Su Xiaoying reached out and touched her face, only to find his hand trembling violently. Nevertheless, he finally felt the warmth of Yi Mei's face and called out, "Guo Shaotang! Guo Shaotang!"
Guo Shaotang had already reacted, and upon taking a look, he revealed a sorrowful expression.
Su Xiaoying didn't see him and kept calling, "Guo Shaotang! Guo Shaotang!"
Guo Shaotang reached out and grasped Yi Mei's pulse, but in reality, he only grasped her wrist, because her pulse had completely stopped. Guo Shaotang felt a chill run down his spine. He didn't move his right hand away, but his eyes turned to Su Xiaoying.
Su Xiaoying appeared calm, but her face was terrifying.
After a while, Guo Shaotang struggled and whispered, "Young Master..."
Su Xiaoying's hand had somehow found its way to Yi Mei's hand. His voice was a little hoarse, but he was unusually calm as he said to Guo Shaotang, "Make her wake up and say one more word."
Guo Shaotang remained silent.
Su Xiaoying's knuckles were clenched so tightly they turned white. If Yimei were still alive, she would have jumped up in pain and given him a good scolding. But at this moment, Yimei was still lying obediently in Su Xiaoying's arms.
“She has to leave a message,” Su Xiaoying said to Guo Shaotang. “Whatever Huahua wants, whatever I want, she has to leave a message, right?”
Su Xiaoying spoke very earnestly, but Guo Shaotang couldn't think of any words to reply. Guo Shaotang felt his heart sink to his lower abdomen, and he couldn't even breathe smoothly.
Su Xiaoying remained silent after that.
He started by half-squatting on the ground, as if he wanted to pick up Yimei at any moment, but after a while, his legs seemed to go weak and he lost his strength, so he sat down in the pool of blood.
Guo Shaotang noticed his blank expression and was startled. He quickly ran inside, picked up the wailing Hua Hua, and placed her in Su Xiaoying's arms. "You...look, Hua Hua seems alright..."
Caught between her parents, Hua Hua smelled the strong stench of blood and felt uncomfortable. She cried even louder, flailing her arms and legs, and her little hand brushed against Su Xiaoying's neck.
Su Xiaoying looked at the baby, then suddenly hugged her and Yi Mei tightly, momentarily choking back tears.
The moon was bright that night. Su Xiaoying climbed onto the roof and lay down, just like he and Yimei often did on hot days. Yimei was always very picky back then, complaining that the roof was too hot or too narrow, and then she would push him to the edge of the roof and take up a large space for herself. But whenever they woke up, the two of them would always be squeezed tightly together.
Su Xiaoying had already cried his heart out, so he had no desire to cry now. He was just a little surprised that loneliness in life could come so suddenly. He had always thought Yi Mei was a woman who had escaped danger unscathed; she had been an assassin for so many years and had never had a single accident.
Su Xiaoying tried to recall the last words Yi Mei had said to him, but he couldn't remember them. There were just too many things coming to mind. He had long since grown accustomed to this loud-voiced woman.
How could he live without this woman? This truly caught Su Xiaoying off guard.
But he must live a good life, cultivate the land properly, and raise Huahua well. Although the days ahead may be a little sad and difficult.
Worried about Su Xiaoying, Guo Shaotang brought food and drink and went to her residence at the crack of dawn. The door was ajar, and Guo Shaotang knocked hard. Su Xiaoying quickly opened the door.
“Oh… Dr. Guo,” Su Xiaoying said.
Seeing that he looked calm, Guo Shaotang sighed and said, "Young master, I've brought you some food."
"Oh...that's good." Su Xiaoying said casually, then asked, "How is Huahua?"
"Hua Hua is alright."
Su Xiaoying took the food basket from Guo Shaotang and invited him in. The small room was spotless, and a large bundle was placed on the bed.
Guo Shaotang became anxious and hurriedly asked, "What are you packing for?"
Su Xiaoying said, "I need your help with something—those are Yimei's things, please throw them all away for me."
Guo Shaotang was taken aback and remained stunned for a long time before asking, "Why did you throw it away?"
Su Xiaoying retorted, "With all these things here, how am I supposed to live, huh?"
Guo Shaotang looked at him, stared blankly for a long time, sighed, picked up the package, and walked out. Guo Shaotang didn't dare to look back, and hurriedly walked to the corner before putting the package down. Then he looked back and saw that Su Xiaoying hadn't followed, so he wiped the tears from the corner of his eyes with his sleeve.
More than a month later, after the funeral arrangements were settled, Guo Shaotang took Hua Hua home. The house was still very clean, but some things in the house looked very familiar to Guo Shaotang.
Then he remembered something and couldn't help but be a little surprised.
“Young Master…” Guo Shaotang stammered, “I did indeed throw those things away…”
Su Xiaoying said, "I know. I went and picked it up again."
Guo Shaotang was taken aback and blurted out, "Why?"
"How can I live without these things? Huh? How can I live without them?"
Su Xiaoying spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world, so Guo Shaotang could only remain silent.
Su Xiaoying also fell silent. After a long silence, she suddenly sighed deeply and murmured, "Ah, Yimei..."
That spring, when the willows were green and misty, Huahua turned three years old.
Su Xiaoying bid farewell to Guo Shaotang, bought a simple horse-drawn carriage, and headed towards Taohuadian in Chuzhou.
The official road was deserted, devoid of anything else. The thin, black horse pulling the carriage kicked up a little dust with each hooves. Beneath this dust, the long shadows of the carriage puller and Su Xiaoying stretched out.
Villages and towns could be vaguely seen ahead. Su Xiaoying stopped the carriage and helped his daughter down. He wrung out a towel from the stream by the roadside to wipe her face, and while she was drinking from her water bag, he straightened her clothes.
Su Xiaoying's eyes, however, gazed towards the vast wilderness to the east. This boundless wilderness was covered only with weeds and shrubs just beginning to turn green in spring. But he knew that behind this wilderness, there was a large river, and somewhere along the riverbank, there once lived a woman who couldn't even do basic accounting and ran a tiny, dilapidated riverside villa.
Su Xiaoying sighed softly, her right hand unconsciously stroking Hua Hua's hair.
Hua Hua said, "Daddy..."
Su Xiaoying was taken aback, bent down, and asked, "What's wrong?"
Hua Hua awkwardly pushed the water pouch in, revealing that she had finished drinking the water.
Su Xiaoying smiled slightly and put the water bag away.
Just then, the setting sun blazed like fire, and a bird returning home suddenly flew overhead with a "whoosh" and disappeared without a trace.