Ch.292 Long Night (7)
Then, pouting, she stroked the tombstone with her small hand and whispered, "Mama, Tuantuan came to see you. I was made fun of by Teacher Le and her daughter again today. They said that you took drugs, so I'll also go to jail in the future as well. They laughed at me for not having a mother. They also said that people who kill themselves don't get to reincarnate, and they told me not to expect to see my mother again in my next life."
The cold wind cut across the chubby girl's face like a knife, and she was so cold that her cheeks were fully red.
The little girl shrank her neck and rubbed her ears. "But I think that for someone like Mama, even if you have no afterlife, you must have a past life. Mama. Tuantuan doesn't actually hate you. Compared to you hitting Tuantuan, Tuantuan hates the fact that you left me and Papa behind. Mama, if there's a next life, you have to be happy. If possible, you should become a pretty seventeen-year-old, because Granna said that Mama's happiest time was when Mama was seventeen."
The chubby girl clenched her hands into fists and prayed, "Mama. Seeing that Tuantuan came all the way here, can you just give me one kiss?"
But the one responding to her was the tombstone and the cold wind.
The little girl smiled and leaned over to kiss the cold photo on the tombstone. "Mama is so good. Mama kissed Tuantuan again."
While leaving, the girl was constantly turning around, leaving the cemetery reluctantly.
But she had to leave. If the nanny couldn't find her later, she was sure to be anxious. Rubbing her chubby little red cheeks, she suddenly missed the old days when she, her Mama, and her Granny were living in the mountain village.
At that time, Granny was still healthy, and Mama was still alive. In the summer, they would sit under the grapevine in the evening breeze, eating pork lard noodles and grapes...
But days like those were gone now.
...
She had no idea how much time passed in the dream world, but Lu Ting also appeared in front of her tombstone.
At this time, Lu Ting had already entered into old age. He was disfigured and his leg was broken because of the car accident that Li Murou planned. He limped up to Lin Yueqi's tombstone with a cane.
He put down a bouquet of wax flowers in front of the tombstone and took out a handkerchief to wipe it, saying, "You must be wondering if I'm with another woman again after not coming to see you for so long, right? Really, you're already this old and you still don't trust me."
While talking to himself, he sat down with difficulty.
Pressing his head against Lin Yueqi's cold tombstone, he sighed.
From the side of his eye, he saw the still young photo of Lin Yueqi on the tombstone and laughed. "You're still so young and beautiful, but look at me. I'm disfigured, my legs are broken, and I'm living like a broken old man. I suddenly thought about our days in college. I thought about the time I sent you those chrysanthemums. That was the first time I bought flowers for a girl, but you'd thrown them out from your dorm angrily. I was also angry for a long time. I felt unappreciated. Then I remembered when you worked part-time in college. I remembered you working as a Miss Etiquette with your legs bare in the winter months just to learn some living expenses. I thought you were a very tough person. I couldn't understand why someone as tough as you would give up like that..."
"It took me many years to figure it out, but I realized that the reason you're this strong is because you had nobody to rely on. There was no one behind you, so you had to be strong. I was the one who neglected you and neglected my family back then. If I realized this earlier and acted as your support, then would you have lived until your hair was gray, just like me?"
"Lin Yueqi, be honest with me. Did you hate me?"
"You're still as quiet as ever before. Why is it...so hard to hear your answer?"
He leaned against the tombstone and gradually shut his eyes, still continuing to mutter, "Tell me. How did our family just...fall apart?"
The elderly Lu Ting sighed softly.
And that sigh, was incomparably long.
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