“No, don’t!” Ye Jian immediately shook her head and refused. She glanced towards the kitchen, bit her lip, and said softly, “I’ll go by myself; you go and have some rest.”
“Go then, kiddo; I’m here with you, don’t worry about your dad.” Seeing Ye Jian’s promise, the old man smiled. He felt sorry for his granddaughter, who had not been protected by her parents since she was a child. It was his son’s fault; he should let his son take his responsibility on his own!
Ye Jian and Father Fu sat in the chess room that the old man usually used to rest, and it was also the lounge where Li Jinnian first took Ye Jian home at the beginning of the year.
The sliding door of the lounge was closed tightly; only a faint sound could be heard from the outside. The old man sat in the living room, occasionally glancing to the lounge. His weathered face looked like Mount Tai, without the slightest worry.
The old gentleman had too many things to bear, so he had long been accustomed to problems and could be as calm as Mount Tai. Nothing could make him flustered.
From the lounge, there was the sound of something falling onto the short coffee table, and then dripping water sounds were heard… It was the little teacup in Father Fu’s hand that fell from his hand to the coffee table, and then the tea from it dripped from the edge of the coffee table to the ground.
Ye Jian finally told the truth about her sacrificed mother.
“I’m sorry, Dad, I kept hiding it from you; you are so looking forward to a reunion with mother; I really dare not say, I am afraid that it will make you sad.” Ye Jian did not dare to look up; she just stared at the teacup on the coffee table. After the teacup rolled down, she stared at the tea stains, squeaking in a sad voice that floated gently into Father Fu’s ears, “Mom was buried in the Yunnan Martyrs’ Cemetery after her sacrifice. If you want, I can accompany you to visit her.”
Father Fu’s face was pale, and his eyes were dull.
At the moment he heard that his wife had sacrificed more than ten years ago, it was like a thousand arrows pierced through his heart. His heart was gone, leaving only the cold wind that was infiltrating inside his body.
His “heart” was gone. Father Fu sat motionless like wood; his body was so cold that even his clenched fists were trembling.
His beloved woman, his beloved wife… had passed away for more than ten years. His greatest attachment in this life was his lover, but she was gone… she was really gone!
She was gone, and so was his heart…
Ye Jian finally raised her head after she finished speaking and saw that Father Fu’s lips were pale, and he was sitting and swaying side to side as if he had lost his soul. There was no anger in his eyes or on his face.
Ye Jian was even more afraid at this moment.
“Dad…Dad…” She screamed, trying to wake her Father Fu, who was sitting there motionless and expressionless. She was shocked and scared in her heart. She couldn’t even say a word; she was so anxious that she burst into tears.
Father Fu almost heard Ye Jian’s voice; he blinked his eyes very lightly. His sluggish eyes moved as if waking up from a nightmare, and then he asked softly, “Jian’er, you didn’t lie to me, right… Are you hiding anything else?”
“No, no…Dad, I didn’t lie to you. Mom has been gone for more than ten years. She left when I was very young.” Ye Jian saw her father, who looked so desperate and couldn’t accept reality for a while that even his breathing was not smooth. She continued, “How could I lie to you about such a big thing? It’s all true… I didn’t lie to you.”
Father Fu’s expression became even more dazed, like wood, even if he opened his mouth to try to say something, he was still demented, “If you didn’t lie to me…then that means Hong Mei…Your mother has really left. She left before me. Jian’er, your mother must have hated me very much; she didn’t even want to wait for me.”
