I Want to Be Friends With You

Solving Trouble

Zhou Yuan did not think through this problem at all. It was because he was completely focused on one thing that he couldn’t pay attention to anything else.   

He assumed that if Miaomiao rejected him, which would lead to him falling in love with someone else, then she would become upset. But he couldn’t picture, at all, that he could be with someone else if he wasn’t with Miaomiao. 

This half-baked explanation as well as his lack of sagacity and prudence had given Miaomiao a headache the next day.  

When she trekked out of her room, she noticed her mother. She froze on the spot as if she was being rooted to the ground because she realized that she too would be watching the video. She would eventually find out about Zhou Yuan’s confession.

She came home late last night. Mother Hua and Father Hua weren’t surfing the Internet at the time, but they would eventually go online later. They might be nescient of the news for now. 

Miaomiao was fraught with uncertainty since she had no idea how her parents would react to the news. She was still in her third year of high school…

Father Hua was fiddling with his phone, so he didn’t notice that she had got up. He didn’t wear a good expression on his face. Miaomiao had never seen him look so angry and aggrieved. She gulped nervously and thought, ‘It’s over. Dad must be watching the video.‘

Mother Hua was cooking in the kitchen. 

Miaomiao furtively skulked into the kitchen and chirruped, “Mom. I’ll help you.”

Because of her guilty conscience, Miaomiao asked, “What are we going to have this morning?”

She asked as Mother Hua was washing the vegetables.

“Porridge and stir-fried vegetables. Why are you up so early today? Who won at yesterday’s competition?” Mother Hua was originally hoping to watch the children’s singing competition yesterday, but she busied herself with something else; therefore, she couldn’t go.

Mother Hua’s back faced Miaomiao as she said this, making Miaomiao feel something was amiss. 

“Mom. Did you catch a cold? Why is your voice hoarse?” Miaomiao questioned.

“It’s just a cold. I’ll take some medicine later.”

“I’ll fetch it for you,” Miaomiao chirruped. She then went to the first aid box to get the medicine.

Mother Hua took the cold medicine and peered at her daughter, who was almost as tall as she was. From her viewpoint, the timid little girl who followed behind her yesterday was now an excellent, independent girl today…

If she found out about her own past…what would she do?

When Mother Hua thought of this, she shook her head and decided not to tell Miaomiao about her past.

During breakfast, Miaomiao felt a tincture of guilt, but she did not realize the oddity of her parents’ behavior today.

After their breakfast, Miaomiao was busy studying at home, whereas Mother Hua and Father Hua went outside for business. Neither of them mentioned anything about what happened last night. It appeared they hadn’t seen the video yet. 

Miaomiao engrossed herself in her homework. Then, all of a sudden, she received a message from Jingjing, “Miaomiao, Miaomiao. I forgot to ask you yesterday. Did Zhou Yuan confess to you?”

Miaomiao: “…”

It was these two people that caused her to miss the live performance.

“I know.”

Jingjing: “Fortunately, I pulled you out; otherwise, you would have been embarrassed on the spot. Like you said, you probably didn’t like him, and you would have rejected his confession.”

Miaomiao couldn’t help but say, “But you also treated Deng Feng like a brother.”

Jingjing: “Miaomiao. The way you’re saying it makes it sound like it’s a reference to something. Does that mean that both of you are now a couple? Does that mean that you accepted his confession?”

Miaomiao: “…” Forget it; it’s nearly impossible to keep anything secret from Jingjing.

Jingjing sent over another message, “Actually…I regretted it now…I don’t know how to get along with him…”

“You liked so many people; do you really have no experience with this?” Miaomiao asked Jingjing.

“No one got this far.” Jingjing, too, was helpless.

Similarly, Miaomiao didn’t know how to get along with Zhou Yuan now. She wanted to send him a text message and hark to his voice. It would be fine to have a normal conversation with him, but she did not regret her choice.

