Wang Cheng returned home to find dinner already prepared. Mama Wang told him to wash his hands, and the family of three gathered around the table to eat. They chatted casually about what had happened during the day. Papa Wang had already dealt with more than half of the medicinal herbs. His friend had taken several sample plants that afternoon and left, and to thank him, Papa Wang had given him some chestnuts and hawthorn berries. The man accepted them without ceremony.
After dinner, Mama Wang washed the dishes, then went out for a walk with Papa Wang.
Wang Cheng returned to his room and tidied up a little. He had only been away for two days, but a thin layer of dust had already settled on the table and chairs. Mama Wang had been busy and had not had time to clean for him.
An hour later, his parents came back. Wang Cheng had already showered and was sitting in the living room watching television while rubbing dry the hair on his head, which was still only a few centimeters long. Papa Wang walked over, took one look at him, and sighed with feeling.
“My son’s head has finally grown back.” It still looked like a hedgehog’s bristles for now, but once it grew a little longer, it should look better.
Wang Cheng’s face immediately fell. He stared resentfully at his beloved father. “Dad, your son’s head has been there the whole time.” Just how badly did someone have to misspeak to say something like that? If he had no head, could he still be standing here?
Papa Wang blinked. It took him several seconds to realize what he had said wrong, and then he burst out laughing. “Slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue. I meant your hair, your hair.”
Wang Cheng remained deeply resentful.
Mama Wang came out of the kitchen and saw one of them grinning foolishly while the other looked utterly speechless. She shook her head. They were both grown men already.
The television was showing the news. Mama Wang brought out a plate of fruit from the kitchen, all cut into slices with several toothpicks stuck in them. These were crabapples that had only ripened a few days ago. They looked much like apples, except their color was brighter, a vivid red, and they were quite large. These were all wild fruit and even sweeter than the crabapples sold at the market. During the two days Wang Cheng had been away, the shop had put them on sale, and the entire batch had sold out in just two days.
Wang Cheng speared a piece of crabapple with a toothpick and suddenly remembered something. “Mom, this morning I heard Third Aunt Guan mention something. She said something happened at Eldest Uncle’s house. Do you know what it was?”
Mama Wang had clearly heard about it. Her expression remained indifferent. “I know. It’s about your eldest cousin and his girlfriend breaking up, that woman whose name was Sha-something.”
“Lisa,” Wang Cheng supplied.
“Right, that was it. Apparently the two of them broke up. I don’t know exactly what happened, but your eldest cousin went home and made a scene with your Eldest Uncle and Eldest Aunt. He shouted about it until everyone knew. It happened during the two days you were away.”
“Did anything else happen?” Wang Cheng watched Mama Wang. Given Eldest Uncle’s family’s temperament, they would definitely blame his family for Wang Ningkai and Lisa’s breakup and would surely have said something. Third Aunt Guan’s eager-to-gossip expression that morning had already told him the matter was not that simple.
“What else could have happened? Just some pointless nonsense.” Sure enough, Mama Wang had no intention of telling him.
Wang Cheng said, “Has Eldest Aunt been going around telling people it was our fault?”
“How did you know?” Papa Wang was the one who answered. The moment the words left his mouth, Mama Wang shot him a glare. Realizing he had let it slip, he quickly shut his mouth.
“You can guess something like that.” Wang Cheng shrugged. If Eldest Aunt did not use this opportunity to make a scene, she would hardly be living up to herself.
“Just ignore it. Once this blows over, your Eldest Aunt will naturally quiet down.”
Wang Cheng, however, did not think it would be that simple. If Eldest Aunt were the sort to give up easily, people would not describe her as unreasonable and mean. The fact that she had not done anything yet probably meant she was waiting to unleash something bigger. When the time came, they would simply deal with whatever she threw at them. At ten o’clock, their family turned off the television as usual. Wang Cheng returned to his room and sent Chu Yifeng a message.
[Boss Chu, a woman asked me for my phone number today. I told her my girlfriend gets insanely jealous, so she left disappointed. What do you think?]
[Cheating on me behind my back?]
Wang Cheng thought for a moment before replying, [What would you do if I really did cheat?] He expected Chu Yifeng to answer with something along the lines of breaking his third leg, but he guessed wrong.
[If you were anyone else, I wouldn’t do anything. But since it’s you, I’d kill the person you cheated with.]
Wang Cheng’s finger froze on the screen. The words seemed casual, yet he could feel Chu Yifeng’s seriousness behind them. Since they had started dating, he had never felt it this deeply before. Only now did he truly feel as though he had taken on a burden. This was not child’s play. There were still several mountains ahead of them that they might not be able to cross.
[What’s wrong?]
After waiting a long time without receiving a reply, Chu Yifeng sent another message.
Wang Cheng came back to himself and typed a few words onto the screen. [Boss Chu, I suddenly realized that dating you comes with a lot of pressure.]
