Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  She frowned and grabbed her father’s arm, pulling him away so that he wouldn’t touch the porcelain fragments, afraid it might cut his hand. “Don’t touch, don’t touch! I’ll clear it away!”


  Bai Xiaonian rolled up her sleeves and swept the broken fragments into a dustpan with a broom, then went to the balcony to retrieve a mop.

  Because it was cold outside, the mop left outside on the balcony had frozen, looking like Kazuhiko?Hanawa’s

  ?hair.

  The frowning Bai Xiaonian had no choice but to go into the house to get a heating kettle before coming back out to unfreeze the mop with hot water.

  Bai Xiaonian mopped away the egg stains on the floor and complained at the same time. “I’ve told you not to cook at home, yet you refuse to listen! I’ve eaten your cooking for more than twenty years, close to thirty, how would I not know what it tastes like!”


  Bai Xiaonian’s father didn’t start quarreling with Bai Xiaonian like he usually did. He kept quiet as he picked up four eggs and beat them into the bowl again. He then drew a pair of chopsticks from the chopsticks holder and said, a slight sigh in his voice, “Once you leave the country, it’ll be hard for you to taste my cooking!”


  Bai Xiaonian halted in her action of mopping the floor for a moment, then started wiping even harder. “How hard is it? When you miss me, I’ll just buy you a plane ticket for you to come and visit me! When I miss you, I’ll just come back for a weekend! We live in a globally connected world now, with advanced means of transportation and communication! What is there to feel sad about!”


  Other than the sounds of mopping and eggs being beaten, it was silent in the kitchen.

  Bai Xiaonian mopped the entire kitchen apart from the spot where her father was standing. She straightened her back with the mop in her hands. Watching her father’s slightly bent back, she thought of how her father didn’t remarry all these years, taking on the role of father and mother. With her leaving now… her father would be left alone in this empty house, so he was bound to feel lonely.

  Bai Xiaonian spoke after some pondering. “Old Bai, seriously speaking… let’s find you an old mate!”


  Bai Xiaonian’s father didn’t answer. He bent over, looked at the stove, and lit it up, then straightened his back and continued mixing the eggs. His deeply-sunk eyes were looking downwards, and his thick and whitened brows were furrowed.

  Seeing no reaction from her father, Bai Xiaonian continued, “Mom’s been gone for so many years. After I leave, this house will be quite cold and lonely! I really don’t mind you getting me a stepmom!”


  The oil had heated up, and the sizzling of the eggs in the pan nearly drowned out Bai Xiaonian’s voice. The bright yellow liquid swelled up in the oil pan like little golden clouds.

  Bai Xiaonian’s father’s brows were furrowed, and he stir-fried several times before saying, “Look for what old mate! I have your mother, and that’s enough! Instead of so anxiously finding yourself a stepmom… why not think about how to bring me a son-in-law! From how I see it, Lu Jinnan isn’t bad… Although he’s been in prison, we all know there’s an inside story to that…”


  “I was talking about you, why drag me into it!” Bai Xiaonian showed cowardice the minute she heard her father mention Lu Jinnan. She took the mop from the kitchen to the balcony to rinse it.

  Bai Xiaonian’s house was on the fifth story. Because Bai Xiaonian’s father liked to grow flowers and plants on the balcony and was afraid that glass would block the sun, the balcony remained unsealed. Stepping out in only home clothes on such a cold day, Bai Xiaonian felt so cold that her teeth chattered.

  After rinsing the egg stains from the mop, Bai Xiaonian felt like her bones had stiffened. She had just placed the mop against the balcony rails when she saw a familiar car stop downstairs.

  Realizing that it was Lu Jinnan’s car, Bai Xiaonian’s heart started thumping.

  Before she could think of a way to deal with this, Bai Xiaonian subconsciously retreated several steps and pressed her back against the balcony’s chilly wall, afraid Lu Jinnan might spot her.

  The doorbell rang. Bai Xiaonian looked back, not quite sure what she should do. Her heart beat faster and faster as she stared at the door.

