In summer like autumn

Wen Qiu's single name is "Autumn", but his birthday is at the end of summer.At that time, the beginning of autumn had not yet arrived, and the heat was still unbearable, and there was not even a shadow of autumn.

When Wen Qiu was just in elementary school, Wen Qiu asked her mother about this over and over again, and Wen Liping often said perfunctorily, "Your name was decided before you were born." An indescribable emotion.

Wen Qiu didn't understand what kind of emotion it was, but he knew that there would be no result if he kept asking.Occasionally, teachers or friends would ask about this, and Wen Qiu would tell them that the name was decided before birth.After coming and going, he didn't care much about this matter.

Besides the origin of his name, the young Wen Qiu would ask about his father from time to time.From the beginning of his memory, he didn't have any concept of his father, and Wen Liping took good care of his son, so that Wen Qiu didn't feel anything wrong when he was ignorant.After going to school, he saw his classmate's father come to pick him up at school, and he had a vague feeling that his home was somewhat different from other people's homes.

Wen Qiu, who just entered the first grade, finally couldn't help asking after school one day:

"Mom, do I have a dad too?"

Wen Liping looked at her son sitting on the back seat of the bicycle, and was momentarily at a loss for words.

She turned around, turned her back to Wen Qiu, her hands pushing the bicycle tightened imperceptibly, and said, "Yes, Xiao Qiu also has a father."

"Then why doesn't dad live with us? Xiaohu's dad, Xiaoyu's dad, and Lele's dad all live with them."

Wen Liping turned a deaf ear to her son's words, pedaling the bicycle quickly with two long legs, passing through the bustling alley in front of the school, and through the streets lined with tall plane trees on both sides.When the lights came on, the figures of the mother and son disappeared in the night of Jiangnan City.

As time goes by, Wen Qiu is less likely to raise questions about his father.He is used to a family without a father, and he feels that even in such a family, his life is not much different from others.

This day lasted until the summer vacation of the second year of junior high school.

It was an unusually ordinary holiday. The afternoon sunlight penetrated the glass, sprinkled on the window sill, wandered along the wall, and spread to the edge of the bookcase.Wen Liping's voice came from the kitchen, telling her son to clear out the old magazines in the bookcase and sell them to the scrap yard at the alley.Wen Qiu responded, then rolled up his sleeves, revealing a small part of his arms, thin, with the slenderness unique to teenagers.

Wen Qiu's stature has grown by leaps and bounds since this summer, standing among his peers is a bit of a standout, and he can easily reach the top of the bookcase.He has a slight obsession with cleanliness, and for fear of raising too much dust, he took down stacks of magazines stacked on top of it, moving slowly and almost nervously.

Until he took down the last few books, a piece of paper was caught by the corner of the book and fell down.

Wen Qiu knelt down and picked up the paper.

The paper had turned yellow, and the words "Medical Certificate of Birth" were written on its head.

When Wen Qiu saw this thing for the first time, he stood there and looked at it with great interest.

The column "Newborn's name" reads Wen Qiu, which should have been exactly three characters, but the first character was erased by ink.

What also failed to survive was the father's name and ID number.It was also painted with a pen, and the pen marks pierced through the back of the paper, scratching the surface of the paper, with great resentment, as if to obliterate the existence of that name and even that person.

Wen Qiu's breathing became rapid.He held the light and fluffy paper as if he was holding something extremely heavy, his knuckles were white, and even the edges of the paper were wrinkled.

He came out of his room, walked into the kitchen, and held the birth certificate in front of his mother, his fair cheeks were slightly pink.

After deliberating for a while, Wen Qiu spoke with difficulty: "My surname is not Wen at first, but my surname is after my father's, right?"

Wen Liping didn't speak.

"Who is my dad? Why is his name crossed out?"

This was not an occasion where one could casually get away with it. Wen Qiu asked questions like a cannonball, raising his voice a bit, making the already cramped kitchen even more cramped.

For the first time in so many years, his son was so serious.Wen Liping remained silent as usual, this attitude made Wen Qiu a little angry, so angry that even the roots of his ears were swollen red.The question he asked when he was young was brought up again by him:

"Mom, who is my dad? Why doesn't he live with us?"

Wen Liping was still silent, but her lips turned pale.

"Mom, dad doesn't want us anymore?"

These words were really hurtful, and Wen Qiu regretted them as soon as he said them.He watched his mother's tears gushing out of her beautiful eyes without warning, slipping over the corners of her eyes and lips where fine lines appeared, and falling down.

Wen Liping's shoulders trembled violently, although she was crying, she still didn't make a sound.

But at that moment, Wen Qiu seemed to hear the heart-piercing wailing of his mother.

It was the first time Wen Qiu saw Liping cry since she was a child.He was suddenly overwhelmed by an inexplicable fear, and held his mother in his arms in uncertainty.

Shouldn't be asking this.

Feelings of self-blame surged from all directions like invisible vines, wrapping Wen Qiu tighter and tighter, making him breathless.

Outsiders all know that Qiu gave birth to a pair of peerless mother's eyes, bright eyes that are kind to gaze, looking forward to shine.He didn't know that his eyebrows and eyes began to look a little like his father as he grew older.

When Wen Qiu looked directly at Wen Liping with such eyes, it was like a nightmare. It reminded Wen Liping again of the cruel fact of being suddenly abandoned by that man back then.

After that day, the mother and son returned to the previous mode of getting along with each other, tacitly keeping silent about this little episode, as if nothing had ever happened.

Since then, Wen Qiu has completely given up looking for an answer to this question.It's not that he's curious, it's just that so many years have passed, whether he has a father has become less important to him, and he can't bear to make his mother show such a sad expression.

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