The hometown Zhao Yu was talking about was not the one on her ID.
The one on the ID along with her original surname was the result of a fake addition to a household registration from a fake marriage her mother initiated in order for her to attend a better school. Unfortunately, all her hopes were for nothing.
When she was five years old, her mother took her to Wucheng and was taken in by a very kind and helpful couple that helped them settle in smoothly. The couple later became her godfather and godmother.
Wucheng was just a small county, not too far from Donghai, and it can be reached by car in five hours on the highway.
She really doesn’t have a home, but this Spring Festival, she had to go see her godfather and godmother.
Godfather and godmother worked hard to move from the countryside to the city. They ran a small business. Originally, their standard of living and business was already getting better daily, but their only daughter suddenly passed away, with that, they lost sight of their goals in life.
Zhao Yu borrowed the insurance company’s name to give them the three million, and then repeatedly persuaded them to move to a new house, but it was only a small apartment. Apart from helping out a few relatives, they wanted to leave the rest of the money for Zhao Yu.
Zhao Yu had told them on the phone that she was driving back so they didn’t need to go to the station to pick her up. When she arrived at her godparents’ new house, the two elders had already been waiting downstairs.
Seeing her car, the first words of godfather was: “We give you money but you don’t want it. Yet you took out a loan to buy this car, do you even have money left for meals?”
Zhao Yu smiled: “Of course not. My salary at work is really good.”
Her godmother didn’t say a word, just stepped forward, hugged her tight, and wept quietly.
Full of feeling, Zhao Yu only choke down the emotions.
Just like on the phone, when she came back in person, both parties came to an unspoken agreement not to mention her insistence on going to the United States back then. Nor did they bring up any of the sad topics of the past. They tried their best to talk about happy things and focused on celebrating the New Year happily.
Zhao Yu had not celebrated Chinese New Year in a long time. She did not come back for the New Year in the three years she was in the United States. After Shang Lu returned to China, she stayed by herself in his apartment, and she passed the time muddleheaded and in a daze.
Shanglu had never wished her a happy holiday because that would only make her lonelier.
But this year, after eating the New Year’s Eve dinner, she actually received a text message from him. Unlike the long and large chain messages, he only simply said four words:
[Happy Chinese New Year]
Zhao Yu still remembered that every year when Shanglu returned to the U.S. after the festival, he would tell her that he wanted to eat dumplings, and asked her to make some for him. Afterward, the two of them would eat together. On the last day of the Chinese New Year festivities; the day of the Lantern Festival, he would say he wanted to eat glutinous rice balls and have her make enough for them to eat together.
In reality, he was celebrating the holidays with her.
With a slight swipe of her fingers, Zhao Yu returned the same four words, and the conversation ended with no replies.
She opened WeChat and opened her chat dialogue with Ji Sui. She thought about it, then randomly copied a group message from another group and sent it to him.
A reply from Ji Sui came quicky: [Thank you]
Zhao Yu did not reply, and soon he asked again: [Are you alone?]
Zhao Yu: [Mmm]
Ji Sui: [In Donghai?]
Zhao Yu: [No, I’m back to my hometown, I have to go to the cemetery to pay respects to my mother]
Ji Sui called her phone and Zhao Yu went back into her room to pick up, she could still hear the commotion from his side.
He must be celebrating the New Year with the Zhuang family. With so many family members, it was bound to be very lively.
Although he was the one who called, he stayed silent after the call went through. Instead, Zhao Yu first smiled and said, “It sounds very lively, are you with friends? Are Xiaoxiao and Sister Shi Yu there with you?”
To Ji Sui’s knowledge, she only knew that he was worked at Lanxi, and thought he was an ordinary employee – she shouldn’t know about his relationship with the Zhuang family.
“Sister Shi Yu took Xiaoxiao back to her grandma’s house. I’m at…” Ji Sui paused and continued, “My grandpa’s house.”
Zhao Yu continued to ask: “So you still have a grandpa.”
“Well, we have no blood relations. I was raised by him since I was a child. He passed away a few years ago.” He guessed that he was not making any sense, so Ji Sui bluntly said, “Sorry, I didn’t tell you before. The grandfather I was talking about was the last chairman of Lan Xi. I grew up in the Zhuang family. “
Zhao Yu pretended to be surprised. “It turns out… so you are…”
She didn’t say any more words, but the meaning was clear. It turns out that he, like Xue Ziang, is not in the same world as her.
Ji Sui understood the implication and explained, “I’m just an ordinary person, no different from you.”