  “Xiaonian, go get the door!” Her father called out from the kitchen.

  Bai Xiaonian felt her scalp tighten. She frowned and walked in from the balcony, closing the balcony’s sliding door behind her before walking to the front door. She mentally prepared herself before reaching out for the door handle.

  She opened the door, and the tall and suited Lu Jinnan was standing outside, a navy blue paper bag in his hand.

  Bai Xiaonian had seen the news, and she knew that Lu Jinnan must have been terribly busy lately after becoming the president of the Kaide Corporation.

  Bai Xiaonian tightened her grip on the door handle, but nothing showed on her face. She pretended everything was okay as she smiled at Lu Jinnan. “How come you have the time to come over? Something the matter?”


  Lu Jinnan gazed deeply at Bai Xiaonian and said with a frown, “Uncle Bai said that you’re leaving tomorrow…”


  Bai Xiaonian berated her father several times over in her heart as she nodded and smiled at Lu Jinnan. “Mm, leaving tomorrow.”


  Bai Xiaonian then stepped aside and invited Lu Jinnan in, acting as if they had always been friends who were on polite terms and had never been intimate or distant before.

  Bai Xiaonian’s attitude made Lu Jinnan feel extremely uncomfortable. He loosened his tie and didn’t enter. He casually placed the paper bag he brought on the shoe cabinet, yet he didn’t step into the house in those clean and shiny leather shoes of his.

  “Have a safe trip…” Lu Jinnan’s throat vibrated as he said those four words, emotions concealed in his dark and deep eyes.

  Bai Xiaonian’s smile stiffened, and she nodded.

  As their gazes met, Bai Xiaonian felt a warm current strike her heart, all sorts of emotions overwhelming her in that instant.

  It was said that when two people’s eyes met, the one who loved the other more deeply would be the first to look away.

  Bai Xiaonian lowered her gaze. In her blurry vision, all she could see was Lu Jinnan’s leather shoes walking away as he left.

  “Was it Lu Jinnan who came?” Bai Xiaonian’s father came out with a spatula in his hand.

  Bai Xiaonian closed the door. Afraid her father would see her reddened eyes, she frowned and said, “Someone got the wrong building!”


  Bai Xiaonian’s father didn’t believe it. He thought that the fiery-tempered Bai Xiaonian had chased Lu Jinnan out the door, so he jogged over to pull open the door, only to see no one outside. Bai Xiaonian’s father glared at her, then put on his slippers and gave chase to the elevators.

  Bai Xiaonian shouted out to her father, but the latter ignored her. She could only look towards the thing Lu Jinnan had placed on the shoe cabinet.

  Inside was a scarf that Bai Xiaonian liked but didn’t bear to splurge on…


  Looking at the warm orange scarf in the paper bag, Bai Xiaonian felt her eyes moistened.

  …


  Bai Xiaonian’s flight was at seven-fifty in the morning. Traffic jams were common early in the morning in Haicheng, so at five-thirty, You Nainai and Lin Nuan were already waiting for Bai Xiaonian at her place.

  When they went downstairs, Bai Xiaonian was considerate of her father’s poor health and refused to let him help her with the luggage!

  Hence, when Lin Nuan and You Nainai, who were chatting as they stood next to the car, looked up, they saw a young lady dressed in a thick down jacket holding the luggage. She was accompanied by a middle-aged man dressed in a dark gray jacket. The man was holding a women’s handbag and had made several attempts to take the large piece of luggage from the young lady’s hands, but his hand was swatted away ferociously by the young lady.

  Seeing Bai Xiaonian’s father, Lin Nuan smiled and addressed him, “Uncle Bai!”


  It was five-thirty in the morning in winter, and the skies were still dark. Lin Nuan was wearing a long down jacket and a light camel-colored scarf as she stood under the streetlights next to her car. When she spoke, the white fog from the corners of her lips made her eyelashes a little misty. She had a dazzling smile on her face.