After trying to stabilize her emotions, Lanxin continued to say:
"From the moment your father sacrificed everything to save me, I have left his mark on my life. It is an gratitude beyond life and death that makes me willing to give everything in return."
"But I deeply understand that he belongs to another family, that family includes you and your mother, there are your common memories and responsibilities."
"So, I chose to keep this emotion deeply buried in my heart, letting it become the softest hue in my life, rather than a piercing thorn."
As she said that, a hint of determination that was barely noticeable flashed in Lanxin's eyes.
"At that time, I had no abnormal thoughts about your father, let alone the idea of destroying your family. To me, your father was like a big brother who guarded me, gave me warmth and strength, but never crossed the line. Our interactions always maintained the most appropriate distance, every bit of care was just right, with no excess at all."
She drove while her gaze fixed through the glass window ahead, as if recalling those past days.
Her voice became softer and deeper: "Until your mother's untimely death, I saw your father's unprecedented vulnerability and helplessness. He cried every day, his spirit was confused, as if the whole world had lost its color."
"In that moment, my heart hurt more than anyone else, but all I did was quietly stay by his side, offering him silent support and comfort..."
Lanxin's eyes began to glisten with tears, but she managed to hold them back.
"Zhang Long, I hope you can understand my feelings and our choices. In this complex world, being able to maintain a such a sentiment with your father is enough for us..."
After listening to Lanxin narrate the story of her and my father, a inexplicable feeling suddenly sprouted in my heart.
This feeling is a bit strange, and I can't quite put it into words.
Before descending the mountain, the master had warned me that there are two things in this world that cannot be trusted, one is a man's promise, and the other is a woman's tears.
I have not seen much of the world, nor do I understand the affairs of men and women, but I always believe that there is no pure friendship between men and women.
Whenever unrelated men and women interact, their purpose is very strong. Whether it's a stepdaughter or a stepsister, it's merely a cloak of modesty for their infidelity.
I cannot accept Lanxin's single-sided words, and I don't believe they would be so noble, nor do I believe their relationship would be so pure.
So, I said with ill humor: "If the story of you and my father is not made up by you, it is indeed a bit moving!"
After saying this, I closed my eyes and began to meditate.
This is a habit I developed in the temple over the past three years, and it is also my daily routine.
Lanxin glanced back at me, discovering that I was sitting cross-legged in the back seat with my eyes closed, muttering under my breath, showing a very devout attitude.
It was clear that my "little monk" had started chanting prayers again.
In order not to disturb me, she drove silently.
Three hours later, we arrived at a VIP ward of Chengdu City People's Hospital.
He lay motionless on the hospital bed.
Lanxin walked to the bedside and pulled Zhang Ziming's hand, saying:
"Hubby, I've brought our son over for you."
My father opened his cloudy eyes weakly and asked, "Long Long, you... you finally came back. I... I thought I'd never see you again in this lifetime!"
Looking at my father's exhausted, almost lifeless appearance, I felt a subtle pain in my heart.
Thinking about how my father, three years ago, kicked me out of the house, knowing that I was in the temple and never cared to visit me or try to talk to me, did not live up to his role as a father's responsibilities, I no longer felt sad.
On the contrary, I felt a sense of schadenfreude.
I rebelled somewhat and said, "Zhang Ziming, I never thought you would have such a day too. It's said that good people don't live long and bad people live for thousands of years. Don't worry, the Lord of Hell won't take you, you won't die!"
Lanxin's eyes blazed at me angrily: "Zhang Long, do you know what you're saying? How can you say such things when your father is in this state?"
I looked at her coldly: "Then what do you want me to say? What qualifications do you have to lecture me like this?"
Lanxin opened her mouth and made a gesture of saying something but then stopping herself.
It was probably because she feared an argument with me here would hurt my father's heart and thus hasten his death, that she chose not to hold me accountable.
Zhang Ziming looked at me with a contrite expression, speaking in fits and starts.
"Long Long, I'm sorry. It's all my fault. I haven't taken care of you properly. I'm going to see your mom now. After I go, let your stepmom take care of you instead. You have to listen to your stepmom."
After saying this, he slowly closed his eyes.
After closing his eyes, he never opened them again.
I touched his nose with my hand and found that he had no more breath.
It turned out that he had passed away.
I never expected that he would really come to see me for the last time, leave his last breath, and entrust me to Lanxin. And yet, I spoke those disrespectful words that hurt him.
Thinking of the happy days and happy years when my mother was alive, our family of three together, I suddenly felt sadness from my heart.
I shook my father's increasingly cold body fiercely, and screamed loudly in a fit of despair:
"Dad, I'm sorry..."
Lanxin threw herself onto her father's body and cried out loudly:
"Husband, you can't be so cruelly heartless and leave us behind. What will our future life be like without you? Wuuwuwu..."
Seeing her cry so heartlessly and rend her soul, I suddenly felt sorry for her.
It's not surprising that she is pitiful, as a young woman who has lost her husband at a young age!
Although I have no particular liking for this woman, I can't help but feel some sympathy for her.
I reached out and pulled her off my father's body, consoling her: "Once a person is dead, there's no way to bring them back. Since my father has gone, let him rest in peace!"
Lanxin opened her arms wide and tightly hugged me, as if she had grabbed a lifesaver.
Feeling the heat and softness of her body, my body suddenly stiffened.
I wanted to push her away, but seeing her in such despair, I could only let her vent her pain and sorrow on me.
A sound of sobbing came from my chest.
The shirt I was wearing had been drenched in a large area by Lanxin's tears.
I felt a wet and warm breath.
Other than my mother, I had never been hugged by a woman in my life. Now being embraced by the woman referred to as the "stepmom," I felt a mix of tension and unease.
My body started to shake, and my heart was accelerating uncontrollably.
Suddenly, I recalled the first time my father brought her home and asked me to call her "stepmom," while I had called her a "fox spirit," which caused a shock in my heart.
At this moment, a man's voice came from the doorway of the ward:
"What happened?"
