Chapter 8 Goodbye, Mom

After descending the mountain, Wan Chu'er spent 50 cents to board a bus, and it took her half an hour to finally reach Southern City.

Stepping off the bus, she immediately spotted Bai Zhixi sitting on a low stool, head bowed, mending shoes; the spot was right by the bus station, frequented by passersby.

Wan Chu'er silently stood at the bus stop and watched Bai Zhixi for a while.

A blue robe, still the uniform Bai Zhixi wore back when she worked at the glass factory, surprisingly durable; it hadn't torn despite the many years, her hair somewhat disheveled, probably blown by the wind, faintly revealing a few strands of silver amidst the chaos, wrinkles starting to appear on her face, her hands clutching tools and worn shoes, extremely rough.

This year, Bai Zhixi should only be thirty-six, yet she looked like someone in their forties.

Wan Chu'er felt a heaviness in her heart, then she lifted her head; no matter what, Bai Zhixi was still there!

She took steps forward, and as she got closer, her palms started to sweat. Wan Chu'er glanced around, then turned in a different direction, walking towards a small bun stand.

"Two buns, and a bowl of porridge." Wan Chu'er succinctly made her request, took out one yuan according to the price listed on the sign by the stall, placed it on the vendor's cart, picked up the buns, and walked away with the bowl in hand.

The vendor, in a panic, shouted from behind, "Hey, my bowl, you can't take the bowl away."

Wan Chu'er frowned and stopped in her tracks, turned around, and said, "I won't go far, I'll bring it back to you in a moment." Then she pointed to Bai Zhixi's shoe repair stall.

Bai Zhixi, who had her head down mending shoes, heard Wan Chu'er's voice, lifted her head in confusion, and upon clearly recognizing it was indeed her daughter, she abruptly stood up and hastened over in two strides, anxiously asking, "Chuchu, why are you here? What happened to your face? Did someone hit you again? Come, Mom will take you to find the person who hit you, don't be afraid, Mom will definitely seek justice for you."

Seeing such an anxious Bai Zhixi, Wan Chu'er felt uncomfortable and furrowed her brows.

Bai Zhixi, thinking Wan Chu'er was annoyed with her again, quickly softened her tone, pleadingly saying, "Chuchu, just take Mom to find those people, Mom promises to make sure they never dare to bully you again, you always endure it, and they will never stop, seeing you getting hurt all the time, it pains Mom's heart..."

Wan Chu'er's eyes momentarily dropped, then she looked at Bai Zhixi and said, "I bought you buns and porridge, eat first."

"Ah?" Bai Zhixi then noticed the items in her daughter's hand, and she glanced at the nearby bun stand.

The bun stand owner was looking over at them, chuckling and saying, "Big Sister, the girl bought it for you, right? Go ahead, eat, if it's not enough, I'll give you another spoonful of porridge."

He was quite familiar with Bai Zhixi, the shoemender; all day long, he had never seen Bai Zhixi eat anything, at most she would drink a few sips of water. He had even murmured to his spouse about how this woman mending shoes could really endure hunger and hardship. Now, seeing someone buying food for Bai Zhixi, he naturally wanted to show a bit of kindness, scooping an extra spoonful of porridge, which was no loss to him.

Realizing this, Bai Zhixi smiled, thanked him, and with doubts about Wan Chu'er's actions, simply took the bowl from her daughter's hand, then returned to her shoe repair stall.

"Chuchu, you..."

"Eat up!" Wan Chu'er interrupted her mother's words, supporting the bowl with one hand and lifting it to Bai Zhixi's lips, gesturing for her to open her mouth to eat.

Relishing the rare moment of kindness from her daughter, Bai Zhixi swallowed the words she wanted to say and hurriedly opened her mouth to drink a big mouthful of the watery porridge.

At the end of September in the Northern region, the cold had already started to set in. Bai Zhixi, who had been sitting for half the day, was already chilled to the bone, but the warm porridge in her belly made both her heart and body feel warm. The corners of her eyes could not help but moisten; no matter how bad her daughter's temper might be at times, she was ultimately the flesh of her own flesh, and knew to cherish her.

Seeing the moisture in Bai Zhixi's eyes, Wan Chu'er's normally hard heart softened, and, uncharacteristically, she offered an explanation: "My injuries aren't serious. Today, I beat up the people who used to hit me, and from now on, they won't dare to do it again. You can rest easy."

Bai Zhixi, taken aback, opened her mouth wide. When had her rebellious daughter ever explained herself to her with such a soft tone? She couldn't help but raise her hand to touch Wan Chu'er's forehead.

Wan Chu'er subconsciously flinched back, dodging Bai Zhixi's hand and her face turned cold; she really was not used to such intimate contact with anyone. From her teenage years of rebellion, to her marriage, through to her divorce, and ultimately to her demise at the hands of a shark, she had always maintained a cold indifference towards others.

So even though she knew deep down that the person before her was the thoroughly devoted Bai Zhixi, and even though she wanted to treat Bai Zhixi better, the habits she had cultivated over more than twenty years still caused her to subconsciously evade Bai Zhixi's affectionate touch.

Being avoided by her daughter did not upset Bai Zhixi; instead, she breathed a sigh of relief. Chuchu was still the same Chuchu, not delirious with a fever. She nodded in satisfaction and said, "You did well. If anyone else thinks about bullying you in the future, fight back. Even if you were to kill someone, your mom would still cover for you."

A mother always prefers that her child be the bully rather than the bullied.

Hearing Bai Zhixi's words, Wan Chu'er raised an eyebrow, surprised that her usually timid and shrinking mother, who always cowered under her yelling, would say something like this. She curled the corners of her mouth slightly. It seemed she didn't need to worry about Bai Zhixi being taken advantage of.

Then, a bitter smile crossed her mind; it seemed that the one who often gave Bai Zhixi a hard time was her own flesh and blood daughter.

Bai Zhixi turned her attention back to her daughter and said, "I'm not hungry, have you eaten? Did you eat the buns? The buns here taste quite good. A lot of people come to buy them every day, the aroma alone is appetizing."

Just by listening, one could tell that Bai Zhixi had never indulged herself with a purchase.

Wan Chu'er felt a pang in her heart, and she forcefully stuffed the two buns she held into Bai Zhixi's hands, saying sternly, "I bought these for you to eat. Eat them. I've already eaten."

Wan Chu'er paused and thought for a moment, realizing that she hadn't eaten either. She usually ate at night when she got home, with Bai Zhixi cooking for her.

This morning, Liu Li took all the money, and Wan Chu'er thought she should have searched Liu Li's pockets first - there might still be some cash to find.

Never mind, she would rest at home tomorrow, spend time with Bai Zhixi, and deal with Liu Li at school the day after tomorrow.

Bai Zhixi ate the buns and the watery porridge her daughter bought with a sweet smile. After finishing, she asked Wan Chu'er to wait inside the shoe repair stall while she went to return the bowls, and cheerfully declined the bun seller's offer to add an extra spoonful of porridge.

Bearing her mother's amiable smile and acceptance, Wan Chu'er impatiently recounted her scuffle with Liu Li of the day, reluctantly said a good word about An Lian, and informed Bai Zhixi that she intended to take a day off at home tomorrow.

Worried about Wan Chu'er's injuries, Bai Zhixi smiled beamingly and agreed. When Wan Chu'er urged her to pack up her stall, she readily consented. Mother and daughter, carrying all the shoe repair tools, boarded the bus heading home.