The end of this semester came quickly. Sitting in the examination room of Wenhua No. 1 Middle School again, Tao Xi felt that he was more stable than the last mid-term exam, and his heart and hands were stable.
On the day of the test, Yang Zhengming took him back to his grandfather's house. Grandma made a special table of dishes. The family gathered to celebrate the end of the test and usher in the winter vacation.
The results came out on the third day after the exam. Tao Xi improved from 42 in the mid-term exam to 21. Except for Lin Qinhe, who was the first place, this result greatly stimulated a group of students. After all, only one from Qingshui The students who had been transferred from the county for half a year, almost rushed into the top 20 with a swipe, and given some time, wouldn't they want to stand shoulder to shoulder with Lin Qinhe
Tao Xi was quite satisfied with this result, but before he had time to celebrate with Lin Qinhe, Yang Zhengming took him back to his grandpa's house. Grandma cooked a bigger table of dishes to celebrate his great progress in the final exam. Each of the adults also gave gifts for the final exam reward, Tao Xi accepted them all without being polite, and stayed at his grandparents' house for the night.
He understands that his relatives are working hard to build a home for him, and perhaps the family love is accumulated like a tower of sand in such a meal, a vegetable, and a dish.
Tao Xi returned to his home with Lin Qinhe the next day with a pile of gifts. The two old men didn't say anything about him living with Lin Qinhe. Maybe Yang Zhengming had told them in advance. , just don't know what to say.
When he came home, Lin Qinhe had just come back from the nursing home to see Luo Zhengyin.
"Aunt Luo is better?" Tao Xi sat cross-legged on the carpet, holding a gift box, and asked Lin Qinhe who was sitting on the sofa.
Lin Qinhe handed the scissors on the coffee table to Tao Xi and said, "It's better, I can be discharged from the hospital tomorrow."
Hearing this, Tao Xi breathed a sigh of relief. He took scissors to cut the ribbon on the gift box, and suddenly heard Lin Qinhe say, "My mother wants to see you tomorrow."
"Okay, I'm going to visit your mother too." Tao Xi put down the scissors and looked at Lin Qinhe. Lin Qinhe looked calm, but he saw the hesitation in Lin Qinhe's eyes.
Tao Xi leaned closer to Lin Qinhe, put his chin on Lin Qinhe's knee, raised his head and asked, "Are you worried about something?"
Lin Qinhe looked down at Tao Xi's eyes, stroked the eyelashes at the end of his eyes with his thumb, and whispered, "It's nothing."
Tao Xi felt that the end of his eyes was a little itchy, he blinked a few times quickly, the end of his eyelashes swept across Lin Qinhe's fingertips, and the finger was quickly moved away.
In fact, he knew what Lin Qinhe was worried about. He wanted to see Luo Zhengyin in order to confirm one of his conjectures and say something to Luo Zhengyin.
The next day, Tao Xi bought some gifts for visiting, and followed Lin Qinhe into the villa where Luo Zhengyin lived, which used to be where Lin Qinhe and Yang Duole lived.
The interior decoration of the villa is full of artistic flavor, but it also looks very deserted. The first thing Tao Xi sees is an oil painting hanging on the wall of the living room. The oil painting is a girl in a white dress. She is sitting in a purple flower field. Inside, a pair of smiling eyes are innocent and affectionate.
Tao Xi recognized it as a self-portrait of her mother Fang Sui.
The nurse who took care of Luo Zhengyin walked down and said to Tao Xi: "The lady just woke up, please go up."
Lin Qinhe said to Tao Xi, "I'll wait for you in the living room." He knew that Luo Zhengyin wanted to talk to Tao Xi alone.
Tao Xi nodded, and was about to turn away when Lin Qinhe held his wrist and instructed him, "If she is not in a good condition, you can call me up."
Tao Xi agreed and followed the nurse up to the second floor. On the way, he found that not only the painting in the living room, but also many traces of Fang Sui in the whole villa, or photos, oil paintings, or other Fang Sui. relics of the past.
The door opened, and before Tao Xi walked in, he smelled a faint medicinal smell.
The heavy blackout curtains were not opened, and only a floor lamp was lit in the corner of the room. In the dim light, Tao Xi saw Luo Zhengyin leaning on the head of the bed, and almost didn't recognize that this was the elegant female pianist.
Luo Zhengyin looked very weak, his pale face seemed morbid, his dim eyes brightened a little after seeing him come in, and he smiled a little with difficulty and said, "Tao Xi, come and sit."
Tao Xi politely called Aunt Luo, and sat down on the chair beside Luo Zhengyin's bed.
