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墨書 Inktalez
Seeing the manager come out as well, I said, "Could you please help me with this? I'll talk to Old Zhao when I get back." Perhaps hearing me say this gave him some confidence; with Zhao Changsheng's background, he was nothing to worry about.
After the incident, I drifted through life for a long time. I naively believed that Lin Mu Xi and I would continue to be close, eventually getting married and staying together. Old Zhao and Li Hong also noticed something was off with me, but they said nothing. As usual, I shared the situation with Hu Yao, who simply asked, "Where is he?" I didn’t answer; he understood my silence and didn’t press further.
Lin Mu Xi came to find me several times, but I never looked at her or spoke a word to her. Yet now, she stood before me with a gift in hand, and I still felt no warmth towards her; neither did Hu Yao.
Explain? What was there to explain? Seeing is believing—that was the best explanation. I ignored her and continued walking forward. Hu Yao followed closely behind. Seeing this, she immediately hurried after me, calling my name repeatedly.
I finally stopped in my tracks. Even then, I didn’t turn around to look at her. Slowly, I said, "Lin Mu Xi, I don’t want to hear your explanation. I believe what I saw with my own eyes. Even if it’s true as you say, so what? At that time, I was your boyfriend; you should have sought my help first. Yes, you wanted to solve it on your own, but did you ever consider my feelings? And what about us?"
As I spoke those words, my lips trembled uncontrollably. Even now, recalling this incident made me feel suffocated. From then on, we were nothing but strangers.
I never imagined that my first love—the first relationship of my youth—would end in such a ridiculous manner.
When I returned to the classroom, I didn’t say a word. Hu Yao merely patted my shoulder; he understood that the one who tied the knot must also be the one to untie it.
The entire afternoon passed without Lin Mu Xi coming to find me again until school ended. I managed to collect myself; despite the day’s many small interruptions, it was my coming-of-age day. I decided to put all the unpleasantness behind me and welcome a bright future ahead.
Upon arriving home and opening the door, the first thing I saw was the gift from earlier that day—the one the driver had brought back for my coming-of-age celebration. Thinking of this made me smile.
"Hey kid! You’re back from school? Come here! Today is your coming-of-age day! Your mom has been busy all afternoon preparing a feast for you! Let’s have a drink!"
As I stood at the door looking at everyone celebrating my day, Old Zhao's voice rang out. Sure enough, just as he said, the round table was filled with dishes.
"Old Zhao! Not that I'm saying anything bad about you, but drink less," I called out. My dad's voice came from the kitchen as Li Hong poked her head out to look at me.
I called my dad Old Zhao because that's what my mom taught me. My dad never minded it; I've called him that since childhood.
I smiled slightly and replied, "Okay! I'll clean up and be right there." I took several trips carrying things from downstairs to my room on the second floor. After tidying up, I finally went downstairs to eat.
Sitting at the dining table and looking at all the food laid out before me warmed my heart. Yet somehow, despite the abundance of dishes, it felt like something was missing.
"Wait! Old Zhao! Where are Grandpa and Grandma? What about Grandma and Grandpa on Mom's side?"
"Don’t mention it! Your grandparents are traveling abroad right now—they said they weren’t done having fun yet. They’ll come back and make it up to you later," Old Zhao replied. As he continued speaking about them, his voice became increasingly unclear. Li Hong sitting next to him suddenly realized something: "Old Zhao! You didn’t forget to mention them, did you?"
"Forget it? How could that be? It's just that those two old folks have their own matters to attend to and can't get away. Yes, that's how it is," Old Zhao said as he raised his glass to his lips.
Li Hong and I exchanged knowing glances at Old Zhao's antics. Watching him lie with a straight face, not even a hint of embarrassment or guilt, was a sight we had grown accustomed to. We decided not to call him out on it.
"Alright, son, they probably all have their own things going on and can't make it. We can just celebrate at home. Don't blame your parents for not throwing you a big party; it's fine for us to celebrate together as a family," Li Hong said while serving me some food.
"Mom, there's nothing going on. You're absolutely right; we can just celebrate ourselves," I replied earnestly. I truly believed what my mom said—celebrating with family was the best way to spend the day. After all, it was my special day.
"Then let's do it! Come on, let's raise a glass to congratulate our son on growing up!"
Hearing this, I poured some wine into my glass. I had sneaked a sip from the bottle Old Zhao kept in the cabinet before, but that was just a small taste. I was afraid of drinking too much and getting caught by Old Zhao, which would inevitably lead to a painful punishment. Now that I had grown up, having a little drink should be no big deal.
However, in my mother's eyes, this was a different matter altogether. If I dared to drink today, who knew what might happen? Tomorrow I might end up fighting like Old Zhao did in his younger days. Just as I was about to speak up and stop this, Old Zhao interrupted.
"Dear, our son has grown up; let him have a drink or two. How could I forget about this when he gets married?"
With that, Old Zhao hurried upstairs and soon returned with a bag of documents in hand.
"Here you go, you little rascal! This is your Child Marriage Agreement. You have a wife now; if you can't bring them all home, then I'll sever our father-son relationship!"
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