Chapter 9

Chapter 10: A spirited family dinner (part one)

A day later, at Bamboo Pavilion.

It was also the first day of the break before the high school entrance exams.

Back in those days, Bamboo Pavilion was where Su Can's extended family gathered most often. Of course, his parents were not the ones organizing these gatherings. At the time, his mom and dad were still ordinary employees, and his mother's workplace was also dealing with layoffs, leaving everyone on edge. There was no way they could afford to host the whole family at a mid-to-high-end restaurant like Bamboo Pavilion.

The host was his eldest uncle, Zeng Qu anming, the head of the most influential and well-established household in the extended family. He worked at the City Construction Bureau as director of the Planning Office. He was the only civil servant in the entire family, let alone a director, and his central position in the family was unshakable.

His younger uncle, Zeng Zhaoding, was a minority shareholder in Century Club, a karaoke nightclub in Xiahai City, and lacked his eldest uncle's political awareness.

After graduating from high school, he had gone out into the world on his own. The leader of the gang of petty thugs he had run with back then had actually made something of himself, becoming a bona fide businessman. As one of the underlings who had once fought alongside him, his younger uncle had benefited from his patronage too. Those former gangsters had a keen nose for new business opportunities. They had already opened a gift and toy shop, something quite novel in Xiahai City at the time. His younger uncle, Zeng Zhaoding, had initially managed that shop. Later, as the business prospered, his "boss" had given him shares and sent him to the nightclub as a shareholder. In his thirties, the age when a man established himself, his career had really taken off.

As Su Can remembered it, although his younger uncle's circle had started out as thugs, they had later become legitimate businessmen, albeit with some of their old roguish ways. His younger uncle had been riding high back then, especially after becoming a shareholder in Century Club. His words had carried considerable weight in the family, and he had even looked down on his eldest uncle's position as director of the Planning Office. He would often say, "You don't make as much in a year as a civil servant as I do in three months," and would frequently boast about drinking and playing mahjong with senior city officials.

This had left his eldest uncle, already known within the civil service for his peculiar temper and difficult disposition, seething with pent-up anger.

If that was how his younger uncle treated his eldest uncle, he looked down even more on Su Can's father, who had earned nothing but a fixed salary back then. Of course, his younger uncle understood social niceties and was far shrewder than his eldest uncle. His eldest uncle had repeatedly berated his father to his face, prompting Su Can to talk back, and several family dinners had ended on bad terms.

Although his younger uncle disdained his father, Su Licheng, he only mentioned it in private conversations with his mother. In front of his father, he maintained a smiling face.

His father also knew that he was the one who bore the most slights in this family circle. He had always remained silent, taking all kinds of pressure upon himself. Sometimes, when he and Su Can's mother suffered slights while out, he would simply get through it with a bitter smile. From time to time, he would remind Su Can, "Your dad has no ability, so people look down on me. You're my hope. At least I'll still be able to say proudly that my son is someone remarkable."

Sadly, as a child, he had never once made his father feel that he was remarkable.

Instead, he had stumbled at every turn, needing his parents' full support. Thinking back now over all those years, Su Can felt guilt clench his heart.

"You, Su Licheng, and you, Zeng Ke, aren't getting anywhere, so you ought to put your son through school and give him a future. With the way things are for you, your workplaces on the verge of collapse, what have you got to rely on? Only when your son Su Can makes something of himself will you be able to change your fortunes!" His eldest uncle's blunt voice, carrying a touch of official authority, pierced his ears.

His eldest uncle, Zeng Qu anming, was simply a little too blunt. He was quite capable in his work at the Planning Office. The lens in one eye was clouded, leaving him with poor vision, and he had qualified as a civil engineer while relying on just one good eye. Of course, he had received no further promotion after becoming director of the Planning Office. He did not know how to curry favor with his superiors. Eventually, as he grew older and his influence waned, compounded by a cerebral hemorrhage, he had been transferred to the Government Affairs Center established later on. His authority had gradually been stripped away, until he was practically just waiting to retire.

