Only After I Was Reborn Did I Realize That I Had Childhood Sweethearts

Chapter 206: Im So Lucky To Have You Both In My Life

After finishing breakfast together, the trio casually strolled around the street. As the Lantern Festival approached, not only were migrant workers returning, but even college students were beginning to make their way back, so the streets were noticeably quieter than the previous few days.

Mei Fang accompanied Xia Yuan Lin Youxi to buy some small accessories at Sanfu boutique and then prepared to go home to do homework.

On the way home, Mei Fang asked, “School starts on the 17th. When do you two plan to go back?”

“Aren’t we going back together?”

Mei Fang explained, “I’m leaving tomorrow. I have to spend a day in Baizhou first, and then my dad will take me to Jiangcheng early in the morning the next day.”

“Then… Youxi, why don’t you and Aunt Liang—your mom—come with me? My dad can drive us to Jiangcheng.”

Lin Youxi smiled and shook her head. “There’s no rush. My mom doesn’t need to go that early.”

“Are you going to Jiangcheng later?”

In that case, wouldn’t Ah Fang and I be able to live alone together at the apartment?

“Not really,” Lin Youxi shook her head again. “My mom has some things to take care of at home, so I need to go earlier and will ride with you.”

“I-I see…”

“You sound a bit disappointed, Yuan Yuan.”

Xia Yuan, having her intentions seen through by Lin Youxi, immediately retorted, “Wh-what? No way, Youxi, you’re being too sensitive.”

“Look, your ears are turning red,” Lin Youxi smiled. “You’ve never been good at lying.”

“Ugh…”

Xia Yuan mumbled in embarrassment. Mei Fang patted her head and said, “Let’s hurry home and do our homework. You’ve barely done any, have you?”

“Pretty much… what about you?”

“I haven’t done any,” Mei Fang replied with a smile. “But I’ll just copy yours.”

“Do it yourself! You’re so lazy.”

Lin Youxi smiled as she watched Xia Yuan and Mei Fang banter, then suddenly interjected, “Oh, by the way, Ah Fang, do you want to accompany me to the cemetery this afternoon before you leave? You haven’t seen my mom in many years, and Yuan Yuan seems to have never had the chance to go either.”

“I’ve indeed never been,” Xia Yuan nodded. “But is it appropriate to visit the cemetery during the New Year period? I remember the elders in my family saying that going to the cemetery during this time would dispel the festive atmosphere…Of course, I’m not saying I won’t go, if you two don’t mind then I’ll go too.”

“I don’t mind that at all, and I don’t think Ah Fang does either,” Lin Youxi said.

“I definitely don’t,” Mei Fang smiled. “It’s a good idea to visit.”

“Youxi’s mother, hmm…” Xia Yuan exhaled deeply. “Yes, we should visit.”

The three of them worked on their homework at Xia Yuan’s house in the morning, then went to Mei Fang’s house for lunch. After lunch, they took a bus to the Paradise Cemetery.

The scene at this place was just as Xia Yuan had described—not many people were visiting during the New Year period, only a few passersby here and there.

They bought incense sticks, Joss paper, paper flowers, and some fruit offerings. Led by Lin Youxi, they walked forward. Xia Yuan trotted alongside Mei Fang and asked, looking up at him:

“Ah Fang, have you accompanied Youxi to visit her mother’s grave before?”

Mei Fang nodded, “I’ve been here two or three times before.”

“I didn’t know…”

“It was somewhat coincidental and hard to explain——”

Before Mei Fang could finish, Lin Youxi, walking ahead of them, suddenly spoke up loudly.

“The first time was in the fourth grade. I accompanied Ah Fang to the hospital to visit his grandmother. I saw a car accident victim and suddenly remembered my mom’s accident.”

Lin Youxi turned around and started to walk backward with her hands behind her back, looking at Xia Yuan with a smile.

“At that time, I was very scared, but Ah Fang didn’t come over right away. When he finally did, I was throwing a tantrum and I kept hitting him unreasonably, and then we had a big fight in the hospital.”

Mei Fang shook his head with a smile, “You still remember it so clearly.”

“What happened then? What happened next?” Xia Yuan was eager to know more.

“Then…” Lin Youxi said softly, “Ah Fang was almost driven away by my tantrum, but then he came back to comfort me and said he would accompany me wherever I wanted to go, and I cried and told him I wanted to see my mom’s grave.”

Xia Yuan’s eyes softened upon hearing this, “And then, Ah Fang took you here, right…?”

“Yes, that was the first time he came to visit my mom’s grave.”

Lin Youxi stopped by a small lion statue lying on the ground, “My mom’s grave is around here.”

Lin Youxi led Xia Yuan and Mei Fang to her mother’s grave.

Lin Youxi’s biological mother’s smile was still radiant on the tombstone, though both the tombstone and the photo showed signs of age.

However, the Joss paper, paper flowers, and offerings on the tombstone were new, as Lin Youxi and her father had visited earlier during New Year’s Eve.

“Youxi, you look so much like your mom! Especially the eyes, though your temperament is quite different…”

“But in elementary school, Youxi’s temperament was quite similar to her mom’s.”

