After the couple took their son to school, they returned home.
The living room was still covered with foam mats, toy blocks and cars scattered over them.
The two had lived in this apartment ever since they married. Back then, the child’s room was a little theater with a projector, and the study was their workspace. Xia Sheng was learning musical composition, and Yue Qin was preparing for a postgraduate study.
However, three months later, Xia Sheng realized she was pregnant. She had always loved children and wanted a child eventually anyway. Even though it came as a surprise, the two scrambled to prepare for the child as best as they could.
Their son’s arrival had brought enormous changes to their lives. Their theater room was gone; they didn’t even have time to watch movies. Toys became the most abundant things in their home. Xia Sheng no longer had much energy to compose, and Yue Qin never considered his postgraduate again.
The two spent the entirety of their days taking care of their son and earning money.
Fortunately, their son never cried much, instead watching the world with his carefree eyes.
It melted their hearts every time they saw him, so the young couple never complained.
Now, it felt as if their living room had emptied. When the little couple returned home, they stared at each other silently.
It was their first time in four years that their child wasn’t at home.
To better nurture their son’s physical health, the two had come a long way from being new and clumsy parents.
Yue Qin could even cook a meal while playing with their child.
The two stood in the living room for a moment.
“What are you doing this morning?” Yue Qin brushed his wife’s hair. “Don’t be sad, he’s just turning into a new page of his life. I’ll poach you an egg fermented in rice soup*.”
*Note: Refers to a southern Chinese speciality called “醪糟鸡蛋”
Ever since the child was born, he had followed his mother the entire day, every day, except for the afternoons.
Suddenly, he was off to kindergarten. It was expected for her to feel strange.
Yue Qin tied a black apron around his waist, stepping into the kitchen. Xia Sheng stood aside and answered with a yes.
The kitchen was filled with the unique smell of fermented rice soup.
“It’s been four years, but it still feels like he was born yesterday,” Yue Qin commented.
“Yeah, we were so nervous back then.”
He quickly finished making eggs. The two sat around the dining table and slowly began to enjoy the dish.
They could finally rest their minds and focus on the food. They won’t have to worry about their son anymore.
“I miss him, too,” Yue Qin said. “Normally, I’d be feeding him egg custard.”
“Yeah, I feel a bit unwilling.”
“I don’t really feel happy, either.”
“Same. I also feel bad.”
The egg was sweet, making them yearn for other flavors as they ate.
“You feel full yet? Do you want some Liuzhou rice noodles?”
Their son’s windpipe was very fragile, and his stomach wasn’t in its best shape, either, so the two were on a light diet for the past four years.
They haven’t had dishes like those rice noodles in years, barely remembering themselves that it was their favorite dish back in university.
“We have those at home?” Energy filled Xia Sheng’s voice. “It’s okay if we don’t, I’ll make a run to the store!”
“You don’t have to do that. I had already brought some last night when we decided that he was going to kindergarten tomorrow.”
Yue Qin took all the materials out of the fridge: the rice noodles, fried peanuts, sour bamboo shoots, sauces, pickled peppers, bok choy, and a piece of lean meat. Xia Sheng couldn’t help but give him a big hug and a warm kiss.
“I’ve always known that marrying you was the best decision I’ve made in my life.”
Hearing this, Yue Qin felt his body fly. He had a talent in cooking, especially those rice noodles, and with the power of love, he was certainly up to something amazing.
Fifteen minutes later, the two sat each with a bowl of familiar rice noodles in front of them, every strand filled with flavor.
It felt like a reunion with an old friend. Xia Sheng drew in a big breath——
“This is what life is supposed to be!”
“Actually, I am ten percent happy with our son being away,” Yue Qin said after he finished his rice noodles.
“Mhm, but only ten percent. The rest is still sadness from being separated from him.”
The two opened the windows to let fresh air pass, brushed their teeth, and even bathed together.
They had bought a huge bathtub when they married, and now they finally had a chance to use it.
There was an old woman talking to her dog with her hoarse voice in the stairwell.
Wind passing through whirred at the windows.
The two lied in the bathtub, feeling as if the world was slowing down.
Yue Qin cracked a joke, loosening them up along with the hot bathwater.
“I’m quite happy that he’s in kindergarten today,” Xia Sheng couldn’t resist saying.
She loved her son dearly, but she couldn’t just love her son.
After he was born, Xia Sheng came to know many other mothers. Slowly, she started to feel that once a woman becomes a mother, they were to remain that way forever, and their children should be their only joy.
It made her feel that she wouldn’t deserve to be a mother if she valued something more than her son.
So, she didn’t even dare express her relief today.
The hot water soothed her emotions, letting the words in her heart out——
“I think I’d still be happy if he was away for the entire day.”
These words were like dark secrets only to be shared between people they had trusted the most.
Yue Qin’s eyes lit up in the bathtub. “Same! I was afraid to say that because you might think I don’t love him.”
The two looked at each other and said synonymously, “We love him.”
“Yes, we love him.”
“Then let’s not pick him up this afternoon,” Yue Qin jokingly said.
The two burst into laughter again. They were truly happy. Their son could live his normal life, and they don’t have to be chained to him, either.
Yue Qin had to go to his previous company. Officials from the department of labor had come, and he would be getting compensation for the loss of his job.
Xia Sheng also wanted to go out for a walk. She hadn’t been out by herself for a very long time. Every time in the past, her mind was on their son.
However, around noon, Xia Sheng sat in the plaza and began texting her husband——
“What are you doing? Do you want to see how our son is doing in kindergarten?”
“I’m making him lunch at home right now,” Yue Qin replied.
The two still missed their son, so they watched him acting awkwardly to avoid them through the fence.
In the afternoon, the two impatiently waited for their son. A few moments later, he walked out of the school. There was even someone waving goodbye to him.
The two looked at each other, glad that they took him to kindergarten. He had already made friends on the first day.
President Kang walked through the gates, being led home by his parents, like everyone else.
“How did you feel in kindergarten?”
“Fine.” President Kang looked at the little couple, thinking of how they came to see him at noon.
You can’t leave me and you still miss me, don't you?
However, it was too late.
He had decided to go to kindergarten himself!
“Papa and Mama missed you so much.” The big guy carried him off the ground.
Now that’s what it should be like, President Kang thought.
The next morning, he was dropped off at the kindergarten, becoming the first to arrive.
Ms. Liu had just opened the gates when he had come.
This time, little Kangkang and her stood at the door, watching the couple say goodbye and walk away.