" Now can you spill the beans, shifu?? "
Lina asked from the kitchen cabinet. She was busy in mixing eggs in flour. Ye YuKhei had brought all these top graded ingredients especially for making cakes. She was entirely puzzled by the grandeur of the things inside the kitchen. Her shifu was really resourceful. It seemed like he knew that this person would come to him.
.
" Hmm... all these best ingredients... imported huh!.. Not bad..."
She commented upon checking the items.
" Shifu.. perhaps... you knew that he would come?" Lina could not suppress her curiosity anymore when she entered the kitchen. This kitchen only used to have nutritious foods and fresh vegetables for him. He was forbidden to have food from outside because of his age related health problems.
" Do I have to tell everything ?"
He cautiously glanced at her but immediately looked down. He was intimidated by her determined eyes. It seemed like he had to tell her everything.
" It was that year... Remember that time Xiao Nini was receiving surgery ... your nainai and I stayed with you ...."
Lina remembered everything.
That year Rini was showing some signs of recurrence of her old disease. She was very ill that time and coincidentally, their mother, Isha was just about to give birth to their brother at that time around.
And she too was showing complications with her pregnancy. Isha had developed Polyhydramnios which caused her to undergo preterm labour. It even threatened her and the unborn baby's life.
At the same time, Rini was admitted to the hospital and she was advised to get a surgery as soon as possible.
Nanxian, being unable to handle the situation alone called Ye YuKhei. He was afraid of losing everything once again. He had already lost his wife once. Just when everything was going well with his new life, a warm home, two lovely daughters, a doting wife and a stable job ... Just when he was able to laugh again, life took a whole new turn.
Not only his daughter's life was threatened but also his wife and the unborn child's life were at stake. Nanxian was once again broken. His little family was breaking apart. He blamed himself for all the bad luck and was in the verge of depression.
.
Ye YuKhei and Wei MuZhen, his wife were always close to them. They immediately came to him after receiving the call. Wei MuZhen was very close to Isha. She was like a mother-figure to the orphan Isha. She couldn't be at rest until seeing her with her own eyes.
The Ye couple looked after Nanxian and Lina while Rini and Isha underwent surgery at the same time. Nanxian was moving in between the two operation theatres. His mind was unstable to think carefully.
Lina was shocked at the scene unfolding in front of her.
She was staying at the hospital for the last two days. She came to the hospital with Rini when she suddenly lost consciousness at the school. Nanxian immediately came to the hospital only to see the last sign of his late beloved lying on the bed in the I.C.U.
Isha was talking with the doctors about Rini's condition. Nanxian was too shocked to come to talk to them. He was weeping silently holding Lina closely.
Last night, when the doctors were consulting about performing an immediate surgery with her when suddenly Isha started having labour cramps due to her special condition with pregnancy.
The doctors immediately took her to the labour room. She had a prolonged period of labour due to preterm. and on the other hand another group of doctors came to Nanxian to sign the consent paper for Rini's surgery.
Lina stood in the corridor alone watching her father pacing back and forth the passage for the entire night. She was too shocked to spell a word.
At one room, there was her mother on the other room there was her sister, fighting for their lives. She firmly stood there silently crying untill Wei MuZhen came and embraced the crying Lina and took her under her wings.
Luckily, both of them made it. Rini's surgery was successful and Isha gave birth to a healthy baby boy in spite of being in the verge of her own life.
After being discharged from the hospital, Isha was unable to move freely. Rini was still at the hospital for an entire fortnight. Ye YuKhei and Wei MuZhen took care of everything in their household. With the assistance and advices from Ye YuKhei, Nanxian slowly recovered from the initial shock and looked after the family. It was hard for him to believe that his daughter and his wife both were doing well.
If not for Ye YuKhei and Wei MuZhen, Nanxian didn't know how to live further. He was in debt to them for his entire life. And at the same time, Wei MuZhen grew closer to the sisters. She took care of Lina and Rini as a true grandmother they never had.
Lina still remembered every moment vividly. That time her shifu and Nainai lived with them for like an entire six months. How could she ever forget those beautiful warm moments with nainai.
She snapped back from reminiscing the past when she heard Ye YuKhei saying..... " After Xiano Nini recovered I thought of gifting this picture to you both... But do you remember I had an exhibition that time around in the same city...?"
Of course, She remembered. Nanxian took both of the sisters to there. It was Rini's first outing after the surgery. So, both of the sisters were excited.
" That time Yeye had this grand exhibition in California for around 14 days. I remember. Dad took us there one day."
Lina remembered the beautiful art gallery and those exceptional pictures of her shifu.
" On the last day... when I went to there....I met an old comrade of mine.... He came with his best friend who was a huge admirer of mine. I had met this gentleman before in an exhibition.... That gentleman not only had great taste of art but also full of incomparable aesthetic sense and craving for artistry. It was rare to find such people with passion for art.... We immediately hit it off that time.... Later after coming back we stayed in touch... We used to hang out some time having hitted discussion over politics, literature and art. "
Ye YuKhei had a gentle smile on his face.
" He sometimes used to bring his grandchild along with him to our house... That time Jay went overseas to complete his studies. MuZhen was feeling lonely at home... During his visits that little boy established a great relationship with your nai nai ( 奶奶 = grandmother) . They got pretty close. "
[ Jay -- The only son of the Ye couple. ]
Ye YuKhei paused for a while.
Lina kept silent sensing the situation. She could feel shifu was missing his dear wife again. The lovesick old man couldn't stop himself from crying everytime he talked about his wife. He felt closer to his beloved whenever Lina or Rini were around. They reminded him of his wife's warm smiles. His wife was his soulmate. He missed her presence every single second.
Lina placed a comforting hand over his shaking and consoled him.
Ye YuKhei was a lovesick man. Losing his beloved wife in that age made him a loner old guy.
He went into severe depression that time. He didn't leave his room for months, refused to turn up in his own exhibitions, even refused to eat or taking medicines. None was able to make him come back to his usual life.
The most frightened thing was of him quitting drawing. Yes, he quit drawing. He quit his passion. He quit living. He felt like he had no reason to live now as his purpose of living had went into the neither world leaving him behind in the abyss.