If every "I'm sorry" could be traded for an "It's all right," that would be far too unfair.
But when it came to forgiveness, Ding Nian Di felt it had never quite come to that.
She could resent being born at the wrong time, resent her parents' favoritism, but none of that blame could fall on Ding Ding.
What did a child know? For Ding Ding to have turned out the way he had without any positive guidance, their ancestors must have been watching over him.
The call was still connected. Ding Nian Di passed over Ding Ding's apology.
"I heard you changed your name," Ding Nian Di said. "Why didn't you change your surname too?"
Ding Ding slurped a mouthful of beef noodles. "What surname do you think I should use, then?"
"..."
In just a few words, Ding Ding had turned back into his old shameless self.
Ding Nian Di laughed, feeling that the twelve-year gap between them no longer seemed so vast. His sister was still his sister, and her brother was still her brother.
"Come home sometime in the next couple of days, all right?"
"Will you make me chestnut cake?" Ding Ding licked his lips. "I want to take some back for my partner."
On the other end of the line, Ding Nian Di's sharp intake of breath was loud.
The only obstacle lingering between him and his family was simply that he liked men.
At first, none of his sisters had believed him. They thought he had only said it to spite Ding Changyuan, so Ding Ding had told them again, very seriously.
They believed him then, but still found it absurd and thought they ought to take him to a hospital.
When Ding Ding first left home, his sisters would all contact him