Family Portrait
Late that night when Wen Zhili left, his father, who had just returned from completing the formalities, asked Wen Yan, "Where is your sister?"
Wen Yan didn't know how to explain.
She just said, her sister is gone.
Wen Jie was stunned for a while.
When he nodded silently, Wen Yan knew that his father understood everything.
Not long after Lu Wanqing woke up, she asked Wen Yan the same question, and Wen Yan gave the same answer as above.
But Lu Wanqing just nodded and didn't ask any more questions.
No one asked where Wen Zhili had gone, and no one asked when she would be back.
But everyone knows what is going on, and everyone knows that Wen Zhili will not come back.
In fact, Wen Yan was once a little angry.
She wanted to ask her parents, isn’t her sister your daughter?
Why not ask a few more questions?
Why not rush?
Why not care where she went?
But when Wen Yan saw the fatigue and confusion in his mother's eyes lying on the hospital bed, he immediately shut up.
She was the one who had the least right to question.
…
So the days went on as planned.
Wen Yan entered her sophomore year and began interning at her family's company from time to time. After her mother was discharged from the hospital, her parents began traveling around the world again.
It was as if Wen Zhili had never appeared in this family.
Wen Yan is often the only one left in the empty house.
From the day her sister left, her world seemed to be muted.
…
Sister, we are running out of paper towels at home again.
…
Wen Yan began to update her Moments frequently.
Originally, she updated her Moments at a moderate frequency, so the sudden increase in frequency did not attract much attention.
Anyway, the people she hoped to see hardly gave any reaction.
…
September 12
【I am now a sophomore】
The picture is a photo of the gate of Jiangnan University.
…
September 28
[After landing a basic position, I completed the entire letter of credit process for the first time. Although there was a small mistake, I managed to resolve it by staying up all night. So this is what working overtime feels like.]
The picture shows the moon by the workstation window.
…
October 6
[Very fun]
Located in the mountain city, it is illustrated with 9 photos of air tickets, city views, food, and some photos taken with Shen Guangxi, Jiang Zhu and her boyfriend.
…
October 16
【I made it myself and I am eating well】
The picture shows a photo of two dishes and a soup, with only a pair of bowls and chopsticks placed next to it.
There is also a close-up photo of the braised spare ribs.
Wen Yan commented below: The ribs are not as delicious as those I have eaten before
…
October 29
It's autumn in Hangzhou, wear more clothes to be careful of getting sick. I've been applying lipstick.
The accompanying picture shows a close-up selfie of Wen Yan wearing a beige scarf and smiling.
Jiang Zhu commented below: Why are you so weird lately? Which handsome guy have you taken a fancy to?
Wen Yan replied with an eyes-rolling emoticon.
…
November 13
[Very interesting industry forum, learned a lot]
The picture is a group photo of the event.
In the group photo, Wen Yan smiled appropriately, standing in the crowd. A young man next to her seemed a little closer because of their standing positions.
Wen Zhili liked this post once.
But when Wen Yan clicked on the circle of friends again in disbelief to try to confirm, the like had disappeared.
…
December 24
【Christmas Eve, I miss you】
The picture shows a Christmas tree in the snow at a Christmas market.
…
January 1
【Happy New Year】
No pictures.
…
The day before New Year's Eve.
Wen Jie and Lu Wanqing don't like doing housework, and naturally they don't want to let their two spoiled daughters do it, so they have a robot vacuum cleaner at home, a dishwasher in the kitchen, and they hire a regular housekeeper to come to the house for a comprehensive cleaning at the end of each month.
Before New Year’s Eve this year, a thorough cleaning is naturally essential.
But the housekeeper who often came said to Lu Wanqing, "My eldest daughter is not here this year. Can I clean the room? I can just clean it and put everything back in its place like before."
Lu Wanqing's subconscious hesitation made the two remaining people in the family realize that this was a different New Year after all.
Lu Wanqing glanced calmly at her little daughter who was looking over here.
Wen Yan lowered his head guiltily.
"Mom and Dad, I'm going out to buy some New Year's goods."
"It's already evening, why are you going out? You can just call me on your phone."
Lu Wanqing coughed lightly and glanced at her confused husband.
"Go, Yanyan."
Wen Yan responded, put on a coat and walked out.
Lu Wanqing asked her husband to transfer some more money to her daughter to buy New Year's goods.
