Uncle, I Can't Reach Him

"What do you mean, he can only stay a few months? Is there an emergency at home?" Hua Ruolin said in a serious tone. "Once you've taken care of it, you can come back and see him."

The smile on Tong Zhao's lips faded a little. "That makes sense. Come on, a toast. President Shu, it's all thanks to you that Little Sizhuo could come home. Thank you for all your hard work."

Hua Ruolin thought Tong Zhao was stating the obvious. He was already Shu Sizhuo's guardian, so wasn't all of that his responsibility?

Still, he reluctantly clinked his glass against Tong Zhao's.

Forget it. This guy hasn't had it easy either. He just wants a drink, doesn't he? I'll drink with him even if it kills me.

Who would have thought they would end up drinking together so many times? Eventually, whenever Tong Zhao came into the courtyard with a bottle, Hua Ruolin would change into his loungewear, grab a handful of sunflower seeds, and follow him out.

Shu Sizhuo was very unhappy about it.

Hua Ruolin had signed him up for many tutoring classes, and several times when he came home in the evening, he saw Tong Zhao and Hua Ruolin chatting and drinking in the courtyard.

He felt like a child being forcibly shut out of the adult world.

Every time, he would walk over and sit between Tong Zhao and Hua Ruolin. He would also quietly count Tong Zhao's bottles, and once he had drunk a certain number, he would snatch the bottle away and say like a little adult, "Tang Xu, stop drinking."

Not only was Tong Zhao not angry when his bottle was taken away, he was delighted. "Even Little Sizhuo is telling me what to do now!"

"What if you get drunk?"

"I won't get drunk," Tong Zhao said, patting his head and putting an arm around his little shoulders. He pushed off with his foot, and the swing began to sway gently. "When have you ever seen me drunk?"

Shu Sizhuo kept a stern look on his little face and muttered, "Then you can really hold your liquor."

Then he glared at Hua Ruolin. "Uncle, don't you have work to do at night? All you do is fool around with him."

Tong Zhao was beside himself with amusement. "What do you mean, I'm fooling around, you little brat?"

Hua Ruolin also thought Shu Sizhuo was being disrespectful. His face went cold. "I work so hard during the day, and I still have to work at night? Am I a robot?"

Shu Sizhuo had no reply. He turned back to Tong Zhao, his tone much gentler. "Tang Xu, will you play with the Luban lock with me?"

Tang Xu glanced at Hua Ruolin and stood up. "Sure. President Hua, that's it for drinking today. I'm going to play with Little Sizhuo."

Hua Ruolin scoffed. "Little baby."

The days passed like this, and on Shu Sizhuo's eleventh birthday, he received a birthday present from Tong Zhao: a sleeping golden retriever puppy that smelled sweet and felt soft.

When Shu Sizhuo took the cardboard box, his eyes nearly lit up. He looked at the puppy in the box, then at Tong Zhao, then at the puppy, then at Tong Zhao again, his little face flushed with excitement.

"Thank you, Tang Xu!" Looking at the adorable golden retriever puppy, Shu Sizhuo murmured, "What should I name it?"

Tong Zhao suddenly remembered that the housekeeper had recently told Hua Ruolin that Shu Sizhuo didn't like eating loofah. Suppressing a laugh, he said, "You're Little Sizhuo, so how about calling it Little Loofah? Does that sound good? Hahaha..."

Shu Sizhuo immediately understood the teasing behind the name and said with a smile, "It sounds good, but Tang Xu, I'm still not going to fall in love with eating loofah."

"Hahaha..."

With Hua Ruolin there, everything in the Shu Family returned to normal. But he couldn't neglect affairs either at home or in the United Kingdom, so he often traveled back and forth.

A room had been prepared for Tong Zhao in the Shu Family residence, diagonally across from Shu Sizhuo's bedroom. Whenever Hua Ruolin was out of the country, Shu Sizhuo would take his pillow and sleep in Tong Zhao's room.

