Mnie walked out numbly among the crowd of people exiting the hospital. After that, she stood next to the road for a long time.
It was when Dn called her to ask where she was that Mnie snapped out of it and hailed a taxi.
The taxi driver was a chatty local. When he saw Mnie walking out looking so pale from the hospital, he could not help advising her, “Miss, there’s nothing that can’t be solved. Isn’t this life?
“The rainbow will always emerge after the storm. You’ll need to go through some hardships before you find happiness. Once you get through whatever you’re facing, things will get better.”
Mnie listened but said nothing. The driver stopped talking after saying a few more words.
Dn’s house was not far from the hospital. It was in a dpidated, old area. The environment was quite bad. There was a ficus tree right outside the door with lots of old and damaged items piled up underneath.
There were not many buildings in thismunity, and Mnie immediately spotted Dn standing outside one of the buildings with Peachie.
Dn called out to Mnie the moment she saw her, “Mel, over here!”
She was loud, and there were many neighbors around. They immediately looked toward Mnie with
curiosity.
“Is someone visiting you, Dn?”
Dn waved off the neighbor. “It’s none of your business, you bunch of gossip mongers.‘
She pulled Mnie into a room in the long corridor. “It’s been a while since I finished preparing the food. I went downstairs to wait for you when you hadn’t shown up.”
Mnie stopped in front of a metal gate that was badly scratched. There were still remnants of chalk
on it that had not been wiped off.
Dn saw where Mnie was looking, and a strange look appeared on Dn’s face. She took out her keys to open the door and pushed Mnie inside.
There was nothing much inside the house. The furniture was old and broken, and there were two ancient–looking long benches ced inside.
Dn exined in embarrassment, “Most of our money was used for Peachie’s treatment. We’re just getting by.”
“Sit. I’ll heat up the food.” Dn hurried Mnie to a stic table. Even the stools were made of stic. The corner of the table was stacked with folded newspapers.
Mnie looked at Peachie, who was quietly following behind them. She waved Peachie over after some thought. “Are you feeling tired?”
Peachie had nice features. Even though Dn was now quite coarse–looking, Mnie still
remembered how beautiful and gentle she was when Mnie was younger. Dn looked like a pretty flower back then.
The little girl had inherited Dn’s good looks.
However, Peachie was constantly sick, and her face was very pale. She did not have the lively look of a child.
Peachie looked at Mnie for a while before slowlying close to her. She shook her head timidly. “ I’m not tired. I’m upstairs all the time.”
“Do you go to school?”
Peachie replied in a baby–ish tone, “Mom thinks I’m not healthy enough to go to school.”
Mnie frowned. Peachie was already six this year. She was old enough for elementary school the next year.
Yet, Dn refused to let her go to school?
“Mnie,” Peachie suddenly called out to Mnie in a small voice while Mnie was contemting this issue.
She lowered her head to look at Peachie as Peachie came two steps closer to her. Peachie asked with trepidation, “Mom told me you’re the one who pays for my medical bills. Is that true?”
Mnie looked at her. “Why would you ask that?”
“I’ll return the money to you one day,” Peachie said as her eyes suddenly turned red. She began sobbing. “Please don’t hit me in the future and don’t smash the table, alright?”
Mnie immediately reached for the tissue when she saw how Peachie’s eyes reddened. Before she could process what Peachie meant, Dn walked out of the kitchen.
“I spent the entire day cooking this chicken noodle soup for you. Remember to have more, Mel… What’s wrong, Peachie?” Before Dn could put the soup down, she noticed Peachie’s red eyes. She immediately put the bowl on the table and went to check on Peachie.
She mmed the bowl down a little too hard, and some of the soup sshed onto Mnie’s clothes.