“I didn’t even get to see my daughter one last time before she passed away. I’ve been a terrible father… I heard from her friend that my daughter…” The old man’s voice choked with emotion, “My daughter said she wanted to find her father…”
Yu Qiuchi patted the old man on the back: "She probably also hopes that you, Grandpa, are healthy and safe."
"When I first saw it, it was just... such a tiny box, such a small thing..."
The old man gestured in the air with his withered, twig-like hands: "I couldn't believe it at the time. How could my daughter be so small? How could that box fit her..."
The old man was very talkative that afternoon, pulling Yu Qiuchi and Song Yaozhuo aside to tell them many stories about his daughter's childhood.
Perhaps because she finally had someone to confide in, she was reluctant to leave Yu Qiuchi and Song Yaozhuo at home for dinner as the sun was setting in the afternoon.
[Grandpa's 80th birthday is in a couple of days!]
[You wouldn't believe it, the old man seems really healthy!]
[My maternal grandfather is seventy-eight this year. During the Spring Festival, he went up to the roof to repair the sheepfold. My younger brother, who had just returned from his hometown, was so frightened that he threw away all the New Year's goods he was carrying, which were then snatched away by the dog!]
Before leaving, the old man showed Yu Qiuchi a photo. It was an old-fashioned photo, which the old man had tucked inside a brown-covered exercise book that he used to flip pages up and down when he was a child.
The photo shows a short-haired girl with big eyes, a bright smile, and what she is holding is probably her college acceptance letter.
Yu Qiuchi felt that the girl looked familiar.
"This is my daughter, isn't she beautiful! She looks just like my wife when she was young! What a pity..." The old man gently wiped her face.
[I'm not the only one who thinks it's ridiculous to feel guilty only after someone has passed away. What were you doing while they were alive?]
[Is he deaf? The old man had to work when he was young! He had to support his family!]
Am I the only one who cares about how my daughter passed away?
"Never mind, it's all my fault..."
The old man put the photo back, but Yu Qiuchi, with her sharp eyes, noticed the three characters "Li Genggeng" written in childish handwriting on the book cover. This must be the old man's daughter's name.
Seeing that it was getting dark outside, the old man took a tea box from the drawer of the coffee table in the living room and handed it to Yu Qiuchi.
"Grandpa, what is this?" Yu Qiuchi looked at the tea box in his hand. The tea box was a bit rusty, and the original green paint had almost all fallen off, and the three characters "Tieguanyin" could be vaguely seen.
"Here are the points cards you wanted." The old man opened the tea box, revealing cards of various colors—green, purple, and even red!
Yu Qiuchi and Song Yaozhuo never expected there to be so many!
"Isn't this a bit too much?" Yu Qiuchi asked, after all, he felt like he had been acting as a confidant all afternoon and hadn't been able to help at all.
The effort and the reward are somewhat disproportionate.
The old man said mysteriously, "I'll tell you a secret, these cards were actually printed by me in town, and my son distributed them to the villagers. These are the leftovers..."
"You've listened to this old man talk for so long, of course I can't let you have less than the other children!"
The old man was very domineering; he stuffed everything into the hands of Song Yaozhuo, the mute man standing to the side, and made him hold it.
When Yu Qiuchi and Song Yaozhuo stood at the old man's door saying goodbye with the box, it still felt a bit surreal, but the old man's story was indeed sad.
[The other guests were exhausted, while I listened to stories all afternoon (puzzling)]
[Isn't this unfair?]
[This wasn't stolen or robbed, so how is it unfair! My wife is YYds]
[There seem to be professional listeners nowadays. I've considered it, but I don't know if they'd keep their mouths shut...]
You can see the stars at night in the countryside, and the two of them headed back under the starlight.
"What's wrong? You seem distracted?" Yu Qiuchi tugged at Song Yaozhuo's sleeve.
Song Yaozhuo only came to his senses when Yu Qiuchi pulled him like that. There was a river in front of him, and he had gone astray. If Yu Qiuchi's hand had been any slower, he would have stepped into it.
Perhaps it is the night when everyone is most vulnerable, or perhaps it is because the person walking with him is Yu Qiuchi, that Song Yaozhuo felt a little loosened.
“I thought of my dad. He was busy when he was young. He worked for a foreign trade company and was often on business trips. I could only see him a few times a year.” Song Yaozhuo rarely talked about his family.
Yu Qiuchi comforted him, "He probably just wants you and your mother to have a good life."
“I didn’t have a mother when I was little; I was raised by a nanny.”
Often, a person's family of origin has a significant impact on their personality.
Having never experienced maternal love since childhood and with his father absent, it's no wonder Song Yaozhuo seems so cold now and has difficulty expressing his emotions.
"It's okay. Actually, I've never lacked food or clothing since I was a child. I'm much better off than most people."
Song Yaozhuo said calmly.
The indifferent tone of his voice tugged at Yu Qiuchi's heartstrings. Although he lacked nothing materially, he was spiritually impoverished.
Their experiences overlapped at some point, but Yu Qiuchi had experienced love. No matter how outrageous his father was, he never had any illegitimate children. He grew up in his mother's cradle and was pampered by Mo Weiyun.
Even if things didn't go well later, he had at least had it, but Song Yaozhuo never had it from the beginning...
Yu Qiuchi suddenly stopped and hugged Song Yaozhuo, as if he were hugging himself who had lost everything. He then said something surprising: "Why don't you treat me like your mother!"
Song Yaozhuo: "..."
One second I was feeling sorry for them, the next I was laughing. I'm the poorest one here.
[I initially felt sorry for Song Yaozhuo, but in the end, his family was in foreign trade. What's the big deal if the world has one more rich person like me?]
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