Chapter 2
By the time Qiu Yang finished cooking, the Chinese medicine was almost ready. Qiu Momo used tongs to remove two honeycomb briquettes, placed the clay pot back on the coal stove to simmer in the residual heat, and then went to the bathroom to wash her hands. When she came out, Qiu Yang had already set the food on the only table in the room. He sat on the bed, and Qiu Momo took the chopsticks he handed her and sat in the chair opposite him.
The table was small, but it was already laden with dishes: three main courses and a soup. There was braised pork knuckle, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, stir-fried eggplant, potatoes, and green peppers, and a corn and pork rib soup. Qiu Yang was a good cook; Qiu Momo's stomach was already rumbling from the aroma wafting from the room while she was doing her homework.
"Eat up, these are all your favorites." Qiu Yang said as he placed a large pork knuckle on his plate. The rich broth dripped onto the white rice, looking incredibly tempting.
Qiu Mo swallowed hard a few times, complaining softly, "I told you I don't like braised pork knuckle, why did you still buy it?" That shop was a long-established braised food shop, the taste authentic, so it was extremely popular, often with long queues. Besides, the shop was quite far from here, and she didn't know when Qiu Yang had gone there. Qiu Mo didn't immediately pick up her chopsticks, but instead placed a piece of meat on Qiu Yang's plate as well, saying, "Brother, you eat too." She then smiled at Qiu Yang.
Qiu Momo had exceptionally beautiful features; her eyes crinkled when she smiled, and she had a faint dimple on the left corner of her mouth. Even though Qiu Yang often saw her like this, he couldn't help but blush and quickly started eating. Seeing him start eating, Qiu Momo contentedly began to gnaw on the braised pork knuckle in her bowl.
Qiu Yang has a small appetite; he was already full after Qiu Momo had only eaten half of her meal. After putting down his chopsticks, Qiu Yang glanced at Qiu Momo a few times, and finally his gaze fell on the jacket he had taken off that morning.
"MoMo, did you go to work at the KTV again?" Qiu Yang asked cautiously.
It's been discovered.
Qiu Momo had only this thought in mind.
He nodded slightly, glancing at Qiu Yang's expression out of the corner of his eye. Qiu Yang's face wasn't looking good, but he wasn't angry, so he probably wasn't upset. Before he could speak, Qiu Momo immediately lowered her head and apologized, "I'm sorry, brother, I promised you I wouldn't go. But we need money, your illness..."
Qiu Yang held his head, his voice trembling with guilt, "Mo Mo, I've dragged you down. I'm not blaming you, it's just that going to a place like that is too dangerous. I was afraid you'd get hurt. You're different from other boys, after all." As Qiu Yang finished speaking, his shoulders trembled uncontrollably, and the tears that kept falling soaked the tablecloth in front of him.
Seeing Qiu Yang cry, Qiu Momo panicked. He put down his chopsticks, walked to Qiu Yang's side, and squatted down to look at him. But Qiu Yang kept covering his face with his hands, so Qiu Momo couldn't see him. He could only put his hands on Qiu Yang's shoulders and gently pat him to comfort him.
With Qiu Momo's comforting words, Qiu Yang gradually calmed down. Finally, he put his hand down, picked up a tissue to wipe his face, and said to Qiu Momo, "Can we not go? I'm very scared."
Qiu Momo patted Qiu Yang's back, rested her head on his shoulder, and nodded. After Qiu Yang discovered she was working at a KTV last time, he threw a huge tantrum, scaring Qiu Momo so much that she never dared mention the word "KTV" at home again. But over the past year, Qiu Yang's condition had worsened, and the family was already struggling to make ends meet, which was why he secretly went to work at the KTV.
He would leave the house after Qiu Yang fell asleep each day. Qiu Yang had taken his medicine and was sleeping soundly, so he usually wouldn't notice. He just needed to get home before Qiu Yang woke up in the morning.
But to my surprise, Qiu Yang still found out.
As for why Qiu Yang is so afraid of KTV, Qiu Momo had asked him before, but Qiu Yang kept avoiding the question. Judging from Qiu Yang's reaction, KTV is probably like that dark alley in front of the door—it holds unspeakable painful memories for him.
"Brother, I'm sorry, I really didn't want you to worry, but you were so scared, it was my fault. I won't go again, I'll call the manager right away." He had considered Qiu Yang's reaction after finding out, but he didn't expect Qiu Yang to cry.
Only after Qiu Momo's repeated assurances did Qiu Yang feel relieved. Looking at the now-cold food, he slapped his head in frustration.
"It's all my fault. I should have waited until you finished eating before we talked."
"It's okay, it's not too cold yet, you can eat it, and you can take your medicine now, brother."
As Qiu spoke, he got up and went outside to bring the casserole in. But before he could even step out the door, he spotted a crimson light flickering in the dark stairwell, which startled him so much that he immediately closed the door.
Qiu Yang was startled by his actions and quickly asked what was wrong.
Qiu shook his head silently. "Brother, there's someone outside!" He didn't know who it was. Usually, no one except the two of them would come to this basement. At this time, having someone standing at the stairwell smoking was really frightening to him.
Perhaps Qiu Yang was frightened by Qiu Momo's serious attitude, because he also frowned, picked up the kitchen knife that had not yet been put away, and moved slowly to Qiu Momo's side.
