"Mm, you're right. We did have relatives we were close to. Your mother and I both had siblings we got along with. We were all family, so there wasn't much keeping score. To accommodate them and keep the peace at home, someone was always getting more while someone else got less," Dad said.
So far, we were only talking about family matters, the kind of household issues every family faced. There was nothing special about them.
I looked at my parents, steeled myself, and asked again, "Are you still in touch with them? Are they all still alive?"
Mom lowered her head, clasped her hands, and shifted uncomfortably. Her body trembled slightly.
A wave of regret suddenly washed over me. I wanted to end the conversation.
Dad spoke then, looking at me with red-rimmed eyes. "Son... did you see it?"
His voice trembled, the last of his words dying in his throat.
My heart lurched.
That one question had already told me the answer.
Mom couldn't hold back anymore and began to sob.
Dad put an arm around her shoulders. They both had the sort of build that came with middle age, and they hadn't changed much in the years since. Now they leaned on each other, both crying.
I felt like a sinner, completely at a loss.
"Son, Lin Qi, did you see it? Was it... someone?" Dad asked again, his eyes bloodshot as he waited for an answer.
I shook my head. "No. I didn't see anyone in our family."
"Really?" Mom asked urgently.
"Really," I said firmly.
They both seemed relieved, yet they cried tears of joy.
I waited for them to calm down, still unsure what to say. While they were crying, I hadn't known how to comfort them, either.
They eventually settled down, as if