"Go to hell!"
They both laughed, as if time had turned back to their first year of high school.
Gu Junxiao turned her head, met Shen Moyu's eyes, and smiled frankly: "Long time no see, how have you been?"
Shen Moyu nodded: "It's fine, how about you?"
"I'm doing alright here, it's just that it's too cold in Beijing. I was thinking of coming back here to warm up for a few days, but it's snowing here too." Gu Junxiao sighed, looking embarrassed. All three of them laughed.
After chatting for a bit, Gu Junxiao glanced at his watch and said somewhat anxiously, "I'll be going now. I'm picking up my friend. Let's have dinner together sometime."
"Okay!" Su Jinning waved her hand and watched Gu Junxiao enter the hot pot restaurant.
With winter break over, the New Year is just around the corner. Supermarkets of all sizes are starting promotions, with loudspeakers announcing discounts and special offers. Red lanterns have been hung on the streetlights early, and the elderly folks downstairs are still playing chess and practicing Tai Chi, undeterred by the wind and snow.
"Wow, it's so fast! The New Year is almost here," Su Jinning remarked.
"Yes, it feels like it wasn't long ago that we celebrated Chinese New Year."
Su Jinning smiled and stared at the red lanterns on the streetlights: "Last year during the Spring Festival, my dad was working on documents at the company, and I spent the holiday alone. I got really bored, so I video-called Chen Hang, and we watched the Spring Festival Gala together remotely." He found it funny after he finished speaking.
Shen Moyu couldn't smile, and reached out to pat the snow off his shoulder: "I'll spend this year with you."
It was a very ordinary sentence, but Su Jinning was stunned. It had been a long time since anyone had said to him so confidently, "I'll be there for you." Even his own father would only say, "We'll see, we'll see."
Receiving affirmation certainly raises expectations, and Su Jinning smiled, saying softly, "Okay."
The two strolled around the streets for a while, and finally Su Jinning took him home.
Xia Wei wasn't there; after all, the Lunar New Year was only two weeks away, so she was probably out shopping for New Year's goods with Aunt Liu downstairs.
He sat on the sofa and watched TV for a while when there was a knock on the door. He thought it was Xia Wei, since it was rare for anyone to come to their house.
As he opened the door, a man in a black leather jacket came into view. Shen Moyu looked up to see his face.
He wouldn't fail to recognize that face in the family photo, the face he knew best in his memory...
For a moment, he stared blankly at the man, his breath slowing slightly. He felt a sense of weightlessness and disorientation, as if he had suddenly fallen into another world.
The man looked at him with some surprise. His familiar face was now quite wrinkled, but his figure was still as tall and upright as Shen Moyu remembered, exuding the unique sense of security that a father should have.
His hands trembled slightly beneath his leather jacket. Shen Donghai slowly spoke, as if he had practiced for a long time but still couldn't quite get the pronunciation right, awkwardly calling out, "Son, it's Dad."
Shen Moyu trembled, his panic causing him to take a step back, unsure of what to do. Even though he knew he wouldn't mistake his father, who had been away from home for many years, standing before him like this, all his memories and bitterness intertwined at that moment. He didn't know whether to cry or yell at him to leave.
He couldn't remember how he had managed to complete the entire sequence of actions from Shen Donghai entering the room to him sitting calmly on the sofa and looking at his father. Even he, with his hands and feet ice-cold, was somewhat surprised.
Shen Moyu stared blankly as his father placed the several boxes of expensive local specialties and New Year's goods he was carrying on the shoe cabinet.
His nose stung, and he abruptly turned his head away.
When they were very young, their mother told them that all the boxes and jars of things should be placed on the shoe cabinet so she could tidy them up when she came back. His father hadn't forgotten.
But what can you do about it? Shen Moyu laughed self-deprecatingly.
Shen Donghai sat down, looking at Shen Moyu's expressionless face. He opened his mouth several times, but didn't know what to say.
Yes, what could he say to a son he had heartlessly abandoned for ten years? The fact that Shen Moyu could sit there calmly without throwing a punch was beyond his expectations.
"What are you doing back here?" Shen Moyu asked, his icy voice dropping the temperature in the room to its lowest point.
Shen Donghai clenched his fists nervously and said cautiously, "Dad missed you a lot, so I came back to see you."
Shen Moyu finally turned her head, staring at that face as if she had heard a hilarious joke, a pang of pain shooting through her heart: "Have you finished looking? You can leave now."
Isn't it ridiculous? A father who heartlessly abandoned you for wealth and status years ago is now sitting beside you without a moment's hesitation, saying he misses you.
Is this a lie or a joke?
Shen Donghai was taken aback, then sighed and lowered his head, but he wasn't surprised by his son's attitude. "Son, please don't be like this. I really came back this time to see you. I know you've suffered a lot while I was gone, and it's not easy for you to support this family at such a young age."
He lowered his head, continuing as if repeating a draft, "I feel heartbroken too..."
"Your way of making things up is still so unique." Shen Moyu interrupted him curtly, her eyes filled with nothing but cold hatred and unfamiliarity: "Just like when we were kids, you always manage to fool me. This time is no exception. If I didn't hate you so much that even hearing your name makes me nauseous, I would have actually fallen for it."
"You!!" Shen Donghai was provoked by his words, and suddenly stood up, pointing his finger at his nose: "Is this how you talk to your father?"
"You haven't been my dad since you left this house!!" Shen Moyu's soft spot was brutally attacked by his own father. He gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with tears: "What you did is enough for me to hate you for the rest of my life! What right do you have to pretend to come back and see me now? Who are you trying to fool!"
His interrogation questions, as if they had been bottled up for years, came out fluently and each word piercing the heart. Shen Donghai took a breath, sat down somewhat awkwardly, and his aged face instantly turned deathly pale.
Shen Moyu adjusted his breathing, but couldn't help trembling: "If you really have something to discuss with me this time, finish what you need and leave immediately. That's the most respect I can give you as a son. Don't utter any more useless words to me; they're worthless."
Hearing his resolute words, Shen Donghai finally raised his head and took a shaky step forward, but Shen Moyu took two steps back.
He stopped in his tracks, lowered his head in remorse, and slapped himself hard across the face: "I've wronged you all! I'm an idiot!"
Shen Moyu closed his eyes, his expression completely calm.
It turns out that even the most sincere family affection in the world can be so hypocritical.
This man killed his childhood with his actions, and years later he tried to mourn with words, but what he didn't know was that the person in front of him had turned cold.
"Are you done? Can you leave now?" Shen Moyu pointed to the door, trying to calm himself down, and pushed Shen Donghai to the door: "This place is too small to accommodate someone as important as you. Please leave as soon as you're done."
"Son, listen to me!" Shen Donghai was getting old and couldn't persuade his young and strong son, and almost fell down several times.
Shen Moyu opened the door, pushed the person out, and then hurriedly threw all the broken things on the shoe cabinet out.
Shen Donghai clung stubbornly to the doorframe: "Son, don't send your father away, listen to me!"
Shen Moyu pulled hard on the door, but Shen Donghai almost squeezed in several times. He was so angry that he almost vomited.
He really couldn't hold on any longer; he didn't have the strength to close the door, nor the strength to stand there calmly facing him.
Finally, he let go and squatted down helplessly.
Shen Donghai squeezed in, then immediately closed the door as if afraid Shen Moyu would kick him out again. Seeing Shen Moyu squatting on the floor, he wanted to help him up, but Shen Moyu pushed him away forcefully, causing his head to hit the coffee table.
Shen Moyu stood up and looked at his father, who was covering his head and about to get up. Fear and the urge to escape finally made him lose his composure. He opened the door and ran out.