Chapter 10 Dad, the stars are not going anywhere
The first time Zhou Xiangyang saw them clearly, his expression didn't look good.
But he still invited these people into the house.
As soon as a few adults came in, they immediately filled up the already narrow hut, leaving almost no space.
Xingxing looked at these people puzzledly. She could feel their gazes on her, which was very strange.
Xingxing couldn't figure out why he felt strange for a moment. He was held in his father's arms and listened to their conversation.
"Xiao Zhou, you must be very clear about the purpose of our visit this time..."
"...I won't agree." Zhou Xiangyang was silent for a long time before he came up with this answer.
The next second, someone frowned and said, "We are doing this for your own good. You already have a hard life. If it weren't for the neighborhood committee helping you find a job, you would have trouble supporting yourself. This child is growing up and there are more and more places to spend money. You know the conditions in the welfare home. It's better for him to go to the welfare home than to stay with you!"
Xingxing's fingers were grabbing the corner of Zhou Xiangyang's clothes and exerting force silently.
He thought of the uncle on a bicycle who had just come into this world yesterday and who had also advised him to leave Sunflower Dad and go to the orphanage on the road.
Xingxing turned to look at her father.
Zhou Xiangyang had an ugly look on his face and his tone was dry, but he still had to consider the other party's face and put on the same bitter and flattering smile he had shown to the landlord last night.
"I've raised Xingxing for so long... I've developed feelings for him. He's my biological son, how could I bear to send him away?"
He hugged the star tightly in his arms, silently increasing his strength, as if he was afraid that this group of people would snatch the star right from his arms.
"Xiao Zhou, we come to persuade you again and again for the good of you and your child. Otherwise, why would we be the bad guys? Your life is difficult, and Xingxing will soon be old enough to go to school. Can you afford to support him? We have told you many times about the conditions and environment of the welfare home. I believe you have seen it when you passed by..."
Many people tried to persuade him, but Zhou Xiangyang remained silent.
There were other neighbors in the small building who came over to watch the noise after dinner and occasionally joined in the fun. It seemed like Zhou Xiangyang was clinging to Xingxing and wouldn't let go. Everyone thought he was too stubborn and was asking for trouble.
Zhou Xiangyang could ignore these words.
But... there is always someone who knows how to hit the nail on the head, how to say something that hits him hard in the heart.
"You don't care, but you can't just be moved by yourself. If you send Xingxing to an orphanage, maybe he will be adopted by a well-off family soon and have a life ten or a hundred times better than he has now. You have been raising him and are unwilling to send him away. Aren't you delaying the child's life? Do you love him, or are you unwilling to let him go?"
These words... every word was like a knife, stabbing Zhou Xiangyang's heart hard.
He looked up in a daze and saw many people nodding in agreement, and then looking at him with disapproval or even condemnation.
"...but Xingxing is my son." Zhou Xiangyang's rebuttal now seemed extremely weak and feeble: "I picked him up from the flower bed and raised him from a small child to the present day...why won't you let him go?"
Did I really do something wrong?
Everyone is looking at me like this? Everyone thinks I shouldn't do this?
What about the stars...
The only hand holding the stars seemed to hesitate and struggle, and then quietly relaxed.
"dad."
A childish voice is still clear amid the noisy crowd.
The noise around them suddenly quieted down. Xingxing hugged Sunflower's father, whose eyes were red from what these people said. She wiped the moisture off his face with her little hands, hugged him, and whispered softly in his ear: "Dad, Xingxing only wants you, and she won't go anywhere else."
After coaxing Sunflower's father, Xingxing turned his head to look at the strangers with different expressions, pursed his lips, got down from his father's arms, stretched out his hands to protect him behind him, looked up and said to these adults: "I don't want to go to the welfare home, and I don't want to live a good life. Don't come and hurt my father again. It's too much to use the majority to bully the minority."
The childish condemnation and the pair of clear and transparent eyes that were now tainted with anger would always make people who accidentally made eye contact with him feel a little guilty.
Some people looked away uncomfortably, some stammered in silence, and some opened their mouths and tried to scold or persuade by relying on their adult status.
But the stars didn't give them a chance.
The child protected the depressed and dazed young man behind him like a fierce kitten. His fair and tender face wrinkled into a ball, and his clear childish voice spread far away in the silence: "Aunties, uncles, can you please stop bullying us? My dad raised me very well, he just wasn't good enough to himself. When I grow up, I will also raise my dad very well!"
"Stars are not kittens or puppies, nor are they orphans that no one loves. I am not miserable at all. My dad and I are happy every day."
"Dad has never let me go hungry. If you really want to do this for Dad's sake, can you give our family some money?"
