Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
The house was still the former house. Not much had changed. It could even be said that it had not unchanged at all. It was still the same as when she left before. Only the pot of flowers she had put on the table had long withered. Now only a bare flowerpot was left and still placed alone at the spot.
“I’ll go out first.” Lu Yi said, afraid that she would be uncomfortable, so he took his own things and got ready to go out. There would be ample time later. He had waited for more than a year and also searched for more than a year. There was no hurry, yes, no hurry at all. He did not mind waiting for a few more days.
Having said that, he had already gone out and closed the door gently.
“Mama…” Xunxun touched her little belly.
“Mama, little sis… sister, hungry.”
Xiao Qi answered for his younger sister. His articulation was the clearest. Xunxun was just learning to talk, so, relatively speaking, her expressions were not clear. But, it was okay for she had her two older brothers around.
“Shall Mama cook some food for you?” Yan Huan bent down, and then touched her daughter’s little belly as she said, “Then behave yourself and sit tight with your brothers while you wait for Mama.”
“Yes.” Xunxun nodded her little head hard and the other two children did the same.
At first, Yan Huan was still worried about leaving the three children alone outside and if they would be alright. She occasionally paid attention to the outside but found that the three children were well-behaved. They sat on the couch, holding each other’s small hands and watching a cartoon on the television. They did not even blinked their eyes.
Only then, she walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. There were all kinds of things inside. Everything here was familiar because they were things which she used to use before, so everything was still placed in accordance with her preferences. As a result, almost everything she needed to look for was within reach.
She made rice porridge with lean meat for her three children. But when she carried it and came out, she felt a little helpless as she faced the three little guys, and their three pairs of equally big eyes.
She tried to feed one, but the other two were waiting.
She then knew how difficult it was to raise three children.
And she left them when they needed their mother the most.
She would put the bowl down. She suddenly covered her face and began to cry.
“Mama, don’t cry.” Lu Qi carefully climbed down from the couch, and then hugged his mother’s leg while he said, “Xiao Qi, not hungry.”
Lu Guang was the same as well, holding his mother’s right leg.
“Mama, Xiao Guang, also not hungry.”
Xunxun also cried when she saw her mother crying.
“Not hungry, not hungry…” She kept shaking her head, and her tiny mouth also kept repeating these two words. She had just learned the words from her older brothers.
The outside door was open again but Yan Huan did not notice.
Lu Yi did not leave, in fact, he had not left at all.
He crouched down, stretched out his hands and placed them on Lu Qi’s and Lu Guang’s little heads. He said, “Boys, sit down properly, we’re going to have our meal.”
Lu Qi and Lu Guang listened and obediently climbed on the couch to sit properly.
Lu Yi picked up the small bowl on the table. He gave a mouthful to each child and fed them the porridge. These two children were not picky with food, so they took big mouthfuls of food.
Yan Huan wiped her own tears. She had Xunxun sit down properly and then also fed her the porridge.
Xunxun’s teary eyes and small nose were still red, looking like a poor little rabbit. She inhaled with her own small nose and obediently ate the porridge that her mother fed her.
When other people fed her rice porridge with lean meat, she would not eat it, but when her mother fed her, she ate it.
When all three bowls of rice porridge were finished, the three children’s stomachs were also full. They rubbed their eyes one by one, wanting to sleep.
Lu Yi carried his two sons and went to the small bed inside to sleep, while Yan Huan hugged Xunxun, unwilling to let go. Of course, Xunxun tried to keep her eyes open and refused to close them willingly.
“Mama, carry.” She was really dependent on her mother.
“Okay, Mama will carry you.” Yan Huan gently caressed her daughter’s soft hair and did not put her down. Xunxun might have a sense of security, so she soon fell asleep.
When Lu Yi came out, he saw Yan Huan’s head was bowed. She was still wearing a face mask. It looked like she did not plan to take off the face mask. She slightly lowered her eyelids and had been staring at her daughter’s tiny face. She did not move.
Lu Yi stood at the side and waited for a long time in this way before he went out. But, he was back again in a while. He brought back two packets of food and placed them on the table. The food was from a place that used to be Yan Huan’s favorite.
“Give her to me.” Lu Yi reached his hands out.
But Yan Huan held her daughter tightly as if Lu Yi wanted to snatch her daughter away.
Lu Yi slightly pursed his lips and said, “She will be uncomfortable sleeping this way. The three children have always slept together since young. They are used to it. Also, you need to eat. I’ll go in and watch them.”
Yan Huan’s fingers lightly paused a little before she gave Xunxun in her arms to Lu Yi. Lu Yi carefully carried his daughter, and then went into the bedroom to put Xunxun on a pink color bed. He covered her properly with a small quilt.
“Mama, I want Mama…”
Xunxun’s tiny mouth mumbled a little. She finally learned a sentence today, which was she wanted her Mama.
Outside, Yan Huan took the bowl on the table and then put the bowl on her mouth to drink the soup in the bowl. But no one knew that at this time, those tears that were blinked out of her eyes, finally gathered and became water droplets, which then streamed along her chin to flow into the bowl. They were all drunk by her in the end.
There was a sinister-looking scar on the left side of her face like a caterpillar crawling on her face, as well as her concave cheeks which were completely drained of the color that she used to have before.
She was ugly like a ghost.
She was also evil like a demoness.
Lu Yi was very protective of the distance between them. He would get too close to her. He would only get closer when taking care of the children. He would not take the initiative to ask her questions. The two people were respectful of each other like strangers. They each attend to their own things, especially during every mealtime, he would be farther away. When he was not outside and in the room, he would also leave a quiet space here for her. He would not pry the secret deepest inside her heart.
The three children had been staying here. Things were a little flustered in the beginning, but Yan Huan managed to learn to take care of them in the end. All three of them were very well-behaved and would not make a fuss usually. As long as she knew their habits, in fact, it was relatively easy and would not be as chaotic as before.
She was like an ordinary mother, feeding the children, washing their clothes, rinsing their buttocks and then playing with them. Only at this time, she truly found her children.
Of course, the main thing was that the three children had never thought of her as ugly.