Luo Zhengyin didn't speak anymore, she just stared silently at the young man in front of her, her eyes seemed to be empty and filled with something.
Tao Xi was a little uncomfortable to see Luo Zhengyin, he wanted to say something to break the silence, but saw Luo Zhengyin suddenly began to cry, silent and painful.
He hurriedly took a tissue to Luo Zhengyin, but Luo Zhengyin didn't answer it. She covered her face with her hands and shed tears quietly, as if the tears could never end. After a long time, she said to him, "I'm sorry, my illness is not completely healed. , sometimes I can't control my emotions."
Tao Xi said it didn't matter, he knew that Luo Zhengyin's depression was serious, but he didn't know how to persuade her.
After crying, Luo Zhengyin seemed to be calmer. She raised her head and looked at Tao Xi again. After watching for a long time, she smiled and said, "You really look like A Sui."
Tao Xi followed her words carefully and asked, "What kind of person is my mother?"
Luo Zhengyin's eyes still fell on his face, and it seemed to fall on a person from a long time ago through him. She said a lot on and off, most of which were the things that Fang Sui and her grew up with since childhood. Those times should be very happy, Because Luo Zhengyin always had a faint smile on his face when he said it.
Tao Xi listened very carefully, and he confirmed his conjecture that Luo Zhengyin really liked Fang Sui, just as he and Lin Qinhe liked.
It's just that when Luo Zhengyin talked about Fang Sui's pregnancy, her mood suddenly collapsed again. She covered her face and cried again, tears flowing from her fingers, like a kneeling penitent.
Tao Xi was at a loss to comfort, but Luo Zhengyin suddenly grabbed his hand, like a drowning man clutching the wooden board, saying "I'm sorry" over and over again.
"Aunt Luo, you didn't feel sorry for me." Tao Xi frowned, his hand hurt a little.
Luo Zhengyin shook his head, still holding Tao Xi's hand, crying incoherently and said, "No, I'm sorry for A Sui, I'm sorry for A Sui's child, it's my fault, Tao Xi, I'm sorry, I'm sorry... "
Tao Xi looked at Luo Zhengyin who was immersed in pain, and felt very uncomfortable. After finally waiting for her to calm down a little, he planned to talk about other topics to divert Luo Zhengyin's attention, but Luo Zhengyin looked up at him suddenly, full of tears. A light suddenly appeared in her eyes, as if she had finally found a way to redeem herself, she said excitedly:
"Tao Xi, I will make up for you. I will make up for what I owe you over the past ten years. You can treat me as a mother, okay? Okay?"
She looked at Tao Xi almost pleadingly, as if Tao Xi would not agree to him, she would collapse.
There is only a deep sigh left in Tao Xi's heart. For Luo Zhengyin, the only child who can redeem himself from despair and guilt is Fang Sui's child, who used to be Yang Duole, and now it is him.
He shook his head and did not agree to Luo Zhengyin, but said to Luo Zhengyin in a soft tone as much as possible:
"Aunt Luo, I know you owe me something because of my mother." He paused and continued, "But it's not me that you owe, and I'm not your child."
Luo Zhengyin didn't seem to understand what he meant, and said eagerly: "It doesn't matter, I will treat you as my own child, A Sui's child is my child."
She didn't know what she suddenly thought of, she grabbed Tao Xi's hand tighter and begged bitterly: "Tao Xi, move in here, you and Qinhe live here together, you can treat him as yours Brother, we are all your relatives, he will take care of you with me, okay?"
Tao Xi looked at the pale and sick woman in front of him, and suddenly there was a sadness. He did not answer Luo Zhengyin's question, but asked softly:
"Aunt Luo, what is Qinhe to you?"
Luo Zhengyin looked at him blankly, as if he didn't understand what he said.
Tao Xi took a deep breath, hesitated for a moment, and said what he wanted to say to Luo Zhengyin:
"Qinhe is your child, just like I am my mother's child. He is not a continuation of your feelings for my mother, nor is he a foil that you use to make up for me. It has never been me who you need to make up for in the past ten years. It's Qinhe, you know?"
He stared at Luo Zhengyin, but Luo Zhengyin was silent in his eyes, and the hand holding him suddenly trembled, shrinking back as if touching something sharp.
Tao Xi knew that Luo Zhengyin was escaping this problem, he held Luo Zhengyin's cold hand instead, handed her the temperature in his palm, looked at Luo Zhengyin's eyes, and said in a slow tone:
"You are my mother's best friend, and my mother will not want to see you live in guilt towards her all her life. She will hope that you have a happy family and live a happy life for yourself, just like you and her before. It's the same when we're together."
Hearing this sentence, Luo Zhengyin's throat choked violently, his head bowed, and tears fell on the quilt one by one.
