Toon Chapter 26

Cheng Shiyi’s plan ultimately failed.

The car gradually drove away from the surrounding mountains. Cheng Shiyi sat inside, the journey bumpy and the vehicle swaying. Seeing Lian Sheng’s eyelids, red and swollen from crying before getting in the car, her heart began to sway too.

She heard that Lian Sheng had lost his memory—this was a good thing. The child had forgotten past suffering. Perhaps after spending a few good days with her, he wouldn’t want to return.

She couldn’t bring herself to separate others. If Lian Sheng was willing to go with her, that would be best. But if he truly couldn’t forget that man, Cheng Shiyi couldn’t just abandon the child there to suffer. She planned to send him back and then allocate some money to them.

Cheng Shiyi tried her best to recall and tell Lian Sheng about things she knew had made him smile in the past. For instance, suddenly finding his father’s lost wallet in the back garden and being praised by his father, who usually disliked him; or on his fifth birthday, when Cheng Shiyi returned from abroad and helped him bake a cake.

Cheng Shiyi racked her brain, trying to find evidence of Lian Sheng’s past happiness, but the more she spoke, the more shocking the reality became. She gradually found herself unable to continue, finally just managing to maintain a strained smile.

These were merely the most ordinary and common occurrences in a family. Why was she even mentioning them?

Cheng Shiyi had to speak vaguely: “Auntie can’t remember the past too clearly either. I went abroad very early, and after that, I could only receive a photo of you once in a long while.”

After taking Lian Sheng to see his deceased sister, Cheng Shiyi hadn’t let him meet anyone else. The word “affection” is so shallow in this world; blood ties in such families might not be worth as much as so-called reputation. The young Cheng Shiyi realized this and left early, but she could never let go of her sister, who was trapped after marriage, and her nephew, who was born with a defect. After her sister passed away, this child was the only one she worried about.

Over the next few days, Cheng Shiyi tried to change Lian Sheng’s mind by letting him enjoy a privileged life. It was easy to tell when Lian Sheng was happy; his eyes would squint and his lips would curve, like a contented cat that had caught a fish and stolen a taste.

But once evening arrived, Lian Sheng’s mood visibly dropped, and he showed little interest in anything.

On the third day, when it turned cold, Cheng Shiyi bought him a pair of gloves. Lian Sheng accepted them and thanked her, then looked thoughtful, his lips drooping. He asked, “Auntie, the weather seems to be getting colder. Is it going to snow soon?”

Cheng Shiyi’s heart slowly sank to the bottom of a lake. She understood completely, then smiled and said, “It’s still too early for snow, no need to worry.”

*

Lian Sheng knew that the things he had experienced these past few days were perhaps things he and Zhou Lingchun would never encounter in a lifetime.

Yet, the starlight at night in Pingshui Village was not necessarily inferior to the glamorous lights here.

When his nose was filled with the fragrance of a certain flower, he thought of the scorching summer, when the two of them paddled in the lotus pond, and the clear scent of lotus leaves, carried far away by the wind that had been baked by the fierce sun.

There was also the golden rice grain drying outside their door in autumn. Lian Sheng couldn’t describe that scent; it was the solid, reassuring smell that drifted through the window to his nose in the first ray of morning sunlight, after he had heard the man using farming tools to spread out the grain while he was still asleep.

The temperature suddenly dropped again that night, and a strong wind howled outside the window. Drowsy, Lian Sheng sat up and opened the window. The cold wind blew on his face, and he shivered violently. He leaned against the window, looking at the pitch-black sky outside, and couldn’t help but shed tears…

*

“Lingchun, did Shengsheng say when he’s coming back?” Granny Sun was at Zhou Lingchun’s house, sewing shoe soles with Grandma. Her husband had written saying the weather was getting cold and he wanted her to make a few pairs of cotton shoes for winter. Granny Sun wore a golden thimble on her middle finger. After forcefully pushing the thick needle through the sole board, she didn’t hear Zhou Lingchun reply, so she continued talking to herself, “Shengsheng doesn’t look like someone who can endure a hard life. I wonder if Shengsheng will be willing to come back now that he’s gone home this time.”

Wangcai, who was lying on the floor nearby, suddenly let out a rapid whimper, as if he understood.

“Oh, you miss him too?” Granny Sun looked down and spoke to Wangcai.

Honestly, with Lian Sheng gone, Granny Sun felt Zhou Lingchun’s house had become much quieter. Before, whenever she came over to chat with Grandma, she would always hear Lian Sheng giggling and making noise with Zhou Lingchun inside. Now that he was gone, Zhou Lingchun was more silent than before, just keeping his head down and working blindly.

A few days ago, she heard that Zhou Lingchun had leased twenty or thirty mu of land. Since Lian Sheng left, he had been busy in the fields. Even Granny Sun worried that Zhou Lingchun might collapse from exhaustion before Lian Sheng even returned.

The pillar of the family relied on the man to hold it up. If the man collapsed, the family would fall apart.

Granny Sun and Grandma advised Zhou Lingchun to take care of his health. Zhou Lingchun said he was only busy for this period, and once everything was sorted out, he wouldn’t be so rushed. Only then did Granny Sun and Grandma feel relieved. They didn’t understand the outside market conditions; they only knew Zhou Lingchun was changing to growing medicinal herbs. The main thing was that he shouldn’t work himself sick.

In the afternoon, Granny Sun finished a pair of shoes. Hearing a dog barking at her doorstep, she looked out at the road—her son-in-law and daughter had arrived! She quickly packed her things and carried her small stool back home.

After Granny Sun left, Grandma was also tired. She leaned on her walking stick and went back to the side room to sleep.

Before drifting off, Grandma called Zhou Lingchun into the room and said, “If you have time, go see Shengsheng. I suddenly dreamt last night that Shengsheng was crying, and no one was comforting him.”

“Alright. He sent word last time saying everything was fine.”

Zhou Lingchun waited until Grandma was soundly asleep, tucked her in, and then returned to his own room to sweep the floor. Lian Sheng had secretly hidden some chewing gum in his private stash spot, and by the time Zhou Lingchun discovered it, that corner of the wall had attracted quite a few ants. He pulled out the brick, swept away all the ants, and also confiscated the few dozen yuan Lian Sheng thought he had hidden, placing it in a drawer.

After finishing all the cleaning, Zhou Lingchun suddenly heard someone calling his name.

Zhou Lingchun thought he was hallucinating and shook his head, but the voice became clearer and closer. His heart reacted, pounding violently, feeling like it was about to leap out of his throat.

!

Before he could fully register the sound, he rushed straight out, seeing a familiar figure joyfully running toward him not far away. Wangcai had already dashed out, his tail wagging so hard it looked like it might lift his body off the ground.

Zhou Lingchun ran directly to meet him, and the moment he touched the person, he lifted him up and hugged him tightly!

His violently beating heart settled back into place. Holding the familiar person, Zhou Lingchun showed vulnerability for the first time, a hot tear falling. “Shengsheng, I missed you so much.”