That night, when Su Han took out the garbage, he looked at the “cake” inside the bag and couldn’t help but picked a chunk out and put it inside of his mouth.
It tasted sweet.
When Su Han was hesitating whether he should have another chunk, he looked up and saw the car nearby along with the man who just walked out of the car.
“What are you doing here?” asked Su Han rudely toward the man who was much taller than him.
“It’s your 13th birthday today?” asked Lu Shao.
“You knew it is.” Su Han frowned and asked again, “What are you trying to say?”
“You know what a birthday represents?” asked Lu Shao.
“What could it be? I am one more year closer to adulthood.”
Lu Shao did not opine on whether he agreed nor disagreed with what Su Han had said. He merely looked at the boy in front of him with profound eyes.
“It meant you should be more mature.”
As he talked, he gave Su Han a very serious look. “I hope that you will learn what responsibility is. There are those who are important to you right now and, in the future, you will grow into a man and have your own family. I hope that you will always be able to take the responsibility.
“I hope that you will learn to maintain a cool head when you run into issues. It is inevitable to be impulsive when you are young; however, being impulsive will not be helpful. It will only cloud your judgement.
“I hope that you will be strong. Only when you are strong will you be able to protect those that you need to protect.
“I hope that you will be brave. Perhaps you will run into a lot of troubles in life that make you feel that you can’t overcome but you must not try to run away from them. When you really stare it down, you will soon realize that it isn’t a big deal after all.
“I hope that you will be decisive. Because, most of the time, the situation will not allow you too much time to hesitate…”
“Are you saying your dying words or something…” said Su Han dully with his head lowered.
Lu Shao, “……”
“Ahem. Okay, I got what you are trying to say. Can you go back to your place now? It’s the middle of the night. Never mind about scaring the other passersby, you wouldn’t want to scare the flowers or the grass either…” said Su Han resentfully as he turned around.
“What’s that you are carrying in your hand?”
“Ugh, trash.” He had almost forgotten to throw them away.
“And cake.”
“Give them to me then.”
***
“Son, can you check and make sure everything is turned off?”
“Son, are you done packing your clothes? If you are done, why don’t you come over and give me a hand?”
“Oh yeah, bring a few extra pairs of underwear.”
“Eh, Su Han, did you happen to see the little pouch that I’ve placed on top of the sink yesterday?”
***
Inside the old-style building, early morning on the weekend, voices kept coming from the Su’s mother and son.
Well, just Su Ran’s, to be precise.
“Oh, yeah. There are two steamed buns on the table. Put them in a bag and bring them with us too.”
Su Ran’s voice came from inside of her room.
“Oh,” responded Su Han. He took a look at the two remaining steam buns on the table left over from breakfast and didn’t think much before he followed Su Ran’s instruction and placed them inside of a bag.
“Is there anything else?”
“Emmmm. Let me think. I think not,” said Su Ran as she walked out from her room.
“Let me check one more time and make sure all the doors and windows have been closed properly. Then, son, help me move this box by the door, okay?” said Su Ran as she pointed at the few boxes and suitcases sitting in the middle of the living room.
“Are we bringing all of these?” Looking at the few extra-large boxes and suitcases that Su Ran was pointing at, Su Han’s eyes widened. He could clearly read the are-you-kidding-memessage in Su Ran’s eyes.
“Don’t you think this is a bit much?”
“Much? No, I don’t think so,” said Su Ran with a very serious look as she eyed the boxes back and forth, obviously trying to make sure she did not forget anything else.
“We are just going to Quality Development Outing at the West Park.
“And, we are only going to be gone for two days.” Su Han added as he sweated over the amount of stuff that Su Ran had packed.
Did this woman think they were moving somewhere?
Thought Su Han to himself secretly.
If he didn’t know the itinerary for this trip, he would think that Su Ran was on the run from loan sharks!