Miaomiao clutched onto her phone after her chat with Jingjing had ended. She wanted to send a message to Zhou Yuan. But Miaomiao was under the impression that Zhou Yuan had no desire for clingy girls since he was a very independent person; therefore, she believed that she should give him some more space to be himself.

Miaomiao decided to watch some videos in an attempt to distract herself.

She watched some funny videos. The algorithm automatically recommended more videos, so she decided to watch a video about the dreams of children. Miaomiao enjoyed this video because it showcased children with different families from different places. Although their economic circumstances varied, they still had some beautiful dreams. 

She saw a good-looking boy who said shyly, “My dream is to find my sister.”

Furthermore, the young boy’s voice was also very pleasant. His eyes were limpid and bright, almost as if they reflected the sun’s lucent rays. He expounded that his sister was born before him, but she had later gone missing. His parents missed his sister dearly, and they wanted to locate her whereabouts so that they could reunite as a family again. 

Miaomiao thought this kid was very cute, so she couldn’t help but leave a comment. As she was typing out her comment, she noticed a comment at the top of the comment area, “At first, I was under the impression that his sister went missing, but that wasn’t the case. His parents were the same stupid parents who had abused their daughter. She was in such a terrible condition that they had to send her to an intensive care unit. They were sentenced to only three years in prison.”

The number of replies under this comment was manifold.  

“I heard about that case as well. I don’t believe that there would be parents who are cruel enough to harm their children in that way. Maybe there’s more to the story than that.”

“I agree. I don’t think any parent would do that. I also checked the verdict. The case was surrounded by doubts.”

“What do you people know? This case was all the buzz back then. When I was in high school back then, our teacher also talked about it. Since then, there have been many incidents of child abuse. We didn’t even dare to go online back then since this frightened us.”

“Please refresh your memory if you doubt the case. Take another look at it. It created such a buzz back then. On one hand, the child was far too pitiful, but on the other hand, the sentence was too light.”

Miaomiao took a look at the case. She had already read up on this case before, and it turned out that they were discussing it. She no longer wanted to leave a comment, but she decided to go back and watch the video carefully, soaking in every detail. The video confirmed that the child had never been abused before, so she decided to turn it off.

She thought that it was just some minor incident, but it didn’t take long for the news to break that the procedures concerning her adoption were illegal at the time, because her parents were sentenced. Her grandmother became the child’s legal guardian. Apparently, the parents’ egregious work schedule had placed a lot of pressure on them, and their child cried all the time, so they couldn’t help but silence her in some way. They said that they regret it now, and they hoped to make amends.

When Miaomiao saw the news, she felt the police, the prosecutors, and the judges were being treated like idiots…

Miaomiao wondered what the family wanted.

It had been seven or years since their release from prison. Why are they causing such a fuss now?

Her phone suddenly sounded; it was Zhou Yuan calling her.

The call connected, and Miaomiao heard his voice resounding out of the phone, “What are you doing?”

“Watching some news.” Then Miaomiao asked, “What are you doing?”

Zhou Yuan was also watching the news. He wasn’t sure whether or not Miaomiao still remembered what had transpired when she was a little child. He was hoping that she had no recollection of it.

Miaomiao continued, “This is strange news. They’re saying that they are looking for their missing daughter…”

Zhou Yuan’s heart almost leapt out of his chest.

She’s actually watching the news…

Fortunately, Miaomiao spoke a little bit more, and Zhou Yuan realized that she didn’t know anything, so this allayed his concerns.

After Miaomiao and Zhou Yuan had finished their conversation, they scrolled down and found out that the child had been adopted by an attending physician at the time because he and his wife had no children of their own. After the physician quit his job, he worked in his daughter’s school and became the school doctor, but the news made no mention of where they went afterward.

Miaomiao’s hand was struck by a certain numbness as her phone slipped out of her grasp.

No. Some bad people abducted me when I was a child. They inflicted those injuries on me…

No, I was abducted by some bad guys.

