Mom

"Son! Stop looking at your phone and come say hello."

Shi Mu's mother, Ms. Xiao Mingjing, gave his door two perfunctory knocks before pushing it open.

Nearly fifty, she looked remarkably young and was as gentle and graceful as jade. Her carefully tended skin was soft and smooth, and glossy black waves cascaded down her back. Dressed in a qipao, she was the kind of rich woman who clearly never lacked money.

"Coming."

Shi Mu sent a message and put away his phone. He stood up, and Ms. Xiao took his arm and led him out.

The moment his aunts and other relatives saw him, they swarmed around him and pulled him onto the sofa. Their eyes shone as if they were ready for battle.

They often came across videos of people grilling their juniors on short-video apps and thought they looked fun. Their hands had long been itching to try it themselves.

His eldest aunt cleared her throat and spoke first. "Xiao Mu, where have you been making your fortune lately?"

His youngest paternal aunt rolled her eyes. What kind of question was that? She would have to do it herself.

"Xiao Mu, tell your auntie, are there any handsome young men at your club?"

Before Shi Mu could answer, his father glared at his sister. What kind of behavior was that?

Shi Yuan snorted at the glare, not the least bit intimidated. "What? Can't I ask? What's it got to do with you? Was I asking you?"

Shi Yuan was the youngest daughter, born when her parents were older. She had gotten the wind whenever she wanted wind and the rain whenever she wanted rain. She had played around too much in her youth and still hadn't found a partner at thirty.

Her eldest nephew worked with a bunch of young, fresh faces. What if something could come of it? She was a pretty little rich woman with money and a good figure, after all.

She pursed her lips. Who wouldn't want to date someone young? Besides, she wasn't that old!

Shi Mu chuckled softly. "Eldest aunt, lately I've been making my fortune collecting red envelopes at home."

"As for handsome young men, the ones at our club aren't quite right for you, auntie..."

Shi Yuan reached out and physically shut her dear nephew's mouth. With her other hand, she swiftly swiped across her phone screen, then opened a picture and held it in front of him.

"I want his contact information. You'd better hand it over nicely."

Shi Mu stared at the face on the screen and raised an eyebrow.

So she'd already picked someone out, and it was him.

Once she had his contact information, his aunt immediately ran off to amuse herself, grinning from ear to ear.

Curious who it was, Ms. Xiao quietly asked Shi Mu.

"A block of wood."

His father, who was pretending to read the newspaper beside them while actually eavesdropping: ?

How could a block of wood be worthy of his sister!

Seeing a chance to get a word in, his youngest maternal aunt hurriedly asked, "Xiao Mu, are you dating anyone?"

His eldest aunt perked up at once. "Yes, yes! Are you?"

What could be more fun than gossiping about the younger generation?

Although Shi Yuan was sitting far away, she heard them clearly. "Oh, come on. As if he could get a date?"

Leaving aside the fact that his club was full of men, there was Shi Mu's mouth. She didn't know whether it was good for kissing, but it was definitely dipped in poison!

Xiao Mingjing fell silent too. Ever since her son had started looking like a proper person, she had looked forward to him having a school romance. But nothing happened in middle school, nothing in high school, and still nothing in college, which he left halfway through to play games.

As a writer, Xiao Mingjing was best at imagining things.

She placed a hand on Shi Mu's shoulder with great solemnity. Shi Mu had no idea what was going on.

Then he heard his own mother say, one word at a time, "Son, Mom respects your sex-"

"Don't let your imagination run wild."

Xiao Mingjing: Oh.

His youngest maternal aunt's husband pushed up his glasses, looking gentle and refined. "Xiao Mu is still young. There's no hurry to date."

His aunt shot her husband a sidelong glance. "You started dating me when you were thirteen. Why were you in such a hurry?"

It was easy to talk when your own back didn't hurt from standing.

His aunt and uncle had been middle school classmates. When everyone else was still clueless about romance, his uncle had "spirited her away," and just like that, they had spent more than half their lives together.

They had no children because his aunt didn't want any, and her husband was happy with that. It meant no one disturbed their world of two, so they had always treated their eldest nephew Shi Mu as their own.

