Chapter 294 - You should be proud of me (1/2)
”You're here.” Cixi stood up immediately she saw Sara approach.
”Aunt, are you okay? You look pale” She touched Cixi's face and looked at her sadly.
She was still in the dress she had left the house in but also wore a big sweater she had never seen her aunt wear before.
”I'm good. Sorry for calling you out here. I did not think your father would want to see me now” She said in a low voice.
They both sat down and Sara held her hands reassuringly.
”How can you say that? You should know better than anyone that Dad loves you a lot and would love to see you. He was only pissed that day. Please come home. I miss you. We all did.” Sara pleaded with her but saw Cixi still had an unsure expression plastered on her face.
”I'm really sorry Sara. I don't know if you'll ever forgive me.”
Cixi began to cry and her eyes went down because she could not look at Sara.
”Please don't be sad. I understand why you did all that. You were young and thought that was the best decision. I probably would have done same if I was faced with something like that. So it's okay.”
Sara took out her handkerchief from her pause and began to clean off the tears on her aunt's face.
”I am aware about everything. Dad, you, Changyu. I've heard it all. So let's let the past remain in the past”
Cixi was first surprised to hear that and raised her head to look at Sara.
”You...know about Changyu being your....”
She stopped since she was not still so sure whether Sara knew about that.
”My mother. Yes, I know about it”
Cixi began to cry even more and dropped her head to look at the ground.
”I so sorry Sara. I realised how wrong I was.”
”Aunt please. It's okay. Let's just go home. You need to freshen up and eat something.”
Sara almost.cried when she saw her aunt crying that way. It really did break her heart.
”It's not just about that..” Cixi shook her head and lifted her eyes to look at Sara but she still could not.
”I am a bad person. I did not just hide the letters, I also did not want you in the family”
Cixi continued to cry and started narrating another incident that occurred many years back.
After Jianjun was discharged from the hospital, he did not seem to be his self anymore.
Any effort of their mother, Cixi or Helene to make him feel better proved futile.
They had known he loved Changyu. But they had not known he had loved her that much.
They thought it was only because she was very pretty and naive. And as time went by, his love for her would eventually fade out. But they had actually underestimated him.
After losing the house and everything a few months later, Mrs Wang felt there was nothing left for her family in that place. So they began to make plans to relocate.
”I'll go with you people” Helene had dropped the bomb which shocked them all.
Helene was a sweet girl who was very loyal to their family. But was that not too much?
She had sacrificed a whole lot of her time and cared for their family. They believed it was time she left them and go focus on her life but she refused.
She had chosen to go with them and continue to help them out because the Wang's had also helped her out when she least expected.
After the decision was made, Cixi had followed her to go empty and clean up her little apartment in preparation for their trip.
It was at that time that Cixi noticed Helene did not have much. Just a few clothes, and that was it.
When leaving that night, Helene begged Cixi to go with her to Happy Ending Orphanage for the last time.
That place was like a home to her and she did not want to leave just like that without seeing it for the last time at least.
”But it's late already” Cixi complained but could not really show how unpleased she was by the idea. Helene was doing this for them after all.
That period, Cixi's mood and attitude turned sour.
She had not always been like that but after everything her family had gone through, after dropping out of school, and the guilt she bore, she could not also understand why her attitude suddenly turned bad.
”Please. Just this once.”
And with that, they had taken a late night train that enabled them get to Happy Ending Orphanage pretty fast.
Helene watched the gate for a while and a sad smile appeared on her face.
”One more thing...” Helene dragged Cixi with her to her favourite hidden spot from where she always watched the Orphanage.
She began to use a stick to dig one particular spot and Cixi had to curiously ask what she was searching for.
”I buried something here years back. I always used to sneak here when I was a kid. It turned to my favourite hideout.” Helene explained and stopped when she finally saw the bottle buried on the ground.
”This is it.” Helene cheered.
”And that is?” Cixi inquired.
”My wish.”
”They bury wishes now? That's weird.”
Helene giggled before saying ”I wished to one day leave this city with someone I can call my family. I think I have that now.”
”Let's just go back. We may not be able to return back if we continue playing around like this”