Turning back, she sighed softly and said to the housekeeping aunt, "You don't need to clean this room. I'll clean it myself later."
The aunt answered yes and quickly went to clean up other places.
After her aunt left, Lu Wanqing stood in a daze in front of her eldest daughter's wide-open door, looking at the dark room and her own empty heart.
…
She could see that her little daughter had been depressed and forced to smile in the past few months, just like she had been in high school.
At that time, she thought her daughter was just under too much academic pressure in high school, and her sister was not around, so she repeatedly persuaded her eldest daughter to move back home.
But now, it seems that all causes and effects have become extremely clear - so clear that they are sharp and piercing.
Lu Wanqing had no choice but to turn a blind eye.
She asked herself, are you a qualified mother?
Why do two daughters fall in love?
Why force the eldest daughter to run away from home now?
Why do you always focus your life on work? Why don’t you spend more time with your children?
She thought of her eldest daughter's biological grandmother, the first person in the world who loved her a little bit - if she knew that things would develop like this today, would she blame her as a mother for not protecting the child?
Lu Wanqing asked herself honestly that she was not a feudal parent.
She likes to fly around the world and meet all kinds of people.
She loves dressing up, being beautiful, exercising, and her work. She doesn't let time bend her elegant back in the slightest.
She has always respected children's wishes, respected individual development, and even respected homosexuality.
But because she has seen the world, she knows best what kind of malice her two daughters will experience.
In the face of malice, Xiaoli will protect her younger sister. She has always been worthy of the title of elder sister.
What about the small gift?
What about the eldest daughter, who is always gentle, always silent, and more vulnerable?
Now she must be mentally taking all the blame on herself again.
At this moment, she couldn't help but think back to worrying about her daughter who had been away for another half a year.
She always knew that she was a special child, starting from the day she brought her out of the mountain village and heard her call Wen Jie "Dad" and herself "Mom" in a sweet and natural way.
When she first came here, she always had nightmares. Her parents offered to sleep with her at night, but she just smiled and said it was okay.
How could a 4-year-old child smile and say it’s okay?
But Lu Wanqing could see that Xiaoli was just sensible too early and was not a bad boy.
When she first came, she liked to walk barefoot in the house. Lu Wanqing gently persuaded her several times, and later she blushed and whispered that she was afraid that her shoes would dirty the floor.
She would quietly stay up late when her mother had a fever, always ensuring that there was warm water by her bedside every time she woke up.
She would secretly shed tears when her teeth were changing, and only after her third baby tooth fell out did she tell her mother with her tears wiped away that all her teeth might fall out.
Later, she had a younger sister.
She is only 5 years old, but she can adjust the proportion of milk powder for her sister to perfection, and knows what angle of shaking can stop her crying.
She loved to hold her sister on her lap and play with her. The warm yellow light shone on the two sisters, like an oil painting.
When she was a little older, her younger sister liked to stick behind her and call her "sister", and she never got tired of it and always responded to every call.
Lu Wanqing always felt fortunate that the two sisters had each other as companions.
Until one day, Yanyan, who had just learned to walk, lay in her and her husband's arms and acted coquettishly.
Lu Wanqing teased her for a while, then looked up and saw Xiaoli looking at them quietly in the distance.
Her eyes were glaringly lonely.
Only then did she realize what she had neglected. However, she was already very busy with work at that time. Not only did she not have the time and opportunity to make up for her elder daughter, but she also often felt that she owed her younger daughter.
So the little girl who once couldn't even stand in the elevator became her sister's support.
She always worries about her younger sister and everything in the family, but she is always silent and never mentions herself.
She loved to say to herself with a faint smile: "Mom, it's okay."
…
It’s important, a small gift, it’s important.
Xiaoli, mom has never blamed you.
Small gift.
…
Lu Wanqing used her thumb to wipe the moisture that had seeped out from the corners of her eyes.
Finally, she picked up the rag and walked into her eldest daughter's room.
But she was stunned after walking a few steps into the room - this was the first time she entered here since her daughter left.
She approached her daughter's desk in disbelief. On the desk lay a manila envelope and an open wallet.
The tears that Lu Wanqing had just held back still fell silently from her eyes.
Because inside the transparent compartment of the wallet was a family portrait drawn in crayons.
Written below in crooked handwriting:
My sister, I, mom, and dad, we will always be a happy family.
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