Part 2
He thought for a while, and then asked, “Does Mom know you came to find me?”
Yu Xin nodded, “Yeah. I told her after I bought the train ticket.”
Yu Li asked again, “Why did you suddenly want to come find me?”
He didn’t know his sister was going to come to Y City to find him, and was quite surprised when he got the call in the afternoon and she had already arrived.
“Is something wrong at home?”
Yu Xin was not the type to go out alone, so Yu Li could only guess that something must have happened at home.
Yu Xin pressed her lips tightly, seeming unsure how to start.
She lowered her head and ate, and after a while, said, “Nothing, I just really missed you and haven’t seen you in a long time.”
Yu Li was stunned, realizing that Yu Xin probably didn’t want to talk about it now.
He smiled and didn’t ask further, ruffling her hair.
After finishing the meal and paying the bill, Yu Li carried Yu Xin’s backpack and took her by night bus to Y University, then booked two rooms at a nearby hotel.
Checking the room, before leaving, Yu Li said, “Go to bed early tonight, and tomorrow I’ll take you out to play.”
“Is there anywhere you want to go?”
Yu Xin stood by the bed, fidgeting with the straps of the backpack, hesitating for a long time before saying, “I want to go to the zoo.”
“Okay, I’ll book the tickets right away, we’ll get up early tomorrow.”
After reminding Yu Xin to lock the room door, Yu Li went to the other room.
After booking the 10 a.m. tickets, Yu Li suddenly remembered that when he left Yan Shiting’s house, he had forgotten to tell Yan Shiting.
He hesitated for a moment, but in the end put down his phone.
Before sorting out his thoughts, it’s better not to have too much contact.
Early the next morning, Yu Li woke up Yu Xin and took her to the largest zoo in Y City.
During the long holiday period, the zoo was very crowded, and the two had to wait in line for a long time before finally entering the park.
Maybe it was because of the pregnancy, but Yu Li’s physical strength was not as good as before, and after walking for a while, he chose to take the sightseeing bus with his sister.
Along the way, they visited many animals.
Finally, they sat down in a pavilion outside the panda enclosure to have their lunch.
The restaurants in the zoo were too expensive, so they were eating the bread they had bought outside and brought in.
The midday sun was pleasant, with trees all around, the air was fresh and the scenery was pleasant.
Yu Xin looked at the family of four playing on the lawn outside, and the speed of her eating the bread gradually slowed down.
She lowered her eyes and asked in a gloomy tone, “Brother, do you think Mom might remarry?”
Yu Li was taken aback, “Why do you ask that?”
“It’s just…” Yu Xin gripped the bread bag tightly, “Don’t laugh at me.”
“Before the vacation, I had a bad dream. I dreamed that Mom got married to an uncle, and we, as the children of her previous husband, couldn’t appear at her wedding.”
“Then we were pretending to be strangers passing by the wedding venue, when we were actually just wanting to see if she was happy or not.”
Yu Li put down the bread in his hand.
He looked at Yu Xin and raised his hand to stroke her hair, “Xin Xin, did you see something that made you have such a dream?”
Yu Xin’s eyes were wet, and she slowly lowered her head, “A few days before the vacation, my bicycle broke down, and it was Mom who came to pick me up after night self-study, and I saw the same uncle always following her.”
“Although they didn’t have any intimate gestures between them, I’m still the younger one, maybe they were deliberately keeping their distance in front of me?”
Yu Li listened quietly.
His sister was now in her teenage years, and with the upcoming high school entrance exam, she must be under a lot of psychological pressure.
With this premise, and seeing such a thing, no wonder she would have such a nightmare and have the idea that “Mom might remarry”.
Yu Li pondered for a moment and asked, “So Xin Xin doesn’t want Mom to remarry?”
Yu Xin remained silent.
Yu Li asked again, “Would Xin Xin be willing to hear Brother’s thoughts?”
