Chapter 15: Going on a trip

I took the photos and looked through them one by one. In these photos, my mother’s expression was very natural, without a trace of sadness on her face, and the clothes she wore were not recently worn. Obviously, these photos were taken before my birthday.

Just then, my father came out of the kitchen and saw me standing at the entrance. He said, “What are you doing? Come in and wash your hands and eat.”

I shook the photos in my hand at my father and asked, “Have you seen them all?”

My father said in a flat tone, “I have seen them.”

I was a little worried and confused. After changing my shoes, I followed my father and asked, “Are you not angry?”

My father laughed and said, “What’s there to be angry about?”

“No ... Then what happened last time...”

My father turned around and took the photos from my hand and said to me, “Not only did I see these photos, I also showed them to your mother.”

“What’s going on? Why do you feel weird?” I was completely confused by my father.

“Hurry up and wash your hands. After dinner, study hard. You have nothing to do here.”

“If you don’t explain it to me, I will be curious. How can I study?”

I followed him into the kitchen. My father was really annoyed by me and said to me: “Your mother did it on purpose.”

“On purpose? What do you mean?”

My father explained: “Last time someone sent a photo, your mother and I were a little suspicious. Someone must have deliberately destroyed the relationship between me and your mother. We discussed it privately. At first, we both suspected that it was Mr. Chen who did it. But Mr. Chen, your mother and I are quite familiar with him. He was a playboy when he was in school. He asked your mother out privately several times, but your mother ignored him. He, he didn’t bother me anymore.”

“So, it wasn’t Mr. Chen who sent the photo, right?”

Dad said, “What your mom meant is that although Mr. Chen is a playboy and pursued your mom when they were in school, he has many lovers around him now, and he doesn’t want to marry your mom, so why bother to do so many tricks and go to so much trouble to break us up?”

“Then it must be someone else? Do you know who it is?”

“Your mom guessed someone, but there is no definite evidence. It’s your mom’s boss, Mr. Li.”

“It’s him.” I remembered that I had met Mr. Li twice, but my attention was on Mr. Chen at the time, and I didn’t pay attention to him.

Dad continued to explain: “Your mom told me before that Mr. Li had been interested in her for a long time. He divorced a few years ago and had real feelings for your mom. Since he knew that your mom and Mr. Chen were old classmates, he always arranged for her to contact Mr. Chen intentionally or unintentionally. At first, your mom didn’t take it seriously. After the photo incident, she was a little suspicious. When Mr. Li arranged work again, he deliberately went out for a walk with Mr. Chen and had a meal. I thought the photos would come in two days, but then there was no movement. Hey, who knew that the photos would come when something happened in our family. Do you think this grandson is holding back bad intentions?” After listening to Dad’s explanation, I understood a little, but I felt something was wrong. After thinking for a moment, I said to Dad: “I think my mother did this not only to test Mr. Li, but also to give you a reassurance.” “Huh?” Dad obviously didn’t understand what I meant. “I mean, my mom told you in advance that she deliberately followed Mr. Chen to take a walk and eat. Once the photos come, won’t it prove my mom’s innocence?” Dad pondered for a long time, patted my shoulder, and gave me an affirmative look. After leaving the kitchen, an idea suddenly popped up in my mind. Could it be that this photo was deliberately taken by my mom to reassure my dad? Then I thought again, if my mom asked someone to take the photo, why didn’t she send it immediately? Why did she have to wait until the family was in chaos to send it? After thinking about it, it was still that damn Mr. Li who was the most suspicious. Anyway, no matter what, I would never believe that my mother cheated ... The final exam of the last semester finally came. I don’t know why since I saw those photos that day, my mood has become more relaxed. In addition, I have been studying hard during this period, and my grades have caught up a lot. But because I was too lazy some time ago, I just squeezed into the top ten in the class. This is my usual result, but this time I want to prove my repentance and efforts to my mother, so I am somewhat disappointed with this embarrassing ranking.

