IMH - 48

Old Cheng’s place was quite close to where Cheng Xiaonan and Yu Qian lived, just across the street.

Cutting through the community’s central park and taking a small gate, it was about a 10-minute walk, even more convenient than driving.

Cheng Xiaonan held several gift boxes they had bought in one hand, leaving the other free to hold Yu Qian’s hand.

After a while, he suddenly stopped, placed the gift boxes on the ground, took off his leather gloves, and put them on Yu Qian: “Why aren’t you wearing gloves?”

“I wasn’t carrying anything.”

“Wear them anyway, so you don’t get cold.”

Yu Qian asked him, “What about you?”

Cheng Xiaonan replied, “I’m a big man; it doesn’t matter if I wear them or not.”

________________________________________

This winter was indeed cold.

Last night, it was clear that after they fell asleep, there had been another strong gust of wind. Sanitation workers were diligently clearing fallen branches by the roadside.

Since it was the weekend, some people in the community were exercising on the fitness equipment, and others were out walking with their children.

There was a boy in a red down jacket, about 3 or 4 years old, running clumsily, like a moving little red mushroom.

The little red mushroom slipped and nearly fell, wobbling a few times before sitting down on the ground.

His parent rushed over, pulled the child up, and brushed the dust off his down jacket.

Half-blaming, half-heartbroken, they said, “Told you not to run wild. How many times have I said, ‘Watch your step, watch your step’? What if you get hurt?”

Unlike the “battles” and hostility online, this world was actually gentle and peaceful.

An elderly man exercising on the fitness equipment sang gleefully—

“Today and tomorrow are good days, we’re in a prosperous era enjoying peace.”

________________________________________

Seeing Yu Qian staring at the child, Cheng Xiaonan quipped: “Like kids? Don’t rush; we’ll have our own eventually.”

The outside temperature was low. When he smiled, puffs of white mist escaped his mouth.

Yu Qian glanced at him, too lazy to reply.

But Cheng Xiaonan seemed exceptionally happy, even humming a song.

Old Cheng’s residential area was an old one. The villa area had a nice environment, but the surrounding facilities showed their age.

The fountain wasn’t on in winter, and cracks of time had appeared on the European-style pool’s tiled walls. A chubby stray cat lay in the sunlight, lazily taking a nap.

Hearing the movement, the cat didn’t open its eyes; only its ears twitched.

Yu Qian’s gaze paused on the cat’s alert ears for a moment, and she couldn’t help but ask Cheng Xiaonan, “Are you in a good mood today?”

“Excellent.”

Cheng Xiaonan’s hand, holding the gift boxes, actually had several deep red marks from the strain. Yu Qian offered to help, but he waved her off, saying with a raised tone, “Taking my girlfriend to meet the parents, wouldn’t you be happy if it were you?”

________________________________________

The yards of Northern villas aren’t particularly beautiful in winter. The grass has already withered, leaving only bare earth and stone tables and chairs. A man was already standing in the yard, looking outwards.

It was clear, without introduction, that the man was the “Old Cheng” Cheng Xiaonan referred to.

His father looked very much like him, not having the typical middle-aged man’s paunch, tall and slender. Seeing Yu Qian, he immediately broke into a smile.

However, Old Cheng didn’t have dimples.

Cheng Xiaonan said, “Old Cheng, your future daughter-in-law is here.”

Old Cheng immediately stepped forward a few paces: “Little Qian, right? I’ve heard about you for a long time. Welcome home, brave girl.”

Yu Qian hadn’t expected such a way of addressing her. Old Cheng called her “brave girl.”

It was the first time she had received such a caring look from an elder. She paused before greeting Old Cheng.

“From now on, don’t be a stranger when you come here. Fearing you young people might not be comfortable, I didn’t book a restaurant outside. We’ll just have a casual meal at home. What did you buy?”

Cheng Xiaonan looked at Old Cheng in surprise: “Dad, you’re being very formal today?”

“Go on, why are you ruining it?”

The auntie’s cooking was indeed very good. Hearing Cheng Xiaonan say Yu Qian liked seafood, she specifically bought fresh crab and white shrimp and made a large pot of crab and roe stew.

