"Back then, back then! Just remember that year! If it weren't for you being unable to give birth! My mother..." Father Su took the pipe out of his mouth and knocked it twice on the wooden table.
Mother Su argued with a red face and thick neck: "I can't give birth! Which one of Xiao Huai and Si Qiu didn't come out of my belly!"
As Su's mother was speaking, two tears fell on the back of her hand. They were icy cold, and the tears dripped down along the wrinkles of her skin. Su's mother's heart trembled.
"Cry! Cry! Why are you crying!" As soon as Father Su raised his voice, the door was pushed open from outside.
As soon as Su Siqiu entered the door, she saw her father walking out with his hands clasped behind his back.
Su Siqiu walked up to her mother, whose eyes were still red. Su Siqiu handed a piece of soap in her hand to her mother, Lin Aiqiu, as if offering a treasure. "Mom, smell this. This is what Brother Zhong just gave me. Brother Zhong said it has the scent of roses. It's an imported Western thing, and it's very valuable."
Su's mother looked at her silly daughter, who would dare to follow others as long as they gave her a little sweetness. She raised her hand and touched Su Siqiu's hair, which was jet black.
"Mom, why are you touching my hair? Didn't you see that my braids look pretty today?"
"It looks beautiful, beautiful." Su's mother said with a smile on her face and tears in her smile. If something happens to me, what should my daughter do?
"I don't know how your brother is doing now? I didn't even say hello to him when I left."
Su Siqiu thought of Su Huailin, and with a snap, she exerted force on her hand, and a corner of the soap in her hand broke off. She pinched the small corner in her palm and said, "Why are you thinking about my brother? He is living well in the Gu family now."
A few days ago, Su Huailin came to find them, but was turned away by Su Siqiu. Her brother Su Huailin didn't know what had happened and said that Su Nianmei was not their child and wanted to take them home. Su Siqiu didn't want to do that. Brother Zhong had said that as long as they wanted, they could stay here as long as they wanted. If she went back, she would have to study hard and suffer.
…
During the break, Su Nianmei leaned against a tree and closed her eyes to rest. Qi Man bumped his arm and said, "Look at those two kids. They've been standing there for a long time. Are they here to look for you?"
Su Nianmei opened her eyes and saw Gu Xiaobao and Er Gouzi standing in the distance with half a watermelon next to their feet.
"Xiaobao!" Su Nianmei shouted, stood up and walked towards Gu Xiaobao and the others.
Su Nianmei squatted beside the two children and took out a handkerchief to wipe their sweat. "How did you get here?"
The watermelon was cut into small pieces, and Su Nianmei picked up a spoon and fed each of them a bite.
Gu Xiaobao chewed a watermelon and said, "My uncle sent us here."
Er Gouzi spat the watermelon seeds into his palm and said, "We just ran into Uncle Ji!"
Gu Xiaobao was a smart kid. "Uncle Ji and my uncle asked us to come over first. I don't know what they were talking about."
Qi Man was also squatting beside her and let out an "ah". Su Nianmei picked up the spoon and fed the watermelon into her mouth.
"Call me auntie." Su Nianmei said.
Gu Xiaobao called out "Mom" and took two steps towards Su Nianmei, but Ergouzi rushed to call her "Auntie".
"Is it your baby?" Qi Man pinched Gu Xiaobao's soft and smooth little face. Qi Man was startled when she heard the baby calling for her mother, and a puzzled expression flashed across her face. "Such a cute baby, Xiao Su, you are quite good at hiding your true love."
Su Nianmei hugged Gu Xiaobao's neck and said, "Yes, he is my biological son. Haven't you seen whether they look alike?"
Qi Man chewed a watermelon, looking back and forth between the two men, "Looks like them!"
When the team was training, Gu Xiaobao was taken away by Su Huailin.
At night, Su Nianmei was squeezed in the crowd. She didn't know who leaked the news. Now everyone came here to take a bath. The crowd was huddled together and bustling. Su Nianmei stood at the edge of the crowd and someone suddenly pulled her arm.
The force of the pull was quite strong, and when Su Nianmei raised her head, her head hit Gu Xichao's chest.
"Why are you here?" Su Nianmei rubbed her forehead, her tone still filled with grievance.
"I've been waiting for you there for a long time, but I didn't see you, so I came here to wait." Gu Xichao took Su Nianmei's basin consciously and rubbed Su Nianmei's head with one hand, "You must be exhausted."
Su Nianmei turned her head. Gu Xichao's fingers were rubbing her forehead with just the right strength. She felt numb and forgot the pain. She said, "Compared to your training, ours is nothing compared to yours. But it's annoying that I can't take a shower. I'm sweating all over after a hot day, and my clothes are sticking to my body."
As Su Nianmei spoke, she tugged at the corner of her clothes slightly. The wind blew into her clothes along the corners, making her feel cooler, and the feeling of dampness on her body was not so strong.
Gu Xichao immediately took the hand covering her head and placed it on the back of her hand, "It's late at night, your stomach will easily catch a cold."
The warmth from Gu Xichao's palm spread along the back of her hand. Su Nianmei's hand stiffened, and the corner of her clothes was pressed back, resting snugly against her stomach. Su Nianmei glanced and saw Gu Xichao's wrist.
"How did you cut yourself!" Su Nianmei pulled her hand out of Gu Xichao's palm and rummaged through her trouser pockets.
Gu Xichao raised his hand and looked at it. There was a small wound that had been cut at some point.
