Chapter 240
Chapter 240
The next afternoon, we finally went to pick up Xiao Xuan.
Director Chen was busy with work, but he also wanted to give Xiao Xuan and the Blind Old Man a little more time together.
Once Xiao Xuan went to the welfare home, he probably wouldn’t be able to come back often to visit the old man.
And the old man didn’t want Xiao Xuan to come back.
When we arrived, the old man was already waiting at the entrance with Xiao Xuan.
Xiao Xuan’s earlier innocence and smile were gone. His face was written all over with one thing: he didn’t want to leave.
Maybe he would rather endure a hard life than be separated from the old man.
When I walked over, he didn’t come toward me like before. He probably knew we were here to take him away.
“Xiao Xuan, Grandpa talked to you yesterday, right?” I asked him.
He nodded, a trace of unease on his face.
“You don’t want to go to the welfare home?” I asked again.
He shook his head, his face full of reluctance. “I’m not going. If I leave, I won’t be able to stop worrying about my grandpa.”
Director Chen walked over and crouched down beside Xiao Xuan. “Xiao Xuan, have you ever thought about what you want to be when you grow up?”
Xiao Xuan thought for a moment, then said, “I want to be a firefighter.”
Director Chen smiled. “Why do you want to be a firefighter?”
Xiao Xuan said, “When I go to the big city to put out fires, my mom might see me and say, ‘Hey, isn’t that my son?'”
As he said it, a shy little smile appeared on his face.
Even though his mother had abandoned him, he still wanted to become someone she could be proud of.
Director Chen drew in a breath, steadied his emotions, and said earnestly, “But to become a firefighter, you need to go to school and learn. No matter what we want to do in the future, we have to study. I’m the director of the welfare home, so from now on, I’ll be your guardian. I’ll make sure you can go to school without worry and learn many things.”
“If you don’t study, you won’t be able to become a firefighter in the future. Then your mom won’t get to see you putting out fires.”
Xiao Xuan didn’t speak. He turned back to look at the Blind Old Man.
The old man felt around until he found Xiao Xuan’s shoulder and held it. “Xuan, my boy, have you forgotten what Grandpa told you yesterday? Director Chen is a good man. He’ll treat you even better than Grandpa can.”
“Grandpa wants to live a good life too. When you make something of yourself one day, Grandpa can live a good life with you. But you have to study first if you want to make something of yourself.”
Xiao Xuan looked like he was about to cry, but he held it in.
I had never seen a child with such restraint. He forced his tears back and said to the old man, “But by the time I make something of myself, it’ll be a long, long time. By then, you won’t be here anymore.”
The old man smiled. “With this body of mine, Grandpa’s going to live to a hundred. If I haven’t waited long enough for you to come back and take care of me, how could I bear to leave? Xuan, my boy, listen to Grandpa. The sooner you go, the sooner Grandpa can wait for you to come back.”
Xiao Xuan stopped insisting and nodded. “Then I’ll go. I’ll study hard. You have to wait for me. I’ll bring you to the big city to live with me.”
“All right. All right.”
The old man stood up and held Xiao Xuan’s hand. “Grandpa will see you off. Our Xuan is going to the big city soon. Good. That’s wonderful. Grandpa is very happy.”
Xiao Xuan didn’t have many belongings, just a few pieces of clothing and a brand-new backpack.
The backpack was something the old man had bought for him.
We followed behind them, watching as the old man held Xiao Xuan’s hand and walked out of the alley.
This was probably the heaviest stretch of road the old man had ever walked in his life. From the moment he decided to send Xiao Xuan away, he had never intended for Xiao Xuan to come back. He wanted Xiao Xuan to look forward.
So this was their final goodbye.
After Xiao Xuan got into the car, the old man’s face was flushed from holding himself together, but he was still smiling, happy for Xiao Xuan.
What surprised me was that Xiao Xuan’s face had gone red from holding it in, too. He never shed a single tear, nor did he turn back to look.
“Sir, you should go back.”
Before getting into the car, I walked over to the old man and said, “You don’t have to worry about Xiao Xuan. We’ll visit him whenever we have time. He won’t suffer in the slightest. I promise you that.”
The old man nodded. “Thank you. Hurry and get in the car. I’m afraid that child won’t be able to hold himself back and will run back here in a moment.”
“Please take care.”
I got into the car and told Song Xiaotian to drive off at once.
After the car started, I looked through the rearview mirror and saw the old man crying.
He was crying like a child.
I turned to look at Xiao Xuan. Anning was holding him, and his tears were falling like a string of broken beads, never stopping. But he stubbornly refused to make a sound. He only stared at the rearview mirror, wanting one more glimpse of the Blind Old Man.
He was only eight years old this year.
…
We returned to the city.
First, we booked a room at a hotel to settle Director Chen and Xiao Xuan in.
That welfare home was also in Lanjiang City, but it was a little far from where we were. Tonight, we still had to take Xiao Xuan to see Rat so the two brothers could say goodbye properly.
So Director Chen would have to wait until tomorrow to take Xiao Xuan back to the welfare home.
That afternoon, we took Xiao Xuan out and bought him a lot of things-food, clothes, and some stationery as well.
Xiao Xuan was very reserved. He had never been to a big shopping mall before.
But he seemed to really like Anning. Maybe because he missed his mother, he had started treating Anning like one.
That night, during Zi Hour, we went to the hotel to pick Xiao Xuan up, then brought him to Tianxing Amusement Park.
Coming back to this place again left me overwhelmed with emotion.
Once upon a time, this was where Du Yuwei and I met. Back then, we had already been divided by life and death.
Now, Xiao Xuan and Rat were meeting here, and the two brothers had also been divided by life and death.
After seeing Rat, Xiao Xuan’s despondent mood finally lifted with excitement.
“Brother!”
He ran straight toward Rat.
We waved at Rat, signaling for him to take Xiao Xuan to play.
This was the first time the two brothers had ever come to an amusement park. It would also be the last.
Rat held Xiao Xuan’s hand and left our sight.
Song Xiaotian sighed. “The fate between people really is strange. So wonderful, yet so short. If only Rat and Xiao Xuan could go to the welfare home together.”
“That damned old bastard Wang Guofu. He really never does a single good thing. Whatever scrap of humanity he had, he used it all on doing wicked things.”
Seventh Master shook his head. “Even heaven and earth are not complete. How can a person’s life ever be perfect? There will always be regrets.”
Anning said, “How are we going to explain to Xiao Xuan that he’ll never see his brother again… He still doesn’t know Rat is already dead.”
At the mention of this, Seventh Master’s expression also grew heavy, and he simply did not answer.
For Xiao Xuan, there were two devastating blows. The first was leaving his grandpa. The second was… Rat’s death.
I sighed. “Xiao Xuan already knows.”
As soon as I said that, all three of them looked at me. Even Seventh Master glared at me. “You told him?”
I shook my head. “Think about it carefully. When we picked him up and took him away today, he never once asked about Rat. If he was leaving, if he was going to leave that place behind, how could he possibly not mention Rat?”
“Also, Xiao Xuan has a habit of waking up in the middle of the night. Every night, he goes out to collect bottles and meet Rat.”
“Last night, when we went to tell the Blind Old Man to say goodbye to Rat, Xiao Xuan was very likely nearby. He already knew Rat was dead.”
“He doesn’t mention it because he doesn’t dare face reality. And because… he doesn’t want to cause trouble for us…”