Since the last time I agreed to spend New Year’s Eve with An Nuo, she has never come to see me again. People, sometimes, are just cheap. When she comes, I annoy her; when she doesn’t come to annoy me, I miss her a little.

The end of the year came in the blink of an eye. That afternoon, I was studying hard in the bedroom, and suddenly there was a noise in the living room, and then I heard Beibei shouting in surprise: “Mom, you are back~!”

My mind was buzzing, surprised and happy, without thinking too much, I threw down the pen and ran out of the room. I saw my mother standing in the living room, being hugged tightly by Beibei’s hands, with no expression on her face; Dad was carrying large and small bags of luggage, as if he had just returned from a business trip.

I haven’t seen my mother for almost a month, and of course I was very happy in my heart. I also wanted to hug my mother excitedly like my sister. But I didn’t dare, so I could only stand at the door of the bedroom and watch them from a distance.

Mom hugged Beibei with one hand, patted her head gently, turned her head and saw me, and her expression suddenly dropped. Dad smiled and said, “Don’t stand there, take a rest quickly, you haven’t been home for such a long time.” Then he said to me, “What are you doing, come and help quickly.”

I agreed, walked over with my head down, and whispered “Mom”. Mom didn’t seem to hear it, and didn’t even look at me. I embarrassedly helped Dad pack his luggage.

Dad personally cooked a table of sumptuous dinner to welcome Mom. At the table, Mom was still like a Bodhisattva, sitting there, not eating, drinking, or talking, and even had no expression on her face.

The atmosphere was a little awkward. Dad raised his glass first and said with a smile: “Something happened at home recently. Your mother ... also stayed outside for a while. Today I finally invited her back. As a family, living together is bound to have some bumps and bruises. In the final analysis, we still have to stick together through thick and thin. If there are any difficulties, let’s get through them together, okay?”

“Okay~!” Beibei excitedly raised the glass filled with juice, but saw that her mother had a stern face and did not react at all. I was timid and wanted to raise it but did not dare to. She was the only one who was so enthusiastic, which seemed a little awkward.

Dad quickly tried to smooth things over and said with a silly smile: “Look, the children are welcoming you. You ... it’s not good to do this.”

Mom was silent for a moment, sighed heavily, and picked up the glass in front of her. Dad signaled me with his eyes, and I quickly picked it up.

“Cheers~!”

With a bang, the four glasses touched each other. While drinking the juice, I quietly looked at my mother beside me. There was still no expression on her face, and she was a little cold and scary.

Dad and Beibei took turns to pick up food for Mom. Mom accepted all the food, but she didn’t show any gratitude. I hesitated for a long time, mustered up the courage to add a piece of dried tofu, and carefully put it in Mom’s bowl. Mom didn’t even look at it, and directly took it out and threw it on the table.

The originally cheerful atmosphere was frozen in an instant. I lowered my head and didn’t dare to speak. Beibei was a little confused. He looked at me and then at Mom, his eyes full of curiosity, wanting to ask but not daring to ask.

At this time, my father would come out to smooth things over. I cleared my throat and smiled at my mother: “Oh, your son has made such a big mistake, how can you deny it?” Then he said to me: “Hurry up and apologize to your mother.”

I quickly climbed up along the pole given by my father, holding the cup in one hand and the bottom with the other hand, respectfully raised it in front of my mother, and said in a low voice, but sincerely and respectfully: “Mom, I was wrong, I really know I was wrong. Don’t be angry, please forgive me this time.”

My mother looked cold and didn’t even look at me. I stood there for three minutes like this, and my father couldn’t help it, and whispered: “Be more sincere.”

I hurriedly left my seat, holding the cup in both hands, and knelt in front of my mother, crying and trembling, saying: “Mom, I really didn’t mean it, I really know I was wrong, please forgive your son once.”

