September nights in the mountains were already rather cool. The breeze blew steadily, drawing villagers out of their houses, and with Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, Guanjia Village had been much livelier at night these past few days. Mama Wang dragged Wang Cheng along to make the rounds at several of his aunts’ homes.
Mama Wang was the second oldest among the sisters, with two younger sisters below her. Both were married now and neither lived in Guanjia Village, though they were not very far away. By the time they finished visiting everyone and returned, it was not even eleven. The cool breeze had stripped away the day’s heat, and there was no longer any need to run the air conditioner at night.
Mama Wang told him to go to bed early, then went back to her room with Papa Wang.
Wang Cheng was used to brushing his teeth and washing his face before bed. By the time he lay down, it was already eleven-thirty. He pulled out his phone and found two new messages. Both were from Chu Yifeng. The first asked whether he had arrived, and the second asked what he had decided.
The corner of Wang Cheng’s mouth twitched. Who was the one who had said he would give him two days to think? How long had it been? He did not want to reply at first, but after some thought, he answered the first message.
Chu Yifeng heard the alert for a new message and opened it to find a two-character reply. A very faint smile appeared on his handsome face. It was barely visible, but his features seemed to soften slightly.
Shen Yuan, sitting across from him, saw the change and knew who it was without even having to guess. His expression immediately turned sly and curious as he leaned over. “That was Wang Cheng, wasn’t it?”
Chu Yifeng glanced at him without answering.
“You can’t be serious. You still haven’t gotten him yet?” Shen Yuan had already figured out that his friend truly had that kind of interest in Wang Cheng. He had assumed that with Chu Yifeng’s personality, it would not take long at all. Yet a whole month had passed, and somehow their relationship still had not moved forward.
Chu Yifeng leaned back against the sofa and tilted his head toward the beautifully decorated light fixture on the ceiling. The warm yellow light illuminated half his face while the other half remained hidden in shadow.
Shen Yuan stared at him for a long moment as an uneasy suspicion slowly formed. “You… aren’t actually serious about him, are you?”
That finally got a reaction from Chu Yifeng. “Not everyone is like you, falling for a new person every time you turn around. Playboy.”
“Give me a break. You’ve known me long enough. We’re talking about you right now, so don’t try changing the subject. Your parents won’t agree. A family like yours isn’t going to allow you to be with a man.” Shen Yuan was thinking of far more than just that, and he did not believe Chu Yifeng had failed to consider it.
“My parents have never been the problem.”
“Heh. Then what about your grandfather? He’s not someone you want to cross. If he opposes it, the chances of the two of you making it to the end are very low.”
The head of the Chu family was a stern, iron-fisted, and unfathomable old man, as well as a towering figure whose slightest move could shake the capital. Countless people feared him. Shen Yuan did not believe for a moment that the old man would accept his grandson being with another man.
Chu Yifeng lit a cigarette, smoke veiling the expression on his face. Only after a long while did Shen Yuan hear him say with complete seriousness, “That would indeed be a little troublesome.”
Shen Yuan nearly sprayed out the wine in his mouth. This was clearly a serious problem, so did he have to sound so casual about it? Shen Yuan suddenly began doubting his own judgment. Had he guessed wrong?
The next day, villagers were already up working before the roosters had even crowed.
Guanjia Village had a custom of making offerings. Many households had already arranged offerings in front of their doors and lit candles, and after walking only a short distance, one could see villagers burning paper money.
Wang Cheng’s family made offerings as well. The wind was fairly strong, scattering paper ash everywhere. When Wang Cheng came out, Mama Wang was tidying up the offerings while the stupid pig darted around under the table. Wang Cheng swept up the ash first, then grabbed the struggling pig and shut it inside the chicken coop. It was a pig, yet it loved the mooncakes Mama Wang made. Could it please act like a proper pig?
The festive atmosphere made Guanjia Village lively. Whenever neighbors saw him, they smiled and greeted him. Some would even ask, “Wang Cheng, you came back for the holiday?” or “When are you going back to work?” His vacation had only just started and they were already asking when he was returning to work. He really did not know how to answer.
Wang Cheng simply hid at home and stopped going out. News traveled quickly in rural places like this. Even though Wangjia Village no longer existed, anything people genuinely wanted to know was almost impossible to keep secret. Plenty of people now wanted to get on good terms with their family, so once Mid-Autumn arrived, relatives and neighbors found excuses to come visit for the holiday.
From his room, Wang Cheng could hear his parents talking with a whole group of aunties and older women. They wandered from one subject to another before eventually getting around to the matter of the brothers getting married.
That was one of the things Mama Wang worried about too.
Her eldest son had plenty of romantic experience, but something unpleasant had happened to him. He never spoke about it, yet Mama Wang could tell. So whenever her eldest son came home, she always hesitated and left the subject alone.
As for her second son, she and Papa Wang had given him to the old monk to raise all those years ago, so the couple had never felt they had any standing to worry about matters like this. Back then, they had not even dared imagine it. Their son had become a monk. They could not persuade him to return to secular life, much less ask him to get a girlfriend. Now that he was home again, Mama Wang had thought it was already enough just to have her second son back and had not dared hope for anything more. It was only after that girl named Wei Dandan called him a few days ago that Mama Wang began entertaining such thoughts.
