Uncle Hu grinned from ear to ear, delighted. "Good, good! College is great! Your brother Yiming has already graduated from college too!"
He briefly filled her in on his family's current situation, then nodded with a proud tone. "I've been in Y City for many years now, working here the whole time. I'm already the head of the security department in this building!"
Qiqi exclaimed excitedly, "Uncle Hu, you're amazing! How did you end up in Y City? Back then, after I left your place, I went back to look for you, but your whole family had moved away!"
Years ago, four-year-old Qiqi had escaped from the orphanage and was taken in by Uncle Hu An. Later, because he had his own children and couldn't adopt her, he followed Qiqi's wishes and sent her to another orphanage. But Qiqi didn't stay there long; she drifted through a few other places before finally being adopted by her current parents in this city. Once she had a stable home, she wanted to write to Uncle Hu, but the mountainous area had poor communication, so she gave up. Later, when Qiqi grew up, she made a special trip to the mountains to find Uncle Hu's family, but by the time she got there, they had already moved away. They lost touch completely, and seventeen whole years passed.
Now, meeting him so suddenly, Qiqi almost didn't recognize Uncle Hu!
Uncle Hu said, "My son, your brother Yiming, got into college later. We were too poor to scrape together the tuition, so I followed him to the city to work. After Yiming graduated, our situation gradually improved, so I settled down in the city and brought your aunt and brother Yiping over too. Now, our whole family lives here in this city."
Yiming and Yiping were Uncle Hu's two sons.
Tears glistened in Uncle Hu's eyes. "Girl, ever since I sent you away, your aunt has been blaming me. We've always thought of you as our own daughter, but back then, the village wouldn't let me adopt you, so I had no choice but to take you to the orphanage. I planned to bring you back after a while, but I never expected you to disappear from that place! Child, where have you been all these years? Your aunt and I have been so worried about you..."
Qiqi's eyes shimmered with tears too. "Uncle Hu, I'm fine. I've been doing well all these years, and I've missed you all so much..."
Emotions ran too high. Both Qiqi and Uncle Hu choked up, then stood in silence, a thousand words dissolving into a tearful embrace.
Uncle Hu held Qiqi's hand, looking her over from every angle, never getting enough, letting out sighs now and then. "Girl, you've grown up, become a young lady, and now a college student—wonderful... But you're still so thin..."
His loving gaze wrapped around Qiqi, making her nose tingle with emotion.
Qiqi looked at Uncle Hu too—he seemed well-off, surrounded by a dozen security guards, imposing and full of presence. It looked like he'd been living a good life these years!
A wave of relief washed over her.
Hu An asked, "Girl, do you still remember that child who came to my house with you back then?"
That child?
A somewhat blurry image flashed through Qiqi's mind—deep in the dark mountains at night, the dense forest like a silent black beast; on the winding, narrow path, a slender, stubborn boy walked ahead in silence; behind him followed a little girl who had just escaped danger, her mood light as she strode along, cheerfully humming a song...