46 Mrs. Mo's Replacement

Her mouth was breathy.

The wind was tight. A gusty breath of air reached in for the call. The breeze was somehow cold and damp, garishly hurling at her to be twisted and lulled by the wind's sweet voice. As the tiny girl hurriedly ran on the streets, the unconcerned sky boomed and rumbled as the dirty gray clouds threatened to spit out rain from its very mouth.

Yi Fei shook her head. Something was wrong. There was some longing, almost trifling aching in her stomach that revealed to her that something big, something huge was incoming, but she couldn't figure what.

As the night got ominously darker, her steps got lighter at the familiar sight of home. Before walking further, her murky eyes shifted left and right to check if anyone was near her. Once she confirmed her paranoid self that no one was in sight, her light pink shoulders slightly shook as she pulled out her rusted key from her dirty school bag. Yi Fei walked carefully to the front door, holding a short, indulging breath as she slowly turned the spotted key, hoping the old mechanics inside the door would be as soft-sounding as possible.

"Please don't be there, please don't be there," Yi Fei hastily muttered.

Against Yi Fei's wishes, the mahogany brown door loudly creaked as it opened, revealing a blinding light from the kitchen. Yi Fei hoped it was only her brother and not her father.

"Yi Fei?"

A silent wave of relief washed over her body at the man's voice, causing Yi Fei to shudder in almost delight. She could see a large, stretched-out shadow of a man peering out from the kitchen. Yi Fei urgently put on a facade for her brother, attempting to hide her vibrant emotions behind a dull mask.

"What?" Yi Fei muttered, hurriedly putting away her shoes. She was trying to get away from the situation as fast as possible.

"Why were you out for so late?! I was getting really worried, and you're barely coming home now!" Yi Fan sharply raised his voice. "Do you even know what time⁠—"

"You have no right to talk to me like that," Yi Fei bitterly gnashed her teeth. "Who are you to act so responsible and mighty? Huh?"

"For Pete's sake, I'm your brother!" Yi Fan angrily shouted at Yi Fei, roughly grabbing her shoulder to make Yi Fei face him.

"You're my brother?" Yi Fei laughed sarcastically, nastily slapping his hand off. "Maybe 10 years ago, but definitely not now. You're just a damn, selfish traitor who would do anything for himself. Even if it means sacrificing the livelihood of his own darn family."

"You..!!" Yi Fan's brown eyes became livid. He could feel his burning pulse and a choking sensation in his neck, and he gripped his hands into fists out of heated frustration. Looking at the two siblings, you could tell that there was so much confusion and powerlessness in their bruised hearts, but the two didn't know what else to do than vent and argue from all the pain over the years.

"Don't talk to me, you monster." Yi Fei indignantly muttered, and she quickly started to head to her room.

In response, Yi Fan didn't stop her. Instead, his longing eyes naturally traced downwards to Yi Fei's nimble footsteps as she hurriedly sped to her room. His wistful gaze stopped short when his sister vehemently slammed her door shut. Agitated by their earlier conversation, Yi Fan softly rubbed the sides of his forehead and slumped towards the left wall. Unfortunately, he accidentally hit the light switch and turned off all the lights, and suddenly, he was in the dark.

But it was all right. After all, your eyes get adjusted to the dark after a while.

--

Mr. Mo came home at 9 pm. He grumbled his way into the house, killing off his old cigarette on the musty ashtray next to his shoe shelf. All the lights were off, including the bedroom lights, so he had to painfully find his way through the dark. Mr. Mo kept stumbling, his feet lingering and limping, and his gruff mumbles revealed a strong stench coming from his mouth.

"Yi Fan, where are you?" Mr. Mo called out, almost desperately.

"Dad, I'm here," Yi Fan replied, turning on the lights of the hallway. He heard Mr. Mo opening the door, so he quickly came out of his room in a hurry.

"Where's your sister?" Mr. Mo haphazardly coughed.

"In her room." Yi Fan affectionately rubbed Mr. Mo's back to ease the pain.

"Well... *cough* tell her to f**king prepare some food, I'm hungry," Mr. Mo grumbled again before slipping out of Yi Fan's one-sided warmth, drunkenly heading towards the dusty study room. Since no one but Mr. Mo was allowed in the room, and Mr. Mo never cleaned, the room became worn and messy with books, clothes, and other items thrown everywhere across the room. But... it was where Mr. Mo slept and spent most of his time when he was home. It wasn't like there wasn't a bedroom for him to sleep in; in fact, the master bedroom was right next to the study room. However, no one had stepped into the master room in a decade ever since... Mrs. Mo had died.

--

Yi Fan lightly knocked on Yi Fei's hard maple wood door.

"Yi Fei, Dad asked you to prepare food," Yi Fan spoke, with an ounce of fear that she was asleep. When Yi Fei slept, she would often lock her door, and since only Mr. Mo had a master key, Mr. Mo would...

Before Yi Fan could finish his thoughts, Yi Fei quickly opened her door. She gave a look of disgust and apprehension to Yi Fan before calmly heading to the kitchen. Ever since Mrs. Mo died, Yi Fei had to take control of the family's basic dietary needs and cleaning duties. At first, Mr. Mo would just bring takeout after his work shift every day, but he slowly got out of the habit of feeding his kids at some point. He was just tired of everything and didn't want to be responsible anymore, pushing the small children to somehow take care of themselves. As Yi Fan barely got out of the hospital by then and was actually forcefully discharged not to pay any more hospital fees, Yi Fei was left to take care of her family at a very young age.

And so, she became Mrs. Mo's replacement.