“If I hadn’t heard the phone call that day, you wouldn’t have told me about this, would you?” Willson looked down at me.
"Tell you? Why?" I rolled my eyes.
"Because I feel obligated to do something for you. Moreover, I insist that there are still things we haven't finished saying between us, and I won't give up until you listen to my explanation. Because it's not fair to me, and it's not fair to you either."
"But do you think it's convenient for me to discuss these kinds of issues with you right now?"
“Yes, that’s not appropriate. So please give me some time tonight.” After saying that, Willson lightly touched my forehead with his lips and walked away, leaving me standing there like an idiot for half a minute.
Pushing open the ward door, I saw my mom whispering to my dad with a sly smile. As soon as she saw me come back, she immediately greeted me with a beaming smile: "Little sister, tell Mom what Ying Shuo likes to eat? I'll go buy it right now."
"Ying Shuo? You're very close to him? If you're that close, go ask him yourself!" I said irritably. Then I turned my head away, barely dodging my mother's slap.
"But then again, I think Ying Shuo is tall and handsome, but he doesn't seem to smile much, which makes me a little nervous talking to him. Tian Yu is more like my son, also tall and handsome, but he knows exactly how to make people happy, and he calls all the time..."
"Did Yin Tianyu give you a phone call?" I almost jumped up.
"Oh, oh, I meant before. Speaking of which, Tianyu hasn't called in a long time." Mom clicked her tongue regretfully.
I immediately deflated. Yes, how could he possibly call again? Why was I so excited? I hated my own reaction.
"However, whether it's Tianyu or Yingshuo, as long as a man is willing to marry you, it will be like getting rid of a scourge in your father's and my heart... Hey... Hey, you don't know, I've been working on the quilt for your wedding for several years now, and it seems it can finally be put to use this time."
"Don't get cocky, my brain may not work well, but my hearing is still pretty good!" I sneered.
When only my dad and I were left in the ward, I had just fed him some orange juice when he started vomiting violently. His thin body curled up in a ball, and with each vomit, his whole body convulsed violently—a typical reaction to chemotherapy. I anxiously patted his back, trying to ease his pain, but when I touched his back, I was startled to find it was all bony. I was shocked to discover that my dad had lost even more weight! Suddenly, I wavered. Was it really worth it for my dad to continue chemotherapy like this? One wrong move, and the stomach cancer might not have progressed, but the chemotherapy could have killed him! Was letting him live in such pain just to make it easier for us, the people around him, to accept it psychologically, or did my dad truly want to live? Thinking about this, my head suddenly felt hot again.
"Dad, should we stop chemotherapy?" I asked softly as I handed my dad a glass of water after he stopped vomiting a little.
I thought my dad, who had always been vehemently opposed to chemotherapy, would be overjoyed to hear this, but to my surprise, he refused without hesitation: "No, chemotherapy can't be stopped!"
I was shocked. Was this the same father who, in just half an hour, would rather his mother have an affair than continue suffering?
“Little sister, I thought I’d done everything I needed to do and seen everything I needed to see in this life. If I could live any longer, I’d rather be free than not living a fulfilling life. But just now, I suddenly realized that if I can’t personally hand you over to that man when my only daughter gets married, your happiness will never be perfect. I can’t let my dearest little daughter’s happiness be diminished even slightly on the proudest day of her life as a woman. So, even if there’s only a sliver of hope, I will fight to live on, at least until that day.” As Dad spoke, a smile spread across his face.
I said that as long as my dad is alive, I will not shed a single tear in front of him. I am proud that I have kept my promise from beginning to end, even though at this moment, my heart is overflowing with tears.
Since the atmosphere during dinner was beyond my control, I simply stopped paying attention to my mother's probing questions about Willson's family background. Anyway, I wouldn't care how embarrassing I looked in front of him. However, when I saw Willson's bowl piled high with food, I reminded my mother several times that Willson didn't like people serving him food. This only earned me ambiguous, inquisitive looks from my mother and sister-in-law, and Willson's repeated declarations, "It's okay, it's okay." So I simply shut up, though my gaze occasionally lingered on Willson, because I couldn't help but imagine the fiery scene at this very table when my mother had grabbed Yin Tianyu and frantically fed him.
