I Became an SSS-Ranked Chef in a VR Game [Arc 1 Complete] ✅

Stage 5: A Step in the Right Direction

Four Days Later

Lixin felt overcome with emotion as the plane touched down at Beijing airport. He couldn't believe that he had actually managed to escape from his father and stepmother's grasp, and yet here he was, free at last.

Tears welled up in his eyes at the thought of starting a new life—one that would be so different from his previous life.

But it wasn't all a joyous experience. Lixin remembered too vividly the humiliation he suffered at his stepmother's hands. He also remembered how he was used by his stepsister, and his previous failed escape attempt that ended in him being engulfed in flames in the bus crash. His whole body shivered at the thought.

Gathering himself together, Lixin saw that almost everyone had left the plane by now. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed his carry-on and stepped out of the plane towards his waiting mother, fighting against conflicting emotions as he took each step.

As Lixin entered the bustling terminal building, his heart sank. There were so many people everywhere. It made his skin crawl.

The trauma of what he endured at the hands of his stepmother left him with an intense fear of touch. He thought that having his skin melt away would be even more horrifying than what he had already experienced. Strangely, he wasn't afraid of fire.

Lixin realized that the real reason he was so upset about his touch phobia was that he let that woman break him. Before the rage could once again surface, he heard someone call out his name, diverting his attention.

Turning his head toward the sound, Lixin saw an older woman with curly black hair and expressive eyes smiling warmly at him. At first, he didn't recognize the person, but then he remembered the picture his mother sent of herself and smiled. This was his mother.

His tension evaporated as emotions flooded within him as he watched her walk over to him. Although they had never met before, he felt connected to this woman in a way he hadn't with anyone else. He understood that this was the bond of mother and child that he had read about countless times before.

Once she reached him, Lixin could tell that she wanted to give him a hug but didn't for fear of making him uncomfortable—the detective must have told her about his recent aversion to touch.

His mother spoke gently, just as he remembered from their phone calls. "Welcome home, my son," she said with tears in her eyes. "I've been waiting for this day for a very long time."

Lixin couldn't manage to say anything; he merely nodded, letting the woman's soothing words wash over him. He felt something stir deep inside him that he had long forgotten: hope.

As the driver put his belongings in the car's trunk, he and his mother sat in the back seat in uncomfortable silence. There was a sense of awkwardness between the two, neither knowing what to say.

Lixin was nervous; fearful thoughts of his new family not liking him and being more awful than the one he just left flooded his mind. While his mother was joyful. She had been waiting for this day for a long time.