RES Chapter 87

The next day, Chi Qiu sat in the front yard holding a cup of tea in a daze. Chi Lanyan brought a woolen cardigan from behind and gently draped it over Chi Qiu’s shoulders.

Chi Qiu came back to his senses and smiled: “Mom.”

Chi Lanyan’s fingertips ruffled the hair on the side of Chi Qiu’s ear and pursed the corners of her mouth, “The hair is a little long, I’ll go to the saloon with you this afternoon.”

“No, I can go by myself.” Chi Qiu said, “Auntie Lin has urged you several times. Your work has been delayed so much. You really don’t need to stay with me all the time.”

“Alas, I really found a good secretary. It seems that Lin Lan bought you off with a few cakes?” Chi Lanyan said to him jokingly: “I’m going abroad on a business trip soon, so I won’t have time to accompany you afterwards if I want to, and now I’m not even allowed to keep you company properly?”

She took a chair and sat down beside him, holding her cheeks with one hand and ‘appreciating’ the autumn scenery in the front yard with Chi Qiu.

Chi Qiu listened, and as if he was thinking, he said after a while: “You went abroad…actually not for business, but to contact that ophthalmologist, right?”

The teacup in Chi Lanyan’s hand flicked, almost spilling out the tea.

Chi Qiu said directly: “Yesterday, Uncle Lin came to the house. I overheard him and Xiao Xia talking about this matter. Don’t misunderstand, he just mentioned it casually and didn’t say anything more.”

Chi Lanyan’s hand tightened; she knew that Chi Qiu had always resisted the matter of curing his eyes and had no confidence in treating his eyes. Moreover, the contact information of the ophthalmologist was given by Lu Fengshen so Chi Qiu may not appreciate it. So, she wanted to arrange it privately first, but now she was actually stabbed by Lin Yuming first.

She was so angry that she couldn’t help but put down her cup of tea in annoyance: “Xiao Qiu, listen to mom——”

Chi Qiu interrupted her and said in a warm voice: “Can you leave the matter of contacting this doctor to Ning ge? I heard that he has many acquaintances in this area, perhaps it will be more convenient and you don’t need to bother to make a trip there.” If the Ji family made the arrangements, Chi Qiu could take this opportunity to easily ‘regain his sight’.

“…You, you’re willing to go for treatment?” Chi Lanyan thought that she had heard it wrong.

Chi Qiu pursed the corners of his mouth: “Mom, I want to cure my eyes, let’s try.”

Chi Lanyan was so excited that she almost wet her eyes. She hugged Chi Qiu and said happily, “Okay, try. Yes, we have to try.” After saying that, she wiped her eyes awkwardly: “I’ll go contact Feining now.”

Chi Qiu stopped her: “I’ll contact him myself. It just so happens that I want to go see Yanchen tomorrow, he’s resting today.”

“That’s fine, you’ll feel better if you go out for a walk.” However, Chi Lanyan explained, “I really have work to deal with abroad. Auntie Su will take care of you during the few days I’m away.”

And about Chi Qiu’s decision to get a divorce, Chi Lanyan didn’t ask any more questions.

Instead, it was Chi Qiu, who took a sip of the tea in his hand and said: “Mom.”

“En?”

Chi Qiu’s complexion had improved; he no longer looked sick and wilted. But it was still clear that he was in a low mood and had been unhappy. His fingertips tapped the edge of the teacup as he asked: “I want to get a divorce…you have nothing to ask?”

Chi Lanyan had guessed that Chi Qiu would be confused, because according to the past, she would definitely get to the bottom of it.

Now, she thoughtfully asked, “Do you want to tell me?”

Chi Qiu shook his head, “I don’t know how to say it yet. I don’t want to lie to you, but I…”

Chi Lanyan knew clearly in her heart that as long as Chi Qiu didn’t open his mouth for a day, then she could pretend to be stupid for a day:”Then tell me when you want to.”

Faced with his mother’s understanding, Chi Qiu’s eyelashes trembled, as if shaking off the pieces of autumn. He thought of what Chi Lanyan had said to him earlier and felt guilty: “Before, you thought I had found someone to be with for the rest of my life and said so many kind words to me…mom, I’m sorry for making you happy for nothing.”

Chi Lanyan didn’t mind. She rubbed Chi Qiu’s hair, and the long-lost action made Chi Qiu feel like he had returned to his childhood.

Under the sun, the plain-faced Chi Lanyan looked very gentle: “Feelings ah, when there is a hurdle in your heart, there are contradictions everywhere. So sometimes, divorce is not a bad thing, but a good thing.”

She was all relaxed now that she was separated from Lin Yuming.

There was only one thing that still upset her.

Last time, Lin Yuming insisted on picking up Chi Xia and stayed at his place for a few days. Now, the person was sent back, but Lin Yuming, as Chi Xia’s father, would still come to see Chi Xia from time to time.

That was fine, but every time Lin Yuming saw Chi Lanyan doing something for Chi Qiu, he would always snort coldly, making Chi Qiu, who was less talkative, even more reluctant to come out of his room. Even drinking tea in the courtyard today, it was Chi Lanyan who worked so hard to persuade him out.

Chi Lanyan took a deep breath and made up her mind: “Starting tomorrow, Xiao Xia will follow me to the company for an internship. Once she officially starts working, she won’t be at home all day so Lin Yuming won’t come over to see her.”

In the past few days, Chi Lanyan really can’t stand Lin Yuming’s yin and yang look, she also lost confidence in the twisted Chi Xia again.

