Yuexin can't hold herself back anymore after seeing her father—Li Haowen—after so long. She runs into his arms and breaks down in tears. All the sorrow she has buried deep inside—losing him, living without him, and now having him back—overwhelms her. Even if she wanted to stay strong, she couldn't. Her emotions, tangled between pain and joy, pour out all at once. Finally, she has one place where she can let go, where she can cry freely and express everything she's kept hidden for so long.
Li Haowen is a little surprised when Yuexin suddenly comes and hugs him. He frowns and looks at the maid—Jìng, silently asking with his eyes what's going on with Yuexin. Does she know anything?
The answer comes—no.
Li Haowen tries to calm Yuexin down. He starts stroking Yuexin's back. In a slow, soft and gentle voice.
"My..… Yuexin, my dear... What wrong with my daughter? Why is she crying like this? Did she have a bad dream? My child…. don't cry, please.... You shouldn't cry like this…. You'll fall sick… please don't cry like this, my child..."
Even after hearing Li Haowen's words, Yuexin didn't let go of him. She hugged him tightly and continued to cry. Yuexin was standing, so Li Haowen made her sit on one of his thighs.
Yuexin still didn't let go of him. Li Haowen didn't say anything else. He let Yuexin cry as she wanted. He starts stroking her back.
After a while, when Yuexin's crying stopped, she realized her current situation. She felt embarrasses for crying so loudly. She got up from Li Haowen's lap.
When Yuexin's crying stopped, Li Haowen asked her to sit at the table.
" Sit with me. Let's eat together."
" I'll freshen up. It'll take 5 minutes...."
" Okay, go."
Yuexin ran from there to the washroom.
As soon as Yuexin left, their maid—Jìng—who had been watching all this for so long laughed. Li Haowen also started laughing with her.
" Miss Yuexin is still a child like before."
" Hmm. But I think something happened to her. Otherwise she wouldn't be crying like this," Li Haowen said worriedly.
After a while, Yuexin ran out of the washroom. There were drops of water on her face, some of the hair in front was wet. It was clear that she hadn't even wiped her face in her hurry.
Yuexin sat on the chair next to Li Haowen. Li Haowen started laughing seeing her daughter in such a state. He gestured to the maid next to him to bring a towel.
Immediately, the maid brought a towel and handed it to him.
Li Haowen grabbed the towel and started wiping Yuexin's face.
Yuexin was moved to see her father smiling in front of her eyes after so many days. She was just staring at Li Haowen's smiling face.
Li Haowen immediately started wiping her face with the towel.
With utmost care, he started wiping his daughter's face. He kept scrolling Yuexin in a clam voice.
"Will soaking your face like this help? Won't you catch a cold? You've grown up so much, and still can't take care of yourself? When will you finally learn to look after yourself?"
Yuexin didn't say anything. She just closed her eyes and felt her father's affection.
Once Yuexin finishes wiping her face, Li Haowen hands the towel to Jìng. Yuexin keeps looking at him with teary, unblinking eyes. Her gaze makes Li Haowen feel a little uneasy. He turns to face her properly and clasps her right hand gently between both of his.
"Has something happened to you, my dear lovely daughter?"
Li Haowen looks at her with sorrowful eyes.
Hearing him call her 'my dear lovely daughter' after so many years, makes Yuexin even more emotional. The tears that had been welling up finally roll down her cheeks. She quickly wiped away the tears with the back of his left hand. Holding herself together as best as she can, she finally replies.
"It's nothing, dad. I, just had a nightmare, so.... Can I hug you again, dad? Please!" Yuexin asked in a tear-filled voice.
"What? Since when does a daughter need permission to hug her own father? Come, my child. Come to me."
Yuexin immediately hugged at Li Haowen words. Tears kept falling from her eyes. She hugged Li Haowen tightly. As if he could get a little relief, Li Haowen would go far away from her.
Seeing her daughter in such a state, Li Haowen became worried. He had never seen his daughter like this before. His own tears welled up when he saw her crying.
___
Yuexin was preparing to cook in the kitchen. She was washing some sea fish in water. Then Jìng came into the kitchen. Seeing Yuexin cooking, she got surprised and said,
"Miss Yuexin, what are you doing in the kitchen?"
"What are people doing in the kitchen, Mrs. Jìng? Of course I came to cook."
"You can cook? Your hands will burn. Move away. Tell me what you want to eat. I'm telling the chef to cook."
"You don't need to tell the chef. Now go. And let me do my job."
"But...." Mrs. Jìng hesitated.
"No more buts. Go now."
Mrs. Jìng left. Yuexin continued to cook on her own.
___
8 pm, Li Haowen is sitting at the dining table. Many kinds of food have been served in front of him. Yuexin puts food on Li Haowen's plate. Li Haowen is surprised to see the dishes.
"Jìng, you asked the chef to cook so much food today? Who will eat so much food?"
"I didn't say so. Miss Yuexin cooked today."
"What?" Li Haowen is surprised.
"Why are you so surprised? You thought, I can't cook?"
"No, I'm not. But I've never seen you cooking. That's why I'm a little bit shocked. The last time you cooked, you burned your hand and completely ruined it."
"I've learned everything over time, Dad. Your Yuexin is no longer that childish Yuexin. She's much mature now."
"Okay, okay. Now let's teast the dishes."
Li Haowen puts a piece of food in his mouth.
"Wooowhhh! The food is very delicious. Let's try the rest too...."
Li Haowen started tasting a little bit from the rest of the dishes. Yuexin watched him in fascination.
After learning how to cook, she never had the chance to cook something for Li Haowen. And this regret was always with her. When everyone was praising her cooking skills, a feeling of regret would arise in some corner of her heart. At that time, she missed her own father very much.
When that a moment had come in her life—when she saw her father again, when she finally got to meet him—she didn't hesitate to let go of the eternal regart she had carried for so long.
___
It's 12 o'clock at night. Yuexin was getting ready for bed. She came to the washroom to wash her face. She is standing in front of the washroom mirror. She is looking at her reflection in the mirror indirectly.
There is no sign of age on her face. Far from wrinkles, her skin is still taut—like a sixteen-year-old girl. There is not a single roughness on her cheeks, smooth and perfect. There is no black under her eyes, no holes. Her eyes are still taut, full of life. There is not a single white hair on her head—instead, it is thick black, shining like silk.
Yuexin had forgotten that she used to look so beautiful.
Today, after many years, she is looking at herself indirectly. After almost 40 years, she is taking so much time to look at herself in the mirror, and that too as a beautiful sixteen-year-old girl. Seeing herself like this after so many years, makes her feel good, feel beautiful. She smiles brightly when she sees herself in the mirror.
"How beautiful! I used to be look like this! Oh Gosh! I forget my this side of beauty. Where did this 16-year-old beauty and appearance go...?" A smile appears on her lips.
In an instant, questions began to flood her mind.
She had returned to the past, but what would she do now? Will she use this opportunity to start a new life? Will she organize everything anew? Will she change everything from the past? What should she do? What should she do for the future?
Yuexin stared at the mirror with her jaw clenched. A thousand questions, a thousand mistakes, a thousand thoughts—but will she be able to solve everything?