Zheng Quan was accompanying Zi Yan on a yacht tour around the lake.
If it were Zheng Quan himself, he would probably have chosen a more thrilling speedboat.
But at this moment, with the clouds having cleared and the sun gradually setting, his child couldn’t endure prolonged exposure due to his sensitive skin.
A yacht with an indoor cabin was definitely more suitable.
Zi Yan looked outside through the window. From his perspective, the dividing line between the lake’s surface and the sky had disappeared.
The sunset cast a golden hue, reflected by the rippling water, wrapping the entire world in a warm, afternoon glow.
Though the scenery was beautiful, Zi Yan’s mood was somewhat gloomy.
“Beep, beep.”
Zi Yan’s phone vibrated and beeped twice in his pocket. He took out the phone and unlocked it; it was a message from Mother, Katharina.
【Mother】: I heard from Father that you went on a trip. How is it? Are you having fun? (in German)
Zi Yan didn’t reply immediately. Instead, he put the phone down and looked out once more at the sunset, the dusk beyond the window.
What did dusk really represent?
Zi Yan was very happy to have this rare outing. But as the sun set— starting from when it rose that morning to now — the journey to Qingling Lake was coming to an end.
After the lake tour, they would return by car to Luguang Shanse. Rest for a night, then spend an entire day on the Lvpi Train and the high-speed rail before Zi Yan followed Zheng Quan back to Haizhou.
How wonderful it would be to stay forever in such beautiful scenery.
Suddenly, this thought appeared in Zi Yan’s mind.
As soon as the thought surfaced, Zi Yan smiled and shook his head, leaning back against the sofa.
Just like when he first arrived in Antwerp and heard that Father was taking him back to Lake City, Zi Yan also prayed for something to happen that would let him stay in Antwerp.
For Zi Yan at that time, staying by Mother’s side, working hard to get into the local fashion design academy, sketching designs daily, occasionally making a few beautiful clothes — that was the happiest thing.
Now, after returning to Lake City these days, schoolwork was tiring but not entirely without interest. Good things would always happen somewhere in the future, so when they did, just grasp the moment and enjoy the present.
Why worry about the future?
Zi Yan glanced at the dusk-lit sky, tinged yellow by the sunset. It was darkening slightly but still a comforting shade of blue, with hardly a cloud in sight, giving a feeling of openness and clarity.
【Me】: Yes, I’m having a great time! (in German)
Zi Yan lifted his phone and took a photo of the scenery outside the window, then sent a picture message to Mother.
Come to think of it, ever since returning to Lake City, Zi Yan had been texting with Mother. Including this message, they had exchanged dozens of texts.
How to put it… compared to the cost of sending texts, international calls were expensive, so saving some money was better.
If he made too many international calls, the total fees might be about the same as a round-trip economy ticket. Calculated at about an hour or so of calls per day, yes.
Right, when winter break comes, he should try to ask Father if he could stay with Mother for a few days.
Zi Yan felt like he had so much he wanted to talk about with Mother now.
——
Unfortunately, Zi Yan’s good mood didn’t last long.
On the road, still some distance from Luguang Shanse, Zi Yan’s dislike for Smiling Xiao Chen grew stronger.
Why?
Just a moment ago, Xiao Chen had answered a phone call. The phone was mounted on a holder beside the driver’s seat.
Since he was driving, it was inconvenient to hold the phone to his ear, so he turned on speakerphone—
“Darling, when will you be home?”
The young female voice on the other end sounded very familiar to Zi Yan, as if he had heard it somewhere not long ago.
“Soon, soon,” Xiao Chen replied. “I’ll be home in about forty minutes.”
“Could you stop by the Central Market to buy a red-eyed, white-haired doll on your way home?”
“Red-eyed, white-haired doll?” Xiao Chen instinctively glanced through the rearview mirror at Zi Yan, whose face had darkened.
Now Zi Yan finally understood why that voice sounded so familiar.
Wasn’t that the young woman he had met on the train yesterday?
Well, what a small world.
The phone call continued: “Yeah, yesterday on the train home I met someone who looks just like that. Our eldest child insisted on treating her like a doll, cried and screamed, even pulled a handful of her hair. Even now at home, the child is still fussing, and I can’t calm her down no matter what I do.”
Xiao Chen said, “Haha, what a coincidence! Among my clients today was a little girl with white hair and red eyes, quite pretty.”
“Alright then, I’ll check out the Central Market before I head home.”
Wow, what a coincidence indeed.
When they got out of the car, Zheng Quan took out four bright red “Mao Zedong bills” from his bag and said earnestly, “Loving your child isn’t wrong, but you can’t spoil them too much.”
Zheng Quan remembered the brat’s outburst after the crying—
“If it were me, I’d definitely have asked for it.”
Xiao Chen looked puzzled.
Zi Yan, who had been glaring like a dead fish, finally spoke: “Your wife and child took the train back to Lake City yesterday, right?”
Xiao Chen, confused, said, “Yeah, is there a problem?”
“…”
This was the silence before the volcanic eruption.
Zi Yan smoothed his rapidly beating chest and took a deep breath. “Yesterday, we happened to be on the same train as your wife and child, and your child pulled her hair, treating her like a doll.”
“So you understand what’s going on now?”
Xiao Chen understood and apologized with a sheepish smile: “I’m really sorry.”
Xiao Chen’s apology was flat and insincere, which made Zi Yan feel very annoyed.
Zi Yan said, “Your child even said, ‘If it were Daddy, he’d definitely have asked for it.’”
Seemingly unfazed by his child’s words, Xiao Chen just hummed and smiled, “If I had been with my child yesterday, I would have asked you to keep my child company on the train.”
“Even if it was an unreasonable request, I’d fulfill it. Because that’s my child, and I owe her.”
…
The volcano didn’t erupt in Xiao Chen’s car but in the room at Luguang Shanse.
“That spoiled child will get into trouble sooner or later!”
Zi Yan entered the room, kicked off his shoes, and stomped to the bathroom door.
He stripped off his soft-shell jacket and pants, then yanked his long-sleeved undershirt violently upward and tossed it onto a nearby chair.
Zheng Quan asked, “Not going to eat first?”
Zi Yan said, “Not yet. After a whole day outside, I feel sticky and uncomfortable. I need a shower first.”
The bathroom in their Luguang Shanse Hotel room was separated from the toilet. The bathroom floor was covered in pure white tiles, as if stepping into a fairy-tale realm of pristine whiteness.
The whirlpool bathtub was large. This time, Zi Yan didn’t bother wrapping his hair; he turned on the hot water and lay down fully stretched in the tub, letting his strands of white hair float freely on the water’s surface.
“Ah…”
The warm water churned gently with the whirlpool jets, softly brushing his skin, soothing his restless mind a little.
He ran his fingers through his hair.
“My hair…!”