Then again, she couldn’t bear to just fall asleep like that.
She pressed the photo frame tightly against her chest.
“I know I’ll dream of you, because you are always in my dreams. The only place I can see you now is in my dreams, but it always ends before I could even grab onto the corner of your clothes.”
She huddled up. I might be able to grab it someday.
She shut her eyes, and soon the room was soon filled with the sound of her gentle breathing. Despite being asleep, her eyebrows were knitted tightly together.
Was it physical pain, or mental? Was it sadness, or bittersweet memories?
Perhaps many people want to know the answer.
Was she dreaming? What kind of dream was it?
Some dreams are colorful, some grey, and some colourless.
What was her dream?
A nightmare?
She confined herself to her own room, as she did in the hospital, never taking a step outside. She’ll drink a lot of soup every day, and as every day passed she got a little better.
Even so, she remained as skinny as before. All that soup she drank didn’t manage to let her gain any weight. Her chicken-feet-like hands were getting thinner, and the veins on the back of her hands showed clearly. Still, it was good that the swelling from numerous injections had faded away.
“Say hi to your aunt,” prompted Yi Ling, giving little Lei a shove.
Little Lei bit his fingers and turned back to look at Yi Ling.
“Mama? Aunty isn’t smiling.”
Yi Ling squat down and rubbed his head. “Aunty’s ill. Go give aunty a kiss, Little Lei. Aunty loves you the most.”
Little Lei hesitated, then waddled forward and crawled onto the bed, sitting himself opposite Yan Huan.
“Aunty…” he reached out and tugged at Yan Huan’s sleeves.
Yan Huan looked up, and the sizable child appeared in her empty eyes. Suddenly, she raised her hand… Yi Ling held her breath, afraid that Yan Huan might push Little Lei away.
But she thought wrong. Yan Huan didn’t do anything to Little Lei. Her outstretched arm dangled in the air, then fell gently on Little Lei’s head.
Little Lei grinned.
He crawled forward on his tiny limbs, huddled up against Yan Huan, and looped his hands around her neck, and kissed her on the cheeks.
“Why did you stop visiting Leilei, Aunty? Leilei misses Aunty.”
Yan Huan’s eyelids drooped down, blocking out all the light from her eyes. Everything stemmed from quietness, and ended in calmness.
Without realizing it herself, she gave Little Lei a light pat on the shoulders. Apart from that she did nothing.
Sensing Yan Huan’s weariness, Yi Ling walked forward and plucked Little Lei off her. Little Lei was confused as she brought him out of the room.
“Mama, why isn’t Aunty talking to Leilei? Did Leilei do something wrong?”
“That’s not it,” said Yi Ling, giving him a peck on the cheeks. “Aunty’s just sick. When she gets better, she’ll be able to know when Leilei visits her.”
“Then Leilei will wait until Aunty gets better,” said Little Lei. He loved his aunt dearly, the nice-smelling aunt who always bought him tasty snacks and interesting toys.
“Mama…” Little Lei glanced around for a while, then hauled at Yi Ling’s hair.
“What is it, dear?” She pinched his cheeks. “Haven’t I told you not to pull Mama’s hair? Did you forget again?”
“Okay. It’s Leilei’s bad,” apologized Little Lei as he retracted his meaty hands. “I’m sorry, Mama.”
That was how he had been educated. When a child of the Lei family does something wrong, they will first admit, then apologize and make up for it.
He reached out and tried to spruce up his mother’s hair, but he wasn’t a hairdresser and only managed to pull some of her hair off.
Yi Ling quickly pulled his hand away. His hands were so soft it made people want to take a bite.
Little Lei scanned his surroundings again, then tugged at Yi Ling’s sleeves. He had learned not to tug at his mother’s hair.
“Mama, where’s Uncle?”
That gave Yi Ling pause. Instinctively, she looked towards Yan Huan, who was asleep with her back facing her. She probably didn’t hear what Little Lei said.
Uncle was how Little Lei called Lu Yi.
Both Yan Huan and Lu Yi were very good to little Lei, and had been a part of his toddlerhood. Lu Yi didn’t smile much, but he never showed a child a cold face.
Children were the best at sensing whether someone liked them or treated them well. They were sensitive in that way. That was how Little Lei came to realize that Yan Huan and Lu Yi were the people that treated him best. His father beats him up sometimes, but never when Uncle was around.
However, he was too young to know that the uncle who always carried him and taught him the Three Character Classic was no longer alive. By the time he grows up, he might not even remember how his uncle looked, or if he ever existed.
To prevent Little Lei from saying something unnecessary again, Yi Ling removed him from the room.
It was always good to have a child at home. Children were a solace to the elderly. Sadly, Lu Yi and Yan Huan never had one. There would be no one to inherit the Lu Family. As for Lu Qin…heh. Lu Jin would never treat that niece of his as his own son. He would rather not have an heir than to have one as heartless as Lu Qin. Lu Jin wasn’t blind to his callousness.
Plus, who dared call them childless? They still had Yan Huan, didn’t they?
Yi Ling and Lei Qingyi planned to give birth to a second child to foster at the Lu house. That was the only consolation they could think of.
The door creaked open, from which a small shadow entered the room.
Thump, thump, thump. He scuttled, kicked off his shoes, and climbed onto the bed.
“Aunty, aunty…”
