Chapter 61 Moonlight

"The prison guards handed out stationery. Others wrote to their families during the holidays, and he wrote to the three of us, too. But he didn't know where to send it, and he didn't have the nerve to send it over. He could only ask me over the phone, 'What's Jiaojiao like now? Has Jiqing grown taller?'"

"The call was only allowed to last ten minutes. I held back and didn't say a word back. He was the only one talking."

"He said he's been having dreams every day for the past few years. He dreamed that the factory had paid out salaries at the end of the year. He dreamed that our family was visiting a temple fair in our hometown, with colorful lanterns and Ah Qing and Jiao Jiao sharing a string of candy figurines. He dreamed that on the day Ah Qing was born, he couldn't call anyone at night, so he stole the factory tricycle, took us mother and mother, wrapped me in the only good raincoat in the house, and pedaled hard to the hospital. The rain was so heavy that I couldn't see the road, and my eyelids were hurting from the rain..."

"He said he dreamed of someone turning around and calling me, 'Yuezhen, does your stomach still hurt? Yuezhen, we're almost there.' As the lights ahead grew brighter, he stopped the car and tried to carry me out, but then he woke up. There was nothing around me, nothing at all..."

The corridor was very quiet, with only the sound of a woman talking in a dream.

No one repaired the window glass, and the cold wind swirled inward, making half of Xu Jiqing's body cold.

He stood at the doorway, silent, his tall and thin body casting a dark shadow as he walked down the stairs one step at a time.

It's other people's family affairs, so outsiders shouldn't say too much.

No matter how Lin Yuezhen cried, the woman beside her didn't say anything. She would occasionally respond with a few words of comfort like "look forward".

The conversation in the room continued for a while, and Lin Yuezhen's emotions stabilized.

The door opened.

The two women pushed and shoved a box of apples and a box of eggs for several rounds under the corridor light, and only stopped suddenly when they saw Xu Jiqing coming up.

The fat woman put the gift down and gave Xu Jiqing an awkward smile, "Ah Qing is back."

Xu Jiqing nodded, "Aunt Zhang."

"Hey," the woman said, her narrow eyes quickly glancing him up and down as she spoke warmly, "Your mother just said that your grades haven't fallen behind at all since you came to Jiangcheng, and you even managed to get first place in a key high school. That's incredible! I'll tell my sister when I get home, and ask her to follow your example."

She said goodbye to her fellow countryman who was standing stiffly by the door, "Then I'll go back to Yuezhen first. There won't be any cars soon."

The light bulb in the building was broken, so Lin Yuezhen used a flashlight to walk the person to the door of the corridor.

When I came back the headlights were off.

The room was dark. Xu Jiqing had just closed the sliding door of the small bedroom, and his profile looked pale in the moonlight.

He hasn't looked over yet.

Lin Yuezhen was already a little panicked. She lowered her head and explained, "Jiaojiao went to bed early today and put her hearing aid aside to charge. We can't wake her."

After saying that, he turned around and poured water.

Apart from Xu Jiaojiao's little duck water cup, there were only two glass cups for adults at home. The tea was brewed but no one drank it, so it had already gone cold.

She poured out the tea leaves, rinsed them, and filled them with fresh tea. Amidst the curling white steam, she looked a little uneasy. "You must be exhausted today."

"Is there a lot of work in a convenience store? Are you able to adapt to it?"

"I only work the night shift, and I don't have any schedule today."

"...That's fine. The temperature has dropped recently, and it's easy to catch a cold if you always come home too late."

The teacup is placed in front of you.

Xu Jiqing didn't move at all, his expression as pale as a piece of paper.

"You're no longer his immediate family member, and you've changed your card. How did Xu Wenyao get through to you?"

“I really don’t use that number anymore.”

His words were so direct that Lin Yuezhen felt a little flustered as she felt exposed.

She tilted her head and stammered, "It was your Aunt Zhang and her husband who went to visit you in prison last month. Your father knelt down and kowtowed in tears, saying he missed us. He didn't expect anything else, he just wanted to call and ask about you and Jiaojiao. He couldn't bear it anymore... so he gave him my number."

