Chapter 64 has been found!
The car rolled over the cobblestone road and sped towards the outskirts of the city.
The night was deep, and there were very few cars on the provincial highway.
Zhao Fei rolled down the car window halfway, and a cold wind rushed in, stinging his face.
But he needed the chill to stay awake.
My palms were sweaty as I gripped the steering wheel, and my foot felt weak as I pressed the accelerator.
At 2 a.m., the car finally entered the neighboring city.
The streets were deserted, with only a few dim streetlights shining forlornly.
Zhao Fei slowed down and drove slowly down the street, his eyes scanning the signs on both sides of the road like searchlights.
Hongqi Street is easy to find; it's an old commercial street.
At this time, all the shops were closed, and the roller shutters were pulled shut tightly.
Zhao Fei parked the car at the street corner, got out, and stood in the cold wind.
Zhao Qingda only said it was in the Hongqi Street area, without specifying which restaurant.
There are at least a dozen restaurants on this street.
He lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.
Nicotine calmed his agitated nerves somewhat.
We can't rush it; rushing won't help. Let's talk about it when it's light.
The car is almost out of gas, and the indicator light on the dashboard keeps flashing.
Zhao Fei walked around the neighborhood and found a small hotel with a "Accommodation" sign lit up.
The storefront was narrow, and the stairs were steep and dark. The landlady, wearing a cotton-padded coat and still sleepy-eyed, gave him a room.
The room was so small that it could only fit a bed and a table. Some of the plaster had peeled off the walls, revealing the yellowish-brown mud bricks underneath.
The bedding had a damp, musty smell.
But Zhao Fei didn't care about any of that. He lay down on the bed fully clothed and waited with his eyes open until dawn.
As soon as dawn broke, Zhao Fei got up.
He went to the gas station to fill up his car, bought two steamed buns, and haphazardly stuffed them into his stomach with the plain water provided by the hotel.
At seven o'clock, he returned to Hongqi Street.
The first restaurant opened; it was a small breakfast stall.
Zhao Fei went inside and ordered a bowl of soy milk. While the proprietress was serving the soy milk, he tentatively asked, "Ma'am, could you tell me about someone? A couple of days ago, did a young woman come here with three children to eat? The two girls were twins, about two or three years old, and there was a baby boy in her arms who was almost 100 days old."
The proprietress brought over the soy milk, wiped her hands, and glanced at him: "There are plenty of women with children, who can remember them all?"
"She...is quite pretty, with curly hair, and speaks with a slight accent from the provincial capital."
The proprietress shook her head: "I really don't remember. Most of the people who come here in the morning are rushing to work; it's rare to see them bringing their children for breakfast."
Zhao Fei didn't ask any more questions. He finished his soy milk, paid, and left the shop.
He went from restaurant to restaurant, asking at the second, third, and fourth ones.
Some waiters waved their hands impatiently, while some bosses thought about it seriously but still shook their heads.
By noon, he had asked at almost every restaurant on Hongqi Street, but still had no definite answer.
Standing in the middle of the street, Zhao Fei lit a cigarette, forcing himself to calm down.
Wen Xiaoxiao can't ride a bicycle.
And with three children in tow, she certainly can't go far.
Therefore, she should live near Hongqi Street, within walking distance.
The street radiates outwards from its center.
They searched street by street and inquired in district by district.
You can always find it.
For the next three days, Zhao Fei went crazy, circling around Hongqi Street and wandering through the surrounding streets and alleys.
He drove his Santana very slowly, his eyes never missing a single woman with a child.
When he came across a crowded residential area, he would get out of the car and walk in, checking each building to see if there were any children's clothes hanging on the balconies.
When I get hungry, I just grab a bite at a roadside stall; when I get sleepy, I take a nap in the car.
He didn't even bother to shave his beard after it grew out, and his eyes were bloodshot from staying up all night.
On the afternoon of the third day, Zhao Fei walked to an old residential area behind Hongqi Street.
The alley was too narrow for a car to drive in, so he had to walk.
Several elderly women sat in the alleyway, basking in the sun, holding needlework in their hands.
Zhao Fei hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward.
"Auntie, I'd like to ask you about someone." He tried to make his voice sound as calm as possible. "Is there a young woman living around here with three children? Two twin daughters and a baby boy."
An elderly woman wearing reading glasses looked up, sized him up, and asked, "Who are you looking for?"
“I…I’m her relative. I came from the provincial capital. I heard she was here, so I came to see her.”
The old lady squinted and thought for a moment, then suddenly said "Oh": "Are you talking about Master Wen from Xiaoxiao's tailor shop? She has three children, two daughters and a son."
Zhao Fei's heart skipped a beat, then started pounding wildly: "A tailor shop? Where is it?"
"It's on that street ahead, turn the corner, it's the third storefront, with a blue sign and white lettering." The old lady kindly gave him directions. "Master Wen is a good person, and her craftsmanship is excellent. She's the one who altered my grandson's cotton-padded jacket."
"Thank you, thank you, Auntie!" Zhao Fei's voice trembled slightly. He turned and ran in the direction the old lady pointed, but after running a dozen steps, he suddenly stopped.
We can't just rush over there.