"Brother, should we call the police?" Qiu Momo asked softly from the side.
"Let's see what's going on. What if it's just a drunkard? Maybe it's nothing serious, and we're overreacting." As he spoke, Qiu Yang moved step by step to the door, intending to open it a crack to see who was outside. But before he could even put his hand on the lock, the door was pushed open from the outside.
Qiu Momo and Qiu Yang exchanged a glance and immediately jumped back a few steps.
"What happened, brother? I clearly closed the door just now," Qiu asked in a low voice.
Qiu Yang also wanted to know what was going on, and then the door was fully opened, and a tall man in a well-tailored suit walked in, holding a key in his hand.
Qiu glanced at the key and realized she had been careless; she had closed the door in a hurry and hadn't taken the key out of the lock.
The man entered the house, his brows instantly furrowing in disdain. He quickly scanned the entire house, his gaze finally settling on Qiu Momo. Noticing his gaze, Qiu Momo immediately hid behind Qiu Yang, deftly pulling her phone from her bag to dial the police.
"Qiu Momo".
The man called out Qiu Momo's name, and Qiu Momo's hand trembled, causing her phone to fall to the ground.
Qiu Yang looked at the man in front of him warily. "Who are you?"
The fact that he could accurately call out Qiu Momo's name meant they knew each other. But judging from Qiu Momo's reaction, that didn't seem to be the case. Considering that Qiu Momo had been working at a KTV recently, Qiu Yang immediately had a bad feeling.
Could this person have taken a liking to Momo, and since Momo didn't agree, he's planning to forcibly take her away?
Thinking of this, Qiu Yang's face turned pale, and large beads of sweat slid down his forehead. He gripped the kitchen knife tightly with both hands, raised it towards the man, and then turned to Qiu Momo and said, "Momo, just run away later, don't worry about me."
Qiu shook her head silently, "No, brother, let's run together." Then, she immediately bared her teeth and glared at the man, "Who are you? What's your purpose in coming to my house?"
Although he and Qiu Yang lived a hard life, they never borrowed money or owed any debts, so they weren't people who would collect debts. When he worked at the KTV, he wore ugly makeup, but no one bothered him. He was always diligent and cautious at work, let alone offending anyone.
After ruling out these possibilities, Qiu Momo suddenly felt that this person had no reason to be here, and that she could still call him by name.
It can't be that he was caught charging too much for writing exam papers, and those guys sent someone to teach him a lesson, right? That's impossible. It's only five yuan a paper. They agreed to the price right away when we were negotiating, and they didn't haggle. They must be well-off.
As Qiu Momo was lost in thought, she saw the man elegantly pull a photograph from his pocket and hand it to her. Qiu Yang, holding a knife, didn't have a hand to take it, so Qiu Momo had no choice but to bite the bullet and step forward.
The moment he saw the photo, his eyes widened in disbelief. Qiu Yang saw it at the same time, and he was even more surprised than Qiu Momo; he almost dropped the kitchen knife in his hand.
The photo was a family portrait with six people in total. An elderly man was sitting in the front row, with a man and a woman beside him, and three people were standing in the back row, two men and a woman. What shocked Qiu Momo and Qiu Yang was the boy in the middle of the back row, who looked almost exactly like Qiu Momo.
Qiu Yang looked at the photo, then at Qiu Momo.
Yes, exactly the same. Only the boy in the photo wasn't as delicate as Qiu Momo's, and he was taller. His height reached the chin of the man next to him, while Qiu Momo, according to Qiu Yang, only reached his shoulder. Qiu Yang quickly glanced at the uninvited man and made a guess.
“Qiu Momo, no, I shouldn’t call you Qiu Momo anymore, your name is Sang Nian, and I am your uncle. The boy in the photo who looks just like you is your twin brother.” The man’s timely words confirmed Qiu Yang’s guess. He closed his eyes and turned to look at Qiu Momo.
Qiu Momo stared blankly, showing no reaction to the man's words. His eyes gradually reddened, and soon, hot tears streamed down his face.
"Uncle?" Qiu Momo's voice was a little hoarse. He held the photo up to the man's face, looking at the man and then at the photo, but he couldn't see anything clearly because tears had already blurred his vision.
He actually has an uncle, he has family, and he even has a twin brother who looks exactly like him.
This is a dream that Qiu Momo has never dared to have in her entire life.
"We've been looking for you for eleven years, and we've finally found you."
The man who called himself Qiu Momo's uncle added another sentence, which instantly shattered Qiu Momo's defenses. He had always believed that he was abandoned by his biological parents because he was a monster, but now it seemed that wasn't the case at all. They had been searching for him all along, never giving up, for eleven years!
It was impossible for Qiu Momo not to be happy or excited. Perhaps it was the attraction of blood ties, but he almost cried and stumbled into the man's arms, grabbing his sleeve and burying his head deeply in the arms of his long-lost family member.
"Uncle," he heard himself call out.
Seeing this, Qiu Yang put down the kitchen knife in his hand, then silently walked past the two of them and went out the door, leaving them with the joy of their reunion. He thoughtfully closed the door for them, then sat alone in front of the coal stove, sipping the Chinese medicine that Qiu Momo had brewed.
That's too tough.
Qiu Yang frowned.
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