I had a dream, but I've forgotten what it was.
But that must be a father who is still dreaming.
...
"Hey, wake up!"
Someone is poking his cheek.
But no matter who it was, Xuan Ye hoped that the other party would let her sleep a little longer.
Although she couldn't explain the reason, she was very tired now, her mood was inexplicably bad, and she felt vaguely like crying.
"It's about time you woke up, right?"
Poke.
Xuan Ye ignored it, and the attack of poking her face accelerated, her soft face was still being pinched and dangled.
It doesn't hurt, but it's really annoying.
"You'll catch a cold if you sleep in a place like this."
You're so verbose, go away. I told you I was very tired.
Xuan Ye waved her hand to drive away the annoying person, but her hand was tightly grasped and she couldn't break free no matter how hard she struggled.
She found it annoying, so she gave up.
There was a rough touch on his fingertips, but it was warm. In fact, it wasn't so annoying to have his hand held like this.
"Hey, Xuan——Ye——"
Who is it? He still knows my name. Should I promise him?
Xuan Ye thought this while slowly opening her eyes.
The originally dark world seemed to be illuminated by a beam of light, and the blurred vision became clearer and clearer, and finally turned into a somewhat terrifying "ghost face" before his eyes.
"......dad?"
Their eyes met directly.
Looking at Xuan Ye's dark brown eyes, she blinked a few times, and the scary face suddenly turned into a smile, which looked a little funny.
"What's wrong, are you asleep?"
Father patted Xuan Ye's head with his big palm.
"But dad, you're not..."
"Huh? What's wrong?"
"...No, it's nothing."
Xuan Ye shook her head.
She looked around. It was an extremely familiar old house and yard, as well as the straw pile where she often dozed off.
"That's it, it turns out I'm home..."
"Have you been anywhere? It's not peaceful outside recently. It's better to go outside less..."
Before my father could finish his words, the courtyard door exploded into pieces with a bang.
The soldier who rode into the yard on a war horse raised his halberd to his father without even saying a word. The blood that was already stuck on the halberd splashed onto Xuan Ye's face.
"Ah ah!"
Xuan Ye let out a small scream and sat on the cold ground.
But my father seemed to have become accustomed to this uninvited "guest". He dodged the halberd sideways, grabbed the handle of the halberd, and then pulled the soldier off his horse with just a pull.
Qiang——
He thrust the soldier's halberd in front of the soldier.
"roll!"
With just one word, the soldier screamed and ran away, forgetting to even ride his horse.
Xuan Ye looked at everything in front of her, and her vague memories began to become clearer.
By the way, this did happen when I was a kid.
It was a dark age that no one wanted to recall. Under the rule of the demon king wrapped in desire, "peace" was a luxury wish everywhere, let alone in my hometown, a city that didn't even deserve its name. small town.
Unsupervised soldiers who are no different from robbers often come here to steal things. The young people have already given up on the village, leaving only the elderly and children who cannot escape.
Lack of water and labor mean that even weeds cannot survive in this village made of loess.
Perhaps the fate of those who stay is to sleep quietly with this piece of yellow land after eating the only life here.
But everything changed after my father came.
My father used to be a forest guard. Although he looked fierce, he was actually so gentle that it made people feel distressed. He was more serious about his work than anyone else, and he was never lazy. To put it simply, he was an extremely good person. people.
At that time, my father had just left the forest and was looking for a place to settle down. When passing by the village, he easily repelled the marauding soldiers just like he had just done.
The protected villagers hoped that their father could stay, and because there were many empty houses in the village, his father stayed.
After that, my father led the villagers to build fortifications, open up farmland, and dig wells to divert water. Life in the village became better and better, more and more refugees came to seek refuge, and the size of the village became larger and larger.
In order to completely keep their father, the villagers proposed that the youngest girl in the village be betrothed to his father, and that was...
"Xuan Ye! Let Mi leave something!"
After a long period of unusual movement, a young girl rushed out of the room.
The girl who was as old as her sister cried and hugged Xuan Ye tightly who was sitting on the ground.
"Well, I'm fine."
Xuan Ye also hugged the girl tightly.
Such a familiar feeling, the moment I touched her, I felt extremely reassured.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, Taiwan!"
"Stop crying, mom, isn't Xuan Ye doing well?"
The father looked at the girl who was crying and was at a loss.
"Dan Xi, but...wow wow wow——"
Yes, that's my mother.
There is a lot of age difference between my mother and my father, and it is reasonable for my mother to call my father uncle. However, my mother has not been very hearing since she was a child. Because she cannot hear, she speaks strangely.
"Mom..." Xuan Ye called softly.
"Huh? What?" The mother turned from crying to smiling and looked at Xuan Ye.
It was a very familiar feeling, and the tip of Xuan Ye's nose felt a little sore.
Xuanye knew that the "what" her mother asked was because she failed to hear clearly what she said.
My mother is always like this. Although she can't hear clearly, she still likes to listen to people's speech. Whenever she doesn't hear something clearly, she will ask "what" with a gentle smile like this until she hears clearly.
It's always been like this, never changed.
"Mom, you dote on Xuan Ye so much, like a child!"
My father was a little helpless.
"What?"
"I said, mother dotes on Xuan Ye too much! Just like a child!"
Father raised his voice.
"But, I've always been a kid." ("But, I'm just a child.")
The mother gently stroked Xuan Ye's head.
Mom, really, I have already...
Xuan Ye was a little confused. She lowered her head and looked at her hands. They were indeed the hands of two children, but there was nothing wrong with them.
"Really, with such an education, how can Xuan Ye grow into an excellent forest guard!"
My father often said this to my mother and me. He seemed to hope that I could inherit the profession of forest ranger.
"I will work hard!"
Um? Why do I say this? It seems like that was what I said when I was a kid.
Yes, I've been saying that since I was a kid.
Because at that time, my excellent father had always been a hero in my heart. My words, my character, and my dreams were all directed towards my father.
"Buheng!" ("No!")
As before, my mother stood between my father and me and then hugged me tightly.
"From now on, Xuan Ye will be a lonely awakening mother." ("From now on, Xuan Ye will be a beautiful bride.")
"Yes, yes, then you can actually think about it a little bit after you become a bride."
The father doted on his wife, who was younger than him, and immediately softened his attitude when he heard his wife's objections.
He obviously responded with the same words as usual, but this time it was different. Although it was hard to describe, there was something wrong.
Only now do I understand.
Perhaps it was because of his complicated expression of joy and disappointment, and the fact that he silently pulled down his sleeves to cover the deep and large scars that he regarded as medals.
"Buheng!"
"Hahaha, if it doesn't work, then it won't work!"
Dad replied with a smile.
By the way, when he was a child, he always had that smile on his face at all times, but in my memory it was like he had never smiled.
When did that hearty smile that could cover up the grimacing face disappear?
...
