In the evening, dusk enveloped the earth. The city, where cars flowed like water, welcomed the daily evening rush hour. The long line of cars was stuck in place, unable to move forward.
It had already been nearly forty minutes since Ruan Mian left home. Outside the car window, large swaths of evening glow covered the clouds, but she was in no mood to appreciate it now.
After sending off Chen Yi’s family in the afternoon, Ruan Mian packed two pieces of clothing and prepared to go to Fang Ruqing’s place. Before leaving, Ruan Mingke saw her taking the car keys and suggested that at this time, it would be better for her to take the subway instead of driving. Otherwise, she would get stuck in traffic during the evening rush hour for a long time.
However, there was no direct subway line from Huabang World Trade Center to Pingjiang Alley. She would have to transfer lines on the subway and then take a bus all the way. Ruan Mian thought it was too troublesome and chose to drive. Now she was really stuck in traffic.
It was true that if you don’t listen to the elderly, you will suffer the consequences right before your eyes1.
Ruan Mian opened half the car window. The evening breeze carried the smell of car exhaust, which was unpleasant. She closed the window again. At the same time, the traffic also began to move slowly.
By the time she arrived at Pingjiang Alley, night had already fallen silently. The intertwined traces of prosperity and antiquity in this area became more and more obvious.
Ruan Mian parked her car a few hundred meters away from the alley, walked back on foot, and didn’t run into anyone familiar along the way. When she got home, Fang Ruqing was busy making dinner in the kitchen.
“Mom…”
“Oh.”
Fang Ruqing immediately turned off the fire when she heard Ruan Mian’s voice. She wiped her hands and came out, “I was just talking to Shuyang earlier, wondering why you still hadn’t arrived.”
“There was some traffic on the road.”
Ruan Mian put down what she was holding, “Uncle Zhao hasn’t come back yet?”
“He came back early. As soon as he heard you were coming back for dinner tonight, he canceled everything in the afternoon and rushed back.”
Fang Ruqing smiled, “He took Shuyang out to buy appetizers.”
“What about Zhao Shutang?
Hasn’t she come back yet?”
Fang Ruqing poured her a glass of water, “She’s back. Today she went to Lin Cheng’s mother’s house because his mother invited her over for dinner. She probably won’t be back until later.”
Ruan Mian oh-ed and followed Fang Ruqing to the kitchen with the glass of water, “When are she and Lin Cheng planning to get married?”
“Next spring.”
Fang Ruqing turned on the fire again, “Lin Cheng’s parents plan to have both families eat dinner together on New Year’s Day to choose an auspicious date.”
“That’s soon.”
“Yes.”
Ruan Mian drank another sip of water and was about to mention Chen Yi when Zhao Shuyang’s voice came from the door, “Mom! Is my sister back yet?”
She put the glass aside and walked out a few steps. She greeted Zhao Yingwei who came in after, “Uncle Zhao.”
“Mianmian is back.”
Zhao Yingwei smiled and responded. Zhao Shuyang next to him kept calling “Sister” as he ran over. He had grown a little taller again after not seeing him for a few months.
Ruan Mian gestured with her hand, “Zhao Shuyang, how tall are you now?”
“One point seven six meters.”
The little boy looked very proud, “The tallest in our class.”
“Impressive.”
Ruan Mian was wearing flats, half a head shorter than him. Thinking of the oppressive feeling whenever she stood next to Chen Yi, she imperceptibly took a small step back.
Alas. Why couldn’t she be one of those tall ones.
After dinner, Ruan Mian accompanied Zhao Shuyang back to No. 8 Middle School to get his exam papers. This summer, he took the middle school entrance exam and was admitted to the key class of No. 8 Middle School with a high score.
Coincidentally, his head teacher was Ruan Mian’s former Chinese teacher at No. 8 Middle School, Zhao Qi. After Zhao Shuyang wrote off-topic essays in several weekly exams, he called him to the office. During their chat, he happened to mention a former student who was good at everything except for being extremely bad at Chinese and English.
Later, as soon as Zhao Shuyang heard the name, he almost cried out. Trying not to laugh, he said, “Sorry Teacher Zhao, but that student is my sister.”
Zhao Qi: “…”
Ruan Mian hadn’t heard Zhao Shuyang mention this before. Hearing him say it now: “You don’t even know, as soon as Teacher Zhao heard you were my sister, his face instantly…went black. It took him a good long while before he said anything.”
He deliberately imitated Zhao Qi’s tone, “So it really isn’t one family who doesn’t enter the same door, huh.”
