“Joan, don’t feel embarrassed because of your conflict with Larry and bottle it up without sharing it with us. Sometimes, when you can’t bear it alone, you should tell me and Finnick about it. We’re both your elders, so we understand life better than you do. The two of you should learn from our life experiences so that your life will be better.”
Vivian’s words almost had tears streaming down Joan’s face. It had been a long time since an elder had placed herself into their shoes and looked at the problem from their perspective, let alone given her some many nuggets of wisdom.
Thus, she was undeniably moved. While her expression remained unchanged, she had already hugged Vivian multiple times in her heart.
At times, she found herself to be very selfish as well. Just because she wanted to see Leslie, she proposed sending him to a child care center. She seemed to consider only her gains, yet never once considering things from Finnick and Vivian’s perspective and taking into account their anguish at not getting to see their grandchild in their golden years.
Inwardly, she resolved to pick Leslie up and bring him here for them to take care of him. Then, she wanted to go to the beach and ascertain whether Larry was still there. If he were, she would definitely rush forward and hug him tightly before sincerely declaring, “Let’s make up, Larry!”
Subsequently, she grasped Vivian’s slightly coarse hand, a mark left by time. In the eyes of all children, that was the most beautiful mark that belonged only to their parents.
“Are you sure you want to terminate our contract?” That was the third time the receptionist had asked Joan that particular question. The fees for this child care center were exorbitant, and back then, she had paid a year’s payment for Leslie at one go. But since she had changed her mind, the contract between them should end here.
“Yes. I know all payment that has been received can’t be refunded in the event of a breach of contract, but I’m here today specifically to take my son back. As for the payment, I won’t request a refund since I’ve already signed the contract back then,” Joan enunciated. I never knew that terminating the contract would be so troublesome. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have sent Leslie here no matter what!
“Please wait for a moment, then. We’ll process it right away.” Flashing her a smile, the receptionist picked up the phone and said a few words before hanging up. Then, she turned to back to her and said, “You can now pick your child up.”
It had been more than a month since she last saw Leslie. A child of his age was at the peak of growth, seemingly changing every single day. However, she felt very blessed, for she believed that she wouldn’t miss any stage of his growth.
The receptionist led her through a long corridor before pushing open a blue door. Leslie was lying in a crib with a teddy crib mobile. Perhaps he had a telepathic sense, for the moment she walked in, he giggled.
She carefully picked him up and swung him in an arc. Leslie loved being picked up, so he was particularly thrilled every time someone did so. His tiny yet chubby hands flailed in the air as he babbled nonsensically. Having picked him up, she was gripped by the urge to never put him down again.
She cradled him while humming to him. Suddenly, she glimpsed his pillow out of the corner of her eyes and noticed that something seemed to have been shoved underneath. There was a bulge that appeared very much out of place.
Following that, she freed one of her hands and flipped the pillow over. In the next moment, she was greeted by the sight of a quality piece of jade that was engraved with a lopsided “Joan” on it.
She recognized it at a single glance as the unmarked jade that Larry had presented to her back when they had just gotten married and suggested that they engrave it together.
At that time, she was still analyzing the company’s design drawings, so she merely brushed him off with a lukewarm reply when he came to her enthusiastically, saying, “I’m not doing any engraving. I’ve got to work.”
