Heavenly Soul [BL]

The sky was a vast expanse of pale purple, stretching endlessly in all directions. The verdant grass below waved gently in the wind, the bright colored wildflowers that were tucked between the green blades looking especially bright and cheery this evening.

Cutting through the landscape was a shallow stream that slithered like a silver ribbon over the lush land. Standing in its placid waters was a duo of father and son.

The water level reached up to Feng Qinghe’s knees as he waded through the stream, splashing in the clear water happily. At the side, Feng Huixin watched with a warm gaze as his four-year-old son played around.

Sunlight glided its gilded fingers over this harmonious scene, turning it into a poignant portrait.

“Father, I caught a fishy!” Qinghe exclaimed proudly as he turned to Feng Huixin with a brilliant smile no less blinding than the sun.

The large fish caught between Qinghe’s hands thrashed violently, its silvery scales still glimmering with wetness. Its round eyes swiveled around hysterically as its mouth opened and closed, gasping for life in desperation.

Feng Huixin felt the corners of his eyes tighten in distress, but he hid it well. Bending down, he carefully studied the fish to see if it could in any way harm his little son. Finding it to be exceedingly ordinary, he then met the expectant gaze of his son and calmly advised, “You should put it back into the water.”

Qinghe pouted like a spoiled child.

But he’d caught it with so much effort!

Patiently, Feng Huixin explained, “Qinghe, each life is so precious and maintained with so much hard work, ending it carelessly is a sin.”

Qinghe tilted his head cutely in response to his father’s solemn tone. “I don’t understand,” he finally declared, puffing up his cheeks. He didn’t like it when he didn’t understand!

Feng Huixin felt exasperated affection filling his heart. He had to stop himself from reaching out his hands and pinching those two chubby little round cheeks that looked like ripe peaches. His son seemed to be getting more and more adorable with each passing day.

Sighing, he tried to explain it in a way a child could comprehend. “For a fish to live, it has to struggle to find food every day, it has to escape from all the other bigger fishes that try to eat it. It has to put in so much effort just so it doesn’t die. If you kill it so casually, all that effort would have been for nothing. It’s very pitiful, isn’t it?”

Looking down at the flopping fish whose struggles were beginning to weaken, Qinghe vaguely felt like he understood what his father meant. But more than anything, he understood that his father didn’t want the fish to die. Qinghe didn’t want his father to be sad.

And so, with a heart full of regret, Qinghe lowered the struggling fish back into the stream. The fish thrashed around for a bit more in the shallow water before it gained enough strength to swiftly swim away.

Raising his hand in a wave, Qinghe sadly called out, “Bye-bye, little fishy! I’m sorry I almost killed you!”

A glint of silver flashed beneath the water surface before disappearing.

Qinghe mournfully decided to put the matter to the back of his mind.

On the other hand, Feng Huixin was very pleased with his son’s compassionate behavior. Leaning down, he carefully picked up the little boy and held him in his arms as he walked back towards the Feng residence.

Used to being carried and coddled, Qinghe snuggled comfortably in his father’s arms, his tender cheek brushing against the hollow of Feng Huixin’s throat as he asked, “Father, what does ‘sin’ mean?”

Feng Huixin remembered that he’d just used the word while lecturing his son. So it turned out that that was what his son hadn’t understood.

In his usual dignified and serious tone, he explained while walking, “A sin is something bad that must not be done.”

Qinghe looked up at his father in confusion. “Really? It’s bad?”

Feng Huixin nodded gravely.

“But,” Qinghe protested, “Mother said that I was so cute that it was a sin. Does that mean I’m bad?”

Fen Huixin almost stumbled. As always, his wife’s careless words only brought him more problems to straighten out!

Coughing to cover up his temporary discomposure, Feng Huixin solemnly explained once more, “The word can have different meanings in different contexts. The way your mother used it simply means that you’re…too cute. It does not mean you’re bad.”

Qinghe nodded knowingly. Yes, he knew that he was very cute. His parents and all their friends and colleagues kept repeating that, so of course it was a truth he had grown accustomed to hearing.

Sighing like he had experienced the great vicissitudes of life, the little boy complained in his childish voice, “Words are so hard.”

Feng Huixin patted his son’s small back soothingly. Ah, the worries of a four-year-old. They were so profound.

Still wallowing in the difficulties of learning language, Qinghe continued, “Father, now I know why you don’t speak so much.” Leaning close, Qinghe whispered into Feng Huixin’s ear, “You don’t know many words, do you? Don’t worry, I’ll learn all the words and teach you.”

Leaning back again, Qinghe gave his dumbfounded father a reassuring look.

Feng Huixin almost tripped again.

It seemed that the saying was true: Like mother, like son!