Chapter 74 The Course of Jiang An's Illness

"I'm not going, I'm not going!"

"My disciple, no... Ah, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!"

The boy, his face turning ashen with rage, grabbed the husky by the scruff of its neck and dragged it away.

Aunt Wu sighed, picked up the baby and went into the house. But as soon as Jiang An was put down, he crawled into the wardrobe and refused to come out no matter how much she tried to persuade him.

In the sweltering heat of summer, fearing the child would fall ill from the stifling heat, Jiang Chao finally intervened, breaking down the door, grabbing the little one, and giving him a good beating with a slipper.

Finally, he glared at Feng Jingling and said coldly, "Look what you've done!"

The boy was bewildered and didn't dare ask any more questions, so he simply picked up Jiang An and apologized profusely.

In the kitchen, Jiang Chao was tending the fire, Aunt Wu was cooking, and Yun Xia... was squatting by the door eating melon.

"Go eat in the yard, don't get in the way of the kitchen."

"No way, I'll make you drool."

"Hehe!"

"Ah Chao, watch the fire, and stop arguing with your sister all the time."

"Aunt Wu, there was no quarrel, this is a greeting of 'love'."

vomit!

The boy pretended to gag, as if he was disgusted by the girl's words.

"Hey, Jiang Chao, you're cooking, can you stop doing something so disgusting?"

"Ha, then you don't eat it!"

"No way, Aunt Wu's cooking is the best! Oh, by the way, An'an is old enough to go to school now, when are you planning to send him?"

Upon hearing this, the boy paused in his act of adding firewood to the stove, turned his head, and stared intently at Yun Xia, thinking to himself, "So this is what they were waiting for!"

Thinking of her second son's strange illness of not wanting to go out, Wu Lifang had a headache. She sighed and said, "I'm really worried about him. Ever since his father left, An'an has refused to go out. He hides in the closet all day. In the past few years, he has only gotten a little better. When you came, the house became lively, and he was willing to sit at the table to eat. But the door... he just won't take a single step out."

"Aunt Wu, do you remember the first time An'an had a seizure?"

"I remember, I'll never forget that day..."

Jiang Shuo, a machine repairman at a textile factory, lost his life in a car accident at the prime of his life. When he was taken to the hospital, he was barely breathing. Jiang Chao rushed to the hospital after hearing the news, but he was unable to see him one last time.

After spending the night in the hospital, Wu Lifang returned home the next day to find Jiang An missing. She searched every corner of Huaimin Street but couldn't find a trace of him. Suffering one blow after another, Wu Lifang could no longer hold on and fainted.

Just as Jiang Chao was about to carry his mother to the hospital, he suddenly heard a faint sobbing coming from inside the wardrobe. He found an axe, chopped it open, gave the little boy a beating, and then hugged him tightly, comforting him softly.

Perhaps due to her sensitive nature, the little girl kept crying for her father. Jiang Chao put on a stern face and said, "An'an, Mommy is sick. I'll take her to the hospital first, and we'll talk about the rest when we get back."

After putting the crying baby into the quilt, Jiang Chao carried his mother all the way to the hospital. When he returned home the next day, he found Jiang An hiding in the closet again, with empty eyes and a blank expression. With just one glance, Jiang Chao knew that he was sick, the kind of illness that neither Western nor Chinese medicine could cure.

Even at Jiang Shuo's funeral, Jiang An refused to leave the house, clinging tightly to the door frame with bloodshot eyes, looking like a demon crawling out of a coffin. A group of people surrounded him, pointing and whispering, their mouths full of words like "mentally ill," "unfilial," and "a wolf cub reincarnated."

When Jiang Chao arrived, the little boy's hands were covered in blood. He quickly pushed away the people pulling him away, carried him back into the house, and saw him tumble and crawl into the wardrobe. He sighed, gave some instructions, locked the bedroom door, and went out to preside over the funeral.

