Xue Qing rarely drinks alcohol, but this time she drank red wine. It tasted sweet and sour, so she didn't think much of it. Little did she know that red wine had a strong aftereffect, and Xue Qing soon drank too much.
"Huh, why is the ceiling shaking?" Xue Qing said, staring blankly at the ceiling.
"It's not the ceiling shaking, it's you drinking too much," Li Bin said helplessly. He walked up to Xue Qing and took the wine glass from her hand.
"What are you doing? Don't take it away, I haven't finished drinking yet," Xue Qing protested, looking at Li Bin groggily. "Why are you swaying too? Why can't you stand up straight? Let me help you."
As she spoke, Xue Qing swayed as she tried to get up to help Li Bin, but she almost fell because she couldn't stand properly. Li Bin caught her in time.
"You've had too much to drink, Xue Qing. Let me help you to the sofa for a while." Li Bin was worried that Xue Qing would drink more, so he helped her to sit down on the sofa in the living room.
Xue Qing sat on the sofa and saw Jiang Kefan watching TV next to her. "Jiang Kefan, it's so late, why aren't you home yet?" Xue Qing was completely drunk at this point. She had forgotten how she got to Li Bin's house. When she saw Jiang Kefan, she said to him.
"Aunt Xue, we came together. Li Younan won first place in the guzheng competition, and we came to celebrate with her. Have you forgotten?" Jiang Kefan rolled her eyes at Xue Qing. So, women are troublesome, and drunk women are even more troublesome.
"Oh, is that so? I remember now." Xue Qing rubbed her head. "But you should go home now. It's so late and you're still out. Your mother must be worried. She'll call me again soon."
“No one will care that I called you anymore, you’ve had too much to drink.” Hearing Xue Qing mention his mother, Jiang Kefan’s mood sombered. He suppressed his tears and said softly.
"What are you talking about? Your mother cares about you so much. She's in America, and she calls me every single day to ask how you are. Otherwise, why would I be here to pick you up again today?" Xue Qing mumbled incoherently, "She calls me every day."
"What did you say?" Upon hearing Xue Qing's words, not only Jiang Kefan, but also Li Bin and Li Younan couldn't help but ask her.
Li Bin lowered his head and looked at Xue Qing, asking, "Jiang Hua is in America now? Is she still alive?" Jiang Kefan looked at Xue Qing nervously.
“Yes, that’s right. What nonsense are you talking about? Jiang Hua is still alive and well. She’s abroad.” The drunk Xue Qing said to Li Bin.
His mother was still alive? Jiang Kefan could hardly believe it; he was afraid he would wake up tomorrow and find it was all a dream. At that moment, he was both happy and worried, displaying a maturity beyond his years unlike that of his peers.
Li Bin repeatedly questioned Xue Qing, worried that it was just Xue Qing talking nonsense while drunk, needlessly disappointing Jiang Kefan. The answer he received was always the same: Jiang Hua was still alive.
"What are you doing? Why do you keep asking me the same question? She's been calling me lately. It's so annoying," Xue Qing mumbled absently from the side.
After listening to Xue Qing finish speaking, Jiang Kefan suddenly had a flash of inspiration: That's right, the phone!
Xue Qing's phone was on the dining table. Li Bin quickly went to the dining room to retrieve it and handed it to Jiang Kefan.
Jiang Kefan took the phone. He was extremely nervous. His little hands quickly scrolled through the phone numbers in Xue Qing's phone's contact list. He found them but didn't see Jiang Hua's name. The recent contacts were all strangers' full names, so it probably wasn't her. Jiang Kefan's young heart was pounding. He was so worried.
"Let's check the call log. Didn't she say she just called recently?" Li Bin said from the side. He and Li Younan looked at Jiang Kefan nervously, worried that it was just Xue Qing's drunken talk and shouldn't be taken seriously.
Upon hearing Li Bin's words, Jiang Kefan opened the call log. Besides the names of strangers, the most frequent calls were to an unfamiliar 10-digit number. This phone number had no name saved, and the 10 digits clearly didn't belong to a domestic number. Considering Xue Qing's repeated claims that her mother was in the United States, Jiang Kefan was almost certain that this was her mother's phone number.
Jiang Kefan, thinking it was better to believe it than not, decided to take a gamble and dialed the phone number.
It was still early morning in the United States when Jiang Hua was woken up by the ringing of the phone.
She glanced at her phone and saw it was Xue Qing calling.
Xue Qing was familiar with the time difference in the United States and usually made calls in the afternoon. The fact that he was calling so late today must mean it was urgent. Had something happened to Ke Fan?
Thinking this, Jiang Hua quickly answered the phone.
"Hey, Xue Qing, what's wrong?" Jiang Hua asked anxiously as soon as the call connected.
Jiang Kefan, holding her phone nervously, finally broke down in tears when she heard her mother's familiar voice coming from the other end of the line after the call connected.
Jiang Kefan had lived with his mother since childhood, and she was the most important person in his life. When he heard the news of her death, he was devastated and went through a very difficult time, feeling like the sky had fallen. He hated his father and ignored everyone around him. Only Li Younan, who had also lost her mother, could get close to him. It could be said that this child had been going through a very difficult period recently. Now, hearing his mother's voice again, Jiang Kefan couldn't control himself. He was both happy and aggrieved, and overwhelmed by these emotions, he finally couldn't hold back his tears.
There was no one speaking on the other end of the phone, only a familiar crying sound. Jiang Hua guessed it was her son, Jiang Kefan, who must know that she was still alive.
Hearing her son cry, Jiang Hua felt a pang of heartache and couldn't help but cry as well. Since Jiang Kefan was born, they had lived together and had never been separated for so long. At this moment, she missed her son, who was far away on the other side of the ocean, terribly.
Jiang Hua really wanted to get on a plane and fly back to her son's side immediately, but the reality was that she couldn't return to China yet, and the news that she was still alive absolutely had to be kept secret.
The mother and son were separated by tens of thousands of miles and could only cry together on the phone. "Kefan, Mom misses you. Mom really misses you," Jiang Hua said, unable to hold back her tears.
"Mom, Mom, I miss you so much. Please come back soon!" Jiang Kefan pleaded loudly.
"Kefan, your mother has her reasons for not being able to return to China right now. You can't tell anyone that I'm still alive, okay?"
"Mother……"
“If you miss your mom, use Aunt Xue Qing’s phone to call her. Mom will come back to you as soon as possible. Trust me, okay?” Jiang Hua said to Jiang Kefan.
"Okay, Mom, I'll listen to you. Please come back soon."
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