“Why did you just get out of bed and wander around like that? You only just woke up. You’re still weak.”
Her mother’s voice, full of both reproach and concern, reached Huo Tong’s ears and tugged at her drifting thoughts.
She’d thought she was prepared for this. She’d thought seeing her mother again wouldn’t surprise or shock her.
But when Huo Tong’s gaze fell on Liu Yiming’s familiar yet strangely youthful face, a ripple still stirred in her eyes.
Had only six years really passed? Her mother had once been this beautiful.
So when had time’s winds first swept away her mother’s beauty completely?
Heh… That’s right. Time is the most merciless thing there is, and it slips by without you noticing. Leaves slowly turn yellow, and people, too, are constantly growing older.
You can watch it change right before your eyes without noticing a thing. Then, when you least expect it, it’s turned your life upside down.
Seeing the confusion in Liu Yiming’s eyes, Huo Tong drew her thoughts inward and gave her a bright smile.
“Mom, the doctors all said there’s nothing wrong with me. I’m healthy enough to leave the hospital anytime.”
“Even so, you should get some more rest!” Liu Yiming sighed and looked at her daughter, who didn’t seem to be taking any of this seriously. She spoke earnestly:
“You fainted out of nowhere, and they still haven’t figured out why. What if you overdo it and end up with some lasting problem…”
“Okay, okay!” Huo Tong knew the only way to interrupt her mother was to be a little forceful.
She suddenly took a couple of quick steps forward and wrapped both arms around Liu Yiming’s back.
“Xiao Tong? What are you doing?” Liu Yiming was a little bewildered by her daughter’s sudden hug, but slowly brought her hands around to her back.
Huo Tong had already slipped her right hand behind her mother’s head. She gently held it in place, her small chin resting on Liu Yiming’s shoulder.
“I’m so glad I’m still alive, Mom… I still get to call you that. I still get to hold you like this. I’m so glad.” Huo Tong parted her lips and whispered in her mother’s ear.
Her voice sounded grateful, wistful, almost like a sigh. In the end, it all became longing, flowing into Liu Yiming’s heart through that embrace.
“Oh, you… What are you saying? You’re right here, safe and sound. Thank goodness nothing happened to you.”
Liu Yiming could no longer keep up her stern expression. She put her arms around her daughter’s shoulders, hugged her a little tighter, and softened into a tender smile.
“I’m the one who’s sorry. I haven’t been paying enough attention to your feelings these past two months. I knew you were having a hard time after your corrective surgery, but I kept pushing you to face everything anyway…”
Liu Yiming knew that much of Huo Tong’s extremely unstable state of mind recently had been caused by pressure from all sides.
The doctors said there was no underlying medical cause for Huo Tong’s unconsciousness, but Liu Yiming couldn’t help thinking it had something to do with her emotions.
“Mom promises I won’t pressure you to accept your identity so quickly anymore.”
She stroked Huo Tong’s hair. After a long pause, she carefully added:
“But life has to go on, and so does everything else. You were a girl all along, and you’ve got so much of your youth ahead of you. We’ve already lost sixteen years. We can’t lose the rest of our lives, too…”
“Promise me, okay? We won’t rush, but you’ll still try to accept that you’re a woman and get used to this new life.”
Huo Tong felt a little helpless, wondering how the conversation had ended up here. Still, she gave a small nod and quietly agreed.
She knew she wasn’t the original Huo Tong, and her situation was worlds apart from what her mother thought.
“Her” identity as a man had been false, but the more than twenty years she herself had lived as a man were all too real, and etched deep in her memory.
But that didn’t mean she’d hurt her family over a matter of formality like this.
She wasn’t sure she could actually do it, but she made the promise anyway, without taking much responsibility for it.
The long embrace finally ended after quite some time. Liu Yiming had expected her daughter to be embarrassed after opening up like that.
But this little rascal looked completely unfazed. She even complained that standing for so long had made her tired. Liu Yiming was both speechless and a little surprised.
Huo Tong sat back down on the edge of her bed and patted the sheets. She smiled at her mother as she came over, then reached for the fruit on the bedside table.
“Come on, let’s have an apple. The nurse brought me a few last night. What if they’re in the way, just sitting by the door?”
Huo Tong held the big fruit in both hands. There was no knife, so she tried to split it down the middle with her hands.
But the moment she started to put some force into it, Liu Yiming saw what she was doing and snatched it away.
“You’re a young lady! How do you expect to split it like that? You’ll hurt your nails if you’re not careful!”
Liu Yiming shot her daughter an exasperated look, pulled a folding knife from her handbag, then dragged the trash can out from under the bed and started peeling the apple.
Is a woman’s handbag some kind of dimensional pocket? How does she get everything out of there? Huo Tong wondered, then lifted her head and said with a perfectly straight face:
“I used to be able to do it. Besides, you just told me not to rush into getting used to being a woman.”
She’d picked up her mother’s words and thrown them right back at her, chin held high as if she had a solid argument.
Liu Yiming’s hand, still holding the knife, nearly jerked in frustration. Looking at her livelier daughter, she didn’t know whether to blush or turn pale.
“You’ve always been a skinny little homebody who hates exercise! When have you ever been able to split something like this?”
“That’s because I hadn’t gone to the gym yet… Ever since my sophomore year of college, I’ve been exercising every day.” Huo Tong looked completely serious.
“Sophomore year, sophomore year… You’re still in high school! Quit dreaming and study, or you won’t even get into college!”
Liu Yiming gave up trying to make sense of it. She simply broke off a piece and stuffed it into the mouth of this chirping little sparrow.
Time flew by as mother and daughter chatted on and off, and before long, it was noon.
Liu Yiming ran a pharmacy in town, and as the shop manager, she was due to work that afternoon. So she said goodbye to her daughter.
Before leaving, she worried Huo Tong might get too bored and gave her back her phone.
After reminding her not to play too much and to keep up with her studies, Liu Yiming was sent on her way with the carnations Huo Tong had brought herself.
As she was heading out, the girl added, in a sweet and thoughtful tone, that carnations symbolized a mother’s love and all that. Liu Yiming didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
After her mother left, Huo Tong was at a loose end, so she picked up her phone and switched it on.
She remembered getting this vivo X6 from her parents as a reward after the high school entrance exams. She hadn’t played mobile games back then, so chatting was still the phone’s main use.
Once the phone booted up, Huo Tong swiped around a couple of times, then tapped the penguin icon.
As soon as she opened QQ, the chat screen was buried under little red 99+ notifications. The most eye-catching one was a pinned message from a special contact.
Huo Tong was stunned. She’d only been away from the group for two days. Couldn’t her friends stop chattering so much? Were they all firing Italian cannons from their mouths?
She tapped the only pinned chat. Seeing the other person’s username—gone for years, yet so familiar—Huo Tong froze for a moment, feeling a little wistful.
Chongqing Forest: Why haven’t you logged into the game lately? You’re not replying to my messages, either. Are you skipping the anniversary event?
Chongqing Forest: You’re not giving up your game account, are you? I heard the people running Lake of Heaven are about to do a big cleanup. Your account’s on a sensitive list. If you don’t show up and sort it out, it’ll be deleted.
Chongqing Forest: This is your last warning. If you still consider me a friend, don’t just vanish without a word.
Chongqing Forest: What on earth happened? You’ve been completely out of touch for three months.
Chongqing Forest: I’ll be in Huadu sometime next week. If you don’t want me showing up at the address you gave me when I mailed you a birthday present, you’d better reply.
