Chapter 64
As the Spring Festival approached, everywhere was lively and festive. Large red lanterns hung high under eaves, on trees, or on lampposts—everywhere.
Opening the phone, pushed content was all related to the Spring Festival, with the rest being various celebrity gossip. Internet heat has a shelf life; after a few days, the events that caused a stir before all settled down. Except for one or two occasional related hot topics, no one cared anymore.
Qiao Xi rarely paid attention to the internet, preparing for the New Year with peace of mind.
She took Qiao Jianliang to a small town on the outskirts of Jiang City, a water town junction. Transportation was relatively convenient. The rented house was in a quiet and clean environment, suitable for a patient to recuperate.
The small town wasn’t as congested as the city, open everywhere. A town with just two streets could be circled in an hour. Daily tasks were buying groceries and cooking in the morning, walking and sunbathing in the afternoon. With nothing to do at night, she could push Qiao Jianliang to the teahouse to watch others play mahjong—simply too comfortable.
Secretary Chen found the place; this was his hometown. With strong government support in recent years, it had developed well in all aspects. He personally sent and settled the father and daughter here. Secretary Chen kept his mouth shut, telling no one, only visiting occasionally with some food.
Qiao Xi couldn’t take care of Qiao Jianliang alone. Before coming, she had found a caregiver locally—a newly retired caregiver from the town hospital. Fifty-five years old but not looking old at all, quick and capable, easily carrying Qiao Jianliang on her back, helping the father and daughter greatly.
Since arriving in the small town, Qiao Xi received calls from two fixed numbers every day, and her chat apps were full of messages. She didn’t read any of them, only answering when Tang Yi called.
Tang Yi wanted to find her for shopping and eating, but she had run to the suburbs long ago. Not angry, Tang Yi just nagged a few sentences.
“I bought all the gifts, thinking of visiting Uncle Qiao, but you left without even notifying in advance.”
The decision was made too hastily; decided one day and left the next, too late to notify others. Besides, it was to avoid the limelight and couldn’t be publicized. Qiao Xi remembered Tang Yi’s parents were coming to Jiang City for New Year. Coaxing her patiently, she thought for a moment and asked if she wanted to come here, since there were no other acquaintances in the city anyway.
Just asking casually, Tang Yi actually agreed, but only coming on the twenty-ninth due to matters in the city.
Qiao Xi was cautious, reminding, “Don’t tell others I’m here.”
Tang Yi didn’t take it to heart, amused. “Who can I tell? Don’t know anyone.”
Qiao Xi was relieved.
The small town wasn’t as prosperous as the city. Unaccustomed for the first few days, she gradually did as the locals did. Qiao Xi thought she didn’t like running around and hadn’t left the city much before, but now she adapted so easily, as if changing environments was simple.
Without work and disturbances, life was extremely comfortable.
Qiao Jianliang was also satisfied here. Compared to the compound, he smiled more. After all, with someone accompanying him every day, how could he not be happy? He still couldn’t stand up, needing Qiao Xi and the caregiver to support him during daily training. Eating required feeding, and even going to the toilet required the caregiver to carry him in—equivalent to a completely disabled person.
Receiving a high salary, the caregiver wouldn’t complain. Qiao Xi never mentioned these things, taking care of him thoughtfully and attentively.
Qiao Xi never thought there would be a day of fatherly kindness and filial piety. Facing Qiao Jianliang, she couldn’t say gentle and caring words, showing nothing except actions.
Instead, Qiao Jianliang occasionally cared for Qiao Xi verbally. With inconvenient mobility, verbal care was all he could offer.
He weighed some words repeatedly, finally speaking at night.
“Little Bei called me.” He was half-disabled now; even answering the phone required the caregiver to hold it to his ear.
Qiao Xi wasn’t surprised at all. Making the bed, she asked after smoothing the quilt, “What for?”
Her tone was as bland as stagnant water, without a ripple, indistinguishable whether she minded or not, unmixed with any emotion, as ordinary as asking “Have you eaten?”
“Just asking casually, also asked about you,” Qiao Jianliang said, not euphemistic at all.
“Said where we are?”
“No. She asked, I didn’t say.” Qiao Jianliang understood his daughter’s nature, doing well this time.
Qiao Xi didn’t continue the conversation, pretending it didn’t exist, intentionally separating Fu Bei from the plain life in the small town.
**
However, reason is reason; thoughts are always uncontrollable.
Qiao Xi brought Qiao Jianliang here partly to avoid the turmoil in Jiang City, partly to recuperate, and partly for an indescribable reason—probably wanting to calm down and sort out messy relationships.
That day in the apartment, she didn’t care much about Fu Bei’s words, leaving with indignation in her heart. But later learning about the Zhou family’s incident, things changed a bit. A myriad of feelings in her heart, even she couldn’t figure out her own thoughts.
The Zhou family, Liang family, and even Fu family were grasshoppers on the same rope. Now that the Zhou family had close dealings with Liang Jincheng, more or less involved, an accident would drag Liang Jincheng in. Behind Liang Jincheng was the Liang family, and the Liang family was connected to the Fu family. Going round and round, they couldn’t escape involvement.
