Suddenly, there was the sound of panicked footsteps outside the door, yet, in the end, the footsteps stopped in the hallway.
The only source of light in Cheng Zhiyan’s bedroom was the dimly lit table lamp on his night table. As he held onto Xiaotu, who was crying hysterically, he seemed like a beacon of light in the dark, infinite universe, and she was like a drowning man clutching at a straw.
“Xiaotu…” Cheng Zhiyan could barely conceal the sorrow in his voice. He gently patted her on the back and whispered into her ear, “Cry as much as you want to. It will make you feel better.”
WAH! WAH! WAH! Upon hearing this, Xiaotu howled at the top of her lungs as she wept.
Cheng Zhiyan didn’t say anything. He simply sat on the bed holding her silently, as he gently patted her back.
As the sound of Xiaotu’s wailing finally grew a bit quieter, he caressed her fluffy head, and, with his forehead pressed against her forehead, he said in a tender voice, “Your daddy wasn’t lying to you. He did promise that he would send you off to school and attend the sports meets together with you…”
“But Mommy just said that he wasn’t coming back ever again…” Xiaotu whimpered as she looked at Cheng Zhiyan and sobbed as she repeated her mother’s sentence to him.
“Um…no, before he left, he told me that when he wasn’t by your side, I would be the one to take you to school and attend the sports meets with you. After you grow up, he will return. Then, he will be able to do many more things together with you.” Cheng Zhiyan’s fingers gently brushed away the tears on Xiaotu’s face as he whispered to her.
“What do you mean by many more things?” Xiaotu asked Cheng Zhiyan as she looked up at him with tearful eyes.
“Um…for example, you can cook together and take care of a puppy together. Didn’t you always want to adopt a puppy?”
“But Mommy wouldn’t let me adopt a puppy…”
“After you grow up, when your daddy returns, he’ll let you adopt one.” Cheng Zhiyan embraced Xiaotu and placed her little head on top of his shoulder. His warm face was pressed against her face, which felt cold from all the tears, and he continued to say, “Whatever you want to do at that time, your father will accompany you.”
“Will I be allowed to adopt a cat?”
“Yes.”
“Will I be allowed to adopt a pet turtle?”
“Yes.”
“Will I be allowed to adopt anything?”
“Yes…” Cheng Zhiyan smiled at Xiaotu tenderly. When he saw that she had gradually stopped crying, he pinched her chubby little cheeks and asked her, “So, when that time comes, what name will you give to the puppy that you plan on adopting?”
“Um…let me think about it carefully…” Xiaotu was just a child, so she didn’t know that people didn’t come back from the dead, and she didn’t know whether or not her father had truly said those things to Cheng Zhiyan. Yet, she did know that Brother Orange Juice was the most gentle person in the world and that he never lied to her.
Standing outside the bedroom door, Xiaotu’s mother and Cheng Zhiyan’s mother overheard this conversation between their two children, and they couldn’t help but weep some more.
Xiaotu’s mother tightly clenched the tissue in her hand, and since it was already completely drenched in her tears, it couldn’t wipe away any more tears when she dabbed it on her face. “Thank God Yan Yan is here. I really have no idea how to face Xiaotu…”
“Ah…children, they’ll probably forget all about it after a while…” Cheng Zhiyan’s mother sighed, then patted Xiaotu’s mother on the shoulder, and turned around to head downstairs, saying, “Yet you, on the other hand, should take some time off…”