Chapter Seven: Glass is Fragile, Clouds Scatter
The uncle finally found the rare dried octopus tentacle specimen he had brought back from R country by searching upstairs. He limped back to the living room with some difficulty.
But at this moment, the living room was empty.
Uncle looked puzzled and was about to call out to Yunyao when he suddenly heard some small, strange sounds coming from the balcony. It sounded like the rustling of the curtains in the wind, or like the secret sounds of some small animal.
"A mouse got into the house?" the uncle muttered, slowly walking towards the balcony with his cane. "Maybe some bird or sparrow fell down from the sky..."
...
Yun Yao could already hear her uncle's footsteps.
He struggled, trying to break free from Qin Rao's dense, almost suffocatingly hot embrace, but because he dared not make too much noise, he could not break free immediately.
He wanted to call a halt, but as soon as he opened the door even slightly, the woman's forceful and greedy invasion, like a snake, seized the opportunity to slip inside.
Qin Rao kissed him urgently and fiercely, her lips and teeth intertwining, silencing the boy's sobs.
When her tongue swept across his palate, Yun Yao tasted a hint of salty blood.
Finally, when the sound of her uncle's cane was almost right next to her ear, Qin Rao stopped what she was doing.
Yun Yao didn't care about anything else. He awkwardly raised his arm and wiped his mouth hard. He quickly tidied his disheveled clothes and went out before his uncle could lift the curtain separating the balcony and the living room.
"uncle……"
For the first time in his life, Yun Yao felt so guilty and embarrassed. He stammered, not knowing what to say.
In contrast, Qin Rao, who came out later, looked calm, her smile and brows revealing an undisguised smugness.
She casually told her uncle, who was leaning on his cane, "A stray cat just darted in, and we tried to catch it, but it ran away in a flash."
"What an oblivious little wildcat," Qin Rao said, as she put her emerald earring back on, which had fallen off during the earlier commotion.
Just then, her phone rang. She picked it up, glanced at it, but didn't answer. Instead, she smiled and said to them, "Oh dear, I'm so sorry, my assistant called. The car has probably arrived, so I have to go now. I have a rather important gathering."
Ignoring her uncle's surprised and complicated expression, she only looked deeply at the boy and said, "I'm very happy today. Let's get together again next time."
...
A few days later, the first-instance verdict in the major economic crime case that shocked the southern financial circles was finally announced.
Yun Yao's father's sentence has finally been handed down: ten years in prison, suspended for five years. However, due to the seriousness and special nature of the case, he will also be placed in a special institution for supervision during his probation period.
With Qin Rao's arrangement and help, Yun Yao was able to meet her father again.
This time, my father seemed to be in much better spirits. Although he was still frowning, he seemed to have some hope and was no longer as hysterical as he was during the first visit.
Yun Yao's anxiety eased slightly.
He meticulously explained to his father what he should pay attention to inside, and told him that he would wait for him to come out in Nanhang.
After meticulously arranging everything he could, the young man got into Qin Rao's car and left.
In the car, Qin Rao couldn't help but tease the boy, asking, "Didn't your father ask you how you raised that huge sum of money for subsidies?"
Looking at the scenery rushing past the car window, Yun Yao replied calmly, "I've already told Dad that I found a batch of antiques at my maternal grandparents' house. As a kind old friend of my mother and a knowledgeable merchant, you helped me sell these antiques for a high price."
The boy turned and stared at her intently, continuing, "Qin Rao, I beg you, never tell my father and uncle about our deal, no matter what. I'm not afraid of ruining my reputation; I just don't want my father and uncle to feel guilty. Everything was my decision alone, and I will bear the consequences myself."
Qin Rao was incredulous upon hearing this. She raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Baby, are you trying to become a saint?"
Seeing the boy's handsome face in the rearview mirror, it was as if a unique and solitary orchid was blooming in a sorrow as faint as smoke.
Qin Rao's red lips curved slightly, and she said in a way that left no room for argument, "Okay, I promise you. But baby, from today onwards, you no longer have the right to refuse. You are mine."
...
The next day, Yunyao was going to send her uncle back to R country.
My uncle's youngest daughter's injuries are quite serious. My aunt is alone in R country and cannot take care of the child and work at the same time, so my uncle has to leave.
Actually, ever since the balcony incident, the atmosphere between Yunyao and her uncle has been a bit strange.
Yun Yao knew that his uncle had suspicions about what happened between him and Qin Rao on the balcony that day, but since he hadn't actually seen anything, his uncle didn't want to directly question him or Qin Rao.
However, the complicated look in my uncle's eyes these past few days, and the way he seemed to want to ask but couldn't bring himself to speak, clearly indicated that he had misunderstood something.
Perhaps they thought he was having a puppy love, that he had fallen for his mother's old friend who was much older than him?
Yun Yao laughed self-deprecatingly; he couldn't explain anything.
He did have an experience that adults might call "puppy love," but it was the result of mutual affection between the teenagers, not an abnormal relationship like Qin Rao's, which involved money and coercion.
Yunyao helped her uncle pack his luggage and changed the bandages on his injured leg.
After several days of silence, the uncle suddenly spoke up: "Ayao, I've thought about it for days, and I still feel it's not good to leave you here alone. You're your mother's only child, and I have to take good care of you. Why don't you come with me?"
"As for your father, it's not a big problem for us to fly back to visit him a few times a year."
The uncle patted the boy, looking quite worried. "Compared to your father, I'm more worried about you. You've always been a popular child. Back then, all sorts of girls and older girls would run to your maternal grandmother's house, wanting to play with you. Your grandmother was an educated woman, and seeing you surrounded by them, she jokingly used an idiom, something like 'to kill Wei Jie by looking at you.' Your mother was laughing at the time, and I said something like 'to kill by looking at you' didn't sound good and was unlucky. Your grandmother laughed and scolded me for not studying, and your mother comforted me, saying you were healthy and wouldn't be 'killed by looking at you'..."
Recalling the happy family days of yesteryear, the uncle's eyes welled up with tears, and he lowered his head in embarrassment to wipe his face.
Yun Yao couldn't actually remember such a thing from his childhood, but listening to his uncle's rambling words filled him with warmth. It was as if he had returned to the time when his grandparents and mother were still alive, a time of carefree happiness.
But glass is fragile, and colorful clouds are fleeting. Happiness seems like a dream's reflection, only to be found in memories.
Yun Yao thought that he had to face reality and shoulder his responsibilities, even if those realities and responsibilities were so heavy that they made it hard for him to breathe.
He hugged his uncle and said gently but firmly, "Uncle, thank you. But I'm all grown up now, and I can make my own decisions. Actually, I haven't told you and Auntie that Dad's mental state in prison isn't very good, and it's impossible for me to leave him and go abroad at this time."
He sniffed: "In the future... in the future, I will definitely visit you and Aunt. Then, our family will get together again."
...
Yun Yao finally saw her uncle off at the airport. It was already sunset, and the blood-red setting sun stretched across the vast sky.
At the edge of the sky, the fiery clouds, stretching as far as the eye could see, were reflected in the boy's eyes in a mottled pattern, both desolate and vibrant.
In the years that followed, when she was forced to wander and live a life of hardship, this scene often appeared in Yunyao's dreams, as if solidified amber had frozen time.
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