Chapter 28: What Did You See

Chapter 28 What They Saw

The three of them hurried to the door of Lin Jinrui's house. The door was shut even though it was broad daylight. Just as Lin Jinrui was about to push it open, Lu Yu abruptly pulled her back.

He eased the door open just a crack. Through the gap, the large courtyard was completely empty. Lu Yu drew Lin Jinrui closer. "See if anything in the yard looks different from usual."

Lin Jinrui hardly dared to breathe. She felt a strange tension in the air. She stepped closer to look and noticed there was an extra bicycle in the yard. She ducked her head and whispered, "There's a bike I've never seen before."

Cheng Miao's eyes lit up—someone must have come. He started to go in for a look, but Lu Yu stopped him. Looking at Lin Jinrui, he asked, "When you left this morning, was your mom home alone?"

Lin Jinrui nodded.

"Do you have the guts to go in and check if your mom's still there?" Lu Yu continued.

Lin Jinrui said, "I do. I'll go check."

"The curtains in the main room are pulled shut!" Cheng Miao observed through the crack in the door. "Even if you go in, you won't see a thing."

"It's okay, there's a hole in the curtain. I always use that hole to check if my mom's awake," Lin Jinrui said with great seriousness.

Cheng Miao nodded, pulled her aside, and warned her carefully: "Go in and take a look. If there's any danger, run out—don't go inside."

Lin Jinrui nodded. She pushed the door open a bit more, slipped in sideways, and crept over to the window. She found the hole in the curtain right away and peered through the tiny hole, straining to see inside.

After a moment, when Cheng Miao saw Lin Jinrui still frozen in place, he tugged Lu Yu, and the two of them slipped in too. Lin Jinrui was by the windowsill, looking dazed and worried.

Cheng Miao curiously pulled Lin Jinrui away and leaned in to look. What he saw was a shocker—his face turned bright red. Is this something a kid should get to see for free?

He quickly looked away, trying to settle his racing thoughts. When he went to look again, Lu Yu had already moved in.

Lu Yu squinted and saw a blur of white. It was pretty shocking. He instinctively looked away, then pushed the still-eager Cheng Miao down from the windowsill.

Three little kids squatted under the windowsill—one blank-faced, one red-faced, one teary-eyed.

Lu Yu led, and the three of them crept out of the yard. Lin Jinrui balled up her little fists. "Someone's hurting my mom! I'm going in to save her!"

Cheng Miao didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Too bad he knew too much for his age. "It's fine, your mom's not being hurt."

"But Mom looked like she was in pain—she was almost crying!" Lin Jinrui didn't believe him and insisted on going back in.

In pain? Cheng Miao wondered why he hadn't looked more carefully. He didn't know how to explain this to Lin Jinrui—he couldn't exactly say your mom is making you a little brother with your new dad.

He looked at Lu Yu awkwardly, signaling him to deal with it.

"It's okay. Let's go," Lu Yu said to Lin Jinrui calmly. "Your mom is doing something very happy. But if you go in and disturb her now, she'll beat you to death."

Lin Jinrui flinched in fear. "But—"

"Go home this afternoon, and she'll be perfectly fine," Lu Yu added.

"Come on, let's go!" Cheng Miao urged Lin Jinrui along. "Don't worry, nothing's wrong."

For the entire afternoon, Lin Jinrui was distracted. She ate her meal quietly, and at three o'clock sharp, she couldn't wait to head home.

Cheng Miao was a bit worried, so he and Lu Yu followed her. Along the way, Cheng Miao repeatedly warned her not to mention anything about what happened at noon, and to come out and tell them once she confirmed her mother was fine.

When Lin Jinrui got home and saw Ding Cuicui lying on the kang, cracking sunflower seeds, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Ignoring Ding Cuicui's scolding, Lin Jinrui rushed back out and happily told Lu Yu and Cheng Miao that her mother was really fine.

Cheng Miao strolled along the road. "What a scandal—her mother, in broad daylight..." He looked around to make sure no one was nearby, then leaned close to Lu Yu's ear and whispered, "Having an affair!"

Lu Yu pulled back slightly, the warm breath against his ear making him uncomfortable. "I know."

"Why wouldn't you let me take another look today!" Cheng Miao said indignantly.

"What's there to see."

"I wanted to see what the man looked like!" Cheng Miao said.

Lu Yu remained silent.

"Do you think it's because Lin Jinrui caught them in the act that she was..." Cheng Miao speculated. "It's all your fault for not letting me look again—maybe he's the culprit."

Lu Yu said slowly, "I saw him."

"You saw what?" Cheng Miao perked up instantly.

"I saw what the man looked like!"

"Nothing else?" Cheng Miao asked curiously.

Lu Yu replied tersely, "Scram!"

"Ha, you're no fun."

That evening, Father Cheng and Ms. Ma Lianhua went next door to sleep again. Cheng Miao lay quietly. "Do you think it really feels that good?"

Lu Yu replied coldly, "I don't know."

"Then why did you say it was happy today?" Cheng Miao pressed.

"I didn't say that."

"You did!" Cheng Miao got excited, sat up, and stared intently at Lu Yu.

"I was making it up!" Lu Yu said flatly.

"How can you just make something like that up? It either is or it isn't." Cheng Miao said with righteous indignation, showing a determination to get to the bottom of things.

"Try it yourself and you'll find out," Lu Yu said impatiently.

"What are you talking about! I'm still a third-grader baby!" Cheng Miao said sheepishly, lying back down and covering his head with the blanket in embarrassment.

In the darkness, Cheng Miao sorted through his thoughts. Lin Jinrui wasn't her parents' biological child. Her father might be impotent. Her mother was having an affair with a lover who rode a bicycle. She also had biological parents—her mother seemed to favor sons over daughters and resented her because of another sick child.

So who on earth did it?

For a long time, no answer came. Just as he was on the verge of falling asleep, he felt someone pull the blanket down from his face. The fresh air was refreshing, and then he drifted off.

The next morning, Cheng Miao slept in as usual. When he woke up, Lu Yu and Lin Jinrui were still doing their homework. Cheng Miao copied from them while probing Lin Jinrui about yesterday.

"Was your mom the only one at home when you got back?"

"Yeah." Lin Jinrui nodded.

Cheng Miao asked, "Did she seem happy?"

Lin Jinrui thought for a moment. "I guess she was happy. She didn't even scold me yesterday."

"What did you go back to do yesterday afternoon?"

"I went back to cook. Mom still hadn't had lunch. After the meal, I cleaned the house, then brewed the medicine, and then went to sleep," Lin Jinrui listed slowly.

"Brewing medicine? Still the medicine for your mom?" Lu Yu suddenly said.

"Yeah," Lin Jinrui nodded, then added, "But Mom said starting today, I don't need to brew it anymore."

"Why not?" Cheng Miao asked, puzzled. "Did your mom get pregnant? So she doesn't need the medicine anymore?"

Lin Jinrui's face instantly turned pale. "No, that can't be. Mom didn't say that."

Seeing how scared she looked, Cheng Miao probed, "You don't want your mom to be pregnant?"