0068 068 This year, this month, this door
After returning from international waters, Qi Shuyao took leave immediately and stayed at her home in Yangcheng. She didn't think much about what happened on the ship, but she was still affected by it. Her mind was filled with images of ocean waves. When she closed her eyes, she felt as if she were floating on the sea. When she opened her eyes, her paintbrush was already in her hand, stirring the red paint evenly.
When she looked up again, the new painting in front of her was also covered with a layer of red, with brown and black underneath, like the appearance of congealed blood.
Back home, she found some inspiration, but now, staring at the red area, she couldn't remember what was drawn underneath.
Han's mother's footsteps came from outside the door again. She quickly covered the painting, casually lay down on the sofa, and pretended to be in a daze.
"Miss, dinner is ready. Would you like to come down for dinner?"
"My dad hasn't come back yet."
"No, the gentleman said we don't need to wait for him."
"You guys eat first, I'm not hungry."
"You didn't eat lunch, how come you're not hungry at night?"
"I went out for a bite to eat this afternoon, I'll eat again when I get hungry later."
She sent Han's mother away, then sat up hugging a pillow. In the past, when ordinary people saw corpses and blood in movies, she would vomit and thought it was fake. Now that she had experienced it herself, she really couldn't eat and felt like throwing up.
She looked out the window at the snow-capped mountains, the entire mountaintop a vast expanse of white.
On the way back from the high seas, Qi Yu told her about his home. In the mountains there was a small helicopter landing pad. On the morning of her seventeenth birthday, someone came from there to deliver a message to him. The blood on his body was that person's. Not only could helicopters land there, but the area behind the mountain was also connected to the sea, where ships could dock.
Now the trees have lost all their leaves, the sea is frozen, and the mountains have finally fallen silent.
The phone rang, and the person in her mind was waiting for her on the other side. Qi Shuyao picked up her phone, walked to the windowsill, leaned on the platform, and then answered the call.
"What are you doing?"
"I lay on the windowsill, looking at the mountains."
What's on the mountain?
"There is snow, bare branches, and wind."
"The birds have all left."
"We can also go from there."
Where to?
"Who knows? If you get chased by someone one day, we'll just hide out of the house. By the time they find us, no one will be able to find us."
"So where should we go?"
"Of course, we should go to places that no one else can find. When we came back, I saw many islands in the sea. You should save some money and buy one. When you get old and retire, you can go there."
"Buying an island is easier for you than buying a block of tofu."
"After all, you're not buying tofu."
"Alright, isn't it time for dinner?"
"It's ready, but I don't want to eat it."
"What's wrong? Are you still feeling unwell?"
"No, it's just that I can't forget a lot of things."
"for example?"
"For example, the handkerchief you wore at your collar is still with me."
"I'll keep it for you; it carries my scent."
"Now I should give it back to you; this place is full of my scent."
"Then when I get home, you can return it to me personally."
“I will not only return it to you, but I will also take you to see Xiao Yu.”
"who?"
"A lamb born in winter in the yard is so rare. I've already seen it and even named it Xiao Yu."
"Why not call her Xiao Yaoyao?"
"Its mother's name is Xiao Yaoyao."
Amid Qi Yu's speechless laughter, Qi Shuyao finally laughed. She kissed her phone a few times, then threw herself onto the bed and rolled around happily. Laughing, she then pounced back to grab her phone.
"Dad! My old cell phone is still in Guanxiang. Can you get it back for me?"
"I'll bring it to you next time I go home."
The call ended, and Qi Yu picked up the landline phone on the table and spoke to his secretary outside.
"Bring Yang Jianlin in."
Night always comes quickly in winter. The sky, which was just bright a moment ago, was now obscured from view of the lawn below. Xiao Lan carried a bowl of food that Han's mother had prepared and went into Qi Shuyao's room. She picked up the little girl who was still clinging to the windowsill and placed her on the small table.
"Miss, eat quickly, it won't taste good if it gets cold or is reheated."
Qi Shuyao obediently picked up her chopsticks and poked at the food. She would look up at Xiaolan from time to time, and Xiaolan would keep looking at her.
"Miss, please ask whatever you wish."
"That happened a long time ago. Do you know how Tu Mi, that little girl from the dance hall, confirmed her mother-daughter relationship with her?"
“I went to the dance hall for a job interview and got her hair. My husband has known Xu Mei for a long time and also got her hair to do DNA testing.”
"Okay, I understand."
"What's wrong, Miss?"