Feeling his phone vibrate in his bag, Shi Mu immediately took it out.

11:20

Rì Cùn: Have you eaten? We made pear blossom pastries at home, and I thought you'd like them. I'll bring you some.

12:00

WJ: Okay.

Rì Cùn: Are you at the hospital?

WJ: No.

Right afterward, Wu Jin sent a location: the Emerald Metropolis, the very residential complex where Shi Mu lived.

Rì Cùn: That's close by. Which building are you in? I'll come find you.

WJ: I'll come find you instead.

Shi Mu's hand paused for a moment before he sent her his house number.

"Mom, one of my teammates is coming over in a bit. Mind yourselves."

"Oh, really? All right, all right. I'll go pack up some of our pear blossom pastries right now."

"I'll do it."

He remembered that Wu Jin liked sweets, and since they had made some at home, he could give her a taste. The portions for the other teammates had also been packed up, ready to be mailed to them later.

That morning at the hospital, Grandma Wu had stayed up until the early hours after having too much fun the night before. Wu Jin had indulged her for once, since it was the New Year, so Grandma Wu still hadn't woken up.

A call came in from an unfamiliar number. Wu Jin glanced at it, and when it rang for the third time, she finally answered.

On the other end, the woman was so excited to finally get through that she didn't know what to say. When Wu Jin still didn't speak, she made her voice as gentle as she could.

"Xiao Jin, it's the first day of the New Year. Mom would like you to come home and celebrate with me, okay?"

Rong Qiao spoke carefully. She always felt clumsy around her daughter, but she didn't know how to change that. After all, they had spent too little time together.

She was the one who had wronged Wu Jin back then.

"No need."

"Go."

Wu Jin looked up. Grandma Wu had woken up in her hospital bed at some point, and her voice was calm and gentle.

Wu Jin was silent for a long while. "Fine. Send me the address."

"Okay, okay. Mom will come pick you up. Sweetheart, just give me the address."

Rong Qiao could hardly hide her excitement. She immediately started hunting for her car keys and draped the coat from the sofa over her arm.

The moment she saw Wu Jin, Rong Qiao's eyes turned red. Without her realizing it, her daughter had grown up so much.

She tried hard to find things to talk about with Wu Jin, but Wu Jin's answers were brief and cold. The car quickly fell into a stifling silence.

"Sweetheart, Mom bought you some snacks. If you're hungry, have a little something to tide you over."

Wu Jin glanced at the bag of snacks beside her without a word.

"Mom made lots of delicious dishes. I hope you'll like them. I didn't know what you liked, so I made a little of everything..."

When they got home, Rong Qiao took Wu Jin to sit at the dining table, then washed some fruit and set it in front of her.

Cherries and strawberries were popular with young people these days. She thought Wu Jin would like them too.

"Go on, eat, Xiao Jin. See if there's anything you like, and Mom will make it for you again next time you come."

Wu Jin took a bite of the dish in front of her and put down her chopsticks. "Grandma told me to come."

The implication was that if Grandma Wu hadn't asked, she wouldn't have come.

The house fell silent again, so quiet a pin could be heard dropping.

Gradually, the sound of sobbing arose.

Rong Qiao hadn't had an easy time over the past decade or so either; things had only gotten better in the last few years. Some time ago, she had called her hometown but gotten no answer. Only after calling other villagers had she obtained Grandma Wu's phone number.

She later got Wu Jin's number from Grandma Wu. The first time she called Wu Jin, the call was hung up as soon as she spoke. After that, she only occasionally managed to get through.

"Mom didn't mean to leave you behind back then. Mom really had no choice. I'm sorry, Xiao Jin..."

Wu Jin's hands gradually clenched on her knees. Her face grew colder, and her lips pressed into a line.

She didn't want to bring up the past again.

"Stop talking. Let's eat."

Wu Jin had only been four when she was left behind. Her father's sudden disappearance had already robbed her of her sense of security, and then her mother's departure without a word had turned her into a left-behind child.

A bastard no father or mother wanted.

That was what the other villagers called her.