She tried to calm herself down.

I’m pretty sure my mother is my own…

It must be a coincidence.

Confusion had somewhat clouded Miaomiao’s thinking as if she had remembered something…she used to call her mother ‘aunt’ when she was a child.

Miaomiao recalled the odd behavior that his parents had displayed when they left this morning.

Take a deep breath. Don’t panic. It must be a coincidence; it must be a coincidence.

She was lying on the bed, and the more she thought about it, the more her body felt a fit of discomfort.

Zhou Yuan attempted to call her two more times, but her heart was in a messy state. She was scared.

Consternation, panic, and dread had engulfed her. It was the first time in years that she felt this frightened.

Miaomiao was still on her bed, and she tried to dredge up the truth from her memories.

Her earliest memory was of her mother. When she was a child, she noticed that a warm, refulgent light enveloped her mother…

Mother was very tall. She squatted down and wiped my hands. Her eyes were gentle and warm…

“Miaomiao smells good today…”

Nearby, Father Hua commented, “Hurry up; otherwise, we’ll be late.”

Mother Hua cooked for her; Mother Hua accompanied her to school; Mother Hua came to pick her up every afternoon; An aura of happiness had emanated from her mother when she graduated from elementary school; she was, in fact, happier than Miaomiao during that moment… 

Mother Hua cried when she made an error with Jingjing. Her father always comforted her afterwards…

Her mother couldn’t sleep all night and kept gazing at her after her daughter had surgery, as she was afraid she would touch the gauze…

As if everything was flashing before her eyes, her childhood recollections began coming back to her. She began to recall everything.

Miaomiao’s eyes brimmed with tears. She wasn’t fluster; instead, she felt as if she was soaking in a warm but wistful ocean…

This feeling felt somehow familiar to her. This memory seemed to travel through time and space, finally returning into her mind.

“She must…lost her way, so when she was reincarnated, she tried to find the wrong mother, and her mother brought her back,” said a little boy, his voice tinged with earnestness.

After wiping away her tears, Miaomiao called Zhou Yuan.

At first, trepidation and disquietude had engulfed Zhou Yuan, but once he received her call, he felt relieved, “Are you okay?”

“Yes. I had forgotten all of that. All the scars on my body are gone now, so I’m fine.”

The question wasn’t whether she was okay or not, but rather what these two people wanted to do now.

The moment Zhou Yuan heard her response, the realization that she had remembered everything struck him, “Are you home? I’m in your neighborhood.”

“Well then, I’ll come down to look for you.” Miaomiao responded as she wiped her tears. She changed her jacket and hurried out the door.

Both mom and dad went out today. It must have something to do with this issue.

Mother Hua and Father Hua certainly did not want Miaomiao to find out, but she did not want them to suffer.

As she went downstairs, she spotted Zhou Yuan running towards her, “You…”

“I’m fine; I’m fine; I’m still able to deal with this issue.” Her mother, father, grandmother and grand-mother had already showered her with enough familial affection…

They knew about this too, but they had no problem accepting her as their own daughter, as their own granddaughter, as their own great-granddaughter…

Zhou Yuan noticed the reddish tinge within her eyes. She was only crying, but she wasn’t depressed.

Miaomiao burbled, “I want to know what that family is doing right now…”

Miaomiao mulled over many possibilities, including one where someone was egregiously sick and required an organ transplant. Or maybe they just wanted money.

She couldn’t be blamed for having such deductions and inferences about them. After all, they had never sought her out all these years. But now, they decided to appear out of nowhere to kick up such a fuss. Of course, she mulled over why they were doing this now. 

Therefore, it was best to prepare for the worst.

Zhou Yuan cooed, “What are you planning to do? Whatever you choose, I’ll support you.”

“I’m also thinking about my next course of action,” Miaomiao replied, taking Zhou Yuan’s hand.

