Silent Confession

At the end of July, there were several heavy rains, which separated Zhou Muhui and Xin Yi in two places. Xin Yi watched the news broadcast every day and was worried, wondering when the rain that affected many places would pass.

"Close the windows at home, don't run around, and choose lighter takeaways, your mouth ulcers haven't healed yet."

Xin Yi lay on the bed and nodded sullenly, then opened her mouth again and let him see the inside of her mouth.

"It's almost fine, what you said was a week ago."

Xin Yi closed her mouth, frowning, "When will the rain stop?"

In the video, Zhou Mu returned to his suit and leather shoes, and looked up at the child in soft pajamas.

"you…"

"Forget it."

Suddenly another handsome face approached from the other end of the video, with the same despair as his.

"I watched the news in the morning, and the experts analyzed it. There are still four or five days at least."

Xin Yi groaned in pain, turned over while hugging the cat, Qi Fang wanted to turn over too, but before he could move, Zhou Muhui's cold eyes frightened him back.

"The meeting is over."

Zhou Mu's face turned frosty, and he turned the back of the phone upwards.

Qi Fang groaned, and hurriedly backed away.

"Just go and go."

He spread his hands innocently, walked out quickly, and shouted in Zhou Muhui's direction, "Kid, wait for me to come back from City B to play with you!"

Xin Yi muffled a reply, covered the cat on her face, and returned to him with a drawn-out voice.

"it is good--"

Not long ago, Zhou Mu went on a business trip and went to City B, which Xin Yi had been afraid of. He and Xin Yi had agreed that he would be back in three days, but on the second day after landing, it rained heavily. The traffic in the city was paralyzed, and the group of them was trapped in city B and could not come back.

The child rolled around on the bed, but didn't notice the screen that suddenly turned black. Zhou Mu waited until the door was opened and closed again before turning the phone over.

"Just finished the meeting."

Zhou Muhui's brows did not calm down, he lowered his eyes to look at him, and asked again, "Is the window closed?"

Xin Yi appeared in front of the camera with messy hair, and said aggrievedly, "It's closed, you've asked me several times."

His eyes were a little red, probably because it was too late and he had waited too long. Zhou Muhui was about to resign, but he became abnormally busy. Qi had an event in city B, and he followed.

Zhou Muhui looked at him patiently and explained, "It's raining too much, I'm worried."

He has been speaking more and more directly recently, probably because he is afraid that Xin Yi will be hurt, and he always wants to tell Xin Yi carefully what he is thinking and what he wants.

For example, now, he is disturbed by the rain, worried that the child is alone at home, and wants to go back to accompany him immediately.

"It's been a long time..." Xin Yi lay down again, and talked to him with her pillow on her arm, "My windows and doors are closed, and I haven't gone out recently. My mother called me several times to pick me up. , but I didn't leave."

"Do you know why?"

He blinked and sold off.

"..."

Zhou Mu's eyes fixed on him did not move, and he shook his head.

Xin Yi suddenly became shy. He raised the cat in his arms to cover his face, and looked at Zhou Muhui obediently with his moist eyes.

"I'm going to watch the door," he said. "I'm going to wait for you to come home."

The face on the narrow screen was soft and peaceful, and under the high-definition lens, he could even see the tiny fluff on his forehead. Zhou Mu's heart swelled to the point of pain, and it took him a while to open his mouth.

The voice was a little hoarse.

"Then I..."

He rubbed the angular square box in his palm, and cleared his throat again.

"When the rain stops, I'll be back."

The rain in July barely stopped until August. Zhou Mu hurried home after getting off the plane, but he didn't see Xin Yi immediately.

Xin Yi called him with an urgent and flustered voice.

"The Confucian Temple is flooded. I saw the news in the morning. It rained half the room. I can't get it out. Come back, Zhou Mu, come quickly."

Zhou Mu was startled for a moment, and hurried to him.

What Xin Yi was talking about was Zhou Muhui's home, which was abandoned after his mother was hospitalized. Not long after, Zhou Muhui married Xin Yi and moved out completely.

When Zhou Mu returned, the door was wide open, and the children of their family were squatting in the water in shorts, looking back at him covered in mud.

"What should I do."

Xin Yi wanted to cry but had no tears, and even the excitement of seeing Zhou Muhui was washed away by nothing.

"The home is flooded..."

He said with a bitter face.

