Reunion at the Train Station (Part 2)
He Yinxin's head was buzzing from the slap, but she still gripped the box of egg yolk pastries tightly.
The egg yolk pastries in the box wobbled and tapped against the cardboard box.
"He Yinxin! Have you no shame? You only thought of your grandfather after spending a night with that gold digger, is that it?"
He Yinxin stood there, stunned: "What gold digger?"
His mother poked the hickey on his neck hard: "You know perfectly well what you're doing. Don't you have any shame? You're that gold digger who asked us for money last time!"
"Give me 500,000, and I'll leave your son."
Jiang Yichun's playful words rang in his ears, only to be quickly silenced by a brief ringing in his ears.
Gold digger?
How could Xiaochun be a gold digger?
"She's not a gold digger! She's my girlfriend! A wonderful girl!"
"If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be alive today!"
He Yinxin screamed almost immediately.
Several pairs of eyes in the ward were fixed on him.
Ignoring his own swollen cheeks, he shoved the egg yolk pastry into his cousin's hand and dragged his parents out of the ward.
He Yinxin never imagined that she was so strong.
He looked up, panting heavily, and stared into the eyes of the two men: "Can you please stop this?!"
"Grandpa, when Grandpa was sick, did any of you come to see him? It was me, I came to stay with Grandpa every day, it was my uncle, aunt and Xuexi who came to see Grandpa, did you... even call Grandpa once?"
His father sneered and grabbed his collar: "We're busy with work, we need to make money! And you, if you hadn't left your father, would I be so angry and end up being diagnosed with cancer?"
He Yinxin felt as if he had been punched in the gut. His legs trembled, he clenched his fists, and took a deep breath.
He used to silently endure their criticism, just like a child.
But today, he could no longer bear it:
"Me? Cancer is something that's inherently uncontrollable, so why are you all blaming me for everything?"
"Dad, Mom, it's one thing for you to be cold to me, but why are you treating Grandpa like this too? Doesn't he live with you?"
"In your eyes, is Grandpa just a tool to measure your filial piety?"
After he roared out those words, silence returned to his ears.
He looked at the two empty wooden puppets in front of him, their two emotionless eyes staring at him.
The parents finally spoke up: "We gave birth to you, so you belong to us."
"Whether it's getting married, having children, choosing a school, or pursuing graduate studies, you should all listen to us."
"We raised you all these years hoping you'd make something of yourself!"
"This way we'll save face, and you won't be doing too badly!"
He Yinxin's lips trembled. He had been thrown into a bizarre movie and was being watched by two terrifying ghosts.
His fingers gradually lost their warmth.
That day, when he returned to his hometown after receiving an offer from University A, his parents looked at him with the same eyes.
“Xinxin, we’ve found you a job. Graduate school is really tough, so why don’t you work in the finance department of your Uncle Chen’s company? It’s a stable job with a high income.”
"Yes, Uncle Chen's daughter is about your age."
He Yinxin listened quietly, still looking like a well-behaved child: What Mom and Dad said makes sense. The current economic environment is not good, and it is difficult to find a good job.
As for University A, as for my efforts these past few days, as for my parents' previous threats and urging...
As for why I couldn't sleep for nights on end when I was applying for graduate school...
Oh well, it's just giving up anyway.
I've given up so much over the years, so one more offer won't make a difference.
Although it seems that I want to go to University A.
“We’ve agreed that once you get to know each other, you’ll get married.”
marry?
He wasn't attracted to Jiang Yichun at that time, but the first thing that came to mind was Jiang Yichun's smile.
She gnawed on a pig's trotter, tossed her ponytail, and pushed away the self-deluded man in the cafeteria.
The light emanating from her shone through his memories and fell upon him at that moment.
"I don't want to get married, I don't even know her."
"You won't even listen to my opinions, and you want to continue deciding my life?"
He tore off the invisible collar around his neck, pushed his parents away for the first time, said for the first time that he wanted to break with them, and for the first time completely unleashed the pain that had been buried deep in his heart.
This was the first time his parents had ever scolded him: "You heartless bastard!"
He always looked up at his parents through the thick fog, but today, it seems he no longer has to stand in a low position.
He has people he loves, and people who love him.
The struggle was painful and he was bound to get hurt, but he eventually flapped his wings and flew out of the pigeon coop.
He is no longer that caged bird; he has the ability to choose his own path forward, and even more so, the ability to break free from their shackles, stand at the same height as them, and look them straight in the eye.
He looked at them straight ahead and realized they were nothing more than two empty shells, two middle-aged men with graying hair, and nothing more than human beings.
And the words they spoke were as pale as sandstorms.
But there was no one behind him.
He has her.
She hates herself, yet she gives herself love.
He Yinxin gave a cold laugh: "So, this is why you won't let me pursue a master's degree, but instead make me work as a financial advisor for your business partner's company, and incidentally arrange a marriage between me and his daughter?"
"you……"
He wanted to question them about why they only treated him as a tool.
He wanted to question them about why they provided him with material comforts but never satisfied him spiritually.
He wanted to question them about why they were being so heartless and why they wanted another child.
He wanted to question them about why his name was simply a combination of their surnames.
But when the words reached his lips, he couldn't say anything.