The interest circle was large, not easily resolved. Under the lingering connection, no one was that clean.
Qiao Xi appeared normal on the surface, but her heart was very different. However, life went on as usual. Putting those messy threads aside for now, ignoring everything.
Perhaps because she thought about it during the day, she dreamed of the other party at night. At that time, the relationship hadn’t stiffened like now; everything was fine. Fu Bei was still rubbing her with varying degrees of urgency. She couldn’t help calling this person. Fu Bei suddenly hugged her up, encircling her waist.
“Qiao Xi…” This person responded.
She hummed.
Fu Bei was almost sucking her earlobe. “Qiao Xi.”
“…Mmh.”
When calling her name softly again, Qiao Xi didn’t respond.
Waking from the dream, the sky was just dawning. The morning in the small town was fresher and more natural than the city. Birds could be heard even in winter. The trees here were of various kinds, scattered without rules, unlike the city where even the distance between trees was regulated. Evergreens grew lushly in various postures, pleasing to the eye.
Qiao Xi leaned against the headboard, gathering the quilt to cover her chest, sitting up with bent legs. It took a while to recover from the weary drowsiness. Maybe her recent state wasn’t right, leading to such nonsense dreams.
Or maybe life in the small town was too idle. once people have nothing to do, they love to let their imagination run wild, thinking of anything.
Qiao Xi insisted on throwing these away. Afterward, Qiao Jianliang stopped mentioning Fu Bei, and she didn’t dream of these again, not even thinking about them.
Until this person broke into her vision again, exactly on the twenty-ninth. Qiao Xi went outside the town to pick up Tang Yi’s family. Waiting, she played with her phone for a while, seeing someone post a photo on Moments. It was a photo of many people gathering. In the corner of the photo, Fu Bei was expressionless—accidentally captured by the photographer.
There were others beside Fu Bei. The photo was too blurry to see clearly. Qiao Xi looked for a long time before recognizing Liang Jincheng.
She hadn’t paid much attention to everything in Jiang City. Matters discussed with a certain person before would be settled after the New Year. After all, New Year’s Eve and Spring Festival were important days; had to pass them first.
Tang Yi’s family arrived, carrying bags of food, extremely enthusiastic.
“Didn’t we say we’d come over? Why pick us up? So troublesome.” Tang Yi said smilingly, knowing Qiao Xi still had to take care of Qiao Jianliang, very considerate.
Qiao Xi greeted Tang Yi’s parents first, then replied, “Afraid you couldn’t find the place.”
“Could ask people if we couldn’t find it; just such a big town.”
Tang Yi’s parents were very nice, not letting Qiao Xi carry things. Arriving at the rental house, they helped cook deftly. The couple cooperated perfectly, leaving no room for others to intervene.
Two families in the house, yet completely different ways of interacting. The Tang family was harmonious and beautiful, revealing the warmth of family affection everywhere. Qiao Xi and Qiao Jianliang didn’t seem like father and daughter at all, rarely communicating, lacking warmth between them. Qiao Xi didn’t mind these. Since childhood, with Qiao Jianliang and Mother Qiao’s repeated indifference and neglect, she gradually stopped caring or expecting. Instead, Qiao Jianliang, perhaps due to age, couldn’t bear this scene, his eyes fixed, looking over there thinking about something.
Worried he was bored, Qiao Xi pushed him to the balcony for a spin.
During this time, Qiao Jianliang hesitated to speak. A sentence rose from his stomach to his throat, then dropped suddenly.
He couldn’t open his mouth. Not knowing when he realized the distance between him and his daughter, he felt guilty but didn’t know how to make amends. Often thickening his skin to go to Qiao Xi’s place, but every time losing the face to say anything.
There are many mistakes in this world. If merely making amends could patch the hole, there would be no regrets. The current interaction mode was already the best; at least Qiao Xi treated him okay.
“There will be fireworks in the square east of town tonight. Take Tang Yi to see.” Qiao Jianliang said, wanting to stand for a while, holding the railing and Qiao Xi, taking a lot of effort to stabilize.
Thanks to Qiao Xi being tall; otherwise, she couldn’t support him.
“What time?”
“After nine, probably.” Qiao Jianliang thought for a moment. “Sister Hong said so; every year, very lively.”
Sister Hong was the current caregiver.
Qiao Xi nodded, agreeing.
With an extra family in the house, it was much livelier than before. Moreover, the house in town was big, a two-story building unlike the single floor in the city. Tang Yi’s family lived on the second floor, Qiao Xi and Qiao Jianliang on the first. When free in the afternoon, they played cards together.
Rarely gathering together, even if not done before, Qiao Jianliang integrated quickly. With inconvenient mobility, he slumped in the armchair watching, occasionally giving Qiao Xi ideas. Since moving into the compound, he hadn’t experienced such ordinary, plain life for many years. Daily life was socializing, dinner parties, drinking parties. Eating delicacies felt nothing; seen all kinds of fun, but never this happy.