This is the house that Zhou's mother rented in the early years. After her death, Zhou Muhui kept it here and did not return it.

Zhou Muhui took the child out first, the alley was secluded and deep, and the bluestone slabs were covered with gravel and mud left by the rainstorm, Zhou Muhui picked a clean place, put Xinyi away, and wiped it again. The dirt on his face told him not to move.

"But…"

"There's not much water." Zhou Muhui interrupted him, "I'll come."

The torrential rain had just subsided, and the house was in a mess. Some of the furniture was so old that it was directly soaked in the water. Zhou Mu spent most of the day working on it, and then removed the threshold in front of the door to force the water out.

Xin Yi didn't know when she ran over, grabbed his arm and looked in, Zhou Muhui carefully supported him, for fear that he would fall.

"A piece of the roof was missing and the windows were blown out."

Xin Yi had a frowning face. In the morning, he went out as soon as he saw the news, but he was still late. As soon as the door opened, there was a pool of water. The whole house was ventilated from all sides, and it was flooded by the torrential rain that lasted for half a month.

"fine."

Zhou Mu replied to comfort him, "Almost everything has been moved."

Their things were few and far between, and Zhou's mother didn't leave much after she was hospitalized. She passed away at the beginning of the year. Zhou Mu came back to take a look, but didn't do anything, just stayed for a while, and then left in silence.

She left in a hurry, four or five years earlier than the doctor originally estimated. When she first passed away, Zhou Muhui often couldn't react, and sometimes even drove to the hospital, and remembered slowly.

He has no reason to come here again.

He has no mother.

Xin Yi muttered, then pushed Zhou Muhui's hand away and walked in. He came here many times, but very few came in, because although Zhou's mother knew about his existence later, they didn't live here anymore.

"...it's your picture!"

Xin Yi suddenly raised her head and looked at Zhou Muhui in surprise.

He was squatting down to clean up the soaked things, the rain was too violent, and the odds and ends of the house were almost destroyed, but there was a stone wrapped around the corner of the wooden table, which firmly covered the small pile of past.

Zhou Mu was stunned, seeing him happily raising his hands, he also squatted down.

"Wow, so many!"

Xin Yi smiled, "It was you before!"

At that time, Zhou Mu had just finished his college entrance examination, and Zhou's mother said that she would take two photos of him as a souvenir.

Zhou Muhui looked at those photos together with him. At that time, Zhou Muhui was thin and straight, but his eyes were gloomy and cold. Xin Yi flipped through a few photos and kept praising him for his good looks, but Zhou Muhui was in a daze.

After flipping to the back, Xin Yi paused for a moment, put her finger on it, and didn't speak for a while, the photo was different from the previous one, Zhou Mu took a look back.

Dead, sullen and reticent.

It was taken by Zhou's mother when he was just released from prison.

"Leave all the bad smell inside, and it will be smooth and safe in the future."

Zhou Mu turned her eyebrows back and trembled slightly, and carefully took the photo.

"She said that if she took a photo, the bad luck would be gone."

Zhou Mu replied in a low voice.

It was noon, and thousands of rays of sunlight poured into the windy house, and the slanting light and shadows were mottled. Xin Yi panicked a little bit at a loss, and finally leaned over cautiously, rubbing his soft cheek against his shoulder.

"Mom is watching us from the sky."

He held Zhou Muhui's wrist, covered his hand and touched the photo with him.

"She'll be fine."

"So are we."

Xin Yi pursed her lips and said seriously.

He took the photo away and put it at the bottom of the stack, with his hands behind his back to prevent Zhou Mu from looking back.

"Okay, let's pack up quickly, and we're going home after we're done."

Zhou Muhui's gaze followed him, seeing him turn sideways, his slightly exposed side face lowered, carefully brushing the dirty marks on the photo, Zhou Muhui paused, smiled, and said hello.

When returning home, Zhou Muhui went out with Xin Yi on his back. There was a lot of water in the alley, and Xin Yi poked her head out on his back to instruct him not to step on the puddle.

He talked a lot, hugging Zhou Muhui's neck and chattering like when he was a child, the alley was deep and narrow, and the detour was somewhat complicated, Zhou Muhui walked very slowly, and opened his mouth amidst his babbling.

"she…"

"...was skinny when he came to pick me up."

Zhou Mu Hui's voice was very soft, but Xin Yi was stunned for a moment, and then slowly stopped talking.

