bayedsolid Chapter 145 Following the Root
Chapter 145 Following the Root
He Qiaoyun subconsciously sniffed and followed his words, "I caught a bit of a cold last night because the air conditioning was set too low."
Feng Jiashu denied it, saying, "No, you're crying."
He never thought he could be so sensitive, able to hear the sob in her voice and so decisively conclude that she was crying.
Now, He Qiaoyun panicked even more. "I, I didn't cry, I just have a cold."
Having seen countless people, Feng Jiashu could naturally detect the lie in her flustered tone. He asked gently, "What happened? Can you tell me?"
The emotions that could have been controlled burst forth like a flood or a torrential downpour because of his one concerned word.
She pursed her lips, not wanting her aggrieved sobs to escape...
Feng Jiashu did not urge her for a response, but waited patiently. He said, "I think you are a very strong-willed person who doesn't cry easily. For something or someone to make you so sad that you cry, it must be very wrong."
These words were like adding fuel to the fire for her, who was already on the verge of collapse. She could no longer hold back and began to sob softly, "How did you know...?"
When Feng Jiashu saw the person he liked was sad, his heart tightened as well. "Perhaps, I can be your emotional dumping ground, just for tonight. After tonight, I won't remember anything."
His voice seemed to have a bewitching quality. He Qiaoyun had intended to distance herself from him, but a heartbroken person in the dead of night is always driven by reason rather than emotion, and she couldn't help but confide in him.
"It's really nothing serious, it's just that I raised an unfilial son..."
Feng Jiashu quickly understood the whole story, but he was very angry. "If he were a child, there would be a possibility of teaching him a lesson, but he is already an adult. It is really too much for him to say such things to you."
He Qiaoyun sniffed and wiped away her tears. "I don't know why he turned out this way..."
To become like Xu Hui, which she found utterly repulsive.
Could this be what the elders often refer to as "following one's roots"?
I once saw a study online that said a father's personality flaws can be passed on to his children. I used to think it was nonsense, but now I have to believe it.
Feng Jiashu deeply understood her heartache; the closest relatives could hurt him the most, and his own aunt had experienced the same pain...
He comforted her, saying, "Don't be too sad. This is not something you can control. Since that's the case, you might as well just stop worrying about him."
He Qiaoyun said as if she had made up her mind: "Yes, this time, I will never look back at them."
Just like she said in the divorce, she can't rely on her two sons to support her in her old age anyway. From now on, they can go their own way, and she can go hers.
Feng Jiashu smiled and said, "That's the right way to think."
He Qiaoyun glanced at the time and realized that she had been talking to him on the phone for half an hour without even noticing.
Once the sadness and resentment subsided, the thought of sitting across from Feng Jiashu, whom she had coldly rejected, made her feel inexplicably embarrassed.
She said, "Thank you for listening to my troubles. Am I rambling on and on, taking up your time?"
Feng Jiashu said, "It didn't cause any delay, you don't need to be so polite."
He was overjoyed that she would think of him and call him when she was sad, explaining that there was still a possibility of reconciliation in their relationship. To him, this was incredibly good news.
He Qiaoyun pursed her lips and said, "It's quite late, and I haven't washed up yet."
Feng Jiashu didn't press the matter further, saying, "Okay, go to sleep early, goodnight."
He Qiaoyun replied with a "Good night" and hung up the phone.
Staring at the black screen of my phone, my feelings became very complicated, but I also felt inexplicably relieved.
Tonight, neither of them mentioned the awkwardness of their previous phone call, nor did they mention Ruan Shu. They simply chatted calmly and casually, just like before.
So what does this mean? Does it mean we've made up?
"Never mind, I can't think about it too much." She sighed softly, turned around and went back to wash up.
At night, she lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. The things she had promised herself she wouldn't think about flooded her mind again, playing over and over again.
Until her exhausted body could no longer hold on, she fell into a deep sleep.
*
The next day.
Xu Xiucheng was still asleep when he heard his son calling for his mother. He groggily got up from the folding sofa in the study.
She opened the door, her eyes still blurry, and mumbled, "What's with the noise so early in the morning...?"
When Xiao Haosi saw him come out of the study, his little brows furrowed. "Dad, Mom is gone."
Xu Xiucheng leaned against the doorframe, seemingly unconcerned, and asked while yawning, "What time is it?"
Xiao Haosi pulled his hand and led him to the master bedroom with the door wide open. "Look, Mom isn't here!"
Xu Xiucheng waved his hand, "He probably went to buy breakfast, he'll be back in a bit." As he spoke, he walked into the master bedroom, opened the wardrobe door to look for clothes, but was dumbfounded when he saw that the wardrobe was more than half empty.
He panicked, flung open the top drawer, and discovered that Ji Ying's pink suitcase was also gone.
"Daddy, Mommy is gone..." The son cried, his little face scrunched up with grievance.
Xu Xiucheng ignored his son's crying, plopped down on the bed, and froze.
"Dad, call Mom right away..."
Xu Xiucheng snapped out of his daze, quickly got up, went back to his study, and found that his phone had been smashed to pieces. He thought of his computer, so he immediately ran to the entrance, found the computer, logged into WeChat, and made a video call to Ji Ying.
The phone rang for a long time before finally hanging up with a "beep."
If one call didn't answer, I called another, and so on, until I called several more, but the result was always the same: no one answered.
He felt as if the sky had fallen again.
His own mother didn't want him anymore, and neither did his wife. For the first time in his life, he felt despair.
The son sat silently beside him, tears streaming down his face, and said in a pitiful voice, "Dad, does Mom not want us anymore...?"
Xu Xiucheng exited the chat window, and WeChat popped up messages from his boss and colleagues. His head was about to explode.
It's already past 7 a.m. Right now, the most urgent things are getting the kids to school and myself to work. I've lost everything, but I need to keep my job...
He said, "Go brush your teeth and wash your face first."
Xiao Haosi nodded, looking aggrieved. "Mmm."
Afterwards, he went into the bathroom in the master bedroom to wash up. When he finished washing up and turned around, he saw his son standing behind him looking at him.
He was startled. "I told you to wash up, what are you doing standing here?"
The son said, feeling wronged, "I can't."
Xu Xiucheng frowned. "How could you not? You always wash and groom yourself properly."
What he didn't know was that Ji Ying usually got up early to cook breakfast first, and then brushed her son's teeth, washed him, and dressed him.
When he gets up, he will see his refreshed son, a hot breakfast, and his gentle and virtuous wife—a picture of a happy family.
But today, he couldn't do anything right on his own. He couldn't even dress his son properly, let alone put a messy schoolbag on him.
It was a chaotic morning. He didn't leave home until almost eight o'clock to wait for the elevator. He encountered rush hour traffic jams, and he was late for kindergarten and then late for work.