The Twice-Cooked Pork was so rich and fragrant that it completely overshadowed the Tomato and Egg and the garlic-fried Water Spinach on the table.
Zhou Yue was the child most eager to eat the Tomato and Egg, so he stretched out his Chopsticks to grab some. Seeing this, Fang Zhiwei casually scooped him a spoonful from the serving bowl.
Too eager to thank him, Zhou Yue immediately stirred the food in his bowl, put his mouth to the rim, and started wolfing it down without even looking up.
After everyone else at the table had eaten several bites of Twice-Cooked Pork, they finally began to “favor” the Tomato and Egg and Water Spinach. Then those two dishes, like the Twice-Cooked Pork, disappeared at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Zhou Shengcai was about half full when he finally slowed his Chopsticks. “Zhiwei, these three dishes you made taste even better than what they serve at restaurants.”
He truly hadn’t expected them to be this delicious. He usually preferred savory, salty flavors and didn’t care for the sweet-and-sour taste of Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes, but after one bite just now, he couldn’t help following it with a mouthful of plain rice.
Even Zhou Yue, who usually refused to eat proper meals and only wanted snacks, was happily devouring his food. He even ate the greens his mother put in his bowl without saying he didn’t want them.
Normally, getting him to eat even one bite of greens was like asking him to give up his life.
Fang Zhiwei gave a noncommittal “Mm” at that. “They’re all right.”
The family was in the middle of enjoying their meal when Zhou Ling suddenly looked up and said to Fang Shuwen, “Mom, the teacher said we’re going on a Study Trip. It’ll cost 280 yuan per person.”
Before Fang Shuwen could respond, Zhou Shengcai cut in with a question. “Where are you going that costs 280? I remember last year you had some kind of Study Trip too. Wasn’t it only 120?”
Zhou Ling stuffed two slices of Twice-Cooked Pork into her mouth, eating with such relish that she swayed her head from side to side. She was overjoyed. “The teacher said we’re going to a farm to experience agricultural culture. Unlike last year, when we went and came back the same day, this time we’ll stay overnight.”
Zhou Shengcai couldn’t help clicking his tongue. “So you’re just going to farm? When we were kids, we’d work until we were crying for our parents. Now you’re paying money to experience it—it’s like paying to suffer. If you ask me—”
Before he could finish, Zhou Ling pursed her lips and frowned at him. “I want to go. Everyone in my class is going.”
Zhou Shengcai shoveled down a couple of bites of rice and didn’t argue. He had already tacitly accepted that he would pay for Zhou Ling to go on the Study Trip.
The room fell quiet for a moment. Fang Shuwen glanced at Zhou Ling, then followed her gaze to Fang Qingyue, who was eating quietly with her head down. “Qingyue, are you going on a Study Trip too?”
Zhou Ling answered for Fang Qingyue as if it were obvious. “Of course. Our whole grade is going together.”
Fang Qingyue slowly raised her head, her eyelashes lowered slightly. “The teacher said it’s optional. I’m not going. It’s boring.”
Fang Shuwen furrowed her brows slightly. “The teacher may say it’s optional, but surely everyone in the class is going. It wouldn’t be good for you to be the only one who doesn’t. Go on. Your aunt will give you the money.”
Zhou Shengcai paused with his Chopsticks in midair at that, but he didn’t voice any objections.
“I said I don’t want to go.”
Fang Qingyue’s reply was unusually stubborn and calm.
As soon as she finished speaking, Fang Qingyue abruptly lowered her head again, as if her tears would fall if she waited even one second longer.
At fourteen, Fang Qingyue still hadn’t learned to control her emotions. When she saw everyone at the table looking at her—especially Fang Zhiwei, whose gaze was the most obvious—an indescribable sense of grievance enveloped her, and fat tears began plopping into her bowl.
Fang Qingyue kept mechanically eating one bite at a time. The rice, soaked with her tears, tasted sour in her mouth.
Whether or not she went on the Study Trip truly didn’t matter to her. After all, she was always alone in class and had no friends, so she couldn’t understand the fun of going out together on a Study Trip.
But once money was involved, everything changed.
A few days earlier, she had heard her aunt and uncle arguing about money. Raising three children was expensive, and now they also had to support her biological father.
On top of that, last year her aunt and uncle had built a new house back in their Hometown, and they still hadn’t paid off the cost of the materials.
They had argued fiercely, and her uncle had said her aunt was dragging two burdens around.
Her aunt had said that her uncle insisted on building a house back in their Hometown just to save face. They worked away from home all year, and only stayed in the house for a few days when they returned for the New Year. She couldn’t see the point of building it.
Although her aunt and uncle had quickly made up after their argument, the words had still left a mark on Fang Qingyue’s heart.
Looking at the child he had more or less raised himself, Zhou Shengcai’s heart softened, and he stopped dwelling on the matter. He spoke to Fang Qingyue, who was mixing her rice with tears. “It’s fine. Go. We can’t let your older sister be the only one to suffer through farming. You should experience it too, so you’ll know how hard it is to come by food.”
Fang Mother couldn’t bring herself to speak. Turning away, she wiped her damp eyes.
Fang Qingyue stubbornly shook her head again. “I really don’t want to go.”
Her aunt’s family treated her very well. She truly didn’t want to become a burden to them.
To earn back 280 yuan, they would have to sell seventy jin of Dumpling Wrappers.
Seeing that Fang Zhiwei sat there with a blank expression, apparently lost in thought, Fang Shuwen couldn’t help kicking him under the table.
Only then did Fang Zhiwei seem to come back to his senses. He looked blankly at Fang Qingyue and said softly, “Go.”
His words sounded so casual to Fang Qingyue, as if her struggle, stubbornness, and all her troubles meant nothing to him.
Fang Qingyue’s emotions reached their breaking point in an instant. She abruptly looked up at Fang Zhiwei and shouted, “Then give me the money!”
Before Fang Zhiwei could speak, Fang Qingyue held out her hand again. “Give me the money!”
“You do nothing! You don’t understand anything!”
Fang Zhiwei raised his eyes to meet Fang Qingyue’s bloodshot gaze. His expression was complicated, and for some reason, his nose stung. He quickly turned his face away.
Fang Mother hurriedly took Fang Qingyue’s outstretched hand. Tears streamed down her face. “Don’t be like this, sweetheart.”
At that, Fang Qingyue broke down even more, feeling that no one understood her. “What am I like? What’s wrong with me?”
She was sobbing too hard to speak clearly. “He brought me into this world. Shouldn’t he raise me and take care of me? But has he ever taken care of me? Forget before—since he came back, has he ever cared about me? Has he ever thought about earning money to support me? Has he ever thought about taking responsibility for raising me?”
“Does he even know what grade I’m in? Does he know how I’m doing in school? Has he ever cared whether my classmates bully me? Does he know what I like to eat and what I don’t?”
“You want me to call him ‘Dad.’ Could I bring myself to call someone like that my dad?”
“Why would someone so irresponsible have a child?”
“Why did he bring me into this world?”
“Why?!”