What if she has someone else by her side now?
What if his appearance scares her away again?
Zhao Fei forced himself to slow down, walked to the alley entrance, peeked out, and looked towards the street.
The third storefront. A blue sign with white lettering: Xiaoxiao Tailor Shop.
The door was open, and you could see various fabrics hanging inside, as well as the outline of an old-fashioned sewing machine.
A woman with curly hair stood with her back to the door, head down, pressing a sewing machine; the faint "tap tap tap" sound could be heard.
It's Wen Xiaoxiao.
Even if he only saw a glimpse of the back, Zhao Fei recognized him.
He had dreamed of that figure countless times.
He shrank back, hiding himself behind the wall at the alley entrance, only his eyes showing.
The sewing machine stopped.
Wen Xiaoxiao stood up and turned around. She had lost weight and her chin was sharper, but her eyebrows and eyes were still as delicate as ever.
She walked to the door and looked at both sides of the street, as if she was waiting for someone.
After a while, a woman in her fifties came from the other end of the street, leading two little girls.
The little girls skipped and hopped, their hair in the same little braids, and they wore the same red cotton-padded jackets.
A treasure. A precious gem.
Zhao Fei gripped the wall tightly, his fingernails digging into the cracks between the bricks.
The children have all grown up so much.
They can run and jump now, their little faces are rosy, and they look very healthy.
Wen Xiaoxiao smiled and squatted down, opening her arms.
The two girls rushed into her arms like little birds, calling out "Mommy" in their clear, bright voices.
That woman must be the nanny, he heard Wen Xiaoxiao call her Aunt Liu.
Liu Shuhua was holding a swaddled baby in her arms, which she handed to Wen Xiaoxiao.
Wen Xiaoxiao took the child and kissed the baby's forehead.
Zhao Fei just watched, not daring to move.
It's like looking at the lights on the other side of an uncrossable river.
For the next two days, Zhao Fei, like a shadow, found an inconspicuous spot opposite the tailor shop and secretly watched.
He saw Wen Xiaoxiao open the door around 7 a.m. every morning, sweep the floor, wipe the sewing machine, and organize the fabric.
I saw Liu Shuhua take her three children out to play around eight o'clock. Yizhen and Yibao can now speak in complete sentences, and they chattered away in their childish language around Wen Xiaoxiao.
I saw Wen Xiaoxiao operating the sewing machine while occasionally glancing up at the children with a gentle look in her eyes.
He also saw that it was late at night, the shop was closed, Liu Shuhua was sleeping with the children, but Wen Xiaoxiao was still sitting in the shop, holding something in her hand under the dim light, looking down at it, her shoulders occasionally twitching slightly.
Zhao Fei had no idea what she was looking at.
But he guessed it must be something very important.
On the third day at noon, Liu Shuhua went out to take out the trash, looked up at the other side of the street, and frowned.
Back in the shop, as she picked vegetables, she said to Wen Xiaoxiao, "Xiaoxiao, have you noticed? There's been a black car parked across the street for the past two days. It was parked there all afternoon yesterday, and it's here again today."
Wen Xiaoxiao was hemming a pair of pants without looking up: "They're probably visiting relatives. This street is narrow and parking is inconvenient, so it's normal to stop temporarily."
“It doesn’t look like it to me.” Liu Shuhua glanced outside again. “There seems to be someone in the car who hasn’t gotten out.”
Wen Xiaoxiao then stopped what she was doing, walked to the door, and looked across the street.
The black Santana had dark tinted windows, making it impossible to see inside.
It wasn't Zhao Fei—Zhao Fei drove a minivan, she remembered.
"They're probably waiting for someone," Wen Xiaoxiao said, turning her gaze away. "Let's get back to what we're doing."
She returned to the sewing machine and continued pedaling.
Zhao Fei sat in the car, watching Wen Xiaoxiao glance in their direction before turning back.
She's lost weight, she's really lost a lot of weight.
How difficult must it be for a person to raise three children and run a tailor shop?
He remembered when she was in the Zhao family. Although Zhao Qingda treated her badly, at least she didn't have to worry about food and drink.
What about now?
If a sewing machine is running all day long, how sore must your back be?
After the children are asleep at night, does she still have to stay up late to finish her work?
Zhao Fei gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles turning white.
He wanted to rush over and tell her not to work so hard, that he could take care of her and the child.
I want to hold my precious baby and hear them call me "Daddy." I want to see the baby in the swaddling clothes.
But he couldn't.
Not at least not now.
He needed to figure out the most appropriate way to appear, how to avoid scaring her and making her disappear again.
The sky gradually darkened.
The tailor shop's light came on, a small, warm, dim glow.
She took a picture frame out of the drawer and looked at it under the light.
Zhao Fei couldn't see what was in the photo frame, but he saw Wen Xiaoxiao raise her hand to wipe her eyes.
She was crying.
He almost pushed open the car door and rushed over.
But he held back.
He sat there in the dark car, looking at the warm light, and at the woman in the light, head bowed, tears streaming down her face.
It wasn't until late at night, when the tailor shop lights went out and the whole street fell asleep, that Zhao Fei started his car and slowly drove away.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com