Morning Reminders
Early morning on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
Last night, we stayed up late to celebrate the New Year, and the sound of firecrackers continued intermittently until dawn before finally stopping. Lin Feng felt he had just fallen asleep when he was awakened by deliberately soft but still clear footsteps and rustling sounds outside the door. He frowned and buried his face in the sun-scented blankets, trying to block out the noise.
However, just a few minutes later, there was a gentle knock on the bedroom door.
"Xiao Feng? Are you awake?" It was Zhang Fen's mother's voice, lowered, with a hint of barely perceptible urgency.
Lin Feng closed his eyes and mumbled an "Mmm".
"Get up quickly, it's getting late." The voice outside the door was a little louder. "Your second aunt, third aunt, and their families are coming over to visit soon. Hurry up and wash up and get ready, look your best."
"Relatives visiting?" Lin Feng caught the word in his lingering sleep, and his consciousness cleared slightly. According to local custom, it's not customary to go out to pay New Year's visits on the first day of the Lunar New Year, but it's very common for close siblings to visit each other. His second and third aunts both live in the county town, not far away, and they do often come to visit on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
The news dispelled much of the drowsiness in his mind. Lin Feng sighed silently and propped himself up from the warm bed. It was already bright outside the window, and the winter sun shone through the gaps in the curtains, casting bright beams of light into the air, where fine dust particles could be seen dancing.
He rubbed his throbbing temples, threw off the covers, and got out of bed. Although he hadn't drunk much alcohol last night, staying up late and the constant sound of firecrackers still made his head feel a little dizzy.
Opening the bedroom door, the living room was already neatly tidied. Father Lin Jianguo was sitting on the sofa watching a rerun of the Spring Festival Gala skit from earlier that morning, with the volume turned very low. Mother Zhang Fen was wiping the already clean coffee table with a rag when she heard the noise and turned around.
"You're up? Go wash your face and brush your teeth, I've boiled the water for you," Zhang Fen urged, her eyes filled with a hint of nervousness and concern.
Lin Feng nodded and shuffled towards the bathroom in his slippers.
He had just picked up his toothbrush and squeezed on the toothpaste when his mother followed him in, still holding the rag. She leaned against the doorframe, watching him, and began to whisper, incessantly nagging him:
"When they get here, they'll definitely start saying all sorts of things. If you don't want to hear them, just let them go in one ear and out the other, pretend you didn't hear them, don't take it to heart. Hmm... especially your second aunt," Zhang Fen's tone became noticeably more forceful, a helpless and troubled expression on her face, "She's actually not a bad person, and she's been alright to our family, it's just... it's just her mouth, really..."
She seemed to be searching for the right adjective, and finally sighed, "She's just too 'talkative,' she can't keep her mouth shut, and she always loves to show off. When you were little, she loved to brag about how good your uncle's workplace was and how much money he made; later, when you started school, she started bragging about how smart her son Pengfei was and how good his grades were... She's just always showing off."
Lin Feng paused, toothbrush in his mouth, letting the cool, minty foam spread in his mouth. The floodgates of memory opened with his mother's words, and some unpleasant fragments belonging to the original owner surfaced.
My second aunt, Wang Guifang, was a slightly plump, middle-aged woman with curly hair and a loud voice. In my memory, every time she came to our house, it was as if she carried an invisible "list of things to brag about."
From her husband's job, her son's grades, and the new appliances they bought for the house, to where they recently went on vacation and what brands of clothes they bought... she could always find a topic to "casually" bring up and boast about.
The original owner of the body, "Lin Feng," was introverted and sensitive by nature, and his academic performance was only average to above average. He often felt stifled and embarrassed in the face of his second aunt's constant, comparative "praise."
There were one or two times in my memory when the original owner of this body, with his youthful spirit, couldn't hold back and said a few words back, which resulted in an awkward situation. My second aunt was embarrassed, and my mother was busy trying to smooth things over. Afterwards, she would inevitably scold the original owner for being immature.
Hearing these memories and his mother's descriptions now, Lin Feng felt no emotional turmoil. Human nature is such that comparison and showing off are instinctive behaviors for many seeking social recognition and a sense of value, especially common in close yet subtly comparative relationships like those with relatives.
From what I remember, aside from being gossipy and showing off, this second aunt hadn't really done anything to truly harm his family. Occasionally, she would bring over some inexpensive but practical things. In the end, she was just an ordinary woman who was a bit vain and didn't really care about other people's feelings.
"I understand, Mom." Lin Feng spat out the foam in his mouth, rinsed his mouth with water, nodded to his mother in the mirror, and said calmly.
Seeing that her son agreed so readily and his expression remained as expressionless as usual, Zhang Fen felt slightly relieved, but not entirely at ease, and continued to add:
"If she says something unpleasant, don't say anything, just pretend you didn't hear it. If you really get annoyed, just... just go back to your room and say you want to read a book or work on the computer, that's fine too. Just don't argue with her, it's the New Year, let's keep things peaceful."
"Hmm," Lin Feng responded again, picking up a towel to wipe his face.
Zhang Fen seemed relieved, as if she had completed an important task, and a smile returned to her face, "Then hurry up and wash up, come over for breakfast when you're done, I've made some porridge. Oh, right," she said, as if suddenly remembering something, turning to leave, "I'll open one pack... no, two packs of those two cartons of good cigarettes you brought back and put them away. And all that fruit, I've washed and arranged them..."
Her voice gradually faded away, mingling with the faint laughter from the living room television and the soft clatter of pots and pans in the kitchen.
Lin Feng dried his face and looked at his young yet overly calm face in the mirror. His bangs were a little messy, and there were faint shadows under his eyes due to lack of sleep. He reached out and tidied his hair.
Relatives, visiting each other, showing off, comparing... these constitute the most common social patterns and subtle pressures in ordinary people's lives. For him, who was once imprisoned and now walks on the edge of darkness, this kind of trouble even seems somewhat... a luxurious ordinariness.
He stepped out of the bathroom and smelled the aroma of rice porridge wafting in the air, as well as the two packs of Zhonghua cigarettes that his mother had deliberately placed in a prominent position in the living room, reflecting a reddish sheen in the morning light. The fruit plate was piled high with washed Apple, oranges, and tangerines, the glistening water droplets not yet completely evaporated.
The first day of the new year officially began amidst the mother's gentle reminders and the preparations filled with the warmth of everyday life. And a small-scale, and destined to be anything but quiet, "family diplomacy" was about to unfold.