Early the next morning, Ian Sumrs began packing his things, preparing to return to his unit.
Colin Sumrs and Grace Sutton quietly helped pack their son’s bags, their reluctance to see him leave evident in their every move.
They packed two large bags for Ian, filled with all sorts of daily necessities and clothes.
But his grandmother still felt it wasn’t enough and packed even more winter clothes for Ian: thermal underwear, cotton socks, gloves, hats... she stuffed them all inside.
As she stuffed clothes into Ian’s luggage, his grandmother pulled him close and rambled, "When it starts snowing in a little while, you put on all these warm clothes. Don’t you dare be lazy... You young people always think you’re invincible with all your youthful energy and wear such thin clothes. Be careful, or when you get old, you’ll get rheumatism and all sorts of aches in your legs. By then, it’ll be too late for regrets..."
Ian quickly agreed to everything, promising he would wear all the clothes he was supposed to.
lody Sumrs, for her part, packed many heat packs for Ian, along with a pile of high-calorie snacks like chocolate, beef jerky, and vitamin tablets.
Finally, lody quietly pulled Ian aside and gave him a thumb-sized pendant. "Wear this! And rember, keep it close to your body at all tis!"
The pendant was a tiny bottle. Opening it revealed two "Far Sea Secret dicine" pills inside.
lody now had only four Far Sea Secret dicine pills left; she had given half of them to Ian.
Ian curiously pinched the pearl-like pill in his hand and asked, a little confused, "What is this?"
lody answered, "It’s healing dicine, for internal use. Keep it with you. If you ever get seriously injured, or catch so infectious disease that doctors can’t treat, you have to take one!"
Ian was going to be following his unit to various disaster relief sites. Thinking of the terrorists who had carried out attacks before, and the epidemic that would follow next year’s torrential rains, lody was truly worried about him.
To make sure Ian wouldn’t forget, lody repeatedly warned him, "This is to save your life. You must keep it safe, and don’t let anyone else know about it!"
Ian looked at the tiny pill in his hand and said, amused, "Where did you get this? You make it sound so mysterious. Is this little thing reliable? Don’t tell it’s so pyramid sche health supplent. You’re a college student, don’t get tricked by those supplent sellers. The way they talk, they could convince you that brown sugar turns into hematopoietic stem cells in your stomach!"
Hearing this, lody imdiately gave Ian two playful punches. "Do I look that gullible? This is my secret formula, it’s priceless! Just stop asking questions, rember to wear it, don’t lose it, and don’t let anyone else see it!"
Seeing lody’s serious expression, Ian didn’t dare joke with her anymore. He quickly nodded and said, "Okay, okay, don’t worry. Whatever you found must be a miracle cure. I’ll keep it safe!"
With that, Ian solemnly hung the pendant around his neck.
After breakfast, the family reluctantly saw Ian off at the entrance of the complex. Before he left, his grandmother and Grace Sutton held Ian’s hands again, chattering on and on, telling him to be safe, and Ian nodded in agreent to everything.
Finally, the family stood by the roadside, silently watching the car that ca to pick up Ian drive away, growing smaller in the distance, their eyes filled with sorrow.
But lody knew in her heart that this separation was only temporary. The family would be reunited sooner or later.
By then, the natural disasters would surely be long gone, and this ancient land of Cathaysia would have returned to peace and prosperity.
At that ti, people would live and work in peace, crops would thrive in the fields... the entire nation would radiate with new vitality and splendor, and everything would be just as it was before the disasters.
******
After Ian left, lody’s family comforted each other as they walked back to The tropolis Residences.
But to their surprise, they saw an unwelco guest at the complex entrance.
Under the bright streetlights by the security booth, Elaine Hughes stood with a worried expression.
Like the rest of the Lancaster Family, Elaine Hughes had been blacklisted by The tropolis Residences during the heatwave last year.
She was currently begging the security guard to let her in, but the guard at the gate had flatly refused her.
