Rebirth: A Cinderella's Counterattack

Chapter 98: Chapter 93: Visiting Dad

The next morning came bright and early, and Luo Qianqian was roused from sleep before the sky had even brightened.

”Get up quickly, we’re going to watch the flag-raising,” said Luo Shufan, knowing that if he didn’t keep his eye on his little sister, she would crawl back into bed and fall asleep again.

”You guys go ahead, I want to sleep,” Luo Qianqian mumbled, rolling over and pulling the blanket that her brother had lifted back over herself.

Luo Shufan looked at his sister helplessly and said, ”Then I’ll just eat all of Grandma’s milk flower rolls?”

”Milk flower rolls?” Luo Qianqian poked her head out groggily, ”Are they tasty?”

”Sweet and soft, perfect with the chicken leg congee, tastes amazing,” Luo Shufan pretended to walk out the door, adding as he went, ”Then I guess I’ll eat yours too.”

Wait a second, this isn’t home. Luo Qianqian’s eyes snapped open, and all she could see was a sea of pink. That’s right, she was at the Luo Family home.

Luo Shufan stood gaping as his sister quickly got out of bed, made it, took her clothes into the bathroom, and soon came out dressed and washed: ”Have Grandpa and Grandma eaten yet?”

”Not yet, Grandpa and Uncle have gone out for morning exercises and haven’t come back,” said Luo Shufan. He couldn’t help but marvel at the boundless power of food.

”That’s good,” Luo Qianqian patted her chest, feeling it wouldn’t be right to laze about when staying in someone else’s home.

”Why are you two up so early? Couldn’t you sleep a little more?” Yue Tingyu asked in surprise as she watched the siblings come downstairs.

After some inner struggle, Luo Qianqian decided to go over and sweetly grasp Yue Tingyu’s hand, cooing, ”Brother said Grandma made milk flower rolls, and Qianqian hurried down as soon as she heard—they sound delicious.”

”There are no cream flower rolls today, but there are baozi and millet congee, eggs and pickled vegetables,” Yue Tingyu fondly rubbed Luo Qianqian’s head as she clung to her leg, sighing at the joy of having a granddaughter and softly adding, ”If you want to eat them, Grandma will make them for you tomorrow.”

”I love whatever Grandma makes,” Luo Qianqian felt the old lady’s tenderness and grinned up at her, ”Hehe.”

”You sure know how to talk sweet,” Yue Tingyu looked at her granddaughter and saw a glimpse of that stubborn son of hers. In terms of looks, Luo Shufan was a bit more like him, but she always felt that Luo Qianqian’s personality was more similar to his.

”Xiao Fan, Qianqian, you two go wake up those lazy monkeys for Grandma,” feeling her vision blur, Yue Tingyu quickly changed the subject and dispatched the two children away.

Watching the kids head upstairs, Yue Tingyu dabbed the moisture in the corners of her eyes: ”Xi Yue, your children are all very sensible.”

”Brother, do you want to go see Dad?” Once upstairs, instead of waking others, they went into Luo Qianqian’s room and sat down side by side. The house was so large, and they tried hard to fit in, yet it still didn’t feel like home, even though everyone treated them well, it all felt too polite.

”Qianqian hasn’t seen Dad yet,” said Luo Shufan, gently ruffling his sister’s hair and tenderly pulling her close: ”Dad is a very tall man, much darker-skinned than me, with big eyes, just like Qianqian. Dad always shaved his beard clean in the morning, but by evening it would grow back. His favorite was Mom’s tomato and beef brisket soup; he could finish a whole pot without leaving a drop. Dad loved to hold me on his lap and tell stories, stories about being a soldier, stories about his childhood. There was a time when I really wanted to be a soldier too. But then, Dad left, and he never came back...”

”Brother, do you hate Dad?” Luo Qianqian had never seen Luo Xinyue nor had any real notion of her father; she only knew from her brother’s stories that Dad must have really loved him.

”Hate him? All of a sudden I became a fatherless wild child, ridiculed by others... But later, I stopped hating him. I can barely remember what Dad looked like. I often dream of Dad, but his face is becoming blurrier, and I’m less and less certain the person I dream about is Dad,” said Luo Shufan, holding his sister and speaking softly.

Luo Qianqian felt a cool sensation on her neck, something slipping down it, but she just held her brother silently as he wept. She couldn’t tell him that their situation was much better now than in her previous life. She couldn’t say that if they had known about the Luo Family back then, their mother wouldn’t have been so miserable, her health wouldn’t have suffered, and her brother wouldn’t have had to endure that woman’s nastiness.

”Brother, I will always be there for you and Mom,” she whispered.

”Mhm,” Luo Shufan nodded firmly.

After breakfast, Luo Yanhai and his four brothers went out to play, holding their sister in their midst. Each brother wore a scarf of a different color, making them a picturesque sight.