“Sister-in-law Lanfang, I’m just saying, your two sons are both so outstanding. How come neither of them has a girlfriend yet? My Huzi is the same age as your Wang Cheng, and he’s already married with a baby on the way.”
Third Aunt Guan from next door spoke with great feeling, though anyone with eyes could see how pleased she was with herself. This was about the only area where she could find some sense of balance. All three Wang children were simply too outstanding for other people to compete with.
Mama Wang replied, “When your conditions are good, naturally your standards are higher. As their mother, I don’t want to force them to marry wives they don’t like either. Better to go without than settle for someone unsuitable and spend your days unhappy.”
Everything she said was perfectly reasonable, yet Third Aunt Guan still felt as if she had been slapped in the face. Her Huzi had gotten married with exactly the attitude of settling because it was good enough, and now their household always seemed to have one problem or another. Just yesterday, people had been able to hear Huzi arguing with his wife.
Trying to score a verbal advantage over Mama Wang was impossible.
After the group of aunties left, Wang Cheng came out and was startled by the ugly look on Mama Wang’s face. If the house had not had poor soundproofing and he had not already known what happened, he might have thought Mama Wang had suffered some terrible grievance. At this point, she was probably regretting what she had said.
Mama Wang might say she would not pressure her two sons, but what parents did not hope to hold a grandchild as soon as possible? Unfortunately, neither son even had a girlfriend, so they still had a long wait ahead of them.
“Mom, what’s wrong?” Wang Cheng knew the reason, but he could hardly pretend he had not noticed anything.
“You and that Wei Dandan really don’t have anything going on? You don’t normally call each other? You haven’t seen each other in so long. You should talk more often.” Mama Wang was still bothered by what Third Aunt Guan had said.
Cold sweat nearly broke out on Wang Cheng’s forehead. “Mom, there really is nothing between us. We’re just ordinary friends. We don’t even have anything in common to talk about. How are we supposed to chat all the time?”
“Then take the initiative! You’re the man. Are you expecting the girl to make the first move?” Mama Wang looked thoroughly exasperated by his lack of initiative.
“Mom, I really don’t have those kinds of feelings for Wei Dandan.” Wang Cheng had no intention of settling. If he had liked Wei Dandan, he would have liked her back then.
“Fine. I’m done meddling in your business.” Hearing that, Mama Wang finally had no choice but to give up.
That was exactly what Wang Cheng had wanted to hear.
“Come with me to your Eldest Uncle’s place later. Tomorrow is Mid-Autumn. We may not have much contact with your Eldest Uncle anymore, but your grandparents are staying there. As their children, we still have to show some filial respect so people have nothing to criticize.”
“Should we bring a box of mooncakes?” No one in Eldest Uncle’s household knew how to make mooncakes, and Eldest Aunt certainly could not. Their family usually bought piles of mooncakes to hand out to company employees, or else received them from other people. When you ran a business, you could not look too stingy, even if Eldest Uncle and Eldest Aunt really were rather stingy.
“Bring one. Pick any box you like.” Mama Wang had no desire to give them the mooncakes she had made herself. Sending those over would only be a waste.
Wang Cheng immediately had an idea.
Papa Wang had taken the stupid pig out visiting, and Mama Wang had no intention of calling him back. She locked the door, and mother and son carried a box of mooncakes over. Eldest Uncle’s rented house was even larger than theirs. They were only going to live there a few months, yet they had arranged the place as if they intended to stay forever. They would understand the trouble when it came time to move.
Eldest Uncle was not home. Apparently, he had gone out delivering mooncakes. Only Eldest Aunt and Wang Cheng’s grandparents were there.
His grandparents barely reacted when they saw them arrive. Wang Cheng was already used to how outrageously biased the two old people were. Eldest Aunt, on the other hand, warmly invited them inside to sit down. To Wang Cheng, the warmth in her smile looked thoroughly deceptive. He only wondered what trick she was planning this time.
“Sister-in-law, these are mooncakes Chengcheng brought home. Mid-Autumn is almost here, so we brought a box for you, Eldest Brother, and Mom and Dad to try.” Mama Wang gestured for Wang Cheng to hand the mooncakes over.
Wang Cheng understood and passed the box to Eldest Aunt.
When Madam Li saw the mooncakes in his hands, the dismissive expression on her face shifted slightly. Before she could say anything, however, Grandma came out from inside carrying a box of mooncakes herself. “No need. Your Eldest Brother’s family has plenty of mooncakes. Your sister-in-law and I were just saying we should send a box over to you. Since you happen to be here, take this one back with you.”
Placed side by side, the difference between the two boxes was already obvious from the packaging alone.
The mooncakes Wang Cheng had chosen were the ones his company had given him. Chu Yifeng was a very generous boss, and the mooncakes he had Gao Yongfu custom-order were much more expensive than the box Wei Dandan had given Wang Cheng, so naturally the packaging was much nicer too. Eldest Uncle’s mooncakes, meanwhile, were meant to be handed out to employees. They had not wanted to spend too much, so each box contained only four pieces and cost less than thirty yuan.
Madam Li immediately felt as though she had been slapped across the face. Her cheeks burned so badly that she wished she could crawl into a crack in the floor.