Green Plum IslandCh37 - House Renovation

After dinner, Yan Wanqiu comes to see me, asking to go to Mr. Zhang’s house to visit the two kittens.

His dog has received the best of care since she gave birth to her puppies; every day, Mrs. Zhang feeds her milk soup, and her diet consists of a balanced meal of meat and vegetables. As a result, her pups grow round and strong. Dabai and Erbai become more like dogs every day, nursing off dog milk and playing with their puppy peers. When people visit them, they scoot up to the edge of their nest just like the puppies, wagging their tails with their heads raised. If you didn’t look closely, you wouldn’t realise they’re actually two white cats. 2AOlJH

“Mian Mian, where will they go after they grow up?” asks Yan Wanqiu as she bends down and pets one of the kittens on the head affectionately.

“Grow up? You mean after they’re done nursing?” I can’t imagine it’d be good to send them back out on the streets after rescuing them. “They’re so cute, I think they’ll certainly be adopted. I’ll probably ask Sun Rui since she has a lot of friends, I’m sure some of them would be interested.”

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“Then will they be separated?” she asks, absorbed in thought. “They’ve been together since they were babies, won’t they be scared if they’re apart?”

No matter how much of a genius she is, she still has child-like worries. If I tell her that “after they grow up, they won’t remember each other,” or “cats are very territorial and they won’t feel lonely,” I think that with her intelligence, she’d understand, and it would allow me to answer her concern in the most suitable way possible. This is how we grow, after all, uncovering the truths of the world little by little. Except I still feel obligated to preserve this little bit of naive childishness in her. PoZwtX

So instead, I bend down to pat her small head and say, “I’ll do my best to make sure they aren’t separated. That way they can be together forever.”

“Awesome!” Yan Wanqiu flashes me a dazzling smile, as if finally rid of some burden she’d been carrying, and starts playing with the kittens and puppies.

Eventually, I take her home, and as soon as Yan Kongshan opens the door, she goes inside, leaving me standing around at the entrance.

“Aren’t you coming in?” Yan Kongshan asks, hand on the door.

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It’s hard to turn down such an invitation, but I manage to resist the temptation. “My dad’s coming tomorrow, so I have to sleep early tonight.”

He lets out a long “oh“; it’s hard to say what he’s thinking.

I fiddle with my fingers behind my back, feeling troubled. Actually, Dad’s visit is just an excuse — what I really want is to see whether Yan Kongshan’s mood index will return. That’s not to say as soon as I walk in this door, he’ll start making out with me, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to resist making out with him. In order to prevent such a thing from happening, I decided not to go in at all.

“He’s going to be spending the night, so I won’t be here tomorrow either.” Aie4Pv

“I see,” he murmurs abstractedly. “I got it.”

“Then I’m off…” I fidget uncomfortably, still lingering. “Don’t stay up too late, goodnight!”

He stands still in the doorway, showing no intentions of shutting the door.

I turn around and walk down the steps to the yard gate. When I look back, he’s still there, fixed in the exact same position, his eyes following me as I depart. V69oCR

One hand pushing against the gate, I wave my other hand at him wildly, and say louder, “Goodnight!”

He seems to laugh, then says something to me, although I’m too far away to hear him. From the movement of his mouth though, I can guess that he’s saying “Goodnight.” It’s just a simple greeting, but for some reason his response makes me giddy. I charge home at flying speed, all the while resisting the urge to jump up and down in glee.

The next morning, Grandpa starts pounding on my door before my alarm even rings, informing me of Dad’s arrival. I turn to check my alarm. It’s 8 AM, way too early.

After practically rolling off the bed and speedily washing up, I enter the living room to find it silent and empty; Dad and Grandpa are sitting in the yard drinking tea. ZcX8eL

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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It’s been two years since I last saw him, but his face is still the same, although he seems more stern than before. RPfNDG

He glances at me, nods, and points to the fried doughnuts on the table. “I bought some breakfast, see if you like it.”

I plop down quickly and stuff a steamed bun in my mouth. All the conversation that takes place during breakfast seems to be between Grandpa and Dad, and they simply discuss small talk, neighbourly stories. From Granny’s dog An An “still hopping about all over the place,” to Mr. Liu’s son turning into a father at eighteen, to Mr. Zhang’s successful rainstopping ceremony and me being the sky maiden…

“Mian Mian? The sky maiden?” dad asks in a surprised tone. Next to him, I drink my tofu dessert so intently that I’m practically digging my face into the dish.