She choked and said, "But I can't help..."
There is no way to break free from despair, only to live in remorse day after day.
Tao Xi sighed softly.
"Mother Luo."
Luo Zhengyin raised her head suddenly, her eyes were blurred, she blinked her eyes hard, and saw the young man in front of her smiling slightly at her, and said to her:
"Thank you for being my mother. I just hope that I can have a healthy and happy mother with Qinhe, okay?"
The floor lamp cast a warm yellow light, illuminating the corner of the bed shallowly. After Luo Zhengyin was sobbing for a long time, Tao Xi finally heard her answer, "Okay."
He kept holding Luo Zhengyin's hand until she fell asleep again and came out of the room.
Tao Xi stood alone in the corridor, leaning against the wall, looking at the picture of Fang Sui on the wall.
Lin Qinhe has lived in such an environment that he misses Fang Sui everywhere since he was a child. Facing such a mother who is full of eyes full of other people's children, will he also hate Fang Sui and her children
In the end, by accident, she was with Fang Sui's real child.
He couldn't tell what he was feeling, but he just remembered what the old man at the wonton stall said to him that day.
In the canopy of the wonton stall that night, Tao Xi took advantage of Lin Qinhe to go out to buy a barbecue, and asked the old grandson about Lin Qinhe's running away from home when he was six years old. The old grandson seemed to trust him and told him everything in detail. .
That evening more than ten years ago, a beautiful child was hanging around the old grandson's stall. He looked pitiful, so he beckoned the child to sit down on the simple wooden bench and cooked a bowl of wontons for him to eat.
The child was clearly hungry, but ate slowly, looking across the street while eating, as if waiting for someone.
The old grandson had no business, so he crossed his legs and asked the child why he ran out alone and whether he had quarreled with his parents.
The child shook his head, buried his head and drank the soup one by one without speaking.
The old grandson saw a lot of little children who were arguing with their parents and threatened to run away from home. Most of them went home crying before they walked out of the two miles, so he comforted: "My parents sometimes scold you and beat you, it's all for your own good, but They must all like you the most."
The child was silent for a while, and said in a very calm tone, "My mother doesn't like me."
When he spoke, his expression was serious and sad, and Lao Sun couldn't help but stunned, slammed his mouth and said, "There is no mother who doesn't like her own children, children, don't think so, your mother can't find you now, I don't know how anxious it is."
The child stopped talking, and Lao Sun wondered if he should call the police. When he was about to call, he saw his niece running over with an anxious face. When he saw the child eating wontons at the wooden table, he was relieved and immediately hugged him. Wipe the child's tears.
It turned out that Lao Sun's niece worked as a nanny for the family in the university staff building. This child was the son of that family. Lao Sun couldn't help but wonder what happened to the niece.
Perhaps it was because she had long been complaining and finally seized the opportunity to tell her. The niece rambled on for nearly twenty minutes.
According to her, the child's mother was a pianist and lived in a nice villa, so she moved the child to the university professor's building where she lived when she was a child, and hired a niece who lived nearby as a nanny.
The professor's building is already old. When my niece went out to buy things that afternoon, a circuit downstairs caught fire, and the fire went straight upstairs. Fortunately, during the day, the few residents in the building were quickly evacuated. .
When the niece came back, the fire truck and the ambulance had just arrived. She was anxiously looking for the mother and son. She heard from the neighbors that the lady had already carried her son down, but fainted again because of nervousness.
She soon found the comatose young lady in the ambulance, clutching a painting in her hand, next to a howling little boy being comforted by a nurse.
The niece just breathed a sigh of relief, but suddenly realized that the boy was not the hostess's own child, but a child named Lele who often came to play. Her heart came to her throat in an instant, and she didn't have time to ask, so she hurried to the fire department. The staff said that there might be a boy who didn't come down in the house on the fourth floor.
The firefighter quickly came down with a black and gray-faced little boy. She saw that the child was crying and shouting to the firefighter, "My mother and brother are still on it, please help my mother." She turned her face away, unable to hold back the tears that fell instantly.
"He took a nap in the room alone, woke up choked by the smoke and went to his mother, thinking that his mother and brother were locked in the room, he desperately slammed the door and called for his mother, who knew that his mother was already holding Someone else's child went down with a useless painting, just forgot his own son!"
The niece dared not let the child hear it again, so she whispered to the old sun with red eyes, "I don't understand what she thinks, she usually treats the child without kissing her, and treats other people's sons as treasures. I heard that she has What kind of depression, but even if she is mentally ill, even if her son has not been with her for a long time, she shouldn't abuse her child like this!"
