New Year’s Eve crept up silently.
With her father dead, her mother long gone, and her stepmother having taken her younger brother away, Su Ying naturally had no intention of returning to that empty family home for the New Year. As was her custom, she usually waited until the second or third day of the New Year to go back and visit her grandmother.
The new flat was still airing out the formaldehyde, so barring any surprises, she would be spending this New Year’s Eve in her rented flat once again.
Aunt Lin and her daughter had returned to their hometown yesterday, so now the kitchen was all Su Ying’s for the taking.
The kitchen was a hive of activity; Su Ying was busy deep-frying crispy pork and oyster mushrooms. According to the customs and culinary traditions of Chuncheng, the pan should be filled with meatballs, but Su Ying couldn’t care less about that. She doesn’t like fried meatballs anyway; she’s going to fry the crispy pork and oyster mushrooms she loves!
Oh, and fried fish too!
She went to the supermarket first thing this morning to buy a huge silver carp, specifically asking the lady in the fishmonger’s to cut it into smaller pieces.
The boneless parts were for the fried fish, whilst the head and tail were set aside for braising.
The dough was resting in a bowl, the seasoned prawn filling was in the fridge to absorb the flavours, and on another hob, a small earthenware pot was simmering with beef, bubbling away and filling the air with its aroma.
Su Ying popped a piece of the freshly fried crispy pork into her mouth. The batter had been seasoned with ground pepper and Sichuan pepper, giving it a crispy, tingling texture that filled her mouth with flavour.
When she was a child, the adults always took care of the New Year’s preparations; all she had to do was play with her friends and wait to come home to a ready-made feast.
But things were different now. The adults were gone, and she had become the new adult; it was now her turn to take care of everything.
Su Ying hummed a tune that wasn’t quite in tune, and the whole kitchen was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
A series of urgent rings interrupted Su Ying’s good mood.
Su Ying glanced at the caller ID to see it was her uncle. Her wonderful mood vanished in an instant: “ ‘Uncle, what’s the matter?’
Her uncle’s voice carried an air of finality: “Su Ying, today is New Year’s Eve, a day for family reunions. You must come back to have the reunion dinner with Grandma. Your father is no longer with us, so it is up to you to fulfil his filial duty.”
Without waiting for Su Ying’s reply, her uncle hung up.
Clutching her mobile, alarm bells went off in Su Ying’s mind. Her intuition told her this was by no means a simple meal; it felt more like a premeditated scheme.
She recalled how her grandmother had fallen earlier in the year and been admitted to a care home, and she remembered the looks on her relatives’ faces as they divided the compensation money among themselves after her father’s death. A thought struck her: were they asking her to contribute to her grandmother’s care costs?
Grandmother Su had four children and a dozen or so grandchildren; if the costs were split evenly, she wouldn’t have to pay much.
Having made up her mind, Su Ying took a deep breath, scooped up the remaining fried food into a stainless-steel bowl, and packed some warm fried items into a cling-film bag before tucking it into her bag. She was determined to see just what tricks these people were up to.
By the time Su Ying had taken the bus and arrived in town at a leisurely pace, it was already midday. She first bought a carton of high-calcium milk for the elderly at a small local supermarket, then walked home along the familiar path. Before long, she spotted her family’s small courtyard.
Su Ying’s family home was a neat, square courtyard. A narrow path in front of the gate led to the main road, flanked on either side by two vegetable patches, both of which now lay fallow.
Today, the courtyard was unusually bustling. Her eldest uncle, second aunt and third aunt had all brought their families, filling the space to bursting.
Su Ying had always detested dealing with such gatherings, but she had no choice but to steel herself and go round greeting everyone: ‘Fifth cousin, cousin Xing, third aunt, third uncle…’
By the time she’d made her way round the circle, her throat was parched.
Her eldest uncle stood with his hands in his trouser pockets, his large belly protruding: “So you’re back. Right then, go and see your grandmother.”
Grandmother lay on the bed in the east room. As soon as she saw Su Ying, she began to cry out, “Ah, ah, ah,” waving her hands about like withered tree branches, yet her body remained pinned to the bed, utterly motionless.
Su Ying set down the milk, exchanged a few hurried words, and slipped back out.
She rushed out of the house, stood in the middle of the courtyard, looked up at the deep blue sky, and took a deep breath.
The meal lasted nearly two or three hours. There was only one large round table in the living room, and only the men and children sat down to eat; the women were either busy in the kitchen or chatting nearby.
It gets dark early in winter, and by the time the women had finished the leftovers and tidied up, it was already night.
After dinner, her eldest uncle called Su Ying into the living room, the smile vanishing from his face in an instant: “Su Ying, we’ve decided to bring your grandmother back to live with us. I, your second aunt and third aunt will each contribute 1,000 yuan a month, and you’ll stay in the village to look after her.”
Su Ying looked up abruptly and realised that only the elders remained in the living room; her cousins of the same generation had all vanished.
Sure enough, this was a trap set specifically for her.
“No.” Su Ying refused categorically.
