Guan Wenru instantly recalled the laughing and playful scenes of her teenage years with Duan Feifei, going to school together, sharing secrets, and boating in Beihai Park.
However, Qin Yue's tears welled up instantly. She grabbed her daughter's hand tightly, her voice choked with emotion:
“They’re back, they’re back, but… Wenru, Feifei’s mother didn’t make it through. She died over there a few years ago… from her illness.”
It's just the two of them, father and daughter, left to depend on each other... Your Uncle Duan... he came back with a pre-existing health condition, and these past few months of worrying about resettlement and work have completely ruined his health...
I just checked into the hospital today, and the doctor told us privately that he probably... won't make it through this period..."
Guan Wenru's smile froze instantly, and her heart felt as if it had been gripped tightly by an invisible hand, suddenly tightening.
She was speechless for a moment, thinking of Uncle Duan, who had once been so gentle and kind, and who would tell her and Feifei stories…
Qin Yue wiped away her tears with her sleeve, "What a tragedy... What a wonderful family, how could this happen... Today, seeing them, father and daughter, so dark and thin, their hair mostly white, wearing patched old clothes, and Fei Fei... there was no light in her eyes at all, she looked more than ten years older than her actual age... Your father and I felt like our hearts were being torn apart..."
Guan Wenru's brows furrowed tightly, and her chest felt tight and constricted.
Those ten years swallowed up too many beautiful things.
Now that the rain has stopped and the sky has cleared, my old friend has returned, only to find his family destroyed and his home in ruins, his life hanging by a thread.
She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.
Sadness is useless; the most important thing now is to do something about it.
"Mom, which hospital are they in? Which ward? I'm going there to check on them right now!"
"It's at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, internal medicine, third floor, room 307. Your dad and I will come back and cook some porridge and some nutritious side dishes to take over... Feifei hasn't been eating well..."
Guan Wenru immediately stood up. "Okay! Mom, you guys prepare at home. I'll drive over first! When Yanzhi comes back, he'll drive you there."
Qin Yue nodded, "Okay, take some money with you. They just got back and they're short of everything. See if you can buy milk powder or malted milk powder near the hospital to help Uncle Duan recover."
"I understand!" Guan Wenru replied, then turned and quickly walked out.
She opened the car door, started the engine, and did so cleanly and efficiently.
In the torrent of the times, an individual's fate is like duckweed, but at least, this tree that has taken root can shelter old friends from the wind and rain.
......
The hospital corridors were filled with the distinctive smell of disinfectant, mixed with an atmosphere of illness and sorrow.
Guan Wenru hurried along, her eyes scanning the room numbers eagerly until she saw the figure sitting on the cold green bench outside room 307.
She was a woman who was so thin she was almost unrecognizable, wearing a faded, patched old blue blouse.
He was looking down, his hands tightly clasped together, his knuckles white from the force.
She huddled there, like a withered leaf about to be swept away by the autumn wind, enveloped in an overwhelming sense of despair.
Although they hadn't seen each other for over a decade, and although the other person looked shockingly old and haggard, Guan Wenru recognized him at a glance...
That was Duan Feifei.
My heart felt like it had been twisted hard, and a sour pain instantly spread.
How could the bright, cheerful girl with star-like eyes in my memory have turned into this woman with dry, yellow hair, sunken cheeks, and who looks to be in her forties?
She's only in her early thirties!
Guan Wenru felt a lump in her throat and quietly walked over, slowly squatting down in front of her, afraid of disturbing her.
She reached out and gently placed her hand on Duan Feifei's cold, rough hands, covered with tiny cuts and calluses, her voice as soft as a feather, "Feifei..."
It's just a name, yet it contains a thousand words.
The person in the chair jolted violently, as if awakened from a nightmare.
She looked up in disbelief.
What Guan Wenru saw was a face etched with fatigue and hardship, with rough, dull skin and deep wrinkles around her eyes that seemed out of place for her age.
Only those eyes, after the initial bewilderment, suddenly erupted with immense shock and indescribable grievance, and then, the tears that had been accumulating burst forth like a dam breaking.
"Wen...Wenru?!"
Her voice was dry and hoarse, trembling.
The next second, as if she had finally found a piece of driftwood to lean on, she suddenly stood up from the bench, her body swaying slightly from the sudden movement.
She threw herself into Guan Wenru's open arms without a care in the world, clutching the lapel of his wool coat tightly with both hands.
I broke down and cried!
"Wenru! Wenru! It really is you... Waaaaah..."
All the feigned strength, all the composure she maintained in front of her father, crumbled at this moment.
Like a child who had been lost for many years and finally found her way home, she cried her heart out in the warm embrace of her friend, her whole body trembling violently.
Between sobs, Duan Feifei blamed herself intermittently, "It's my fault... It's all my fault... I dragged Mom and Dad down with me... If it weren't for the fact that I went to that place and read and talked nonsense... Dad wouldn't have been sent to the countryside, and Mom wouldn't have... My mother wouldn't have died of illness in that place..."
It's all my fault... I can't even give my dad better medicine now... It's all my fault... I'm a sinner... Waaah...
Her words were chaotic and fragmented, filled with deep-seated self-blame and regret. More than a decade of suffering and the pain of losing loved ones surged forth at this moment like a floodgate being opened.
Guan Wenru hugged her tightly, feeling her bony spine and suppressed sobs, and her own eyes quickly welled up with tears.
She gently patted Duan Feifei's back with one hand and stroked her hair with the other, her voice soft as she tried to sever the inner demons that had haunted her for years, "Nonsense! Feifei, look at me, look at me!"
She pushed Duan Feifei away slightly, cupped her tear-streaked face in her hands, and forced her to look into her eyes. "That's not your fault! Do you hear me? That's not your fault!"
How many families were like yours in that era? It wasn't any one child's fault; it was a tragedy of the times!
Your aunt and uncle have never blamed you, and they would never want you to take all the blame upon yourself!
As she spoke, Guan Wenru wiped away her tears with her fingertips, her voice softening, "You did very well, very well! You took good care of Uncle Duan, you held on until we returned to the city, you're home now! Feifei, you're very strong, you haven't let anyone down!"
Duan Feifei looked at her friend Guan Wenru with teary eyes. The undeniable affirmation and deep heartache in Guan Wenru's eyes were like a faint but warm light, trying to dispel the gloom that had been building up in her heart for too long.
She leaned on Guan Wenru's shoulder again, her sobs gradually changing from a breakdown and wailing to an uncontrollable, continuous low sob, as if she wanted to cry out all the bitterness of the past years at once.
Guan Wenru stood there, holding her firmly, being her strongest support.
She knew that words were inadequate at this moment, and letting Feifei vent her emotions was more important than anything else.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
