Strange Illness

The An Family Restaurant was not a star-rated hotel, just an ordinary eatery. A single main hall held a dozen or so round tables of various sizes, each circled by a few chairs and stools, separated by openwork screens in a classic Chinese style.

Finding a table by the window, Zhang Xuan sat down and looked around. The An Family Restaurant seemed unchanged from his memory—even the positions of the tables and chairs hadn't shifted a hair.

"Alex, are you familiar with this place?" Steve, having shaken off Bucky who was still pestering him to eat more, turned to Zhang Xuan and asked casually.

"I lived here for seven or eight years when I was a kid." Zhang Xuan's memories of this place were pitifully sparse, so he changed the subject after that one sentence. "Chinese food takes a while to cook, so we might have to wait a bit."

"No problem, no rush. It's just a few blocks to Stark Industries, so it won't hold anything up." Bucky said offhandedly, then looked around the surroundings with fresh curiosity.

"Ah-Xuan, come taste the wine I brewed. It's been stored for almost twenty years!" As they spoke, Old Mrs. An walked over slowly, one hand on her cane, the other carrying a dark brown, rustic clay bottle. Her wrinkled face beamed with a joyful smile.

Seeing the carved wine bottle in Grandma An's hand, another string of images flashed through Zhang Xuan's mind. Childhood memories poured out like water from a faucet, gushing forth.

"Is this Huadiao wine?" Zhang Xuan darted forward a few steps, helped Grandma An by the arm, took the bottle, and said excitedly.

Old Mrs. An chuckled as she sat down beside Zhang Xuan. Watching him eagerly break the seal on the bottle, she squinted and said, "Remember when you were seven, barely as tall as the table? You snuck into my wine cellar to steal a drink, got dead drunk, and gave your mother a hard time finding you. When you got home, she gave you a good spanking..."

One by one, stories Alex had long forgotten were slowly told by Old Mrs. An, carrying the dust of history, recounting Alex's absurd yet wonderful childhood.

The more Zhang Xuan heard, the more awkward he felt. He glanced at Steve and Bucky across the table and saw them looking at him with confusion. He breathed a silent sigh of relief: "Good thing they don't understand Chinese, or this would be embarrassing!"

"In the blink of an eye, over ten years have passed. Hui Ru is gone, and you've grown up." Before they knew it, the dishes were already on the table. Old Mrs. An let out a long sigh, filled with the nostalgia unique to the elderly. "Your mother can rest in peace knowing that."

"Eat, you all eat quickly!" With another sigh, Old Mrs. An perked up again, pointing at the table full of dishes. "Ah-Xuan, tell your friends not to just sit there. Eat while it's hot!"

Zhang Xuan steadied himself, looked at the two men across from him who were already drooling, picked up the chopsticks on the table, and smiled. "Can you handle these chopsticks? Want me to get you forks and knives instead?"

Steve and Bucky exchanged a glance, shook their heads, and said firmly, "No need!" Then they carefully watched Zhang Xuan's movements before reaching for the chopsticks. Their attempts were comical, but at least they managed to grip them—though picking up food was another struggle.

Zhang Xuan said nothing, poured them each a full glass of wine, then ignored them. He filled a glass for himself and Grandma An, then asked quietly, "Grandma An, you said earlier that my mother had a strange illness. How come I never knew?" Zhang Xuan couldn't hold back his curiosity any longer. If he didn't get a clear answer, he wouldn't be able to enjoy this meal.

Old Mrs. An paused at his words, silent for a moment before speaking. "Hui Ru never told you because she didn't want you to know."

"Grandma An, please tell me. I can't not know how my mother died!" In Alex's memory, his mother's death had come suddenly, without warning. Zhang Xuan hadn't known before, but hearing she had a strange illness, he immediately realized her death might be connected to it.

"Hui Ru was such a pitiful soul. First, she met that heartless man who abandoned you two without a trace, and then she had to suffer that strange illness. Heaven is unjust!" Old Mrs. An said, tapping her cane on the bluestone floor, each knock ringing out sharply. "A good girl like Hui Ru—why did she have to endure so much hardship?"

Hearing Grandma An's indignant cries, Zhang Xuan felt a lump form in his chest, a surge of anger wanting to break free.

On the other side, Steve and Bucky had stopped eating, watching Zhang Xuan and Old Mrs. An with troubled expressions. They wanted to say something, but since they had no idea what was being said, they could only stare blankly.

"Grandma An, what kind of illness was it? Couldn't it be cured?" Medical technology in the 1940s, though not as advanced as the 21st century, had still made many diseases treatable. Few were considered incurable.

"They said Hui Ru was a demon, but I knew it was a sickness, one that couldn't be saved." Old Mrs. An's eyes grew moist, her cloudy gaze filled with deep guilt. "They wanted to drive her out. I tried to persuade them, but they wouldn't agree. What a sin—in a foreign land, without the help of the community, how much suffering would you two have to endure?"

Hearing Grandma An's disjointed words, Zhang Xuan was completely confused. Wasn't this about an illness? Why was she talking about demons?

"Grandma An, what really happened? What illness did my mother have?" Zhang Xuan grew anxious.

"I don't know what illness it was." Old Mrs. An shook her white-haired head, her aged face full of terror. "Her whole body and face were covered in golden scales, like fish scales. It was terrifying to see!"

"At first, no one noticed. Later, someone saw it, and word spread through the whole neighborhood. Then they said Hui Ru was a demon reincarnated, that she would bring disaster, and they had to drive her out." As she spoke, Old Mrs. An wiped the tears from her eyes. "I tried to stop them, to hold them back, but they wouldn't listen. They insisted on driving you two out! I couldn't do anything!"

"Fish scales?" Zhang Xuan was stunned. He didn't believe in demons, and he certainly didn't think this was just a disease. This was the Marvel Universe, and a possibility occurred to him.

Seeing Grandma An sobbing uncontrollably, Zhang Xuan snapped back to reality, gently patted her back, and comforted her softly. "Grandma An, my mother wouldn't blame you. After we left Chinatown, we didn't suffer much. We lived well, happily. Don't blame yourself."

This wasn't just Zhang Xuan trying to comfort Old Mrs. An—she had truly done that, and it was what he admired most about her. A woman, alone with a child, relying on her own hands to raise him, put him through school, and even saved up an apartment for him. What a great and hardworking mother!

After a long while of comforting, Old Mrs. An's emotions finally eased. With Uncle An's help, she slowly walked away, leaning on her cane. Watching her receding figure, Zhang Xuan thought that his words would surely ease some of the guilt in her heart.

"Alex, what were you two talking about just now? Why were you both crying?" Seeing Old Mrs. An leave, Steve couldn't hold back his curiosity and asked.

"Nothing much. Just talking about childhood memories. Old people get emotional easily, so she cried." Zhang Xuan brushed it off with an excuse, not letting them ask further, and quickly urged them to eat. "Do you like Chinese food?"

Steve and Bucky didn't think much of his explanation, nodding earnestly. "Chinese food is really delicious!"

"Then eat up!" Zhang Xuan laughed heartily, his chopsticks flying as he piled food onto their plates. But in his mind, he was still turning over Old Mrs. An's words.

"I wonder if I have the X-gene too?"