Chapter 15 Dependence

The mother and daughter looked at Mr. Jiang simultaneously, their eyes filled with the same dependence and pleading. Looking into those two identical eyes, filled with a mix of naivety and complete trust, Mr. Jiang felt a surge of warmth mixed with bittersweetness well up in his heart, and he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

The laughter broke the usual somber atmosphere of the hospital and lifted the last vestige of heavy gloom from his heart.

"Dad, what are you laughing at?" Jiang Yining nudged him, puzzled. "Look, how do you get a report from this machine? Do you need to scan some kind of code?"

Jiang's mother gently patted her husband's arm reproachfully: "That's right, important business is more important, hurry up."

Mr. Jiang quickly suppressed his smile, but the joy in his eyes deepened. He stepped forward and skillfully began operating the machine. It was wonderful. His daughter was back; the feeling of having her back was truly wonderful.

In addition to the routine physical examination, at Jiang Yining's insistence, the three of them also had an extra blood test for a paternity test.

Although she knew in her heart that the results would likely show that there was no blood relation, the strange phenomenon of her body gradually resembling her original appearance, as well as the mysterious birthmark that appeared, filled her mind with inexplicable doubts.

It was already evening when they stepped out of the hospital building. The golden glow of the setting sun draped a gentle veil over the towering city. Mr. Jiang carried a bag containing various medical records in one hand, and instinctively reached out to hold his daughter's hand with the other, but Mrs. Jiang beat him to it, tightly grasping Jiang Yining's hand.

The three of them slowly walked back along the sidewalk. The evening breeze, carrying the coolness of early autumn, brushed against their faces.

“Mom, look over there!” Jiang Yining suddenly stopped and pointed to a brand-new, elegant high-rise residential community across the street, her face filled with disbelief and surprise.

“That place… wasn’t it ‘New World Department Store’ before? The mall with the huge carousel. I remember when I was little, you took me there, and I insisted on riding it. I rode it round and round until my mom fell asleep waiting…”

Following her daughter's finger, Jiang's mother looked on, her gaze somewhat dazed. Yes, the once brightly lit shopping mall had long been razed to the ground by the tide of time, replaced by a cold and unfamiliar jungle of steel and concrete.

She held her daughter's hand tightly, her voice filled with the感慨 of the passing years: "Yes, it's been demolished for many years. After you... left, your father and I... rarely came back here anymore. I didn't expect it to change so much, there are so many places that I almost don't recognize them."

Her gaze swept across both sides of the street. Many of the familiar street shops, old post offices, and breakfast stalls wafting with the aroma of fried dough sticks had disappeared without a trace, replaced by chain coffee shops, budget hotels, and office buildings with neon signs.

“Even the road has widened,” Mr. Jiang added, his voice low. “This road used to be completely jammed during rush hour. Now there are more cars, and the road is wider, but it feels more unfamiliar.”

Jiang Yining felt the warmth from her mother's palm and saw the unfamiliarity with the city's changes and a hint of loneliness in her father's eyes. She felt a mix of emotions.

She reached out her other hand and gently took Mr. Jiang's arm. The three of them nestled together, their shadows stretched long in the setting sun. They walked slowly, past the unfamiliar new buildings and the old landmarks that had vanished, hidden deep in their memories.

The wooden staircase of the flower shop "Lemon's Flower Shop" creaked familiarly once again under Jiang's father's slightly heavy footsteps. Jiang Yining followed lightly behind him, while Jiang's mother was held by her daughter, her face showing a gentleness that came from letting her guard down.

A faint lemon scent permeated the attic, a habit left behind by the original owner. Sometimes, Jiang Yining felt that the original owner was herself. The adjacent lounge, originally prepared for Aunt Chen, had a neatly made bed but exuded a cold, unused atmosphere. Jiang's parents' luggage was simply placed in a corner.

“Mom,” Jiang Yining suddenly grabbed her mother’s hand, her voice carrying a hint of barely perceptible attachment and trepidation, like when she was a child begging for a bedtime story, “Tonight… I want to sleep with you.”

Upon hearing this, Mr. Jiang glared at her feigned displeasure, but his eyes clearly showed indulgence after losing her: "How old are you? Still clinging to your mother." His tone was reproachful, but the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned.

"Go away, go away," Jiang's mother said with a smile, gently pushing her husband into the next room. Then she took her daughter's hand and led her into the master bedroom. "No matter how old she is, she's still my baby. Tonight, it'll just be the two of us talking."

On the small single bed, the mother and daughter lay snuggled together. Jiang's mother turned to her side, gently combing through Jiang Yining's dark hair scattered on the pillow with her fingers, just as she would when her daughter was young and falling asleep.

The familiar, subtle fragrance of her mother mingled with the lemon scent of the room, enveloping Jiang Yining and bringing a long-lost sense of peace. The faint city light filtered through the thin curtains outside the window, casting hazy shadows on the walls.

In the silence, Jiang Yining's soft voice, tinged with a hint of tentative vulnerability, broke the stillness: "Mom..."

"Hmm?" Jiang's mother responded, her hands continuing their work.

"Mom," Jiang Yining snuggled closer to her mother, as if trying to draw more courage, "Are you still in contact with... Brother Shi Yan?"