It's six o'clock in the evening in Tonghua Alley, the setting sun has baked the sycamore leaves to a crisp, and the aroma of bone soup noodles is wrapped in the hustle and bustle of the market, making the tip of one's nose warm.
Lu Yu was scooping up the noodles with a bamboo colander, his navy blue apron hairy from washing, and his hands with clear wrists sprinkled a handful of chopped green onions. The moment the red oil poured down, the aroma exploded in the alley. He has handsome eyebrows and a sharp jawline, but there is a bit of tiredness from running around in his eyebrows. When he lowers his head, his broken hair hangs down from his forehead, covering the emotions under his eyes.
"Dad."
The soft sound was like a ball of marshmallow rubbing against the side of the trouser leg.
Lu Yu kept moving his hands, thinking it was someone's kid in the alley who recognized the wrong person. Until that little paw tugged at the hem of his apron again, and with a bit of milky stubbornness, he shouted again: "Dad!"
Then he squatted down.
His gaze fell into a pair of round, almond-shaped eyes.
The little girl was about three years old, with a crooked braid and a sycamore leaf stuck to the end of her hair. The white skirt was covered in dust, but it couldn't stop the pink on her little face, the tip of her nose was red, and she was panting slightly. She held a crumpled old photo tightly in her hand. The corners of the photo were rolled up. It showed a twenty-year-old Lu Yu standing at the entrance of the university wearing a white T-shirt and smiling openly.
Lu Yu's heart sank suddenly, as if being grasped by something, and he even paused for a moment to breathe. ............................
