When she jokingly gave Chi Yao the wish card that day, she thought this wish card would eventually be used by Chi Yao to order her around or play tricks on her.
When Lin Zhexia pushed open the door and entered the house, Lin He was watching TV in the living room.
The woman’s hair was gently coiled at the back of her head, and she turned to call out: “Xia Xia, you’re back?”
She immediately frowned: “How could you go out dressed like this? Where’s your coat? It’s so cold outside today.”
Lin Zhexia: “I left in a hurry and forgot.”
Lin He was very angry: “Why didn’t you forget yourself outside too, you still know how to come home.”
Lin Zhexia made up an excuse: “As soon as my classmate and I went out, we found a coffee shop to sit in, so I wasn’t cold at all.”
Lin He didn’t believe her at first, but when she held Lin Zhexia’s hands, she found they were indeed warm.
“Be careful next time,” Lin He could only suppress the scolding on the tip of her tongue, “be more mindful, don’t do anything without thinking it through.”
Lin Zhexia responded with an “Oh.”
Lin He looked at her again and asked: “Why are your eyes so red?”
Lin Zhexia said, “Probably from the wind, it was too strong outside.”
At this moment, Wei Ping walked out of the kitchen.
He held a cup of freshly brewed hot water and placed it in front of Lin Zhexia: “Um… drink some hot water to warm up.”
After these words, the living room quieted down.
Only the sound of the television remained.
The TV was broadcasting news, saying that the temperature would drop sharply tonight, and it might snow.
Lin Zhexia looked at the steaming glass cup on the coffee table, her hands tucked into her oversized sleeves, tightly gripping the note Chi Yao had just returned to her, trying to muster the courage to talk to Wei Ping.
But the surrounding air was too quiet, and she was a bit afraid to speak up.
She clutched the paper.
Recalling Chi Yao’s words before they parted.
—”Coward.”
—”Try opening your arms.”
Wei Ping was sitting opposite Lin Zhexia, about to ask her, “Why aren’t you drinking the water?” when he suddenly heard her call him.
“Uncle Wei.”
Wei Ping responded: “Yes? What is it?”
Lin Zhexia’s fingers were tense, speaking somewhat unnaturally: “I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time, I don’t actually like pink. If you want to bring me gifts, could you not buy those pink stuffed toys?”
Wei Ping was stunned at first, even Lin He beside him was surprised.
Then he laughed with relief and pleasure: “Okay, your uncle understands. So what do you like? Let me make a note.”
Lin Zhexia’s tense hands loosened a bit: “If you ask me now, I can’t think of anything right away.”
“Anyway, I’m a girl with a very tough personality.”
“Good,” Wei Ping nodded, “tough.”
“…”
Wei Ping asked again: “Do you like toy guns? When your uncle was little, he liked these tough toys.”
Lin Zhexia: “That’s a bit too tough, not very suitable.”
They had been a reconstructed family for so many years.
This was the first time she had chatted with Wei Ping with a completely unguarded heart.
The conversation content was ordinary, nothing special about it.
But Lin Zhexia knew clearly that beneath the ordinary appearance, something had quietly changed.
It was like a little girl who very much wanted to open the door and communicate with the people outside, finally opening that door for the first time.
Before opening the door, the little girl thought there would be many dangers outside.
But after opening it, she found that she had been embraced by the outside world all along.
Even though the key to open this door was merely a sentence, “I don’t like pink.”
The atmosphere was so good that evening that Lin He cleared her throat and said: “Xia Xia, I also have something to say… I’m pregnant.”
Lin He explained: “I just found out recently. I wanted to tell you earlier, but this child came so unexpectedly. Your Uncle Wei and I never planned to have children and have always been using contraception.”
Indeed, in all these years, they had never mentioned children to her.
“The main reason I didn’t tell you is that we weren’t sure whether we wanted to keep this child or not.”
Wei Ping continued: “This is something that needs careful consideration, and we need to take your thoughts into account. Having an additional child in a family is not a casual matter. Plus, the doctor also advised us to consider carefully, as your mother is older now, and having a child at this age is very hard on the body and can easily involve risks.”
The wind was strong that night.
This winter was very cold.