Family

"Shao Ling!"

The words came unbidden from the scholarly man's lips. When he heard the news that Shao Ling had woken up, he immediately dropped the grain ledger he had been painstakingly inspecting and rushed to his bedside.

Shao Wei stared at his son. The ten-year-old boy was pale, from his smooth, nearly translucent skin to his long white hair. The most remarkable feature about him was his eyes; they were as red as fresh blood. But what made Shao Wei's breath stop was the fact that Shao Ling's eyes were open and locked onto his own. Shao Wei's heart pounded as if it was being struck simultaneously by all the drummers in the royal army.

"He's awake. He's awake at last."

The gentle voice of his wife relieved the reservations in Shao Wei's heart. Joy shot throughout his entire being like a lightning bolt, and his heart felt like a mountain had been lifted off of it.

Shao Wei's eyes brimmed with emotion as he walked over to his son. It felt as if he was walking on the clouds.

Heaven has truly blessed this old man, Shao Wei thought.

Shao Ling struggled to sit up as the scholarly man approached him. His limbs screamed in protest as he sought to push himself up. He managed to prop himself up onto his elbows, but his arms and abdominal muscles felt like they were being held close to a blazing fire.

Shao Ling, who was fairly tall, felt like a child beside this colossal man. It was as if he had returned to those boyhood days when every adult was a giant walking the earth. He could see strong emotions in the scholarly man's eyes. It was strange, seeing someone so moved to see him that their eyes grew like flooding riverbanks while not knowing who they were. This man had cried out "Shao Ling" upon seeing him, so it was highly unlikely that this was a case of mistaken identity. While Shao Ling had enjoyed a great deal of success in martial arts competitions, even going so far as to become one of the favorites to win the national amateur championship, his fame had certainly never grown so great that a grown man well past the tumult of youth would be moved to the cusp of tears at the sight of him. Perhaps if his own father had seen him recovered from his illness, he might weep with joy, but Shao Ling had already outlived both of his parents.

As soon as the giant scholar reached Shao Ling's bedside, he swept Shao Ling into a tight embrace with his arms, which felt lean but strong. Shao Ling was slightly startled by the man's sudden action, but reflexively returned the embrace by wrapping his arms around the scholarly man, despite not knowing him and being unable to get his arms fully around his back. The sheer warmth that the scholarly man showed Shao Ling compelled him to attempt to return the sentiment as best as he could.

"Shao Ling," the man said once more, along with a great many more words that Shao Ling could not understand, yet conveyed his affection and caring nonetheless, all the while hugging Shao Ling close to his chest.

When the warm scholar paused to catch his breath, Shao Ling spoke.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand you, and I don't know who you are. I truly wish I did. You know my name, but I can't recall seeing either of you in my life before today. Are you relatives of mine that I've never been told about?"

Shao Ling's heart was beset by a pinprick of anguish for the first time since waking up with his body apparently miraculously cured of the disease that kept him stranded on death's door.

The man released Shao Ling and looked at him with confusion in his eyes, and the teacherlike woman spoke to him in the vaguely familiar language that Shao Ling was unable to understand. The man replied to the woman in what seemed to be a series of questions, which she answered patiently. The middle-aged woman seemed worried for the first time since Shao Ling laid eyes upon her. The scholarly man kept his eyes upon Shao Ling as if he was afraid that Shao Ling would disappear if he averted his gaze, and continued his discussion with the woman.

A candle of anxiety had been lit within his eyes, and he snuck a troubled glance at the woman before swiftly darting his eyes back to Shao Ling.

Shao Ling attempted speaking to the man in English as well as Chinese, but both were met with blank looks, as if he was speaking in tongues.

The man's tone grew noticably more worried as he spoke, but the woman sounded calm, gentle, and reassurring, like a hill able to weather the tribulations of the ages.

Shao Ling watched both of them. His total ignorance regarding his surroundings and the people who seemed extremely fond of him began causing uneasiness to manifest itself in his heart, like a snake in the grass baring its fangs.

Shao Wei inhaled deeply and held his breath for a moment before exhaling in order to calm his nerves. When he learned that Shao Ling seemed to have forgotten how to talk, a chord of fear had been struck in his heart. However; based upon his own obervations and what Shao Xiaoyan told him, although Shao Ling appeared to be unable to understand their words, he definitely seemed to be trying to communicate with them, and he appeared to grasp the general meaning behind what they were saying. Shao Wei made a steely resolve in his heart to support his son in whatever way he recquired of him.

"Don't worry Shao Ling, we will care for you and support you. That is our duty as parents."