What kind of person would visit Xu Wenyao in prison?

Only such old neighbors, who had lived worse than theirs in the past, were not satisfied with watching their jokes for several years and were afraid that the good show would end.

That's why they persuade people to look forward while desperately dragging them into the nightmare of the past.

"so what."

Xu Jiqing's lips curled up, "She came here to seek credit?"

"That's not the case," Lin Yuezhen looked up, met his sarcastic gaze, and quickly looked away. "Their family came here for a winter vacation and remembered that we were here, so they stopped by to catch up. And your father is also coming soon-"

She stopped talking quickly in the middle of her words.

Xu Jiqing forced her to continue, "Hurry up."

My heart sank little by little.

The darkness of returning to hell surged over his throat like drowning water, almost making him want to laugh. "Behave well in there, and get your sentence reduced?"

Lin Yuezhen's eyelids trembled rapidly, and her hands were clenched tightly in front of her. "Reduce it to the first month."

In the dim living room, the wall clock ticks forward second by second.

The atmosphere seemed frozen.

"Don't worry, Mom has already promised you and Jiaojiao that this time she won't let him come back. The phone call is over now, and I didn't tell him the address. Jiangcheng is so big, he..."

"You didn't make the call yourself."

Xu Jiqing looked up at her, his eyes devoid of light. "Xu Wenyao now knows that I'm in No. 1 Middle School, and Xu Jiaojiao is in the attached primary school. We live on the fourth floor of the last tube-shaped building in the alley. He can follow your food cart and figure out your range of activities in just one day."

"When I was a kid, I broke a bowl, and he pushed me down from the fourth floor, kicking me floor by floor until I reached the bottom."

"I put him in jail for two years this time."

He said calmly, "You've known Xu Wenyao longer than I have. Tell me, how long will it take for him to come out and kill me?"

"Pooh, pooh, pooh!" Lin Yuezhen's chest heaved violently, and she was frightened by him.

Her fingertips were cold, and many words flowed out uncontrollably, not knowing who they were trying to comfort. "He's not a good man, but he is your father after all. How could he have the heart to hurt you? Ever since you started school, everyone in the compound has said that you look like your father, especially your eyes..."

"Resemble?" Xu Jiqing smiled visibly, with a strong sense of disgust in his eyes. "Yes, he is a lunatic, and I am not normal either."

"Every time I look in the mirror, I want to tear my face off and give it back to him."

"Even I'm disgusted. What would Xu Wenyao think? The more I look at him, the more he feels his life is ruined. Why is it that he can only drive a taxi after being laid off? I'm still young and have a bright future. He wants me to go to hell with him?"

Lin Yuezhen's eyes were red, and she hesitated to speak, "He..."

"Xu Jiaojiao is also like that. Has he softened his heart?"

Xu Jiqing said, "Xu Wenyao stole her kindergarten lunch money to gamble. You thought the money was lost, so you led Xu Jiaojiao all the way to look for it. It was almost midnight before you found the envelope on the card table. How did he do it?"

"Xu Jiaojiao was only five years old that year. He felt humiliated and slapped her ear until it bled. I carried her on my back and ran three kilometers to the town hospital."

His brows were cold and his tone was flat, as if he was talking about someone else's family.

But it was this kind of calmness that deeply hurt Lin Yuezhen.

"I'm sorry," she said, unable to lift her head due to shame, tears of self-blame rolling down her cheeks. "It's all Mom's fault... It's all my fault. I'm Mom's sorry for you..."

The woman was thin, her sweater clinging to her arched back, and the vertebrae of her spine were faintly visible.

Xu Jiqing was opposite her.

The moonlight was dim, and he sat quietly amid Lin Yuezhen's suppressed sobs, almost blending into the darkness.

"Block all of Aunt Zhang's contact information, change your number, and don't go out to the stall recently. I'll go to the landlord to cancel the lease tomorrow morning, and we'll move out this afternoon."

"Even if it's not for me, think more about Xu Jiaojiao and stop contacting him, okay?"