The child spread out his hands and asked these people word by word: "My father and I don't lack love, we just lack a little money. Can you give us some?"
He didn't seem to feel that it was shameful to beg for money.
But after he said all this, the adults who asked for money all looked very embarrassed.
The neighborhood committee members who were originally sitting on the small bench opposite Zhou Xiangyang also stood up awkwardly. A group of people were forced to retreat step by step by a child until they retreated out of the narrow door. They all stood in the corridor blowing the night wind, as if they were being punished.
"What's the use of love... Without money, love will only make you starve to death..." Someone argued in a low voice hiding in the crowd.
Xingxing tilted her head, her eyes accurately catching that person's attention. After meeting his flustered and guilty look, she asked in confusion, "Uncle, if love is useless, I would have died a long time ago. It is my father's love that keeps me alive. Why do you think it is useless? Is it because you don't have it?"
Xingxing once heard He Yang tell the story of "The Little Fox Eating Grapes".
Because they cannot eat the grapes hanging high, they will angrily curse those grapes as sour and unilaterally conclude that those grapes are not delicious at all.
This human being’s current words and actions are very similar to the little fox in the story.
man:"……"
Amid the strange looks from others, he hurried away, covering his face with his hands in panic.
Like being chased by a ghost.
With him taking the lead, everyone gradually dispersed.
Xingxing closed the door, blocking out the view of other human neighbors outside, then turned around, stood behind the door, and gave a faint smile to Sunflower Dad who was looking at her.
Zhou Xiangyang's heart skipped a beat.
He never thought that one day he would be protected and well taken care of by such a young son.
Although it had a small body, when the little guy opened his hands to block in front of him, Zhou Xiangyang realized for the first time that the feeling of being protected so firmly by someone was both reassuring and warm.
He still felt a little sad, but before the tears really fell, he wiped them away forcefully.
Afterwards, he didn't say a word.
Or to be more certain: when he heard what Xingxing said, all his emotions crowded into his chest, making him feel suffocated, but he felt satisfied after swallowing them hard, and the emotions quickly expanded and fermented into more emotions and tears that were more difficult to express.
"Xingxing..." Zhou Xiangyang stretched out his hands and hugged the little baby in front of him, lowered his head and buried his face in the child's tender shoulders. He had never felt so vulnerable in his life as he was tonight.
"Baby, Sunflower Daddy doesn't need water to grow so big, probably because he can cry a lot, right?" Qiuqiu flew low curiously and tilted his body to peek at the adult human male who was silently crying.
Xingxing stretched out her little hand, patted her father's arm gently, and said softly, "Dad, Xingxing won't go anywhere."
"Hmm..." Zhou Xiangyang responded sullenly.
When he raised his head again, apart from the red eyes, it was hard to tell that he had been crying.
Xingxing imitated Qiuqiu's actions, tilting her head to observe his expression, and then secretly smiled with her eyes curved when her father turned his head away awkwardly.
Humans always seem to dislike being discovered crying.
But humans are the race that loves to shed tears the most.
I cry when I am happy, I cry when I am sad, I cry when I yawn, I cry when I have nightmares...
How strange!
-
The night is deep and the stars are sleeping soundly.
Qiuqiu didn't dare to sleep.
Because it's keeping an eye on the oddly behaving adult in the room.
Zhou Xiangyang didn't sleep either, as he was clumsily studying and taking notes using the light of his cell phone.
He actually didn't have such a strong desire to study before. After all, although he worked hard, he could barely make a living.
But this kind of thing has happened several times tonight, and this time it even made Xingxing stand in front of him, bravely protecting him with her little body.
All kinds of fragile human emotions always ferment silently at night. Under the cover of the night, those warm feelings secretly turned into thin and dense silk threads that wrapped around his heart, making him almost breathless just like in reality.
So I lay in bed with my eyes open and thought for a long time, and finally decided to turn all the emotions and urgency into motivation to make changes right now.
He is only in his twenties this year. Even though he is missing an arm, his brain and IQ are not disabled.
Although I still don’t know what I should do to effectively change my current predicament, it is always a good idea to learn knowledge.
Trying to move forward is better than doing nothing and being stuck where you are forever.
Zhou Xiangyang was once an abandoned orphan. He grew up in an orphanage, but only studied until the first year of high school. He had to drop out of school and make a living on his own due to various practical reasons.
It is easy to imagine how difficult it would be to pick up the knowledge we once had.
But he would never give up halfway.
For the sake of the little one sleeping soundly on the bed, Zhou Xiangyang was willing to try his best even if it meant gritting his teeth.
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