Yang Feixue was only four.
She could not understand what her mother meant. She only knew that from now on, she would never see her mother again.
She cried so hard she could not stop.
"Mama's stomach hurts. I..."
Ling Peipei coughed, and another mouthful of blood spilled from her lips.
She wiped it away with a handkerchief.
Yang Feixue froze in shock.
"Mama, why are you vomiting blood?"
She asked between broken little breaths.
"Because when you cry, Mama hurts. When Mama hurts, I vomit blood. Promise Mama that no matter what happens from now on, you will not cry, all right?"
When Yang Feixue heard that her crying made her mother hurt so badly, she wiped her face at once.
"Mama, I will not cry anymore. Mama, do not hurt."
The child was too sensible.
Ling Peipei's eyes filled with deep reluctance.
The pain in her body could not defeat the pain in her heart. She reached out and pulled her most beloved treasure into her arms.
She hugged Xue'er tightly and held her small hand.
"Xue'er, promise Mama a few things. You are still young, but Mama wants you to remember them. Slowly, when you grow up, you will understand."
Yang Feixue did not understand, but if her mother wanted her to remember, she would remember.
She nodded obediently in Ling Peipei's arms.
"First, be strong. Do not cry. Live well. Everyone who is alive has their hardships. Do not give up easily."
Ling Peipei's voice grew weaker.
"Second, you must protect yourself. Other than your auntie, do not let anyone know your face. Especially your eyes."
She swallowed with difficulty.
"Third, if there is something you want, work for it. Aim for first place. Even if you cannot get first, you will not be far from it."
Her voice became almost too soft to hear.
"And the most important fourth point. Do not trust anyone easily. Especially men."
She was holding on to her final breath, waiting for Yang Feixue's answer.
Yang Feixue felt her mother's hand growing colder and colder. The grip around her hand was loosening.
"Mama, I remember."
She looked at Ling Peipei and nodded firmly, her childish voice still soft and milky.
After hearing those words, Ling Peipei closed her beautiful eyes forever.
The hand resting against her daughter's face fell.
A tear slid from the corner of her eye and disappeared into her hair.
Yang Feixue looked at her sleeping mother.
She did not know why the left side of her chest hurt so badly that she wanted to cry.
Her mother was clearly only asleep.
Why did she feel that was not true?
But then she remembered what her mother had said.
If she cried, Mama would hurt. Mama would vomit blood.
So she desperately held the tears back.
She told herself again and again: I cannot cry. If I cry, Mama will hurt. I cannot make Mama hurt.
Lin Yiyi stood outside the door and watched her friend leave, tears streaming down her face.
Then she saw Yang Feixue standing beside the bed, staring blankly at her mother. That small back trembled again and again.
Lin Yiyi knew the child was forcing herself not to cry.
That scene carved itself into her heart.
Peipei, I will avenge you.
In this life, I will not rest until they are destroyed.
Lin Yiyi wiped her tears and slowly walked in. She turned Yang Feixue toward her and gently embraced her.
"Xue'er, your mother was in great pain. When she goes to heaven, she will be happy. We will not be sad, all right? From now on, Auntie will stay with you. Your mother will see us from the sky. She simply cannot speak to us. When we sleep and dream, we will see her."
"Mm."
Yang Feixue's voice was choked.
All she knew now was that she could not cry.
From this day on, she would never let herself cry again.
That way, her mother would never hurt again.
She was still too young.
She did not understand why someone had to go to heaven.
She did not understand why her mother had been fine in the morning and gone by night.
Her small heart hurt badly, but she forced it down and repeated in her mind: Do not cry. Mama will hurt.
Footsteps sounded outside, hurried and panicked.
Yang Tian'ao had returned.
He was Ling Peipei's husband, Yang Feixue's father.
He had been working outside when he received the call and rushed back in a frenzy. His hair was disheveled by the wind. His face was still handsome, but his eyes were red.
Every part of him showed pain.
He could not understand it.
When he left in the morning, she had been fine. How could she suddenly be gone?
Lin Yiyi told him it was an acute heart attack.
He believed her, because she had grown up with Peipei and understood her better than he did.
But during all these years together, he had never seen any sign of heart disease.
He walked slowly to the bed and touched Ling Peipei's cold face.
Looking at that pale, peerlessly beautiful face, tears fell from his reddened eyes.
He bent near her ear and asked softly, "Why? Why did you suddenly leave us? How can you leave me alone? Xue'er is still so small. Without her mother, what will she do? Without you, what will I do?"
Yang Tian'ao was an honest man.
He had no temper and no schemes.
He did not understand why this had happened.
They had never done anything wicked.
Why was his wife suddenly gone?
"Papa, Mama went to heaven. Heaven is happy. Mama will not hurt anymore."
Yang Feixue's childish voice sounded behind him.
Yang Tian'ao turned to look at the daughter who had no blood relationship with him.
Her eyes were full of tears, but she was pretending to be strong and refusing to let them fall.
He held her and broke down.
He loved Ling Peipei too much.
His mind filled with memories of their five years together.
He had fallen in love with her the first time he saw her. Her brows were curved like a new moon, her eyes large and bright, her nose delicate, her lips like rouge.
She had been so beautiful that he could not describe it.
She was like a fairy who had fallen from the sky. The moment he saw her, his heart began to pound so hard it felt ready to jump out of his throat.
That day, she appeared in his world wearing a white dress.
He was too honest to know how to pursue a woman he loved. He could only silently follow her every day. If she wanted to buy something, he paid. If she had bags, he carried them.
Then one day, she turned around and said expressionlessly, "You like me very much, do you not? I am pregnant. If you do not mind, then let us get married."
He knew she did not love him.
But he was bewitched by her and did not mind that the child was not his.
Soon, with the blessings of relatives, they held a wedding.
After marriage, they treated each other with respect. Seven months later, she gave birth to a daughter.
The day their daughter was born was December 25. Snow fell across the sky.
Ling Peipei said snow was clean and pure, and that it promised a good harvest in the coming year. She hoped her daughter would grow up able to achieve what she wished.
So she named her Feixue.
But the name her mother chose in snow was now the name everyone in this house would remember beside a deathbed.
And before the funeral incense burned out, the relatives who had smiled at that name would begin asking who should own the house Peipei left behind.