would be better to let her know that we have reached here."

Feng Yi Lan nodded and stood up as well. "Then I will accompany you. I also want to see how the school has got my chipmunk ready." She said and soon the two left to take a look backstage, leaving Qi Shuai behind, "Director Qi, Shufen would be coming soon. Please make him know we all are sitting together."

Li Xue didn't forget to remind Qi Shuai, even though she could see the search for Feng Shufen in his gaze. She didn't probe to ask him what was so serious in his gaze, rather leave him to be like that. She could somewhat guess what it could be about.

Once they left, Feng Shufen came soon. When Qi Shuai spotted his figure in the dimness of the light, he also waved at him, gesturing to him to come near. Once the man was close enough, he asked in a serious tone, "Shufen, I have heard something. Is it true?"

Shufen didn't explain but looked into his eyes and that gaze was enough to tell it all. Reading his gaze, Qi Shuai found it hard to believe. "I am happy but things don't seem to make sense. If she was alive, why did she not come to meet you once? Also if she had been living abroad all these years, why did she come back now? I feel there is something more in this."

Feng Shufen didn't respond, which made Qi Shuai frown. "What? Don't you feel the same?"

"I feel the same and that's why I am searching for things."

"But you are searching for things from the past. Don't you think you should search for your mother instead?" Qi Shuai couldn't understand. When last night, he heard that Feng Shufen was digging everything from the past, he couldn't understand what he was after. Things only struck him clearly when Gao Fan explained to him and he came to know that the head lady of the Feng family was not dead, but rather alive.

Feng Shufen stared at him and he no longer seemed bothered by the mention of his mother like this. He had made himself more accustomed to it. "Searching for her won't be of use. Because no matter how I search for her, she would simply not come forward to reveal herself until she wants to. She is around, looking at us, and knows all our moves. So, looking for her won't help."

"Then how come looking into her past would do?"

"It would do. Past would reveal the real truth of Zhen Qinrou, which is going to be really important to make her pay for her deeds." He said and even though his voice came soft, a piercing glint in his eyes was enough to tell the burn he was holding inside.

***

At the same time, when Li Xue and Feng Yi Lan walked backstage to search WeiWei, they truly had a hard time locating her around so many children. But luckily the class teacher of her class spotted Li Xue and took her along.

"Mrs. Feng, you are finally here. Earlier Li Wei has been searching for you and her father in the crowd but not finding you there, she assured me saying that you are coming. She is really pretty in her words. I almost chuckled hearing her words like that. But it's good, every child has a unique way of holding determination and belief and she has her way." The teacher said and Li Xue smiled at her.

Indeed, she knew her daughter had a unique way of stating her faith. Like if she would get lost somewhere and would not be able to find them, she would never say that she is the one who got lost. But she would instead say to people that it's them who got lost and she is trying to find them.

"Ms. Lisa, in recent days the kids have practiced well. Although I believe in their efforts, I just want to ask if WeiWei has been …" Like every other mother, Li Xue wanted to ask about her daughter's performance. But before she could even complete her words, the teacher interrupted all cheerfully, guessing her words already.

"Mrs. Feng, Li Wei has been the most outstanding one in the group. She has practiced every day sincerely and believe me, later you along with the other audiences would be amazed to see their group performance on the stage."

Li Xue smiled. "That's good to hear. You, teachers, have really worked on the students."

"It was our responsibility, Mrs. Feng." The teacher said and soon she led the two ladies to the rehearsal hall. All this while, Feng Yi Lan had not gotten involved in their parent-teacher talk. But the moment she entered the rehearsal room, her eyes scanned around before getting to stop at the little one in the distance.

"Li Xue, there she is. Oh my God, look at her. She is looking so pretty. Don't stop me any longer. I am going to hug her now." She said and before Li Xue could even speak anything, she had already rushed to get the little one wrapped in her arms. "My chipmunk!" She called and behind, Li Xue could only shake her head internally.

Then looking apologetically toward the teacher, she said, "We won't stay here for long. Please allow five minutes."

The teacher smiled and nodded, "No worries, Mrs. Feng. Since there is still time at the start of the event, you can meet her. I will go and look after other things." She said before turning to walk away.

Once she left, Li Xue turned to look at her princess and her lips curled up in a smile. Walking up to her, she reached out to comb her strand of hair behind her ears. "Are you ready for it, sweetie?"

The little girl looked up at her mother and smiled, "Very much ready, Mama. But Mama, are you ready to see WeiWei's performance?"