Qu Qing deliberately took a detour through the village, carefully observing the doorways of several homes. He wasn’t disappointed, every household had Spring Festival couplets posted up, and although some of the characters were traditional, he could read them all.
With this realization, Qu Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief, and then left the village, turning back on his way home.
Hua Zizhou and Qu Xin followed closely behind him, wanting to say something but hesitating. There was a small path between the village and Qu Qing’s home that no one else had traveled. With Jiang Zhu going back with them, if there was something to say, now was the best opportunity.
“Qu Qing…”
A gentle young voice suddenly caught Qu Qing’s attention.
“This is the first time you’ve called my name. Since earlier, it seems like you’ve had something to say to me, right?” Qu Qing didn’t turn around. As he spoke, he continued walking, thinking to himself that if he didn’t look at Hua Zizhou’s face and just listened to the voice, he would definitely assume Hua Zizhou was an elegant and gentle boy.
Hua Zizhou lowered his head and stayed in place with Qu Xin, not following Qu Qing any further.
Noticing the silence behind him, Qu Qing turned around and saw the two of them looking reluctant to follow. He suddenly burst out laughing, a mocking tone in his laughter. He glanced at his toes, then raised his head to look at them, saying, “What’s the matter? Do you want to leave because you can’t endure this kind of hard life with me and are looking for a new place?”
“No!” Hua Zizhou didn’t expect Qu Qing to think this way. He immediately lifted his head, clenched his right fist, and denied Qu Qing’s words without thinking.
How could he possibly want to leave? What a hard life? If this counted as hardship, he would willingly endure it for several lifetimes. Why would he want to leave? How could he bear to leave?
“If you have something to say, just say it. Don’t put on a face like you’re about to cry,” Qu Qing said impatiently, frowning and looking in another direction, hiding a sentence he didn’t say.
Seeing him crying like this makes people want to bully them even more, which is so irritating.
“I’ve never thought that way. These past few days living here have been the best time of my life. If I could, I would want to stay here for a lifetime.”
“If you could?” Qu Qing’s voice suddenly rose.
He coldly laughed in disbelief as he approached Hua Zizhou, grabbing one of his hands. This time, he was genuinely angry, as if all the sacrifices he made for this home had only been his unrequited wishes. The negative emotions he had accumulated since coming to this world suddenly erupted.
“Are you still trying to leave after saying all this? Am I chasing you away? If you want to leave, just go. Why put on this act?” After saying that, he shook off Hua Zizhou’s hand, slightly raised his chin, and looked at him expressionlessly, waiting for an explanation.
This was the first time Qu Qing had used such a heavy tone to speak to Hua Zizhou over the past few days, making him instinctively take half a step back in slight fear, feeling somewhat at a
loss. With reddened eyes, he wanted to explain, but his clumsy mouth didn’t know where to start.
Little Qu Xin also sensed Qu Qing’s anger and his dad’s fear beside him. He gritted his teeth, clenched his small fists tightly, and resolutely stood in front of Hua Zizhou, opening the other eye that had been hidden away, his gaze filled with the determination of a soldier ready to face death on the battlefield.
Qu Qing couldn’t understand the sudden change in the little boy’s emotions. He noticed that Little Qu Xin’s other eye was perfectly fine, which surprised him a bit. However, he reminded himself that the most important thing right now was to wait for an explanation, not to focus on these trivial details. So he just glanced at him and continued to look at Hua Zizhou.
Little Qu Xin saw that Qu Qing had clearly noticed his eyes but didn’t care at all. Shocked, he turned back and tugged at Hua Zizhou’s shirt, urging him to look at his eyes.
When Hua Zizhou lowered his head, he saw that Qu Xin had opened his eyes. He smiled sadly and said, “Now… you know everything.”
“Huh?” Qu Qing tried hard to recall if he had missed something. Why did he understand every word Hua Zizhou said, but when they were put together, he couldn’t grasp their meaning?
Was there something he should know?
“It must… be the same as before, you’re going to drive us away… I clearly still want to help you finish planting the land… You don’t need to say anything, we… will leave on our own. Thank you for taking care of me and Mao’er these days, for giving us our names, and… I’m sorry…”
Hua Zizhou buried his head as he finished speaking, not daring to look at Qu Qing’s face even once, and then he pulled Little Qu Xin along and prepared to leave.
Qu Qing was completely bewildered by this situation. Seeing the two about to leave, he furrowed his brow and shouted, “You two, stop! Turn around. I don’t understand what you’re talking about!”
Hua Zizhou forced a bitter smile and turned back, thinking that anyone would want revenge after being deceived like this, especially since he had eaten the other’s food for so many days. “If you want to hit me, go ahead. I won’t retaliate, but you absolutely cannot lay a hand on Mao’er.”
Qu Qing felt that his conversation with Hua Zizhou perfectly illustrated what it meant to talk past each other. He covered his face with one hand, speechless for a moment, and then spoke in a calm tone:
“I think there’s some misunderstanding between us. First, I absolutely won’t hit you. Second, I know what you were just talking about, but I don’t understand what you mean by ‘I know.’ Can you clarify what you mean? I haven’t said anything yet, so why do you look like I’m the one trying to drive you away?”
Qu Qing’s tone was so sincere that Hua Zizhou began to wonder if he hadn’t seen the other eye of Mao’er clearly.
He pulled Mao’er in front of him, pointing to its blue eyes and asked, “Did you not see? This eye of his, don’t you care about it?”
Qu Qing leaned in for a closer look and discovered that apart from the color, there was nothing particularly special about the eye. He then looked at Hua Zizhou and said, “I see it’s a blue eye. So what?”
“So what?” Hua Zizhou looked at Qu Qing incredulously, momentarily losing his words and stuttering, “You… don’t know? Everyone says that having two different-colored eyes is an ominous sign. Everyone says he was possessed by a monster. But I know, Mao’er is a normal child, he’s not ominous, nor is he a monster. It’s not his fault, it’s not his fault…”
After hearing his words and recalling the ignorance of rural people, Qu Qing finally understood everything.
He looked at Hua Zizhou kneeling on the ground, tightly holding Qu Xin, and let out a heavy sigh. Then he squatted down to meet him at eye level and said gently, “Hua Zizhou, you just said he’s a normal child. So why are you using this reason to take him away?”
Hua Zizhou pouted, crying as he said, “Isn’t it because… you know now, so you will definitely drive us away.”
“How do you know I’ll definitely drive you away? Why are you so sure I won’t accept what you say? You haven’t even tried to persuade me, have you? In your eyes, am I really that fierce? You want me to hit you and not Mao’er? What do you think I am? Do you see me as such a cruel person?”
Hua Zizhou and Qu Xin looked at him, their eyes innocent and clear like small animals. Their gaze was filled with hesitation and hope.
Is that what he meant?
Should he—trust humans one more time?
Qu Qing stood up and turned away, no longer looking at the two.
Hua Zizhou and Mao’er expressions visibly dimmed.
Qu Qing turned back and intentionally spoke in a somewhat rough voice, “What are you still standing there for? Let’s go, it’s time to go home and eat.”
Qu Qing thought, perhaps he himself was also feeling a bit awkward and embarrassed.
In an instant, the chirping of thrushes, orioles, cuckoos, and spring birds fell crisply into Hua Zizhou’s ears, and even the sound of butterflies flapping their wings was so clear.
His back facing the sun and it’s blinding yet make people filled with such happiness.
Hua Zizhou would never forget the sight of himself stumbling as he pulled Mao’er along, moving forward step by step with Qu Qing’s silhouette, even if the path ahead led to hell, he would follow him without hesitation.
Together, they would keep walking forward.