After lunch, the three sat in the living room drinking tea, and only then did Old Cheng bring up Qu Liwen.

“Little Qian, there’s something I need to tell you, Uncle.”

Yu Qian put down her teacup and nodded.

Old Cheng seemed hesitant, paused for a moment, then added hot water to the teapot before speaking. He said that after Cheng Xiaonan’s mother passed away, for a few years, he frequently changed girlfriends.

Cheng Xiaonan heard this and tilted his head, letting out a “tsk.”

________________________________________

Cheng Xiaonan remembered that period; he was almost fed up.

Old Cheng seemed to have lost his mind, suddenly changing girlfriends one after another, and he didn’t seem serious about any of them. He called them girlfriends, but in reality, they just ate and shopped together. It was impossible for him to marry any of them.

With that kind of scoundrel behavior, there were still many women willing to be with him.

Besides his money, Cheng Xiaonan couldn’t think of any other possibility.

Those women were also quite interesting. When they came to the house, Old Cheng never deliberately put away the family photos displayed there.

The women actually didn’t mind at all and even thought Old Cheng was deeply devoted?

Cheng Xiaonan was in his rebellious phase then, with a quick temper and sharp tongue. He utterly detested Old Cheng’s habit of changing girlfriends, and the father and son often argued over it.

But he had also seen Old Cheng, wearing a bathrobe, standing in the dark living room in front of their family photo, taking off his glasses and wiping away tears in the middle of the night.

Hearing Cheng Xiaonan getting up for water, Old Cheng would put on his glasses, hiding the bloodshot eyes, and say weakly, “Nannan, I dreamt of your mother. She told me to kneel on the washboard and said I was flirting with women.”

“Serves you right,” Cheng Xiaonan commented.

Old Cheng’s voice, however, was very lonely: “I haven’t dreamt of your mother in a long time.”

Because Old Cheng mentioned Cheng Xiaonan’s mother, Yu Qian instinctively glanced at the large family photo on the living room wall.

Cheng Xiaonan’s mother stood between the father and son, her features gentle. When she smiled, the dimples on the sides of her face were identical to Cheng Xiaonan’s.

Old Cheng said, “I had a period of absurdity when I felt that by changing female companions, I could prove that I was doing well, and also dream of his mother questioning me. What I did was wrong, it’s better not to mention it, lest you laugh. What I want to talk about is Ms. Qu.”

________________________________________

Old Cheng met Qu Liwen at a watch shop counter.

The watch Qu Liwen was wearing was extremely valuable and no longer available on the market.

Even if it could be found, it wouldn’t be as well-preserved as hers.

Many years ago, Old Cheng had set his sights on that watch, the only one of its kind in the country.

But it was snatched away by an old acquaintance, and he never had the chance to buy it again.

So Old Cheng ventured to ask Qu Liwen if she would be willing to sell him the watch for a high price.

Qu Liwen stated that her watch was a gift from her husband and was not for sale.

Old Cheng hadn’t held much hope anyway, merely saying casually, “Then you and your husband must be very much in love.”

Qu Liwen, however, said that her husband was a sailor who went out to sea and never returned, having been missing for many years.

The watch was likely a relic and would not be sold.

Old Cheng was skeptical of the story she told.

Someone unfamiliar with watches might not know, but that watch was extremely expensive. Sailors in past eras, even if they had the chance to come across foreign goods, could absolutely not afford its price.

Having nothing else to do, Old Cheng recounted his earlier experience of admiring that watch to Qu Liwen, smiling as he said he always seemed to be fated never to have it.

________________________________________

Thereafter, Qu Liwen approached him, with a different motive than other women; she likely hoped to get information from Old Cheng about the person who bought the watch back then.

However, the old acquaintance who bought the watch was merely a casual acquaintance of Old Cheng.

Moreover, that old acquaintance behaved extremely arrogantly, pursuing what he desired without regard for rules, using all means to obtain it.

Such a personality led to Old Cheng having only brief business dealings with him, with no contact afterward.

Qu Liwen was very close to Old Cheng during that time, and Old Cheng knew why she was.

