A middle-aged woman looked at her teenage daughter who just walked into the living room with surprise on her motherly face.

“Eh? It’s already 7 AM, but you’re still in your pajamas? Your perfect attendance will be in jeopardy at this rate.”

“I am not going to school today," replied her daughter.

The mother frowned upon hearing that, yet she did not ask for her reason. She had already expected something like this was going to happen, after all.

A bit surprised, her daughter asked, “Are you not going to ask me why?”

“Is there a point in asking a question you already know the answer to? I knew I should have kept it a secret.”

“But is it worth your perfect attendance? He won’t go anywhere and will be here when you return from school, you know? I won’t even mention the repercussions for skipping school,” she tried persuading her daughter.

“I have waited for four years already; I will not wait anymore--- even if it is only a few hours,” said her daughter, stubborness in her voice. “As for the school… I couldn’t care less.”

“Haaa…” She rubbed her temples and said, “The only reason why I am not saying anything is because of the special occasion. This is the only time that I will turn my head to you blatantly skipping school; there will not be a second time.”

“I understand.” Her daughter smiled brightly, “Ah, right... When will he arrive?”

“He should be here within an hour,” she replied.

“An hour?! You should have told me sooner!”

The mother watched as her daughter panick for a moment before running out of the living room.

“What about breakfast?” she shouted.

“Don’t need it!”

-Two hours later-

“Mom, why is he not here yet? It’s already past nine!”

“Why are you asking me? Do I look like—“

A door opening sound interrupted her.

“I’m home!”

The mother smiled at her daughter who was trembling from excitement. “I guess that answers your question.”

The door to the living room opened, and a young man in his early twenties walked in pulling a suitcase alongside with him.

The young man's features were ordinary, very ordinary in fact. 5'9 in height, he has short black hair and a friendly face that naturally gives off a calm feeling to those closeby.

“Mother, Xiao Mo, it’s been awhile,” he said with a gentle smile, his eyes on the mother and daughter pair that he has not seen for four years.

“Big bro!”

Xiao Mo, his sister, jumped into his embrace, her eyes overflowing with sudden tears. Although she had told herself that she would not cry in advance, just a glance at his nostalgic face tore down her bearing in an instant.

“Yin Xian, welcome back. I’ll take care of that suitcase for you in the meantime.” His mother gave him a meaningful gaze before taking his suitcase upstairs.

Yin Xian looked at his little sister who was soaking his shirt with tears at a fast pace. With a bitter smile on his face, he said in a gentle voice, “Xiao Mo, stop crying and let me see my little sister’s cute face. It has been quite some time since I last saw it, you know?”

*Sniff* *Sniff*

Xiao Mo lifted her head. Although it was covered in tears and snot, her beauty was still apparent to the eyes.

He moved his hands to wipe the tears and snot off her face, and said, “It has been four years, huh? You’ve grown up to be a beautiful girl, Xiao Mo.”

Xiao Mo’s face was a bit red, but whether the cause was from her crying or his words were unclear. “Even though big bro looks the same…” she mumbled.

“Go wash your face, then we can talk,” he said.

“Okay.”

Xiao Mo excused herself and went to wash her face.

When she returned, Yin Xian and her mother was already chatting happily.

“How was your experience overseas? Was it tough?”

“It was pretty fun. Not only did I get to see many beautiful sceneries, but I also made a decent number of new friends,” he said.

“What about the language? Did you have trouble due to the language barrier?”

“Although it was a bit weird at first, it did not take long for me to learn the language.”

“As expected of my genius son. Not even studying abroad was challenging enough, huh?” She laughed bitterly. Her son has always been like this; the word ‘too difficult’ was not in his dictionary. “So, now that you’re back, what are your plans for the future?”

Yin Xian thought about it for a second before answering, “College, I guess.”

Xiao Mo felt left out from their conversation, so she jumped in.

“Eh? Didn’t you just go overseas to study? Now that you’re back, you still plan on going to school? Do you love school that much?”

Yin Xiao looked at his mother, and she looked at him; both of them were speechless for a moment.

“I guess you can say that,” Yin Xian finally replied with a smile, and his mother shook her head.

Unable to understand her mother’s actions, Xiao Mo made a puzzled expression.

“By the way, Xiao Mo, are you going out anytime soon?” he suddenly asked.

“No, why do you ask?”

“Well, you are all dressed up as if you had plans to go out--- not to mention your makeup. If not, then what’s the occasion? Did you change the way you dress at home?”

“Ah…”

Xiao Mo instantly blushed upon hearing his question to which her mother chuckled at.

Unable to find a good answer even after a good second, she could only lower her head to stare at the floor.

Starting to feel a bit awkward herself, the mother stood up and said, “It’s almost time for lunch. What do you two want to eat?”

“Fried rice!” Xiao Mo instantly replied.

“Anything is fine,” said Yin Xian.

“Are you sure? Because today is a special day, you can be a bit greedy, you know?”

“Yes,” he confirmed.

After confirming what they wanted for lunch, the mother went to start preparing for lunch.

“Say, big bro…” Xiao Mo looked at him.

“Hm?”

“You are very cruel.”

“Huh? Where did that come from?”

“Ever since you left the house to study abroad, you have never contacted us, let alone visiting… For four years! Four! Do you really hate us that much? To the point of ignoring us?” She said with a frown on her face, clearly angry.

Now that all of her positive emotions are out, the negatives are starting to show itself.

“Eh? What do you mean I never contacted you? I did send you letters every week, right?” Yin Xian said with bewilderment on his face.

“Yes, but just letters! What about giving us a call? What about visiting us? Even if you couldn’t afford a plane ticket, you could’ve just asked mother!”

Xiao Mo threw questions upon questions at him, not even giving him any time to respond. And although her mother could hear the questions, she did not seem to pay much attention to it.

“Mother, you should say something to him too!” Xiao Mo called her out to which she could only answer with a head-shake.

“It’s very complicated… I’m sorry.” Yin Xian did not know how to explain it, so he could only apologize.

“You think just a ‘sorry’ is good enough? This is four years we are talking about! Four! I want more!”

“Even if you say that, I don’t know what you want…”

“One thing! You will do one thing for me!”

Yin Xian did not think much about it and casually nodded. “Okay, then what do you want from me?”

“This… I don’t know right now, but I’ll tell you later!”

Yin Xian smiled. “I’ll look forward to what you want from me,” he said.