Easy Spring (Part Two)
Hu Fei was stunned. Her hand trembled as she took the empty bowl, and she almost dropped it on the ground.
"Really, Xiaochun?"
Jiang Yichun nodded and put his hands on her shoulders: "Mom, it's been so long since I slept with you."
I want to talk to you.
She saw tears welling up in her mother's eyes, and her mother smiled slightly as she took her hand.
"Okay, then come to my room, or..."
"Let's go to your room." Jiang Yichun tugged at her skirt, just like he had followed his mother closely when he was a child.
"Mom, there must be a lot of photos of me when I was little in your room."
"I want to see the photos, and also photos of you, Mom."
Hu Fei's eyes flickered, he pursed his lips, turned around, and took his daughter's hand.
The two entered the room.
Hu Fei walked to the bedside, took out a dusty photo album from the drawer, and patted the mattress: "Nannan, sit down, sit down."
Jiang Yichun sat down next to his mother and turned his gaze to the photo album.
The album contained a red rose, echoing the rose in one of her mother's albums.
She pulled out a wet wipe from the side and wiped away the dust, finally revealing the bright red rose to the two of them.
Despite the passage of time, she remains radiant.
Hu Fei lowered his eyes, opened the photo album, and pointed to a picture:
“This was taken when I was in high school. At that time, my mom, who is also your grandma, took out some money and put on a small performance for me in that shabby cultural hall at school.”
“Look, the broken guitar I’m holding is a second-hand one I bought when I was working at the ‘Moon’ restaurant in the county.”
"Moonlight Restaurant?" Jiang Yichun blinked. "Ah, Mom, didn't you take me there when I was little?"
Hu Fei smiled and patted the back of her hand: "Yes, my first book signing was also there."
"I was only eighteen at the time, and I even received an acceptance letter from the music academy."
Jiang Yichun blinked and silently gazed at his mother.
Hu Fei shook his head and sighed, "Unfortunately, your grandfather was seriously ill and lost his job at that time, and the family couldn't afford to support my music studies."
“Your aunt is already studying at university. Once she graduates, she’ll definitely have a more stable job than me. I’m in the arts, but it doesn’t pay well. So, I didn’t go. After all, someone as talented as me can just learn on my own.”
Jiang Yichun clearly saw a hint of loneliness flash in her mother's eyes. She reached out and grasped her mother's hand tightly, softly calling her, "Mom..."
Hu Fei waved his hand with a smile, then squeezed her hand even tighter with his other hand: "Alright, if I went to university, I might not even have you here!"
"Oh, right. Your grandpa is so obsessed with metaphysics now because he suddenly got better back then. Haha, isn't that funny?"
"Of course, that was just to comfort him; we still have to trust modern medicine."
Jiang Yichun felt his nose getting increasingly sore; his mother always liked to put on a carefree act in front of him.
When she was young, not long after her mother and father divorced, she asked herself if she wanted to go to the amusement park later as if nothing had happened, and cooked for herself as if nothing had happened, as if the family was just missing an insignificant pet—or even less than a pet.
She rarely saw her mother cry; she only saw her mother smoking, drinking, and finally saying a few drunken words to her, cursing her father, before falling asleep.
Not to mention that when her mother was lucid, she rarely heard her complaining; all she heard were her greetings and jokes.
Jiang Yichun coughed a few times: "Mom, what happened next? You stopped going to school and went to sing at a resident singer's place?"
Hu Fei nodded, took out a napkin, stuffed it into his daughter's hand, and casually turned to the next page.
It was an old, yellowed photograph. My mother had long, flowing hair, her bangs covering half her face. She was wearing a tank top and jeans, holding a microphone in one hand and playing that old guitar in the other.
Several young people of similar age stood behind her.
"Mom, is this a band?"
“You guessed right, Xiaochun. These are some young friends I met when I was working as a singer at a restaurant.” Hu Fei whispered in Jiang Yichun’s ear, “One of them is my first boyfriend.”
She smiled and pointed at the man playing the drums: "That's him. Look how handsome he is. He looks a lot like that guy who was really popular back then... Oh, I can't quite put my finger on it, but he's very handsome."
"Hmm, not your boyfriend's type at all." Hu Fei looked up at his daughter, gently stroking her loose hair. "I like free-spirited men. Xiaochun, it seems you prefer well-behaved men?"
"Your boyfriend looks upright and doesn't seem to have any ulterior motives."
"What?! He Yinxin has so many tricks up his sleeve and crazy schemes!" Jiang Yichun's face immediately turned red, and he jumped up like a cat with its fur standing on end.
"He's so clingy, he always wants to kiss and hug me, he's never serious."
Hu Fei's smile widened: "So, you're the repressed, secretly passionate type?"
"Hmm." Jiang Yichun's head was spinning, so she could only quickly change the subject, "By the way, Mom, what happened between you and your first love uncle?"
