By the time Zhang Yun’an remembered Lin Siyi, there was no one left in the room.
"Lin Siyi." Zhang Yun’an called out as she searched the room, bathroom, and even the kitchen, but found no trace of him. An inexplicable panic gripped her, and she hurriedly opened the door and rushed out.
The third-floor hallway was also empty. The newly moved-in neighbor next door had probably not officially moved in yet—after moving the furniture upstairs, they had left and locked the door.
Zhang Yun’an had originally wanted to ask the neighbor if they had seen a five- or six-year-old boy come out, but now that was clearly impossible. The doors of the other households on the third floor were also locked, so she quickly went downstairs to search.
As she reached the second floor, she saw Zhao Xiaoli carrying a basket of groceries, with Lin Siyi following beside her.
Zhang Yun’an breathed a sigh of relief but looked at the two with confusion.
Zhao Xiaoli quickly explained, "Si Yi said you were so busy you hadn’t even eaten lunch and only had some bread, so he asked me to help buy groceries to cook for you." Perhaps fearing that Zhang Yun’an would blame her for listening to a child, she added, "Don’t worry, I won’t overcharge you. Besides, Si Yi went with me to buy the groceries, and he paid for everything. I didn’t take a single extra cent."
Zhang Yun’an nodded and took the groceries from Zhao Xiaoli. "Thank you for your trouble. I’ll cook the food myself."
Seeing that Zhang Yun’an clearly didn’t want to be disturbed, Zhao Xiaoli said, "Then I’ll go downstairs and bring up the quilt and bedding I sewed for you."
While Zhao Xiaoli went to fetch the bedding, Zhang Yun’an turned to Lin Siyi, who still avoided her gaze. "Next time you want to go out or do something, remember to tell me first. If you get lost, I won’t be able to explain it to your grandparents or your father."
Upon hearing this, Lin Siyi’s eyes instantly lost their spark. Since he was looking down, Zhang Yun’an didn’t notice the change in his expression.
And because he was looking down, he also failed to see the fleeting complexity in Zhang Yun’an’s eyes.
"Let’s go back," Zhang Yun’an said indifferently, as if it were perfectly normal for a six-year-old child to take the initiative to ask someone to buy groceries and cook for her.
Lin Siyi remained silent, but his hand gently grasped the basket Zhang Yun’an was carrying, as if this were equivalent to holding her hand.
Zhang Yun’an, with her long legs, didn’t realize how small a child’s steps could be, nor did she notice that Lin Siyi had secretly grabbed the basket she was carrying. Unable to keep up with her pace, Lin Siyi suddenly stumbled and fell straight toward the steps ahead.
Fortunately, Zhang Yun’an reacted quickly and lifted him up with her free hand. Otherwise, he would have either cracked his head or lost a tooth.
While still shaken, Zhang Yun’an thought to herself that raising a child was no ordinary task—it probably required the ability to see and hear everything to avoid accidents. In just half a day, she had already been frightened twice. The slight gratitude she had felt earlier vanished without a trace after this scare.
She resolved that, until Lin Shaoxun returned, she absolutely must not let Lin Siyi feel even a hint of maternal affection from her. That way, when the time came for the divorce, it would be better for both her and Lin Siyi.
Lin Siyi, who hadn’t spoken a word to Zhang Yun’an since being brought back, suddenly said, "I’ll be more careful when walking from now on. I won’t fall again."
"Mm." Zhang Yun'an responded lightly, continuing forward but noticeably slowing her pace, her peripheral gaze fixed on Lin Siyi.
Before they reached the doorstep, Zhao Xiaoli arrived carrying bedding.
Zhang Yun'an instructed her to place the quilt on the sofa temporarily. After setting down the groceries, she took two Chicken Leg Breads from the coffee table and handed them to Zhao Xiaoli.
Zhao Xiaoli hesitated, wanting to accept but feeling embarrassed—the two breads were worth a whole yuan.
"Take them. Thank you for taking Si Yi grocery shopping earlier."
Seeing Zhang Yun'an's sincerity, Zhao Xiaoli accepted and said, "It was nothing. I just hope you don’t mind me meddling."
Without waiting for a reply, she grabbed the bread and hurried off, perhaps worried Zhang Yun'an might change her mind and ask for them back.
Zhang Yun'an checked the groceries: tofu, leafy greens, eggs, and a few steamed buns.
"I wanted to buy pig’s trotters, but there weren’t any available in the afternoon."
Lin Siyi spoke softly, as if afraid Zhang Yun'an would be dissatisfied with the selection.
"It’s fine. Ever since I hit my head, I haven’t liked pig’s trotters anyway."
Zhang Yun'an was telling the truth—she genuinely disliked pig’s trotters; it was the original owner who had enjoyed them.
Lin Siyi fell silent again.
