gentle beast

75 ( part 3)

Back upstairs, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu switched her shoes and put the things she and Ryan had just bought at the market in the kitchen.

There was only her food and cat food. Ryan’s slippers and toiletries had been put into her space.

“Dad, mom,” Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu walked into the living room and said in her usual demeanor, “How did you come back so early?”

Her mother had already cleaned up the house and her father was sitting on the sofa drinking tea. Gǔn Gǔn was at his feet, his amber eyes subconsciously looking behind Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu.

Her father drank tea then invited Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu to also pour a cup, “Dad got into contact with a school over there for you, and since school will start soon, we thought of coming back early lest the learning process be delayed and I was too eager to return, so I didn’t have any time to tell you. . .”

Even though she had guessed it eight or so times, to still hear it from her father’s mouth, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was shocked.

Mr. Jǐ continued, “Dad has already completed the formalities and an uncle is willing to be our guarantor for us three. After you’re finished with everything, we’ll be able to move next month. When you’re free, you can tidy up the things you’ll need. . .”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu bit her lip and finally couldn’t help but interrupt her father’s words, “Daddy, I don’t want to go to Ireland.”

“Why, can you tell me the reason?” Although he had listened to his wife beforehand, he was still somewhat surprised.

He thought that he hadn’t made it clear on the phone and came back to discuss it face to face with her, that his daughter would change her mind.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu stared at her finger and whispered, “I am reluctant to leave.”

Mr. Jǐ: “Would you be willing to stay without your mother and father?”

“. . .”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu lifted her eyes, her dark eyes wide and with a trace of hopelessness, and felt embarrassed, “I. . .”

Of course she couldn’t bear to.

But if she went to Ireland with her parents, she would never see Ryan again.

She couldn’t be without Ryan.

“Can’t I go see you often later?” Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu pursed her lips into a flatline, a little sad and helpless.

“Little Darling, mom and dad cannot bear to leave you alone in the country. We really don’t trust it.” Mrs. Jǐ said, unsure of what to think, and her eyes got wet, her voice trembling, “We cannot lose you again. . .”

“. . .” Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu thought of her high school disappearance. Her parents had spent three months looking for her at that cliff, where they had looked at each other and promised, “This kind of thing couldn’t happen again. . .”

To this kind of sentence, she could say no more words of refusal.

. . .

That night, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu laid in her bed restlessly and could not sleep.

When she thought of Ryan’s words, she thought of her parents’ words and then she thought of the beast world. . . until there was a knot in her head.

The clock swayed on the wall and quietly pointed to 1 o’clock, even though she could not see it.

The night sky was silent and ablaze with lights.

Traffic flowed like water at the food of the high-rise buildings.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu didn’t know how many times she rolled over until she rolled into a familiar embrace.