"You, you, didn't you say you like a girl?! You lied!"

This kid... underestimated him.

"I'm just letting you stay for one night... By the way, I like beautiful girls."

......

I finally made it to the next day. In order not to let Raya find out, I woke up the child at dawn and left the hotel.

Without the fear of the night, the child was much more energetic and skipped ahead of me.

Soon, we arrived at his home - a remote nursing home.

I explained the situation to the janitor, who asked me to wait a moment and then went to find the dean.

"Hey, kid, I've never been here before even though I'm old..."

"Because you won't grow old."

"Do you understand this?"

"Humph, that's natural. I also know that you are called a 'moving statue'! I am not a child!"

"Okay, so smart..."

I am perfunctory with children.

"A moving statue"? Someone indeed compared me to this...Who is it?

The janitor came back, and beside him was a fat woman about forty or fifty years old, who must be the director of the nursing home.

I patted the child on the back, but he did not rush to the woman impatiently, but lowered his head.

"Al!"

The woman walked towards us quickly and probably called the child's name.

"Really, running around again is very dangerous!"

She took the child's hand, leaned over and scolded me softly, and then bowed to me apologetically.

"I'm really sorry to cause you any trouble. Fortunately, this child met you."

"Nothing. This kid...is called Al?"

"Ah, yes."

"You are the dean, right? That's amazing."

I have been observing the nursing home since the beginning - the beautiful scenery, meticulous care and peaceful atmosphere are enough to show her intentions.

"You're honored."

The dean raised his head, smiled, and his eyes stayed on my face for a long time.

"..."

"What?"

I saw that she didn't speak for a long time, so I asked.

"You... aren't you Mr. Lonely?"

"Yes."

"Yeah..."

For some reason, the dean suddenly beamed with joy.

"Long time no see! I haven't seen you for a really long time!"

"...you are?"

"Ah... you really can't recognize me anymore? Haha, that's normal. I can't age like you."

The dean covered his mouth and smiled, with a mischievous light in his eyes.

"Just a reminder - Mr. Statue."

"...oh..."

I remembered.

No wonder Al calls me "the moving statue."

She is indeed an acquaintance of mine, but she has been an acquaintance for more than 20 years. "Moving Statue" is exactly the nickname she gave me.

"It's you...I thought you no longer lived in the small town."

"I won't leave without saying goodbye."

"Disappearing without warning is not much different, right?"

"It's just that you're too lazy to look for me."

"Pfft... By the way, we haven't seen each other for a long time."

"Yeah, almost...almost thirty years?"

"Have you been running a nursing home all these years?"

"Well, that's why we have the current scale, isn't it amazing?"

The director looked at the nursing home as if he was looking at his lover.

"Awesome..."

I nodded heartily.

"I have spent a lot of time working on it, and I have become an old and ugly old woman...but you still haven't changed much."

"I am a 'statue'."

The dean smiled.

"Then...this guy is your child?"

I am referring to Al who has been silent since just now.

"No...but I'm responsible for taking care of him."

"That's it."

"I'm not married yet."

The dean confessed gently:

"Didn't I say that all my thoughts are devoted to this small nursing home."

"Well..."

"Isn't it incredible?"

"A little bit."

The past time passes through my mind like a slideshow.

The dean was very beautiful when she was young, and I knew no less than ten of her suitors.

Including Raya's father.

Raya’s father is her friend who has been with her since childhood. It was through this relationship that I got to know her.

"But this is a choice I made after careful consideration, so I have no regrets."

"That's good."

"Hmm~~That's good!"

She parroted the sentence.

Having said that, once I remembered her naughty and cute face in the past, more and more of her faces appeared in my mind one after another, until it overlapped with the face of someone I met recently.

"Well... I would like to ask, what is your relationship with Miss Qian Zhihe?"

"Ah, that child... is my adopted daughter."

......

As we were preparing to say goodbye, we shook hands.

Her fingers were a little bloated, and her palms were hard and rough, giving me the illusion of stroking dry tree bark.

I watched her and Al walk into the nursing home.

I suddenly realized: She is really old.

The brisk and nimble steps in my memory have become slow, and the graceful figure has become fat. The arms that were once swinging carefree have also become listless, hanging stupidly in the air.

However, when the dean turned back and waved to me, I found that her eyes were still so bright.

It was like catching a glimpse of the remaining morning dew on a dead leaf, and my heart suddenly moved.
Chapter completed!