Once, Tong Zhao was changing clothes when Shu Sizhuo came in. He immediately turned around to show him his back. "Little Sizhuo, can you still see the scar on my back?"

Shu Sizhuo saw no scar, only the beautiful, fair line of his spine.

"You can't see it anymore," he answered.

"Come closer and look. I can never see it clearly in the mirror."

Shu Sizhuo walked over and looked closely. The scar was actually still there, but it was so faint that he really couldn't see it without looking carefully.

"You can't see it anymore," Shu Sizhuo said confidently.

Tong Zhao smiled and pulled on his T-shirt. "I knew I wasn't prone to scarring," he said smugly. He glanced at Shu Sizhuo with a smile. "Of course, it's also thanks to Little Sizhuo's scar cream."

During the summer vacation, Hua Ruolin sent Shu Sizhuo to the United Kingdom to study with an elderly gentleman. Thanks to Shu Sizhuo, Tong Zhao also got to take a trip to the United Kingdom.

Before they knew it, spring of the following year had arrived.

While drinking with Hua Ruolin, Tong Zhao said, "President Hua, I have to go."

For a moment, Hua Ruolin didn't understand what he meant. "Where?"

"Home."

The moon was still full that night. Tong Zhao's long lashes were lowered slightly, and his handsome face looked a little forlorn.

Hua Ruolin frowned. "What do you mean? You're not coming back?"

"Maybe..."

Hua Ruolin jumped to his feet, losing his composure as he never had before. "Tang Xu, explain yourself. What kind of home can't you come back from?!"

Tong Zhao was silent for a moment. He had no way to explain it to Hua Ruolin, so he changed his answer. "I might come back. If fate allows, we'll meet again."

In this age of increasingly advanced information technology, Hua Ruolin didn't believe that bullshit about meeting again if fate allowed it. But when he saw Tong Zhao's determined expression, he felt that anything he said to persuade him would be powerless. "Do you have to go? I can take you, and when you want to come back, I can pick you up."

Tong Zhao shook his head. "There's no need. I'm just worried about Shu Sizhuo. President Hua, after I leave, please comfort him. Tell him I'll come back to see him."

"You... aren't going to say goodbye to him?" Hua Ruolin could hardly believe it. "You know that when Shu Sizhuo goes crazy, I can't calm him down."

Tong Zhao looked up and gave him an apologetic smile. "You can. I'm counting on you, please."

Hua Ruolin stood frozen, feeling an indescribable emptiness inside. "Then... will your contact information change?"

Tong Zhao sighed inwardly and lied, "It won't."

That day, the weather had only just begun to warm up, and a chill lingered as rain poured from the sky. Shu Sizhuo had just finished school. He jumped out of the car and took the elevator up from the garage.

He ran to the hall first. When he didn't see Tang Xu, he ran to the second floor, Little Loofah following behind on its short legs.

No one was in Tang Xu's bedroom, no one was in the study, and no one was in his own room either.

He ran up to the third floor and searched room after room, but there was no sign of Tang Xu.

It's raining so hard. Where did Tang Xu go?

Shu Sizhuo ran back down to the first floor and saw his uncle close his umbrella and walk into the house, his face as gloomy as the weather.

"Uncle, where's Tang Xu?" he asked.

Hua Ruolin raised his eyes and glanced at him. "He's gone."

"Where did he go?"

"Back to his hometown."

Shu Sizhuo's expression went blank for a moment, and then he asked anxiously, "For how many days? When is he coming back? Why didn't he tell me? Is there an emergency at home?"

Hua Ruolin gave a vague "mm." No matter how hard-hearted he was, he couldn't bear to say such cruel words to Shu Sizhuo at that moment.

"Then I'll call him!" Shu Sizhuo turned and ran to the phone, dialing Tong Zhao's number again and again and again...

Finally, his shoulders slowly slumped, and the hand holding the phone slowly fell. After a long while, he turned around, tears in his eyes, and said fearfully, "Uncle, I can't reach him."