Whenever Lu Yinbing's face turned cold, Xia Yitong felt uneasy. Now that she managed a little smile, Xia Yitong felt relieved.
Lu Yinbing's every move affected her emotions, but it was obvious that the more this happened, the less Lu Yinbing wanted her to think too highly of herself. She always felt like she was being pitied and given alms. She hoped that she would treat her the same as before, giving each other free space and time.
Xia Yitong understood the truth, but Lu Yinbing's state of mind was obviously different from before. How could she be at ease leaving her alone
Caught between a rock and a hard place, she pretended to look at her phone, but in fact her brows were furrowed.
"It's time to cook." Lu Yinbing turned off the Kindle, stood up from the sofa and went into the kitchen.
Xia Yitong picked up her Kindle as if possessed by a ghost. Half an hour had passed since then, and Lu Yinbing had seen the progress increase from 30.5% to 31.5%.
Stir-fried Chinese cabbage, braised eggplant, stir-fried pork with peppers, and corn and pork ribs soup. Since both of us don't have big appetites, we only made half a portion of each dish, but we still couldn't finish them, so half was left.
We rehearsed our lines under the light all night.
Xia Yitong observed that Lu Yinbing's expression was very calm. He was not as stubborn as he was in the past few days when he had to memorize his lines, nor was he as impatient as she was when she vaguely saw them several times later to confirm that they were not hallucinations. He memorized the two shortest lines as if he was just dealing with a task.
Xia Yitong felt a little uneasy, but patiently carried her on his back.
Lu Yinbing looked up and saw that it was almost time, so he suggested going upstairs to sleep.
It was the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month. Before closing his eyes, Lu Yinbing said, "Let's go home tomorrow. It's time to celebrate the New Year."
"Um."
So the next morning, on the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, the two drove back to Lu's house.
Lu's father and mother were among those who were kept in the dark, and they knew little more than the fans. Lu Yinbing had always been independent, and they didn't need to worry about her work. Whether she quit the group or something else, it was her own decision. Moreover, they didn't talk about work at home during the New Year, and the only thing Lu's mother was worried about was the steel nail in her arm.
"When can it be taken out? Didn't the doctor say it could be taken out this year?" Liu Xinmin circled her arm, "The bones should have grown back."
Lu Yinbing: "About another month. I went to the hospital for a checkup a few days ago and I'm recovering well."
Liu Xinmin: "That's good. Your dad specially made some bone soup for you. It will replenish your body. I'll go to the kitchen and bring it to you."
The atmosphere at home made her feel much more relaxed. Lu Yinbing glanced at Xia Yitong with a smile on her face: "Is there anyone with Xia Yitong?"
Liu Xinmin: "Of course, I stewed a whole pot. Your father and I are not young anymore, and we need to supplement our osteoporosis and other things."
Lu Yinbing looked around and said, "You always talk about my dad. He made the soup, but where did he go?"
"I have something to deal with at the company. I'm going to take care of it. I'll be back in the evening." While speaking, Liu Xinmin had already gone to the kitchen, and brought out the casserole by the handles of the pot with a towel. With a thud, she pinched her ears with her fingers and gasped.
"Is your hand okay?" Lu Yinbing pulled down Liu Xinmin's hands to look at them. Her fingers were all red. He gently scolded her, "Look at you. You are old but you don't know how to be more steady in your career."
Liu Xinmin: "... Do you still know that I am your mother?"
Lu Yinbing: "I know, but you are on the decline now, and I, your daughter, am on the rise. Sooner or later, I will have to take care of you."
Liu Xinmin: "What's wrong with you? Have you been possessed by a spirit? Are you still my daughter with a heart wider than the Mariana Trench?"
Lu Yinbing: “…”
Liu Xinmin: "You are so abnormal, has something happened to you?"
Lu Yinbing threw her hand away: "... I'll burn you to death. Good people don't get rewarded."
The mother and daughter openly disliked each other. Xia Yiting, who was watching from the side, laughed. As a result, the two of them glared at her. Xia Yiting immediately backed down and got up to get a bowl and spoon to serve soup to the two big guys.
How could Liu Xinmin let a guest do work? Although Xia Yitong was not a guest now, they didn't have many opportunities to meet each other, so she couldn't be treated as someone who could be ordered around at will. Liu Xinmin snatched the soup spoon from her hand, turned around and stuffed it into Lu Yinbing's hand: "Hurry up and serve the soup."
Lu Yinbing smiled, dragged his "sick" hand and worked tirelessly to serve soup to his mother and fiancée. After serving the soup, Liu Xinmin pretended to exclaim, "Oh, I forgot you still have a nail in your arm."
Lu Yinbing rolled his eyes and said, "It's okay. I just used my right hand. This hand is intact."
Liu Xinmin glanced at Xia Yitong.
Xia Yitong shuddered, wondering why Mother Lu wanted to see her? Could it be what she thought? Probably not, Mother Lu was a high-level intellectual, she wouldn't be so bored to check those things.
Lu Yinbing drank two bowls of bone soup. Xia Yitong quickly rushed to collect the bowls before Liu Xinmin. Liu Xinmin didn't stop her this time, so she simply tugged at Lu Yinbing's sleeve with her fingers and pulled her aside.
Lu Yinbing frowned and looked at her.
Liu Xinmin asked, "How are you guys doing lately?"
Lu Yinbing was even more confused: "Then what is that?"
Liu Xinmin made an "OK" sign with one hand and raised her index finger with the other hand to make a "1". Lu Yinbing: "Huh?"
