Chapter 107
Qiu An went to find Pei Chun.
She was two steps late when she left the house, unable to keep up with the two briskly walking mothers. After hearing Hu Fanghui say they were going to the mall for square dancing, she headed to the nearest shopping district and quickly found the place where music was blaring and vibrant energy was throbbing.
Although the temperature was quite high today on a January night in Beiji, it did not reach double digits.
Qiu An was shivering in the cold wind, while the old lady and the old man were singing and dancing under the spotlight.
A leader danced right in front of the square dance formation. Holding the microphone, she shouted, "It's so cold, let's play some exciting music!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the speakers on all sides started playing fast-paced music. The old people who had just been jumping left and right in place began to move in a uniform but irregular manner, which greatly increased the difficulty for Qiu An to find people.
Qiu An had to go around the crowd to identify everyone one by one. It took him a long time to see Pei Chunlai, who had fallen behind, and Hu Fanghui, who was accompanying him and patiently guiding him.
It was the first time that Qiu An saw Pei Chunlai so helpless. He took a step but forgot to use his hands, and compared the movements but forgot to walk.
Qiu An remembered Pei Chunlai as a jack of all trades. She could chop stuffing with one hand and cook with the other, catch a chicken with one hand and a baby with the other, and her limbs were so nimble she could perform acrobatics.
But the square dancing in this city seemed harder than climbing to the sky for her to dance as she pleased.
Qiu An didn't want to disturb them. She found a bench and sat down, thinking that curling up would help maintain her body temperature, but she felt even colder. As a last resort, she stood up and jumped around to the square dance music, which actually warmed her up quite a bit.
Just as nine o'clock arrived, the music stopped abruptly. The experienced old people stopped abruptly, and only Qiu An and Pei Chunlai stood out from the crowd and jumped a few more times.
The rookies' eyes met each other, Qiu An blushed, lowered his head and was about to leave.
In order to prevent paparazzi from taking pictures and passers-by from recognizing her, she wore a hat and scarf to cover her facial features. Logically, no one would be able to recognize her.
But before she took two steps, she heard someone calling her from behind: "An An."
It wasn't Hu Fanghui calling her, but a more unfamiliar voice.
Qiu An paused for a moment and continued walking forward. Pei Chunlai did not stop either, but followed her not too close or too far away.
Until Qiu An walked into the mall, Pei Chunlai was still standing outside.
Pei Chunlai was still unaccustomed to entering such places alone. She felt unworthy of entering the grand entrance and the tall, spacious hall without an invitation. Even though Hu Fanghui had bought her new clothes and discarded her tattered and faded old ones, she still felt out of place in the city.
The old clothes seemed to have grown into her body and it might not be so easy to get rid of them.
Qiu An stood there waiting for her. The doorman lifted the cold-proof curtain for her, and she had no choice but to walk in.
Qiu An went downstairs and walked into a coffee shop. At this time of the day, the coffee shop was already empty. She ordered two cups of warm milk, one in front of her and one across from her. This left Pei Chunlai with no choice but to sit down.
Soon, Qiu An regretted putting the milk across from her. Pei Chunlai didn't say anything, and she didn't know what to say, but sitting face to face, the occasional eye contact was inevitable.
She hadn't seen Pei Chunlai for over a decade, couldn't remember her voice, and even her appearance was blurry. To her, Pei Chunlai was like an aunt even stranger than Hu Fanghui. The annoying thing was, she couldn't really treat Pei Chunlai like a stranger.
It wasn't until the coffee shop and the mall were about to close that Pei Chunlai finally figured out his words. He said, "I'm sorry for you. But I don't know how to repay her, and I don't have the ability to repay you."
It is difficult to get some stubborn elders to admit their mistakes in person. Pei Chunlai is one of such elders.
When she was little, if Pei Chunlai hit or scolded someone by mistake, she would never apologize, but would simply give them candy, lard, or some change as compensation. This was her way of dealing with people. It wasn't that she cared about saving face, but she felt that words were useless and that direct actions were much more effective.
It was like even if Hu Fanghui cooked a lot of delicious food for her, she would just silently lower her head and eat until her stomach was so full that she could not walk, and she would not say "delicious" or thank you.
She also wouldn't tell Hu Fanghui that she had lost her sense of taste during a bout of the flu. She had never been bothered by it, but recently she had been to the hospital several times because of it.
So when she said "I'm sorry", it meant there was really nothing she could do.
I heard her whisper again: "If, if..."
Qiu An guessed what she meant was that if she could do it again, she might be braver.
Perhaps knowing that this was just empty talk, Pei Chunlai ultimately failed to say it out loud.
"I understand." Qiu An sighed and repeated, "I understand."
She had no choice but to repeat the empty words over and over again.
There's no way to forgive, no way to let go, that's just the way it is with many things. Not falling into numbness is already the best outcome.
"I'll take you to visit Tingting's grave after the New Year."
"Thank you." Pei Chunlai said in a low voice.
When they returned, Pei Chunlai still followed her from a distance, but this time he was closer, and Qiu An could hear her footsteps.
The temperature dropped significantly after they left, approaching zero degrees Celsius. Just walking down the street was an ordeal. But thankfully, the warm milk in their stomachs helped them make it home.
