“What’s there to be scared of? His mother doesn’t bite, does she?” An Xiaxia was bewildered.
Su Xiaomo sighed.
It was nothing like that. She was only afraid that it would upset He Jiayu.
“I’ll think about it.”
That night, Su Xiaomo officially made the suggestion to He Jiayu, who, after a long silence, said, “It’s not a bad idea.”
Su Xiaomo said anxiously, “I won’t go if you don’t want me to.”
“It’s ok. After all, she’s still my mother.” He Jiayu smiled wryly. “Alright, go to bed now.”
It was well into the night.
Sleep evaded He Jiayu. By the moonlight shining in through the window, he looked closely at Su Xiaomo’s face next to him.
He realized that he had been the cowardly one all along.
Caressing Su Xiaomo’s pretty eyebrows, He Jiayu whispered, “I don’t hate her. The person I hate is myself.”
–
Lantern Festival arrived fifteen days after the Spring Festival.
With Cuddlie in her arms, Su Xiaomo went to visit He Jiayu’s mother with him.
His mother stood there dazed when she opened the door, her eyes filled with disbelief. Her mouth fell open and she stammered, unable to put together a coherent sentence.
He Jiayu said mildly, “Momo and I thought we should come to visit.”
“D- do come in…” A long moment passed before his mother finally came back to herself. After they entered, she crouched down to fetch slippers for them. Su Xiaomo stopped her right away. “Please, we can do that ourselves.”
Biting her lip, his mother stood back up and rubbed her hands together, looking uneasy. “What would you like to eat? I have everything here — chicken, duck, fish, seafood… If you fancy none of those, I can go get something else! Or we can eat out!”
It pained He Jiayu to see her so humble and timid.
Eventually, he sighed. “Anything will do.”
“Ah Ying, who’s here?” It was a man’s voice, which surprised He Jiayu. Turning around, he happened to look into that man’s eyes.
He was of a similar age as his mother, had an ordinary face, and a simple and honest smile — a very down-to-earth man, in a word.
“Why, Jiayu, isn’t it?” He smiled. “Your mum has shown me photos of you!”
He Jiayu didn’t reply.
Su Xiaomo quietly tugged his sleeve, and only then did He Jiayu’s face soften a little.
His mother went up to the man anxiously and whispered something. The man then smiled awkwardly at He Jiayu and Su Xiaomo, saying, “I – I’ll go get a bottle of soy sauce.”
And he didn’t come back until hours later.
He Jiayu knew perfectly well that his mother had sent the man away so as not to upset her son.
“Are you going to marry him?” He Jiayu finally spoke after the long silence.
His mother hesitated, then nodded. “Old Li is a kind man. He has a small business of his own and his children are all good kids. He didn’t have much schooling, but he’s honest and very nice to me…”
He Jiayu was silent again.
His mother said hastily, “If, if it upsets you, I’ll leave him!”
“No,” He Jiayu replied. “I have no objections, as long as you’re happy.”
His mother blinked and looked at him in disbelief.
Taking Cuddlie from Su Xiaomo’s hands, he rubbed her little head and said, “This is your grandma.”
Cuddlie said in a clear and melodious voice, “Nice to meet you, Grandma!”
Recalling that she was supposed to say something propitious during the festival season, she added, “Grandma, I wish you good health and good luck in everything!”
Her grandma was dazed. Tears then welled up in her eyes before rolling down her cheeks.
“Grandma, what’s wrong?” asked Cuddlie gingerly.
Her grandma waved her hand. “Nothing! Grandma is just so happy!”
