Free Web NovelChapter 286: Chapter 286: Untying the Knot
Wu Sheng tucked the candy away with his tongue and flashed a grin, showing off his big white teeth.
"My teeth are way sharper than those little baby teeth of yours. I once bit clean through a man’s throat. Believe it?"
Wu Sheng’s tone was casual, but Little Tang Mo jerked back, hiding his hands behind his back.
"Good, you know when to be scared. If you don’t behave from now on, those little hands of yours..."
His threat was unmistakable.
Little Tang Mo looked at Wu Sheng, pursed his lips, and suddenly sat back down beside him.
He scooted over, pressing close to show he wasn’t afraid. Then, he wrote on the paper.
"Who are you trying to scare? I’m not afraid! You’re so childish."
Wu Sheng read it and snorted with laughter.
"See? You were totally scared."
Wu Sheng huffed. "Unwrap another candy for me."
Little Tang Mo obediently unwrapped one and held it to Wu Sheng’s lips.
Wu Sheng took it with a playful CHOMP. "Wow, that’s delicious! The ones Little Point unwraps are always extra tasty. How can they be so sweet?"
"But don’t even think about having one yourself. You can’t. Not for the next five days. You just get to unwrap them for me."
Wu Sheng leaned closer to Little Tang Mo. "Feeling touched? Starting to think I’m a pretty great guy, not so bad after all?"
Little Tang Mo stiffened.
"Don’t try to hide it. You’re just a silly little kid. Why be so possessive? I’ll treat your mom even better than I treat you. If your mom ran into the same danger you did today, I’d protect her too."
"Wouldn’t it be better to have one more person looking out for your mom? Why are you so against me being here?"
Little Tang Mo glared at Wu Sheng, silent. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
He kept glaring, but as he met Wu Sheng’s eyes, he found he couldn’t hold the glare any longer.
"Does it hurt?" Wu Sheng asked, ignoring the glare and looking at the boy’s hand. "Want me to blow on it for you?"
Little Tang Mo shook his head, signaling that he didn’t.
"Then you can blow on mine. It hurts," Wu Sheng said, holding his own hand out to Little Tang Mo.
Little Tang Mo blinked, an adorably blank look on his face.
The chilly air around him instantly dissipated.
Wu Sheng burst out laughing, pulling his hand back just as Little Tang Mo was about to actually blow on it.
"Just kidding. With the tiny puff of air from a little mouth like yours, wouldn’t it be better if I just blew on it myself?"
Wu Sheng blew on his own hand a few times. "Ah, that’s much better."
He looked at Little Tang Mo. "You should try blowing on yours, too."
When Su Li returned with the medicine after paying the bill, she was greeted by the sight of Wu Sheng and Little Tang Mo blowing on their own hands.
"Does it hurt badly?" Su Li rushed over, crouching down to blow on each of their hands in turn.
Wu Sheng and Little Tang Mo had the exact same thought. ’When Su Li/Mom blows on it, it feels so nice.’
But seeing Su Li’s worried expression, Wu Sheng quickly spoke up. "...I was just teasing him."
Little Tang Mo: "..."
He shook his head, signaling that it didn’t hurt.
After shaking his head, Little Tang Mo met Su Li’s eyes, and his shoulders slumped.
He didn’t dare to meet her gaze.
"Let’s go home for now." Su Li looked at Little Tang Mo, seemed to want to say something but held back, and finally settled on that.
The two of them, one big and one small, obediently followed Su Li home.
By the time they got home, the food was cold. Su Li reheated it, made some porridge for Little Tang Mo, and bustled about taking care of two people who had both injured their hands.
Seeing how hard Su Li was working, Little Tang Mo tried using chopsticks with his left hand. The results were surprisingly good.
After just three minutes, he had gotten the hang of it.
He became quite deft with them. But since he was eating porridge with a spoon, he didn’t really need chopsticks for himself. So in the end, he started picking up food for Wu Sheng.
"Mom, eat."
Wu Sheng, who was now being served food by Little Tang Mo: "..."
’Suddenly, I feel like a useless bum who can’t even compare to a six-year-old!’
