Extra 12. Spring 2019
On the sundries street there was a not-very-big auto parts retail and wholesale shop. A-Wu and a kind-faced, gentle woman were minding the store, chatting and laughing.
Jiang Xi got out of the car and stood on the sidewalk looking at him. A-Wu had been strong before, and now he was even more solid, like a wall. His features were still fierce, but his smile was adorable.
Jiang Xi smiled and called, “Wu-gege!”
A-Wu froze, turned his head, his eyes instantly widening. He grabbed his head and stood stunned for five seconds.
He suddenly leapt up, his voice booming like a bell. “Meimei! Little sister!”
As he ran toward her, he turned back and shouted excitedly to the woman, “A-Cen, this is my little sister!!”
A-Wu rushed over, scooped Jiang Xi up, spun her five or six circles before putting her down. His broad palms were like thick bear paws, vigorously rubbing her head until she swayed, then he held her shoulders and looked her up and down. Seeing her spirited, rosy-cheeked, eyes bright, clearly living well, he finally relaxed.
“Good. Good. I was afraid you’d be bullied.” As he spoke, tears actually fell. “Good! Good! Damn, this is so good!”
Jiang Tian was also very happy, waving his hands slightly in front of his chest and calling, “Wu-gege, Wu-gege.”
The moment A-Wu saw him, he grabbed his shoulders. He knew Jiang Tian did not like being touched, but after enduring for three seconds he could not hold back and quickly hugged him once.
“Tiantian grew this tall and this handsome? Ah, this, this, this child has been raised so well!” He teared up again, turned to Jiang Xi and said with heartache, “You must have suffered a lot, right?”
Jiang Xi’s eyes grew moist. She smiled. “It’s all in the past. Wu-gege, I’m a university student now.”
“A university student? That’s wonderful!! Our A-Xi should be in university!” A-Wu suddenly noticed Xu Cheng beside her, paused, and nodded to him.
It was mealtime. A-Wu pulled Jiang Xi into the restaurant next door. Seeing the proprietress, he loudly introduced, “This is my little sister!” He told her to hurry and make the best xiao chaoji.
The proprietress laughed. “A-Wu, your face looks so fierce, yet your sister is so gentle and pretty.”
“Of course! And my younger brother too, handsome, right!”
The five of them sat around the table to eat.
After introducing A-Cen, A-Wu kept asking Jiang Xi what had happened back then, where she had gone, how she had lived. Jiang Xi answered one by one. She answered briefly, skirting the heavy parts, but just hearing which cities she had been to, A-Wu knew her life these years had been drifting and difficult.
He felt pained, yet grateful that she had finally crossed through it. Naturally, he viciously cursed that bastard Qiu Sicheng.
Jiang Xi asked about A-Cen, whether she was the person who had been by his side back then. A-Cen smiled shyly.
Back in their hometown, A-Wu had a childhood sweetheart he had mentioned to Jiang Xi before.
A-Wu said that when he worked for the Jiang family, Jiang Huai had been very generous, allowing him to save a large sum of money, which he gave to his parents and to A-Cen. After the incident, he told his parents to let A-Cen take the money and leave. But A-Cen returned the money, and when A-Wu told her not to wait for him, she nodded.
These years, A-Cen had been urged by her family and tried matchmaking many times, but nothing came of it. Half a year ago, A-Wu got out, the two reunited, and found their way back to each other.
Midway through the meal, A-Wu glanced at Xu Cheng. After deliberating for a long time, he raised his cup toward him. “Xu Cheng, a toast to you. Thank you for helping my sister.”
Xu Cheng clinked cups with him. “From here on, live well.”
When they were almost done eating, A-Wu said there was an ice cream shop at the street corner that was good and wanted to take Jiang Xi to buy some. The two went together.
A-Wu still remembered she liked strawberry flavor, and Jiang Tian liked milk flavor. Holding Jiang Tian and A-Cen’s ice cream, Jiang Xi ate as they walked and said, “Wu-gege, I married Xu Cheng.”
A-Wu laughed. “I’m not blind. Aren’t you both wearing rings?”
She glanced at him. “Don’t you think I’m useless?”
A-Wu’s expression changed, looking like he could devour someone. “Who said that?!”
“Big brother,” Jiang Xi said. “He scolded me.”
“What does he know!” A-Wu’s voice boomed like a loudspeaker. “You’re capable! The most capable one in the entire Jiang family is you!”
