Chapter 24 Cold Family Love
It was already evening when I returned home from the crematorium.
He Shu was just like usual, except that he didn't buy any groceries today. He skillfully cooked noodles again.
Qi Xue could hardly eat the plain noodles, but He Shu ate them with gusto. He was not in the mood to cook anything today, but he still had to eat.
After finishing his meal and cleaning up the kitchen, He Shu took out a large pile of books and started doing his homework.
There is a lot of summer homework in high school, covering all subjects.
He Shu has to work during the day and the only time he can study is at night.
Qi Xue had nothing to do, so she just sat there and watched quietly.
The room was so quiet that the only sounds you could hear were the flipping of books and the rustling of pens hitting paper.
The occasional sounds coming from the corridor outside the door seemed to be blocked out by the tranquility of the moment.
There was a silver glow on He Shu's temples, and fine beads of sweat flowed down his temples. It was getting hotter day by day, and there was no air conditioning at home.
Qi Xue picked up a thin booklet and fanned He Shu.
"He Shu, what do you want to do when you grow up?" Qi Xue suddenly asked.
He Shu stopped writing, thought about it carefully, and shook his head: "I don't know."
"How could you not know? Don't you have any wishes or ideals?"
A wish? His wish will never come true. As for his ideal, He Shu, who is only 17 years old, actually doesn’t have too many expectations for the future.
He is used to living slowly, doing things in front of him well, rather than fantasizing about the future.
He Shu shook his head again and continued to study, obviously not wanting to chat anymore.
Qi Xue fanned He Shu with a book, and fell into deep thought as she watched the big boy in front of her concentrate all his energy on the book.
He Shu kept writing and wrote until 11 o'clock. Qi Xue was yawning continuously, but He Shu didn't look tired at all.
He seemed to have fallen into a sea of books, wandering there without noticing the passing of time or feeling tired.
This feeling is just like those novels about cultivating immortals. One has entered a realm where the soul has left the body and only the physical body is left sitting there.
"It's time to go to bed. Staying up late at night doing homework is bad for your eyes."
Qi Xue finally found some feeling of being a parent. He Shu also obediently stopped writing, stretched his sore wrists, and began to pack up his books.
"Actually, you don't have to work so hard."
Qi Xue looked at He Shu and said, "Auntie has a lot of money, enough for you to finish college and become financially independent."
He Shu didn't stop packing: "That's your money, and I make money to buy a grave for my mother."
Seeing He Shu mentioned this, Qi Xue grabbed He Shu's arm and asked him to sit down.
"Let's go to Dadu with Auntie? Take your mother with you."
"Going to Dadu?"
"Yes, your grandfather and uncle are both in Dadu. You can go to a better school and have an easier life there."
He Shu was silent for a while: "Is this the reason you came here?"
Qi Xue nodded: "Yes, I am here to pick you up. You will live in your grandfather's house from now on, with your grandfather, uncle and aunt. We will choose a grave for your mother in the best cemetery in Dadu, and you can visit her often in the future."
"Why?" He Shu asked Qi Xue: "For so many years, I haven't heard my mother mention you. Now that my mother is gone, why do you want to take me back?"
"Is it because your mother is gone that I want to take you back? Although your last name is He, you also have half of the Qi family's blood in your body. How can I watch you being out there alone?"
He Shu pursed his lips gently: "Aunt, don't you think you are a little late?"
If his aunt Qi Xue had appeared in front of him when his mother had just passed away, he might have followed Qi Xue to a strange place where there were relatives.
That was when he needed someone to accompany him the most.
Qi Xue looked apologetic: "Yes, it's too late."
"Tell me about the past. Why does my mother never mention her family even though she has one?"
Under the gaze of He Shu's eyes that were extremely similar to Qi Yue's, Qi Xue slowly opened her mouth.
It was an extremely clichéd story, about a rich girl meeting a poor boy.
Qi Yue chose Danhe, a place with beautiful mountains and rivers, to study in college. Here she met He Zhicheng, who was admitted to the same school as her but had to give up the opportunity to study because of family difficulties and was crying outside the school gate holding the admission letter.
Then, they fell in love.
Qi Yue believed that love was great, so she stayed in Danhe for He Zhicheng, and followed him through hardships after graduation, perfectly interpreting what it means to be content with love.
Of course the Qi family would not agree. The two families were not a good match. Most importantly, my grandfather and uncle had secretly checked and found out that Qi Yue had been supporting .
Even the money for renting a house after graduation was paid by Qi Yue, so they think that He Zhicheng is not a responsible man and such a man will not have any future.
But Qi Yue had already made up her mind at that time. She would rather give up her family for the sake of love.
Because of the marriage, Qi Yue, who was weak by nature but extremely stubborn, confronted her parents for the first time and left home for nearly twenty years.
Unfortunately, she inherited her father's stubborn character, and the two of them remained in a stalemate for more than ten years without any contact.
But Qi Xue knew that her father had always missed his eldest daughter, but he was too proud to admit his mistake. Like Qi Yue, he stubbornly believed that he was not wrong.
That year, Qi Xue secretly visited her sister without telling her family and happened to happen to be He Shu 's birthday. She didn't know whether her sister had chosen the right person, but when she saw the lovely He Shu, she realized that since the child was already born, she couldn't make a new choice as to right or wrong.
So, she secretly helped He Zhicheng and gave him a decent job. She also hoped that He Zhicheng could make progress and become successful as soon as possible so that her sister could bring her man home as soon as possible.
It also let my father see that my sister's vision was correct and there was a way out.
Unexpectedly, He Zhicheng is really a hopeless person. He has no ambition in work and is not even loyal in his relationship.
Qi Xue could understand Qi Yue. No matter how strong she was at home, she was so desperate after the divorce. The choice she made alone turned into a sad joke.
Maybe until the day she died, she would feel too ashamed to go back to see her parents.
After telling the whole story, Qi Xue looked at He Shu with complicated eyes.
Now that Qi Yue and He Zhicheng are both dead, the most innocent and pitiful one is He Shu.
After spending some time together, Qi Xue had gotten to know his character a little bit. This kid was definitely different from He Zhicheng.
He Shu listened quietly to his parents' stories of the past, and then asked softly, "So, my grandfather, my uncle, and you, my aunt, are all capable of knowing what kind of life my mother led later?"
Qi Xue's heart skipped a beat. She never expected that He Shu's focus would be here.
"So, is it really that important who misjudged someone in the end and who was the first to admit the mistake?"
He Shu's words were like a knife, stabbing Qi Xue's heart with pain.
Yes, is it that important? For the sake of face, in the end, the old man in the family had to send off the young.
My own sister lived a poor life with her children alone until she died of illness in the hospital.
Then He Shu was left alone guarding his mother's urn for several years.
Right or wrong has completely lost its meaning under such circumstances.
