Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Nian Nian, you should listen to Liang Liang. He said all this for your own good. You should tell us the rough time that you’ll be home in the future. There’s too many bad guys out there now.” Her mother was speaking for Han Liang too.
“Aren’t you two thinking too much? You don’t have to worry too much about me. I will protect myself properly.” As Xia Qingyi finished her words, she suddenly remembered Mo Han trying to make her go for female defense classes. In the end, she had come to F City before she had the chance to attend the classes. Now, she was talking nonsense about protecting herself. If Mo Han were to hear this, he would definitely say something about it.
“Nian Nian, listen to me for once. Don’t be like this again in the future.” Han Liang said.
Xia Qingyi did not want to argue anymore about this. She knew that they were worried for her safety as she swallowed her pride and said, “Alright, alright… I’ll tell you the rough time in the future, alright?”
It was only now that Han Liang looked slightly at ease. Xia Qingyi pulled them along as she walked to the corner. “Alright… I’m back now anyway… I’m hungry… come eat with me.”
With Xia Qingyi’s reminder, her mother finally remembered about the chicken soup she had boiled since the morning. She brought out a bowl of chicken soup, reheated the dishes that she had cooked earlier and placed them on the dining table. The three of them sat around the dining table and started to eat.
“Why didn’t I see any family photo here? Where’s my father?” Xia Qingyi suddenly asked as she ate.
The other two at the table froze instantly. Her mother, who was sitting opposite her, said, “Your father… passed away two years ago.”
“He passed away?”
“His body condition wasn’t that good. Two year ago, he suddenly had a bleed in his brain. We sent him to the emergency room but he could not be saved. He died on the hospital bed.” her mother’s tone was rather calm.
“Still, I want… to see him.” Xia Qingyi smiled helplessly.
“It’s his death anniversary in a few days. I’ll take you and your mother to go visit him together then. His grave is in F City, so it’s not too far away from here.” Han Liang said.
Xia Qingyi nodded and buried herself in the food again.
After the meal, Xia Qingyi saw her mother washing the dishes alone in the kitchen. She walked inside and stood next to her before she started to wash the dishes with her. However, her mother seemed to have seen something as she hurriedly grabbed her hands and told her not to soak them in the water. She then continued to tell her that she could go rest, and that she was fine with washing the dishes alone.
Xia Qingyi replied her that it was fine and went to grab the dishes once more to wash them.
Her mother went to grab her hands again, to stop her from washing the dishes as she said that she should not do such chores since her hands were those that belonged to a designer.
Xia Qingyi did not listen to her as she started to wash the dishes regardless of her mother. She also chatted with her while smiling.
“Mother, was I very lazy in the past?” Xia Qingyi asked.
Her mother stopped washing the dishes and turned her head to look at her for a very long time.
She said, “No, you were very hardworking. When you were young, and your height had just reached my waist, you were already leaning on the kitchen top and asking to help me cook. You would always run here and there. There was almost not a second where you were lazy.”
Xia Qingyi listened as she scrubbed the plate in her hands.
“You were really different. You didn’t like to make friends and would always find other kids too childish when they wanted to play their dolls with you. You liked to read books while sitting in your room alone.”
There was a spark of thought as Xia Qingyi asked subconsciously, “Was I reading ‘I Wonder Why’?”
Her mother looked at her with surprise, “How do you know?”
Xia Qingyi said, “I suddenly remembered some things from when I was young.”
She felt that it was unbelievable. She seemed to have unknowingly remembered a lot of small details from when she was young after listening to her mother telling her stories about her past. She had even remembered that she had cried for a very long time after losing that ‘I Wonder Why’ book.
Her memories seemed to be coming back bit by bit after returning to this place where her mother was.
“Did you buy another encyclopedia for me after I lost that ‘I Wonder Why’ book?” Xia Qingyi suddenly found that it was very easy for her to remember scenes from when she was young. The scenes were slowly becoming realer as they seemed to materialize before her eyes. What had actually happened a long time ago seemed like it had happened yesterday.
“You remembered everything?” Her mother seemed to be very surprised.
Xia Qingyi thought for a while, only to find that her memories stopped there abruptly and she could not remember anything else.