You're My Belated Happiness - Chapter 63 Part 3

Translated by Team DHH at http://dhh-workshop.blogspot.com.

You’re My Belated Happiness

Chapter 63 Part 3

When Ruan Yu and Xu Huaisong went back to the ward, the mess on the ground had been cleaned up.

Xu’s father was asleep and Tao Rong sat next to the bed looking at him. She looked up as the two entered the room and saw Ruan Yu’s bandage on her hand. There was an apologetic expression on her face. She told Xu Huaisong in a small voice: “Yuyu doesn’t seem to feel good. Take her home to get some rest. I’ll watch over your father here.”

Xu Huaisong was quiet.

Tao Rong awkwardly smiled: “Don’t you worry. I’ll ask the doctor and the caregiver how to take care of your father.”

Xu Huaisong nodded and took Ruan Yu back to her apartment. He opened the mailbox in the lobby and took out three letters.

They were letters from the US that had just been delivered today.

Ruan Yu glanced over the letters and noticed that, though all three letters were addressed to Xu Huaisong, each of the three letters had a different name marked on the corner of the envelopes.

Except the one marked for Xu Huaisong, the other two were marked for Xu Huaishi and Tao Rong respectively.

After they returned to the apartment, Xu Huaisong brought Ruan Yu to the bedroom and asked her to lie down to get some rest. Then, he went back out to sit down in the living room and opened the letter marked for him from his father.

He recognized the handwriting to be his father’s, yet the writing seemed a bit scribbly as if he didn’t have a firm handle of the pen. It looked like his father wasn’t in a good physical condition when he wrote the letter.

The first line of the letter was: “Son, when you’re reading this letter, dad probably isn’t living in this world already.”

Though Xu Huaisong was prepared to see words like this, he was still taken aback by the first line and had to pause for a while before continuing reading the letter.

“You might find it quite sudden for me to depart from this world as I haven’t mentioned it to you that I’ve been diagnosed with a serious cardiovascular disease early on when I first arrived in the US.”

“In fact, in the past three years I have been admitted to the emergency rooms twice. Even at this moment when I’m writing this letter, I was just rescued from the jaws of death not too long ago. I’m fully prepared for my departure and you don’t have to feel sorry for me either. Also, you don’t have to blame yourself for not knowing my condition beforehand. I’m keeping you in the dark on purpose.”

“How would you know if I don’t tell you? Just like three years ago your mother wouldn’t have known that I was lying when I told her that I was tired of her and tired of our home.”

“I’m too stubborn to speak my true feelings. When you were eighteen years old, you demanded to know whether I was sure that my client didn’t kill anybody. I didn’t say anything at the time. I didn’t say anything because I know that even if I did, you might not fully understand. I figure that, choosing to be a lawyer yourself, you’ll find the answer to your question sooner or later.”

“To be honest, I don’t really wish for you to become a lawyer or at the very least, not to be a criminal law lawyer. As a criminal law lawyer, I do look forward to seeing more and more young people walk on the path to become criminal lawyers with passion, conviction, and diligence. Yet, as a father, I do not wish for my own son to be like me, suffering and being accused and outcast.”

“Therefore, when you were deciding which law to specialize in, I’ve done something I shouldn’t have. I’ve talked with your adviser in private and asked him to persuade you and interfere with your decision. I hope you won't blame me for it.”

“If you really resent the choice you made then, redo your choice according to your own preference. It’s your life after all. I only want to tell you that no matter what kind of lawyer you end up as and how many accomplishments you’ve made, you’ll always be my biggest pride. Though it’s a pity that I won’t be able to see it myself.”

The letter stopped abruptly. It didn’t really read like a letter of last words but did disclose a lot of information to Xu Huaisong.

Xu Huaisong’s vision became blurry. He took off his glasses which were moist from his tears. Suddenly he heard light footsteps behind him.

Ruan Yu had come out of the bedroom and seemed to have watched him from behind for quite some time.

Xu Huaisong looked back and cleared his throat with an uneasy expression on his face.

Ruan Yu walked over and embraced him. She didn’t ask him what was written in the letter, instead she said: “Tomorrow will be better, much, much better.”

Indeed, what he thought he had lost turned out to be right next to him. This wasn’t really a letter of last words; it wasn’t the final ending. Then, tomorrow certainly would be much, much better.

Translated by Team DHH at http://dhh-workshop.blogspot.com.