Grandpa recounts the whole sequence of events leading to that in a lively manner, and then introduces the fact that the general was played by our “new neighbour, the one who has a bookstore on Nanpu Street.” OvdUEf

“I remember, he has a disabled daughter,” Dad says.

“Yes, him.” Grandpa goes all out waxing poetics about Yan Kongshan, saying how kind he is, always helping us fix our electricity, how cute Yan Wanqiu is, calling him “Tea Egg Grandpa” all the time and making his heart melt.

Speaking of the electric circuits, I suddenly remember that I meant to bring this up with Dad. “The electrical circuits in this house are too broken down, so it always trips, and it’s dangerous. If you can, it’s best to get it fixed as soon as possible.”

Before Dad can respond, Grandpa waves his hand. “No need, no need, it’s an old house, what is there to fix? It’s a waste of money. Once you go to school, it’ll just be me here, and if I watch my electric usage, it won’t trip.” 4vJNaK

Does he think this is just a matter of using less electricity? “No, that’s not gonna work. What if there’s an accidental fire?” I argue. “Don’t think of saving money, what needs to be fixed should be fixed.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” he insists, pretending not to hear me.

I frown, and start up again, “You–”

“Alright, I got it.” Dad suddenly cuts in. “I’ll have someone come in a few days to change out all the wires.” a7ATdI

Grandpa mutters some more about wasting money, then questions where he and I will live when the house is being repaired.

Dad says, “You can stay with me, I have room.”

At that, Grandpa and I go silent, then our eyes meet. A second later, both of us start turning him down.

“It’s okay, that wouldn’t be convenient for me. Our lifestyles are so different, it would cause conflict.” Grandpa shakes his head. ZjXwWd

“Me too, I work part-time, so I can’t leave right now,” I say.

“You work?” Dad inquires. “Where? What kind of work?”

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

I point to the house next door. “I work at his bookstore.” And I’m trying to court him at the same time, I add silently.

The two of us are so adamant about not moving in with him that Dad finally relents, leaving the matter for the time being. After lunch, we get in his car and the three of us go to Baobao Hill to pay respects to Grandma. Bb76Fd

Although many years as passed, Dad’s mood index is still a deep blue as he stands before her burial site. The grief of her passing seems to have swallowed him up entirely, even though you couldn’t tell it from his face. If not for my synesthesia, I would’ve assumed he already moved past her death.

It must still upset him to not have been able to see her one last time before she died.

Since Dad coming to the island is a rare occurrence, after we finish on Baobao Hill, we make our way over to Granny’s. She lives alone these days in the spinster house — a two-story building with over ten rooms inside. Her only companions are An An the Maltese and an equally old cat.

The local government sends people over periodically to check on her given her status as a lone, elderly woman, and they usually help her clean around the house. Not to mention, she herself is still full of spirit and capable of taking care of herself, so the expansive mansion is always in a bright, clear state. Sometimes you can almost still hear the laughter and chatter of the Comb Women as they flit from room to room. uHGDOi

“When you were a boy, Little Auntie loved holding you over there in that rocking chair, remember?” Granny points to an old, worn bamboo chair in the corner.

Dad nods. He remembers, he always has.

I sit quietly beside them peeling pistachios and listen to their stories of the past. “Little Auntie” was apparently a plump old lady who laughed a lot. She really liked Dad and would always sneak him a bunch of sweets. One day, she died suddenly from a stroke and when Dad found out, he cried for days and even fell ill. After that, his visits to the spinster house gradually lessened.

Granny says, “You’ve always been afraid of recalling the past.” aVrP45

But Dad shakes his head, not admitting to it.

I watch the depressive blue over his head. He’s really a stubborn man. Possibly if he weren’t, my mum wouldn’t have divorced him.

Our trip to Granny’s yields an unexpected resolution to our problem from earlier: As soon as she hears that our old house is going to be rewired and that Grandpa and I don’t want to live with Dad, she slaps her thigh as if this isn’t a problem at all.

