Mother and Son

By the time he got off the high-speed rail and left the station, it was nearly seven.

Lin Yuan shared a black van with others and set off for home.

His hometown was Songping Village, dozens of kilometers from the city center. The drive took about an hour.

Lin Yuan took a short nap in the car, and they soon reached his destination.

The driver dropped him by the roadside and drove away, leaving Lin Yuan alone with his suitcase.

Beside the broad asphalt road was a narrow path roughly five or six meters wide. Following it downhill led to Songping Village.

Dense pine trees grew on both sides of the path. Lin Yuan pulled his suitcase along quietly.

The suitcase wheels scraped against the uneven dirt road, making a "rurr-rurr-rurr" sound that seemed especially loud at this moment.

The night was not too dark. Bright moonlight fell over the pine forest as though it had been dusted with frost.

As Lin Yuan walked, he suddenly saw someone approaching from ahead, holding a flashlight and swaying unsteadily.

When he got closer, he saw that it was his Second Uncle.

As Lin Yuan stepped forward, the smell of alcohol hit him in the face.

"Second Uncle, whose place did you go begging drinks from this time? Why did you get drunk again?"

Second Uncle lifted his drooping eyelids and shone the flashlight at Lin Yuan's face.

Once he saw who it was, Second Uncle smiled, revealing a row of old yellow teeth with one missing.

"So it's Lin Yuan. Why are you back?"

"Missed you, old man, so I came back especially to see you."

"You brat. Come on, come to my house and have a few drinks with your Second Uncle."

As he spoke, he grabbed Lin Yuan's arm and tried to lead him toward his house.

Second Uncle's house was right by the road, in the exact opposite direction from Lin Yuan's home.

"Second Uncle, I'll come by tomorrow. I've got a lot of stuff with me today, and my mom's waiting for me at home."

"Fine, fine. Go home first, then come to my place tomorrow. Your aunt made Rice-wrapped Meatballs a few days ago. Come eat some."

"Got it. I'll definitely come tomorrow."

After parting with Second Uncle, Lin Yuan continued down the path. Before long, he saw his family's courtyard.

Back when his father had still been doing well, he had deliberately built the courtyard large.

Inside the moss-covered walls, the branches of the Chestnut Tree stretched far outside. Some of the village children often came to tug at them.

There had once been a Loquat Tree and a Native Pear Tree inside as well, but they had been cut down because they attracted mosquitoes and bugs.

Walking around the wall, Lin Yuan turned to the courtyard gate. The red-painted iron gate was half open, and he walked right in.

On the north side of the courtyard stood an aging three-story house. The low building against the eastern wall was a pigsty.

Though it was called a pigsty, the family actually herded their chickens and ducks into it as well.

There was a Hand Pump Well on the south side. Although everyone had tap water now, nearly every household in the village still dug one of these things.

On the west side stood two single-story concrete rooms, usually used as storage.

Lin Yuan called out, "Mom," several times.

When no one answered, he thought she had gone to visit a neighbor.

So he headed inside. The moment he entered, his mom came out of the kitchen wearing an apron printed with the Twins logo.

"I thought I heard your voice just now."

"Mom, what are you making in the kitchen? It smells so good."

"Let me guess." Lin Yuan took a deep breath of the fragrance drifting from the kitchen. "Stir-fried beef—no, it's Beer Duck."

Li Xiuqing shot him a disdainful look and laughed. "Your nose is pretty sharp."

"You sure picked a good time. Your mom had just finished cooking, and you came home."

"Of course. A true foodie is never late for a meal. The moment I got off the train, I could smell your cooking from dozens of kilometers away, Mom."

"Quit fooling around. Put down your luggage, wash your hands, and sit down to eat."

"Your son obeys!"

Sitting at the dining table, Lin Yuan was already starving and immediately began wolfing down the food.

Ever since he started Martial Arts Practice, his digestion had improved more and more. Not only could he eat a great deal, but he got hungry quickly too.

"Slow down. Don't choke." Li Xiuqing ladled a bowl of soup for her son, looking at him with some heartache.

When a son traveled far from home, his mother worried. Seeing him like this, he must have suffered quite a bit out there.

Before long, he had swept every dish on the table clean. He even finished the huge pot of rice at home.

"Are you full? If not, Mom will make you some more." Li Xiuqing felt more distressed the longer she looked at him.

"I'm full, I'm full. Any more and I'll burst."

Although he was still not quite satisfied, he would not let his mom busy herself again.

"Oh, right, Mom, I brought you some things."

Lin Yuan dragged over his suitcase, opened it, and took out two sets of clothes, a pair of shoes, and a phone.

"You're wasting money again." Li Xiuqing complained.

"It wasn't much. Mom, try these clothes on and see whether they fit."

Li Xiuqing took them and felt the fabric. It was excellent material, better than anything sold in the shops at the market.

The clothes were a wool coat and a jacket.

Li Xiuqing held them against herself and said, "The size should be right. I won't try them on now—I'm dirty. I'll try them after I bathe later."

"Sure."

Lin Yuan had already unboxed the phone. It had a frosted silver casing, Huawei's latest model. He had originally wanted to buy an iPhone, but he was afraid his mom would not be used to it.

"You've used that old phone for years. It lags terribly. Use this one from now on. I'll download all the apps for you."

"How much did this phone cost?"

"Not much, just one or two thousand yuan."

"You're fooling your mom again. It's exactly the same model as your aunt's phone. Your aunt said it cost five or six thousand yuan."

"Mom, so what if it cost five or six thousand? I don't mind spending it on you."

"Your mom minds. Hurry up and return it while you haven't used it yet."

"It's already been activated, so it can't be returned."

"It really can't be returned?"

"Mom, just use it without worrying. We're not short on that little bit of money." Lin Yuan handed her the phone.

Li Xiuqing took the phone from Lin Yuan and examined it fondly from every angle.

It would have been a lie to say she did not want it.

Everyone had a tendency to compare themselves to others, and she was no exception. Sometimes, when she saw others using pretty phones, she felt envious too.

Li Xiuqing set the phone on the table and looked at Lin Yuan. "Do you have any plans for this time you're back?"

Lin Yuan fell silent for a while before saying, "I'm still thinking about it."

"Why not take the civil service exam or apply for a public institution job back home? It's an iron rice bowl, steady no matter what."

She had been saying this ever since he graduated.

"That high school classmate of yours got into the Forestry Bureau last year, and now he's even married. And that classmate of yours named Zhong, the one who used to come eat at our house—he got into the city Civil Affairs Bureau. Last time, when he came here to survey households receiving the Five Guarantees, Secretary Liu from the township even offered him cigarettes..."

"Mom, I'm going to wash the dishes."

"Sit down. Did I ask you to wash the dishes?"

With no other choice, Lin Yuan could only use the excuse of needing to pee to escape.

"Mom, I can't hold it anymore. I've been holding in a pee since the ride. Let's talk later."

With that, he slipped away.

Li Xiuqing shot him an annoyed look. Just like before, he never acted properly.