My mother still sat there motionless, and the atmosphere of the dinner party dropped to freezing point. I kept praying in my heart, hoping that my mother would forgive me, but she didn’t even look at me. My tears rolled in my eyes and began to flow down uncontrollably.

Finally, there was really no other way. Dad sighed, helped me up from the ground, and muttered: “How did my son offend you to be so angry? You can get over my matter, why ... you can’t get over my son.”

Mom grabbed the cup and smashed it heavily on the table, and the juice splashed. Dad was so scared that he quickly shut up. He was embarrassed for a moment, and suddenly remembered and said to me: “By the way, you should report your test results to your mother.”

I held back my tears and sobbed, “I ... got the tenth place.”

My mother, who had been ignoring me, suddenly asked in a cold voice: “Tenth in the grade?”

“Class ... class ... tenth.” I saw my mother speak, and I was so excited that I couldn’t speak.

“Then how dare you take credit here?” Mom’s voice was still cold, but to me, it sounded like the spring breeze and the sweet sound of a yellow oriole.

Although Mom didn’t say anything else, the deadlock was resolved. Dad returned to his seat and said with a smile: “There is one more thing I want to announce. This Spring Festival, our family will go on vacation abroad together.”

Beibei jumped up excitedly, supporting the table with both hands, and the joy on his face was hard to hide: “Really? Dad, you are not lying to us, right?”

Dad smiled and said: “Really, really. There are too many things that are not going well in our family this year. We should go out and relax.”

Beibei clapped his hands excitedly and said: “That’s great, Dad, I love you. Although I don’t know what went wrong in our family, I think we should really go out and relax.”

I secretly looked at my mother, she was still sitting there, with no expression on her face. But anyway, it finally made my mother speak, which was considered to have opened the situation.

Two days later, our family prepared to travel to Latia Island. Beibei was excited from the moment her father announced the news, and she was still jumping around the house like a little rabbit before leaving.

Yes, she was the only one who didn’t know what happened in this family. It was hard to imagine what expression she would have when she found out that there was a little sister in the family. It must be quite exciting.

I imagined the funny scene and couldn’t help laughing. Beibei turned back and stared at me and asked, “What are you laughing at?”

“I didn’t laugh.”

“You obviously laughed.”

“I didn’t laugh.” I deliberately frowned.

Beibei turned around and complained to her father: “Dad, he laughed at me.”

“Oh, hurry up and pack your things, we have to catch the plane.” Dad urged while packing his luggage.

Beibei turned to her mother and complained: “Mom, he laughed at me.”

Mom seemed not to hear it at all, sitting on the sofa and folding clothes in the suitcase.

Beibei was a little disappointed when she saw that no one paid attention to her. She muttered quietly: “Why do I feel that the atmosphere at home is weird?”

Our family hurriedly caught up with the plane. My mother was indifferent to me along the way, and I couldn’t be happy. Only Beibei was very happy.

Latia is an archipelago country in the Indian Ocean and a famous tourist destination. There were several tour groups from China on the same plane. When the plane landed, it was drizzling in the sky. Dad found two taxis and took the family to the reserved hotel.

After a long journey, we rested in the guest room for a day. The next day, we rented a car and went on a self-driving tour around the island. Because it is close to the equator and there are no four seasons, we have to wear long sleeves at home. When we get here, we can directly change to short-sleeved shirts and beach pants.

My father rented an open jeep. My mother sat in the co-pilot seat, wearing a floral dress with island characteristics, a straw hat with a lavender ribbon on her head, and a big frog-eye glasses on her nose. She looked very hot, and kept fanning herself with a travel brochure. If it were in the past, I would have gone up to show my courtesy, but now our mother-son relationship is really awkward.

After hesitating for a long time, I mustered up the courage, snatched a brochure from Beibei’s hand, leaned over from the middle of the front seat, and gently fanned my mother. Mom was stunned for a moment, turned her head and glared at me, and used the brochure to knock my hand aside.

