The next evening, before the end of class, Lin Xian received a text message from Zhou Qin, telling her that she was waiting for her outside the school gate, telling her not to dawdle after class and to come out quickly.
Lin Xian took advantage of the teacher’s inattention to sneak and send her back a hopeless: I understand, old Buddha…
As soon as the class ended, Lin Xian exchanged greetings with Chen Zhi and Tang Mo and moved quickly towards the outside with her school bag following her mother’s command. When Shi Man suddenly also picked up her bag, she pulled Lin Xian’s school bag strap to signal her, “Let’s go together.”
So Lin Xian slowed down a bit, walked side by side with her, looking at the road in front of her, and then looking at Shi Man next to her. She had a look of wanting to say something but did not.
The atmosphere was a bit strange and somber.
When Shi Man glanced at Lin Xian, gently cried out “stop”, and with a smile she said in a bad mood, “Just say what you want, don’t respond to me as if you are constipated.”
Lin Xian was startled, but laughed “hahaha”, and the atmosphere suddenly became lively and relaxed. She asked Shi Man tentatively, “Are you still angry with your senior sister? Not waiting for her?”
Shi Man let out a cold voice, “heh”, and said lightly, “No. What’s the point of being angry with her, she doesn’t even know what I’m so angry about.”
Lin Xian blinked and blinked, secretly sarcastic: In fact, I also do not know what you are angry about. But she, as a good desk mate and friend, still consoled her, “She doesn’t know, so why don’t you just communicate with her? Maybe there a misunderstanding between you? I think Senior Sister is not the kind of person who is hard to talk to.”
Shi Man just gently shook her head, not commenting, and changed the subject, “What are you doing in such a hurry to leave today? Is Sister Xiao waiting for you outside?”
Lin Xian smiled and said in a regretful tone, “I would like to. Unfortunately, there is no sister Xiao, only sister Xiao’s old sister…”
Shi Man curved her bright peach blossom eyes and was about to ask her “how many good sisters do you have” when her wrist was suddenly grabbed by someone and pulled lightly.
Shi Man turned her head reflexively and stopped.
Lin Xian walked a few more steps by herself, before she realized that Shi Man hadn’t moved and followed her. She turned back to look at Shi Man, and saw that, a few steps behind her, Xia Zhijin was pulling Shi Man’s wrist. Her eyebrows were slightly knitted and her face, which was always cold, carried a few hint of sadness.
“Why didn’t you wait for me?” Lin Xian heard Xia Zhijin’s clear, cool voice ring out faintly.
“Why should I wait for you?” Shi Man raised her eyebrows impatiently and asked her nonchalantly in return.
Lin Xian rubbed her temples and thought sensibly: I, should disappear! She quickly ran up to the two who were still arguing with each other, smiled coquettishly, and dropped a sentence “Senior Sister, Man Man, my mother is still waiting for me. I’ll go first. Goodbye. You guys take care on the way.” After that, she ran away in a flash with her long legs.
While running, Lin Xian couldn’t help but curled her lips and thought: Is it because she is an only child, so she doesn’t understand the pattern of getting along between sisters? She always felt that it was strange.
After leaving the school gate, Lin Xian saw Zhou Qin’s familiar white Mercedes-Benz at a glance. She took a few steps to run up to the car, lightly pulled open the door, and sat inside.
Zhou Qin was looking at her phone, when she heard the sound she turned her head and saw Lin Xian and started to complain, “I almost had to make another call to hurry you up. There must be a traffic jam today, so we will not be able to go back at the right time.”
Lin Xian closed the door, put on her seat belt, and mouthed unhappily back, “I can’t fly out, it’s already the fastest speed, okay. Besides, we agreed that I would not go back for the holidays, so why are you backtracking?”
Zhou Qin started the car and said, “Do you think I want to? You didn’t tell me you wouldn’t go home for the holidays and I originally planned to let you not come back. Xiaoyan has spent the holidays alone in previous years, so I thought you could keep her company this year. But your grandparents suddenly wanted to come together for the holidays, saying they miss you, can I tell them not to come?”
Speaking of this, Zhou Qin couldn’t help but glare at Lin Xian again, criticizing her, “You still have the nerve to blame me. How long have you not called your grandparents? Last month, you were busy with classes, then the weather was hot, and you did not go back with us to see them. I will not say anything about you, but I have reminded you many times to give them a phone call to say hello, but did you take it as the wind? The younger generation, you are waiting for the elder to miss you and personally come to see you. You do not know how to be ashamed.”
Lin Xian knew she was wrong, so she didn’t dare to talk back and admitted her mistake, “Mom, I know I’m wrong. I also want to, but, but I keep forgetting.”
Zhou Qin gave her another glance, “You’re just not paying attention! If you put your heart into it, would you forget? I think your father and I can’t count on you anymore. When we get old, you’re going to forget about us too1.”
Lin Xian suffered a loss, her anger was not strong, and she hurriedly made herself small, admitting her mistakes and pouting, finally muddling through the topic.
While waiting for the red light, Zhou Qin asked Lin Xian, “Did your Aunt Xiao say what she was doing tonight?”
