Slow to mature after marriage

The air fell silent for a moment.

Shen Ruoqing hurriedly released her grip, taking a half-step back, tears still streaming down her face, but she rushed to check Zhou Yu'an's complexion. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, Mommy was too rough. Is An'an alright? Is anything bothering you? Is your chest tight? Are you dizzy?"

A barrage of questions came crashing down on me, each one choked with tears and delivered with utmost care.

Zhou Shuyan also released his grip, but his gaze never left Zhou Yu'an's face.

Zhou Yu'an rubbed his aching chest, looking at the three pairs of red, wet eyes in front of him. He wanted to say something comforting, but could only manage to stammer, "...It's okay, it's just a little tight."

Shen Ruoqing burst into laughter through her tears, her expression a mix of wanting to cry and wanting to laugh, which was somewhat comical.

Zhou Xubai stood behind, bent down to pick up the still stubbornly flashing light sign from the ground, silently turned off the power, and smiled.

"Let's go home, An'an."

-

As the car entered the old town of Haicheng, the scenery outside the window changed from wide roads to narrow tree-lined avenues, with the branches of plane trees forming a green tunnel overhead. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, falling like shards of gold onto the car window, shimmering and dancing.

Zhou Yu'an turned his head to look out the window. The surrounding buildings receded one by one, high-rise buildings, shopping malls, and new residential areas.

Twenty years have passed, and Haicheng has undergone earth-shaking changes.

But when the car turned into a quiet alley and stopped in front of a black wrought iron gate, she suddenly froze.

The house hasn't changed.

The red brick building has a large osmanthus tree in the courtyard, its branches reaching out over the wall and swaying gently in the wind. The row of holly bushes at the base of the wall is neatly trimmed, the brass rings on the iron gate haven't even been replaced, and the faint scratch on the door frame is still there—it was made by her with a key when she was a child.

The Zhou family has not moved for twenty years.

Twenty years have passed, and Haicheng has changed so much, yet the Zhou family has remained steadfastly standing here. They dared not move or renovate, fearing their youngest daughter might not recognize the place if she returned home. Every brick, every tile, every window is exactly as it was when she left at the age of five.

Zhou Yu'an opened the car door, stood in the yard, and looked up at the osmanthus tree. It wasn't the flowering season yet, the leaves were a deep green, and sunlight filtered through the leaves, falling on her shoulders.

She saw the swing in her garden. It was pink and tied to a branch of the old locust tree in the corner of the yard. The rope had been replaced with a new one, but the style was exactly the same as before.

Shen Ruoqing stood behind her, following her gaze, and chuckled softly, "That was your favorite swing when you were little. When your brother wasn't in school, he would play with you there, sometimes for the whole afternoon."

She waited a while, and seeing that Zhou Yu'an didn't speak, her eyes reddened a little more. "Look at what Mom is saying... An'an probably doesn't remember."

Zhou Yu'an shook his head. "I remember."

Those memories from before she was five years old, fragments she had deliberately sealed away and locked in the deepest darkness, have become increasingly clear since she rediscovered the name "Zhou Yu'an." Shen Ruoqing's tears fell again, and she hurriedly raised her hand to wipe them away, but the more she wiped, the more tears flowed, and she couldn't dry them no matter what she did.

Shen Ruoqing suppressed her excitement and tried to make her voice sound calm: "Then... let your brother come with you to play? You two used to love staying here the most. Sometimes you would play hide-and-seek and Mom would look for you no matter how hard she looked."

Zhou Yu'an did not mention that he has grown up now and no longer likes swinging.

She simply nodded slightly. "Okay."

He paused, then added two more words, "Thank you—"

The word "Mom" circled on the tip of my tongue, but I ultimately didn't say it.

Shen Ruoqing smiled and shook her head, her eyes still red.

-

backyard.

The shadows of the osmanthus trees were dappled across the grass. The swings hung quietly, swaying gently in the breeze.

Zhou Xubai tugged at the rope to make sure it was still sturdy, then patted the swing board and raised an eyebrow, saying, "An'an, why don't you try it? I wonder if it's still sturdy after all these years."

Zhou Yu'an looked at him. The boy who had taken her for a ride in the fragments of her memory was now standing next to the swing, a thirty-year-old man, yet the shadow of his youth still lingered in his eyes. She walked over and sat down on the swing.

Zhou Xubai walked behind her, placed his hands on the swing ropes, and slowly pushed. The swing swung gently, the wind brushing against Zhou Yu'an's cheeks and blowing her stray hairs behind her ears. She swung a little higher, her skirt fluttering in the wind like a white butterfly.