Hu Fei covered her mouth and chuckled: "Of course we broke up. He's from the city, and his family looks down on me, a country girl. He married the daughter of a factory director. Before I even knew he was getting married, I broke up with him and disbanded the band."
“We don’t have any contact now. Oh, he did contact me, asking me to ask your aunt to pull some strings so he could take the child to the hospital.”
Jiang Yichun looked into her mother's eyes, and He Yinxin's words echoed in her ears.
"If I hadn't met you, I would have married a girl I didn't even know."
He would probably feel regret if he and He Yinxin had parted ways without ever meeting.
As for myself... I wouldn't regret it if I had never met him.
But if I knew I had just missed out on this clingy, silly dog, perhaps even with my God-like perspective, I would feel a moment of regret for missing out in a parallel world.
She couldn't help but ask, "Mom, aren't you disappointed?"
"What's there to regret? More than 20 years have passed. Besides, I have plenty of regrets in my life. If I were to dwell on these little regrets, I wouldn't be able to get by."
Hu Fei stretched, patted Jiang Yichun's shoulder, lowered his head, and continued flipping through the pages.
One photograph after another flashed past the two of them.
The mother stood under the spotlight, wearing a uniquely tailored little black dress, the hem of which fluttered in the wind. She held a microphone in one hand and had a bright smile on her face.
The mother stroked the photo: "This was the first performance I did in the provincial capital when my first album was released."
"This photo was taken at my book signing event. Look how many people loved Mom back then."
The mother, surrounded by the crowd, held a pen and signed her name on the album of red roses.
"This is a photo of me and my producer back then. We were both very young at the time. She was often criticized for not being able to make good music."
"Unlike me, she had a child in her early twenties. She is still single, but she is already a very famous producer in the industry. Everyone says she is a genius."
"She proved herself, and I'm quite happy for her."
In the photo, two young women are standing arm in arm by the recording studio; the mother is making a peace sign, while the short-haired woman is giving a thumbs-up.
Jiang Yichun stared at the photo: "Mom, do you still keep in touch with this aunt?"
Hu Fei looked up and chuckled softly, "Occasionally. We'll send each other New Year's greetings via text message, since she's a well-known producer now and very busy, so we don't have much time to keep in touch."
"Oh, by the way, Xiaochun, how's your relationship with your friends?" Hu Fei gently stroked her hand and looked at her.
Jiang Yichun's lips twitched, and he snorted softly: "Well, my high school friends gradually faded away after I went to college. I only keep in touch with one or two of them, and we go out to play during holidays. As for junior high school... I don't think I made any friends."
"After all, I was busy studying back then, hehe."
Hu Fei patted her back and smiled, "It's normal. The atmosphere in the junior high school you attended wasn't very good. Quite a few students went astray. Luckily, you never joined them."
"Xiaochun, actually, Mom has always thought you are my good daughter."
"Mom knows that her current job might... make you feel ashamed. To earn money, Mom sings in those shady places..."
Jiang Yichun was taken aback, and hurriedly waved his hand: "What? Mom, I think I'm a burden to you! If you hadn't given birth to me, you would be a very famous singer by now."
As she listened to her mother's gradually hoarse voice, her thoughts drifted back to her childhood.
In her hazy childhood memories, she always fell asleep to her mother's gentle lullabies, just like now, tugging at her mother's clothes.
However, my mother's voice was no longer as beautiful as it used to be. Smoking and drinking had made her voice hoarse, and she could no longer sing those high notes.
Her father's ghostly words echoed in her ears once more: "Your name foreshadows that our love is destined to end in tragedy!"
The river flows swiftly, spring is over.
Perhaps it was because of me that my mother could no longer sing.
Jiang Yichun lowered his head: "After all, my name is so sad."
"The river flows swiftly, spring is over."
As soon as she finished speaking, her mother grabbed her hand tightly.
She saw the tears sliding down her mother's cheeks: "No! That's not it!"
"Don't listen to your dad's nonsense, that unreliable pseudo-artist. He didn't even name you! He was just saying that in anger!"
Jiang Yichun's lips trembled, and before she could speak, her mother pulled her into her arms.
She had a faint scent of shower gel on her body.
Her soft but slightly hoarse voice rang in Jiang Yichun's ears: "Your name was actually given to you by your grandmother. You were born on the day of Lichun (the beginning of spring)."
Grandma said she hoped that every spring after you were born would be easy.
Jiang Yichun sat upright next to his mother, his face flushing.
She gently wiped her eyes, and it turned out to be a single tear.
Her mother stroked her back, tears welling in her eyes, but a smile played on her lips.
"Xiaochun, although there are so many regrets, with you in my life, those regrets are no longer regrets."
"I have never regretted giving birth to you."
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