Lin Xian thought of Xiao Yuqing and her mood dropped, her voice was a bit muffled, “No. She didn’t say. She had bought a lot of food, ready to spend a good holiday….”
Zhou Qin also sighed and said, “Let’s go over and pick her up now and go to our house together for the holidays.”
“No need to go. She certainly will not go with us, going will be in vain.”
Zhou Qin also understood in her heart that the result would definitely be like this. But she still taught Lin Xian in a serious tone, “It’s a matter of courtesy, it’s her issue to go or not, it’s our issue to invite or not.”
Lin Xian grimaced and said dissatisfiedly, “I know, but, Aunt Xiao is not a calculating person like that.” She just didn’t want to let Zhou Qin poke Xiao Yuqing’s sore spot once more. It’s already very sad, so why bother to devote your heart and soul to other people’s falsehoods.
Zhou Qin listened to Lin Xian’s certain tone and couldn’t help but laugh, “How long has it been, you know her well.”
Lin Xian “humph humph” twice, proudly saying, “I think Aunt Xiao and I met too late.”
Zhou Qin just wanted to hit her twice, but as if she suddenly remembered something, there was a nostalgic smile between her eyebrows and she teased, “Not too late. You met her early and even promised to marry her.” At that time, Lian Xian was only eight years old, but in a blink of an eye, so many years have passed.
Lin Xian has been teased about this for many years and has developed a thick skin like a bronze wall, but this time, for some reason, hearing these words and thinking of Xiao Yuqing’s gentle and beautiful face, her face burned red. She stomped her foot and said in annoyance, “Mom! I’ve said no more about this!”
Zhou Qin rarely sees her daughter shy, and couldn’t help but smile, soothing her, “Okay, okay, the car will collapsed because of you. I won’t mention it, I won’t mention it.”
There was traffic on the road, so Zhou Qin finally had to compromise and did not take another detour to find Xiao Yuqing, but called Xiao Yuqing and verbally invited her to go with her one more time. Xiao Yuqing also declined as they expected, and laughed and said that they didn’t have to worry about her, saying that she had gone out for dinner with some colleagues from overseas for the holidays.
When they returned home to the North District, it was already late at night and the street was full of lights.
As soon as her grandparents saw Lin Xian, they smiled and squinted their eyes. They pulled Lin Xian to their side and looked her up and down carefully, saying with relief, “Xian Xian has grown taller again.”
Lin Xian also hugged her grandfather and grandmother affectionately and said, “I miss you guys so much, but I’ve been so busy studying that I haven’t had time to visit you. Grandpa and grandma don’t blame Xian Xian.” She also took out a big bag of baby warmer stickers from her school bag and presented it to them, “Grandpa and grandma, I’m going to school in the South District now and I don’t know when I’ll have time to see you again. I’m afraid I’ll forget it then, so I remember now, so I’ll give this to you first. This is a baby warmer sticker, it can warm your body when you put it on in the winter. I’ll demonstrate it to you.”
Grandpa and Grandma Lin looked at their sweet and caring little granddaughter and couldn’t stop being happy, so they didn’t bother to reprimand her.
Zhou Qin watched Lin Xian coax the two old people into happiness in a few words and then looked at her hand, which was clearly the baby warmer she had prepared for her to take to Xiao Yuqing’s house, and was immediately angry and amused. This little smartass, this mouth is really, I don’t know who it’s from.
The dinner was still two dishes short of complete, so Zhou Qin and her mother-in-law went to the kitchen to work together. Lin Zhan and his father played chess on the coffee table in the living room, while Lin Xian sat on the sidelines and watched.
Lin Zhan was casually concerned about his daughter’s life, “How are you getting used to living in your Aunt Xiao’s house?”
Lin Xian arched her eyebrows and replied with a smile, “I’m quite used to it. Aunt Xiao is a very gentle and nice person.”
Grandpa Lin relentlessly took away Lin Zhan’s artillery while he sighed and said, “Xiaoyu….. is a good kid, ai, her life is a bit hard. Ai, I don’t know why Aunt Xiao, the death…”
Before he finished, Lin Zhan interrupted, “Dad, these past events are not to be mentioned. Mentioning it adds sadness, but it also makes Xiaoyu sad.”
Grandpa Lin let out a long sigh and gave Lin Zhan a piece of his mind, saying, “Don’t mention it, people who are alive always have to look ahead.”
Lin Xian looked at the chessboard, but her ears stretched to listen to their conversation. When she heard that both her father and grandfather did not want to mention it anymore, she did not dare to ask any more questions even though her stomach was full of questions.
Aunt Xiao? Who is it again? Grandpa called Aunt…. could it be Aunt Xiao’s grandmother?
The family was complete and harmonious and dinner was eaten with joy and laughter. Unfortunately, the heaven did not cooperate, the Mid Autumn Festival, which should be enjoying the flowers and the moon, was raining and dark clouds covered the deep night sky. No stars and no moon could be seen at night, looking gloomy.
It was a little late, and the old man felt sorry for Lin Xian and wanted to let her stay at home for one night and go directly to school tomorrow.
