"I won't take it back." Jiang Yixia patted her back.
Jiang Silu wiped her tears, stood up, opened the door, and shouted downstairs, "Bro! Sister Wen Wan! Mom agreed!"
Jiang Sifan's voice came from downstairs. "Got it."
Wen Wan's voice followed. "That's great!"
Jiang Silu glanced back at Jiang Yixia and said with a smile, "Mom, just wait here. I'll go help you pack."
She turned and ran out, her footsteps a flurry of THUMP-THUMP-THUMPs, like a gust of wind.
Jiang Yixia sat on the edge of the bed, listening as her daughter's footsteps grew more and more distant, until she couldn't hear them anymore.
She looked down at her own hands. Her fingers were rough and her knuckles prominent—the marks left by years of hard work.
She remembered the way Lu Fan had stood at the top of the stairs, looking like he wanted to say something but held it back.
'He knew I wouldn't stay, so he didn't even try to persuade me.'
'It wasn't that he didn't care; he just knew me too well.'