"Does mom have to explain it so clearly?" Liu Xinmin put her index finger into the circle of "OK" and said angrily, "Tell me, do you still have any shame?"
Lu Yinbing understood what was going on and was so angry that he was furious: "I have no shame? Who has no shame, you old fool!"
Liu Xinmin snorted, "If I wasn't afraid that you would lose my daughter-in-law, do you think I would be willing to ask you? Your right hand, which can eat, hold a knife, and do other things, is now like this. You are so shameless."
Lu Yinbing: "You have shame. You are the most shameless person in the world." Xia Yitong put the bowl into the dishwasher and washed her hands. Lu Yinbing lowered his voice and warned, "If you have shame, don't talk about this in front of Xia Yitong."
Lu Yinbing was almost convinced. Her mother was about to retire and had nothing to do, so she turned her attention to her private life! Seeing that both of them were looking at her, she looked confused and said, "Ah?"
Lu Yinbing whispered, "Don't talk nonsense."
Liu Xinmin muttered something, but no one knew what she said.
Lu Yinbing straightened her clothes and took Xia Yitong away from here to prevent her from being infected by her mother. Xia Yitong, who was in a trance from the beginning to the end, was dragged by Lu Yinbing and asked stupidly, "What are you talking about with your mother? You look so happy?"
"Am I happy?" Lu Yinbing said.
"Happy, you're smiling all the time now." Xia Yitong touched the corners of her eyes, and there was something else she didn't say: It was a happiness without any shadow, a happiness that was happier than the previous two months.
"Haha, that means you're happy." Lu Yinbing laughed, "Let me tell you, my mom is really not serious anymore."
Xia Yitong asked with interest: "Why are you always so frivolous?"
"That's it..." Lu Yinbing waved his hand, "Well, forget it, I won't say anything serious."
Xia Yitong: “…”
I don't think you are very serious.
Lu Yinbing took Xia Yitong out to bask in the sun. They didn't go out because there was haze outside. There was a large recliner that could accommodate two people by the floor-to-ceiling window in the living room. It was originally used by Lu Yunzhang and Liu Xinmin, but now they have taken over the place.
Liu Xinmin was walking around the living room, circling around, her eyes wandering around her daughter and daughter-in-law, very idle. Xia Yitong turned her face towards Liu Xinmin, but Lu Yinbing held her hand and forced her to his side: "Looking around, why are you so distracted?"
Xia Yitong: "But your mother..."
Lu Yinbing: "My mother is important, am I important?"
Xia Yitong: “…”
She endured the inquiring gaze from the back of her head and buried her face in Lu Yinbing's shoulder.
The two fell asleep on the recliners. When they woke up, they were covered with blankets. The living room was empty. Lu Yinbing lifted the blanket, stood up, walked around the corridor, and pushed open the door of Liu Xinmin's bedroom.
There was no light on in the room, but the light coming through the curtains was enough to make out Liu Xinmin's profile as she slept on the bed. She turned on the indoor mode on her phone, took a photo, and tucked Liu Xinmin's hand into the quilt.
He tiptoed out and closed the door. His back bumped into a soft body. Lu Yinbing froze. Xia Yitong said in time, "Teacher Lu, it's me."
Lu Yinbing didn't have a heart attack right away, and whispered, "Why did you wake up? And why did you come here?"
Xia Yitong said: "I woke up as soon as you woke up. I followed you when I saw you coming. I was waiting at the door when you went in. Did I scare you?"
"No, almost." Lu Yinbing shook his head and pulled her back to the recliner. The sun was still bright, and they sat on the ground with their backs to the sun. "I just took a picture of my mother," Lu Yinbing pulled out a picture from his phone, "She fell asleep."
Xia Yitong hummed and used meaningless characters to indicate that he was waiting for her next words.
"My family is a military marriage. My father, grandfather, and uncle are all soldiers. My father was supposed to take over his job. If he had continued on that path, he would definitely be one of the best in the military region. But my father met my mother and had me. They lived in the south and north respectively. My grandmother's family was in politics, and both of them had prominent families. My mother was also an ambitious person and would not give up her career in Beijing for love." Lu Yinbing said, "Everyone thinks that my father has paid a lot and gave up his military career to do business. He is very affectionate and touching. But in the first few years when I was born, my mother brought me up alone."
Lu Yinbing stroked the photo on the screen with her fingers and said, "I always remember that my mother showed me the photo of her and my father countless days and nights, pointing to the tall man in military uniform and saying: Remember, this is my father. She would tell me a lot about my father, about their love history, and when she was moved, she kissed me hard, saying that I was the fruit of their love, making me feel that they both loved me very much at all times. So although I lacked the role of a father in my childhood, I did not lack fatherly love. She gave me double the love. And after my father came home, he integrated into my life without any barriers. All this is thanks to my mother."
Xia Yitong said: "My parents... well, we were high school classmates, so was it considered puppy love? After all, they were very strict in the past. There were a lot of photos at home when I was a child, I think there were some of us in school uniforms, from high school to college, and there was also a big wedding photo. After the accident, I don't know if my house was taken away by my dad's family, and those photos... disappeared."
Lu Yinbing's expression changed slightly, he narrowed his eyes secretly, and raised his hand to touch her hair.
Xia Yitong soon became happy again: "But I did keep one." She found a very old photo stored in the cloud drive on her phone. In the photo, a man and a woman in bachelor's gowns were leaning against each other and smiling happily. "I stole it from my father's father's house when I ran away from home."
Lu Yinbing looked at her for a moment and said with a smile, "You look more like your mother." She added, "Mom and Dad, I will take good care of your daughter, please rest assured."