"Ever since Tu Mi disappeared, I've missed her more and more. The warmth of her holding me the day before seems to linger here, and it hasn't dissipated even after all this time."
Tu Mi washed clothes in that villa full of little girls for half a month. There was a lot of foot traffic there, and even Sister Hong couldn't match everyone's name to hers. When she saw Tu Mi, she just slapped her forehead.
"Yes, yes, I went to someone to do my laundry before. Why didn't you tell Sister Hong? She would have paid you."
She was extremely generous and lavish, even giving Tu Mi a large box of hand cream.
Although she doesn't wash her clothes by hand, she's constantly in contact with water, laundry detergent, and liquid detergent, especially in winter, and her hands have lost almost all feeling.
She sat on a small stool in the laundry room, staring at her two hands.
The little bit of flesh she had grown at her so-called father's house had fallen off again, and her finger bones were protruding noticeably.
One of the bones in her right index finger protrudes slightly outward, making it appear not to be a straight line. Qi Shuyao noticed this when she held her fingers one by one in the hospital. It felt as if her hand was carrying a small stove, and Qi Shuyao could still feel the warmth in her hand.
They've been separated for over a year. Why didn't she see her in front of the old building that time? What happened to her? Her phone has been switched off the whole time.
The washing machine was still spinning, and she had already searched the entire villa thoroughly. There were no clues here, but there were poor girls like her who had been abandoned. People would not come back from time to time, and people would be carried out from time to time.
She sat down on the edge of the bed and stretched out her finger to draw a small picture on the frosty glass. Two little flowers stood side by side, smiling and looking at each other.
Actually, there wasn't much she wanted to say to Qi Shuyao. Her home was such a mess that she didn't even want to think about it, and she didn't want to live with them. She just wanted to tell her that she understood everything Qi Shuyao had told her in the hospital, and she wanted to hear her say it again.
Just as Tu Mi was exhaling a breath towards the window, the bodyguards outside suddenly rushed in. They were the closest to her and the first to rush in, shouting at her.
"Quickly, forget everything else, just take yourself and run."
Where to?
"Go wherever you want, the farther away from here the better."
The bodyguards ran off, and the girls inside erupted in chaos. Tu Mi stood there for only three seconds before grabbing her coat hanging by the door and running outside.
She hurriedly dressed, pulled out a mask and put it on, crossed the street and stood opposite the villa. She bought a newspaper from a stall at the intersection and then squatted there pretending to read it.
A large group of girls quickly dispersed from the villa. Some of them were only wearing tank tops. They chatted aimlessly in the cold wind. Most of the girls who ran out had leg injuries and could not stand up at all. Many more could not even stand up and were paralyzed inside the building.
The villa's gates swung open, and a red sports car sped out. Sister Hong sat inside, her cigarette burning out but she didn't throw it away. The car sped away in an instant, and the bodyguards who chased after it came out and looked at it with despair, only able to stomp their feet in frustration.
Less than a minute later, police cars arrived with sirens blaring. Everyone in the villa, except for one car and a woman named Tu Mi who ran out, was pinned to the spot.
As if a farce had ended, she didn't know what to do next. Carrying the stack of newspapers, she wandered slowly through the streets, walking through countless blocks until she could walk no more and hailed a taxi.
"Go to the old town, to the three abandoned buildings."
Qi Shuyao waited in vain for Qi Yu to come home, so she went back to school by herself. Although she hadn't attended many classes that semester, she still had to take the final exams.
She ran into Qin Zhuohan again at the school gate, gave him her new phone number, ate a bowl of hot soup noodles in the cafeteria, and while fiddling with her phone, she realized that the school and the old town were not far apart, so she walked over there for a stroll.
Their school is located in a very remote area. The further you go into the old town, the older the buildings along the road become. The shop signs were all replaced at the beginning of this year. The brand-new signs and the old buildings, the staircases worn smooth and without any edges, don't look right together at all.
But this place was a miniature society, complete with all kinds of facilities and services. She went into each shop and looked around. When she was standing outside the old hospital at the end of the road, a man walked straight up to her, looking excited and thrilled.
"Shu Yao?"
Qi Shuyao was stunned. Almost no one addressed her like that, but out of politeness, she still asked.
"Me? Do we know each other?"
"Yaoyao, you may not know me, but you have to believe that I think about you every day and want to find you as soon as possible."
He stepped forward and grabbed her hand, but she quickly shook it off and backed away.
"Who are you? Have you mistaken me for someone else?"
"Yaoyao, I am your father, your biological father."
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