Mei Fang lit the incense sticks, placing them in the incense burner in front of the tombstone. Just as he was about to lay out a plastic bag to kneel and kowtow, Lin Youxi stopped him, “You two can just pay a casual respect. No need to be so formal every time.”

Lin Youxi clapped her hands together and knelt alone in front of her mother’s grave, assuming a prayer posture:

“Mom, I brought Ah Fang and Yuan Yuan to see you.”

“You’ve met Ah Fang before, so I won’t introduce him. This is Yuan Yuan…”

As Lin Youxi was speaking, Xia Yuan knelt down beside her, imitating her posture with hands clasped and a smile on her face.

“Hello, Auntie, my name is Xia Yuan… I’m sorry it took me so long to come see you. I grew up with Youxi and we’re best friends…”

Xia Yuan paused, then smiled, “We’re also the closest family.”

“You don’t have to say all that, Yuan Yuan.”

“Ah! I don’t have to? Why not?” Xia Yuan, having worked hard to get into the sentimental mood, felt a bit melodramatic when the atmosphere was broken.

“I’ve been talking about you to my mom since I was little; she knows all about you.”

Xia Yuan playfully stuck out her tongue: “Then isn’t it even more inappropriate that I took so long to come to see your mom?”

“It doesn’t matter anyway… my mom probably wouldn’t care much about this, um… you can tell by her temperament.” Lin Youxi actually didn’t know much about what kind of person her mother was.

In her father’s memory, she had always been a kind-hearted and virtuous wife with a cheerful disposition.

Mei Fang waited for the other two to finish kneeling and paying respects, and after some thought, he also knelt down and paid respects to her.

He and Xia Yuan roughly understood Lin Youxi’s purpose in coming to pay respects to her mother this time.

【Mother】 had always been an intangible entity in Lin Youxi’s childhood memories.

Although Xiang Xiaoxia could offer her some maternal care, and although Liang Meijuan could make up for the motherly love she missed during her adolescence, both Xia Yuan and Mei Fang understood——

The motherly love missing from childhood can never be fully compensated, no matter how hard one tries throughout their life.

Lin Youxi had cried herself to sleep countless times, longing for her mother. This yearning for her mother had almost become one of her most important emotional supports.

It was the softest, most sacred, and inviolable part of her heart.

After Mei Fang finished paying respects, Lin Youxi said softly:

“Actually… at first, I really, really hated Mom Meijuan entering our family, because I was afraid she would replace the mother I longed for day and night. As I told Ah Fang before, I was afraid my mom would be forgotten by Dad, by me, by everyone, entering true death.”

“But over these past few years, Mom Meijuan has treated me very well, as if I were her own daughter. Moreover, she has always shown great respect for my mom.”

“I used to always have a grudge against her, thinking she was just pretending to be nice to me… but I don’t think that way anymore.”

Lin Youxi’s words were not only for Xia Yuan and Mei Fang to hear but also for her mother.

“I’m gradually starting to understand that no one really replaces anyone else; it’s just an excuse for not loving someone.”

“Now, I still come to visit Mom every year, six or seven times a year. The difference is… now I have two moms.”

“One, watching over me from heaven; the other, accompanying me on earth.”

Xia Yuan, being a very emotional person, couldn’t hold back her feelings upon hearing Lin Youxi’s words. She tightly hugged Lin Youxi and held her close.

“Youxi, that was so beautifully said.”

Xia Yuan said to Lin Youxi, choking up, “These words… you should also say these words to Aunt Liang. She would definitely be very happy.”

“No… I don’t think I can.”

Lin Youxi patted Xia Yuan’s back. “That would be too embarrassing…”

“These are words I can only say in front of you guys. Keep it a secret.”

“Mm-hmm, I understand…”

Seeing Lin Youxi willing to move forward made Mei Fang feel that her whole being was shining brightly.

Perhaps Lin Youxi wasn’t actually born excellent.

In her previous life, her growth was always accompanied by hardships.

She endured the death of her mother, the loss of her closest friend, and Mei Fang’s path never crossed with hers.

When all the light in her life had dimmed, she still had to face academic pressures, life struggles, and her uncle’s exploitation of her family.

However, these hardships did not defeat her; they only made her more resilient and stronger.

Whether or not she had Xia Yuan by her side.

Whether or not Mei Fang extended a helping hand.

Sigh…

Just as Mei Fang was thinking this, Lin Youxi, while embracing Xia Yuan with one arm, beckoned Mei Fang over with the other.

“What’s up?”

“I want to hug you both together,” Lin Youxi said gently. “Is that okay, Ah Fang?”

“Yeah, sure…”

So Mei Fang slowly crouched down and leaned in. Lin Youxi opened her arm and hugged Mei Fang tightly. Mei Fang’s position was initially a bit uncomfortable, but seeing this, Xia Yuan moved an arm to also hug Mei Fang, her tears smearing onto his face in the process.

The three of them hugged each other for a long, long time.

“I’m so lucky to have you both in my life.”

Lin Youxi’s voice carried infinite tenderness, meant just for Mei Fang and Xia Yuan.