Chapter 63 Hot Milk
Su Xia raised her head. "What do you mean?"
Xu Jiaojiao held the chicken nuggets in her hands, with a circle of red sauce around her mouth. She lowered her voice and said, "My father was arrested by the police before."
The little girl spoke hesitantly, as if she felt a little embarrassed, but her eyes were full of unguarded trust in her.
Su Xia's breathing stopped for a moment.
It is natural to have preconceived ideas.
Unlike her, the Xu brothers and sisters did not take their mother's surname. In the memories of two lifetimes, Xu Jiqing never mentioned his father and obviously avoided related topics. Even at their wedding and even after Xu Jiqing's death, no man appeared by Lin Yuezhen's side.
So, she took it for granted that Lin Yuezhen was a widower and raised two children as a single parent.
If Xu Jiqing's father was in prison before...
Where was Xu Jiqing when he gave up the national competition and skipped the college entrance examination?
Where did you go next?
Those questions that I had no idea about originally emerged in my mind one by one, and the answers were shrouded in a veil, with a vague outline but not clear.
The end of the year is approaching, and with the background music of "Congratulations on your prosperity" playing, the restaurant's air conditioner is humming, blowing out dry hot air.
Su Xia's heart was beating against her chest, faster and faster.
She swallowed, "Why did the police take him away?"
"Because he beat his brother."
Su Xia frowned, "He was beaten..."
Was the beating serious? she wanted to ask.
I also think it's complete nonsense.
I disciplined the child behind closed doors because the noise was so loud that it disturbed the neighbors. When the police arrived, they would usually just give him a few words of warning and take him back to the station.
But Xu Jiqing's father was in jail.
Xu Jiaojiao's big eyes, with distinct black and white, seemed to see through her thoughts. Like a little adult, she tried to comfort her with soft words, "The police accompanied my brother to the hospital. The pain went away after we got there."
"My brother said we are very powerful and not pitiful at all."
Xu Jiaojiao observed her for a while, then rested her elbows on the table and put her little hand close to Su Xia's ear. "Sister Xia Xia, let me tell you a secret. My brother and I agreed to take Dad away."
Su Xia was stunned for two seconds, "How to discuss it?"
Xu Jiaojiao paused for a moment.
"That day, my mother was away from the store, and my father was out drinking. My brother said he would definitely be back by nine o'clock, so I didn't want to sleep."
"My brother was sitting in the living room waiting for my father and told me to hide in my room and call the police at 9:30."
"And then?" Su Xia's palms were sweating.
The little girl looked at Su Xia and suddenly became nervous, as if she was in a dilemma. "I'm afraid if I tell you, you won't like me anymore."
"Absolutely not," Su Xia said, "and I won't tell anyone."
"It's just... my brother wrote me a note with pinyin on it and told me to count to two and read it after the call was connected."
Xu Jiaojiao recalled in a low voice, "Say I'm Xu Jiaojiao, I can't hear you. My home is in Sunshine Garden Building 3, Unit 2, 4th Floor East. My father is beating my brother. He's bleeding profusely and is dying. Uncles and aunts, please come and save him quickly."
Seeing Su Xia's pale face, Xu Jiaojiao quickly grabbed her hand and said, "It's okay, sister. It's all fake. My brother and I deceived the police uncle."
Su Xia's heart was beating so fast that it seemed like it was about to jump out of her throat.
Under the warm winter sun, Xu Jiaojiao's ears are round and cute, with a circle of small fluff that is unique to children.
She tied her hair today and put on a new custom hearing aid that was so small that it was almost invisible. At first glance, she looked no different from other normal children.
You have to stare very carefully at the ears to see a little metallic light.
Su Xia was a little dazed.
She wanted to ask how wide the scope of the statement "It's all fake" was, but when she saw Xu Jiaojiao's innocent smile, the question became extremely difficult and she couldn't ask it.
After hesitating for a moment, she changed her words, "How was your brother that day?"
"My brother said he's fine."
"So, what did you see?"
Xu Jiaojiao shook her head. "I have to listen to him and not open the door."
Su Xia pursed her lips, "No sound outside...?"
"It wasn't all fake. I really couldn't hear at the time, so I didn't know if the person on the other end of the line heard me. I just read it several times."
Xu Jiaojiao scratched her head, feeling a little annoyed after thinking about it. "The policewoman later opened the door and took me away. No one was home."
She was too young at the time, and hearing aids for young children were too expensive for Lin Yuezhen to afford.
Xu Jiqing kept communicating with her using a small notebook.
My brother’s handwriting is very beautiful, and even his pinyin looks good, but it’s not good to lie to the police.
In the police car on the way to the Public Security Bureau, Xu Jiaojiao's heart was pounding. She reached into her schoolbag and secretly tore the last page of the notebook into pieces and threw them through the car window.
Su Xia didn't speak for a long time.
Xu Jiaojiao tilted her face to look at her and asked cautiously, "Sister Xia Xia, do you think we are bad?"
"No, not bad at all."
Su Xia rubbed her head, lowered her head to adjust her expression, and tore open another small box of sweet and sour sauce for her. Just as she was about to ask something, Xu Jiqing came over with a plate.
Two cups of hot drinks, one was placed in front of Xu Jiaojiao and the other was given to her.
Xu Jiaojiao was originally quite happy. She stood up excitedly and opened the lid of the cup. Seeing that the contents had wilted again, she said, "I already—"
"Talk less."
"Have you finished your winter vacation homework? Drink your milk today."
Xu Jiqing's tone was very calm. When he turned to Su Xia, his cold fingers accidentally touched hers and said, "You stay with her."
Su Xia vaguely understood his intention, but her heart was still in a mess because of the secret she had just heard.
"I, I just ate too much and can't drink anymore."
"Then drink it later," Xu Jiqing said calmly, "Let it cool here first."
Although it was clearly an act of concern, Xu Jiqing's expression was very cold and he didn't look at her much, as if they were back to the day they first met.
Su Xia had never seen anyone who was so good at hiding things.
Rather than saying that he is cunning, it is better to say that Xu Jiqing's heart itself is a wall, very thick and hard, so high that not a single light can be seen.
The way he shows that he cares about you is to take on everything for you, and then say lightly, "I'm fine."
She suddenly felt sorry for him.
That year, hot milk at KFC cost five yuan a cup, and Xu Jiqing used the dented mineral water bottle for at least half a year.
Su Xia's palms were still sweaty and were getting hot from being covered by the paper cup. She pushed it towards him and said, "I'm wearing very thick clothes. The hot wind is blowing very strongly here. Don't you have air conditioning there? Let me warm my hands with it."
"It's for you. If you don't want it, just pour it out."
Xu Jiqing's gaze lingered on Su Xia's face for a moment, then he turned and walked towards the table where the tutoring class was taking place.
It seemed as if he came over just to interrupt them and tell them that the milk might just be an excuse.
Her intuition told her that Xu Jiqing didn't want others to know too much about his family affairs.
Su Xia actually has a lot of questions she wants to ask.
When would his father come back? Was the injury on his hand caused by that time? What would he and Xu Jiaojiao do in the future?
In the end, he shut up and didn't ask any more questions.
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