After leaving Eldest Uncle’s house, Wang Cheng felt refreshed from head to toe. There was a reason he had picked the expensive box. Eldest Aunt and his grandparents cared so much about appearances that one box of mooncakes was enough to slap them in the face, so why not? Besides, if they had not made assumptions on their own, there would have been no face-slapping to begin with.
“Naughty.” Mama Wang noticed immediately and shot him a look once they were outside, though there was not the slightest trace of blame in her voice. She had disliked her sister-in-law’s behavior for a long time. It was only because of her position in the family that she could not openly do much about it.
Wang Cheng grinned and looped an arm through his mother’s. “Mom, this has nothing to do with me. I just gave Eldest Aunt a box of mooncakes. I didn’t do anything.”
“Smart mouth. Is that any way to talk about your elders? She’s still your Eldest Aunt, and that’s still your grandmother. Say this kind of thing at home if you want, but don’t go talking nonsense outside.”
“I know. I know where the line is.”
Mother and son walked off together, chatting and laughing.
They did not take the incident to heart, but Madam Li cared very much. In her eyes, Wang Cheng’s family had never been worth taking seriously. Even the rumors about Fengxia Mountain back in July and August had not changed her opinion. Everyone talked as though the story were true, but nobody had proof, so Eldest Uncle’s family did not believe Wang Cheng had really owned Fengxia Mountain.
When Eldest Uncle Wang Hongwei returned, Madam Li told him what happened. He did not care much and only said she was making a fuss over nothing. A single box of mooncakes did not prove anything.
“Ningkai is coming back tomorrow, and his girlfriend is coming with him to spend Mid-Autumn with us. Behave yourself and don’t do anything unnecessary. Tell Mom and Dad too, so they don’t leave a bad impression on Ningkai’s girlfriend,” Wang Hongwei warned her.
The moment Madam Li heard that, she forgot all about Wang Cheng and his mother. Her son’s girlfriend was a golden treasure, and they could not afford to be careless. The entire family hoped Wang Ningkai would marry her, so everyone was treating the matter with great caution.
Wang Ningkai and his girlfriend had officially been together for two months, and by now the relationship was relatively stable. A month ago, Wang Ningkai had suggested bringing her home to meet his parents, but she refused. He brought it up several more times afterward, and each time she declined. It was only for this Mid-Autumn Festival that she finally agreed. The entire household was delighted, especially Madam Li.
Madam Li had been waiting for this day for a long time. She had originally wanted to hurry the renovation of the new house so they could move in first and make a better impression on her future daughter-in-law, but she had not expected the visit to happen so soon.
Their new house was even larger than Wang Cheng’s, so the renovation would take longer. Even if they sped things up now, it would still be another month before they could move in. Since they could not make it in time, they had no choice but to clean the rented house thoroughly from top to bottom.
The next day was Mid-Autumn, and with so many people visiting relatives, the news spread quickly.
By that afternoon, Wang Cheng and his parents had heard about it too. Madam Zhang might have been envious enough to choke on it, but nobody in Wang Cheng’s family cared. They could talk once the couple actually got married. They were only dating right now, and even meeting the parents did not guarantee anything. Until the very end, nobody knew how things would turn out.
When Papa Wang returned from walking the pig, neither Wang Cheng nor Mama Wang told him what had happened while delivering mooncakes to Eldest Uncle’s house. They only said they had taken a box over. Papa Wang then asked Wang Cheng to go with him to Second Uncle’s house to deliver mooncakes there too. Wang Cheng did not want to go, so Mama Wang told him to stay home and watch the house and the miniature pig while she went with Papa Wang.
Strictly speaking, they did not need to give mooncakes to either Eldest Uncle or Second Uncle. If anyone should be giving them, it ought to have been Eldest Uncle. But since they had already delivered a box to one household, they could not leave the other out, or Madam Zhang would definitely have something to say once she found out.
After the brick-smashing incident, Madam Zhang had loudly sworn she would find the culprit and make them pay. So many days had passed without her uncovering anything, however, and by now they knew they would have to swallow the loss themselves. Madam Zhang had spent several days throwing tantrums over it. Wang Cheng truly had no desire to see either her or Wang Ningxiang.
Papa Wang and Mama Wang did not stay at Second Uncle’s house for long before returning. They did not talk about what happened there, but Wang Cheng could more or less guess. Madam Zhang was even harsher than Madam Li and had much less control over her mouth.
That evening, Wang Cheng watched television with his parents until ten before going back to his room to sleep.
Their household kept fairly regular hours. Mama Wang did not approve of her children staying up late, so she had always been strict about bedtime when they were young, and that did not change much after they grew up.
The mountain had no electric lights when Wang Cheng lived there. Once night fell, the entire temple disappeared into darkness, which could be frighteningly pitch-black. Most of the time, nobody needed to remind him. He would crawl into his room and go to sleep on his own. The habit had stayed with him all these years.
Wang Cheng lay on the bed with the full moon framed perfectly in the open window. Since coming home, he had barely thought about what was going on with Chu Yifeng. Now Yuan Xia’s words came back to him. Looking back, his relationship with Chu Yifeng had stopped being as simple as two meal buddies a long time ago. Setting those troublesome thoughts aside, Wang Cheng quickly fell asleep. His phone lay on the table beneath the window, its screen glowing faintly before going dark again a moment later.