”Qianqian, where do you want to play?” Luo Yanhai, boasting of being the oldest, was carrying Luo Qianqian.

Luo Qianqian looked up at the sky and said softly, ”Let’s go to the flower shop first.”

”Flower shop?” Luo Yanhai stopped in his tracks, changing direction to continue walking, ”What are we going to a flower shop for?”

”Bro, do you have a pig’s brain?” Luo Yanwu looked at his own brother with exasperation, wondering how such a smart kid could have such a dumb brother. Just by looking at the expressions of the fifth brother and sister, couldn’t he have guessed it?

”I agree.” Luo Yanran, with his bruised nose and swollen face, could only go out fully armed with a scarf, mask, and hat.

”Just hurry up and go, stop asking questions.” Luo Yanhao looked at the eldest with disdain, thinking why he had to be the second child.

Even in winter, the flower shop was a riot of colors with all sorts of flowers blooming fiercely—bright red roses, fragrant lilies, energetic sunflowers, and brilliant young chrysanthemums...

”What should we buy?” Shufan said while taking out his wallet and passing it to his sister, just as Luo Yanhai was about to say something, he got pulled aside by Luo Yanhao who shook his head at him.

”Big brother, just buying sunflowers will do,” Luo Qianqian said with a smile, and turned to the shop assistant to ask, ”Excuse me, do you have Dendrobium orchids?”

”Yes, we do.” The shop assistant nodded, pointing to several buckets of flower stems on the ground, somewhat surprised that a child could name such an unpopular flower.

Luo Qianqian looked down at the Dendrobium orchids, remembering how in her past life a friend had asked her which color to send and mentioned that Dendrobium was known as the father’s flower; she never imagined she would need this information one day.

”Other than red, please pick a bouquet for me, and I would like a bunch of sunflowers with young chrysanthemums too,” said Luo Qianqian softly.

After paying, each of the siblings held a bouquet of flowers. Luo Qianqian refused Luo Yanhai’s embrace and asked, ”Where is my Dad?”

”Ah, you guys just go home and wait, I’ll bring them,” Luo Yanhai finally understood why his younger brother had stopped him from paying earlier: ”We’ll go back and drive, let’s go.”

Luo Yanhao and the others didn’t have driver’s licenses, and there was limited space in the car, so they all nodded in agreement.

”Qianqian, why didn’t you buy chrysanthemums?” Shufan looked at the sunflowers in his arms, though there were yellow chrysanthemums too, they were obviously not of the same family.

”As long as someone remembers, they are still alive in their hearts, so why use chrysanthemums?” Luo Qianqian said quietly, holding the yellow and white Dendrobium in her arms: ”Brother, is my hair messy? Is it still neat? It’s my first time meeting Dad; I can’t be unkempt.”

While driving, Luo Yanhai choked up for a moment, thinking that having two more siblings would make the household more lively, and having a sister was what the family had hoped for, but they hadn’t considered how torturous it would be for them to see the siblings having both parents.

The car sped along the road, and Luo Qianqian, looking out the window, felt not sadness but only the realization that it was not congested now, yet in a few years, it would take hours of traffic to go anywhere.

”Here we are.” Luo Yanhai led the siblings to the gravestone of Luo Xinyue.

The gravestone had a black and white photo hanging on it, the person in the photo smiling brilliantly with bright, sparkling eyes. On the gravestone was written: The tomb of Luo Xinyue erected by Luo Xisi and Luo Xihan on October 17, 1993.

”Dad, hello, nice to meet you for the first time. My name is Luo Qianqian, I’m your daughter whom you’ve never seen.” Luo Qianqian gently placed the flowers in front of the gravestone and knelt down, ”Mom said that the ’Qian’ in Qianqian means a deep connection but a shallow fate. Dad, you and Qianqian really had a shallow connection, you were gone before I was even born.”

Shufan also placed his flowers in front of the grave and knelt beside Qianqian, silent, tears streaming down his face as he looked at the photo.

”Don’t worry, Dad, Qianqian will take good care of Mom and Brother, you believe that you’ll be watching over us, right?” Luo Qianqian placed her hand on the photograph, her voice soft, ”Dad was very handsome, just like what Qianqian imagined; brother will grow up to be just as handsome...”

Xu Tianyi, about to leave after placing chrysanthemums, heard the incessant chatter and looked over unconsciously, seeing the siblings he had encountered in the exam hall, and the Luo family’s eldest grandson? He paused, took a step hiding behind the tombstone.

”Let’s go.” Luo Qianqian saw her brother still crying, pulled him up, stood up, and hugged the gravestone gently, ”Dad, I’ll come to see you again in the future, goodbye Dad.”

Luo Yanhai watched as one cried without being able to speak, and the other didn’t shed a single tear, both silent.

Xu Tianyi watched as the three of them left, then came out from behind the gravestone, walked up to the grave with the flowers, and stared at the name on the gravestone, stunned.