Gu Xichao's hand was pulled over by Su Nianmei, who blew on the wound, tore open the Band-Aid and put it on the wound.
"It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt." The little girl said while putting her hand to his mouth with a serious expression. Gu Xichao suddenly laughed.
That was when Su Nianmei held a sports meet in her second year of high school. It was June 9th, and the third year students had just finished their exams. In order to let the second year students release stress and fully prepare for the third year exams, the school held a fun sports meet.
Su Nianmei's class teacher, Lao Qian, found him before the sports meet and said that the fun sports meet was in need of a few volunteers, the kind who would be wearing bear costumes and dolls, to serve as mascots at the sports meet, and asked him if he wanted to come and see.
Lao Qian and Gu Xichao are friends regardless of age difference. In the future, the first person to help Gu Xichao will be Lao Qian. Lao Qian is a good teacher carved out according to moral standards. He is in his forties or fifties, with smiling eyes and a pair of plain glasses. He always wears a striped shirt tucked into his black sweatpants. He looks unkempt, but he is very kind at heart.
Lao Qian felt that Gu Xichao was too lonely, and thought that if he could interact with other children, perhaps his mental stress would be reduced. If there were any social activities in the school, Lao Qian would encourage Gu Xichao to participate.
Gu Xichao didn't want to go at first, but when he heard that it was a parent-child sports meeting, he thought of Su Nianmei's child and agreed.
…
The sun was shining brightly on the day of the sports meet. He wrapped himself in his doll costume, and his shirt underneath was soaked. Sweat dripped down his short hair. He held up the sign on his chest and stood in the center of the playground, looking for Su Nianmei under the sun.
Gu Xichao is tall, and when he wears the doll costume, a little bit of his legs is exposed. A crowd of people gathered around him, and Gu Xichao turned over the board hanging on his chest.
The child was sitting alone under the shade of a tree, holding a small notebook in his hand and reciting English words. There were parents accompanying their children all around, only the child was sitting alone on the roadside.
The child looked up and saw a brown bear doll waving at him.
"Me?" The child pointed at himself.
There was a runway between them, and the brown bear nodded. He stretched out his arms, then remembered something was wrong, and moved his chubby hands to flip the board on his chest back over.
It says "Hug me."
The little brown bear twisted its clumsy body in the sun, its left foot touching its right foot, its arms stretched out, and its ears swaying on top of its head.
The child put down the book and walked over.
The gunshot for the 50-meter race suddenly rang out. The child was standing in the middle of the track, and the athletes at the starting line rushed over.
The child took two quick steps forward, and his foot tripped over a raised edge of the lawn, causing his body to fall forward.
The little bear rushed out and hugged the child, putting his bear suit under his body. There was the hard artificial turf underneath, and there was a muffled "bang" sound.
The child was startled and tears came out of his eyes.
…
The child's eyes were full of tears, rolling around in his eye sockets, but he didn't cry. His feet were swollen and he was lying on the bed in the school infirmary, holding the board on the teddy bear in his hand. It had just broken into two pieces, and the child put it together. There were four words written on the back: "Keep away from strangers."
"Does it hurt?" Gu Xichao asked.
Gu Xi looked at the child who was still wearing a doll mask. Through the hole in the mask, he saw the child biting his lower lip and shaking his head.
The child rummaged through his schoolbag and suddenly found something. He then pulled Gu Xichao's hand over.
The child asked in a small voice: "Does it hurt?"
Gu Xichao looked down and saw that her exposed wrist might have been scratched when she fell. There was a Band-Aid on the wound with a pink strawberry pattern on it.
The child puffed up his mouth and blew twice at Gu Xichao's wound, murmuring softly: "Blow it, and the wound will stop hurting."
…
Gu Xichao rubbed Su Nianmei's head. Her short hair was smooth. He took her hand and walked out of the campus. "Let's go."
Su Nianmei didn't react, "I still need to take a shower."
Gu Xichao shook the basin in his hand, his eyes half closed with a smile. His wife was so silly and cute. "I'll take you to another place to wash."
Su Nianmei followed Gu Xichao to a hotel near the school. As soon as Gu Xichao entered the room, he took off his coat and hung it on the hanger at the door.
Su Nianmei sat on the edge of the bed with a basin in her arms.
"Why don't you go in and take a shower?" Gu Xichao leaned on one leg on the bed, then sat down and put his arm on Su Nianmei's shoulder.
Su Nianmei looked at the bathroom in the room. The walls were made of glass, and she could still see the general appearance of what was inside while sitting on the bed.
Su Nianmei pinched the corner of her clothes and said, "I, I'll go back to school to wash."
"Didn't you complain about there being too many people just now?" Gu Xichao's hand moved restlessly up along Su Nianmei's shoulder and pinched her earlobe.
"I've changed now!" Su Nianmei stood up immediately.
Gu Xichao also stood up and blocked Su Nianmei's way, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Be good, don't be shy."
He also leaned over and whispered something into Su Nianmei's ear.
Su Nianmei's face flushed instantly and she immediately went into the bathroom.
Gu Xichao listened to the sound of water splashing in the bathroom. The bathroom door was made of frosted glass, and he could vaguely see a figure. The bathroom was hot and misty. Gu Xichao looked at the figure and felt as if the water was splashing on him, making him feel hot and uncomfortable.
He laughed out loud and put the finger with the Band-Aid on it to his lips.
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