’Why can’t *I* use chopsticks with my left hand!?’
When dinner was over, Su Li poured water for them to take their medicine.
"This is yours, Wu Sheng. And this is yours, Little Mo."
"Little Mo, after you take this, there’s another kind that you apply directly to your throat. Do that in a bit, when you’re done drinking water."
Wu Sheng and Little Tang Mo obediently took their medicine.
Su Li cleaned up the mess from the fallen clay pot, glanced at the gift Wu Sheng had set aside, and sighed softly before sitting down in front of them.
"Wu Sheng, you got hurt... and on your birthday, too."
"It’s nothing. Getting hurt actually made it all feel more real. Before, I felt like I was floating, like none of it was really happening. Now... the pain actually helps me feel grounded."
Wu Sheng was taking it well.
The surprise today had been too overwhelming; this was a good way to balance things out.
"You should talk with Little Point. I’ll give you two some space." Wu Sheng tactfully went out to the balcony to water the plants and pull some weeds.
Su Li finally turned to Little Tang Mo. Seeing the anxious look in his eyes, she smiled and pulled him into her arms.
"Little Mo, when did you start forcing yourself to speak like that? Or has it always... always been this way?"
Little Tang Mo’s body went rigid; he didn’t respond.
But his lack of a response was the only answer she needed.
Little Tang Mo didn’t want to lie to Su Li, so he remained silent, and from that silence, she understood.
’So it’s always been like this... And I was such a fool, I never even noticed.’
Su Li blinked back tears. Recalling the doctor’s words, she kissed Little Tang Mo on the head and said...
"Little Mo, don’t do this anymore. Don’t force yourself. If you can’t say the words, then we just won’t say them, okay? It’s okay if you can never speak. It doesn’t matter."
At his mother’s words, Little Tang Mo jolted in her arms and turned to look at her in disbelief.
Su Li kissed his forehead. "Whether you can speak or not, you’re still my Little Mo. You’re still my precious baby."
"I was wrong before. I put too much pressure on you. We won’t do that anymore, okay?"
Tears streamed down Little Tang Mo’s face. Sniffling, he began to write. "Really? Mom?"
"Yes, really and truly," Su Li said, nodding emphatically.
"I’m still your treasure even if I can’t talk?" Little Tang Mo wrote again, pressing for confirmation.
"Yes. You’re my treasure whether you can speak or not. Because no matter what, you’ll always be my Little Mo."
In his repeated questions, Su Li could see the fear deep in his heart.
"Don’t you worry, Little Mo. You will always be my treasure."
She soothed him again and again. With huge tears rolling down his cheeks, Little Tang Mo threw himself into Su Li’s arms and sobbed his heart out.
Tears welled up in Su Li’s eyes as well. "It’s okay, Little Mo, it’s okay. We’ll just keep living our lives like we are now. It’s really nothing. We can accept this reality together, okay?"
’If he can’t speak, then he can’t speak. If fate has decreed that Little Tang Mo cannot talk, then she wouldn’t force it.’
Su Li’s acceptance allowed Little Tang Mo to relax as well.
Though he was still crying, the tension in his shoulders slowly eased.
Then, he finally shared his innermost thoughts with Su Li, the worries that weighed on his heart.
"Don’t you feel pitiful, Mom? Because I’m a little mute."
Little Tang Mo wrote, sobbing and hiccuping.
Su Li looked at the two words, "little mute," then back at his previous question, and shook her head frantically.
"No, I don’t feel pitiful at all. I’m lucky to have a wonderful child like you."
’Those two words, "little mute,"’ Su Li guessed, ’were probably something a classmate had called him offhandedly.’
’Just imagine how much it must have hurt him to hear that. And he must have overheard someone saying *I* was pitiful as well.’
’Carrying a burden like that, it’s no wonder he would...’
Su Li held Little Tang Mo, her heart aching for him.
"Mom is my treasure too." Hearing Su Li’s words, Little Tang Mo grinned through his tears, let out a hiccuping sob, and wrote.
"I’m lucky I met you, too."
Reading what he wrote, Su Li also broke into a smile through her own tears.