Zhao Yu didn’t speak anymore, and they were silent for a while before he said, “Zhao Yu, Happy Chinese New Year.”
“You too, have a happy holiday, and wish you have fun.”
“Mmm, when you are outside alone, be careful.”
When Zhao Yu just wanted to speak, a male voice suddenly came from a distance on the phone. “Brother, you took me to that shooting club last time. Will it be open on New Year’s Day?”
She was fully mentally-prepared, but when she suddenly heard this familiar voice, Zhao Yu still froze.
Ji Sui said “sorry” into the phone, but didn’t hang up, and spoke to the person with him: “It’s open for business. Are you going?”
“I don’t want to be in this f*cking place. I asked my friends to go out for two rounds. You wanna come?”
Before Ji Sui answered, there was another middle-aged man’s voice: “Which club are you going to? You are not allowed to go anywhere tomorrow, stay put at home!”
The young man sneered, “Stay at home for your bastard daughter’s birthday? I’m sorry, f*ck. I am not so broken that I’ll celebrate my enemy’s birthday.”
“Zhuang Ye, don’t forget that she is your sister!”
“Chairman Zhuang, don’t forget, the one who just ran out crying, for f*ck’s sake, is the wife you officially married. Don’t go about bringing every goddamned stray cats and dogs home.”
It sounded like a huge fight. But before Zhao Yu could listen to the ending, all the voices from the outside world were suddenly cut off, probably because Ji Sui returned to the room.
“Things are a little messy at home, sorry you had to hear this craziness.”
“It’s okay, I understand.” After a pause, Zhao Yu asked again, “Just now, was it your brother? He seems to have a pretty aggressive temper.”
Ji Sui smiled: “He just clashed with his dad. Their father-son relationship is not good. They have always been like this. Actually, he usually has a good temper.”
Hanging up the phone, looking at the bright night scene outside through the window, Zhao Yu suddenly heard voices that were long gone.
“Student Tang Xi, everyone is saying that I and you are a couple. What are your thoughts on this?”
“Student Tang Xi, in order not to waste the title of “match made in heaven”, why not try going on a date?”
“Xixi, my dear Xiaoxixi, I am your boyfriend, can you bear to leave me so easily?”
“Xixi, shall we get married as soon as we graduate from university?”
“Tang Xi, I love you.”
“Tang Xi, I hate you.”
The hometown Zhao Yu was talking about was not the one on her ID.
The one on the ID along with her original surname was the result of a fake addition to a household registration from a fake marriage her mother initiated in order for her to attend a better school. Unfortunately, all her hopes were for nothing.
When she was five years old, her mother took her to Wucheng and was taken in by a very kind and helpful couple that helped them settle in smoothly. The couple later became her godfather and godmother.
Wucheng was just a small county, not too far from Donghai, and it can be reached by car in five hours on the highway.
She really doesn’t have a home, but this Spring Festival, she had to go see her godfather and godmother.
Godfather and godmother worked hard to move from the countryside to the city. They ran a small business. Originally, their standard of living and business was already getting better daily, but their only daughter suddenly passed away, with that, they lost sight of their goals in life.
Zhao Yu borrowed the insurance company’s name to give them the three million, and then repeatedly persuaded them to move to a new house, but it was only a small apartment. Apart from helping out a few relatives, they wanted to leave the rest of the money for Zhao Yu.
Zhao Yu had told them on the phone that she was driving back so they didn’t need to go to the station to pick her up. When she arrived at her godparents’ new house, the two elders had already been waiting downstairs.
Seeing her car, the first words of godfather was: “We give you money but you don’t want it. Yet you took out a loan to buy this car, do you even have money left for meals?”
Zhao Yu smiled: “Of course not. My salary at work is really good.”
Her godmother didn’t say a word, just stepped forward, hugged her tight, and wept quietly.
Full of feeling, Zhao Yu only choke down the emotions.
Just like on the phone, when she came back in person, both parties came to an unspoken agreement not to mention her insistence on going to the United States back then. Nor did they bring up any of the sad topics of the past. They tried their best to talk about happy things and focused on celebrating the New Year happily.
Zhao Yu had not celebrated Chinese New Year in a long time. She did not come back for the New Year in the three years she was in the United States. After Shang Lu returned to China, she stayed by herself in his apartment, and she passed the time muddleheaded and in a daze.
Shanglu had never wished her a happy holiday because that would only make her lonelier.
