Chapter 151: Regret
Huo Ningning never imagined there would come a day she would deeply regret her words, words that would haunt her for years, resurfacing in nightmares, leaving her crying in the dead of night.
She had hurt the one person who could have become her family, her best friend.
“You’re leaving? Leaving for where? Nana, are you feeling unwell? Why are you saying this?”
Wu Siyu was shocked. Just two days after being discharged from the hospital, Yu Linna wanted to leave? Why?
She was just a child, alone, with no resources, no means of supporting herself. Where could she possibly go?
“Aunt Wu, you’ve taken care of me for a month. It’s time for me to leave. I’ll move out. I don’t want to be a burden anymore.”
“Why would you move out? We agreed, didn’t we? We’re going to be a family. Once I sort things out, I’ll start the adoption process. We’ll be a real family, legally. Isn’t that good?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because… I can never be your family. I’m just an outsider.”
“…”
Wu Siyu had promised to respect Yu Linna’s decision if she didn’t want to be adopted, if she wanted to leave. She had said those words.
But she hadn’t expected this day to come. She thought Yu Linna would never refuse, never leave. This comfortable home, this loving environment, with food and shelter, a far cry from the orphanage… why would she leave? She couldn’t understand.
“Nana, we made a promise. I would be your mommy, and you would be my daughter…”
“I’m sorry.”
Six-year-old Yu Linna looked up, her expression uncharacteristically serious for her age.
“I don’t want to disrupt your lives.”
She was only six, yet she spoke like an adult. Wu Siyu couldn’t comprehend it. Perhaps, besides being well-behaved, she was also unusually mature, her time at the orphanage, without parents, forcing her to grow up faster than other children.
She understood that someone else’s parents could never truly be her own.
Wu Siyu tried everything to convince her to stay, but Yu Linna’s mind was made up. And their financial situation, worsened by recent events, made it difficult to argue. Yu Linna’s departure, though heartbreaking, would ease their financial burden. It was a cruel reality.
Wu Siyu’s heart ached. She had brought Yu Linna home, and now she was sending her away. She had planned to adopt her, she had promised… but she had broken her promise.
This little girl, so young, yet so considerate, wanting to alleviate their burden… where would she find another child like her? She truly loved Yu Linna.
But she couldn’t afford to keep her…
Their family was struggling, unable to support another child. Just as Yu Linna had said, one less mouth to feed would make a difference.
On the day Yu Linna moved out, Huo Ningning was at school, oblivious to what was happening, assuming everything was normal. Yu Linna hadn’t gone to school; she was packing.
She had arrived with only two sets of clothes and a notebook, her only possessions easily packed into a small bag. Dressed in the same black tracksuit she had arrived in, her golden hair reaching her shoulders, wearing cheap ten-yuan shoes, she opened the door, the sunlight streaming in, a light she thought symbolized hope for this family.
“Nana, I contacted a former colleague from the orphanage. Her name is Lin. I’ll take you to her; she’ll take care of you for a while. From now on… you’ll be on your own. Take care of yourself…”
Wu Siyu’s voice trembled as she saw Yu Linna off. She had brought her home a month ago, and now, a month later, she was sending her away, with nowhere to go, her future uncertain. All she could do was use her connections to find her temporary shelter, hoping a kind family would eventually adopt her. But it was a faint hope.
“Don’t worry, Auntie. I can take care of myself. I’m grown up now. I won’t rely on anyone.”
She smiled, her innocent face radiating a resilience that belied her age. Leaving this home seemed like a trivial matter to her. And indeed, Yu Linna wasn’t fazed; it was just another new beginning. If one place didn’t work out, she would find another. As long as she was alive, she would survive.
No matter the hardship, she would persevere, her hope unwavering.
“Nana…”
Wu Siyu knelt down, hugging her tightly. Though not her biological daughter, she had come to love her as her own. Unable to provide for her, to care for her… it broke her heart. She wished her family were better off, wished she could keep Yu Linna, raise her into adulthood.
She was so young, perhaps even younger than her own daughter.