Just as Elaine was at her wit’s end, she saw lody’s family walking back into the complex, talking and laughing.
Upon seeing lody, Elaine’s eyes instantly lit up with a glint of surprised delight.
Elaine hurried toward lody, about to speak to her, but unexpectedly, the mont lody saw her, the smile vanished from her face.
Seeing lody’s expression turn cold in an instant, Elaine froze on the spot.
lody saw Elaine staring at her without speaking and felt a flicker of doubt.
She took a few steps closer to Elaine, frowning slightly. "What are you doing here?"
For so reason, seeing lody’s cold and distant deanor, Elaine felt a slight pang in her heart.
For the past two days, she had been having strange, fragnted dreams.
In her dreams, lody was always by her side, cooking her favorite als, cleaning the house for her, giving her shoulder and back massages, doing her laundry, and obediently calling her "Mom."
But in the dreams, it seed she herself was very cruel to lody, who would occasionally look at her with hurt and sorrowful eyes.
After waking up, Elaine would just lie there, staring blankly at the ceiling, unable to snap out of it for a long ti.
She didn’t know why she was having these dreams; she only felt that the scenes in them were exceptionally real, as if they had actually happened.
Now, looking at lody’s icy expression and rembering the tenderness lody had shown her in the dreams, Elaine felt a tightness constrict from her heart to her throat.
Elaine looked at lody sadly and said, "Do you have to speak to like this? No matter what, I am your biological mother..."
lody cut her off directly. "Don’t give that. If there’s nothing else, I’m leaving."
With that, lody turned to leave.
Seeing lody about to walk away, Elaine quickly called out, "I have sothing to talk to you about! Can we talk sowhere else? ...I heard you moved. Can you let in so we can chat?"
Hearing this, lody understood.
’Looks like Elaine is also after the apartnt in 1606.’
’I kicked out Sylvia and Simon Lancaster yesterday,’ lody thought. ’They couldn’t accept it, so this ti they sent Elaine to bother .’
’Looks like yesterday’s warning to Simon and Sylvia was a waste. They didn’t learn their lesson at all.’
lody had no intention of giving up the apartnt, so she couldn’t be bothered to deal with Elaine.
To Elaine’s expectant gaze, lody replied, "No. I have nothing to talk to you about."
Then she turned and walked away.
Seeing this, Elaine quickly took a few steps and caught up.
She reached out and grabbed lody, saying nonstop, "I just want to say a few words to you! No matter what, I’m still your biological mother!"
"I carried you for ten grueling months, I walked through the gates of hell for you, and I almost died on the delivery table from an amniotic fluid embolism! Can you really be this heartless?!"
Hearing the words "amniotic fluid embolism," lody froze for a mont.
It was true... even the wealthiest woman couldn’t avoid the dangers and pain of childbirth...
As if a needle had gently pricked the softest part of her heart, lody suddenly felt an uncontrollable wave of sadness, and her steps faltered to a halt.
The rest of the Sumrs Family, still standing nearby, saw Elaine grabbing lody and were having none of it.
Grace Sutton rushed over like a gust of wind. She slapped Elaine’s hand away from lody and shouted, "What are you doing?! Why are you manhandling my girl! Watch it, or I’ll call security!"
Winnie Sumrs, for her part, pulled lody into her arms and looked up at Elaine with a wary expression.
Seeing lody being held in Winnie’s embrace, Elaine’s heart ached with sorrow.
She looked at lody with pleading eyes. "I... I really just want to say a few words... I’ll leave right after, I won’t bother you."
Under the streetlight, Elaine’s face was unusually pale, her eyes filled with desperation.
Seeing her like this, even Grace Sutton, who had been aggressively threatening to call security, hesitated.
In the end, lody nodded and agreed.
She told her family to go ho first, then led Elaine to a gazebo in the complex and sat down.
lody got straight to the point. "Alright, spit it out. What is it you really want?"
User Comments
0 comments from readers