“What letter? Take it out and let me see,” Luo Tiantian pressed urgently.
Lin Lin clutched her handbag. “Why should I show you? These were given to me by Tiantian’s Grandfather and the Maternal Grandfather. They’re for me and Tiantian!”
“Then tell me, when and under what circumstances did Tiantian’s Grandfather and my Maternal Grandfather give the letters to you? What exactly is the content? If you can’t say or are afraid to show me, why should I believe you aren’t just making up stories?”
Lin Lin’s eyes flickered.
Those two letters had been forced upon her by those two old men back then. At the time, she only found it troublesome and embarrassing, so she casually stuffed them into a gift bag. After going home, she threw them into the storage room and only accidentally found them while tidying up old things a few days ago.
“I was just keeping them temporarily. Now that I’ve remembered, I feel they should be returned to their rightful owner and given to Tiantian. What’s wrong with that?”
“Either you take the letters out now and let me see them — as long as it’s really Tiantian’s Grandfather and my Maternal Grandfather’s handwriting, I’ll contact him immediately — or you leave right now and don’t let me see you again,” Luo Tiantian said coldly.
Lin Lin bit her lip, struggling internally.
She really didn’t want to show the letters to this beautiful and aggressive girlfriend in front of her. That would make her look even more passive and ridiculous. But if she didn’t take them out, she probably wouldn’t see Luo Tiantian today.
“… Fine, I’ll show you, but only for 1 second. After you see them, you must tell me where Tiantian actually is!” Lin Lin took an old kraft paper envelope out of her handbag. The edges of the envelope were already a bit worn.
She pulled out two folded sheets of letter paper and held them in front of Luo Tiantian, but she gripped them tightly, fearing they would be snatched away.
Luo Tiantian didn’t try to snatch them.
Her gaze froze the moment it touched the familiar handwriting on those two sheets of paper.
That was Grandfather’s handwriting.
It had the character of the older generation of intellectuals; even though he was old and his hands shook, every stroke was full of strength.
The other sheet was the Maternal Grandfather’s handwriting. It was rounder, with small connections at the turns.
With just one look, familiar warmth and a massive wave of sorrow surged forth. Her eyes turned red almost immediately, and her vision blurred. She bit her lower lip hard.
‘Grandfather… Maternal Grandfather…’
‘Were they still worrying about me until the very end of their lives? They even hid it from me to contact this ex-girlfriend who had long since become a stranger?’
She couldn’t see the full content of the letters because Lin Lin was holding them too tightly. She only caught a glimpse of the first few sentences.
The Grandfather’s Letter began: “Girl Lin Lin, seeing these words is like seeing me. Tiantian, that child, is quiet and soft-hearted. If there is a chance in the future, please look after him…”
The Maternal Grandfather’s Letter was more direct: “Little Lin, Grandpa doesn’t have anything good, so please accept this small token of my heart. I’m entrusting you to keep an eye on Tiantian. That boy is stubborn…”
“Have you seen enough?”
Seeing Luo Tiantian’s eyes suddenly turn red, Lin Lin felt a sudden pang of panic. She immediately pulled the letters back, stuffed them into the envelope, and held it tightly to her chest. “Where exactly is Tiantian? I must hand the letters to him personally. This is the dying wish of the two elders.”
Luo Tiantian took a deep breath and blinked hard to clear the moisture from her eyes.
“The dying wish of Tiantian’s Grandfather and my Maternal Grandfather was for him to live well, not to give their kindness to an insignificant outsider who only remembered them after they’ve been gone for so long!”
“You!” Lin Lin was furious. “How am I an insignificant outsider? Back then, the two elders personally gave the letters to me. This shows they approved of me! What right do you, a newcomer, have to judge!”
“Approved of you?”
