-88- Are you here?

Before becoming Wanfeng's mother, her name was Su Jianying. Twenty-two-year-old Su Jianying was a junior high school art teacher with two secrets. One was that she had a crush on Class 2's head teacher, Ms. Zhou. The other was that she didn't like children—all children. She lived in the school's residential compound, a thirty- or forty-year-old Khrushchev building, no higher than the sixth floor. Back then, few people had telephones, let alone cell phones. So, after school and on holidays, children from downstairs would scream upstairs at the top of their lungs: "Mom." "Mom!" "Mom!" "Mom!!!" It always took the fourth shout before anyone answered. When Su Jianying was reading, children would cry out. When she was drawing, children would cry out. Even when she secretly brought Ms. Zhou, the tall, bookish teacher from Class 2, home to do it, children from downstairs would still cry out: "Mom." "Mom!" "Mom!" "Mom!!!" The shouting made him limp. Back then, she read romance novels—Qiong Yao, Jing Yao, Qiong Yao, and Qiong Yao. In romance novels, the boys always had sex all day long, but she still liked Teacher Zhou, even if her reason for liking him was a little strange: Karaoke had just become popular, and when her colleagues went out to sing for the first time, she habitually sang "Nanping Evening Bell" instead of "Nanping Evening Breeze." From that day on, Teacher Zhou would also sing "Nanping Evening Bell" instead of "Nanping Evening Breeze" when she went to karaoke. Everything in those years seemed a little strange. She had fallen for Teacher Zhou in such a strange way. Then, Teacher Chen from Class 3 slept with a female student in her class. Before the police could arrest Teacher Chen, the girl's father rushed to the school, mistook her for someone else, and stabbed Teacher Zhou to death. Then, Su Jianying discovered she was pregnant. It sounded like something Jing Yao and Qiong Yao would write. She considered secretly having an abortion one weekend when no one knew about it, but those weekends, she either overslept or it rained, and she ended up giving birth to him in a daze. The school was kind enough to make up a story, saying Teacher Zhou died protecting a student. They applied for a certificate of bravery for him and gave her over 20,000 yuan for the child she was carrying. But she didn't like children. During her confinement period, she had to feed her every three hours, each feeding lasting over half an hour. When she felt drowsy, she would dream of a baby lying on the muddy ground, unable to lift its neck, tilting its head up and calling upstairs, "Mom!" "Mom!" "Mom!" "Mom!" Sometimes she woke up startled by the shouting in her dreams, sometimes she was awakened by the sudden, fierce sucking of the baby. During her confinement period, she...

Before becoming Wanfeng's mother, her name was Su Jianying.

22-year-old Su Jianying is an art teacher in a junior high school. She has two secrets. One is that she likes Ms. Zhou, the head teacher of Class 2. The other is that she doesn’t like children very much, all children.

She lived in the school's staff housing complex, the Khrushchev Building, which was thirty or forty years old and had only the sixth floor at its highest. At that time, few people had telephones, and no one had a mobile phone.

So when school is over and on vacation, there are always children downstairs yelling upstairs:

"mom."

"mom!"

"mom!"

"Mother!!!"

It always takes the fourth call before someone responds.

When Su Jianying was reading, there were children shouting. When she was drawing, there were children shouting. Even when she secretly brought the tall and bookish teacher Zhou from Class 2 home to do that, there were still children shouting downstairs:

"mom."

"mom!"

"mom!"

"Mother!!!"

He almost went limp after being shouted at.

At that time, she read romance novels, read Qiong Yao, Jing Yao, Qiong Yao, and Qiong Yao. In romance novels, the boys would do it all day long, but she still liked Teacher Zhou very much, although her reason for liking him was a little strange:

Karaoke was just becoming popular then, and when her colleagues went out to sing for the first time, she habitually sang "Nanping Evening Bell" as "Nanping Evening Breeze." From that day on, whenever Teacher Zhou went to karaoke, she would also sing "Nanping Evening Bell" as "Nanping Evening Breeze."

Everything that happened in those years seemed a little strange. She fell in love with Teacher Zhou in such a strange way. Later, Teacher Chen from Class 3 slept with a female student in the class. Before the police arrested Teacher Chen, the girl's father rushed to the school, mistook him for someone else, and stabbed Teacher Zhou to death.

Then Su Jianying found out that she was pregnant. It sounded like a plot that Jingyao and Qiongyao would write.

She thought about secretly having an abortion one weekend when no one knew about it, but during those months, she either overslept or it rained on weekends, and she ended up giving birth to him in a daze.

The school was quite kind and made up a story that Teacher Zhou died protecting his students. They applied for a certificate of bravery for him and gave her more than 20,000 yuan for the child in her belly.

But she didn't like children. During the confinement period, she had to feed the baby every three hours, and each feeding would take more than half an hour. When she was drowsy, she would always dream of the baby lying on the muddy ground, unable to lift its neck, tilting its head back and shouting upstairs, "Mom."

"mom!"

"mom!"

"Mother!"

Sometimes she was awakened by the shouting in her dreams, and sometimes she was awakened by the pain of his sudden and fierce sucking.

During her confinement period, she didn't even want to see him, and even let her grandparents who came from her hometown to take care of her and her mother choose a name for him.

"Zhou Dexian."

It sounds like a local rich man before liberation.

During her confinement period, she lay in bed, crying all night long. She hated the scum who bullied the female student, hated the father who could even mistake his enemy, hated the heavens and the earth, and finally hated herself for always singing the lyrics of the song incorrectly.

