Chapter 130: Child
“Oh, my grandson’s 100-day banquet is today. I’m giving you some red eggs to add to the festive atmosphere.”
Su Yu stood at the door for a few seconds, and he subconsciously took the banquet gift that the landlady had specially sent over. The bright red gift bag was filled with a few red eggs that were meant to add to the festive atmosphere.
“Thank you. We haven’t prepared anything…”
“No thanks, no thanks. Hey… is that little Xia still at work? I see her coming and going early and late every day. Why is there no sign of her when it’s almost the New Year?”, the landlady looked into the house, and she saw that the living room was empty. Her eyes were filled with an indescribable sigh.
“The first time I met this little Xia, I knew she was a poor girl. She’s so frail and weak. I don’t understand you young people’s affairs, but you have to take care of her. That girl… has a lot on her mind. You have to treat her well.”
“I…”
Su Yu swallowed, and before he could say anything, his hand, which was behind his back, was suddenly held, and a hint of a cool and warm feeling arose in his palm.
“Is that you, auntie?”, Xia Qiange gently squeezed his palm and glanced at him with a resentful look. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It’s not Xiao Su’s fault. I just came to deliver something.”
The landlady smiled and waved her hand, and the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes became denser. “I was just saying that Su Yu should take good care of you. It seems that you’ve really been raised well. You’ve gained some weight on your face. You’re getting more and more beautiful… I was just sorry that I didn’t have a daughter back then.”
“Haha, what are you talking about, auntie? Su Yu has always been very good to me. He loves me very much.”
Xia Qiange’s lips were curved into a smile, and her sideways gaze went straight into Su Yu’s eyes. A silent ocean current was surging in the deep and dark sea, and he inexplicably felt a sense of suffocation.
“I know, auntie. I can see that you two are very close.” The landlady nodded repeatedly, and the smile lines at the corners of her eyes deepened. “You two are not young anymore. You’re already married, right?”
“It’s set for after the New Year…”, Su Yu said first.
“After the New Year? That’s good too. It’s only complete after you’ve formed a stable family. Yes… you should also have a child.”
His palm was as if it had been pricked by a knife. His eyes twitched from the pain, and the girl’s hand in his palm suddenly became restless.
As soon as she had said it, the landlady covered her mouth and smiled apologetically. “I’m being nosy. I shouldn’t have mentioned this. I’m used to nagging my second son. You’re still young. You have time to mess around. Alright, I’ll go back and take care of my grandson. Happy New Year.”
“Happy New Year…”
The landlady turned and left. Xia Qiange lowered her eyelashes and stood at the entryway, silent. It was not until Su Yu had reacted and had walked her out for two steps that he had replied with a New Year’s blessing.
He watched as the landlady walked into the elevator, and only then did he let out a sigh of relief. The concern that the other party had expressed with a smile had become a heavy burden on him.
Getting married and having children… was as distant as a dream.
He turned and was about to go back. A straight corridor led to the entryway of the house. The light that was shining in was pale and bleak. She was still standing in place, and her gloomy and dark hair was draped down, and it was covering her pale and gentle face.
The light and shadow were cutting open the gray and white walls and floor. She was like a fragile and sensitive piece of porcelain. She was smiling… and she was also crying. Everything about her had become a cold and deliberate carving.
The voice-activated light above his head was suddenly woken up by the sound of a door closing upstairs. The light was like a broken piece of glass, and it fell into his eyes. He squinted his eyes and rubbed his temples. The next second, the strangeness was gone, and the light and shadow were reversed. The fragmented world was twisted and pieced together, and half of his body was in a gloomy shadow.
It seemed to be all an illusion.
“Why are you in a daze? Don’t you recognize me?”
Her eyebrows and eyes were suddenly magnified in his field of vision, and her gentle voice was close to his ear.
“Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about what the landlady had mentioned…”
“You’re not willing?”, she asked in a plain tone. “We can postpone it. Just as auntie said, we’re still young anyway.”
Su Yu shook his head and leaned over to smell the faint fragrance in her hair. The inexplicable palpitation had subsided at some point, and it was as abrupt as an illusion.
“What are you thinking? I’ve already agreed to you.”
“Come in quickly. It’s cold outside.”
He went back into the house. He fumbled for the switch, and she slammed the door shut.
The light was suddenly on. He rubbed his temples, trying to relieve his self-proclaimed tired body. But the corner of his clothes was held tightly, and his actions were blocked.
“What’s wrong?”
“I want to ask you a question…”, her voice suddenly became low, and her eyes were misty, and something was floating in the depths.
“Go ahead.”
“Ah Yu… do you like children?”
Su Yu was stunned for a moment, and he subconsciously answered, “I haven’t had much contact with them. But children should all be… quite cute, right?”
“I also like children very much.” Her toes, which were on the floor, stopped, and she looked up at him with surprise. “When we get married, we’ll have our own children, right?”
Without hearing a refusal, Xia Qiange’s heart was about to break free from her chest.
She stared at Su Yu, and her fingertips gently traced his eyebrows and eyes, the bridge of his nose, and the contours of his face… as long as it was his, she liked it unconditionally.
She had not had much happiness in her life. The fruit that had grown on a barren land must be sweet. The product of their bones and blood being fused together was a miracle of life, a completion of her flawed life…
“He must be very handsome, and he’ll look like you, like your eyes, your eyebrows, your mouth… he’ll be babbling and calling me ‘mommy.’ Hey… Ah Yu, do you think we should have a boy or a girl? As long as it’s yours, I’ll like it.”
He was half-agape. All his excuses seemed to have suddenly become sinful. He was overcome by the eagerness in the girl’s eyes, and even his breathing was choked by her. The things he hadn’t had a chance to give her in the past, he had now been given a chance to choose again.
“I’ve never thought about what you’ve said…”
Su Yu held Xia Qiange’s shoulder and held her in his arms tightly. He swallowed, and his tone was heavy.
These words made him have difficulty breathing. The topic of children was like a bomb that had been thrown into his hard-won peaceful life. The fuse was lit, and the explosion sounded, and the surface of the water was filled with waves. He questioned whether his already-light and unbreakable life could bear the heavy burden.
“Huh? Ah Yu, don’t you… want a child that belongs to the two of us?”
The feeling of joy being cut off was not so good.
She was on his chest, and there was a pounding heart. She could hold it completely with one hand. It was as if a cold wind had blown in from the crack in the door, and her low and hoarse voice seemed to have lost its warmth.
“I mean… we can try. But it’s not a sure thing.”
Xia Qiange was stunned.
The glacier had melted, and the cold wind had stopped.
He had agreed? To have a soft and tender little life with her. She suddenly blushed, and her heart was filled with joy, like a child who had been teased.
All of this was unprecedented. Just that short sentence was as if it had surpassed a thousand words.
So happy…