Ruan Mian: “…”
After getting the exam papers and going back, Ruan Mian called Chen Yi that night and also mentioned this to him. She sighed with a laugh, “Hey, what do you think Teacher Zhao would feel if he knew you were dating me now, would he feel like his cabbage has been uprooted by pigs2?”
Chen Yi carelessly said, “I don’t know if Teacher Zhao would think that, but he would definitely feel that Zhao Shuyang is continuing your direction in tormenting him.”
Ruan Mian sat at the desk and saw the lights on in the building across through the window. She murmured, “I wasn’t that bad at Chinese back then, was I?”
He laughed softly, “Being able to use one example in six essays, I think that was pretty bad.”
Back in high school, Ruan Mian had just started learning how to write essays from Chen Yi. The only thing she learned was to cite examples in essays. Later, after studying for a while, Chen Yi discovered that no matter the topic related to encouraging hard work, she would use Beethoven’s story.
In dozens of essays over the semester plus exams, he found six identical ones, even the order of the descriptions and word counts were unchanged.
Ruan Mian argued, “But Teacher Zhao also said, as long as an example can be applied, using it a hundred times is not a problem.”
Chen Yi chuckled lowly, “Then do you think the teacher grading the exams wants to read the same story a hundred times?”
The Beethoven example she cited was typical of a good example in high school, where basically everyone would use it. But even good stories become boring when seen too many times, let alone in mediocre essays.
“Back then I told you to buy so many books and write so many reading notes. How come you didn’t know how to use any of them at all?”
The low voice from the receiver gradually overlapped with the lazy, teasing tone of the youth in her memories. In a daze, Ruan Mian felt as if she had returned to her high school days.
The noisy, chaotic classroom. The boy walked through the crowd holding her essay draft and came up to her. His figure was as elegant as a pine or bamboo. Although the content of their conversation was not very pleasant, his face was clean and refreshing, with lively and vivid eyebrows and eyes, so much so that she was obsessed with him for so many years.
After hanging up with Chen Yi, Ruan Mian took her clothes downstairs to shower. When she came out, she ran into Fang Ruqing going into her room to get a quilt.
“I just checked the weather forecast and it said there would be rain tonight, so I was afraid it would get cold with the temperature drop at night.”
Fang Ruqing followed her in to make the bed.
Ruan Mian stood to the side and noticed a few strands of white hair mixed in her mother’s hair. She was suddenly struck by the realization that so much time had passed.
More than ten years ago, the scene of her moving to Xijiang Alley with Fang Ruqing seemed like just yesterday. But time waits for no one, leaving varying degrees of traces on everyone.
Ruan Mian suddenly spoke, “Mom.”
“Hmm?”
Fang Ruqing finished making the bed and turned to look at her, “What’s up?”
Ruan Mian shook her head, “Nothing, I just wanted to call you.”
“You silly girl.”
She bent over to smooth the bedding. On the nearby nightstand was Ruan Mian’s graduation photo from Eighth Middle School.
Fang Ruqing picked it up and sat on the edge of the bed with a sigh, “Time really flies. In the blink of an eye, you’re already twenty-six. When I was your age, you were still toddling around everywhere.”
“Is that so?”
In recent years, Ruan Mian seldom came home, and it was rare for her to sit down with Fang Ruqing and talk openly about the past. She probably sensed Fang Ruqing had something to say, so she didn’t make another peep after responding.
“You developed slowly as a child and spoke much later than other kids. Your dad and I were so worried and scared. You were our first child, and we were afraid something might be wrong with you.”
Fang Ruqing talked about many things from the past, all from before Ruan Mian turned seven.
It was also from before Fang Ruqing and Ruan Mingke divorced.
“After your dad and I got divorced, I knew you blamed me more than your dad. You probably thought we’d have a chance to be together again, but you didn’t expect me to remarry so soon and bring you into my new life. When you started at Eighth Middle School, you no longer told me everything that happened at school like before. I didn’t know who your new friends were or who your deskmate was. I didn’t know when you took exams at other schools or won any awards. “
Fang Ruqing lowered her head and looked at the Ruan Mian in the photo. “I didn’t even know my daughter had a crush at school.”
Ruan Mian’s eyes turned wet. “Mom…”
“When your dad told me about you and Chen Yi, I was truly surprised. These past few years, you’ve had no one by your side except that boyfriend in college. Whenever we brought up marriage, you always brushed it off as being too busy. I had no idea you’d suddenly started dating.”