"Holding me and crying for a long time... She took my hand and went home. She walked tremblingly, and the alley was very winding. She dragged me bit by bit, telling me not to get lost."

"I was sentenced to eight years, and my sentence was commuted by one year and three months. I was exactly 25 when I came out. How could a 25-year-old be lost...I didn't reply to her."

"...Zhou Mu back."

"I was a little... sad at that time, because in the last three years, she only came to see me once, only once."

Zhou Mu smiled back.

"At first I thought she hated me, or regretted running around for me, but until she entered that house..."

"I just knew it wasn't."

"She spent a lot of money for me. She had a very difficult time. It's not that she didn't want to see me, or she couldn't come... or she didn't dare to come..."

Because he was afraid of being discovered by Zhou Muhui and worried about Zhou Muhui, so he didn't go to see him at all, but just endured until he came out and this nightmare was over.

"That's when she got sick too."

Slight drops of water suddenly fell on the dry skin, Zhou Mu paused, feeling a little hot.

"...She found out very early, before I came out, but she never told me."

"Because I can't bear to spend money."

Zhou Muhui gently held Xin Yi's hanging hand.

"That photo was taken at the door of our house. It cost ten yuan to print it out. Ten yuan is enough for the two of us to eat for a day. She paid without blinking an eye."

"Small."

Zhou Mu called him back in a low voice.

Xin Yi hummed, her voice hoarse, she buried herself on the back of his neck and refused to raise her head, Zhou Mu rubbed the back of his hand, feeling the slight watery touch on the skin, and lowered her eyes halfway.

"Yuanxiao that year...I didn't come because she didn't hold on...something happened."

"…I know."

Xin Yi choked up and nodded.

"It's okay, I know it all."

His crying was soft, but more and more wetness fell on Zhou Muhui's neck. Zhou Muhui rubbed a few drops on his arm. He looked at it and opened his mouth again in a low voice.

"You made a video with me the day before yesterday and asked me what it means to come back again, and why I want to come back with you again. I said at the time, I will tell you when I come back, right?"

Xin Yi nodded silently with tears in her eyes, "Yes..."

"At the end of last year, I confessed to her that she spent money for the operation. She stayed for a long time and then beat me."

Xin Yi was stunned, put her arms around his neck and leaned over in a daze, asking, "What?"

His wet cheeks were pressed against Zhou Muhui's neck, Zhou Muhui wiped him and sighed.

"She thinks I'm with you for money... She says... I'm bullying you, I don't deserve you."

"She asked me to pay back the money... told me to separate from you. She calculated every expense over the years by herself. She threw those things on me. She said, Zhou Muhui, you have to be a decent person."

"No, it's not..."

Xin Yi was frightened, "Don't separate..."

He hugged Zhou Muhui tightly, forgetting even the tears, as if he was afraid that Zhou Muhui would turn around and leave in the next second.

Zhou Mu smiled back, lowered her head and kissed his flailing hand, telling him to be good and not to be afraid.

"I like you."

Xin Yi sniffled and said.

"I like small ideas."

"I told her."

Zhou Mu Hui's voice was gentle and low.

"But she thinks that you are with me because you were cheated by me. She thinks... I took your money, I was being taken care of by you, and I was hurting you..."

"..."

"I didn't take care of you..." Xin Yi's tears fell even more fiercely, he didn't know why he was so sad all of a sudden, he just cried and refuted Zhou Muhui, "You are too expensive, and I can't afford to take care of you."

Zhou Muhui couldn't help sighing again when he said it was funny.

"Emotions, once mixed with other things, will always make people think too much. She called me an asshole and asked me to apologize and confess to you. I told her that the money has been saved, and I will tell you everything. "

"I say."

Zhou Mu paused for a moment, then turned his head to look at Xin Yi.

"I'll ask Xiaoyi if you can come back with me."

The teardrops on Xin Yi's eyelashes were gently wiped away by Zhou Muhui, and they walked out of the alley into the sun.Xin Yi was let go, and Zhou Muhui led him to sit on the bus platform beside him, just like the day when the child got drunk many years ago, he leaned crookedly on Zhou Muhui's body and went crazy with alcohol, but this time.

He is not asleep.

"Xiaoyi, I love you."

Zhou Muhui knelt down in front of him and looked at him tenderly.

"But at the time we got married... there were so many other things mixed in, it wasn't fair."

He said, "Xiao Yi, you deserve uniqueness...and the purest love."