"Tong Tong!" Little Jingshi's voice immediately sounded from the phone.
Soft, somewhat aggrieved, somewhat spoiled.
"You've left..." Ming Yutong asked softly.
She dared not speak too loudly, afraid she might choke up.
Little Jingshi also muttered, "It's all dad's fault. He dragged me away. He wouldn't even let me say goodbye to you. I wanted to eat the breakfast you made for me."
"It's okay. We'll have another chance, and I'll make it for you again," Ming Yutong said.
Little Jingshi licked his lips and asked, "What breakfast did you make for me, Tong Tong?"
Ming Yutong listed each item on the table for Little Jingshi.
"Awesome," Little Jingshi said. "Tong Tong, take a picture and send it to me. I want to see."
"Okay."
After hanging up, Ming Yutong took a picture of the full breakfast table and sent it to Little Jingshi on WeChat.
Then, she stared blankly at the breakfast table for a while.
After such a long time, the breakfast had already gone cold.
Including the thick corn soup and hot milk, everything was cold.
Ming Yutong silently picked up her chopsticks and didn't touch anything in Little Jingshi's cartoon plate.
She only ate from the regular plates, but the food had no taste for her.
For the past seven years, she had almost always eaten breakfast alone, but she had never felt lonely.
But this morning, her tongue felt bitter, unable to taste any deliciousness.
She just mechanically stuffed food into her mouth, not knowing what she was eating, unable to taste anything.
Without chewing properly, she swallowed it down, choking on the now cold milk.
Gradually, her bitter tongue tasted salty again.
Tears streamed silently down her cheeks, slipping into her mouth.
Ming Yutong ate mechanically, like someone who didn't know whether they were hungry or full.
Except for what was in Little Jingshi's plate, she finished everything else unconsciously.
When she realized all the plates were empty, she finally noticed how uncomfortably full her stomach felt.
The contents of her stomach surged towards her throat.
She rushed into the bathroom, leaning over the toilet. Her stomach churned painfully.
The things she had just eaten all came back out.
And it was very painful.
Her throat felt sour, and the sourness surged into her nose, choking and burning.
"Ugh... ugh, ugh..." Ming Yutong retched, her voice increasingly choked with sobs.
Tears fell along with her sobs, louder and louder.
***
Little Jingshi arrived home and opened WeChat to see the breakfast pictures Ming Yutong had sent.
He immediately showed his phone to Fu Yinxiu, "Dad, look, Tong Tong made me so much breakfast. It looks so good, and it must be delicious too. It's just like in a restaurant. It's all because of you that I couldn't eat Tong Tong's breakfast. Hmph! Tong Tong must be really upset."
Fu Yinxiu ignored him with a cold face and turned to go back to the bedroom to catch up on sleep.
He rushed to Ming Yutong's house overnight and lay on Ming Yutong's bed. How could he possibly sleep?
Turning his head, he could see Ming Yutong's sleeping face.
Even though Little Jingshi was in between, it didn't make much difference.
When he woke up in the morning, Ming Yutong immediately hugged his arm.
As intimate as they had been years ago, as if they had never been apart.
But he also knew that this was because Ming Yutong was asleep, defenseless, and acting unconsciously.
Once she woke up, she would never act like this.
He didn't sleep, keeping his eyes closed, still feeling Ming Yutong's gaze on his face after she woke up.
He didn't know what she was looking at.
But Fu Yinxiu didn't sleep well after all.
Just as he entered the room, Little Jingshi followed him in.
Fu Yinxiu frowned impatiently, then heard Little Jingshi say, "Hmph, Dad, you secretly took me away while Tong Tong was making breakfast. Is it because you're jealous that Tong Tong made breakfast for me and not for you? Look, look, these are all made by Tong Tong for me, not for you!"
Fu Yinxiu didn't say anything. He grabbed Little Jingshi by the collar and dragged him outside.
The bedroom door slammed shut behind Little Jingshi with a "bang."
Little Jingshi turned around and shouted loudly at the closed bedroom door, "You're being unreasonable!"
Then he ran back to his own room, wanting to whisper secrets to Tong Tong, hmph!
Ming Yutong stood up from beside the toilet, rinsed her mouth with a glass of water, and washed her face.
Returning to the dining room, she glanced at Little Jingshi's untouched breakfast on the plate.
Now even the cold parts had dried up a bit, not as fresh-looking as when they were just made.
She silently took the plate to the kitchen and dumped it into the trash.
Her movements around the dining table and kitchen were repetitive, mechanical, like an emotionless puppet.
When the kitchen and dining room were both tidy again, she returned to the bedroom, looking at the messy bed.
She took off the sheets and pillowcases that Fu Yinxiu had slept on and threw them into the washing machine to clean.
Then she returned to the bedroom and took out a leather-bound diary from the top drawer of the bedside table.
Inside, it recorded every detail from when she gave birth, was kicked out of the hospital, and every day afterward.
At that time, she was alone, her whole focus on finding Fu Yinxiu and Little Jingshi.
No work, no socializing.
Every day she went out to meet detectives, and then wandered aimlessly in New City.
Holding onto hope, maybe she could accidentally meet them on the roadside.
Of course, disappointment came time and time again.