Huo Jiayuan was terrified the whole way, as if she were in a dream. But the dream felt so real that she couldn't help but pinch her arm.
"If you don't like it, you can still call me Grandma Cai, right? I don't mind! Haha!" The girl laughed happily, putting one hand on her shoulder.
Huo Jiayuan trembled slightly and gently pushed her away.
"Oh... I'm so sorry." The girl stopped smiling. "Hey, she told me that you don't like being put your arm around someone like that."
"Who?" Huo Jiayuan suddenly looked up, her heart skipping a beat.
Who else but her could remember such small details...?
Huo Jiayuan's vision suddenly blurred, her nose stung, and large tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
"Oh my god, please don't cry!" The girl was also startled and hurriedly apologized, "It's my fault, my fault! I... how did I make you cry, I..."
"Is it her?" Huo Jiayuan gripped her hand tightly, her emotions running high. "Is it her? Is she really here!"
"Ancestor!" The girl quickly covered her mouth, looking around warily. "Who are you trying to attract by making so much noise?"
She led Huo Jiayuan into a deep alley. It was very quiet inside, without even streetlights. High walls surrounded the area, blocking out the sunlight. A gust of wind blew by, making them shiver.
She told Huo Jiayuan to stay put, then lay on the ground and listened for a while before getting up, clapping her hands, and chuckling, "It's safe for now."
Huo Jiayuan seemed to be still in a daze, staring blankly at her.
"Ahem..." The girl pursed her lips. "My name is A-Cai, and I'm probably a little younger than you."
Huo Jiayuan nodded blankly, but tears still streamed down her face.
"Is it really her? Tell me!"
Ah Cai said nothing, but took out a small rabbit made of straw rope. As soon as Huo Jiayuan saw it, he felt a dull pain in his chest, which spread throughout his body along his veins.
"Miss, if we ever get separated in the future, how about we use this little rabbit as a secret code to recognize each other?"
Why use this?
—Because…you have horses, dogs, and even adopted a tiger, and you have a huge hunting ground with all kinds of animals, but you don’t keep rabbits!
—So we'll have to use rabbits to recognize each other? Hahaha!
Yes! Because it's unique!
...
For Xiaoman, Yuanyuan is one of a kind.
Huo Jiayuan held the little rabbit tightly, tears streaming down her face.
“Miss,” Ah Cai squatted down and looked at her leaning against the wall, “Just tell me what you need. Don’t be afraid, from now on… I’ll protect you.”
...
Ah Cai led Huo Jiayuan through one alley after another, winding their way to the convenience store.
Huo Jiayuan was stunned. She was about to ask how she knew about this place, but A Cai turned her head and gestured for her to be quiet. She followed A Cai into the convenience store and soon arrived at the small room where Peng Zheng was recuperating.
Standing at the door, Huo Jiayuan felt inexplicably nervous.
“Miss,” A-Cai said in a low voice, “Peng Zheng’s injuries have mostly healed, but his injuries are too severe. In the future… he will probably be crippled.”
"What?"
"Don't misunderstand!" A-Cai hurriedly waved her hand. "When I said he was useless, I meant he could no longer be your bodyguard like before. He can still manage his daily life, so... Sister Bailing gave him some money and sent him away from Biandu, letting him find his own way."
"Then," Huo Jiayuan stared blankly at the door, "who's inside?"
Ah Cai chuckled softly and opened the window for her. A window had been opened sometime during the night, and the room was no longer dark and cluttered. Everything in the room had been rearranged, the furniture replaced with simple, off-white pieces.
This is Huo Jiayuan's favorite color.
As if sleepwalking, she moved step by step toward the small figure in front of the window.
With each step she took, it felt as if her heart was being ripped out, and those carefree memories of the past flashed through her mind. Her nose stung, and tears involuntarily streamed down her face. Those frail shoulders were the ones she had seen countless times in her dreams.
"Xiaoman..."
She finally called out the name in a trembling voice.
"Xiaoman, is it really you?"
The girl turned around gently.
Huo Jiayuan stood frozen in place, stunned for a very long time.
In her memory, Xiaoman was still that sixteen-year-old girl who liked to wear white dresses, had long hair, and loved to run and laugh in the sunshine, revealing cute little tiger teeth when she smiled.
The woman before him had her long hair styled into a bun at the back of her head, and her eyes, though still beautiful, were filled with the vicissitudes of time.
She looked at Huo Jiayuan, as if she had a thousand words to say, but her lips moved and she couldn't say anything.
"Xiaoman!"
Huo Jiayuan shouted and ran over, crying, to hug her tightly. This embrace came many years too late; it felt like a lifetime had passed.
Xiaoman also stretched out her thin arms and hugged her tightly.
They were each other's most beautiful memories of their youth, and they once thought they would never see each other again in this lifetime.
Huo Jiayuan burst into tears like a child, gently patting Xiaoman's back as she cried. She blamed her for disappearing so suddenly, for leaving without a word, without even a sound. She blamed her for not contacting her for so many years, for not knowing how to find her.
"I'm willful and have a bad temper, so you hate me?"
Huo Jiayuan cupped her face in her hands and cried her heart out.
"Didn't we promise to be best friends for life?"
"Do you even keep your word? Why did I have to go through all this trouble to find you?!"
"Xiaoman, say something!"
However, Xiaoman just watched her quietly with tears in her eyes.
"Miss, please don't do this!" A-Cai tugged at her. "Sister Bai-Ling, she, she's already..."
"What's wrong?"
Huo Jiayuan then realized that there had been an eerie silence in the room when she first entered. She recognized Xiaoman and hugged her, crying and fussing. Even if Xiaoman didn't know what to say, she could still make some noise.
But……
Huo Jiayuan stared at her in shock.
“Miss,” A-Cai said gravely, “Sister Bai-Ling has lost her voice. Her vocal cords are severely damaged, and she will never be able to speak again in her life!”
Huo Jiayuan felt a pang of pain in her heart and grasped Xiaoman's hand.
At this moment, Xiaoman gestured to Acai with her eyes to go out. Acai nodded and turned around to close the door for the two of them.
Xiaoman wiped away Huo Jiayuan's tears, smiled at her, and then walked to the table and wrote a line:
"We'll be home soon. Just tell them that Grandma Cai bought you some motion sickness medicine."
"Xiaoman..."
"Be good!" Xiaoman wrote on the paper. "Go home and behave yourself. Don't have a direct confrontation with Xiao Rong for now."
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