She chanted over and over again: "Nanping Evening Bell, Nanping Evening Bell, it's the evening bell, not the evening wind."

Sometimes she would feel sorry for the little life lying in her arms. He had lost his father and his mother was a cruel one. She thought that he would probably have a miserable childhood like the characters in Qiong Yaojingyao's novels, like a fallen leaf, unloved and uncared for.

He is even more miserable than the characters in the book. The characters in the book at least have nice names, but he is called Zhou Dexian.

However, his miserable childhood did not last long. After the confinement period, the wrinkled child grew a little and her weak body recovered a little. Su Jianying seemed to suddenly discover the cuteness of the little life in her arms.

He had small feet, segmented into sections, and arms that looked like lotus roots. When he lay flat on the bed, he would kick his legs randomly, but he would always tilt his head and look at her with a smile, with nothing else in his eyes.

Also, he smelled wonderful.

Even though he would still cry and make a fuss, and would accidentally hurt her while sucking milk, even to the point of tears, she still fell in love with him in a strange way.

She liked to tickle his feet secretly, liked to watch him sucking breasts hard, and liked him sleeping with his arms around her.

But she still hated his name.

So, a few days after her confinement, she secretly ran to the police station to change his name.

She began to dream again. In the dream, he, who had just been able to lift his head, turn over, had just grown two teeth, and had just started to walk unsteadily, was lying, lying on his stomach, and standing under the Khrushchev Building, shouting at the top of his lungs:

"mom."

"mom!"

"mom!"

"Mother!"

He grew up amidst these cries, until he grew up to the point where he would go shopping with her, would sigh and follow behind her to help her carry things, and would sing her favorite songs to comfort her after making her angry:

"Nanping evening breeze, drifting with the wind——"

At that time, she always thought that she would live a few more years, to 100 years old, so that Lecheng would still have someone to call his mother when he was in his seventies. But his life ended at the age of 27.

There are two short-lived children in one family.

His father who was stabbed to death in a confused state at least left him behind, but Le Cheng, who lived for 27 years, only left behind a few drawings that he himself was not satisfied with.

Lecheng's two friends who looked at Guaiguai told her, "Auntie, we think Lecheng would like you to complete his work."

Su Jianying knew nothing about toys, but she agreed anyway. Before becoming Wanfeng's mother, there were many things she couldn't do. She couldn't cook, sew, or carry anything weighing more than ten pounds. She couldn't use Vaseline to treat eczema, drive, install a computer, or deal with the sensitive and fragile hearts of teenage boys. But she can do all these things now.

So learning to make toys was just another thing she learned after becoming a mother.

She moved to Lu Kai's studio and sat at Le Cheng's former workstation. Only then did she realize that when Le Cheng was just born, they also lived in such an old tube-shaped building - the Khrushchev Building, she remembered it was called that.

Lecheng grew up in a building like this, and she will complete her final design in a building of the same style.

She bought a lot of books and looked at a lot of toys with Zhao Jinghuan. She heard them call their toys "babies," as if they were their own children. It was then that she easily understood: she didn't need to make Lecheng's designs perfect; she just needed to make them more like him.

When she thought back to Lecheng's childhood, she recalled countless moments of him crying. Many people believe that children without fathers are more sensitive than others, but they seem to ignore the fact that children without fathers have to endure more. Lecheng was bullied by many classmates, and many adults pretended to be kind and said, "You must respect your mother. It's because of you that your mother has never remarried."

Because of this, she had contacted Lecheng's parents countless times and argued with many well-meaning colleagues. But more often than not, Lecheng kept these things to himself. So she would always accidentally catch him silently wiping away tears.

That's when she remembered even more clearly the time when Lecheng cried the most. It was when he was ten or eleven years old. While eating, he suddenly asked her, "Mom, the teacher asked us to tell our classmates the meaning of our names. Why is my name Lecheng?"

She said: "'Lecheng' means to be happy to see something come to fruition. Mom is very happy to have you."

…………

So Su Jianying added a small tear that would never dry up to the image of Lecheng Design.

Even though Lecheng has grown up long ago, even though he no longer has wild thoughts, and he loves the people around him more tenderly than Su Jianying gave him, in Su Jianying's eyes, he will always be that gentle and sensitive child who needs her protection.

She showed the revised "baby" to Jinghuan, and Jinghuan's surprised look let her know that she had done it right again.

Just like she can learn to drive, learn to install a computer, and learn to deal with the fragile hearts of teenage boys.

She can also learn to make trendy toys.

Because she is a mother. A mother can do anything.

—On May 6th, in her Waikiki studio, on the top floor of the old Khrushchev building, she put the finishing touches on the final design of the "Evening Breeze Knight."

She heard a child downstairs shout, "Mom!"

Su Jianying found it a little funny. Almost thirty years into the 21st century, there were still children using such primitive methods.

She leaned over to the window and looked downstairs, but found that there was no one downstairs, and no one answered for a long time, so she understood.

The word "Mom" just now was calling her.

She vaguely remembered that it seemed to be one day more than 20 years ago, downstairs of the old Khrushchev building, Lecheng looked up and called her after class. When he called for the third time, she stuck her head out from the balcony.

So he kept the remaining sound until now, more than 20 years later, until the moment she finished the last stroke.

55-year-old Su Jianying leaned against the window and said softly to Lecheng:

"Hey. Mom's here."