Luo Tiantian looked at her. “If they approved of you that much, why did Tiantian never mention this to me? Why did you never show up once after the two elders passed away? You didn’t even ask a single question. It’s only now that you suddenly remembered these two letters and came here talking about a dying wish. Who knows what’s written in those letters or why you’re really here! I’m asking you, do you really plan on having a child with Tiantian!?”
Lin Lin was left speechless by the rebuttal.
She looked at the girl in front of her and suddenly felt a deep sense of frustration.
How could the slightly easy-to-manipulate youth in her memory be with a girl like this?
The key point was that there really were some things in the letters, and her coming to find Luo Tiantian wasn’t actually with the intention of having a child with him.
“Fine… fine. I can’t out-argue you, but I won’t give you the letters. I will… I will find another chance to contact Tiantian himself. You tell him that Lin Lin looked for him and that the letters are with me.”
After saying that, she turned around. Her high heels clicked sharply in the quiet hallway as she quickly disappeared around the corner of the stairs.
Luo Tiantian watched her receding figure, her head throbbing from anger.
She already had the flu, and her head was hurting. Now she felt even worse.
“So annoying…” she muttered in a low voice. She couldn’t even line her key up with the lock, succeeding only after several attempts.
She opened the door and closed it.
After boiling a kettle of water, she collapsed on the bed, not even wanting to change her shoes.
Currently, because her body had changed so much and she had no underwear or women’s clothes, she was going commando whenever she went out. She wore her old, baggy clothes, and only a pair of size 35 small shoes she had bought in the wrong size before fit her just right.
‘I have to go buy clothes myself, and I’ve never bought them before…’
‘Could underwear that cost only a few dollars even be worn?’
Luo Tiantian sighed.
Her mind was a mess.
Lin Lin’s appearance, those two letters… what exactly did Grandfather and Maternal Grandfather write? Why give them to Lin Lin? Having a child? What was all that about…?
Even though she was wrapped in a quilt, she was still cold. Her throat was so dry it felt like it was smoking, and swallowing was very painful.
“It hurts so much…”
A buzzing vibration came from her phone.
It was a WeChat call from Su Xiao.
‘Why is she calling now?’
Luo Tiantian hesitated, but thinking of the messages Su Xiao had sent earlier, she still pressed the answer button.
“Tiantian, Mom suddenly came back. She seems to be playing *Huaxia Divine Realm* too. Do you think I should play with her…?”
“Cough, cough…”
“Tiantian, what’s wrong? Do you have a cold?”
“Yeah… a bit of a fever.”
“What’s your temperature? Did you take medicine? Did you see a doctor?”
“I bought medicine… just took it.” Luo Tiantian sniffed, feeling that even speaking was difficult. “You just said Auntie Su is also playing *Huaxia Divine Realm*?”
“Yes, just today! Don’t you think something is wrong with her? A workaholic actually started playing games. She even asked me how to play and was asking very seriously… It’s so weird.”
“Maybe she just wants to find a way to be closer to you? She just wants to see what this world you like is like.”
There was silence on the other end of the phone.
After a long while.
“… I don’t even like playing that game that much.”
“Then are you going to play with her?” Luo Tiantian asked. Her throat was itchy and painful, and she couldn’t help coughing a few times.
“Cough, cough… cough…”
“Why are you coughing so hard? Are you really okay? Where is that boyfriend of yours? Isn’t he taking care of you?”
Luo Tiantian was momentarily speechless.
Luo Tiantian was currently Lolo, so where would a boyfriend come from to take care of her?
“He… he’s on a business trip and hasn’t come back yet.”
She could only continue the lie.
“He’s on a business trip even though you’re sick? What kind of boyfriend is that? He’s too unreliable! Are you feeling terrible right now? Have you eaten?”
“He’s sick too, much worse than I am…” Luo Tiantian’s expression was a bit strange.
“Wait there.”
Rustling sounds came from Su Xiao’s end, as if she were sitting up in bed. “I have some soup my mom just stewed and some porridge at home. I’ll bring them over to you. Give me your address.”