He added, “I’ve always worried about you, afraid you’d suffer, afraid you’d be bullied. But I always knew you could survive. With Jiang Tian, you could still survive.”
Jiang Xi pressed her lips together and smiled at him. A-Wu’s eyes crinkled with a smile as well.
“Wu-gege…” She hesitated, wanting to know, yet afraid to know.
A-Wu understood. “Little sister, this was the path your brother chose himself. You can’t blame Xu Cheng.”
Jiang Xi raised her eyes and stared at him intently.
A-Wu told her what happened when Jiang Huai died. He said Jiang Huai had deliberately taken a gun to hold Xu Cheng hostage, deliberately aimed at him. Xu Cheng knew what he intended and crazily shouted to the special police not to fire.
A-Wu sighed. “You know Brother Huai’s temper. He refused to go to prison. He would rather die.”
Jiang Xi fell silent. Softly, she asked, “Did he… mention me?”
“He asked whether your fever had gone down.”
Jiang Xi did not respond. Her eyes reddened.
“Were there any other last words?”
A-Wu said that after Jiang Huai was shot, Xu Cheng rushed forward and pressed his hand over the hole in his chest. At that time, Jiang Huai said to him:
“Xu Cheng, A-Xi is innocent. Take good care of her… I entrust her to you…”
Jiang Xi’s heart jolted. “Xu Cheng never told me.”
“Brother Huai died. He felt guilty toward you in his heart. How could he bring himself to tell you?” A-Wu said. “Little sister, Xu Cheng truly likes you. A-Wen and I could both see it. Your brother could see it too. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have entrusted you to him.”
That night, when they returned to the hotel, the moment they entered the room Jiang Xi gave Xu Cheng a big hug. She was so grateful he had brought her to see A-Wu. Seeing that he was living well, her heart felt comforted.
She was also grateful for her brother’s last words, which made the road ahead of her warm and light.
But she said nothing, only held him for a long time. She knew he understood everything.
Not long after, Jiang Xi and Xu Cheng took Jiang Tian back to Jiangzhou for a trip, and also went to Jiangcheng. They visited the graves of Jiang Huai, A-Wen, and Xiao Qian.
Xu Cheng even borrowed a shovel from the village and added fresh soil to Xiao Qian’s grave.
They had originally planned to return directly to Yucheng from Jiangcheng, but on the way they received a call from Xu Minmin. “Xiao Cheng, your mother has come back!”
Her voice was so loud Jiang Xi heard it too.
After the call ended, Xu Cheng did not say a word, as if his mind had gone blank for a moment. But when the sign “Jiangzhou” appeared ahead on the highway, he decisively turned the car.
The car stopped downstairs at Xu Minmin’s building. After getting out, Xu Cheng locked the car doors twice.
In the elevator, he asked Jiang Xi, “There’s nothing dirty on my face, right?”
Jiang Xi smiled. “No. You look very handsome.” She held his hand and noticed he was trembling slightly. Suddenly her heart ached for him. “Don’t be nervous, Xu Cheng. You’re especially good now. Anyone who sees you will like you. No one will be disappointed.”
Xu Cheng gave her a faint smile.
He pressed the doorbell. Xu Minmin opened the door.
Xu Cheng froze. In a low voice, he asked, “She left?”
“Left where? Your mom is so nervous she can barely stand. She’s sitting over there!” Xu Minmin pointed toward the living room.
Jiang Xi leaned forward to look and saw Xu Cheng’s mother, Cheng Xiang. She was in her early fifties, yet young and beautiful, with a gentle and peaceful face. Holding the armrest of the sofa, she stood up nervously. Beside her sat a middle-aged man with an upright bearing, who also stood.
For several seconds, no one in the room spoke.
Xu Cheng spoke first, very softly. “Mom.”
Tears instantly poured down Cheng Xiang’s face. Her raised hands trembled. “How did this child… grow so big, so tall? When I left, he… he was only this little. This little… How could I have left him behind…”
Her words broke apart. After only a few sentences she cried harder and did not dare step forward to hug Xu Cheng. The man helped her sit down. Xu Minmin coaxed her, “It’s all right, don’t cry. You haven’t even explained anything yet, you’re just crying. You’ll scare the child. Didn’t the child come to see you? It’s fine, it’s fine.”
