54: Chapter 54 Reunion 54: Chapter 54 Reunion Gao Yang’s mother reached out a hand and touched Gao Yang’s face, then drew her hand back and fiercely pinched her own face before saying in a daze, “This isn’t a dream.”
After speaking, Gao Yang’s mother embraced him tightly with all her strength, hugging Gao Yang so fiercely that she immediately burst into heart-wrenching sobs.
“Mom!”
The moment Gao Yang was held in his mother’s embrace, he could no longer contain himself and finally cried out in pain.
Gao Yang was a head taller than his mother, and through his tear-blurred eyes, he saw his mother’s head of silver hair, which made him feel as if he couldn’t catch his breath.
Gao Yang’s mother had just turned fifty this year, but her hair was already white.
Gao Yang immediately knew the enormous pain his mother had endured over these past three years.
Gao Yang’s mother held him and wept bitterly for not too long before she let go of him, but one hand still clung to Gao Yang tightly.
With tears streaming down her face, she scrutinized Gao Yang’s face carefully, and with one hand she wiped the tears from Gao Yang’s face, chokingly saying, “Yangyang, where have you been all these years, you wanted to kill your mom, didn’t you?”
“Mom, I’m sorry, I’ll never leave again, I’ll never make you and dad worry about me again.”
After Gao Yang uttered those words with a choked voice, his mother finally confirmed her son had returned, that it wasn’t a dream, and it wasn’t an imposter.
Her emotions swiftly shifted from extreme sorrow to extreme joy.
“It’s good you’re back, look how thin you’ve become.
You haven’t eaten yet, right?
Quick, what do you want to eat?
Mom will cook for you.
Oh my, there’s nothing at home, I must go buy it for you right away.
What do you want to eat?
Red braised pork, or dumplings, or should mom roll out some dough for you.”
As Gao Yang’s mother spoke about cooking for Gao Yang, she still refused to release the hand holding on to him, as if letting go would cause him to disappear forever.
Gao Yang didn’t want his mother to be too excited, and he also had a good way to divert her attention.
“Mom, where’s dad?
Call him back, let’s eat quickly; I’m actually starving.”
Gao Yang’s mother, as if awakened from a dream, finally led Gao Yang into the house.
After letting him sit on the sofa, she looked at his face and said fondly, “Your dad went to find you, did you come back with him?
I thought your dad had found you.
Oh no, you’re back but your dad doesn’t know, what should we do, what should we do?
No, I have to find a way to call him, but your dad’s phone will definitely be turned off, what can we do.”
Due to her intense emotions, Gao Yang’s mother spoke somewhat incoherently, but Gao Yang still grasped the key point.
He took hold of his mother’s hand and said, “Mom, what are you talking about?
Dad went to find me?
Where did he go to search for me?”
“To Africa.
Although those people all said you were dead, your dad and I knew for sure you weren’t dead.
A fortune-teller once said you would lead a safe and peaceful life, how could you possibly have died?
But no one was willing to search for you anymore, so your dad went on his own.
Look, you’re back now.”
Gao Yang was suddenly stunned and exclaimed, “To find me?
To Africa?”
“Yes, your dad said your body wasn’t found on the plane, so you definitely weren’t dead.
Besides, you’ve read so many books and always go out hiking, you must have gotten lost in the wilderness and couldn’t find your way home.
So, your dad went to find some help to look for you.
I always knew your dad was right.”
Looking at his agitated mother, Gao Yang became somewhat panicked and said tremulously, “You’re saying dad is in Africa now, just to find me?”
Gao Yang’s mother nodded firmly and said, “He has been gone for two months, but he should be back by now.
I’ll give him a call.
As long as he’s back in the country, he’ll turn on his phone.
Ah, the roaming charges are too expensive, your dad always keeps his phone off when he’s in Ethiopia.”
Gao Yang immediately understood why his dad’s phone was always off—it was because his dad was actually also in Africa.
Looking at his mother, who had aged quite a bit, Gao Yang knew that his parents were now in a state of paranoia.
They didn’t want to admit that he was already dead, so they kept searching for him, even though by all logic, there was no reason for him to still be alive.
They wouldn’t accept it; as long as they hadn’t found his body, they would cling to that slim chance and keep searching.
Gao Yang was consumed by deep guilt.
He knew that he would be a source of worry for his parents, but he never imagined it would go to this extent.
Gao Yang was extremely grateful that he hadn’t died in Libya.
He didn’t want to imagine what his parents would have become if he hadn’t returned.
Just as Gao Yang was feeling scared, he suddenly heard another voice that he had longed for in his dreams.
“Shufen, why didn’t you close the door?”
With the sound of the door closing, followed by a “thump,” a backpack fell to the ground, and a man with graying temples stood frozen at the doorway.
Gao Yang stood up and said to the man standing at the doorway, his face in disbelief, “Dad, it’s me, I’m back.”
Gao Yang’s father stared at Gao Yang, then suddenly squatted down, burying his head in his arms, motionless.
Gao Yang was terrified.
He rushed over, knelt on the ground, and reached out to support his father, urgently saying, “Dad, what’s wrong with you!”
Gao Yang’s father lifted his head, looked at Gao Yang, and then suddenly stretched out his arms, hugging Gao Yang tightly.
A man in his fifties, he cried uncontrollably.
“I just knew you weren’t dead, I knew you wouldn’t die, Yangyang, I just knew you would come back!”
Gao Yang’s mother also came over and hugged Gao Yang and his father.
All three of them burst into tears together—it was a true cry of overwhelming joy.
After a long cry, when Gao Yang’s father had finally vented all the longing and pain he had accrued over the past three years, he stopped crying and said loudly, “Stop crying, why cry?
We should be happy today, today we should be happy!
Get up, Yangyang, let’s celebrate, let’s really celebrate.”
Crying their hearts out was actually very beneficial for people who had been repressed for so long.
Although their faces were still wet with tears, Gao Yang’s parents seemed to have become several years younger at that moment, and their spirits were greatly lifted.
After leading his parents to sit on the couch, one on each side, Gao Yang said, “Dad, Mom, let’s have a big meal today.
I want to eat everything.
I’ve been craving your dumplings.
I missed them so much.”
Gao Yang’s mother nodded repeatedly and said, “Okay, okay, we’ll eat dumplings, round dumplings for reunion.
You just wait, I’ll go and make the dumplings for you.”
Gao Yang had a lot he wanted to say, and his parents had a lot they wanted to say too, but now, all Gao Yang wanted was to sit with his parents and have a good meal together—an image he had fantasized about almost every time he ate during the past three years.