The sixth day of the first lunar month.
An Jing stood in the yard of her home, gazing at the few rooms that were now tightly shuttered, feeling inevitably melancholic about their imminent departure from this home.
All the belongings they intended to take with them had already been loaded onto the carriage outside, and her four children had also been settled into the carriage, but she couldn’t help standing in the yard, looking at the place where she and her husband had lived together for so long.
Xiao Changyi, seeing An Jing had not yet emerged, entered the courtyard to find her. Hearing Xiao Changyi’s voice, An Jing turned her head and smiled at him.
Not until Xiao Changyi arrived by her side did she ask with a smile, "Husband, we will come back, won’t we?"
"Mm, we will," they both had agreed, to return here to enjoy their twilight years.
An Jing turned her head back to look at the rooms again.
Xiao Changyi followed her gaze.
After a long moment, An Jing withdrew her gaze to look at Xiao Changyi; Xiao Changyi also turned his gaze back to An Jing.
The couple shared a smile.
Then, in silent understanding, they extended their hands, intertwined their fingers, and walked outward.
As soon as they stepped out of the yard, An Jing stood aside and watched, watched as Xiao Changyi locked the gate.
An Jing also took a look at the land around the courtyard before preparing to join Xiao Changyi on the carriage.
But just as she set one foot on the carriage, she heard the voice of Shi Xiaolan, "An Jing! Brother Xiao!"
Facing the direction of the voice, An Jing saw Shi Xiaolan and Wu Xiaoshan briskly approaching them.
An Jing withdrew the foot she had placed on the carriage and said with a smile, "Didn’t we tell you not to see us off?"
"We don’t know when we’ll see you again once you leave, of course, we wanted to see you off," said Shi Xiaolan, her eyes reddening and her voice choked. "We don’t have much at home, just some peanuts for you – don’t disdain them."
Shi Xiaolan took a bundle from Wu Xiaoshan’s hand and offered it to An Jing; it was clear the bundle contained peanuts.
An Jing did not refuse Shi Xiaolan’s kind gesture, accepted the bundle, and asked Meng Zhuqing to place it on the carriage.
Because they were in a hurry to hit the road, An Jing and Shi Xiaolan didn’t chat much, but before getting on the carriage, An Jing hugged Shi Xiaolan.
This made Shi Xiaolan’s eyes grow even redder.
An Jing also felt quite distressed, and even after they had been riding away from home for a while, she struggled to emerge from that melancholic mood.
Xiao Changyi didn’t say a word, only held one of An Jing’s hands tightly.
"Mother...smile...smile...smiley..." Suddenly, Su Yi Jing in An Jing’s arms looked up with his little face, uttering indistinct words earnestly and childishly. "Smiley is good...want smiley...smile..."
Others might not understand what Su Yi Jing was saying, but An Jing and Xiao Changyi were his parents, they had been with Su Yi Jing since birth, and even if he didn’t articulate well, they usually understood his meaning.
Undoubtedly, Su Yi Jing was asking An Jing to smile.
Xiao Changyi and An Jing were extremely heartened.
An Jing, in particular, not only felt consoled but also truly began to laugh. "Jing’er, you usually don’t like to initiate conversation. Today is quite rare, and to think your words concern your mother, Mother is really so happy."
As she spoke, An Jing hugged little Su Yi Jing even tighter.
Su Yi Jing quietly stayed in An Jing’s arms, letting her hold him, but he kept looking up, not saying another word in his babyish voice, instead blinking his little eyes and watching silently as his mother An Jing smiled and talked to him.