The man apologetically said to Xu Cheng, “She’s always been afraid you would hate her and refuse to see her. She’s too emotional.”
Xu Cheng gave a faint smile and led Jiang Xi and Jiang Tian to sit at the other end of the sofa.
It took Cheng Xiang quite a while to calm down before she began to speak. But after only a few sentences she choked with emotion again, and the man helped tell the story for her.
Back then, Cheng Xiang truly could not endure Xu Cheng’s uncle’s violence any longer. After losing her property and having no money, she had no ability to raise Xu Cheng and could only flee alone. She went to Zhuhai, but life did not go well. At that time she met her current husband and went with him to Africa to work. They stayed for more than ten years. Communication was not well developed in those early years, and Xu Minmin’s family drifted at sea with no fixed address, so they could not be contacted. After returning to the country a few years ago, she learned Xu Minmin’s address, but did not dare disturb them and delayed until now.
“Your mother has always missed you and has felt guilty and regretful for not taking you away. She often cried at night, wanting to come back to find you and take you away,” the man said sincerely. “But in those early years we were in Africa. Conditions were poor, and it was not suitable to bring a child there. The longer time dragged on, the more guilty she felt and the more she did not dare look for you. But she also—”
“I have not gone a single day without thinking of you,” Cheng Xiang sobbed.
They kept talking, and Xu Cheng kept listening.
He did not speak. He was very quiet.
But Jiang Xi sensed he was different. He kept looking at Cheng Xiang.
Xu Cheng was not always talkative. When the two of them were together, he also had quiet moments. But today was different. She knew he had many things he wanted to say, but he was very nervous and very confused, so he could not say a single word.
So Jiang Xi asked for him, “Where do you live now?”
Cheng Xiang froze, not yet reacting. Xu Minmin slapped her thigh. “Oh, you cried so much I forgot. This is your daughter-in-law, Cheng Xijiang, an art academy student. Her paintings are beautiful.”
Cheng Xiang hurriedly said, “We live in Xuchang.”
“We haven’t been to Xuchang yet. Next time we have time, we’ll go with Xu Cheng.”
“You must come!”
“Xu Cheng and I usually stay in Yucheng, and also in Dicheng. If you have time, you can visit us often. Yucheng has lots of good food. Dicheng also has many attractions.”
“All right, all right. I… was afraid of disturbing you.”
“You’re his mother. How could you disturb him? He would be very happy.” Jiang Xi tightened her grip on Xu Cheng’s hand, as if giving him strength.
Xu Cheng looked at Cheng Xiang and nodded.
By dinner time, the conversation had become much smoother.
Xu Cheng asked which African countries Cheng Xiang had gone to and what work she had done. Hearing her experiences, he learned that life had been difficult at first, but she was optimistic, sharing hardship and joy with her husband and feeling content.
Her husband was capable, cheerful, open-minded, and clear-headed. Listening to him, Xu Cheng felt he resembled his father. Gradually they made a good life for themselves. Not rich or noble, but comfortable and happy.
When his mother asked, Xu Cheng also spoke about his own experiences over the years. He spoke of the good and the bad.
If his mother had always been by his side, he probably would have spoken only of the good. But after seeing her again after so many years, he could not help speaking of the moments when he felt sad, lonely, confused, and the times he missed his parents.
At the end, he said, “That was all in the past. These past few years, everything has been good. With her by my side, I have a home.” He held Jiang Xi’s hand on the table.
Cheng Xiang smiled through tears. She could see the two loved each other deeply, as if they did not even need eye contact to know what the other was thinking.
“Seeing you happy puts my heart at ease,” Cheng Xiang said.
Xu Cheng had work the next day, and Jiang Xi had classes. That night they had to drive back to Yucheng.
Before leaving, Cheng Xiang walked them downstairs. She had already waved goodbye several times, but seeing Xu Cheng about to get into the car, she stepped forward in tears and grabbed him. “Xiao Cheng, back then… Mom was sorry to you. Forgive Mom. Don’t blame Mom.”
“What would I blame you for? I’m happy you’re living well. I actually want to say…” Xu Cheng’s eyes reddened too, yet he smiled and touched the scar on his mother’s forehead left by his uncle’s domestic violence long ago. “I’m sorry, Mom. I was too young back then. I couldn’t protect you.”
Cheng Xiang froze, then threw herself into his arms and burst into loud sobs.
And Xu Cheng finally gave his mother a hug.
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