CH 22

Little Miaomiao wanted to remind Uncle Hua to grasp her hand…

But she feared that he would dislike her if she pointed out his fault. Her heart tangled as she squeezed the hems of her clothes. She wanted him to like her, but she dreaded the idea of being kidnapped at the same time.  

While Little Miaomiao was brooding over this, the mother of one of her classmates walked past her and happened to glance at Little Miaomiao. When she saw Little Miaomiao’s adorable appearance, she couldn’t suppress her desire to stretch out her hand and ask, “Are you Miaomiao?” 

Her son always mentioned that she was the best girl in his class.

Her uncle didn’t hold her hand; therefore, she greatly dreaded this sudden interaction, fearing that she was a kidnapper. After hearing her voice, fear overtook Little Miaomiao so much that she scampered towards Uncle Hua and grabbed his hand in a hurry.

This stunned Uncle Hua for a moment. Then, he turned towards the mother next to him and stated, “My kid is very shy.”

The mother understood and smiled, “I must have scared her.”

Only then did Little Miaomiao realize that she wasn’t here to take her away. She was just her classmate’s mother.

After exiting the school gate, Uncle Hua helped her into the car, and then he settled her into a child safety seat.

After ensconcing himself in the driver’s seat, Uncle Hua said to Little Miaomiao, “Let’s go to Auntie’s company. Then, we’ll head home to have dinner, alright?”

Little Miaomiao nodded.

She thought Uncle Hua wouldn’t be able to see her nodding her head, so she uttered, “Alright.”

“Good.” Uncle Hua replied.

Now that she was inside the car, Little Miaomiao dwelled on the idea of tooth loss. The ride was quiet, so Little Miaomiao mentally practiced what she should say.

Uncle, what should somebody do for a fallen tooth to grow back?

She practiced once more, before finally summoning her courage, “Uncle…”

At this moment, the car behind them honked. The loud noise drowned out her voice.

Little Miaomiao felt a trace of distress because of this. When the sound of the horn stopped, she called him once more, “Uncle…”

Uncle Hua asked, “What’s the matter? Are you hungry?”

Little Miaomiao said what she had silently practiced many times in her mind, “Uncle, what could someone do to make a fallen tooth grow…”

This time, Uncle Hua heard her clearly. When Little Miaomiao asked him this question, he felt greatly surprised. He knew that she feared talking to him.

Although she tried hard to overcome her fright and disquietude, he could still sense lingering traces of fear towards him, so he always tried not to worsen her fright.

He didn’t expect that she would initiate a conversation with him. He remembered that Little Miaomiao didn’t lose any teeth; therefore, he assumed that this question had to be for one of her classmates. 

He replied, “It’s very normal for children to lose their teeth. They’ll grow back soon. During this time, one should eat more food with a higher calcium content.”

Little Miaomiao wanted to scribble down what her uncle told her, ‘eat more food with…higher…content.’

She was too young to know what calcium was. But she still tried hard to remember.

Soon, they arrived at Aunt Hua’s company. After Uncle Hua stepped out of the car, he helped Little Miaomiao scramble out of her seat. This time, he clasped her hand.

Aunt Hua’s company had a special rest and reception area. Uncle Hua took her there, and then they waited for Aunt Hua to get off work.

Concurrently, Aunt Hua’s mind wandered off during her meeting. She wondered if Little Miaomiao could successfully adapt to this new situation.

Little Miaomiao never cried, and she concealed her fears and dislikes deep within the vault of her heart. So, it was even more perturbing.

When the meeting reached its conclusion, Aunt Hua hurriedly took her bag and left the room, and then she quickly entered the elevator. Some female colleagues followed her and asked, “Why were you so absent-minded during the meeting today? Is something bothering you?”

“It’s nothing. I have to take care of some family matters, so I have to go back.” Aunt Hua said.

At this moment, the elevator door opened. Aunt Hua saw a tall man holding a little girl who eagerly glanced in her direction.

The scene was so harmonious and beautiful that Aunt Hua almost broke into tears.

Aunt Hua ran over to them, “Why are you here? Was Little Miaomiao fine with you picking her up from school today?”

When Little Miaomiao saw Aunt Hua, she couldn’t conceal the smile on her face. Then, she spoke in a soft voice, “I got used to it.”

“Sister Hua, is this your daughter? She’s so big and beautiful!” remarked a colleague next to her.

“Sister Hua’s daughter is actually pretty big. I always thought that Sister Hua didn’t have any children yet.” Another colleague chimed in.

Aunt Hua never spoke about Little Miaomiao with her colleagues. She never told her neighbors that they had adopted Little Miaomiao either.

Little Miaomiao was speechless. When she heard them say that Aunt Hua had no children, she felt very uncomfortable.

Little Miaomiao had noticed a long time ago that her classmates addressed her aunt as ‘Auntie’.

After learning for a while, she knew that the title of ‘auntie’ could be conferred to anyone, but not the title of ‘mother’. That could only be given to one’s own mother.

In order to speak with Little Miaomiao, Aunt Hua kneeled down in front of her. Little Miaomiao buried her face in Aunt Hua’s body and said with every ounce of strength, “Mom. Let’s go eat dinner.”

This stunned Aunt Hua. Did Little Miaomiao call her…Mom?

The word ‘mom’ was a dreadful word for Little Miaomiao because of the scars of her past; therefore, she always called her Auntie. But the effect of the word ‘mother’ was far too powerful and emotional.

She almost bursted into tears. This also touched Uncle Hua deeply in his heart. He pulled Aunt Hua up and said, “Let’s go home now. Our daughter is hungry.” 

Aunt Hua came back to her senses and hummed in reply. But she still couldn’t keep her emotions under control, so she quickly lifted Little Miaomiao into her arms.

In the past, whenever she went shopping, she found that a bag of clothes was too heavy for her to carry. But now she carried a six-year old girl from the entrance of the company all the way to the parking garage without feeling any fatigue at all.

When Little Miaomiao said the word ‘mom’, she discovered that the word resonated surprisingly well with her. For the very first time, she found that it emitted a wondrous melody for her ears. She noticed that Aunt Hua wasn’t unhappy when she called her ‘mom’.

So, Little Miaomiao called her again, “Mom.”

“Ehh!” Aunt Hua replied. Then, she kissed her forehead, “Mom is here.”

These words alone were enough to almost bring tears to her eyes.

“Mom.” Little Miaomiao uttered again. She was kissed on her forehead, and she was a little embarrassed, but she wanted to be kissed again, so she once again said that word boldly and proudly.

Uncle Hua walked next to them. He wanted to ask Little Miaomiao to call him dad, but he noticed that these two were in their own little world, so he decided not to bother them.

Tears cascaded down Aunt Hua’s face, as she kissed Little Miaomiao’s forehead again, “Mom is here.”

“Mom!”

“Mom is here!”