With her painting only half-finished and hoping to complete it before bedtime, Zhang Yun'an prepared a simple dinner: steamed egg custard and a clear soup with greens and tofu.
The dishes were extremely bland—so much so that someone with a stronger palate might have thought no salt had been added.
Though inexperienced with children, Zhang Yun'an knew that young children shouldn’t consume too much salt. In her own childhood, she had eaten similarly tasteless meals.
Uninspired by such fare, she only ate half a steamed bun and a small bowl of the soup, to which she had added a pinch of salt. She resolved to buy better ingredients to satisfy her cravings once she earned more money.
By the time she finished, Lin Siyi was still eating. Without rushing him, she went to the study to continue painting, planning to wash the dishes and the child later.
When she completed the painting and returned to the living room, she found the dishes and the child already washed, with the latter having climbed into bed on his own.
Zhang Yun'an, who had previously thought childcare required constant vigilance, now felt that perhaps it wasn’t as difficult as imagined—though she would never let Lin Siyi know this thought.
But that night, her opinion shifted again when Lin Siyi somehow ended up on the floor.
When awake, the young lady could be poised or rebellious at will, perfectly in control. Who would have guessed that asleep, she only knew how to let loose without restraint? A whirlwind of kicks later, Lin Siyi beside her was swept right off the bed.
Though more mature than his peers, Lin Siyi was still only six and not easily roused from sleep. Even after being knocked to the floor, quilt and all, he didn’t wake, simply rolling atop the covers and continuing to slumber.
Zhang Yun'an watched him sternly for a while, concluding that his sleeping posture needed correction. After lifting him back into bed, worried he might fall again, she placed several chairs along the edge as a barrier.
She herself didn't continue sleeping in bed either. Instead, she took a quilt to sleep on the living room sofa. To keep an eye on Lin Siyi's situation in the room, she left the door open and slept on the end of the sofa where she could see into the room.
The next day when Lin Siyi woke up, he found his mother had fallen from the sofa onto the floor.
His first reaction was to move his mother back onto the sofa, but being too young, he was unable despite his willingness. He could only wake her up.
"This sofa is too narrow."
After being woken up and discovering she had fallen on the floor, Zhang Yun'an muttered this, then quickly got up. She first picked up the quilt and shook off the dust, then checked the time on the wall clock—it was almost seven o'clock.
Getting up at this hour meant sending Lin Siyi to the government-affiliated kindergarten near the Lin Family in the city center would definitely make them late.
With not enough time, Zhang Yun'an couldn't prepare breakfast. She hastily wiped Lin Siyi's face with a damp towel.
In her rush, she forgot to wash her own face—something that would have been absolutely impossible for the young lady in her previous life.
After washing Lin Siyi's face, she handed him a Chicken Leg Bread.
As for the young lady herself, eating on the road was out of the question.
Lin Siyi also didn't seem used to eating while walking. The bread Zhang Yun'an gave him was stuffed into his backpack, as he said he would eat it after arriving at the kindergarten.
Considering kindergartens in this era provided snacks and served lunch, Zhang Yun'an didn't need to worry about him going hungry and let him be.
Originally, their Military Compound also had a kindergarten, but the original host had been unwilling to take Lin Siyi. The distance from the Military Compound to the Lin Family was too far, so Liang Fengyi and the others, for the convenience of caring for and transporting Lin Siyi, had enrolled him in the government-affiliated kindergarten close to the Lin Family.
After going downstairs, Zhang Yun'an took Lin Siyi's hand and sprinted toward the main gate. Midway, fearing the child might suffer from running too much, she carried him for a stretch. Only when she was too exhausted to carry him any further did she put him down to run on his own.
The somewhat disheveled yet somewhat comical sight of the mother and son nearly made the neighbors who saw them drop their jaws in surprise.
Just as the two reached the main gate, a bus happened to arrive. Although Zhang Yun'an didn't manage to drop Lin Siyi off at the government-affiliated kindergarten exactly on time, they weren't too late either.
Seeing that the teacher didn't give her a cold shoulder for bringing the child late but instead wore an enthusiastic smile, Zhang Yun'an silently breathed a sigh of relief.
Her feelings at that moment were perhaps something only parents who had been late with their children could understand.
At the same time, she felt that Lin Fengyi had really given her a difficult task. To those unaware, it might seem like she was deliberately tormenting herself, insisting on traveling such a long distance daily to take the child to and from school.
But since she had promised Lin Siyi she would take care of him until his father returned, she wouldn't go back on her word. At most, she would just wake up earlier in the future—in any case, she absolutely must not let herself become as embarrassed as she was today.
After dropping off Lin Siyi, Zhang Yun'an initially thought of selling her paintings on the way, but the painting she finished yesterday was left behind in her rush this morning.
She bought a newspaper at a roadside newsstand, planning to read it during the bus ride. In her view, newspapers were one of the best channels to understand this new era.
