Chapter 51: I Used to Really Want to Marry You

Mo Yuqing walked to the door, pressed her fingerprint to unlock it, only to see a somewhat unfamiliar figure in the living room.

It was a middle-aged man wearing glasses, with a slightly overweight build, sitting on the sofa watching short videos.

This was her so-called stepfather, Lin Jingming.

Just this moment made her feel suddenly suffocated, her already disheartened mood plummeted to the bottom.

Mo Yuqing thought he must have been called by her mother to help clean up, trying to bring them closer.

At first, Mo Yuqing was a little touched, until she discovered the truth.

Her mom probably couldn’t imagine that he always just called a cleaning lady, then sat on the couch leisurely watching his phone.

Every time it was like this.

Then she would be questioned by her mother about why she didn’t get along with him.

But Mo Yuqing didn’t care anymore. She silently changed her shoes, walked into her room, and slammed the door shut.

The man didn’t even look up, seemingly not intending to pay her any attention.

As soon as Mo Yuqing entered her room, she started rummaging through her things.

Soon, various strange and wonderful items were scattered on the floor, from old and childish watercolors, spinning tops, crystal balls, paintbrushes, Barbie dolls, to later love letters, sketches, paper roses, necklaces…

The large teddy bear that had been lying on the bed was also pulled down by her.

After placing everything on the floor, Mo Yuqing looked at them, silently curving her lips into a smile.

These were all gifts from Chen Lu, every birthday present from her childhood to adulthood, with the style of the gifts changing as they grew older.

From childish to mature.

From innocent to budding love.

The watercolors and sketches were all of her, but the drawing skills differed greatly.

The watercolor, it was more like a stick figure than a painting, a round head, curved eyes and mouth, a blue trapezoid for a skirt, and a yellow circle on top for the sun.

She laughed, and the tears that had already dried up at school seemed to fall again, dripping onto the painting, and she quickly moved the already yellowed painting aside.

Soon, she froze.

“Missing…”

“Missing one…”

She muttered softly in a daze, not bothering to put on slippers, and rushed out of the room to the living room.

“Where is my stuff?!” Mo Yuqing shouted in a hurry.

Lin Jingming was startled and finally looked up at her, his suppressed impatience evident.

“What stuff?”

Mo Yuqing took a deep breath, trying to keep her emotions from getting out of control, “My stuff! The music box on my bedside table!”

She didn’t want to have a heated argument with this man, lest it disturb her mother’s feelings.

But at the same time, she didn’t want to be disturbed by them, which was also the reason why Mo Yuqing had been living alone for the past few years.

The man narrowed his eyes, finally remembering, “I had the maid throw it away this afternoon, such childish things, how old are you?”

Mo Yuqing paused, “Who told you to throw it away! It’s mine! Did you ask me?”

It was given to me by Chen Lu when I was twelve.

Lin Jingming flicked his cigarette ash, saying helplessly, “You’ll be interning soon, focus on important things, be mature.”

Mo Yuqing, who was already angry, couldn’t help it anymore, “You’re not my dad! Why do you care so much?!”

“Why can’t I care?”

The man stood up and roared, seeing Mo Yuqing still staring at him coldly with tears in her eyes, not wanting to make things too tense, he picked up his phone and left.

“I’ll buy you another one, there are tons of these, they’re not worth anything.”

He said impatiently, then slammed the door shut.

Outside, the thunder continued to rumble, flashes of lightning occasionally illuminated the dim room, and the torrential rain grew heavier.

Mo Yuqing seemed not to have heard the sound of the door closing, standing there like a statue.

She was quietly recalling things from the past.

When Lin Jingming and her mother came back from abroad, they only bought gifts for her half-sister, she cried and told Chen Lu about it, and the next day, Chen Lu gave her a music box.

The memory of that little boy’s smile was still fresh in her mind.

That day, Chen Lu came to her house early in the morning, and was pulled aside by her mother and sister to chat for a long time before he found a chance to sneak into her room.

Mo Yuqing, who was hiding under the covers and still sulking with red eyes, couldn’t describe her feelings when she saw Chen Lu at that moment.

Chen Lu dug her out from under the covers, then, as if by magic, pulled out the music box from his clothes.

He put his finger to his lips and said in a very small voice, “Shh… Lin Qian doesn’t have this, I only give it to you. Don’t tell her.

Come and look, it makes a sound.”

When Mo Yuqing came back to her senses, she was already downstairs.

Standing alone in the heavy rain.

Large raindrops kept falling on her, soon she was completely soaked, the originally thin clothes became heavy and heavy.

Many strands of hair were stuck to her face by the rain, and she just casually brushed them aside with her hand.

She looked up at the trash cans in front of her, her eyes cold, her expression indifferent.

“So, I hate rainy days.”

……

I don’t know how long it went on.

The cold rainwater that had been splashed on her turned into hot water, steam filling the entire bathroom.

Mo Yuqing let the water from the shower head rush over her, raising her lips and looking at the music box in her hand.

The back of the music box was inscribed with C&M in crooked writing, obviously done with correction fluid.

Correction tape came later.

The C that looked like parentheses was written by Chen Lu, and the more upright M was written by Mo Yuqing.

Mo Yuqing didn’t know whether it was hot water or tears that were sliding down her cheeks at this moment.

She didn’t care, just smiled softly.

“Your C is ugly, so ugly…”

She imitated Chen Lu’s old way, putting her index finger to her lips, but she couldn’t suppress the down-turned corners of her mouth, her vision becoming completely blurry.

Why did I forget?

How could I forget…

Treat your kindness to me as a habit, as something I deserve.

Thank you for being so good to me, so good that I would get angry if you didn’t answer my calls.

Mo Yuqing looked at the wooden music box in her hand, the boy with clear eyes and a bright smile seemed to appear in front of her again.

She gently stroked the letters written on it, muttering to herself, “You said you were going to marry me when we grew up. I promised you when I was so young, it’s all my fault for forgetting… It’s all my fault for not keeping my promise.”

As she spoke, she slumped down weakly, hugging her legs tightly, completely sobbing.

It’s all my fault for hurting you again and again…

Chen Lu, I’m sorry… I really wanted to marry you when I was little.

I still want to now.