After dinner, Willson said goodbye, and his mother blatantly dragged me up so that I could "see him off to Ying Shuo."
Part Two, Chapter Thirty-Seven
It gets dark early, and the autumn wind has a rather bleak feel to it. A car passes by, stirring up fallen leaves that swirl and dance about a foot high in the air.
I put my hands in my pockets, shrugged, and followed behind Willson. Under the streetlights, one step, two steps, three steps... I secretly stepped on Willson's shadow on the ground, chuckling to myself. Suddenly, Willson stopped, and I bumped into him. I didn't feel much pain, but I was startled.
"Are you alright?" Willson touched my forehead. "You're always so reckless. And how's your hand? How could you do something so stupid the other day?"
"It's okay, I've always been used to doing silly things anyway." I smiled indifferently and turned my head away a little. "Now that you're a father, your temper seems to have calmed down a lot."
“Yes, I am someone’s father, but the daughter is not my daughter,” Willson suddenly said. I didn’t understand at first: “What do you mean?”
Willson let out a heavy sigh, as if he were exhaling something: "Originally, this matter concerned the reputation of someone who has already gone to heaven, and I could never tell you the truth. However, the moment I saw you cutting your hand in front of me that day, I realized that if it were up to you as an exchange, I would be willing to become a devil. So, I must make this clear to you: Xiaoxiao was born in May, but she is not my child."
My poor brain is a bit slow. I had to repeat the sentence in my mind several times before it suddenly dawned on me: Oh, Cui Wuyue is having an affair.
Cui Wuyue is having an affair?!
？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？ ？
！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！ ！
I started hiccuping violently and loudly—I was genuinely startled this time.
Willson didn't even look at me, or perhaps he dared not look at me? I didn't know. I only heard him talking to himself, "Back then, when I was fiercely fighting with my family for our relationship, she, in despair, casually gave herself to another man, and even got pregnant despite her health. Actually, looking back now, May was the one who understood me best. She knew that no matter how much pressure my family put on me, I wouldn't give in. But I couldn't bear to see her hurt, especially hurt because of me. Keeping this secret is the only way to minimize the harm May suffered. I really couldn't find any other way out but to marry May. But asking me to let you go, please forgive my selfishness, I can't do it either. So this matter has just unfolded step by step. I always thought that given time, there would be a solution." It was legal. But what I never understood was why May insisted on giving birth to this child, no matter how much the doctor and I pleaded or begged; she was determined to have Xiao Xiao. But when I first saw Xiao Xiao, I finally understood why May did it. You can't imagine that such a tiny thing could have such a warm vitality. Moreover, May knew my heart wasn't with her, and Xiao Xiao became her deepest solace. But I found out too late, because her heart couldn't withstand the excessive strain of pregnancy. On the day she went to heaven, May thought she had given Xiao Xiao to me at the cost of one life for another. But she didn't know that it was actually two lives exchanged for one life—the other life was her own child!
"Slap!" I jumped up and swung my hand hard, a loud slap echoing in the night:
A child born in May is a "tiny, warm life"...
But I abandoned my child in a cold metal bucket at the hospital...
Because he wanted to protect her reputation, the price I paid was my love and my child!
For the sake of a lie, I spent a year exiling myself to learn to forget!
When I exhausted all my strength to find love again, I still broke Chongxiang's wings because of this secret.
…………
"Bastard!" My voice was hoarse and rough, ripped from my lungs.
“Yes, I’m a bastard, you’re right!” Willson said with a pained expression after taking the slap without moving.
"No, I'm not insulting you, I'm insulting myself!" I said coldly, turning to leave. No one knows how ironic this outcome is for me. My previous forbearance and sacrifices in love had always made me secretly feel a little proud. But now, it all only made me feel like a serious clown.
Willson caught up with me and grabbed me, "Where are you going?"
"Don't touch me, I need to be alone."
“No, I can’t let go again, I’m afraid you’ll disappear again!” Willson said stubbornly.
"But isn't it too late to catch you now?" I said without a shred of pity.
"What do you want me to do to salvage everything?" Willson said in a low voice, completely ignoring the rapid swelling and redness on his left cheek.