Sara chose not to take Muchen seriously so she didn"t bother texting back.
She ignored him and stood up to head to her room when she saw Mr Chu approaching, scaring the life out of her.
"Uncle... I didn"t know you were in" She said with a jump.
"Sorry for scaring you. I was resting inside. They didn"t allow me go because they believe I"m still weak." He whined playfully.
"Of course. How could we possibly allow you to clean up our apartment for us? You need to rest well" Sara supported the others.
He tapped her shoulders gently before sitting down and ushering her to sit with him.
"Work is fine?" He asked in a fatherly tone.
Sara nodded before sitting opposite him.
"Have I ever told you how I met your father?" Mr Chu asked her with gentle eyes.
Sara wondered where this question was coming from all of a sudden. She shook her head and answered "I haven"t heard the story before"
A gentle smile formed on his face as he reminisced the past.
"After I lost my wife and my job, I wandered about like a stray cat. I had this place..." He ran his eyes around then continued "but I didn"t think it was "home". Hope was completely far from me. Then, I was also raising my orphaned nephew so I sent him and Bilike to Bilike"s aunt to stay with her for a while. I actually felt like dying then. I wanted to end everything so I could go be with Bilike"s mother."
He stopped and studied Sara"s face to see she was fully paying attention then he gave her a weak smile. "One day, I walked into this little restaurant to have my last meal and drink before I die. I think your father must have sensed something was wrong with this ciustomer. After serving me my food and drinks, he sat with me and told me about his little daughter. About the challenges her faced raising her and how he overcame most of them. He told me how he could and would do anything for his daughter and asked if I had child and whether I felt the same way.... I don"t know how long we talked, but I later realised it was a selfish decision to end my life. What about Bilike? What about my little nephew, Aotian?" You remember that night many years when you saw me in your house right?" He asked.
Sara thought for a while before nodding. She remembered the night she saw a "beggar" in their apartment and screamed her lungs out before Jianjun told her he was their guest and introduced him to her as Uncle Chu. But she settled with Mr Chu instead.
When she saw Mr Chu again the next morning, he was well dressed and looked neat...and was wearing her Father"s clothes which annoyed her.
"Till this day, I still see him as my life saver. Any time Bilike or Aotian celebrates any important event, I feel very joyful because at least, I am alive to wish them a happy birthday or watch them graduate and every step they take in their lives. Your Father... I will do anything for him.... And you also..."
Sara smiled and took his hands "Uncle. You"ve done more than enough for us these past years. Letting us stay with you was very nice of you. I just hope now, you also give much attention to Bilike." She advised. One thing was to be alive, another was to look after your kids.
Mr Chu patted her hand and smiled. "I"ll do that now. I"ll do that."
"So why exactly did you want to see me earlier?" Sara asked because she believed he didn"t want to see her just to tell her how he met her father.
He pulled his hands from hers and took in a deep breath. "Remember I said I"ll do anything for the both of you?"
Sara nodded.
"I want to know what is up with you" He said.
Sara raised a questioning brow at him "What is up with me? What do you mean?"
"I didn"t tell your father, it didn"t mean I wouldn"t want to know what is up with you. I want to hear it. What happened at the factory with those gangsters? The memory is still fresh."
Sara pursed her lips and closed her eyes to breathe in deeply. She released the breath and opened her eyes.
"Uncle, you don"t have to bother about that too much. Nothing happened. The things is... I know one of their members. We met by chance one time so I just told them to call him and confirm that I know him so they"ll let us be and it worked." She said
"I should believe that?" He asked.
"Yes uncle. Don"t bother yourself with irrelevant things. Everything"s fine." She a.s.sured.
"Are you sure you didn"t make any kind of deal with them?" He asked again. He had to be sure for his conscience to be clear. Everything had been caused by him and his son.
Sara laughed and shook her head. "Nothing like that"
Mr Chu sighed in relief. "Stop meeting with gangsters if you still do. Nothing good ever comes out of knowing them" He advised.
Her smile turned to a sad one when she answered "I know... I know best"
She was about leaving the room to go join the others in cleaning their new apartment when her eyes landed on the wardrobe where Jianjun kept his things.
She remembered the little box and wondered if it was in there and the contents in it.
She gradually approached his wardrobe and opened it anxiously.
She looked at his tidy wardrobe. Some clothes were on the hanger while there was also a medium sized luggage bag standing there.
Sara"s eyes unknowingly began to water. This was all there was to Jianjun. He had nothing. This was all the wears he had.
There were only three clothes on the hanger: one suit which he wore to any official occasion, and two other casual wears.
Her father had always been more worried about Joreen and herself and had totally ignored his own needs. He hadn"t bothered to take care of himself and it broke Sara"s heart.
She looked at the bottom part of the wardrobe and saw one knockoff official shoe that he wore with the suit to formal occasions. There was nothing else there. The other shoe he had was the one he always wore and he should currently be wearing it now wherever he was.
She shut the wardrobe to stop looking. It was as if a big hand was squeezing her heart. She had been a really bad daughter. Jianjun was suffering in his own way but she on the other hand was always disobeying him or throwing tantrums. "I am going to be a good girl from now on. I am going to work very hard and take care of my family" She nodded to the idea before opening the wardrobe again.
She thought it was actually pointless. The wardrobe was very tidy and s.p.a.cious. So where could he possibly hide the little box? She thought and thought for a while and decided to open his luggage which was something she had never done before.
When she finally opened it, she saw that there really was no much clothes inside. Just a trouser and two tee-s.h.i.+rts. And...the little box was also there.
She sighed. Both in relief and sadness before her hand lifted the box in antic.i.p.ation.