Her eldest aunt immediately sprang to her feet: “We didn’t ask you to contribute a single penny when your grandmother was in hospital for over half a year! And now you can’t even look after her for a bit? You ungrateful wretch!”
“My cousins haven’t contributed either!” Su Ying retorted sharply.
Her second aunt rolled her eyes: “We married women are doing you a favour by chipping in at all! As a granddaughter, isn’t it only natural for you to look after Grandma?”
“Well, I’ll give you that ‘natural duty’, Auntie. I’ll chip in 1,000 yuan too. How about you stay and look after Grandma?” Su Ying sneered, then turned to head for the door.
Her eldest uncle’s face darkened, his tone heavy with menace: “Su Ying, if you dare walk out that door today, you’ll no longer be part of the Su family!”
Second Aunt chimed in mockingly: “The buses stopped running ages ago, and the town’s hotels are closed. If you’re so capable, why don’t you walk back to the city!”
Su Ying looked at this crowd of hypocritical relatives before her and turned to leave.
“Su Ying!” her eldest uncle shouted after her.
She didn’t look back, merely leaving behind a single sentence: “Then go and sue me in court!”
Su Ying walked out onto the town’s main street. The lights were sparse, and now and then she heard the sound of firecrackers and children’s cheers, with the occasional car passing by.
Su Ying wandered like a lost soul through the place where she had lived for twenty-four years.
She was going back to the city; she was going home.
At this moment, her home was no longer that small, square courtyard, but her tiny rented flat.
In the fridge lay the dough she’d left to rise and the prepared filling; the beef stew in the clay pot remained untouched, and she hadn’t even started on the braised fish.
She didn’t want to eat someone else’s leftovers; she wanted to eat the dumplings she’d made herself.
Su Ying took out her mobile; the battery was down to 5%. She dialled Su Jiayu’s number.
After hanging up, the phone switched off due to a flat battery. Su Ying found a bus stop and hid behind the sign, which offered her a little shelter from the wind.
Su Ying couldn’t fathom why she’d instinctively called Su Jiayu.
Perhaps it was because she felt her senior brother would never abandon her…
In the countryside of Chuncheng, the temperature could drop as low as -10°C at night. The biting cold of the howling wind was nothing compared to the chill in her heart caused by the words of her so-called family.
“Beep, beep.”
The sound of a car horn snapped Su Ying back to her senses.
She pulled open the car door and got in; the warmth of the seat instantly enveloped her.
“I’m sorry…” Su Ying apologised to Su Jiayu with her head bowed as soon as she got in. “Today is New Year’s Eve, a time for family reunions… In the middle of the night, I—I actually called you…”
“It’s fine.” Su Jiayu didn’t let Su Ying continue.
“What’s happened?” Su Jiayu asked, glancing sideways at Su Ying before quickly looking back to the road ahead. “It’s fine if you don’t want to talk about it.”
Su Ying’s hands, resting on her knees and clutching the hem of her down jacket, opened and closed, opened and closed. Finally, she made up her mind and laid everything that had happened tonight bare.
“……Senior Brother.” Su Ying’s voice was slightly hoarse. “Do you think… I’m heartless, cold-hearted, like an ungrateful wretch? After all…”
Su Ying didn’t finish her sentence; after all, it was her own grandmother.
Su Jiayu snorted derisively, his voice laced with coldness: “They’re bullying a young girl like you; even giving them the time of day is giving them face.”
“Eh?” Su Ying froze.
She’d expected Su Jiayu might offer her some comfort given their relationship, but she hadn’t anticipated him taking her side so bluntly.
“Providing for Grandma is the responsibility of your eldest uncle, your second aunt, your third aunt, and your father,” Su Jiayu said calmly, yet with each word clear and distinct. “It has nothing to do with you.”
He paused, then concluded, “In short, supporting her is none of your business, and you have no obligation to do so. If you’re feeling kind, take some fruit over to see how she’s doing. As for the house back home, you’re entitled to a share of it; your eldest uncle doesn’t get to decide.”
“I don’t want that house either,” Su Ying said softly. She had her own home now; she certainly had no use for that courtyard, which looked like nothing but trouble.
Though she said this, tears fell uncontrollably.
After all, it was the home she had once longed for.
Su Jiayu turned his head to glance at her, then slowly pulled the car over to the side of the road.
Su Ying looked at him, somewhat bewildered. “Senior Brother?”
Su Jiayu took a deep breath and cleared his throat, as if feeling a little embarrassed.
Then—
He turned to Su Ying, clapping his hands as he began to sing in a deliberately cheerful tone:
“Say bye-bye to all your worries, say hi-hi to all your joys, my dear, my dear, Happy New Year’s Eve, may the new year be brilliant.”
The air conditioning in the car was cranked up high, making it almost too warm, yet his voice, though soft, pierced clearly into her ears.
Su Ying froze.
Immediately, a wave of bittersweet warmth surged through her. She burst out laughing, yet her tears flowed even more freely.
Senior Brother… how could there be such a wonderful person in this world?