She didn’t want her parents to find out that she already knew about this…

They sat on a bench outside, and Zhou Yuan was checking his phone for quite a long time.

Miaomiao propped up her chin with her hands.

“I found their address.”

Miaomiao lifted her head when she processed his words, “You found it?”

“Mmm.” Zhou Yuan was still a little trepidatious, “You…”

“We have to resolve this.”

Mom’s eyes were red this morning. She seemed so upset.

“I’ll go with you.” Zhou Yuan said.

Miaomiao nodded in assent. Within her heart, she thought that if the other party had a sickly family member, then she was still willing to take a loss and solve this problem. But if they desired money, then it would be a headache to solve…

When they arrived at the address, Miaomiao found out that the couple had opened a supermarket.

Miaomiao walked over, and the clerk told her that the owner was out for today.

Miaomiao asked the clerk what was the matter, and the clerk replied, “I’m not sure.”

They had no choice but to turn around. Since the other party wasn’t there, they decided to head home.

When they returned to their neighborhood, Miaomiao spotted her parents conversing with a woman at the gate.

Miaomiao stood there, taking in the scene from a distance. She espied her mother and noticed that she was suppressing her indignation and ire. For the duration of this conversation, it was Father Hua who spoke with this woman. Mother Hua only chimed in from time to time.

At first, Miaomiao didn’t want to tell her parents that she already had some cognizance of this matter, for she feared worrying them. Now, she didn’t care anymore. She declared to Zhou Yuan, “You head back first. I have something to take care of over there…”

Mom and Dad are over there. It’s unbefitting for Zhou Yuan to head over there…

Temporarily hidden Zhou Yuan: “…”

Miaomiao strode over, “Mom, Dad, you’re back.”

As Miaomiao approached, she noticed that the edges of Mother Hua’s eye were red. Mother Hua glanced reflexively at the woman who was a little flustered at Miaomiao’s arrival.

Miaomiao trod over and said naturally, “Mom, I’m hungry…”

At this point, the mysterious woman said, “You…you’re all grown up…”

She had suffered during her three years of imprisonment. Due to her immurement, she calmed down and slowly began to reflect upon her actions. The child’s grandmother said that after the child died, she began having many bad dreams.

Miaomiao saw her teary-eyed, doleful appearance and suddenly recalled something…

Miaomiao clutched her mother’s hand nervously. At first, she didn’t feel anything and didn’t even recognize the women, but now she remembered a little bit of it. The woman wept and stuffed herself with food…

Miaomiao: “…”

“Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you. Little Miaomiao, do you remember me?” the woman asked, sensing Miaomiao’s fear and perturbation. 

“Shut up!” Mother Hua shrieked.

Miaomiao closely scrutinized this woman’s face, and then a fear-induced pallor began to whiten her own face.

Then, she opened her mouth to speak, “I remember you; you’re the aunt who immured me in that cage back then. You refused to give me food, and you even waterboarded me and pushed my head in the water, never allowing me to lift my head out. Are you here to apologize?” In reality, she had no recollection of most of her torments. She just looked up some particulars about the incident online.

When she digested Miaomiao’s words, streams of tears began to flow out from the woman’s teary eyes all at the same time. It didn’t matter how much she had wanted to erase that memory. She could no longer deny it now since Miaomiao had listed the tortures inflicted on her body herself.

Miaomiao’s calm and collected demeanor had astounded Mother Hua and Father Hua.

Miaomiao smiled awkwardly and continued, “Auntie. Please don’t cry. It makes me feel like I’m bullying you. Didn’t you come here to apologize?”

The woman collapsed and uttered, “I am your mother…”

Miaomiao squeezed her mother’s hand and uttered back, “That’s strange. Why do you believe so?”

