Why it never ends

In the afternoon, Hesta and Ding Yuqing sat on the stone fence beside the parking lot.Hesta was eating chicken rolls with a small bottle of newly purchased mineral water, while Ding Yuqing was still holding the paper bag and looking ahead expressionlessly.

"I'll take you to the children's hospital in a moment." Hesta said softly, "Are you okay?"

Ding Yuqing woke up from her deep thoughts and looked sideways at the people beside her, "...are you going somewhere else this afternoon?"

"Well, I'm going to see Eleven, at the Hope Center... I took you there last week. I'll probably stay there for two hours, and then I'll come back to you to see if there's anything I can do to help. I’m busy.”

"Will it be too much trouble for you?"

"What's the trouble..."

Hesta balled up the leftover wrapping paper, and after taking aim several times, she perfectly threw the paper ball into the trash can not far away.

"But now I know why Miaomiao wants me to stay in the hospital." Hesta put one hand in front of her, "I'm convinced. What she said is really accurate - if I didn't go home yesterday, I wouldn't There is such a thing."

A smile finally appeared on Ding Yuqing's indifferent face, and she whispered: "Do you believe it now? My sister called specifically to remind you, so you should know the seriousness of this matter. But what happened today, said It has nothing to do with you after all..."

"There is still some." Hesta turned her head, "Does Ms. Xu have something in your father's hands?"

"……No."

"Really, are you sure?" Hesta turned back and glanced at the height, "I feel-"

"Maybe you think my father is a bad person, lazy, cruel, uneducated and likes to lecture others... Well, he is a bad person, but he neither looks for women outside nor gambles. His only hobby is playing chess . In addition to work, he spends most of his time hanging out with his chess friends, and his salary, bonuses and pensions are all taken care of by my mother... He doesn't bother to ask about anything."

Ding Yuqing clutched the paper bag in her arms, "...You don't know how many women have envied my mother over the years, envied her for having such a unique vision and finding such a good man."

"...A good man?" Hesta murmured in a low voice, "A good husband who can beat people?"

"I haven't really done much in the past few years," Ding Yuqing whispered, "I just smashed things and yelled at us..."

"Have you ever thought that he can't move anymore?" Hesta looked at her, "He can't even lift the coffee table now."

Ding Yuqing had no reaction.

After a period of silence, she opened the paper bag and took out a half-cold pie.

“When I was a child, I once had a dream that my mother was getting divorced and wanted to take me away.

"After I woke up, I told my mother the dream. I hugged her neck and said, if you divorce your father in the future, I will definitely follow you no matter what... She picked me up and was very surprised and said, 'Why did mom get divorced? If you get divorced, what will others think of you in the future?'"

"...What will he think of you?" Hesta asked seriously.

"She will look at me like she looks at other children from divorced families... and she will look at herself like she looks at other divorced women."

Hesta frowned slightly. She did not fully understand the meaning of this sentence, but from the sad and depressed state of the person in front of her, she seemed to be able to perceive a vague outline.

"Actually, I know... After all, this is not the first time this has happened..." Ding Yuqing's voice became weak, "I... I can't, and I am not qualified to ask her to sacrifice herself for me... But every time Once, every time she had to choose between me and her marriage, she would not choose me first, because her relationship with her father always comes first..."

"She won't give me priority," Ding Yuqing covered her eyes, "She won't..."

Hesta stood up and walked in front of Ding Yuqing. She didn't know what to say, so she just touched her hair gently.

Ding Yuqing leaned against Hesta, her shoulders shaking again.

……

In the car heading to the children's hospital, Ding Yuqing kept looking at her eyes in the small mirror. Her hands repeatedly fiddled with her bangs, as if this could reduce the redness in the whites of her eyes.The taxi drove smoothly on the road. Hesta looked at the road ahead. After two intersections, she would reach the Children's Hospital. She looked sideways at Yuqing and said, "Why did you just say that you made the appointment for the tuner?"

Ding Yuqing smiled and said, "I also want to discuss this matter with you... Can it be like this? No matter who asks in the future, you will say that I found the tuner."

"why?"

"Can you promise me first?"

"Tell me your reasons first."

Ding Yuqing put away her small mirror. She leaned on the car seat and whispered, "I don't want this matter to go away like this..."

"……I don't know."

"If you hired the tuner, this matter won't cause any controversy. My mother cares most about outsiders' opinions. She might play a couple of songs for you while my dad is away. Thank you. With good intentions, when she stops practicing, you have no reason to ask her to play the piano again and again...and then, there will be no more."

"...like the dishwasher last time."

"Ah."

Ding Yuqing looked out the window.

"...I've been thinking this morning, why have I never thought of tuning a piano? It's such a...genius idea."

……

At night, Hesta stayed alone in the hospital with Miaomiao, while Ding Yuqing accompanied Ding Xueyang home to take a shower.

After her fever subsided, Shi Yimiao was no longer as unreasonable as she had been a few days ago. She was flipping through picture books, holding up various model toys, and making onomatopoeia of the roar of gunboats.

But every few minutes, she would look up and ask, "What time is it?"

"Eight forty," Hesta replied.

"...There are still 10 minutes." Shi Yimiao lowered his head and said to himself, "Mom will be back in 10 minutes. Miaomiao can wait, isn't it? Miaomiao is the bravest."

Hesta raised her head, looked left and right, and spoke in jerky Southern District [-] dialect: "...Who are you talking to?"

"Masaki." Tokineae replied.

"Who……?"

"My friend." Shi Yimiao handed out the glass bottle in his arms, "She is in the bottle."

"Who's in the bottle..." Hesta stretched out his hand to take it, but Shi Yimiao immediately took the glass bottle back into his arms.

"You have to say hello first."

Hesta looked at the glass bottle with a complicated expression and said after a while, "Hello...Masaki."

"Then tell me what your name is."

"...I am, Jane." Hesta scratched her reddish cheek, "Nice to meet you."

"Masaki said she's also happy to meet you," Tokine put the glass bottle between herself and Hesta, "You can start talking!"