"Ronggui, are you really this heartless?"
Behind him ca a mournful voice. His eyes glistened with tears as he walked out of the café.
At the café entrance, the Su family’s car was parked. The driver was waiting inside and got out when he saw him co out.
He stopped, "My mom is inside, take her back."
The driver hesitated for a mont, feeling Mr. Su Junior’s remark was sowhat redundant, but before he could think more, Mr. Su Junior had already walked away.
On the way back to the alley, he got off the car halfway, at a place not far from the alley, a public kindergarten, which was where he went to school before reaching school age.
Back then, the whole family lived in the alley. Most of the ti, his grandparents would pick him up, but occasionally his mother would co, and whenever he found out it was his mom waiting at the kindergarten entrance, he was especially happy. No matter what, kids have a special affection for their mothers, even if she was always busy making money.
At that ti, although his mother was strict, she would still smile at him, and every ti she picked him up from kindergarten, she would hug and kiss him, then hold his hand and walk ho.
There were always vendors selling food at the alley entrance. His mother always complained that those things were dirty, but sotis she couldn’t help but soften and bought him so to try. Sumr popsicles and old yogurt, winter roasted sweet potatoes and oil tea—especially in this post-snow weather, buying a bowl of oil tea and drinking it hot made his little mouth dirty, but his body felt especially warm. At ho, if his mother was in a good mood, she would cook a steak. She was a fashionable person, admiring Western culture and cuisine, while the ho adhered to a purely traditional lifestyle, so back then, his mother had a bit of such playful interests.
At that ti...
It was such a dusk back then...
The kindergarten had been renovated several tis, no longer resembling its forr self. What remained unchanged was the parents waiting to pick up their children at the doorstep, each standing on tiptoe, eagerly looking forward, and the national scholar trees along the road, now sturdier than they were twenty years ago.
He walked under the winter branches of the bare scholar trees, the distant and near sounds of children laughing or playing echoing in his ears. The winter wind blurred his vision, gradually making everything hazy.
Thinking back, he had resented, even hated, especially when Grandma passed away, but at this mont, it still hurt, trendously...
From the kindergarten to the alley entrance was less than a thousand ters. He walked slowly, yet it felt like he journeyed a long ti, as if retracing the twenty-eight years of his past, until he didn’t know what lay ahead, until he spotted a gray-blue figure amidst the bustling crowd. He rembered she had a gray-blue down jacket, but wasn’t she supposed to be sleeping? What was she doing mixed in the crowd?
He blinked. When his vision cleared, confirming it was indeed her, he just stood there without moving.
She stood in line, sotis standing on her toes, sotis jumping up, and when it was finally her turn, she squeezed out of the line with sothing she bought and upon looking up, imdiately saw him.
Her dark eyes lit up, showing obvious surprise, "Why are you here? What a coincidence!"
He felt very tired, too tired to speak, just staring at what she held. Actually, he wanted to ask why she appeared here.
Noticing his gaze, she lifted the small bowl in her hands to him, "Oil tea! I bought it for you!" Last ti at the resort, the oil tea hadn’t tasted good to her after one sip, so she gave it to him, and he savored it. This thing was hard to find nowadays—no wonder the rare vendor at the alley today was a mobile cart, likely to leave soon after selling out.
He lowered his head, looking at the bowl of oil tea, entranced, only feeling the white steam rising steadily into his eyes, making them instantly warm and red.
"What’s wrong? You don’t like ?" She looked at him puzzled, "I thought you liked it!"
He sniffed, his eyes avoiding hers, "Why not? I like it, of course, I do."
She tilted her head, bringing the bowl closer, "Then try it, see if it’s tasty, today’s is red date flavored."
He smiled faintly, bowed his head, and sipped from her hand, "Good."
"That’s settled then. You hold it and drink! Let’s go ho!" She handed him the bowl, took his hand.
His gaze rested between them, her small hand holding his, and flashes of a hand wearing an erald ring holding a short chubby hand appeared before his eyes, vaguely hearing a voice say, "Son, let’s go ho..."
Turning his head, he could see the vendor’s old gray hair amidst the crowd, not knowing if it was the sa middle-aged man from twenty years ago, now worn by the weather.
She held his hand all the way to the courtyard.
Who was in the yard, he didn’t know. He found himself in a daze, just that Bangbangtang circled around his feet, followed him, no, followed her into the room.
"Are you cold? Your lips are turning blue." She poured a cup of hot water into his hands, then started the familiar nagging, "I’ve told you to wear down jackets when it’s cold, but look at you, not even wearing a coat, just this short jacket, be careful not to catch a cold..."
He listened in silence; the cup ward his palm, gradually warming his body.
Looking at her, he suddenly felt incredibly tender, "Seems like I’m already sick..."
She panicked imdiately, "Really? Tell where it hurts! What symptoms do you have? I’ll find so dicine! You must have caught a cold! I need to make you so ginger soup!"
Symptoms? He truly didn’t know what symptoms; he just felt unwell.
He pointed to his chest, "Uncomfortable."
"Here?" She checked his heartbeat, touched his forehead, grew more anxious, "It’s uncomfortable here, could it be pneumonia? Xiao Xu, should we go to the hospital?"
He rested his head on her shoulder, "Don’t want to go."
His voice had a slight whiny tone, making her feel like she was struck by lightning. This side of Xiao Xu was so unfamiliar!
"Xiao Xu, when you’re sick, you need to go to the hospital, you can’t be stubborn, okay?" She touched his ear, then his neck, feeling they weren’t too warm, relaxing a bit.
"No, don’t want to..." He nuzzled on her shoulder.
She instantly had a headache, looking at his face which surprisingly looked a bit aggrieved, she got scared. How uncomfortable must he be to make such a tall, sturdy man act coddled in front of her?
"But Xiao Xu..."
"No, don’t want to!"
"..." She had no choice but to say, "Let go make you a bowl of ginger soup first, find so cold dicine too. You stay warm in the room, don’t go out... Hmm, what do you feel like eating tonight? I’ll make it for you."
She had said so many tis she wanted to showcase her cooking skills, yet actually cooked for him only a few tis.
He thought, "Can you make steak?"
"..." This really stumped her, "Xiao Xu, you’re sick, wouldn’t steak be hard to digest? How about sothing softer instead?"
He didn’t say anything more.
She looked down, seeing that aggrieved expression again...
Alright, alright, she really couldn’t resist that look, guess she had no choice! "Okay, okay, I’ll make it. You stay here nicely with Bangbangtang."
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