Chapter 34 – We Share the Same Surname!

“It’s time for the lost child announcement. If any customer sees a six-year-old girl in a pink dress, please contact the service desk on any floor. Thank you…”
The sweet voice from the loudspeaker echoed repeatedly, and Ranran heard her own name being broadcast!
“Where is the service desk… Uncle, could you take me there?”
Ranran’s round eyes were filled with timid uncertainty as she looked quietly at the man before her, whose expression was grave and whose gaze was intently fixed upon her.
This uncle was very handsome and gave her a strangely familiar feeling, yet deep down Ranran was still a little afraid of him.
But she also knew that she could no longer find her mother and Aunt Ning in this unfamiliar place, so she had to summon her courage and hope he might help her…
Si Nan, who rarely smiled in public, actually curved his lips ever so slightly. His voice, magnetic and gentle, replied,
“All right…”
Originally, after escorting Ranran to the service desk, Si Nan could have simply left, but that little face—her serious expression, and those eyes so strikingly similar to his own—drew him in, compelling him to see who her parents were.
“Xiaowen…”
When Lin Xiaowen received the broadcast announcing that the child had been found and was waiting at the service desk with a kind stranger, she ran over as fast as she could, her hands and feet numb with panic.
The moment she saw that tiny figure, eyes brimming with tears as she rushed toward her like a little bird taking flight, Lin Xiaowen’s heart, which had been hanging by a thread, did not calm but pounded even more wildly in her chest.
“Ranran…”
Her legs weak, Lin Xiaowen hurried forward, no longer caring who might be watching, nor anything else in the world, and swept the child into her arms.
She knelt unsteadily on the ground, her voice trembling uncontrollably as she kept murmuring her daughter’s name,
“Ranran… Ranran… where did you go… Ranran…”
There were already quite a few people gathered around the service desk—some simply curious, others genuinely concerned, waiting to see the child reunited with her family.
Now, as mother and daughter were reunited, everyone spontaneously broke into applause, filling the air with warmth and excitement.
“Mama, I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to…”
Ranran, always more sensible than other children her age, had long since stopped crying, but seeing her mother so distraught, on the verge of collapse, she realized she’d made a terrible mistake and frightened her deeply.
So, for the first time, Ranran—who always called Lin Xiaowen by her given name—blurted out,
“Mama!”
The crowd gradually dispersed under the security staff’s guidance. Standing slightly behind Si Nan, Xia Bin quietly reminded him,
“President Nan, we can go now.”
The implication was clear: the child’s mother had been found, and their task was complete.
But Si Nan narrowed his deep, luminous eyes…

From the moment Lin Xiaowen appeared, his gaze never left her.
Judging by her age, she hardly looked old enough to have a five- or six-year-old daughter. If not for those round, deer-like eyes they shared, and for Ranran calling her “Mama,” Si Nan would never have believed they were mother and daughter.
Her features were pure, her presence clean, her figure small and delicate—perhaps “underdeveloped” would be a more accurate description.
The pallor on her face, the bloodless lips—those were real.
He was certain he had never met this woman before, certainly not as a girlfriend.
After all, his taste in women was well established; among his many ex-girlfriends, if not seductive and statuesque, they were at least society beauties.
Clearly, the woman before him fit none of those descriptions.
“Mama, it was this uncle who brought me here to wait for you…”
Ranran’s warm little hand wiped the dampness from Lin Xiaowen’s face, and then she turned back to look at Si Nan, whose gaze remained unreadable.
Seeing Lin Xiaowen glance their way, Xia Bin instinctively lowered his head, his palms breaking out in a cold sweat.
Now composed, Lin Xiaowen gently patted Ranran’s back, then stood to face Si Nan’s searching gaze and softly said,
“Thank you, truly, thank you so much.”
Her voice was gentle and sincere, unlike the women he usually encountered—neither haughty, nor cloying, nor artificially sweet.
As her voice reached his ears, Si Nan felt unexpected ripples stir within his heart…
“You’re welcome.”
His reply remained cool and clear, his eyes detached… though his gaze did linger for a moment on the stray lock of hair at Lin Xiaowen’s temple, making him momentarily lose focus.
The sharp click of high heels on the floor interrupted Lin Xiaowen’s attempt to offer further thanks.
She turned to see Xu Ningning, frozen in place a meter away, utterly stunned.
It was him.
It really was him!
Was this a roller coaster? Her heart had plummeted with Ranran’s disappearance—then soared upon finding her—only to be jolted again by encountering the very person she’d hoped to run into but had searched for in vain.
“Oh my god! This is too much!”
Xu Ningning’s heart pounded like a drum; she could hear nothing but the frantic thumping in her own chest.
“Ningning Auntie!”
Ranran ran to Xu Ningning, wrapping her arms around her legs and swaying coquettishly. Only then did Xu Ningning snap out of her astonishment and joy.

“Ranran, you little mischief, where did you run off to? Do you know you almost scared your mother and me to death?”
Xu Ningning tapped Ranran’s little forehead, feigning annoyance.
Ranran, knowing she was in the wrong, simply looked up at Xu Ningning without a word, her eyes blinking pitifully.
“This gentleman was the one who brought Ranran here,”
Lin Xiaowen explained simply, then suddenly realized she didn’t even know the man’s name.
Turning back to Si Nan, she offered a polite, grateful smile.
“I didn’t catch your name. Today, I really owe you both my thanks!”
“Si Nan.”
He introduced himself succinctly. Even he wasn’t sure why he’d given his name to such an unremarkable woman, one who was clearly married, but he had done so nonetheless.
“Si… Nan…”
Lin Xiaowen was momentarily stunned, her heart skipping a beat.
Behind Si Nan, Xia Bin’s back was already damp with cold sweat, and he bowed his head even lower.
“Have we met before?”
Si Nan caught the unusual flicker in Lin Xiaowen’s eyes and pressed on,
“Or… did we know each other once?”
Lin Xiaowen’s face paled again. Looking at his thick brows and those deep, emotionless eyes…
She slowly shook her head, hesitating as she replied,
“I don’t think so… It’s just a coincidence, that’s all.”
“Mama, uncle’s surname is ‘Si’ too. Didn’t you say it’s a rare name?”
Lin Xiaowen didn’t immediately register her daughter’s words, but Ranran’s eyes were already shining as she walked up to Si Nan and said in her soft, childish voice,
“Thank you, Uncle Si Nan… We actually share the same last name! My name is Si Ranran…”
Upon hearing Si Nan’s introduction, the sense of familiarity Ranran felt toward him only deepened, and the unease she’d felt at first completely vanished.
Her bright, curious eyes sparkled as she gazed up at this man who seemed as tall and steadfast as a mountain.