Liu Xiazhi stared at the small box in Liu Changqing’s hands. After a mont, she slowly nodded.
She had never seen her grandparents before, so her curiosity was piqued by her father’s words.
Seeing her reaction, Liu Changqing didn’t say anything more. He walked over to the sofa and placed the box on the coffee table.
He pulled out a tissue and wiped off the dust on the surface.
Once it was clean, he crumpled the tissue and tossed it into the trash bin. Then, he unfastened the latches on either side of the box and carefully lifted the lid.
Liu Xiazhi stood nearby, watching with wide eyes.
Noticing the seriousness on her father’s face, she didn’t dare interrupt.
Liu Changqing looked inside.
There were several photos, a notebook, and a few scattered trinkets—probably toys from his childhood.
Ignoring the other items, he picked up the stack of photos and flipped through them one by one.
When he found a family portrait, he pulled it out and handed it to his daughter.
“This is a photo of when I was younger, with your grandparents.”
“Daddy?”
Muttering softly, Liu Xiazhi took the photo.
Her eyes scanned the image.
In the picture, two unfamiliar people sat on chairs while a younger version of Liu Changqing stood behind them.
His hair was cropped short, almost like a buzz cut. There was no expression on his face—he even looked a bit sullen.
In contrast, the two people seated in front of him, her grandparents, were smiling warmly.
Shifting her gaze from the photo to her father, Liu Xiazhi asked curiously, “Why do you look so unhappy here?”
“Probably because I stepped in dog poop before taking the picture.”
Liu Changqing chuckled as he replied.
Truth be told, he couldn’t rember why he had been frowning back then.
Liu Xiazhi, failing to catch the teasing in his tone, nodded seriously.
“Ohhh, that makes sense. No wonder you look so grumpy.”
Then, as if sothing had suddenly occurred to her, she froze for a second before dashing toward her room with the photo in hand.
Liu Changqing blinked, puzzled by her sudden action.
A mont later, she returned, carrying a photo fra.
She ran back to her father and handed it to him, her little face filled with determination.
“Daddy, put the picture in here for ! I want to keep it in my room!”
Hearing this, Liu Changqing was stunned for a brief mont. Then, warmth spread through his chest.
With a soft smile, he gently said, “Silly girl, you can’t put this in your room.”
“Why not?”
“It just… doesn’t feel right.”
After saying that, he took the photo and the empty fra from her hands.
He placed the family portrait back into the pile of pictures and instead picked out another one—a photo of himself as a child.
He placed it inside the fra and handed it back to her.
“This one will do.”
“Is this really you, Daddy?”
Holding the frad photo, Liu Xiazhi examined it closely. The boy in the picture looked about her age.
Liu Changqing nodded without saying more.
Then, he gently pulled his daughter to sit beside him.
As she nestled against him, he continued flipping through the photos, reminiscing as he spoke.
“This one was taken when your grandparents took on a trip.”
“This was my birthday.”
“And this one…”
“Daddy, do you miss Grandpa and Grandma?”
Tilting her head, Liu Xiazhi looked up at him and asked.
The words caught him off guard.
The stories he had been telling trailed off, and he fell silent, staring at the photos in his hands.
Do I… miss them?
His mories of Liu Jiancheng and his wife existed only in his mind. They weren’t experiences he had lived firsthand.
If they were still alive, what kind of scene would he face?
His thoughts wandered, and after a long pause, Liu Changqing finally spoke.
“Yes… I’ve always respected my father.”
After that, he didn’t say anything more.
He finished showing the pictures to his daughter before letting her play on her own.
anwhile, he carried the small box of photos into his room.
His eyes scanned the room before he walked over to the wardrobe.
Opening it, he prepared to store the box safely inside.
But just as he was about to set it down, he paused.
Instead, he reopened the box and pulled out the notebook inside.
He walked over to his desk and flipped through the pages.
It was a diary.
The entries were short—so barely a few words long.
He read through every single page from beginning to end.
Yet, the notebook was only half-filled. Most of the entries were simple notes, things like what was eaten that day or mundane events.
Before long, he reached the last written page.
Staring at the remaining blank pages, Liu Changqing picked up a pen.
He clicked off the cap and, gripping the pen firmly, wrote two nas:
Liu Haicheng
Hao Jing
They were the nas of his parents from his past life.
As ti passed and the two sets of mories rged, he worried that one day he would forget them.
He didn’t want that to happen.
Looking at the nas he had just written, Liu Changqing’s eyes flickered.
mories from his past life surfaced, bringing an unfamiliar emotion with them.
He didn’t know how long he sat there staring at those nas.
Eventually, he capped the pen and stood up.
Returning to the wardrobe, he placed the notebook back inside the box and secured the lid.
He shoved it deep into the corner of the wardrobe.
His eyes lingered on the box for a mont before he slowly closed the wardrobe doors.
Exhaling softly, Liu Changqing patted his cheeks, as if to shake off his thoughts.
Then, he stepped out of his room.
Raising his voice, he called out, “What do you want for dinner? How about tomato and egg noodles?”
“Yes! I want extra eggs!”
Liu Xiazhi, still watching TV, answered without even turning around.
Liu Changqing chuckled.
For so reason, seeing her like this made him smile.
Life… has to move forward, doesn’t it?
Turning toward the kitchen, he said aloud, “Alright then! Tomato and egg noodles with extra eggs coming right up!”
Reviews
All reviews (0)