Ha ha

Bai Sheng then dialed the number, waited for a while, adjusted a smile and said: "Dad, happy new year, good luck....Is it night over there? Have you had dinner yet?...Xiao Hao is beside you, wait Come on, I'll let him tell you." Bai Hao rolled his eyes and took the phone.

Bai Qi automatically blocked the subtle atmosphere on the other end, and lowered his head to browse Weibo.The one that was sent out just now has been diverted, and even the officials of the Shuying Group joined in the fun. It doesn't take much guesswork to know that it was done by Shanglu, who is afraid of chaos in the world.The comments were full of "fuck" and "blind". He flipped through for a while before he saw Xu Chenchuan's reply "Thank you *^_^* My classmates say you are handsome".

Bai Qi was about to reply when the phone screen switched to a new incoming call.He looked at the other person's name and picked it up: "Hello?"

"Qi! New, spring, happy!" came over in broken Chinese.

Bai Qi rarely smiled sincerely: "Thanks, Katie."

The other party switched back to English: "Did you understand what I said? Great, I practiced for a long time!"

"Understood, the pronunciation is good. How are you?"

His relationship with Katie is hard to put into one sentence.To sum it up roughly, Katie is one of their stepmothers.

Bai Hao had just turned four years old when his parents decided to divorce, and Bai Qi was only a junior high school student.A few months later their father went to settle in the United States, and later married the blonde Katie.

This is such an ordinary and boring story that maybe even the magazine of bosom friend didn’t bother to publish it—the rich businessman abandoned his wife and son to go abroad to remarry, and the single mother raised three brothers to grow up—if their mother didn’t die unexpectedly two years later, the story It will be more boring.

The funeral was unbelievably bad, bigger than the wildest fiction.I don't know if it's because no one gave money to the funeral parlor, so the mother in the coffin was put on extremely bright and inappropriate heavy makeup, and the two lumps of rouge seemed to be turning into a dead body.

Holding the mother's photo in his hand, Bai Qi stood stiffly beside the coffin with his two younger brothers, looking at the backs of relatives who were in a mess, waiting for someone to announce the process.

Their father said that they couldn't get away because they were abroad, so they sent money and entrusted relatives to arrange the funeral first.So it dragged on until the day of the funeral, but he still didn't show up, only the wreath he ordered.

The relatives didn't know each other well, and they were waiting for their father to come and take away the three sons, but now they were completely messed up.No one was in the mood to cry anymore. Everyone was talking at the same time, dialing the phone to find out the news, and turning around from time to time to look at the three brothers with worried eyes.

"...to leave so suddenly, without even leaving a last word..."

"Shouldn't this kind of thing have been settled long ago? How dare you let it go and wait for us to raise a son for him?! This can be punished!"

"He is abroad, where are you going to arrest him?"

"I'm sure I can sue, but it's very troublesome. My wife knows a lawyer. Let me call and ask..."

"...one or two is enough, these are three mouths!"

"My cousin's family seems to want to adopt one, but the youngest one is in primary school..."

"It's not a solution to consume so much, why don't someone take it home to raise it for a few days, and wait until the lawsuit is filed?"

No one spoke.

No one knows how long this raising will take, what if it is left at home?

After a moment of silence, everyone started talking at the same time, trying to figure out who was responsible.

Bai Qi was still holding the posthumous photo, his arms were already sore.In the end, the people from the funeral home came forward and said that the time was limited, and the family members of the next deceased were still waiting outside, so let’s talk about the funeral in advance.Only then did the relatives line up one after another, and the mourning and music were played.

The sensational effect of the mourning and music was really astonishing, and the eyes of the men and women who were still bargaining just a little bit of brewing turned red.When they started to walk around the coffin, little Bai Hao burst into tears.He didn't dare to throw himself into Bai Qi's arms, so he grabbed Bai Sheng's sleeve and wiped away his tears.

Bai Sheng was also hiccupping from crying, and patted Bai Hao on the back pretending to be old-fashioned: "It's okay, it will be fine..."

Bai Qi lowered his head, staring at a crack on the frame of the posthumous photo.

He couldn't cry.I knew in my head that I should cry at this time, and I wanted to cry in my heart, but my eye sockets were so dry that I couldn't squeeze out a drop of water.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the relative's strange eyes.Children who are surly, dark, and on the sidelines of their drama have near negative odds of being adopted.

But he still couldn't cry.Whether it was at that time or every year since then, he was unable to shed a single tear for the woman who gave birth to him.

and after?

