Looking at this somewhat messy place, although she felt no sense of belonging, Su Yao still began to clean up a bit. Before she knew it, night had fallen.
She turned on the slightly yellowed light, now wearing a troubled expression.
She realized she had no food—absolutely nothing to eat……
She had been hungry all day from the long bus ride, and now, at night, she found there was still nothing to eat at this home. Su Yao’s face darkened; she somewhat regretted coming here today, though the main cause was clearly her lack of proper preparation.
After a sigh, she could only wait until tomorrow to find a place to buy some food. This place wasn’t particularly remote, but it certainly wasn’t as convenient as the city. There wouldn’t be any shops open late at night, and if there were, they’d be back in the Town.
Rubbing her growling stomach, Su Yao felt helpless.
“What kind of situation is this?”
After making the bed, she didn’t do much else. She needed to conserve energy and go to sleep early to get up early and head to the Town tomorrow.
She unwrapped a Candy. The sweetness made her salivate in waves. This was the only edible thing she had. Although Candy could provide some energy, it was no substitute for a proper meal.
Su Yao sat on her freshly made Bed and quietly stayed still for a moment. Suddenly, she stood up, grabbed a bunch of keys from the nightstand, and headed outside.
Empty and dim, the place had the perfect atmosphere for a horror movie, but Su Yao was so preoccupied with her thoughts she didn’t feel any fear.
She walked straight inside and first opened the first door, where many miscellaneous items were piled up.
After turning on the light, Su Yao’s brows lightly raised.
“Are these things brought back from over there?”
These were the things her grandfather had brought back years ago when he was still alive. They were her parents’ belongings, all stored in this room.
Su Yao entered and searched around but found nothing of value.
Having finished exploring, she headed toward the innermost room. Pushing open the door, a rush of memories hit her. She recalled some childhood moments—she had played in this very room.
She turned on the light and walked over to the Window by the side. She pulled back a corner of the Curtain and looked through the glass at the falling Snowflake outside. She used to sometimes stand here and look outside just like now. From this Window, one could see a wide and distant view. But now it was night, and all she could see was a blur.
Releasing the Curtain, it fell back into place, and Su Yao moved to the wardrobe, opened one of its doors, pulled out a drawer, and began to rummage through it.
She searched through many places before finally finding something that seemed to be what she wanted.
“……”
Looking at the mini photo album in her hands, Su Yao opened it with curiosity.
The photo album kept in the city didn’t have any photos of Su Yao, and she couldn’t recall if she had any photos from her childhood or any records left behind. This one might contain something, or maybe it was just as devoid of her presence.
Her memory told her her parents loved her dearly. Although the memories were blurry, she still clearly remembered that feeling of being cared for.
Nothing. Nothing. Still nothing.
Starting from the first page, she flipped through the album. There were many photos of her father from his youth to adulthood, then photos with her mother, and also photos of her grandparents, but none of her.
“Huh?”
As she flipped, she found two pages stuck together. Carefully peeling them apart, she discovered a photo of a Woman holding a Baby. Looking at the swaddled infant, Su Yao parted her lips but said nothing. She decided to keep looking before drawing any conclusions.
However, except for that one, all other photos of the Baby seemed to have been deliberately removed.
It felt as if her parents had been hiding something.
Otherwise, how could they have a whole album full of photos but not keep a single picture of their own child? That was too strange. They could fill an entire album with pictures, yet there wasn’t one of the child—how could that be?
So most likely, there was some secret they didn’t want Su Yao to know. They just wanted her to live quietly as Su Yao, nothing more.
Carefully removing the photo of the Woman holding the Baby, Su Yao examined it closely. The photo was a bit blurry—perhaps due to age. It was hard to make out details. The Woman in the photo looked a little haggard, but her smile was genuine.
Su Yao absentmindedly flipped the photo over and happened to see a sentence written on the back.
“My flower died, and he somehow got a new pot. I actually don’t want it…”
The blue handwriting was delicate and graceful.
She roughly understood what she had become in the past, but in her heart, it was still hard to accept. Su Yao wondered, if she hadn’t become what she was now, would this have happened?
Or was it all destined to happen?
Su Yao didn’t know—she knew nothing.
She put the album down, restored everything to how it was when she entered, and took a long look at the room before turning off the light and slowly closing the door.
Looking at the photo in her hand, she walked back to the previous room and sat on the Bed. After a while, she packed the items into a small pocket in her Backpack and then lay down.
The night passed without dreams.
The next morning, Su Yao woke up hungry. Fortunately, she had a decent tolerance for it. Upon waking, her hair was wildly tousled, and she realized she hadn’t brought a Comb!
Helpless, she ran her hands through her hair to tidy it a bit.
Then she noticed she had brought her Towel and Cup but seemed to have forgotten her Toothbrush.
In this messy state, Su Yao left the room.
After locking the door, she walked to the Bus Stop where she had gotten off yesterday and started waiting for the early bus.
Checking her phone, it was just past six o’clock.
The cold Wind blew harshly. It had snowed again yesterday, and the melting snow this morning made the air especially chilly. She stood here for over ten minutes, enduring the Wind the whole time. During this period, she wasn’t the only one waiting; some others had come to catch the bus as well.
“Hey, young lady, you look familiar. Whose daughter are you? What’s your name?”
A kind-looking middle-aged woman’s sudden question startled Su Yao. She shyly said her father’s name.
“My name is Su……”
“Oh, oh, so you’re the daughter of the second son of the old Su family. Back to visit, huh?”
Su Yao nodded. Upon hearing this, the people around began chatting amongst themselves. Being the only young person present, she felt a bit awkward, but soon her attention was drawn by their conversation.