Li Beinian did not speak, but Mu Xichen could tell from her expression that she had thought things through and seen the light.
He patted her shoulder and said gently, “Let’s eat first.”
It was the same New Year, but compared with Li Beinian, Bo Chengcheng had an exceptionally uneventful time.
New Year’s Eve was a time of family reunion.
Jiang Yeqing’s family lived in the mountains and he had thirteen siblings.
He was the youngest in the family, and his eldest sister was almost 30 years his senior. She had long been sold off to some recessed corner in the mountains by their gambler father.
In that house, besides his good-for-nothing father, there was also his mother, who was used to being bullied.
From the time Jiang Yeqing could reason, he had never liked his family.
Especially that damned father.
When the man knew that his own end was coming, he actually said that he couldn’t bear to part with his wife and dragged that useless woman into his coffin with him.
The both of them were discovered dead in the only lake in the village.
After this incident, Jiang Yeqing’s family couldn’t survive in the mountains anymore.
Anyone who saw them would curse them, as if they, rather than their parents, were the ones who had tainted the only water source in the village.
Jiang Yeqing didn’t like this place of poverty to begin with. After being sworn at by the villagers, he quietly escaped.
At the time, he was nine years old.
He did everything one could think of along the way. Later on, he went to school and learned some skills. He re-named himself Qing.
Which meant “the man in a responsible position”.
As time passed, he forgot his name given by his parents.
As for his brothers and sisters, they were nowhere to be found, he didn’t even know if they were alive.
Jiang Yeqing had drifted along since he was a child. After getting rid of that family, his life flourished even as he drifted along.
The first year after he left home, he met a benefactor. The benefactor put him through school, fed him, and treated him like his own son. He introduced the boy to everyone with a jovial laugh, “Look, my newly acknowledged son, isn’t he handsome!”
Later on, he took the surname of that man’s wife – Jiang.
That man’s surname was Wen.
Jiang Yeqing had never mentioned such a past to anyone.
However, when she saw Bo Chengcheng’s grandmother again, these memories came flooding back.
Grandma was old and her eyes were cloudy. She wore a pair of reading glasses.
Her legs were weak and she was never without her walking stick.
When she saw Bo Chengcheng and Jiang Yeqing coming home together, she smiled in relief.
At the age of 93, there were already many age spots on Grandma’s face. When she smiled, the wrinkles on her face were folded upon each other.
Grandma’s face was covered in tribal tattoos.
This tattoos were unique and rather strange. Over time, they had become blurry, leaving only a thick and dark trail.
In that mountain, in his hometown, the elders were all like this.
When Jiang Yeqing arrived, he stopped smoking. Before he approached the door, he made sure that the smell of tobacco on his body had dissipated before walking in.
Grandma smiled and said, “You’re back.”
She spoke in a dialect that Jiang Yeqing couldn’t quite understand. However, he could guess based on Grandma’s expression.
Jiang Yeqing nodded with a smile. Seeing that Grandma was about to get up, he quickly went forward to help her.
Grandma laughed bitterly. “I’m getting old, I’m getting old.”