Previously, she had been busy solving survival issues and hadn't had time for such things. From now on, barring unexpected events, she would have to take four bus trips daily to take the child to and from school. Such a long commute could perfectly be used for reading books and newspapers.
After buying the newspaper, she took the bus back to the Military Compound, planning to wait until she had finished a few more paintings before bringing them all to sell.
"Zhou Haiyang, are you determined to drive your father and me to an early grave? If you dare go out to buy junk again today, I'll break your legs!"
Over at the Zhou household, Zhou Haiyang had been cooped up at home for days without a single cent to his name. Yesterday, Sunday, when the family went to his grandfather's for dinner, he had managed to wheedle some pocket money from the old man. He had planned to slip out after his parents left for work today to check on how Zhang Yun'an's calligraphy was selling, and also to get the piece he had bought from Zhang Yun'an framed. But just as he was about to leave, his mother, Lin Jihe, who had turned back unexpectedly, caught him red-handed.
Zhou Haiyang quickly explained, "I'm not going out to buy anything. I just wanted to see how Zhang Yun'an's calligraphy is selling."
But he had forgotten that Lin Jihe detested Zhang Yun'an more than anyone. Her eldest brother's once-harmonious family had been thrown into chaos and turmoil because of Zhang Yun'an and her insatiably greedy father. Although Zhang Yun'an had saved her nephew, she had also ruined him.
Fortunately, Zhang Yun'an had now taken the initiative to propose a divorce. Lin Jihe fervently hoped that after the divorce, the Zhang and Lin families would never have any dealings with each other again. Who could have imagined that her own son would get tangled up with Zhang Yun'an at such a critical juncture?
"What calligraphy could she possibly sell? Does she even know all her characters yet, let alone sell calligraphy!"
Zhou Haiyang argued, "Of course she knows them all. Zhang Yun'an did attend junior high, after all. In my opinion, her calligraphy isn't any worse than that of the masters. She just lacks fame."
Lin Jihe was nearly driven mad by his words. "What kind of bewitching potion has Zhang Yun'an fed you to make you praise her so mindlessly? Who knows how much of that junior high education of hers was even real? If Zhang Tianliang hadn't started scheming against the Lin Family from the moment she saved your eldest brother, worried that her lack of education would make the Lin Family look down on her, would he have been willing to waste money sending an empty-headed person to school?"
"Mom, I'm not mindlessly praising her. What I'm saying is true. If you don't believe me, I'll show you." With that, Zhou Haiyang turned and ran back to his room, bringing out the piece of calligraphy he had bought from Zhang Yun'an to show Lin Jihe.
To his shock, Lin Jihe took it, didn't even glance at it, and tore it to shreds. "Let me tell you, Zhou Haiyang, if you want me to live a few more years, stay far away from that Zhang Yun'an. Have you forgotten? Your eldest brother only accepted the invitation to her birthday banquet out of gratitude for her saving his life. And what was the result? He was schemed against by her entire family. Do you want to follow in your brother's footsteps?"
"Mom, what are you talking about? I simply think her calligraphy is good!" Zhou Haiyang grew both angry and embarrassed as his mother's furious words became increasingly unreasonable.
"Even if her calligraphy really is good, so what? There are plenty of people in Jingshi with excellent handwriting. Not to mention others, just take your eldest uncle, for example. Everyone who sees his calligraphy praises it. If you've developed an interest in calligraphy and paintings, I can ask your eldest uncle to write a few pieces for you when he's free. They'll surely be far better than anything Zhang Yun'an could write."
Lin Jihe realized she had gone too far. Although her son was a spendthrift, he wasn't a libertine. It wasn't as if he had developed improper intentions because of Zhang Yun'an's face. But words once spoken could not be taken back, so she could only steer the conversation back to calligraphy.
“We have Uncle’s calligraphy at home, but I think Zhang Yun’an’s handwriting is far better than Uncle’s.”
Lin Jihe was so furious that she clutched her chest with one hand and pointed at Zhou Haiyang with the other. “You’re hopeless! Not only are you trying to anger me to death, but you also want to anger your uncle. How could you compare her handwriting to your uncle’s!”
In Lin Jihe’s eyes, her elder brother Lin Jiyuan was a paragon of integrity and purity, unmatched by anyone. Now, Zhou Haiyang had the audacity to compare him to Zhang Yun’an, that troublemaker who stirred up trouble in the family. To Lin Jihe, this was nothing short of blasphemy against her brother.
Afraid that his mother might suffer from the anger, Zhou Haiyang didn’t dare to insist on his opinion any longer. He quickly went over to help her sit down and fetched her a glass of water.
Seeing that he still cared about her well-being, Lin Jihe’s agitation subsided slightly. Nevertheless, she emphasized repeatedly that he must not seek out Zhang Yun’an again, nor should he buy any more counterfeit antiques.
Author’s Note: