The siblings stepped out one after the other. By the time they arrived at An Shuchao’s home, Bai Yanjiao was in the kitchen making food.
An Hao scanned the courtyard and didn’t spot Bai Xue’s figure; she must have been inside the house.
Just as she was about to lift the curtain to enter the north room where An Shuchao lived, she saw Bai Yanjiao standing at the kitchen doorway, glaring at her with a cooking spoon in hand, "What are you here for?"
"Is it any of your business?" An Hao glanced at her disdainfully and walked straight into the house.
After a night’s sleep, the air in the room was a bit stale. An Hao opened the door and pulled back the curtain, letting in the sunlight and fresh air.
An Shuchao, lying on the kang bed, saw An Hao and sat up, "An Hao’s here. It’s been a while since you moved out, hasn’t it? How have you been coping on your own?"
"Fine, getting along just fine," An Hao replied indifferently.
"That’s good," An Shuchao nodded. Noticing An Hao’s face was void of even a hint of a smile, he sighed, "Are you still holding a grudge against Dad?"
An Hao didn’t want to bring up the matter and, hearing him gearing up for a lengthy talk, smoothly changed the topic, "An Ping and I brought you some pancakes. Try them, An Ping says they taste just like the ones Mom used to make."
An Shuchao was taken aback, then took a bite of the pancake and chewed slowly.
Indeed, it tasted just like he remembered!
"Your mom’s been gone for what, five years now?" An Shuchao suddenly remarked.
"Yeah. Mom had a bad heart." An Hao lowered her head, her eyes barely concealing a shimmer of tears. At the time, they didn’t realize it was heart disease; they just watched her in agony, writhing on the bed before she passed.
Later, the doctor said it was angina.
In the end, she died of a myocardial infarction!
"Have you thought about her in these five years?" she lifted her head, her gaze resting on An Shuchao’s face.
"I have," An Shuchao nodded. His memories of An Hao’s mom were always of her smiling benignly, very good-tempered, never quarreling with anyone, never had a cross word with the neighbors.
Back then, influenced by her mother, An Hao had been of the same good nature. But ever since her mother passed, and he married Bai Xue, An Hao had changed.
"Is that all you did, think about it?" An Ping was dissatisfied with his father’s attitude, "My mom was leagues better than this Bai Yanjiao. If you truly cared for my mom in your heart, how could you bear to have her around?"
An Shuchao hadn’t spoken when Bai Yanjiao burst in lifting the curtain, "Who’s saying someone is way better than my mom? Talk about whoever you want, but don’t make such careless comparisons, alright?"
"So what if your mom isn’t great? I’m just speaking the truth, why don’t you have her come out and hit me!" An Ping puffed out his chest, stepping forward and closing the distance to Bai Yanjiao.
"Enough. The bickering starts again. Can’t you let the house be peaceful for once?" An Shuchao was plagued by worries as he was recovering; the sound of arguing gave him a splitting headache.
"Psh, I won’t lower myself to your level." Bai Yanjiao rolled her eyes at An Ping, remembering her mother’s advice to not escalate things too far, no matter what An Ping and An Hao said.
In other words, today she had to keep a low profile.
"Right, Yanjiao, where’s your mom?" An Shuchao glanced at the tidily folded quilts in the room and suddenly remembered that last night she had gone out to play mahjong, and he hadn’t seen her yet this early morning.
"My mom... well, my mom’s not feeling well, she’s asleep in my room," Bai Yanjiao tensed up immediately.
"Have her come here. I told her last night that we’re going to the town today to check on the condition of my leg. If it’s better, I might try removing the cast," An Shuchao said.
PS: I have to take a trip tomorrow and can only update with four thousand words for now. I’ll be back the day after tomorrow to continue with six updates! Love you all~ Mwah~