Chu Yifeng probably had not expected him to say that. After several seconds of silence, he replied, [Regretting it?]
Wang Cheng’s lips curled into a smile as his fingers flew over the screen. [But I’m the only person who can handle this kind of pressure. You’ll never find anyone else as tolerant of you as I am. If you ever dare do me wrong, I really will run away, and then you won’t even have a place to cry.]
Staring at that message, Chu Yifeng slowly smiled. He thought he would probably keep today’s messages on his phone forever and never delete them.
A busy life made time pass especially quickly, but perhaps that was also what made life feel meaningful. Most families in Guanjia Village were not wealthy, yet they lived more happily than many people in the city. Laughter could often be heard throughout the village. That was what mattered.
Autumn slowly passed, and winter was fast approaching. The villagers had all begun wearing thicker coats.
That day, Wang Cheng went to the Wang Family Jam Shop as usual. Papa Wang was going with his friend to meet the medicinal-herb merchant, while Mama Wang also had things to do, so Wang Cheng was the one minding the shop that day.
By eight in the morning, many shops in Chengping had already opened for business. Wang Cheng arrived after nine, when there were already quite a few people on the street. The uncle and auntie next door greeted him with broad smiles. Their shop had only been open for a few days, yet everyone nearby already knew them.
“Wang Cheng, how come you’re minding the shop today? Where’s your dad?”
Papa Wang was the sort who could never sit still. On the very first day the shop opened, he had already introduced himself to the neighboring shopkeepers and gotten along with them quite well. Once they learned Wang Cheng was his son, everyone praised him for being such a fine-looking young man. Some of the more enthusiastic ones even wanted to introduce their daughters to him.
“My dad has something to do, so I’ll be here for the next couple of days.” Wang Cheng smiled at the auntie next door. Whenever he was not running his mouth, his serious expression perfectly embodied the phrase “looking respectable enough,” and plenty of people happened to fall for that act, praising him even more enthusiastically.
“This young man looks better every time I see him. What a pity my daughter’s already married. Otherwise I’d have to find a way to set them up.”
“Forget it. He might not even want your daughter.”
“What’s wrong with my daughter? She was a beautiful young woman too.”
“She’s already married and you’re still calling her a beautiful young woman?”
The two began bickering after only a few sentences. Wang Cheng could hear them clearly from inside the shop, but after a while he simply tuned them out. It was hardly the first time he had heard this kind of talk. If he responded every single time, they would annoy him to death within two days.
There were more customers in the morning. People in Chengping were generally warmhearted. Once they discovered the Wang family’s jam tasted good, they not only bought it themselves but also recommended it to relatives and friends. The Wang Family Jam Shop had become known so quickly largely thanks to them.
That day, an unfamiliar customer entered the shop.
“Sir, what would you like? We have jam and fresh seasonal fruit, all just picked from the mountain. They’re very sweet. You can buy some to try.” Wang Cheng walked over to the man. The instant he saw his face, he was struck by a strange sense of familiarity. A moment later, he realized the man actually looked somewhat like him. Yet on closer inspection, the resemblance seemed to disappear. It might create that illusion at first glance, but a second look revealed that their temperaments were completely different.
Wang Cheng gave people the impression of a sunny, upbeat handsome man. His smile was bright, as though there would never be a gloomy side to him. The stranger, by contrast, clearly had a calm and steady temperament, though it was different from Wang Ning’an’s kind of steadiness.
The man was more mature and reserved. After being tempered by experience, all his sharp edges seemed to have been tucked away, only for him to strike when others least expected it. People like him were usually extremely shrewd. Even when he smiled at you, he might already be calculating against you, and there were probably very few people he would ever truly open his heart to.
Wang Ning’an was different. His composure showed itself more through coldness, though his family rarely saw that side of him. In front of outsiders, his aloofness was unmistakable. He was also deeply calculating, but at times he would openly reveal what he truly felt.
“Hello. May I ask how much jam you have here?”
“Huh? Are you planning to buy a lot, sir?” Wang Cheng was somewhat surprised by the question. This man was definitely visiting their shop for the first time. If he had ever been here before, Wang Cheng could not possibly have failed to recognize him. Even if he had only heard about the shop from someone else, his first question should not have been how much jam they had, but whether it really tasted as good as people said.
“Hello. My surname is Zheng. I heard your jam is quite good, and I happen to need a large batch. Someone recommended your shop to me. On my way over just now, I also heard people saying your jam tastes good. Is that difficult for you?” the man explained.
“Oh, not at all. I was just curious. You look unfamiliar, Mr. Zheng. From your accent, are you from the capital?” Wang Cheng asked casually.
“How did you know? Have you been to the capital?” The man’s gaze sharpened slightly.
“I have, but only once. Mainly because I have a friend who lives there.”
“I see.”