She whips out her cell phone, squinting as she scrolls through it, and eventually lands on a poster advertising a “10-day tour to marvel at the snow in Beidi and escape the heat of summer.” ds47IA

“Ah Xian, didn’t you always want to go traveling? Let’s go with Old Zhang and his wife. It’s ten days, so by the time we return, the house will be done.”

Grandpa is clearly lured in by her suggestion, but he asks, “What about Mian Mian?”

Granny darts a look at me. “He’s a grown boy, he’ll be fine. If he’s fine by himself, he can sleep here and help me walk the dog and feed the cat. If he’s afraid, he can find somewhere else to stay, as long as he remembers to come walk the dog and feed the cat.

I understand, you want me to walk the dog and feed the cat… p hg24

“I’m okay with that,” I pipe up.

“Mian Mian is almost nineteen, he’ll be fine. You should go.” Dad joins in in persuading Grandpa.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Grandpa, who was already wavering, is finally convinced by our assurances and agrees. As soon as we get home, he immediately goes over to Mr. Zhang’s house to discuss the details of their trip.

By nighttime, the trip is, for the most part, all planned out. I help the four elders register for the tour group and pay. The trip is coming close since we heard about it so late; excitement turns Grandpa into a little kid and he starts packing his suitcase almost immediately. He’s never had the opportunity to travel much before, so the bag he’s using is actually mine. I teach him how to open it, how to lock it, and he’s a fast learner — he starts fiddling around endlessly with the lock in his own amusement. ZKJcW4

“Oh right, I need to put a small sign on my cart tomorrow,” Grandpa suddenly brings up when we’re about to sleep. He wanders around looking for a black Sharpie.

“A sign for what?”

“To put on my egg cart informing my customers of my upcoming trip so they know they won’t have tea eggs to buy for ten days.” He digs around the drawers and cabinets, but doesn’t find a marker. Eventually, he sighs and heads off to sleep, muttering to himself about going to buy a Sharpie the next day.

He really does treat selling tea eggs as a proper business, even letting his customers know when he’ll be gone. A hard-working entrepreneur. e4l3DJ

Grandpa had arranged a guest room for Dad, but Dad didn’t accept it, instead deciding to squeeze with me in mine, probably in order for us to have more “father-son” time. Fortunately, I don’t sleep on my bed on account of the heat, so I take the floor while he takes the bed, and it’s not too crowded.

Before bed, I walk over to the window and pull the curtains shut, unable to resist shooting a glance over at the neighbouring yard. I meant it as a casual look, but unexpectedly, I catch Yan Kongshan outside smoking.

As if feeling my gaze, he looks up in my direction. The two of us stare at each other, one up top and the other below. He blows a ring of smoke towards me. The distance between us is so great the I shouldn’t be able to smell anything, yet I still feel a shock run through me, and my nose tingles sensitively, almost as if a cough is trying to make its way out.

Curtains in hand, I mouth “goodnight” to him. I don’t wait to see whether he understands or not, just pull the curtains down between us, breaking our eye contact. HLSZXn

After the lights are shut, I try my best to let the chirping of the cicadas hypnotise me to sleep.

“Mian Mian, congratulations on getting into your dream college.”

My eyes blink open in the dark. “Thanks,” I say politely, unable to think of any other response.

Dad doesn’t speak anymore, so I shut my eyes, falling over into the abyss of sleep, but then– 7ptFuh

“Mian Mian, do you hate me?”

Well, now I really won’t be able to sleep.

Do I hate him?

In all honesty, my feelings towards him are ambivalent. He rarely ever appeared in my life, and I suppose I’ve been disappointed with him in the past, but hate? Hate is an extremely strong emotion, and I don’t even feel much love for him, let alone hate. M6n8qg

After a moment of silence, I ignore his question and ask instead, “Do you know when my birthday is?”

“Do you remember when I fell off that tree and went to the hospital?”

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“Do you remember what I wrote in the first Father’s Day card I gave you?”

My barrage of questions seems to render Dad mute. When, after a long bout of silence, he doesn’t appear to have any intention of continuing our conversation, I sigh inwardly and close my eyes to sleep. gE2sSm

Maybe there are things he regrets, but it’s all in the past now. What point is there in remorse?