September twenty-seventh, Mid-Autumn Festival, finally arrived.
Guanjia Village was lively from early morning. Children could be seen playing everywhere outside, some of them racing directly past Wang Cheng’s window amid bursts of laughter. Sleeping through that was impossible.
Mama Wang had left rolled pancakes and eggs on the table, and there was congee in the pot as well. The couple had taken the miniature pig out with them first thing in the morning. On Mid-Autumn Festival, every household was busy.
After breakfast, Wang Cheng stepped outside. A young mother from next door happened to be leading her three-year-old son past his house. When she saw Wang Cheng, she smiled and nodded. She was not beautiful, but she had the simple sincerity of a country woman. Not everyone was like Aunt Zhang or Second Aunt. There were far more decent people in the village.
Wang Cheng wandered around for a while and happened to run into someone. It was Third Aunt Guan, the neighbor who had visited their home yesterday. She was not a bad person, just a little too fond of gossip, though perhaps that was a common habit among plenty of women. Mama Wang had shut her down only yesterday, yet today she came straight over to Wang Cheng again.
“Wang Cheng, why are you still here?”
Why should he not be here? Wang Cheng wondered, though he kept it off his face. “Third Aunt, is something wrong?”
Third Aunt Guan smiled. “Looks like you still haven’t heard. Your Eldest Uncle’s house is very lively today. There are two cars parked outside, and they say your eldest cousin came back with his rich girlfriend. Everyone has gone over to watch. Even your Second Uncle and Second Aunt went.”
“Oh. I already knew about that.” Wang Cheng had thought she was about to tell him something important. A rich girlfriend was enough reason for everyone to go watch? What kind of logic was that?
Seeing that he had no curiosity at all, Third Aunt Guan lost interest and switched topics. “Wang Cheng, your eldest cousin already has a girlfriend. When are you going to find a wife for your parents too?”
“My eldest brother isn’t even married yet. I’m not in a hurry. Third Aunt, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be going.”
Wang Cheng had the feeling that if he kept talking to her, she would eventually work her way through eighteen generations of his ancestors. Besides, this was the sort of thing his parents could worry about if they wanted. What business was it of an outsider? He had no interest in providing gossip material.
When he returned home, Papa Wang and Mama Wang were still out.
Wang Cheng had forgotten to bring his phone when he left. By the time he retrieved it from his room, there were already several messages waiting. Yuan Xia had sent him a holiday greeting, and so had coworkers from the company. He went through every message, but not a single one was from Chu Yifeng.
The thought had barely formed before Wang Cheng rolled his eyes at himself. Was he an idiot? Why was he wondering whether Chu Yifeng had texted him? He suppressed the thought and replied to Yuan Xia and the others one by one. Some coworkers had copied holiday greetings from the internet. The first one he read seemed amusing enough, so Wang Cheng simply forwarded it to another coworker. He kept crossing messages back and forth like that until, without paying attention, he accidentally sent one to Chu Yifeng.
He wanted to take it back, but his phone had already shown that it was sent successfully. Wang Cheng smacked his forehead. Forget it. If Chu Yifeng replied, he would just say it had been an accident. A little while later, Chu Yifeng still had not responded. Wang Cheng increasingly felt that he was losing his mind. He was actually waiting for Chu Yifeng’s reply.
When Papa Wang and Mama Wang came home, they found their second son sitting on the living-room sofa glaring at the phone on the coffee table.
“What’s wrong with this kid?” Papa Wang asked in confusion.
“Isn’t it obvious? He’s waiting for someone to call.” Mama Wang saw through him at once. Then something seemed to occur to her and she sighed. “If only it were a woman.”
Papa Wang chuckled and wisely did not answer. After decades of marriage, he knew his wife had probably been stirred up by what was happening at Eldest Brother’s house. They had not deliberately gone over there, but hearing everyone else talk about it was no different. On the walk home alone, their ears had nearly grown calluses.
Wang Cheng did not get a reply from Chu Yifeng. Instead, Wei Dandan’s holiday greeting arrived. She did not send a text, but called him directly. Wei Dandan was the one who brought up most of the topics, and the two chatted for more than ten minutes before hanging up.
Papa Wang happened to walk over and casually asked, “Who called?”
“A classmate.”
“Don’t tell me it was that Dandan girl from last time?” Papa Wang suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
One look at his expression and Wang Cheng knew exactly what his father was thinking. He wanted to deny it, but it was true, so he could only give a vague nod. “It was her. She called to wish me a happy Mid-Autumn Festival.”
“Good, good, good.” Papa Wang’s face blossomed into a smile.
“Dad, it’s not what you think…” Wang Cheng said helplessly.
Before he could finish, an unexpected “honored guest” interrupted them. It was Wang Cheng’s Eldest Aunt, now looking positively radiant, with none of yesterday’s embarrassment left on her face. She had come to tell them that Eldest Uncle was treating all the relatives to dinner at a restaurant that evening and that they absolutely had to attend.
Father and son immediately forgot what they had just been talking about.