“Later, when your dad told me about your high school days, your crush, and that you and Chen Yi were classmates, I wondered – could it be that the one you liked was Chen Yi?
Fang Ruqing looked at Ruan Mian. “After I came back, when I saw this graduation photo in your room, I thought and thought until I finally remembered the first parent-teacher conference I attended at your school. You asked me to get your phone from your drawer, and I accidentally saw a scrap paper covered with scribbles of mountains and begs3. I didn’t think much of it then, assuming you were just doodling for fun. But now when I think back, that was probably the character ‘Yi’.”
It wasn’t a mountain or beg, but Yi.
Chen Yi’s Yi.
When Chen Yi received Ruan Mian’s call, he had just gotten out of the shower. Hearing the crying voice on the line, he didn’t think much before throwing on his pajamas and slippers and rushing out.
The front door of the house opened and closed again.
Sitting in the living room, Song Jing looked up and then glanced at her husband, Chen Shuyu. She said lightly, “What’s going on with your son?”
Chen Shuyu just smiled. “The passion of youth.”
Chen Yi ran all the way to the gates of the mansion complex, where he saw a figure standing under a streetlight not far away. He didn’t stop running.
Ruan Mian only heard rapid footsteps before looking up to see the man’s attire. She muttered, “It’s not that urgent.”
“It is for me.”
Chen Yi came closer, the reddened rims of her eyes clearly visible in the lamplight. His brow furrowed slightly. “What happened?”
The night was growing colder as expected. The autumn wind swirled through the dazzling city lights, swirling up the dead leaves on the ground into eddies.
Ruan Mian took her hands out of her pockets and walked forward a small step, reaching out to hug him from the side. Her fingers locked together behind his back. “Chen Yi.”
“Hmm?”
“I don’t think I’ve told you before.”
Chen Yi squeezed the back of her neck, forcing her to look up. “Told me what?”
She craned her neck, looking at him. Her eyes shone brightly, brimming with ardent admiration. “I like you so much.”
More than you could have imagined, more than you know.
The autumn starlight paled in comparison to the light in her eyes. In an instant, Chen Yi’s chest felt like it would burst.
He lowered his eyes, gazing at her unblinkingly. His Adam’s apple bobbed slightly, as if he was struggling to keep control. “Me too.”
“I like you so much.”
He leaned down to kiss her.
They were surrounded by passersby, but Chen Yi paid them no mind. This broke his usual rule of no intimate acts in public.
Their entwined shadows stretched under the hazy streetlamp. This time, there were no accidental misunderstandings or tricks of perspective.
After a long while, Chen Yi released his hold. For a moment, he had the urge to bring her back with him. The autumn wind was cold, dispelling some of the stirring emotions and impulses.
He took a small step back, leading her away from the wind to a corner by the side. “When did you get here?”
“This evening.”
“You were eating dinner at Auntie’s?”
“Mm.”
Ruan Mian said, “My dad told my mom about us before. I also talked to her about it tonight.”
Chen Yi imagined her reaction tonight and obviously cried-out eyes. His heart lurched. Jokingly, he asked, “Don’t tell me Auntie doesn’t approve and you came to elope with me?”
“What are you thinking?”
Ruan Mian was half amused, half exasperated. “My mom isn’t unreasonable. She just wants to meet you.”
Chen Yi felt relieved. “Now? Then I should go back and change first.”
“No need to rush. My mom will be home these few days.”
Ruan Mian said, “See when you’re free these days.”
“I’m free now.”
He ruffled her hair. “Is tomorrow night okay?”
“Okay.”
Ruan Mian let go of his hand. “It’s late. I should head back first. You should go home too.”
But Chen Yi held on and didn’t let go. “Let me walk you back.”
“Alright.”
The two of them passed through the alley with the internet cafe and walked until they reached her home. Ruan Mian urged him to go back since it was getting cold out.
Chen Yi was just about to leave.
A sudden voice called out from a second-floor window, “Mom! Come quick! Big sis is downstairs! And her future brother-in-law too!”
- This is a literal translation from the proverb “???????????” (bù t?ng l?orén yán, ch?ku? zài y?nqián), i.e., don’t ignore the wisdom from the elderly. ↩︎
- “????????” (zìji? de báicài bèi zh? g?ng) is a Chinese idiom where something of their own personal interest has been stolen/taken away. ↩︎
- In Chinese, the character “Yi (?)” is made up of the characters for “mountain (?)” and “beg (?)” when split apart. ↩︎
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