At this mont, the music of the fountain suddenly started playing, and under the dazzling lights, thousands of water jets swiftly ascended into the sky, imdiately blocking Leng Yixiu’s view.
The man slowly retracted his gaze and said to Xiao Yi Xun, "That’s not your mother. You shouldn’t call others ’Mom’ like you did today. If you do, your mother will be sad."
Mom would be sad?
Xiao Yi Xun looked up at the sky. Sister Yi said Mom went to heaven and is watching over her all the ti. If Mom knew she called another woman ’Mom’, would she really be mad?
Her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and Xiao Yi Xun eventually withdrew her hand. However, when Leng Yixiu carried her back into the car, she still couldn’t help glancing back towards the fountain.
Her reluctance fell entirely into the man’s eyes. He bitterly curved his lips, realizing that although he could present the best things in the world to his daughter, he couldn’t give her a complete family, nor a loving mother.
Half an hour later, the car drove into a high-end residential area in the city center. Four years ago, ever since Lin Yixun fell into the Seaside, Leng Yixiu sold the house there and moved to the city center. It was more convenient for work and taking care of Xiao Yi Xun, but more importantly, the house at Half Mountain Villa held too many mories of Lin Yixun. Every ti he walked into that villa, mories related to her would flood back like a deluge.
So mories were too painful to bear, and he could only escape.
Xiao Yi Xun was already asleep as the man carried her out of the car and gently walked into the entrance.
This apartnt was a property he unintentionally bought six years ago, about two hundred square ters. Usually, it was just the three of them living there—Leng Yixiu, Xiao Yi Xun, and Sister Yi.
The house was thed in pink, making it feel very cozy despite its spaciousness. Actually, the apartnt wasn’t always this color. Before moving in, Leng Yixiu had the decor slightly altered just to cater to Xiao Yi Xun.
When Leng Yixiu carried Xiao Yi Xun into the bedroom, she was already awake. She tightly grasped his fingers and murmured, "Daddy, story."
Her words instantly lifted his mood. He took a storybook from the bedside table and flipped to the next page from where they last left off.
As he saw the title of the story, his eyes slightly changed, but he still read every word aloud, "Warm spring has arrived. The ice in the pond lted. The frog mother, who had slept through the winter, woke up. She crawled out of the muddy hole and splashed into the pond, laying many round black eggs among the water plants...
One day, the duck mother brought her children to swim in the pond. The little tadpoles saw the ducklings swimming in the water and began to think of their own mother. The tadpoles asked each other, but no one knew.
"Where is our mother?"
They swam together to the duck mother and asked, "Duck mother, Duck mother, have you seen our mother? Please tell us what she looks like?"
The duck mother replied, "Yes, I have seen her. Your mother has two big eyes on her head and a wide, large mouth. You should go find her yourselves."
..."
Ten minutes later, Leng Yixiu finished reading the story and closed the book. "Alright, that’s it for today’s story. Xiao Yi Xun, it’s ti to sleep."
He bent down and lightly kissed her forehead. As he was about to leave, a small hand grabbed him, "Daddy, what does my mom look like?"
Leng Yixiu was slightly surprised. Due to so congenital reasons, Xiao Yi Xun’s character had always been quite reserved. She rarely spoke voluntarily. Even when she did, it was just simple words, even to him. This ti, however, she not only initiated a conversation but asked about her mother.
It was the first ti.
"What does your mother look like?" The man suddenly fell into mories and remained silent for a long ti. Then, as if in a trance, he began, "Your mother is a very beautiful woman."
"Beautiful?" The little girl blinked her eyes in confusion, not yet having a clear concept of beauty.
The man paused and continued, "Her eyes are large and bright, but when she smiles, they turn into crescent shapes; her skin is fair, her nose is high, lips are of moderate thickness, and her lip color is really pretty; when she gets angry, she habitually pouts her lips like a child; she doesn’t sleep very well, always likes to kick the quilt, and prefers sleeping near the edge of the bed, often falling off because of it..."
"Daddy, why are your eyes red?"
Leng Yixiu then realized how dry his eyes had beco.
He gathered himself, stiffly forced a smile, "Maybe so sand got into them. It’s nothing. It’s getting late; you need to sleep now, baby."
He tucked Xiao Yi Xun in and slowly stood up, but then heard her low voice, "Daddy, will Mom co back?"
Leng Yixiu’s back stiffened, his throat moved a bit. He took a deep breath and solemnly said, "She will co back, she definitely will."
Even though chances of survival after falling into the Seaside were slim, and everyone said Lin Yixun was dead, he refused to believe. He always felt that Lin Yixun was still alive sowhere in this world.
So mories, the man thought he had deeply buried them, not realizing that one simple question from his daughter could awaken all those buried feelings.
Leng Yixiu pulled out his phone from his pocket and dialed Fei Yichen’s number. The sound of Fei Yichen’s voice quickly ca from the other end, "Hey, calling so late, what’s up?"
"Do you want to have a drink?"
"What’s wrong, feeling down?" Fei Yichen curled his lips, kissed his wife, and softly asked, "Leng Yixiu says he’s feeling down and asked to have a drink with him. Is that okay?"
"Then drink less." Mu Yi did not oppose; she understood Leng Yixiu’s situation.
"OK, I’ll be back soon." Fei Yichen got out of bed, kissed Mu Yi’s already swollen belly, and softly said, "Baby, Daddy’s going out for a bit. Take good care of Mom and be good!"
They t at a bar not far from the music fountain. The bar was bustling with business. Even in the middle of the night, the dance floor was crowded with people dancing wildly.
In stark contrast to the noisy dance floor, the two n sitting in the corner of the bar seed quite gloomy. In just twenty minutes, Leng Yixiu had downed several glasses of strong liquor. Clearly, he was seeking to drown his sorrows in alcohol.
Fei Yichen didn’t stop him, just silently sitting beside him and occasionally clinking glasses with him. He had once tasted the anguish that Leng Yixiu was experiencing now. He knew that unbearable pain; at tis like this, silent companionship was all anyone could offer.
Leng Yixiu tilted his head back and gulped down another mouthful of whiskey, remaining silent for a long ti before painfully speaking, "Yichen, do you think she will co back?"
Reviews
All reviews (0)