But this year, after eating the New Year’s Eve dinner, she actually received a text message from him. Unlike the long and large chain messages, he only simply said four words:
[Happy Chinese New Year]
Zhao Yu still remembered that every year when Shanglu returned to the U.S. after the festival, he would tell her that he wanted to eat dumplings, and asked her to make some for him. Afterward, the two of them would eat together. On the last day of the Chinese New Year festivities; the day of the Lantern Festival, he would say he wanted to eat glutinous rice balls and have her make enough for them to eat together.
In reality, he was celebrating the holidays with her.
With a slight swipe of her fingers, Zhao Yu returned the same four words, and the conversation ended with no replies.
She opened WeChat and opened her chat dialogue with Ji Sui. She thought about it, then randomly copied a group message from another group and sent it to him.
A reply from Ji Sui came quicky: [Thank you]
Zhao Yu did not reply, and soon he asked again: [Are you alone?]
Zhao Yu: [Mmm]
Ji Sui: [In Donghai?]
Zhao Yu: [No, I’m back to my hometown, I have to go to the cemetery to pay respects to my mother]
Ji Sui called her phone and Zhao Yu went back into her room to pick up, she could still hear the commotion from his side.
He must be celebrating the New Year with the Zhuang family. With so many family members, it was bound to be very lively.
Although he was the one who called, he stayed silent after the call went through. Instead, Zhao Yu first smiled and said, “It sounds very lively, are you with friends? Are Xiaoxiao and Sister Shi Yu there with you?”
To Ji Sui’s knowledge, she only knew that he was worked at Lanxi, and thought he was an ordinary employee – she shouldn’t know about his relationship with the Zhuang family.
“Sister Shi Yu took Xiaoxiao back to her grandma’s house. I’m at…” Ji Sui paused and continued, “My grandpa’s house.”
Zhao Yu continued to ask: “So you still have a grandpa.”
“Well, we have no blood relations. I was raised by him since I was a child. He passed away a few years ago.” He guessed that he was not making any sense, so Ji Sui bluntly said, “Sorry, I didn’t tell you before. The grandfather I was talking about was the last chairman of Lan Xi. I grew up in the Zhuang family. “
Zhao Yu pretended to be surprised. “It turns out… so you are…”
She didn’t say any more words, but the meaning was clear. It turns out that he, like Xue Ziang, is not in the same world as her.
Ji Sui understood the implication and explained, “I’m just an ordinary person, no different from you.”
Zhao Yu didn’t speak anymore, and they were silent for a while before he said, “Zhao Yu, Happy Chinese New Year.”
“You too, have a happy holiday, and wish you have fun.”
“Mmm, when you are outside alone, be careful.”
When Zhao Yu just wanted to speak, a male voice suddenly came from a distance on the phone. “Brother, you took me to that shooting club last time. Will it be open on New Year’s Day?”
She was fully mentally-prepared, but when she suddenly heard this familiar voice, Zhao Yu still froze.
Ji Sui said “sorry” into the phone, but didn’t hang up, and spoke to the person with him: “It’s open for business. Are you going?”
“I don’t want to be in this f*cking place. I asked my friends to go out for two rounds. You wanna come?”
Before Ji Sui answered, there was another middle-aged man’s voice: “Which club are you going to? You are not allowed to go anywhere tomorrow, stay put at home!”
The young man sneered, “Stay at home for your bastard daughter’s birthday? I’m sorry, f*ck. I am not so broken that I’ll celebrate my enemy’s birthday.”
“Zhuang Ye, don’t forget that she is your sister!”
“Chairman Zhuang, don’t forget, the one who just ran out crying, for f*ck’s sake, is the wife you officially married. Don’t go about bringing every goddamned stray cats and dogs home.”
It sounded like a huge fight. But before Zhao Yu could listen to the ending, all the voices from the outside world were suddenly cut off, probably because Ji Sui returned to the room.
“Things are a little messy at home, sorry you had to hear this craziness.”
“It’s okay, I understand.” After a pause, Zhao Yu asked again, “Just now, was it your brother? He seems to have a pretty aggressive temper.”
Ji Sui smiled: “He just clashed with his dad. Their father-son relationship is not good. They have always been like this. Actually, he usually has a good temper.”
Hanging up the phone, looking at the bright night scene outside through the window, Zhao Yu suddenly heard voices that were long gone.
“Student Tang Xi, everyone is saying that I and you are a couple. What are your thoughts on this?”
“Student Tang Xi, in order not to waste the title of “match made in heaven”, why not try going on a date?”
“Xixi, my dear Xiaoxixi, I am your boyfriend, can you bear to leave me so easily?”
“Xixi, shall we get married as soon as we graduate from university?”
“Tang Xi, I love you.”
“Tang Xi, I hate you.”