"A little higher, brother," Zhou Yu'an said.

Zhou Xubai paused for a moment, then smiled and slightly increased the pressure on his hand. "Okay."

Such a familiar conversation.

It seems like many, many years ago, there was also a little girl with braids sitting on the same swing, saying, "Brother, a little higher."

-

Dinner is ready.

The restaurant was filled with the aroma of food. A large table of dishes included specialties from Haicheng and northern Beijing. Shen Ruoqing had specifically asked someone to inquire about the tastes in northern Beijing, so she added less sugar, more salt, and a little chili, wondering if it would suit her daughter's palate.

Three people, three pairs of eyes, all staring intently at her, waiting for her to take the first bite.

Zhou Yu'an picked up a piece of sweet and sour lotus root, put it in his mouth, chewed it slowly, and then nodded.

"It's delicious," she said.

The three people at the dinner table all breathed a sigh of relief.

Shen Ruoqing patted her chest, her voice slightly choked: "As long as it tastes good, as long as it tastes good. It's been so long since I've cooked, I was worried it wouldn't suit your taste."

As a pediatrician, Shen Ruoqing has her own methods for raising children.

When Zhou Yu'an was born, she specially made a nutritional recipe book for him from age one to eighteen. It was handwritten, with illustrations on every page, and the handwriting was neat and tidy.

Unfortunately, this recipe was no longer needed when the child was five years old. Thinking of this, Shen Ruoqing felt sad again, as if something was blocking her chest, but she forced herself to cheer up and put another piece of pork rib into Zhou Yu'an's bowl. "An'an, try this one."

Zhou Shuyan, sitting beside her, knew exactly what his wife was thinking. He put his arm around Shen Ruoqing's shoulder, teasingly trying to pull her out of her emotional turmoil. "We're truly fortunate to finally get to taste Chef Shen's cooking!"

Zhou Xubai glanced at Shen Ruoqing and chuckled softly, "Mom, you've never made this kind of food to coax the child for me before."

Since An'an went missing, Shen Ruoqing has never cooked again.

-

After dinner, Shen Ruoqing led Zhou Yu'an upstairs to the second floor and pushed open the door at the end of the corridor. "An'an, see if you like it."

Zhou Yu'an walked in, then paused for a moment.

The room was spacious, and every detail showed thoughtful design.

The curtains were light gray with white bone patterns printed on them. The bed sheets were pale pink, and the pillow was embroidered with a cute little skull, its head tilted and its lips curved in a smile, as if greeting her. On the desk sat a bone-shaped lamp, with a small ceramic snake perched on its base, its scales meticulously painted and its tongue flicking. Next to the bookshelf stood a plump, half-person-high pink bone-shaped throw pillow, its head chubby and endearing.

Every detail is exactly how she likes it.

Shen Ruoqing stood at the door, her fingers gripping the doorknob so tightly her knuckles turned white, her heart pounding with anxiety. "The information I read said that An'an likes things with bone elements, like pink, so... I don't know if this room suits your taste."

Zhou Yu'an looked around, his gaze moving from the curtains to the desk, from the desk to the lamp, and then from the lamp to the chubby bone-shaped cushion. He nodded. "Thank you, I like it very much."

Shen Ruoqing's heart was pounding with excitement, but she tried her best to suppress her emotions. "Then An'an can take a nap first, and this afternoon our family can go shopping at the mall, okay?"

She looked at Zhou Yu'an, her eyes filled with cautious anticipation.

Zhou Yu'an met Shen Ruoqing's wet, doe-like eyes, and thought to himself—Mom's eyes are so beautiful. He calmly nodded.

"OK."

Shen Ruoqing left, and the door closed gently behind her.

Zhou Yu'an stood there listening for a while. Only when the footsteps faded away did she take two steps forward, then lay down on the bed and rolled over. The blanket was soft and smelled of sunshine.

She rolled over again. She rolled to the other side of the bed and bumped into something soft. It was a yellow teddy bear, leaning against the pillow, its fur worn thin, with a patch sewn crookedly on its belly.

Clean, but very old. It's clearly been well preserved.

Zhou Yu'an recognized it. When she was little, she called it Big Silly Bear, and she would carry it everywhere she went. She would sleep with it, eat with it on the chair next to it, and even take it with her to the dock. Once, it fell into the sea, and Zhou Xubai jumped in and pulled it out.

She patted the big bear's head and whispered something.

"Big bear, long time no see."