Amidst the constant curtain of rain, Sun Sanlu rode his tricycle, accompanied by the creaky sounds, slowly arriving under the bridge.
His entire body was drenched, sparse white hair sticking to his forehead, rainwater rolling down his gaunt cheeks, looking rather miserable.
He wiped his face with the damp towel around his neck, as if only then he could clearly see the scene under the bridge pier.
There he sat on the tricycle, one hand holding the towel, the other on the brake, looking slightly surprised, yet without much reaction.
His gaze swept over Shen Siyuan, then turned to Ma Hongxia, his aged cheeks finally squeezing out a smile.
At that moment, his murky eyes seemed to be lit up.
The one who normally emitted the aura of twilight seemed to brighten up once again.
"Look at you, all soaked, didn’t think to find a place to hide from the rain."
Ma Hongxia took a dry towel and walked up, reaching out to help him wipe off.
Seeing this, Sun Sanlu hurriedly got down from the tricycle.
He chuckled naively, "It’s alright, just the arms are bare, only soaked the trousers, once the rain stops, it’ll dry..."
"That’s not okay, going from cold to hot, it’s easy to get sick, do you think you are still young?" Ma Hongxia spoke softly and patiently, wiping every drop of rain from his face.
Sun Sanlu stood still, letting her wipe him clean.
"It’s thundering and raining, I was worried you’d be scared alone," Sun Sanlu said.
"You’re crazy, I’m already a jar of ashes, what’s there to be afraid of?" Ma Hongxia retorted irritably.
"But you are here, aren’t you? I knew you would be..." Sun Sanlu replied.
Then he walked around Ma Hongxia to face Shen Siyuan, and with a plop, he knelt down, about to kowtow.
"Eh...that’s not necessary..."
Shen Siyuan quickly reached out to help him up.
"Grandmaster, thank you for letting me see my beloved wife again."
"Stand up and talk, stand up and talk..."
Shen Siyuan exerted his strength, and Sun Sanlu, unable to kneel down, also stood straight.
At this point, Ma Hongxia came forward too, sighing, "I should be the one kowtowing, we have nothing else to thank you for."
Shen Siyuan waved his hand, "Meeting is fate, let’s not talk about that."
Hearing this, Sun Sanlu looked both embarrassed and guilty.
"I have nothing, and I don’t know how to thank the Grandmaster properly."
"Already told you not to mention it," Shen Siyuan said.
Then turning his head towards Ma Hongxia, "You talk slowly with him."
As Shen Siyuan spoke, he took steps towards the curtain of rain; when the rain fell upon his head, it automatically parted ways—this was the small knack of using Water Qi among the Water and Earth Qi.
"What a remarkable person," Ma Hongxia took back her gaze.
She then saw Sun Sanlu’s eyes fully focused on her.
"You, lower your head, let me wipe your hair..."
An elderly man, already in his twilight years, before the woman he loved, behaved like a child, obediently bowing his head.
"Eh, where did this money come from?"
As Sun Sanlu lowered his head, he noticed several red notes on the ground.
He picked them up and counted, exactly one thousand yuan.
"It must have been left by the Grandmaster," Ma Hongxia said.
"How can we accept this, it’s too much money, we need to return it," Sun Sanlu hastily said.
"He has already left, where would you find him? Just take this money and go home, it’s not right to be out all the time..."
Hearing this, Sun Sanlu fell silent.
There was no one left in his house, his parents had long passed away, and when Ma Hongxia was alive, the old couple could depend on each other.
Ma Hongxia is dead, where is not home then.
"Going back or not, what’s the difference anyway?" Sun Sanlu said softly.
"Leaves eventually return to their roots. You go back and bury my ashes on the eastern hillside, so I can always see you." Ma Hongxia spoke.
Hearing this, Sun Sanlu seemed to understand something and slowly nodded.
"I should go back. I took you out, so I should bring you back."
"What nonsense are you talking about? I’ve never blamed you. The happiest moments of my life were when you rode the tricycle and carried me around to see the sights..."
Hearing this, Sun Sanlu’s cloudy eyes brimmed with tears.
He reached out and wiped his eyes saying, "Hongxia, this life, following me must have been hard for you."
Hearing this, Ma Hongxia also started wiping her tears.
"What nonsense. This life, it’s because I followed you too late that I’ve suffered so much. If I had followed you earlier, how nice it would have been, I would have definitely given you several children..."
The couple burst into tears together.
Ma Hongxia had left in a hurry at first and had many words she hadn’t managed to say to Sun Sanlu; now under the pouring rain, they had endless things to talk about.
Duoduo held up an umbrella and hid underneath it with Xiao Yue.
Under the umbrella seemed like a separate world, where wind and rain were kept out completely, not a strand able to blow in.
"How amazing." Xiao Yue couldn’t help but exclaim.
Hearing this, Duoduo proudly said: "My mom gave it to me."
Beside them, Shen Siyuan’s voice pierced through the rain: "Duoduo, I’ve found your parents. This rest day, I’ll bring you to see them."
"Really?" Duoduo exclaimed with joy.
"Of course it’s true. Why would I lie to you?"
"Hehe~" Duoduo, extremely happy, chirped.
She couldn’t wait to see her parents.
"Where are they? I can go see them myself."
"They have returned to Xiajing, which is very far from here."
"I can fly." Duoduo waved her left hand, as if flapping wings.
"Even if you fly, it would take a long time, and Daxia is too vast, you shouldn’t fly to the wrong place," said Shen Siyuan.
"Xiajing is really far, we need to take an airplane," Xiao Yue also said.
Hearing this, Duoduo looked a bit disappointed but obediently nodded in agreement.
But soon she became happy again: "That’s also great, when it’s rest day, we can go see them, and I can see my brother too; he doesn’t have to go to school on rest days..."
Shen Siyuan’s gaze traveled through the layers of rain, looking at this little fellow.
It had been so many years; her brother no longer needed to go to school, but rather her brother’s children.
"Your parents love you very much," Xiao Yue said with a hint of envy. Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✶𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲✶𝗻𝗲𝘁
"They are my parents, of course they love me."
Duoduo stated it as if it was the most obvious thing, and Xiao Yue fell silent.
All of a sudden, Duoduo appeared enlightened, slapping her own little head.
"My parents must have gone to see grandma and grandpa, no wonder I couldn’t find them..."
"I heard mom say, grandma and grandpa are in... in..."
"Xiajing." Xiao Yue chimed in.
"Yes, in Xiajing, I visited my grandparents’ home when I was little. Mom said, when dad is not busy, she would take me back to see them..."
Duoduo chattered excitedly, truly a little fool...