“Yeah.” Xiao sat, with her chin in her hand, watching the rain that kept on falling outside the window. She pouted and complained, “We’re not going to be able to go out and play this whole weekend. It’s so boring having to stay at home.”
“You can go watch TV if you want.” Cheng Zhiyan glanced at her, then lowered his head and continued to read his book.
“My cartoons aren’t on right now. There are only boring shows and news on at this time.” Nevertheless, Xiaotu hopped down from her chair in front of the window and ran toward the living room.
Cheng Zhiyan hesitated for a moment, but he knew he had to prevent Xiaotu from watching the PG-rated romantic TV shows or she’d keep bothering him with weird questions. So, in order to keep track of what she was looking at, he picked up his book and followed Xiaotu down the stairs.
Xiaotu had turned on the TV, which was broadcasting news at the moment.
“Since mid-June, due to the fact that Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake have been overwhelmed by continuous heavy rains, the flow of the Yangtze River has rapidly gained momentum. It has been affected by the overflow of enormous amounts of water upstream. The levels of the river in the Jiangsu Province are now close to the warning levels. The storm we are experiencing at this time is the largest one since the thunderstorm of 1954…” The female announcer on the news was still reading about the flooding, but Xiaotu had already switched the channel.
“Ahhh…news broadcasts are everywhere…”
Xiaotu switched through several channels in succession, and, upon discovering that they were all broadcasting this same news, she threw down the remote control and look up at the ceiling in exasperation.
“It seems as if it’s raining everywhere…” Cheng Zhiyan casually lamented after lifting his head to glance at the news.
“Yep, it’s annoying because I really want to go out and play…” Xiaotu had already lost interest in watching TV. She sprawled lazily across the couch and continued to stare at the pouring rain outside.
The rain continued to pour, all the way until July.
Since it was summer break for Xiaotu’s preschool and Cheng Zhiyan’s elementary school, their daily routine of home to school and vice versa had abruptly come to an end. Now they were stuck at home all day long.
Cheng Zhiyan glanced at Xiaotu, who was sitting there acting as if she was completely bored out of her mind, and said nonchalantly, “It’s already summer, so when is your father coming back?”
“Daddy?” Upon hearing a topic she was interested in, Xiaotu became immediately revitalized. “Probably sometime in the next few days. I can’t wait. When Mommy gets back from work today, I’ll ask her.”
“All right.” Cheng Zhiyan nodded and stood up to retrieve a sketch book from the bookshelf. Then he gestured to Xiaotu and said, “Come on over here. I’ll tell you a story.”
“Fantastic!” Xiaotu smiled and jumped off the couch and ran over beside Cheng Zhiyan immediately.
That night, after Xiaotu’s mother got off from work and came to pick her up, Xiaotu followed her home right away without any argument.
“Huh, what’s going on with you today? How come you don’t want to eat dinner at Brother Orange Juice’s house as usual?” Xiaotu’s mother asked her with a smile. She was looking at her daughter in wonder as she unlocked their front door.
“Mommy, when is Daddy coming home? Is it going to be soon?” Xiaotu lifted her pretty little face and asked her mom with a hopeful expression on her face.
“Your father…” As soon as she’d mentioned Xiaotu’s father, Xiaotu’s mother looked downcast. “It’s probably going to be some time until he’s able to come home now.”
“But didn’t he say that he would be able to come back when summer came?”
“Xiaotu…” She stooped down and used both her hands to hug Xiaotu’s tiny body. Then she let out a long sigh and said, “Your father’s squadron had a mission that they were assigned to at the last minute. He had no go. He had no other choice. After he completes this mission, he’ll be able to come home.”
“What’s the mission?” Xiaotu kept on asking questions.
“You wouldn’t understand it even if I told you about it.”