“Nana, please… don’t go… stay… I’ll find another job, work harder… I’ll take care of you…”
Tears streamed down her face, falling onto Yu Linna’s clothes, dampening her neck. A thirty-year-old woman, crying in front of a child… how embarrassing, she thought.
But she couldn’t let go, holding Yu Linna tightly, afraid that once she released her, she would disappear.
“Aunt Wu, I’m an outsider. You’ve been more than kind to me. Thank you for the candies, the buns, for always being there when the other kids bullied me. You always made sure I had food, sent me to school… I’ll remember your kindness.”
“Nana…”
“Goodbye.”
She left.
Just like that.
Released from Wu Siyu’s embrace, she walked away.
Her small figure, though lonely, was resolute, her steps firm, her back straight, never looking back.
She was someone who, once she set her mind on something, never wavered, no matter the obstacles. She would keep moving forward, never looking back.
Yu Linna left the Huo family, having lived there for barely a month, moving on to another foster home, her future uncertain, one step at a time.
Huo Ningning learned about Yu Linna’s departure only after returning home from school. She had been planning to apologize, realizing her words had been too harsh. But now, it was too late.
“Mommy, where’s little Linna?”
“She’s gone. She left. She went somewhere else.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?!”
“She asked me not to.”
“…How could this happen…? How…?”
Huo Ningning’s mind raced, her thoughts jumbled. She hadn’t expected this. She pushed past her mother and ran out of the house, without looking back.
“Ningning, stop! Where are you going?!”
“I have to find her!”
“Don’t bother! She’s gone! She’s not here anymore! You won’t find her!”
“I don’t care!”
Huo Ningning ran, her small feet pounding the pavement, her voice echoing through the streets, calling out the familiar name, the three words she hadn’t had a chance to say. Passersby, watching her, their eyes filled with pity, assumed she had had a fight with a friend.
She ran until her voice was hoarse, shouting the name over a hundred times, a thousand times, but it was useless. Yu Linna was gone.
“Little Linna! Little Linna! Come back! Come back!”
“I was wrong…”
“Please don’t go…”
“I’ll give you my dolls! I’ll give you all my snacks! I won’t say mean things anymore! You can cuddle with my mommy all you want! I won’t fight with you over food anymore! Please come back… I’m sorry…”
She collapsed to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably, her small legs exhausted, her face and clothes covered in dirt. She had shouted until her voice was gone, a small price to pay if it could bring Yu Linna back.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… Little Linna, please don’t go…”
Huo Ningning cried until Wu Siyu found her and brought her home. No matter how hard she cried, how much she searched, Yu Linna was gone, having left for another city, taken in by another family, only to leave again a month later, then another, and another.
The Huo family’s misfortunes had fueled the rumors of Yu Linna being a jinx, making it difficult for her to find a stable home, foster families often sending her away after a month.
After Yu Linna’s departure, the Huo family’s financial situation, though still difficult, gradually improved. Huo Qiulin, after recovering from his injuries, worked tirelessly with his wife, overcoming their most challenging period.
By the time Huo Ningning was ten, their circumstances had improved significantly. Around the time she turned eleven, her father’s small company started to thrive, their family finally escaping poverty. By the time she finished middle school, they were comfortably well-off. The rumors of the Huo family’s newfound wealth started around this time.
Huo Ningning sometimes thought about the little blonde girl who had lived with them for a month, the memory fading with time, tucked away in a corner of her heart. Until one day in high school, she saw a flash of blonde hair in a classroom. She paused, then ran towards the classroom, peering through the door, and saw…
The blonde girl, cleaning the blackboard, struggling to reach the top, her brow furrowed in concentration as she jumped, finally erasing the last bit of chalk. She was taller now, her face more mature, yet she still retained a youthful innocence.
Huo Ningning stared, frozen in place. She was in her second year of high school, about to enter her senior year, seeing Yu Linna again after so many years. But the blonde girl seemed to have forgotten her, the memory alive only in Huo Ningning’s heart.
