Chapter 45: Treasure Hunt
A gentle drizzle pattered against the window outside. After this shower, spring must have truly arrived in Sendai. Yumi Hanyu sat on the sofa, gazing blankly at the raindrops under the porch light, her knitting needles unstoppable, skillfully knitting her son's new scarf. The music skipped, and she snapped back to her senses, reaching for her phone on the coffee table, glancing at it before putting it down again.
"Don't worry so much. Yuzuru is not a child anymore, and this is not the first time he has gone out alone." Hanyu Hidetoshi, who was sitting next to him, put down the book in his hand and comforted his wife.
"I'm not worried about him going out alone," Yumi Hanyu glanced at her husband with a stern look, then lowered her head to continue crocheting. "I'm worried about whether he can handle this situation well. That house in Tokyo must be a place with many memories. Xiaole must be heartbroken to be sold out like this. Feng, too. Leaving our daughter to deal with it alone is really inconsiderate of her feelings."
"You gave so many instructions before he left. Just trust your son." Xiu Li patted his wife's shoulder, got up and went to the bathroom.
Yumi Hanyu sighed. It wasn't that she didn't trust her son. It was just that Hanyu Yuzuru was nostalgic. Seeing someone he loved say goodbye to childhood memories, wouldn't he feel bad first? It's entirely possible that Xiaole would come to comfort him later.
Yumi had often heard Feng talk about her child, Xiaole, ever since he was born. As an expectant mother with experience, she often called Feng to give her advice on how to ensure the right water temperature for mixing formula and shared helpful parenting tips. But she never had the chance to see Le in person, especially after Yuzuru was born. She didn't have the energy to see her best friend in Tokyo regularly, not to mention their subsequent immigrating to Finland.
Coincidentally, that Christmas, Yuzuru Hanyu had the opportunity to go to Finland to participate in the competition, but Yumi still did not see Le.
"It's so hard to meet your daughter whom you praise every day." At that time, Yumi sighed to Feng while sitting in the cafe.
"What can I do? Le was suddenly selected by the dance troupe to be a small extra. I can't miss the opportunity to go on stage." Feng looked helpless.
"Then why did you come to Tampere by yourself?"
"It's all to see you! I drove over three hours to get here!" Feng gave her a sidelong glance of disdain, then raised his chin proudly. "Besides, our Jiale is amazing. He's independent and strong, like a little adult. He can even go out to compete on his own, and attending training camps alone is no problem."
Yumi was stunned when she heard her say that. She turned to look at her son who was touching and looking around the Christmas tree. His small mushroom head made him look particularly childish, completely unlike the little adult Feng had just mentioned.
But wasn't Le born only a few months earlier than Yuzuru?
Thinking back to this, Yumi couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. She tugged at the scarf she still hadn't finished. It was almost finished; it would be useful for her son's skates when he returned from Tokyo. Suddenly, she paused, slapped her forehead, and stood up, searching the closet for a few more balls of brightly colored yarn, resuming her knitting.
Yumi Hanyu, who was busy knitting a scarf at home, had no idea that Yuzuru Hanyu really wasn't helping, but it wasn't because of his emotions. He was just helping with the packing and moving, and he found pleasure in it.
"Yuzuru, do you need help over there?" Le asked while standing on the second floor and looking down.
She had just packed their belongings as her mother had instructed, marking the boxes, large and small, for shipment to Finland and those destined for Sendai. She checked the time; it was almost time for the moving company and courier to arrive, but Yuzuru Hanyu, who was sealing the boxes on the first floor, hadn't moved. She called out, but there was no response, which puzzled her.
Yuzuru Hanyu hadn't heard Le calling him from upstairs. He was sitting cross-legged, flipping through a book in his hand. Furthermore, he had several books under his knees.
Just now, as he was sealing the box, he stumbled upon a booklet that hadn't been neatly inserted, which was a real annoyance for him. So, adhering to the principle of neatness, he pulled the booklet out and discovered a treasure.
It was a parenting journal. When he opened the first page, he saw Raku's tiny handprints and footprints as a newborn, prompting Yuzuru Hanyu to immediately take out his phone to take a photo. As he flipped through the remaining pages, he immediately decided to take the book home and make it his own.
This parenting record records every change in Le since birth, including the first time he rolled over, the first time he sat up, the first time he crawled, the first time he ate solid food, the first time he stood up, the first time he spoke...
Xiaole is four months old now and waves her hands when she hears music. It seems she really loves music.
The elegant handwriting in the booklet made Yuzuru Hanyu seem to see Aunt Feng, meticulously documenting Le's growth under the lamp. He smirked and quietly placed the book beside him, completely forgetting about the task of sealing the box. Instead, he continued his treasure hunt within.
What he was holding in his hand now was a black collection album. Each beige loose-leaf page was sealed with self-adhesive plastic, and most of the items inside were ticket stubs and some photos.