Lin Xian, however, remembered Xiao Yuqing after the extreme liveliness, and remembered that day, in the eyes of Xiao Yuqing, she saw the sky full of stars and then the dullness.
Still, she really wants to accompany her…
So she shook her head and insisted on going back to the South District, excusing herself by saying, “Morning reading starts early and it takes an hour to get to the South District. So if mom and dad wait to send me there tomorrow, they’ll have to get up early and work really hard. Besides, I didn’t bring my books for tomorrow’s class, so I’d rather not.”
When several adults thought about it, it made sense, and looking at Lin Xian’s determined look, they sent her back in the end.
As Zhou Qin got a little older, she could not see well at night, so Lin Zhan did not feel comfortable with her driving at night, and drove Lin Xian over there himself.
Compared to Zhou Qin’s gentle but strict approach, James Lin is very indulgent and doting towards his daughter. As it was late at night, it was not convenient for him to go to the door as a big man, so he did not go upstairs with Lin Xian, but only sent her to the entrance of the building.
Before going in, he touched his daughter’s little head, took out a few red bills from his wallet and handed them to her with a smile, “Don’t tell your mother. Listen to your Aunt Xiao, take care of each other and don’t let us worry. If you don’t have enough pocket money, tell dad secretly.”
Lin Xian reached out and gave Lin Zhan a hug, rubbed her head against him, and said with emotion, “Thank you, Dad.”
After saying goodbye to her father and getting into the elevator, Lin Xian’s heart, involuntarily, became eager.
Did Aunt Xiao really go to dinner with her colleagues? Has she come back? Did she have a good time tonight? She got out of the elevator and couldn’t wait to jog up. While running and pulling out her keys, she hurriedly grabbed the handle to open the door.
The door opened with a snap and Lin Xian gently pushed it open. There is no light inside the house, everything, under the reflection of the street lights outside the window, was dim and hazy.
In the next second, Lin Xian did not know whether to be happy or lost. Has Aunt Xiao not returned yet? The next second, there was a gentle and low magnetic female voice that reverberated in the empty living room, “those were such happy times and not long ago, how I wondered where they’d gone…”
A song that is a little dated and a little sad…
yesterday once more…. yesterday once more….
Lin Xian did not turn on the light, feeling in the dark, following the sound to locate. She could see clearly in the dark that in the corner of the living room, the retro gramophone, that she had always thought was just a display, was turning round and round…
Where…is Aunt Xiao?
She squinted her eyes, looked around, and finally saw near the balcony not far away, that small familiar cluster of soft hair, and that half lying slender thin back.
Lin Xian gently threw down her school bag and the food that Zhou Qin asked her to bring back and walked lightly step by step towards that figure.
The night was dark, it was raining heavily, sleeting, and the low, lingering song rang out, haunting the ears…. On the coffee table, the tea in the emerald teacup had run out, the kettle on the side puffed and boiled, and white mist curled up…
The light was dim and the white mist was hazy, reflecting the woman who looked at her with a smile and increasingly beautiful eyebrows, as if she was a painting!
The woman’s smile was light, her eyes are smiling, and her tone was a rare laziness, “Came back, did you get wet?”
Lin Xian slightly directed her eyes, in the heavy rain, she can actually hear herself so clearly, one by one, the vivid beating of her heart beating so fiercely.
She raised her eyes, looked at the half-lying woman with a soft face and elegant temperament, shook her head gently, and settled down beside her under the gentle gaze of Xiao Yuqing. It was like there was something in her mind that kept screaming indistinctly about something, but she could not find any traces of it when she set her mind on it. Lin Xian gazed at the heavy rain pouring down in the night sky, gradually suppressed the fluctuating thoughts and settled down. She curved her eyebrows to the side and joked with Xiao Yuqing, “I came uninvited late at night, can I ask you for a cup of hot tea, Miss?”
The woman gazed at her with quiet eyes like an ancient pond and the watery tenderness gradually rippled out. She gently lifted her fingertips, added a cup of tea, and the fragrance of the tea slowly bloomed.
The jade colored tea cup was gently pushed to Lin Xian’s hand, Lin Xian lifted her hand and brought it to her lips to sip lightly. Xiao Yuqing gazed down at her movements, her voice was low and soft as she retorted, “You’re not uninvited.”
When Lin Xian raised her eyes to look at her, she gently relaxed her eyebrows and her long eyelashes fluttered, “I’ve been waiting for you to return for a long time.” Gently and softly, with a tactful ending, and the lingering singing in her ears, Lin Xian’s heart was stirring, and the sip of hot tea burned into her throat to her heart.
The rain was getting heavier and heavier, still pattering and ringing non-stop…
Lin Xian thought, Autumn and Winter have not yet passed, so Spring has not yet arrived, but why did she feel that, in her heart, there were seeds that seemed to be breaking through the ground and sprouting…
Thank you K for supporting this novel! One more update! ENJOY!!!
1 Wow. Sounds like my mom…
Called it
1 sounds like my mom when I was younger too…. do they have a manual or something…. 😂
Thank you!
Its love.
So does Shi Man:s sister also like her or? Idk why I’m getting this gold master vibe from Shi Man, is the sister one her family is taking care of ?