Su Ronggui once said that she would follow him from then on and not let her run around outside with Hao Ren anymore, but in the end, she was still with Hao Ren.
They ran around outside with Hao Ren for a whole day; it was already dark.
She rubbed her sore shoulders and arms and asked Hao Ren, "Can we not go back to the newspaper office?"
"Sure!" Hao Ren understood what she was thinking, "By the way, are you free now?"
"Yes, I am! What do you want to do?"
"I bought a small apartnt and plan to bring my parents over to live. Everything is almost ready, but I want you to help see what’s still needed at ho, especially in the kitchen. You know I’m a bachelor and always order takeout, so I don’t really know how to buy kitchenware! But if my parents co and I still order takeout, they would kill ."
"Alright!" Tu Hengsha laughed, "Old people are all frugal." She felt a constant heaviness in her heart and didn’t want to face Shu Hui so early; she also feared Shu Hui’s concerned gaze.
The small apartnt Hao Ren bought was far from the newspaper office, beyond the Fifth Ring Road.
"Even though the commute will be far, I will be at ease bringing both parents here." Hao Ren said.
"Are you the only child in your family?" she asked. There were many young people striving in Yanbei, but not many brought their parents over unless it was ti to look after children.
"Yes, my parents’ kindness to is as heavy as a mountain."
Tu Hengsha thought this sounded strange. Of course, parents’ kindness to their children is like a mountain, but to say it so seriously, unless in specific situations, is really rare.
Hao Ren smiled and explained, "I am not my parents’ biological child. It’s said that I was thrown into a garbage heap, sick and almost dead, picked up by my parents, and after the illness was cured, they still couldn’t find my biological parents. The two of them went through adoption procedures and raised like their own son. Our family’s conditions weren’t great, but they could still support to go to university in Yanbei. They put in so much effort."
"That indeed isn’t easy." Tu Hengsha nodded.
"So, now I just want to be filial to them and let them spend their later years in peace."
Hao Ren’s filial piety was not just empty words. Although his newly purchased apartnt was far and indeed small, the community environnt was good, and the surrounding facilities were mature, making it convenient for the elderly to buy groceries or take walks. He even bought a place on the first floor, with a small garden. Hao Ren said the elderly couldn’t stay idle, and having a place to plant so vegetables would make them happier.
"It’s pretty good." Tu Hengsha comnted, "I’ll make a list of what’s missing in the kitchen and give it to you tomorrow; you can just buy based on that. Everything else is very thorough. Hao Ren, you are very considerate! Whoever marries you in the future will enjoy happiness!"
Hao Ren smiled, "Then I’ll trouble you."
They ate a bowl of noodles near Hao Ren’s place before heading back, getting ho almost at ten o’clock.
A familiar car was parked downstairs in the dormitory building of the school’s residential area, its presence piercing her eyes painfully even in the dark. The car’s lights were out, and she didn’t know if anyone was inside.
As she got closer, there was still no movent from the car. When she walked past and glanced inside, it appeared empty.
She quickly walked into the corridor, ran upstairs, afraid soone might follow her, but unexpectedly, as she rushed to her doorstep, the door opened from the inside, and she almost bumped into soone.
The familiar scent invaded her breath; the familiar fabric brushed her nose.
When you know and rember soone with your soul, you can sense their presence even if you lose all five senses; moreover, her senses were still sharp then.
She clearly only brushed the tip of her nose against his clothes, yet she stepped back several steps.
He stood at her doorway, staring at her with deep-colored eyes, dark circles underneath.
"Where have you been?" he asked her.
She pressed her lips tightly, not answering.
"Little Sha!" Shu Hui’s voice ca from inside.
"Coming!" she quickly responded, pushed him aside, rushed inside, and swiftly closed the door.
There were two sets of used tableware on the dining table. Did he also have dinner here?
Shu Hui noticed her question, "He ca over, so I couldn’t let him just watch eat."
"And he wasn’t embarrassed to eat?" Tu Hengsha retorted.
"Why should he be embarrassed? Your dad owed his dad a life, so what’s there to be embarrassed about?" Shu Hui unabashedly said.
It stabbed right into Tu Hengsha’s heart, leaving her silent as she started to clear the table.
"Did you eat yet?" Shu Hui asked her.
"Yeah."
Just then, Shu Hui’s phone rang.
Seeing the unfamiliar number, Shu Hui thought it was a student’s parent and answered it, only to hear, "Is my son with you?"
Shu Hui still assud it was a parent. Although there were quite a few parents looking for their lost children via teachers, without the child’s na, how was she to know who it was? So she asked, "May I ask who your son is..."
"Su Ronggui."
Shu Hui was stunned for a mont before she responded, "He just left."
Tu Hengsha also stopped, listening intently.
Then Shang Qingi started, "Shu Hui, you and your daughter are really shaless! Do you not know how Ronggui’s father died? Are you also hiding my son? I’m telling you, there’s no way..."
Before Shang Qingi could finish speaking, Tu Hengsha snatched Shu Hui’s phone, imdiately hung up, and turned off the phone. "Mom, do you want to hear her nagging? Does she think her son is a jewel? It’s true; her son might be a treasure, but not everyone is scrambling for him either!"
Shu Hui sighed, "It’s good that you think like this. If you can figure it out, I won’t worry about you anymore. To be frank, if Grandma hadn’t co personally to persuade , I wouldn’t have agreed to you being with him."
Tu Hengsha suddenly rembered the Mid-Autumn Night when Grandma sent her and Su Ronggui out, leaving Shu Hui for a private conversation, and asked in surprise, "Mom, did Grandma know who my dad was beforehand?"
"She knew, how could she not know!"
Tu Hengsha remained stunned for a while, mumbling, "Grandma was really a kind person..."
"Yes, unfortunately, his mother is difficult to deal with, and Xu Pingzhang didn’t inherit any kindness. Little Sha, marriage is sothing that is happier with a simpler family environnt. Mom had wishful thinking back then, but fortunately, it wasn’t too late to turn back. Don’t think about it anymore, I’ll clean up. You should rest early."
"Okay..."
Tu Hengsha let Shu Hui take the bowl from her hands and went back to her room.
Sitting at her desk, she saw a bookmark clipped to her penholder, made from an early fallen yellow leaf, the writing on the leaf still clear and intact: "Can’t bear to see you suffer."
She plucked the bookmark off and tossed it into the trash can offhandedly. In truth, who suffered grievances, and who could really say?
Opening her most treasured drawer, it was filled with the little boy’s stuff: notebooks, pencil cases, books, painting tools, keychains, and that piece of candy wrapper from Bangbangtang, the little backpack hanging on the wall...
Her eyes gradually grew sore. Xiao Xu, I promised myself I wouldn’t resent you, but, but...
Suddenly, she stood, took down the little backpack, stuffed everything inside the drawer into the backpack, and shoved it all into the trash can.
The bottom of the empty trash can held that leaf bookmark, its writing side up: "Can’t bear to see you suffer."
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