The date is 1999, and initially there are only one or two photos in it. The font on the sticker next to it is the same as the parenting record, so it must have been recorded by Feng at that time. Le, wearing a tutu dress for a performance for the first time, has an exaggerated performance smile on her chubby face, which is so adorable.
The handwriting in the records began to take on a childish look in 2001. The ticket stub tucked into that page was just a simple bus ticket, with no departure station or destination listed. Next to the ticket was a picture of Le, with a strained smile on his lips. Judging by the time, it seemed he had just lost his front teeth and didn't want people to take pictures, so he bit his lip and smiled like that.
This album was different from the one I'd looked through at Grandpa Sosuke's. Photos weren't the star of the show here. Each page seemed to tell a story, composed of paper mementos like tickets and certificates, and photos. As I turned page by page, Le in the photos grew from a cute, chubby face to a graceful young woman, and the handwriting in the notes shifted from childish, round handwriting to a more refined and elegant one. This was truly a history of growth, each page a piece of Le's life, hand-picked by him, a treasured piece of his life.
Although the time intervals in the favorites varied, they continued year after year until 2012, when it came to an abrupt end with a curtain call photo of the B Troupe's Giselle performance.
Thinking back to that time, Yuzuru Hanyu finally understood. With a touch of regret, he flipped through the blank pages one by one. The beige loose-leaf pages were empty, like the joy of dreaming lost in those years. Just as he felt the loss, his fingers suddenly felt a slight change in the thickness of the next page, and he turned the page.
A familiar blue appeared before her eyes. It was herself, wearing a blue Japanese Olympic uniform, smiling and holding the gold medal, posing for a photo with Le. Next to the photo was the Sochi Winter Olympics ticket stub he had given her.
[Russia is my blessed land, and from today on it is also yours~]
"Hanyu Yuzuru! What are you doing?!"
Seeing no movement downstairs, she came down to check and saw boxes of all sizes scattered across the living room, most of them open, even a few she'd almost packed. Yuzuru Hanyu sat among them, intently flipping through something. When she quietly approached, she realized he was actually looking through his yearbook.
The open page was pasted with a photo of the two of them at the 2016 Midsummer Bonfire Party, and next to it was a bookmark made of seven different colored dried flowers also pasted in the beige binder.
Seeing the page he was turning to, Le blushed from the base of his neck and snatched the folder from his hand.
"I asked you to seal the box, what are you doing?" She tucked her hair behind her ears. When her fingertips touched the tips of her ears, they felt hot, so she quickly let her hair down to cover the red tips of her ears.
His flustered movements only confirmed Yuzuru Hanyu's suspicions. He showed no sign of being caught doing something wrong; instead, he smiled broadly and obediently took out the stack of books he had been planning to keep privately.
"I found them when I was sealing the box. You were too hasty to receive them. These are all very important things, and it's not safe to send them. Let's put them away separately and take them back." He smiled sincerely. Le didn't know what to say, so she took a quick look at the stack he handed over. He was really good at choosing; they were indeed some very meaningful souvenir albums.
"I know everything else, but I still don't understand what the bookmark on that page is. Can you show it to me again?" His tone didn't contain any flattery at all, but rather a hint of pride. If he had a tail right now, it would be wagging happily.
"There's no such thing as a bookmark!"
"I remember... I once saw a picture book you really liked called Midsummer Night," Hanyu Yuzuru recalled, stroking his chin. "You said a flight attendant gave it to you when you were crying on the plane during your first trip to Finland."
"You...you remembered it wrong." Le was about to run away when Hanyu Yuzuru pulled her back and held her in his arms. He hugged Le from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder, and began to recall the story she had told him before.
That year, Le boarded a plane to Finland with her mother. It wasn't her first time flying, but she knew her chances of returning to Japan would be rare, so she couldn't hold back her tears. A kind flight attendant came over and gave her a picture book. Although it was in Finnish, the fairytale Midsummer Night scene in it finally stopped Le's tears.
"I asked you what the picture book was about, and you told me it was about..." Hanyu Yuzuru deliberately dragged out his words, hoping Le would speak for herself, but she remained silent. Her shy look only made him even more proud. "It's about dried seven-colored flowers, placed under your pillow, that will guide you to find your soulmate. Did you choose me so early?"
"Don't talk nonsense. Marrku made that bookmark for me. He knew about my breakup and he was afraid that I would be sad, so he made a bookmark for me and asked me to put it under my pillow." Le struggled to get up from his arms and argued.
"Oh~~~ Whatever~ Anyway, I know."
"Oh, I won't talk to you anymore." Le ran upstairs holding the stack of books.
Yuzuru Hanyu scrambled to his feet, humming a tune as he picked up the tape and began diligently sealing the boxes. The sound of the tape being torn apart became melodious, but after sealing two boxes, he suddenly felt something was wrong.
He ran to the stairs and shouted upwards, "That's not right! Then why did you agree to Dr. Suzuki's Christmas invitation? And that guy! What's his name? Right! And what about Kevin? Explain it to me!"
He felt increasingly uncomfortable as he spoke, and went upstairs in two steps at a time.
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