“Yesterday, Xiao Xia mentioned this to me, she said she doesn’t want to live at home anymore.” She sighed, knowing why Chi Xia didn’t want to live at home, so she couldn’t persuade her. “I can’t do anything right to make her unhappy, so let’s just go along with her. It just so happens that the apartment that I bought for her last year is all decorated. With more furniture, she could move in there.”

Chi Lanyan originally thought that Chi Qiu would refuse her to do so, and was about to say a good word when she saw Chi Qiu nodding easily, “Okay, thanks mom.”

Chi Lanyan was stunned, she did not expect that her approach would become a turning point for Chi Qiu.

Chi Qiu seemed to have grown up in an instant. He said softly: “I used to…always be accommodating to others, always thinking that doing so would make everyone happy, and always thought it’s okay for me to be wronged. But, Mom, I realize now that what I did wasn’t right.”

No one thought he was doing a good job, and even he himself didn’t think he was doing a good job.

Everything that was taken for granted was wrong.

And the wrong behavior should be corrected in time.

It was just that when he said these words, he still felt sorry for Chi Lanyan. After being a ‘good boy’ for so many years, Chi Qiu now felt tired and did not want to continue to pretend.

But what Chi Qiu didn’t expect was Chi Lanyan’s response.

Slowly, Chi Lanyan held Chi Qiu’s hand in relief and touched his cheek. She did not blame Chi Qiu for any of his actions. Although she was an extremely unfeeling boss outside, when it came to Chi Qiu, she was an ordinary parent; a mother who loved her child.

Even though she had done many things wrong without knowing it over the years, she still said the words in her heart for the first time: “Silly child, you should have done this long ago. Don’t always accommodate others. Don’t let yourself get hurt again.”

The so-called ‘others’ she was talking about included herself.

After Chi Qiu heard this, he was stunned. Then, he showed a nice smile, as usual: “En.”

Suddenly, a fallen leaf fell on his shoulder and brushed against his cheek. Chi Qiu took it down, and the dead leaves tickled his palms. The sweet-scented osmanthus tree planted at the door wafted out its fragrance early and he couldn’t help but think of the sweet-scented osmanthus tree that Lu Ming had planted for him.

Maybe it was already blooming.

What a pity, Chi Qiu thought to himself.

It turned out that his marriage with Lu Ming was too short to last until the season of osmanthus blooming.

 

Autumn was brought by a gust of wind.

This wind blew all the way abroad, knocking the drifting leaves on the clean windowsill. A few pigeons jumped on their feet and ‘cooed’ as they settled down to rest.

Immediately afterwards, an old woman with white hair pushed open the old window from inside to outside, startling the pigeons away. Her features were three-dimensional. She briefly introduced the situation in the room in a fluent foreign language.

Lu Ming stood at the door and was greeted by an unfamiliar sense of familiarity that made him feel all depressed.

He stood motionless as the old woman handed him a set of keys and let him in.

“It’s hard to rent out your house when there has been a murder. So Mr. Lu asked me not to rent it out, just come over every other month and clean it, which I have been doing properly. But I’m very old, you may need to find a new manager…”

The ‘Mr. Lu’ she was referring to was Lu Fengshen, and she was a local who Lu Fengshen hired to manage the house nine years ago.

Now, the old woman was getting older and was planning to retire.

Before she retired, she took one last job: “According to your order, the daily necessities are ready and I will bring you two meals regularly every day. For this part of the payment, please pay into my account on time.”

“Okay.”

“Would you like to have a look in the bedroom?”

“No, I’ll just familiarize myself with the place. I have nothing else to do.”

The old woman nodded her head and took two steps outside. Suddenly, she turned to a cupboard and rummaged through one of the drawers and pulled out a pile of yellowed letters: “I almost forgot! I found these in an iron box under the cupboard when I was cleaning up the utility room a few years ago. I really didn’t expect them to be hidden in such a hidden place…Of course, I didn’t open them to read them.”

She couldn’t read other languages ​​either.

Lu Ming looked at the pile of yellowing envelopes and frowned, unimpressed.

“Perhaps, it is something of yours?”

“…Thank you.”

The old woman stared at Lu Ming suspiciously. Before she left, she looked at the house that had been unoccupied for many years and muttered, “Okay, please take care.”

Lu Ming didn’t hear clearly but he didn’t want to frighten the old woman, so he didn’t say anything more.

And the old woman must not have thought that the person who took the key from her hand would be Lu Ming who collapsed in this room back then.

…

The moment the door was closed, Lu Ming walked alone to the center of the living room.

All the furnishings in the house were as they were ten years ago. Probably because someone cleaned them up, their appearance did not look dilapidated. There was still a clock hanging on the wall that was still working, probably because the old woman had changed the batteries. At this moment, it was pointing to the position of three o’clock in the afternoon.

Lu Ming sat down restrainedly on the sofa and picked up an envelope. The handwriting on the cover looked familiar, it seemed that it was indeed a letter written by him.

He glanced slightly and saw that the recipient written on the envelope was actually ‘Chi Qiu’.

For this reason, Lu Ming was a little puzzled. In the era of more developed communication, even though it was ten years ago, few people would use the letter as a method of communication. Even more, at that time, Lu Ming knew that Chi Qiu was blind, so he would not write to Chi Qiu even more.

Then why would these letters exist?

With a skeptical attitude, he stroked the envelopes carefully before belatedly realizing that they were all letters that had not been sent. Otherwise, they would not have appeared in front of him.

For a moment, Lu Ming was glad in his heart that this might provide him with a little help in recovering his memories.

Because of this, he couldn’t wait to open a letter.

 

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T/N: Brace yourself for the next chapter. Don’t forget to prepare a tissue haha

 

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