Chapter 149: Concern in the Photo
When Wei Wuxian woke up, it was already late at night. The pain in his chest had eased a little, but he still felt weak. He moved his fingers, and Lan Wangji beside him woke up immediately.
"Awake?" Lan Wangji's voice was hoarse from waking up, but full of concern. "Are you feeling unwell?"
Wei WuXian shook his head, a subtle hint of inquiry in his eyes: "SiZhui...are you really alright?"
Although he believed Lan Wangji's words, he still felt a little uneasy.
Lan Wangji was about to speak when Xie Lian's message came in, with two photos attached.
In the first photo, Lan Sizhui was kneeling on a futon, a small table in front of him, meticulously copying the House Rules. His small body stood straight, his brows slightly furrowed, his expression as serious as a little adult.
The second photo was taken a little later. Perhaps because he had been kneeling for too long, his back was slightly hunched and his body swayed, but he still gritted his teeth and persevered, and his handwriting was still neat.
Lan Wangji handed the phone to Wei Wuxian: "Look, this is from Xie Lian."
Wei Wuxian took the phone, swiped his fingertips across the screen, and looked at his son in the photo, his heart finally at ease.
Fortunately, he is fine.
Being punished by his family to copy the family rules, while seemingly unfair, proved that he was safe. Compared to the panic and anxiety he had felt when he disappeared, this "punishment" actually made him feel at ease.
"This kid..." Wei Wuxian chuckled softly, but his eyes felt a little hot.
It’s good that you know you are wrong and you can accept the punishment obediently.
He turned to the second photo and looked at Si Zhui's body kneeling a little crookedly. The sense of security in his heart was replaced by heartache.
The child had always been sensible and seldom complained, even when tired or in pain. My knees must have been numb from kneeling, but I still persevered, just to reassure him.
“Look at him,” Wei Wuxian handed the phone to Lan Wangji, a barely perceptible choke in his voice, “He can’t even kneel straight… Is he too tired?”
Lan Wangji looked at the photo, a gentle look of heartache in his eyes. "Xie Lian and Hua Cheng will keep an eye on him and won't let him get too tired. Making him copy the house rules is also a way to teach him a lesson."
“I know…” Wei WuXian nodded, but he was still thinking about him in his heart, “When I get better, I will go back and give him a hug.”
He imagined Si Zhui's look when he saw him. Would he rush over and hug him and cry? Would he apologize quietly? Would he bury his face in his arms and act coquettishly like he used to?
The more I think about it, the more I want to go home.
"It's almost there." Lan Wangji held his hand and patted it gently. "Wait a few more days for you to recover, then we'll go back."
Wei Wuxian hummed and handed the phone back to Lan Wangji, but he couldn't help but glance back. Sizhui in the photo looked like a sapling struggling to grow, with resilience and a stubbornness that made people cherish him.
He suddenly remembered that when he was a child, he got into trouble and was punished by Jiang Fengmian to copy the family rules. He also knelt until his knees were numb, but he still held on, thinking about the lotus root and pork ribs soup made by his senior sister.
It turns out that some things are really hereditary.
“Sanlang and the others are really something,” Wei WuXian muttered softly, a hint of protection in his voice, “Just copy it if you want, but why do you have to kneel down…”
Lan Wangji laughed: "I am following the rules of the Lan family. I want him to know what respect is."
Wei Wuxian curled his lips and didn't argue. He knew everyone was doing this for Sizhui's own good.
But, as a father, I always feel heartbroken when I look at my own children.
He closed his eyes, but the image in the photo kept resurfacing in his mind. That small figure, copying the house rules stroke by stroke, seemed to be earnestly confessing his sins, as if silently gathering strength.
Wei Wuxian sighed softly in his heart.
Sizhui, wait for daddy to come back.
When the time comes, daddy won’t blame you or punish you, he just wants to hug you.
Let me tell you, Daddy misses you too.
The moonlight outside shone through the window lattice and fell on Wei Wuxian's face, gentle and quiet.
In his heart, he felt half relieved and at ease, and half was worried and distressed about his son.
This intertwined emotion is like a thin thread, one end of which is tied to him in heaven, and the other end is tied to the children on earth. It spans time and space and also warms the long night.
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