CHAPTER 815: CHAPTER 812: FORGETTING

Mili’s heart was filled with anxiety and anticipation at this moment.

The anxiety was naturally the fear that her father had forgotten about her, while the anticipation was for the moment of meeting, hoping that her father could still remember her.

So she stood silently by the roadside, waiting for her father to pass by and recognize her at a glance, call out "Mi Li’er" in surprise, and then excitedly walk up to embrace her.

She was lost in thought, with a slight smile on her lips, immersed in her own world.

It wasn’t until a small snowball hit the back of her head that she snapped back to reality.

She turned her head to look behind her and saw Duoduo holding a snowball, surprised, hurriedly pointing at Dou Dou beside her: "It wasn’t me, it was Dou Dou who did it."

Dou Dou, being an honest child, took responsibility and said with a chuckle, "Sorry, I accidentally hit you. I was aiming for Duoduo."

Mili shook her head, said nothing, and didn’t mind, turning her head again to look down the road where pedestrians occasionally passed by, curiously glancing at the three children.

Dou Dou and Duoduo exchanged a look, and without saying any more, walked up to Mili to accompany her in waiting.

But it was really too boring, and soon Dou Dou couldn’t stand it anymore. She couldn’t help but ask, "Sister Mi Li, did your mom and dad forget about you?"

"I don’t know," Mili replied sadly.

She glanced at Dou Dou who was squatting on the ground like a little potato, then said, "My grave is far away, but my mom and dad often go to the grave to see me, buy me lots of delicious and fun things, and even burn paper money for me, but gradually, they only went during the New Year, but... later... later..."

"Later during the New Year, they didn’t even go, they just found a place, drew a circle, and burned some paper money for me..."

"Burn paper money? What is that?" Dou Dou asked, puzzled.

"It’s money burned for the dead. Didn’t your mom and dad do it for you?" Duoduo said.

Dou Dou thought for a moment, seeming to recall something.

"So those paper notes are money for the dead? But why didn’t I get any, and why didn’t they burn any for me this New Year? Did they take my money away..." Dou Dou said, jumping up angrily.

"I’m going to ask them." She said with a huff.

Mili stared blankly at her, then her gaze shifted to Duoduo, who also looked a bit dazed, and then both of them burst into laughter.

"What are you laughing at? What are you laughing at? Sister Duoduo, did your mom and dad burn paper money for you, how much, show it to me..."

Dou Dou moved close to Duoduo, sticking to her, trying to make her money her own.

"No, stay away from me," Duoduo said, pushing her away.

"Oh, so they took your money too?" Dou Dou realized.

Mili laughed heartily, her initial anxious mood now seemed completely relaxed.

Just then, a man’s voice came from the end of the road.

"Qingqing, run faster, don’t be so slow, young people should be energetic."

"It’s snowing today, and you expect me to run? Can’t I not run?"

"Sure, I can tell your homeroom teacher that there’s no need for a run today."

"Tch, forget it, Fat Fishhead will definitely ask for a detailed reason again."

"Don’t give the teacher a nickname," another woman’s voice said.

"I didn’t come up with it."

"Even if you didn’t, you shouldn’t use it," the woman said.

...

Approaching them from afar was Mili’s mom, dad, and sister, a family of three.

They walked lightly, talking as they went.

Mili was surprised to see her mom had also come down, watching the three of them get closer with a sense of daze and growing anxiety.

She looked down at herself, then bent over, grabbing a handful from the ground, leaving a small handprint, confirming that she truly existed, and was visible to them.

"Hey, why are there three kids here, from which family in the neighborhood? I haven’t seen them before," Mili’s dad first noticed the three little ones.

"During the New Year, they might be relatives, but why are there only three children? Where are their parents?" said Mili’s mom.

Mili’s sister Qingqing said nothing, just curiously looking at them.

Mili and her companions also curiously looked at them.

Especially Mili, her eyes filled with anticipation, her expression excited, wanting to speak several times but failing to find the words.

"Where are your parents?"

As Mili’s mom passed by them, she asked with concern.

Duoduo and Dou Dou said nothing, instead turning their gaze to Mili.

Mili looked at her mom, her lips trembling slightly, then pointed to the direction they had just come from.

"So you’re from the same building as us. It’s cold outside, go back soon, don’t catch a cold," Mili’s mom said with concern.

Mili nodded, Mili’s mom gave her a once-over before smiling and catching up with Mili’s dad and sister, who were walking ahead.

"That little girl just now looked a bit like our Mili," Mili’s mom’s voice came through the air.

"Now that you mention it, she really does look a bit like her," Mili’s dad agreed thoughtfully.

He turned back to look behind them, and Mili’s sister also curiously turned back.

"Hey? Where are they?" Mili’s sister said in surprise.

The road behind them was empty, without a shadow in sight.

Mili’s mom turned back as well, looking at the empty road, frowning, "They must have gone back, right?"

"That fast?" Mili’s sister questioned.

"Maybe they hid somewhere? They’re so small, squatting down somewhere, you wouldn’t see them," Mili’s dad said indifferently.

"That’s true."

"Okay, stop lazing around, let’s run, mom will take a picture for us," said Mili’s dad as he took off running.

Mili’s mom laughed, took out her phone, and snapped a photo of their backs, intending to upload it later.

As she finished taking the picture and was about to put her phone away, she seemed to remember something and opened her phone’s photo album, scrolling hard.

The photo album was filled with too many pictures, mostly of their daughter Qingqing, a few of the couple, and some of flowers and plants.

There weren’t many old photos since smartphones hadn’t been around for long, and she’d only replaced this phone two or three years ago, so the photo album didn’t span a long timeline.

Of course, the old photos weren’t there, but she remembered there should be a few pictures of old albums in the phone—photos she took randomly when tidying things up at home once.

And she finally found those few pictures, apart from the album cover, there were a few open ones.

She zoomed in with her fingers, carefully examining, her cheeks instantly changing color. She suddenly turned back to look behind her.

"Mi Li’er..."

The north wind swayed tree branches as snowflakes fell swiftly.