Seeing Yu Xin nod, Yu Li slowly said:
“Dad has been gone for nine years, and all these years, in order to support this family, Mom hasn’t dared to slack off at all, working fourteen hours a day to earn money.”
“Now that I’m about to graduate, I can share the burden. If that uncle is a good person, I actually hope Mom can have a new life.”
“I know.” Yu Xin said chokingly, tears dripping onto the bread bag, “I actually understand this logic.”
“But I’m just afraid. Afraid that after Mom has a new family, she won’t want us anymore, or that the uncle will be unkind to us.”
“I just feel that our original family is going to change, and the future is so uncertain, I’m just so afraid.”
Yu Xin couldn’t stop crying, and by the end, her whole body was trembling.
The fear of the unknown future made her miss Yu Li even more, and although she was very afraid to go out alone, she still mustered the courage to cross several cities to find her brother.
Yu Li pressed his lips tightly, patting Yu Xin’s back, silently comforting her.
After a while, Yu Xin finally stopped crying and wiped her tears.
She bit her lip awkwardly, “I’m sorry, Brother, did I bring you trouble by coming here?”
“What nonsense, how did you bring me trouble?” Yu Li handed her a bottle of water, “We’re a family, I’m glad to see you.”
Hearing this, Yu Xin’s eyes welled up with tears again.
She pressed the tissue to her eyes, rubbing them, not letting the tears fall again.
After getting the words that had been bottled up in her heart for several days out, Yu Xin heaved a long sigh of relief.
She sniffed and looked back at the family of four playing on the lawn.
Yu Li followed her gaze, tightening his lips, his thoughts spreading out involuntarily.
The people resting and having lunch around them gradually left.
The father of that family of four also started packing up the picnic blanket and food waste on the lawn, the mother patted the grass clinging to the two children’s clothes, and led them off the lawn.
Yu Xin’s expression was a bit gloomy, “Sometimes, I also really miss Dad. Even though I don’t have much memory of him.”
Yu Li gathered his thoughts and looked at her, ruffling her hair and recounting:
“In April of the year you were five, a zoo came to the county town, handing out a lot of flyers and having a parade to promote it. You and I were both deeply interested, so on the weekend, Dad took us there.”
“But it turned out that it wasn’t really a zoo, just a few cages with animals on the square. Seeing the emaciated old tiger in the big cage, you cried, saying the tiger was so pitiful, and that you would never go to the zoo again.”
“Then, to prevent you from having psychological trauma, the next day Dad took us and Mom to the provincial capital to visit the real zoo.”
Yu Xin said, “I remember this.”
This was one of the few memories she had about her father.
So yesterday, when Yu Li asked her if there was anywhere she wanted to go, the first thing that came to her mind was the zoo.
“Brother.” Yu Xin turned her head and asked, “I was still young back then, so I don’t remember too many things. When Dad was still around, our family must have been very happy, right?”
Yu Li’s gaze was a bit hazy, the scenes in his memory appearing one by one.
He firmly nodded, “Yes.”
Their father and mother, although not highly educated, loved them very much and respected them.
Yu Xin lowered her eyes, her tone wistful, “That’s good.”
After touring the zoo, it was already past 3 in the afternoon, and the two siblings took the bus back to the hotel.
At night, with the lights off, lying in the hotel room, Yu Li had his hand on his belly, thinking about what his sister had said during the day.
After a long while, he turned over and gradually fell asleep.
…
Coming to find her brother was an impulsive decision made by Yu Xin.
After telling her heart to Yu Li at the zoo the previous day, Yu Xin’s gloomy mood was a bit better the next day.
When they were having lunch together, Yu Xin said, “Brother, I’m going back home on the 6th.”
Yu Li paused slightly, observing Yu Xin’s expression, “Why don’t you stay a few more days, I’ll help you ask the school for leave.”
Yu Xin shook her head, “I booked the return ticket before I came.”