His eldest uncle was also the person Su Can had felt most grateful to while growing up. Although they had clashed many times over his father, his uncle had, after all, sincerely hoped that the younger generation would go further and achieve more. Now, seeing his eldest uncle as he had been eleven years earlier, his mind still clear, Su Can felt grateful. Though he had often argued with him as a child, he had honestly never resented him. As he slowly grew up, that gratitude had only deepened, until, many years later, Su Can understood that his eldest uncle did not need repayment. He wanted results, even if Su Can flaunted his talent and faced him with arrogance.

Now his eldest uncle was delivering his usual blunt lecture, except that when he criticized Su Can's father, he included his mother, Zeng Ke, tying them together so that it did not seem directed at any one person. Even as he spoke, Zeng Qu anming seemed to realize something and cast his good eye toward Su Can, apparently still a little worried that mentioning the forbidden subject of his father, Su Licheng, would make Su Can rise up and argue with him.

Su Can found it amusing, but also felt a little moved. His eldest uncle was, after all, the director of the Planning Office at this point. Plenty of people normally flattered him, buttered him up, tried to cultivate connections with him, and watched his expression. Yet now he was actually taking Su Can's temper into consideration and watching his expression. How unusual was that?

"Yes, yes, that's right," his parents hurriedly nodded in agreement. His mother turned toward him and said with a touch of affection, "It all depends on him this time. Anyway, all our hopes are resting on you, son!"

Beside him, his older cousin Zeng Na immediately rolled her eyes at him. "His grades are awful! And you still act like you've got such high hopes. Just look at what he scored on his mock exam! A little over 470, not even 500. Never mind how hard it'll be for him to get into Third Middle School's senior high division. Back when we were in junior high at our school, even the worst student in class scored over 500. And your grades are still average in your class! That tells you how bad Third Middle School is!"

Superiority. This innate sense of superiority represented a distinctive mark of Xiahai City.

His older cousin was currently in her second year of senior high. With the excellent grades and conduct she had maintained since childhood, she naturally attended First Middle School. It was hardly surprising that she possessed this lofty sense of superiority as well.

Dimly, Su Can also recalled that his relationship with his eldest uncle's daughter had not been good when they were young. For one thing, his younger uncle had a treasured son, Zeng Yuan, five years younger than Su Can, and Zeng Na liked that little cousin more than she liked him. For another, although the two of them were both in their junior and senior high school years, a generation gap had formed between them. Their ideas often clashed, and both were stubbornly competitive, so they frequently argued until their faces flushed. On top of that, his poor grades were no match for those of his older cousin at First Middle School, giving her all the more reason to disdain him. Thus, she found fault with him at every turn. She was utterly different from the older cousin who, many years later, would call him every week from another big city to ask after him. Growing up did, after all, change a great many things.

The whole family gathered together. Although they criticized and complained about one another, sometimes arguing red-faced and sometimes reasoning things out, it was always the warmest time. In the future, the three cousins would be scattered far and wide, and even at New Year there would often be someone missing. Looking back, those days together were always the liveliest and most heartwarming.

Now, feeling as though all of this had been turned back in time, Su Can felt a sense of closeness well up inside him. He was not angry at his older cousin's disdain, either, and smiled calmly. "It's all right if my grades are a little poor, as long as I can make up for it and study properly. I'll try to do my very best this time, all right?"

Worried that the cousins would start arguing again, Su Can's mother, Zeng Ke, immediately stepped in to smooth things over. "Oh, Su Can is working hard now. He studied until really late yesterday. He knows to put in the effort now!"

Zeng Na had not expected Su Can to take her mockery so calmly. It was the first time she had seen this kind of composure in her younger cousin, who hated conceding anything, and she froze for a moment. Unable to keep attacking, she merely pursed her lips. "With grades that bad, studying won't do you any good!"