-
After Qiu An returned home, he automatically joined Hu Fanghui's feeding group.
As long as the two of them were at home, Hu Fanghui would knock on the door with delicious food. Ranlong was a little worried. It wasn't even the New Year yet, and she had already gained several pounds. When the new drama started filming after the New Year, wouldn't she be exhausted on the treadmill?
"Mom, we have to strictly control the amount of food we eat. We can't eat so much!"
"Oh." Hu Fanghui responded, not knowing what she meant. "So, are you going to eat or not?"
The fragrant smell of food stimulated her taste buds, and her stomach growled as she swallowed her saliva several times.
Anyway, I'm already fat, and it doesn't matter if I lose a little weight after the New Year...
"...Eat." She said spinelessly.
Seeing Ranlong's attitude change, Hu Fanghui picked up the food instead: "Oh, eat it. Then what should you call me?"
I have no backbone anyway, so it doesn’t matter if I hear you say, “Grandma, you are the best.”
After Hu Fanghui left, Qiu An finally asked, "Why do you call her grandma?"
Ranlong said frankly: "She was kicked in the head by a donkey."
"...Have you ever thought about how I would become to you if you called her grandma?"
Um……
"Mom, Mom?"
Once this call came out, it was out of control.
I don’t know what Qiu An likes about this name. He wants her to call him that when he eats, when he takes a bath, and even when he makes love at night!
As a result, she is embarrassed to call Hu Fanghui "Mom" when she sees her now.
Besides, Hu Fanghui has been visiting too frequently recently, almost taking up all the time they spend together at home.
One day at noon, they woke up and were still having sex in bed when Hu Fanghui came and rang the doorbell as if to urge them to die.
Ranlong was very annoyed. She casually put on a coat and went to open the door. Hu Fanghui saw the mess of kiss marks on her bare chest and was stunned for a long time before asking, "Do we have guests at home?"
"No, it's just me and Qiu An at home."
Hu Fanghui was surprised: "So, so, you two are dating?"
Ranlong was also surprised: "Oh my god, you just found out about this?"
"You didn't tell mom! They were two grown-up girls! How did I know An An would go with you? Did you lead her astray? Huh? Was it you?"
Hu Fanghui was about to hit Ranlong's arm as she spoke, but Ranlong dodged the attack by swaying from side to side, not forgetting to defend herself: "It wasn't me who led her astray, she was the one who seduced me first! If you don't believe me, go ask her! Besides, can't you tell me if I don't tell you? Go ask Aunt Pei, she must have already accepted that we are a couple!"
"real?"
"More real than pearls! Go ask!"
Hu Fanghui turned and ran.
"Hey! Leave some lunch!"
Unfortunately, Hu Fanghui wasn't sensible enough to avoid suspicion. Not only did she come more frequently, but she also insisted on coming in to sit down.
Even if Ranlong told her seriously:
"Qian has no clothes on."
"Qiu An is naked on the sofa."
"Hey! Did you hear what I said?! Don't go in!!!"
After the pilot episode of "In the Name of Survival" was broadcast, fans and netizens all knew that they lived in the same residential complex and no longer had to worry about being secretly photographed by paparazzi.
But recently, photos of them entering and leaving the same building suddenly circulated on the Internet. Hu Fanghui also mentioned that she was always followed when she went out to buy groceries, and she often saw sneaky people downstairs.
After asking, I found out that the community had changed its property management and the management was not as strict as before.
For safety reasons, Qiu An had to schedule the plan of changing houses in advance.
She had long ago chosen a few villa communities, and when Hu Fanghui frequently interrupted them to do things, she had originally planned to wait until after the New Year when she would be less busy to work with Ranlong on the renovation and design, but now she had to choose one that she could move into as soon as possible, and even had to trouble Ranlong to go and look at the houses herself.
Unexpectedly, Ranlong frowned after seeing the housing prices. She couldn't pick out a house she liked, either complaining it was too expensive or too expensive. Qiu An had no choice but to ask Xixi to help her look.
She even took the time to earnestly advise Ranlong: "Don't save money for me. I work hard every day to make money so that you can live a better life. If you are unwilling to spend it, then all my hard work every day will be in vain."
"But……"
"Besides, I want to live in this house too. I've made so much money, just let me enjoy it. The house prices have dropped a lot recently, so it's just right for me to live in."
"It's not that I don't want you to buy it, but can you not put my name on the property deed?"
"You're already my wife, so why can't I write it? If it can't be written on the marriage certificate, why can't it be written on the property certificate?"
Suddenly hearing the name "wife", Ranlong blushed with shame, as if she was afraid that she would not be able to be a wife, and quickly explained: "That's not what I meant..."
"So I can write?"
"but……"
Ranlong wanted to refuse, but Qiu An blocked her mouth tightly.
This time, Qiu An didn't let Ranlong call her "Mom".
She leaned over to Ranlong's ear and called her "wife" repeatedly, which made her feel very excited and her eyes were distracted. She threw away all morals, etiquette and shame and even called her "mom" several times.
What does it matter if a name is written on the property certificate or the marriage certificate, or if she calls him "Mom" a few times? Her life belongs to Qiu An, so of course her happiness is the most important thing.
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