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墨書 Inktalez
"Oh?" Qinglan expressed surprise, "You're awake? Still watching Mommy sleep? Does Mommy look bad while sleeping, snoring and all...?" Qinglan mimicked the sound of snoring.
Qingmei giggled and said brightly, "No, it's Grandfather who snores when he sleeps! Mommy looks beautiful when she sleeps, but she always furrows her brows, like she's in pain." Qingmei made a frowning gesture. "Did Mommy have a nightmare?"
In the past six years, Qinglan had indeed often experienced nightmares. Each time she woke up from a dream, she was drenched in sweat, confused and unsure of where she was, always thinking she was still in her student dormitory. It was only when her hand touched the small curled-up body sleeping beside her that she realized that her youthful days were gone. She was no longer that stubborn and willful girl; she was an unmarried mother, a young woman just barely over twenty. The little Qingmei beside her constantly reminded her that campus life and youth had long since departed.
Qinglan smiled and shook her head, touching Qingmei's smooth forehead. "No, Mommy doesn't have nightmares anymore. Mommy isn't afraid of anything now."
"Then why are you frowning?" Qingmei blinked, seeming to doubt her mother's words. Who is not afraid of anything? She was afraid of the dark, afraid of death, afraid of ghosts, afraid of cliffs. Every time she had a nightmare, those things appeared, scaring her to the point of screaming in her dreams and then waking up in her mother's arms. Of course, she also had sweet dreams, like the chocolates, popping candies, and small balls that her mother brought from the Provincial Capital.
"Because Mommy is old now, so I frown," Qinglan pretended to hunch over and make a wrinkled face like an old lady. "Look, doesn't Grandma look like this?"
Qingmei burst into laughter, her bright laughter filling the hospital room. "No way, Mommy! You're not old; you're as young as Aunt Lin." She blinked and rolled her eyes around as if talking to herself or asking Qinglan, "But why doesn't Aunt Lin have a little treasure at home? Only you have a little treasure?"
Qingmei's words caught Qinglan off guard.
"Who doesn't have a little treasure?" A voice floated in just as Qinglan was pondering.
It was Lin Xi, who walked in with a chill about her. She dropped her bag and piled up the large and small bags on the bedside table before walking over to Qingmei's bed. Gently pinching her little cheek, she smiled and said, "Who said Aunt Lin doesn't have a little treasure?" She smiled at Qingmei, who also looked back at her with a silly grin.
"Aren't you my little treasure? You are the treasure of both me and your mommy." Lin Xi playfully scratched her nose.
"Get up, silly girl; it's time for porridge—Lin Mama made it for you. Also, from now on, don't call me Aunt Lin; call me Lin Mama. I’m adopting you as my goddaughter now! And don’t say I don’t have any little treasures anymore," Lin Xi teased Qingmei while helping her sit up.
With Lin Xi around, Qinglan didn't need to lift a finger; everything was taken care of by Lin Xi for Qingmei.
"What does it mean to be a goddaughter?" Qingmei asked Lin Xi in confusion. "Is it just being a daughter without needing any of my toys? Is that what being a goddaughter is?"
She was explaining the word "god" using the dialect from Liu Family Village, where "god" means doing something for someone without expecting any reward in return.
Lin Xi playfully pinched her small nose and laughed, "Yes, you can just be my daughter for free." Qingmei shrank her neck to avoid Lin Xi's playful gesture.
After helping Qingmei up, Lin Xi opened the thermos from the plastic bag and began spooning porridge to feed Qingmei.
"I'm going to the hospital cafeteria to get some food," Qinglan said from behind Lin Xi.
"Okay," Lin Xi replied without turning around, focused on feeding Qingmei. Since she was busy making porridge for Qingmei, she didn't prepare dinner for herself and Qinglan that evening.
"What do you want to eat?" Qinglan asked.
Lin Xi paused her hand, turned to look at Qinglan, thought for a moment, and lowered her eyebrows as she said, "Anything is fine, just... something spicy will do."
Qinglan was taken aback; she was still stubbornly holding onto this habit!
Lin Xi didn't eat spicy food; she never did. When she was little, if there was even a tiny bit of chili in her dish, she would cry and stick out her tongue, exclaiming, "So spicy! So spicy!" Even as she grew up and stayed at school where every dish in the cafeteria was sprinkled with chili, her aversion to spicy food never changed.
But Qinglan knew that Lu Chenyu loved spicy food; he couldn't enjoy a meal without it. He would make sure every dish, including noodles, was drenched in red chili until he was sweating profusely.
When she was dating Lu Chenyu, Lin Xi also didn't eat spicy food. Even when dining with Lu Chenyu, she insisted on maintaining her habit of avoiding spicy dishes. Sometimes, the spiciness from Lu Chenyu's bowl would irritate her, and she would wave her hands around as if the air itself had become infused with spice, making her feel uncomfortable all over.
However, now every dish she eats requires chili peppers, a habit that began after she received a letter from Lu Chenyu saying he was going abroad.
At first, when she started eating chili peppers, they made her cough and tear up continuously, but she kept stuffing them into her mouth. After a few days of sore throat and various small pimples appearing on her face, she didn’t mind at all. In the past, she used to be very concerned about having pimples; just seeing one in the mirror would make her scream.
She remembered that in the beginning, Qinglan had reminded her several times. Lin Xi replied, "Let them grow. I heard that people who love spicy food tend to get pimples at first, but once they get used to it, they won’t have them anymore. Their skin actually gets better. Lu Chenyu has such good skin because he eats spicy food."
Indeed, after getting used to eating chili peppers, her face really stopped breaking out in pimples, and her skin improved significantly. Her skin had always been fair and tender, but now it was even more flawless.
At that time, she initially thought Lu Chenyu's disappearance was just a joke among kids, something temporary. So she remained optimistic, believing that one day he would appear before her again.
Later on, when she confirmed that his disappearance was not a joke—indeed, it seemed like a well-planned conspiracy—she reflected on how he had been hot and cold with her for a long time before he vanished. The pain in Lin Xi's heart drove her to eat more chili peppers, causing tears to flow down her cheeks.
Qinglan helped wipe her tears and said, "He must have other reasons."
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