After hearing this, Yunxia felt a tightness in her chest and her eyes welled up with tears. "That stinky Jiang Chao, he burned wet firewood, and the smell made my eyes water."

"Ha, even if the kitchen can't accommodate you anymore."

"Ah Chao, Xiaxia is your younger sister, watch your words."

As the memories were unearthed, Aunt Wu felt very sad, her voice hoarse and tinged with tears.

"Aunt Wu, I will definitely find a way to help An'an resolve her inner conflict."

After saying that, he turned and left the kitchen!

Inside the side-lying room, the little baby, now soothed, lies on the table, holding a pencil stub, drawing intently.

Feng Jingling stood behind him, glancing at Yun Xia at the doorway out of the corner of his eye. He put his fingertip to his lips and 'Shh!'

He then waved his hand, signaling for her to come over quietly.

Yunxia understood immediately. She tiptoed to the table, craning her neck to look at the drawing paper.

On the drawing paper, an excited child is curled up in a wardrobe, while outside the wardrobe, a thin man picks up a toolbox with an arrow pointing to him.

"An'an, hide well, okay? If Daddy finds you, you'll have to wash your stinky shoes for a month!"

After finishing the last stroke of shading, Xiao Jiang'an hugged the drawing paper tightly to his chest and murmured, "Dad is so stupid, he can never win at hide-and-seek."

Seeing him like this, Yunxia felt even more choked up. He was afraid he couldn't accept his father's permanent departure and firmly believed that as long as he hid, his 'father' would find him one day.

“An’an, you…” Obviously, Feng Jingling had also guessed the reason.

"Teacher, Sister Xiaxia, Daddy will come looking for me, right?"

The young man frowned and said, "Disciple, you must learn to accept..."

Snap!

Yunxia gently patted the back of his hand, interrupting him, and tenderly stroked the little boy's head, saying, "Of course, father and son are of one heart. No matter where An'an hides, Daddy will find him."

Upon hearing this, the child's eyes suddenly lit up, and he looked at Yun Xia excitedly, "Really?"

"It's true, more real than pearls! Let me tell you a secret: each of us is actually a star in the sky. After falling to earth and experiencing the eight sufferings, we return to the sky."

"The eight sufferings are birth, old age, sickness, death, separation from loved ones, encountering those one hates, not getting what one desires, and the burning of the five aggregates. Daddy ended the eight sufferings early and returned to heaven to become a star. When the moonlight shines at night, Daddy knows exactly where An'an is hiding!"

"What about during the day? How did Dad find me during the day?"

Clutching her sister's hem, her wet eyes fixed on her face, her gaze tense and excited.

"Working at sunrise and resting at sunset is our natural rhythm, but the heavens do the opposite. During the day, the stars dim their light and take a short rest, while at night, they shine brightly, searching for their families who are still experiencing the eight sufferings."

"An'an, let's play hide-and-seek. Daddy found you, now it's his turn to hide and you find him. How much time has passed? Have you gone to look for him yet?"

A bewildered Feng Jingling: Looking for? Looking for it in Heaven? Little Butterfly's acting skills are truly top-notch!

The little girl, who had taken her words to heart, nodded and said, "Sister Xiaxia is right. It's An'an's turn to look for her father. So... after experiencing the eight sufferings, can she go to heaven to find him?"

"The eight sufferings are predetermined; you can't just experience them whenever you want. You've probably never seen the stars. Some stars twinkle and quietly shift their positions; some stars are dim and you can't see them at all unless you look closely; some..."

Their brains were completely exhausted. Yun Xia was dizzy from talking, and Feng Jingling was also dizzy from listening. Only Xiao Jiang'an's eyes grew brighter and brighter as he listened, and he was extremely excited.

"I understand, Sister Xiaxia, thank you. Tonight, I will definitely find my father."

"Yes! I believe you, but I have to warn you, there are countless stars in the sky, finding your 'father' won't be easy!"

"Don't worry, An'an has plenty of perseverance."