After much effort, he managed to dig up some information and showed Qu Liwen a photo of the man.

Years had passed; the man’s once handsome, sharp features were long gone, his build and appearance having softened and rounded.

He had married the daughter of another wealthy businessman and now resided abroad, a father of three children.

The day Qu Liwen saw the photo, she accidentally knocked over a wine glass.

After that, there was no longer any need for them to meet, and they gradually lost contact.

Old Cheng only heard much later that Qu Liwen had passed away.

Old Cheng refilled Yu Qian’s teacup with fresh tea: “I’m sorry, Little Qian. I actually feel that if I hadn’t found his photo, perhaps your mother’s condition wouldn’t have deteriorated so quickly.”

Yu Qian shook her head: “It has nothing to do with you.”

Even if Old Cheng hadn’t said anything, Qu Liwen would have eventually realized that her lifelong deep love was nothing but a lie.

Even after seeing the man’s appearance after so many years, she still chose to instruct Yu Qian to scatter her ashes into the sea.

It had nothing to do with others; it was her stubborn insistence on being a woman hopelessly devoted to love.

The conversation grew heavy, and the living room became quiet for a moment, with only the faint sound of the auntie washing dishes in the kitchen.

Cheng Xiaonan broke the silence, turning to Yu Qian and saying, “Want to see my old room?”

________________________________________

Cheng Xiaonan’s room was on the second floor and quite large.

The study and bedroom were in one room, and there was also an independent bathroom.

He had moved out a few years ago, but his belongings were still kept as they were, spotlessly clean.

His high school and college textbooks and reference books were neatly stacked in the solid wood bookcase.

Game consoles, basketballs, and skateboards were also displayed nearby.

Yu Qian walked in and suddenly remembered the study where she used to look at Han Chu with admiring eyes—filled with books, and several shelves of trophies, each one polished to a shine, with his award photos displayed beside them.

Cheng Xiaonan also had trophies, but they were tucked away in the least conspicuous place, much less favored compared to his game consoles and skateboard.

Yu Qian had seen that skateboard before. The first time they met, behind the school wall, his skateboard had crashed into her sports car.

That day, he used an eyebrow pencil to write his phone number on her wrist, writing carefully, frowning as he asked, “Your skin is so delicate. Doesn’t it hurt if I write here?”

Yu Qian smiled and directed her gaze to the desk—

The desk must have been used for many years, with the names of basketball stars mischievously carved into it with a sharp object, perhaps from his elementary or middle school days.

Cheng Xiaonan pulled out a book to cover those crooked names of basketball stars: “Don’t keep staring there. Isn’t there anything else to see on a top student’s desk?”

Perhaps there was.

One of his bookshelves held stacks of old exam papers, very thick bundles, showing the hard work of high school studies.

Yu Qian casually pulled out a sheet: “High school math, 69 points?”

“...That was from before.”

Cheng Xiaonan put that paper away, turned and shouted downstairs, “Old Cheng! Why did you keep my 69-point exam paper?! Isn’t this embarrassing for me?”

Old Cheng retorted from downstairs, “You’re the one who got 69 points, not me. What’s the point of yelling at me?”

Cheng Xiaonan rubbed his neck, crumpled the exam paper in his hand, and tossed it into the trash can: “I really studied hard later, though.”

Yu Qian actually didn’t think Cheng Xiaonan was a bad boy.

She remembered once when Cheng Xiaonan met her, he had a伤 on his face, clearly from a fight.

Because of this, she ignored him for several days.

Later, she heard through various channels that a boy from her high school had been beaten up by her boyfriend.

Yu Qian had been working since childhood, with thousands of contacts in her phone book, but the only person she could think of who would stand up for her was Cheng Xiaonan.

Yu Qian picked up another exam paper from the same spot as before; it was almost blank.

Only two words were written inconspicuously in the boy’s arrogant handwriting:

Yu, Yu.

His feelings and love, all left in the strokes of a pen from many years ago.

It was at this moment that Cheng Xiaonan closed the bedroom door, leaned in, and bit her ear.

He said, “The most outrageous thing I did in high school was kiss you.”