“Mom,” she reached for Lin He’s hand, “don’t be sad. Let’s go home and think about it some more. Whatever decision you make, Wei Uncle and I will be by your side.”
Lin He came back to her senses and squeezed her hand in return.
In the end, they followed the doctor’s advice, prioritizing Lin He’s health, unwilling to take too great a risk.
Since the pregnancy was at the right stage, the surgery was scheduled quickly.
On the day of the procedure, Wei Ping prepared many things for the hospital stay, and Lin Zhexia accompanied them.
Because she was so worried about potential complications with the surgery, she sent many, many messages to Chi Yao beforehand, so Chi Yao also came to the hospital.
The memory of that day seemed very long.
The long hospital corridor, the lingering smell of disinfectant, and doctors coming and going in white coats. And Wei Ping’s figure was pacing back and forth constantly.
It all felt like a silent film being repeatedly stretched out.
Lin Zhexia’s final impression of that day was that she couldn’t control her nervousness and gripped Chi Yao’s hand tightly.
By the time the surgery was completed, she realized she had been gripping it for a very long time.
She abruptly released her hand.
“You’re done squeezing one hand.” Chi Yao looked at her and pulled her out of that endless silent film, “Ready to switch to the other one?”
“…May I?” Lin Zhexia asked.
Chi Yao withdrew his hand and said, “You wish.”
Lin He’s surgery went very smoothly.
Afterward, Wei Ping called her to the ward, and she hurriedly gathered some things.
She wasn’t sure when Chi Yao had left, but after she finished packing, she belatedly realized that he had been part of almost every major and minor event in her life.
The winter break was brief, and soon after Lin He was discharged, the Spring Festival arrived.
The previously bare streets seemed to have transformed overnight, with red lanterns hanging everywhere, filling the streets with festive decorations.
That evening after dinner, Lin Zhexia dragged Chi Yao out for a stroll around the streets.
“Yesterday, there was nothing on this street. She wore a very thick cotton jacket, looking like a moving white ball from a distance, and today, so many decorations have appeared at once.”
Chi Yao followed slowly behind her and remarked, “Anyone would think you live at the North Pole.”
The white ball stopped and said: “I’m certainly different from someone who likes to pose and show off, wearing ultra-thin jeans in the dead of winter and refusing to wear thermal underwear.”
Chi Yao ignored her and walked straight ahead.
Lin Zhexia caught up and asked: “Spring Festival is coming soon, are your uncle and aunt coming back?”
“Don’t know,” Chi Yao said.
Lin Zhexia: “Haven’t you asked them?”
Chi Yao appeared indifferent: “Too lazy to ask.”
Lin Zhexia muttered softly: “They’re too busy with their business outside. They didn’t come back last year either. They should at least come back for a quick visit.”
Chi Yao’s parents were rarely home.
Family and career seemed to be something difficult for adults to balance.
Her impression of Chi Yao’s father and mother wasn’t deep either, and she couldn’t say she knew them well.
The only time she had interacted with them the most was because of an argument.
That was many years ago.
When she was younger, she was less sensible and her temper wasn’t as good as it is now.
She saw how Chi Yao, every time he got sick, would always stay in the hospital alone, with no family members beside him, only a hired caretaker auntie keeping him company, and more than once she had wondered: why don’t his parents come to see him?
One day, she happened to run into Chi Yao’s parents returning home, and she angrily ran to the entrance of Nanxiang Street to confront them.
Chi Yao’s parents were just passing through, coming back to pick up some things.
Their car was temporarily parked at the entrance of Nanxiang Street.
After getting what they needed, the two were about to get into the car when suddenly a little girl rushed out from the street entrance. The little girl blocked the car door: “Chi Yao was hospitalized last month, did you know?”
“Why didn’t you come to see him?”
“Being alone in the hospital,” the young Lin Zhexia said, “is very lonely.”
As she spoke, she tried hard to keep a straight face, standing her ground in front of the adults: “Even though he doesn’t say it, when he’s alone in the hospital, he must want to see you.”
The result of this incident was being dragged home by Lin He, who had rushed over after hearing about it.
Lin He first apologized repeatedly: “I’m so sorry, the child is still young.”
Back home, behind closed doors, Lin He earnestly educated her: “No matter what, this is ultimately someone else’s family business. How could you speak to someone else’s parents like that? You need to have boundaries when doing things, don’t be so reckless.”
As she grew older, Lin Zhexia gradually understood what Lin He had said back then—the adult world requires boundaries.
She would no longer rush over and directly question as she did when she was a child. When she met Chi Yao’s parents, she would politely greet them.
…
Thinking about all this, Lin Zhexia somewhat childishly thought:
But whether it was when she was young or now.
She still felt that what Chi Yao’s parents did was very wrong.
The two of them walked along the lively long street.
The street was very long, with festive red lanterns extending to the end.
The street lamps elongated their shadows.
Lin Zhexia was short, and her pace was quite slow.
But Chi Yao always maintained a speed similar to hers.
Halfway down the street, Lin Zhexia turned around to face Chi Yao.
Chi Yao watched as Lin Zhexia stood under the bright red lanterns, smiling with crinkled eyes, saying: “It doesn’t matter if they don’t come back, anyway, I’ll keep you company.”
The girl’s crisp voice blended into the surrounding bustle.
“You can come to my house for the New Year, and we can stay up to welcome the new year together again.”
Chi Yao lowered his eyes, and after a moment, wanted to respond with “you always fall asleep like a pig before ten o’clock, what staying up are you talking about,” but as the words reached his lips, he didn’t utter a single one.
In the end, he looked away and made a sound of acknowledgment from his throat.
Lin Zhexia was walking backward, not noticing the child on a small bicycle who was careening past her.
Before she heard the “ding-ling-ling” of the child’s bicycle bell, Chi Yao grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him—
At the same time, someone on the street was setting off firecrackers to kick off the Spring Festival celebrations.
Amidst the crackling of firecrackers, she heard the four words Chi Yao said.
“Idiot, watch the road.”