Finally, he sighed deeply: "Haven't you already given up on me?"
"Is it worth having such a strong desire to control someone like me who has been abandoned?"
"This doesn't align with your principles, does it?"
"Mr. Yin, Ms. He."
The two stood there, stunned, their faces turning red and white in turns.
Their faces blurred before He Yinxin's eyes once again.
"Alright, that's settled then."
“If you want to see Grandpa, I won’t stop you. I’ll go in first.”
"I want to see him one last time."
He Yinxin turned around, no longer listening to what the two people behind her were saying, and strode towards the ward.
With tears in his eyes, he sniffed and rushed into the ward.
Ah Gong lay on the hospital bed, several tubes inserted into his nostrils, the electrocardiogram screeching loudly.
He Xuexi was sitting next to her grandfather, cutting the egg yolk pastry into small pieces, skewering them with toothpicks, and stuffing them into her grandfather's mouth one bite at a time.
When Grandma was alive, Grandpa also loved eating all kinds of pastries she made.
"Old Fang, when I'm lying in a hospital bed about to die, you have to make me an egg yolk pastry so I can eat it on my way to the underworld."
"Old man, are you out of your mind again? You're so healthy and strong, yet you're thinking about dying? Spit it out!"
The couple would always bicker while finishing the remaining pastries, and then take themselves and their cousin out to play.
Grandpa's wish was indeed not fulfilled; Grandma passed away before him.
After Grandma left, Grandpa seemed to really become an even more annoying and eccentric old man.
Grandma's words echoed in his ears: "Xinxin, your grandpa is indeed a bit strict with you, but don't resent him too much."
She sighed and pointed to her head: "He had some trouble when he was young, and his mental state isn't very good. Just treat him like a strange old man."
"Don't worry, this old woman is here. That strange old man won't dare to do anything reckless. He was just wondering what new and interesting toys to buy for you guys."
"But knowing his character, he'll definitely make you finish your homework."
The old woman chuckled, while the unsuspecting old man, sitting to the side and eating pastries, also managed a strange smile.
"Brother, brother, Grandpa is calling you." He Xuexi's clear voice rang in his ear.
He Yinxin wiped her tear-filled eyes, sniffed, sat down on the edge of the bed, and looked into her grandfather's old and hazy eyes.
He called out softly to his grandfather.
"Hey, did you hear that, Xinxin?" Grandpa struggled to get out of bed, with egg yolk pastry still stuck to the corner of his mouth.
He gently grasped He Yinxin's hand with his withered hands.
These past few days, whenever he had free time, he would go to the hospital to bring his grandfather food and tell him the news.
Grandpa's usually stern face would occasionally light up with a hint of warmth, and he would still hold his hand and chatter on about his youth.
That was something He Yinxin had never heard of before, about her grandfather's past.
And that strange, smelly old man was nothing more than a hedgehog covered in wounds.
"Xinxin, you have a boyfriend now?" Grandpa's voice pulled him back to reality.
He Yinxin's heart skipped a beat, but she quickly replied, "Yes, I have. She's very good, and we... love each other very much."
Grandpa laughed, his ribs rising and falling, and continued in a broken voice, "That's wonderful, Xinxin."
"When you ran away from home, I thought you were a heartless ingrate, a scoundrel."
"But after all these days, I've realized I was wrong."
"You are very conscientious, very filial, and very well-behaved."
"Xinxin... Sigh, never mind, maybe it'll be easier if I'm not obedient."
He Yinxin wiped away the silver strands stuck to her grandfather's hairline and the crumbs of egg yolk pastry that he couldn't swallow.
His tears fell onto the blanket in a steady stream.
He didn't know what to say, so he picked up the egg yolk pastry box from the side and placed it in front of his grandfather.
"Grandpa, do you want more egg yolk pastries? They're very sweet, you...you should have some more."
Tears welled up in the old man's bewildered eyes as he tugged at He Yinxin's clothes, creating wrinkles: "I won't eat anymore. Don't suffer too much, don't suffer your whole life."
"Xinxin, I really have to go see your grandma now."
"She will make me more egg yolk pastries than I can eat."
"Beep—"
The electrocardiogram emitted a long, mournful sound.
The mournful cry turned into a piercing scream in He Yinxin's ears, and the egg yolk pastry box fell to the ground.
A few pieces of pastry spilled out of the box, and shattered into pieces the moment they touched the floor.
Grandpa, he can no longer eat egg yolk pastries, but he still has an endless supply of them.
After that day, He Yinxin told Jiang Yichun about her situation and returned to her hometown to devote herself to her grandfather's funeral.
He Yinxin's birthday clashes with his grandfather's, so according to rural customs, he cannot formally attend the funeral and can only stand aside and watch from afar.
Looking at the paper money fluttering in the sky, seeing the crowds wearing white cloths and holding urns of ashes, and listening to the funeral music played by the band.
The crowd surged, but he was left all alone.
He Yinxin felt as if something had been drained from her body.
With his grandfather gone, he had no regrets, so after the funeral, he returned to Huaxing City.
Sitting on the high-speed train, he lowered his eyes and dialed the number for the woman he had been thinking about day and night for so many days:
"Xiaochun, I want to... see you."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