Qiao Xi drew a tile and organized her hand, habitually turning back to ask, “Which one to play?”
Qiao Jianliang choked up. After a moment, he replied, “Up to you; any one is fine.”
The smiles on Tang Yi’s parents’ faces never faded. When Mother Tang lost a lot, Father Tang secretly moved his winnings over.
Qiao Xi pursed her lips lightly, pretending not to see, continuing to draw tiles.
At night, she really took Tang Yi to the square east of town to watch fireworks. The square was crowded, especially with children. No place to sit, only stand. Tang Yi held her arm, afraid of being separated by the crowd.
“Strong New Year atmosphere in town.” Tang Yi said loudly. “Last year I went to Jiangkou for New Year’s Eve with classmates. Just pushing and stepping on heels, legs soft after standing for ages, saw nothing.”
Qiao Xi knew this because she complained about it last year.
“What did you plan to do this year?” She couldn’t find a topic, just asking this.
Tang Yi smiled. “Planned to ask you to my place for dinner. Who knew you ran here?”
Qiao Xi also smiled.
Fireworks were about to start. The crowd surged, the square becoming noisier.
Suddenly thinking of something, Tang Yi hesitated for a moment, then spoke.
“Qiao Qiao.”
Qiao Xi responded, turning her head. “Hmm?”
“Professor Fu is looking for you. I met her that day; she asked me where you went.” Tang Yi said, glancing at the other’s expression.
Qiao Xi was stunned. Just then, the first firework exploded in the sky with a loud bang, blooming in the pitch-black sky, dazzling and brilliant. The crowd in the square went wild at this moment, shouting and cheering loudly.
Tang Yi continued, “I didn’t tell her.”
Unknown if Qiao Xi heard this sentence. She looked up straight at the sky, as if not caring about this at all, not wanting to miss every brilliant flower in the sky.
Explosions ceaseless, one after another, resounding in ears, exploding colorfully in the sky overhead.
Qiao Xi was out of place with the cheering crowd, as if completely separated. She blinked, probably stimulated by the light.
Hearing the sudden explosions of fireworks for too long, eardrums numb from the vibration, the discomfort gradually faded. The surrounding noise also became inaudible, seemingly getting further and further away.
Fireworks weren’t allowed in the city, but not explicitly banned in the town. However, to protect the environment, they wouldn’t be set off next year. This was the last time, so more were set off than in previous years, lasting longer.
Tang Yi had seen enough novelty, taking a short video with her phone to send out. Phones couldn’t capture the beauty of fireworks; the video only showed sudden bursts of light, lacking aesthetic beauty.
At night, Qiao Xi lay in bed unable to sleep for a long time. Having run a big circle outside, she was already very tired, but just couldn’t sleep. Maybe resting too well these few days led to no drowsiness lying in bed now.
Cold weather, town security not as good as the city. She dared not even get out of bed, wrapped in the quilt, checking her phone occasionally.
Qin Si sent her many messages again, all nutritious words. This person returned to City S, coming to Jiang City after the New Year. Qiao Xi struggled whether to reply. Thinking for a moment, she finally replied. But Qin Si probably had something to do, not replying for a long time; the chat interface remained unchanged.
She opened the call log, looking at that familiar string of numbers, ultimately not calling back, but clicking to delete the record.
On the last day of the year, the small town woke up before dawn. Everyone got up early. The crackling of firecrackers woke Qiao Xi directly. Checking the time, it wasn’t even seven.
She got up, dressed, and went out, going to Qiao Jianliang’s room to push him out. Tang Yi’s parents got up earliest, busy with breakfast since past five. Seeing the father and daughter come out, they greeted them repeatedly.
This should be the happiest New Year’s Eve Qiao Xi spent after the old lady passed away, looking the part.
Tang Yi’s parents were very considerate. To give the two girls time to go out and play, they actively helped take care of Qiao Jianliang, not letting Qiao Xi and Tang Yi intervene.
Qiao Xi strolled around town all day, playing cards with Tang Yi in the morning and afternoon. In the evening, Tang Yi dragged her out to play cards again. But she forgot her phone when leaving, so she let Tang Yi go first, returning to get it herself. Tang Yi was anxious to play mahjong, not caring much, going first.
It was already dark, past ten. No one in the house. Qiao Xi walked while feeling for her keys. However, before reaching the main gate, a familiar figure suddenly walked out from the shadows of the trees.
She didn’t pay much attention until the other party spoke first.
“Just back?”
She paused, thinking she misheard. Looking towards the voice, that person stood not far away.
Leaving the city for less than ten days, yet feeling like a lifetime ago, as if not seen for a long time. So seeing the other party at first glance, she was stunned for an instant.
Fu Bei wore a raven-green long coat, her figure slightly lonely. In just this short time, she seemed to have lost a lot of weight, her face a bit pale, accentuating her ink-black eyes. The fatigue and weariness between her brows could barely be concealed.
