When he was very young, his mother loathed him, but his father said, "It’s okay, Dad is here."
Because he took after his father, he had darker skin and a less delicate face from a young age, and the local children didn’t like to play with him. His father would say, "It’s okay, Dad will play with you."
There were many, many similar incidents.
"I can’t keep you company anymore, don’t cry, look, after I’m gone, you still have your brothers. You need to take good care of Xuanxuan, really take care of yourself..."
Then, his father died.
His father had said he would always be with him, lifting him up to sit on his neck and saying he would watch him grow up.
But in the face of death, all promises are as fragile as could be.
His father didn’t manage it; those promises made were never fulfilled.
His wife said she would never abandon him, never leave him.
But he thought, feared she might forget, he had to remind her over and over, lest one day she’d be gone suddenly like Dad, suddenly never to be seen again.
Dong Huiying comforted him for a long time, and the man seemed revived a bit. With little effort, he lifted her onto the bed. He wanted to make love, but she stopped him.
"Let’s rest well tonight."
"I can’t sleep." He had slept too much during the day.
"Then just lie down," anyway, they couldn’t continue being indulgent; otherwise, his body really couldn’t handle it.
He looked at her with a puzzled expression, as if asking, didn’t she desire it too?
"How can you be so cute?" She couldn’t help but smile, pinching his cheeks and pulling them apart before mysteriously saying, "I remember I have a charm that I can shape into a small pill. After eating this, we don’t have to worry anymore."
She got up, took a small bottle, poured out a small pill in front of him, and swallowed it with a self-satisfied look as if saying, "Look how clever I am, quick, praise me."
His expression seemed somewhat resentful.
Unexplainably, a bit of loss?
She rubbed his head, "You need to know how to moderate these things. Let’s wait until you feel better!"
So, the night was without words.
However, from the next day on, some strange things began to happen.
For instance, when Hong Xiangjun came to see Dong Huiying, she patted the young wife’s shoulder, but the young wife just went on with her tasks as if she felt nothing at all.
During meals, she couldn’t hold her bowl properly; it clanged to the floor. Fortunately, it was an iron bowl, not a ceramic one, or it would have shattered. Even so, the soup splashed all over the floor.
She used to use chopsticks, but suddenly she started using a spoon.
And the food she cooked tasted a bit different. Not that it wasn’t tasty, but it seemed less delicious than before, lacking something from the past.
Hong Xiangjun: "...Are you feeling unwell?"
"Not at all, I feel great!"
Hong Xiangjun grabbed her hand; there was a small cut on it, from chopping vegetables, but she hadn’t noticed it herself.
"Something’s wrong, you seem like you can’t feel pain."
"What are you talking about?"
"Just look at your hand."
"It’s just a small cut. What’s the big deal, why are you making such a fuss?"
"No, that’s not what I mean. When I grabbed your hand, I squeezed your wrist really hard, look, your wrist is red now, but you didn’t even frown, like you didn’t feel it. Is that normal?"