Later they were taken away.They were taken back by the relatives of the three families, and they said they would stay there temporarily until the lawsuit was over.

Regarding that period of time, Bai Qi's memory is very vague, as if it was forcibly crossed out subconsciously.Even the appearance of the person who took him away was blank.He only remembered her chatting at the dinner table, Bai Hao was very scared after leaving his brother, kept crying, and refused to go to school; Bai Sheng was very likable.

According to the plot of Zhiyin magazine, he should be a father and a mother at the same time, supporting the sky of his younger brother with his immature shoulders, and walking through the difficult years hand in hand.

But in fact none of that happened.It's even hard for Bai Qi to say how much sense of responsibility he has for these two younger brothers.Compared with the so-called family bond, he harbored more hidden jealousy and resentment towards them at that time.If the roles were reversed, maybe he could also cry and refuse to go to school. He didn't have to think about retreating, and he didn't have to think about a way out, just wait for someone to save him wholeheartedly.

Later, after countless rounds of negotiations, their father reached an agreement with a family of cousins, and that family was responsible for the guardianship of the three of them, so they received a generous reward.In addition, the father provided the living expenses of the three of them until they graduated from college.

The good news is, he hasn't done them any financial wrong.

It was a very pure transaction, and the relatives did not bother to concoct any warmth.Bai Qi was already living in high school at that time, and he only went back on Sundays.When he went to college, he completely cut off contact.The two younger brothers were not so lucky. They grew up stumbled in that family until Bai Qi transferred their guardianship to his own name after working.

No matter how bloody the story is, it will end peacefully.Just like now, although Bai Hao rolled his eyes, at least it sounded like he was paying New Year's greetings in a decent way.

There is only one small twist missing in the middle.As for why the three brothers could live in the same family, Bai Qi always thought it was a coincidence, but Katie insisted that it was his credit.

In Katie's story, two years after she was married to the man, she heard that his ex-wife had passed away, leaving behind three teenage sons.He didn't want to raise children, so he planned to entrust them to relatives. Katie felt sorry for the child, but it was his own business after all, and she had no intention of adopting the child.

Then one day she came home from get off work and got a strange overseas call.

The teenager on the phone said in broken English that he wanted to talk to his father.

"He's not here," Katie said. "What's the matter with you? I can pass it on to him."

"Are you his wife?"

"Yes, my name is Katie."

"Katie, can you get him to pay me a little more money? I need to live with my brothers. Please." He spoke in such confusion that it took her a lot of time to figure out what he meant—if the payment was enough There may be relatives who are willing to adopt the three brothers at the same time, so that they don't have to be separated, and his brother doesn't have to be sad.

Katie was impressed by him.She relayed his words to the man, and would inquire about him from time to time afterwards.In the summer of the second year, on a whim, she invited him to stay at home for a while.

That was Bai Qi's first time going abroad.He probably shouldn't have accepted that invitation, but he went anyway.Despite all the things that have happened, the teenage Bai Qi still retains a vague and shameful longing for his father's love.Instead of spending a summer vacation at a relative's house, it would be better to go to the United States to broaden his horizons, he convinced himself.

The result was almost as expected, he couldn't get along with his father at all, and basically didn't say a word.Surprisingly, Katie, who has no children, is happy with him.Her role is between a mother and a friend. She can not only give him care and advice from those who have been there, but also chat and laugh with him everywhere.Bai Qi's English has improved ferociously since then.

His father divorced and remarried again shortly thereafter, and then a third time.Bai Qi didn't care how he was doing, but kept in touch with Katie all the time.Every summer he would stay at Katie's house for two weeks, a tradition that continued until the accident.

"You haven't been here for two years, Oscar misses you very much." Katie said with a smile on the other end of the phone. Oscar is her family's husky. "Wait, I'll let him tell you by himself. Oscar, do you miss Qi?"

"Ouch-"

Katie laughed.

"I miss him too." Bai Qi said.

"If you have time in the spring, would you like to come to DC for a while?"

"I can't, Katie, you know my situation."

"Oh, if you mean people with reduced mobility, you don't have to worry about those. There are a lot of portable barrier-free facilities you can buy here, just make a list for me."

"but still--"

"Don't rush to refuse. I have other reasons for inviting you. I sent you an email. A hospital nearby is advertising its own rehabilitation center recently. It will be expensive without medical insurance, but It is said to be very effective. You can check the email before answering me, okay?"

Bai Qi didn't even go to the rehabilitation center three streets away, let alone the one thousands of miles away.But now that Katie said so, he was going to say no again in a few days.

"Okay, I'll go and see."