His Hugs
Translated by newbienoona
Edited and proofread by anks
“No, you are not… .” An Chuxia shakes her head violently. She turns around and runs as quickly as she can outside the house.
“An Chuxia!” Han Qilu chases after her.
“An Chuxia!” Jiang Yuan and An Chen Chuan call after her in chorus.
The older gentlemen try to chase after her but Han Liuhai pulls Yishan to a halt.
“Let us go!” Jiang Yuan wants to break free. She feels helpless and small. “I did not want to bring Chuxia to this strange place!”
“Don’t get too worked up about it. Qilu will catch up to
her. This will be resolved,” Han Liuhai reassures his wife. However, he can’t dismiss the nagging feeling from within. Chuxia’s reaction is bizarre. She has always been well-behaved and sensible. What happened?
She runs through the streets, quickly tiring herself. When she can’t run anymore, she stands in place and then squats on the ground, hugging her knees.
Han Qilu sees Chuxia three meters away. He stops. He hears her chanting, “Not him, not him… .”
Not him. What does she mean? He is puzzled. As he recalls her story, he has a moment of revelation. If he’s right, An Yishan is the one who
who abandoned Chuxia and her mother, right?
The world is not that cruel. But if that’s not the case, how can he explain her unexpected emotions?
He lifts his feet and walks slowly toward Chuxia. Once he is at her side, he reaches out and grabs her wrist and arm. Despite not liking her, and maybe disgusted with her, he feels she needs a shoulder to cry on. Otherwise, she’ll collapse and if that happens, he won’t be able to forgive himself.
He suddenly wraps his arms around her. She doesn’t struggle, knowing it’s Qilu. Despite being the devil, she knows he’ll always be
always be there for her when she needs him.
“He is not. No… .” Her tears stain his collar, messing up his white shirt. She balls her fingers around his shirt as she chants, he is not, while her tears keep pouring.
He raises his hand and strokes her hair. He says quietly to her, “If he’s not, then he’s not.”
“But he is!” She suddenly pushes Han Qilu away. “He is… ah… even if it’s a faint memory, I remember what happened. I don’t know… .”
As she speaks, she retreats. Han Qilu takes two steps to her and secures her wrist and says, “An Chuxia, you’re “An Chuxia, you’re not even afraid of me. How is it seeing An Yishan throws off your confidence?”
Han Qilu finds the situation ironic. He stares at her small eyes. If he didn’t go after her, would he have understood? Was it An Yishan who left her the dog and causing her to hate them?
“You’re not me. You won’t understand,” she says, her eyes filled with sadness.
“I may not understand how you’re feeling but I know what kind of person you are. You’re stronger than most people. Forget the past. He doesn’t remember you. You don’t have to remember him.”