Chapter 499
479 The Strange Father
Chapter 499, Section 479: The Strange Father
Xie Yan was born into a home filled with gentleness and sunshine.
Although my father possessed an astonishing fortune, he always loved to wear an apron and slowly simmer a pot of soup in the kitchen, or squat on the balcony tending to the flowers that never bloomed perfectly.
My mother's eyes are always bright and sparkling, and when she smiles, the fine lines at the corners of her eyes seem to dance.
Although her brother Xie Yan was always jumping around, either pulling her braids or hiding her homework, as soon as Xie Yan pouted, he would immediately pull out candy as if by magic and clumsily stuff it into her hand.
Such days are like being immersed in honey, sweetness taken for granted.
During elementary school, Xie Yan gradually realized that her family was different from others.
My good friend's father was always gambling, while my classmates' fathers were mostly in a hurry, busy making a living.
Only her father seemed to always have time—taking her and her brother to school in the morning, humming songs in the kitchen in the evening while wearing an apron, and on weekends the family of four would stroll along the riverbank, watching the clouds, the birds, and the wind rippling the spring water.
The neighbors often whispered behind their backs.
"What kind of man spends all his time around the stove..."
"I'm afraid he's a kept man."
These words occasionally drifted into Xie Yan's ears. She was angrily ready to argue, but her father simply patted her head, as if he had heard nothing of interest, and said calmly:
"Don't worry about them. Mom has to go to work and doesn't have time to do housework. It's normal for me to do it. A home needs to be maintained by both people."
He patted Xie Yan on the head and said:
"After the banquet, don't let these people lead you astray with their crooked and heretical ideas."
Then one day, Xie Yan saw the old knife her father used to loosen the soil in the corner of the balcony.
The blade was covered in mud and rust, but a lingering, metallic odor emanated from its crevices.
She looked up and asked:
"Dad, why does this knife taste weird?"
The father's hand, which had taken the item, paused almost imperceptibly.
He lowered his eyes and stared at the knife, his gaze seemingly traversing a long period of time, landing in a place where Xie Yan could not see him.
After a long silence, he sighed softly, took the knife away, and offered no explanation. He simply turned and gently ruffled her hair, saying tenderly:
"Go tell your brother to wash his hands; dinner will be ready soon."
As the neighbors discussed it for a while, they uncovered more information, such as the fact that Xie's father was actually worth tens of millions and did not own any companies.
People couldn't help but suspect that he might be involved in some shady business, and whether the money in his account came from legitimate sources.
I don't know which jealous person secretly called the police.
One day after school, Xie Yan saw several police officers sitting in her home taking her statement. Her father frowned the entire time and kept emphasizing:
“I entered this society through Rose Traffic’s proper procedures. You should contact Rose Traffic to check my documents first, instead of investigating me personally.”
The police were still talking to her father, but Xie Yan was unaware of it because the lively and active Xie Yan had dragged her outside to play again.
Xie Yan couldn't resist her brother's request, so she went to play with him.
When I came back, I saw that the police officers had left, and in their place were several people wearing pink uniforms.
The group of people wore metal rose badges on their chests, and each of them had a serious expression.
"I can't guarantee they haven't already located you. I suggest you leave here as soon as possible and go to a small town... It's very difficult to find someone in ordinary society, so this is the safest option."
The woman at the front, wearing a rose badge, said solemnly:
"Of course, this is just a suggestion. I must tell you that Rose Traffic can only guarantee that the local police will not interfere. We have no obligation to be responsible for your safety."
Her father took a deep breath and said:
"I understand, but thank you anyway."
After everyone left, he stood quietly in the gradually darkening living room, looking up at the ceiling, his profile appearing somewhat lonely.
Xie Yan also quieted down for once, and walked over quietly with his sister, one on each side, and hugged his arm.
The father looked down at them, and the mist in his eyes was instantly dispelled by the warm light.
"Ayan and Ayan are back."
His voice softened again:
"Are you hungry? Daddy is making braised pork ribs today."
The dinner table was still lively that night; the ribs were glistening and sweet, and the soup was steaming with warm white vapor.
The older brother was scrambling to grab the biggest piece, and Mom laughed and scolded him for being unruly.
Xie Yan ate her rice while stealing glances at her father—he was carefully picking out the cilantro from her mother's soup, his eyes gentle, as if nothing had happened during the day.
She thought life would continue like this, warm and peaceful, flowing steadily on. Until that evening—
When it was her turn to clean the classroom, it was already dark.
She put down the broom and was about to leave when the classroom door clicked shut from the outside.
Darkness crept in from all directions, and the last glimmer of light outside the window gradually faded away.
She ran to the door and pounded on it:
"Is anyone there? I'm still inside!"
Xie Yan's pounding on the door gradually weakened.
The thin layer of sweat from my palms dampened the door panel, leaving small marks.
The darkness wasn't complete; the streetlights on the distant road outside the window shone through the glass, casting a dim, yellowish glow on the edge of the blackboard, barely outlining the quiet silhouette of the tables and chairs stacked together.
She stopped calling out in vain, slowly walked back to her seat, and put her slightly cold hands on her cheeks.
The classroom was quiet, so quiet that you could hear the faint sound of basketballs coming from the distant playground, and your own steady heartbeat.
She's not actually afraid of the dark, nor is she afraid of being alone.
My father said that I should be brave and act like a little soldier.
Her brother would make funny faces to amuse her, saying that our little Yan is fearless.
"It must be my brother's prank."
she thinks.
Last time, he locked himself in a toilet stall and then chuckled under the door.
This time will probably be the same. He might be lurking in some corner of the corridor, waiting to see her anxious look, and then he'll jump out and proudly show off his "masterpiece".
Thinking about it this way, the slight panic that had just begun to rise in my heart was gradually suppressed, and even a stubborn determination arose.
She decided not to let him succeed.
Xie Yan fumbled in her schoolbag to take out her pencil case, pulled out a pencil, and in the dim light, began to unconsciously draw circles, flowers, her father wearing an apron, and her mother's smiling eyes on the draft paper.
Time passed little by little.
The sound of basketballs outside the window had stopped sometime ago, and the sound of traffic in the distance seemed to have thinned out.
There were no familiar, deliberately heavy footsteps from his brother in the corridor, nor the sound of him suppressing laughter.
She put down her pen and listened intently.
There was only silence.
A silence that was too vast, too complete, didn't seem like it was waiting for a game, but rather for something else she didn't quite understand.
Just then, the classroom lights suddenly turned on with a "snap" without warning.
The blinding white light made her instinctively close her eyes.
When I opened my eyes again, there was a person standing in the doorway.
He's not my older brother.
It was a tall man wearing a dark trench coat, who almost blocked the entire doorway.
His face was expressionless, his gaze calmly fixed on Xie Yan. There was no gentleness that belonged to an elder, nor the curiosity that belonged to a stranger; it was just a scrutinizing look.
The light cast a long shadow behind him, stretching all the way to Xie Yan's feet.
Xie Yan's heart skipped a beat, her fingers curled up, and she gripped the pencil tightly in her palm.
She remembered her father saying that she should not talk to strangers and should immediately go to an adult she trusted.
But now, the door is right behind that person, and she is left alone in the empty classroom.
The man did not come in immediately.
He simply stood at the door, looked at her for a few more seconds, and then his gaze slowly swept across the classroom.
It swept past her sketch paper with its simple drawings, past her neatly packed schoolbag, and finally landed back on her face.
"You're Xie Yan?"
He spoke, his voice icy, as if confirming a fact.
(End of this chapter)