Beibei saw it, took the brochure back, squeezed in the middle and started fanning my mother. Mom leaned on the car seat and accepted her service calmly. I sat back in dissatisfaction, and my father said a little jealously: “Hey, why is no one fanning me? I’m the one driving.”

Beibei smiled foolishly and quickly turned to fan my father.

Dad turned his head and looked at my mother: “Look, you, you finally came out for a trip, why are you still so stern? Come on, can you smile?”

Mom ignored him and simply turned her face to the side. Dad could only sigh helplessly.

At noon, we had lunch at a small restaurant on the roadside. Because there were many domestic tourists here, the boss could speak Mandarin. With his introduction, we turned into a small road in the afternoon. I heard that the natural scenery of this road is very beautiful, and few tourists know about it.

Mom didn’t speak all the way. She always leaned against the car window to appreciate the scenery along the way. The sea breeze blew her long hair, which was so beautiful that it made people intoxicated.

“Lake~!”

Suddenly, Beibei pointed to the left and shouted. I turned my head and saw a light blue lake, surrounded by green trees, fragrant grass, fish leaping, birds flying, and waves rippling. The most valuable thing is that there are not many tourists in such a beautiful place.

Dad stopped the car and took the family to the lake to play. Beibei took off her shoes and was about to wade into the water, but her father quickly stopped her: “Don’t go in the water.” Beibei, wearing hot pants and barefoot, jumped into the water twice, and said happily: “The water here is very shallow, only up to the knees.” While saying this, she splashed water on me. My attention was all on my mother, and I was in no mood to play with her.

Seeing that there was no danger, my father took out his mobile phone to take a lot of photos, and then walked around the lake with my mother. I looked at my mother’s slender back, a little dazed, and suddenly I was drenched with water again.

Beibei asked with a smile: “What are you daydreaming about?”

I made up a lie: “I was thinking about the college entrance examination.”

Beibei looked at me suspiciously: “No, it’s weird. You don’t seem to be crazy, but you seem to have depression.” She walked towards me and asked: “Hey, what did you do to offend our mother to make her so angry?”

“It’s nothing, I just stole money from home and bought myself some things.” I stood on the shore and lied carelessly.

“You are so old, and you still steal money from home.” Beibei walked to my side and asked with a smile: “Why didn’t you buy me some gifts after stealing money from home?”

“Speaking of gifts...” I suddenly remembered: “What was the birthday present you gave me! Such an ugly doll.”

“Ah? Ugly? The temperament of that doll is not very ... similar to you!” At the end of the conversation, she suddenly laughed and pushed me down with force.

I was caught off guard by her and fell into the water. I was almost soaked. Fortunately, I didn’t bring my phone with me.

“You sneak attack! It doesn’t count!” I stood up and walked towards her while shouting.

Beibei screamed and turned to run away. I chased her in three or two steps, picked her up horizontally, and said with a sly smile: “Little white rabbit, I wonder where you can run.”

Beibei’s two slender white legs kicked back and forth in the air, and she screamed in a delicate voice: “Help, the big bad wolf is coming~!”

I carried her to the lake. Beibei knew what I wanted to do and screamed: “Don’t throw it, don’t throw it first! Mobile phone, my mobile phone!” While struggling, she took out the mobile phone and stuffed it into my pocket.

I threw it hard, and the petite girl drew an arc in the air, and fell into the water with a “wow”. The water here is not deep, and Beibei and I can swim, so we had a lot of fun.

Beibei fluttered twice and stood up from the water, just to her lower abdomen. She splashed water on me and shouted, “Wait for me.”

“Waiting for you.”

Beibei started to splash water on me. After playing for a while, she suddenly said “Aiya”, the expression on her face gradually solidified, her hands froze in the air, and the whole person seemed to be petrified in an instant.

I was puzzled and asked hurriedly, “What’s the matter?”

“Snake ... There seems to be a snake~!” Beibei’s little face turned pale and her voice trembled.