After listening to this with a complicated expression, the old grandson only sighed. Grandpa will give you another bowl of wontons."
The child shook his head and said politely, "Thank you, Grandpa, no need."
Lao Sun half-squatted down, touched the child's head, and after thinking for a while, said kindly to him: "When people are sick, they forget some things. When your mother is sick, she may forget you occasionally, but it's not that she doesn't like you. "
The child kept his long eyelashes down and did not speak.
Lao Sun also knew that the reason he was looking for was too far-fetched, after all, other people's mothers did not forget other people's children. He looked at the child in such distress, and after thinking about it, he continued,
"Besides, besides your mother, there will be many other people who like you."
Then the child looked up at him and asked seriously, "Do you like me the most like my mother likes my brother?"
He bit the word "most" a little hard, obviously yearning for this word. Like all children, he always wants the best, the biggest, and the most.
Lao Sun was stunned for a moment, and realized that this younger brother was probably a child carried by his mother. He couldn't help but ask, "Your mother likes your younger brother, so do you hate your younger brother?"
The niece winked desperately from the side, as if dissatisfied with the somewhat cruel question raised by the old sun.
The child was silent for a while, then slowly shook his head: "Brother can make mother happy, so mother likes younger brother the most."
Old Sun had mixed feelings in his heart, he sighed lightly, picked up the child from the stool, raised it above his head, smiled and teased the child with an exaggerated tone:
"It doesn't matter, children, there will be people who like you the most, the most, the most in the world in the future!"
The child's amber-like eyes lit up and asked softly, "When will it appear?"
"It will be when you grow up." Lao Sun said with a smile, he has grandsons himself, and usually likes to play with children.
The niece on the side couldn't help complaining: "Uncle, he is still young, don't talk about it."
But the child was obviously amused by the old grandson.
The old grandson finally watched his niece take the child's hand and left.
After that, the child's family moved out of the university professor's building, and the niece stopped being a nanny for the hostess, but she would occasionally talk about the beautiful child when she came over, worried that he would be wronged at home.
What Lao Sun didn't expect was that after that, the child would follow the road to eat a bowl of wontons. He no longer asked those childish questions, he was always alone, and occasionally he would bring back two bowls of wontons.
At that time, after listening to Lao Sun's speech, Tao Xi's eyes turned red.
He has always been faintly aware of Luo Zhengyin's overvalued attention to Yang Duole and his indifference to Lin Qinhe, but he never thought that Lin Qinhe was treated like this by following Luo Zhengyin since he was a child.
He knew that Luo Zhengyin was sick, but he still couldn't understand it.
I don't dare to imagine that if he lived by Lin Qinhe's side since he was a child, would he also completely take away the maternal love belonging to Lin Qinhe
Facing the doting of those relatives, will he really not become the same as Yang Duole
Tao Xi didn't dare to think about these questions at all. He patted his face with his hands, cleaned up his expression, and walked downstairs in a confused mood. On the stairs, he saw Lin Qinhe waiting for him in the living room alone. The sound of his footsteps raised his head to look at him, showing a very gentle smile.
At that moment, Tao Xi seemed to have seen the child who was waiting for his mother at the wonton stand many years ago to come to him. His nose suddenly got a little sore, and he hurried to Lin Qinhe, took his hand, and held it tightly.
Lin Qinhe noticed Tao Xi's emotions, lowered his head slightly, looked into his eyes and asked softly, "What's wrong? Did my mother say anything to you?"
Tao Xi didn't say anything, just put his forehead on Lin Qinhe's shoulder, rubbed his neck, and asked an inexplicable question: "Do you know who I am?"
Lin Qinhe was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously replied with a non-new answer: "You are Tao Xi."
Tao Xi shook his head.
Lin Qinhe thought back and thought that Tao Xi was flirting with him, so he smiled and said, "It's my baby."
Tao Xi couldn't hold back his joy, he stood on tiptoe slightly, put his foot close to Lin Qinhe's ear, and said in a low voice solemnly:
"Little Lin Qinhe, I am the person who likes you the most, the most, the most in the world."
After Tao Xi finished speaking, he saw that Lin Qinhe didn't respond, and just stared straight at him, as if completely stunned, his amber pupils reflected the figure in front of him, like a deep pool reflecting the moon.
He stretched out his hand and poked Lin Qinhe's waist, and asked, "You are not honored..."
Before he could finish the question, he was suddenly kissed by Lin Qinhe, his lips and tongues meeting, from gentle to fiery, but the expression of the person who kissed him was almost devout, as if someone who had been walking in the desert for several days kissed the Crescent Moon Spring, and devoured him. beg.
"I am very honored."