She just wanted to come and see Yu Li, and didn’t want to stay and be a burden to her brother.
She took a deep breath and said, “And I also want to study hard, get into a provincial high school, and then follow in Brother’s footsteps to get into a top university.”
Yu Li smiled, “Okay, Xin Xin will definitely be able to do it.”
On the 5th, Yu Li took her to get a haircut, bought a power bank, and in the end also bought two sets of clothes for her and her mother.
On the 6th morning, Yu Li saw Yu Xin off at the train station.
There was still some time before boarding, so Yu Li went to the convenience store to buy her some bread and snacks.
Finally, he also secretly slipped 500 cash into the crevice of Yu Xin’s backpack.
Soon, the train Yu Xin was taking began boarding, and the waiting passengers gradually stood up and lined up.
Yu Xin’s eyes were filled with tears, reluctantly hugging Yu Li, “Brother, I’m going to miss you a bit.”
Yu Li worriedly stroked her hair, “Brother will miss you too.”
He bent down to wipe Yu Xin’s tears, “Xin Xin, don’t think too much. Go back and study hard first, I’ll find an opportunity to talk to Mom, perhaps things are not as you imagine.”
“Besides, no matter what, we are a family forever.”
Yu Xin lowered her head and murmured “Mm.”
The boarding queue started moving.
Concealing his reluctance, Yu Li said, “Go, if you get hungry on the way and are afraid to buy food, you can eat the bread I bought you. Don’t be afraid of what others think, everyone has their own life, they won’t pay too much attention to others.”
Yu Xin nodded, “Okay.”
Yu Li couldn’t help but remind her again, “Be safe, remember you’re still a student, a child, the people who really need help won’t come to you. If there’s any problem, find the conductor.”
Yu Xin continued nodding, taking three steps back, then turned to join the queue.
The boarding queue got shorter and shorter, until Yu Xin’s figure finally disappeared from sight.
Only then did Yu Li reluctantly leave the train station.
In the evening, Yu Li sat at the dorm desk and received a message from Yu Xin that she had arrived home safely.
He felt relieved and comforted her a few more times.
The dorm was quiet, and Yu Li sat at the desk for a long time, until the sky had completely darkened, before stirring and opening the chat page with Yan Shiting.
The arrival of his sister Yu Xin made Yu Li think a lot.
It was precisely because he and his sister grew up in a single-parent family, deeply aware of the difficulties of children from single-parent families, that when Yan Shiting said he wanted to provide the child with a complete two-parent family, Yu Li said he wanted to think about it.
There are too many uncertainties in a single-parent family, in the future… will his child also be troubled by these uncertainties?
Yu Li furrowed his brow.
From the child’s perspective, a happy family needs love and respect.
He believes that he and Yan Shiting can both provide that.
So, Yan Shiting should be a good ally.
After coming to this realization, Yu Li dialed Yan Shiting’s WeChat call.
Five seconds later, the call was answered.
Yu Li bit his lip and said, “Big Brother Yan, I’ve considered the marriage issue.”
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a while, before Yan Shiting’s indifferent “Mm” was heard.
Yu Li continued, “I agree to the marriage.”
–
A City.
Yan Shiting stood by the window of the presidential suite, and after a long while, uttered a “Good.”
He hung up the phone and immediately called Jiang Yue.
“I need to go back to Y City, you take care of the remaining matters at the branch.”
Jiang Yue was stunned, and when he reacted, he hurried to Yan Shiting’s suite, just in time to encounter Yan Shiting leaving.
“President Yan, did something happen at the headquarters?”
Yan Shiting gave him a brief glance, without saying anything.
That glance was not harsh, but could even be considered slightly gentle, making Jiang Yue a bit puzzled.
If it’s not an issue at headquarters, then what could it be that makes President Yan so anxious?
While lost in thought, Yan Shiting had already strode towards the elevator.
What could it be that makes him so anxious?
Of course, it’s the marriage.
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