“I gave birth to you.” The woman protested, “I just wanted to see you. Mom was confused at the same. Later, your grandmother told me that they weren’t able to rescue you, so I couldn’t come to you straight away…”

“But you, my so-called mother, had never taken care of me at all. I would’ve died. And so, even though you have given me life, and while it’s true that you’re my birth mother, you have, in a way, taken back your daughter’s life.” A certain calmness radiated from Miaomiao; she never expected to be this calm in a situation such as this one.

Seeing her, Miaomiao continued, “Madam, don’t cry, my dear. I think you should cherish your current life and live well. I feel nothing for you. Just like I had said, you may have given birth to your daughter, but you have slain her. That’s all there is to it. Honestly, all children start their lives by looking at their mothers at a glance, and my starting point in life was also looking at my mother at a glance. You have already paid the price of hurting your own daughter, and I’m living my own life now. You don’t have to worry about taking advantage of me. Although I’m speaking to you with this gentle voice, if you wish to go to court to settle this, we’ll come along, but maybe you should start considering your youngest son’s situation.”

Since she took up the mantle of class president, Miaomiao had to deal with a multitude of problems. One such problem was this one, which the entire class discussed one time.

After Miaomiao finished speaking, she held Father Hua’s hand with one hand and Mother Hua with the other and traversed into the community.

On the way back, Miaomiao couldn’t help but tease her parents, so she mouthed, “I’ll be involved with this type of situation in the future. You two are really good for teasing.”

Miaomiao said that to help lift the perturbing atmosphere surrounding them. Additionally, this matter directly involved her. Therefore, they were very careful about treading into dangerous waters.

After that moment of astonishment had ebbed away, Mother Hua burst into tears, “Miaomiao…”

“Mom. Don’t you cry.” Miaomiao hugged her mother and cooed, “I’m sorry. I’m very stupid. I was born in the wrong place.”

Mother Hua wept even harder, and even Father Hua’s eyes were beginning to fill with tears, “Let’s talk about it when we get home. After all, everyone is in the community.”

The family of three returned home. “Stop crying. Stop crying,” Miaomiao wiped her mother’s tears with a tissue.

Mother Hua had a lot to say. She wanted to emphasize that she didn’t intend to lie to Miaomiao when she was a child. She also wondered if Miaomiao felt perturbed…

However, she saw that Miaomiao was wiping away her tears in earnest. She saw that she was trying to prod her up and act solemnly. She said, the solemnity apparent in her voice, “Don’t be scared, for you have me. Stop crying.”

Mother Hua didn’t say a word. She understood that her daughter was still her daughter. This incident didn’t affect their relationship in any way. In fact, Miaomiao wasn’t even perturbed by it.

Night came, and Miaomiao slept with Mother Hua. Miaomiao held onto Mother Hua’s hand nervously and whispered, “I’m going to tell you a secret. Don’t tell Dad.”

Mother Hua brushed her head with her hand and asked, “What’s the matter?”

Miaomiao pulled out her phone and clicked on a video; the same video she had watched numerous times that she had saved in her playlist. Then, she pulled the quilt over their heads and hid under the quilt along with her mother.

Originally, Mother Hua surmised that she was chasing stars, but as she watched it, she heard the boy’s confession at the end…

Astonished, Mother Hua turned her head, “Miaomiao? Who is he? You didn’t say yes, did you?”

“He is Zhou Yuan, my elementary school classmate. You shouldn’t be angry with me because he sings too well. And the moonlight was so nice and effulgent on that day, and…and…”

Mother Hua: “He’s Zhou Yuan? Wasn’t he your childhood tablemate?…If it’s him, then it’s okay.”

Miaomiao: “???”

“As long as he doesn’t become a criminal, then it’s okay. He’s a good boy.”

Miaomiao: “He’s not a criminal; he’s a good person.”

Miaomiao held Mother Hua’s hand, “Mom. If you agree to this, then the school might call you for a conference next semester…”

Mother Hua found her daughter cute and funny. Then, she ruffled her hair and said, “It’s okay to fall in love, but you have to protect yourself.”

Miaomiao flushed, “Understood…”