Qin Zhen paused for a few seconds before recognizing that the old man was Uncle Yang from the first floor of their neighboring building. In the past, Uncle Yang walked his dog downstairs every day and was a warmhearted person who always loved helping others, whether by carrying things or collecting packages.
“Hey, Uncle Yang, how have you been this year?” Qin Zhen rolled down the car window and greeted him.
“I’m good, still pretty healthy!” Uncle Yang peered down into the car window. Not seeing Qin Zhen’s mother in the passenger seat, he raised his head again. “I haven’t seen you in so long, and I haven’t seen your mum this year either. I thought you took her to the big city to live the good life.”
“Uncle Yang, how could I have that kind of ability? She probably just doesn’t like going out lately.” Qin Zhen brushed it off with a few perfunctory remarks, having no mood left to make small talk, and drove into the residential compound.
Throughout this, Shen Jin’an watched quietly. It was only when Qin Zhen pulled a key out from the corner of the abandoned yellow wooden cabinet by the entrance, yet hesitated to open the door, that Shen Jin’an asked with a frown, “Don’t you like coming home?”
His tone was filled with complete incomprehension.
Qin Zhen did not know how to explain it to him, and at that moment, he lacked the energy to do so. He simply shook his head, inserted the key into the keyhole, turned it twice, and pushed open the slightly rusted security screen door.
“Who is it? Get out, hurry up and get out! You’re going to die, you’re going to die!”
The moment there was any rustle at the door, the woman inside began to scream, her voice extremely loud and piercing. Shen Jin’an furrowed his brow and followed Qin Zhen inside.
The layout of the apartment was simple, with dangerous items like the kettle placed in high spots, and not even a cup on the table. The two men walked past the living room toward a closed bedroom door. As soon as someone touched the door handle, the woman shrieked even louder.
Fearing that he would disturb the neighbors, Qin Zhen quickly pushed the door open and called out, “Mom.”
The woman, who was tied to the window railing, let out a sharp cry and instantly fell silent.
Everyone always said that Zhao Rumo was unattractive and completely useless.
In truth, the woman’s facial features were quite delicate, and one could see a strong resemblance to Qin Zhen in her face. It was just that she lacked upkeep, dressed plainly, and had rough, dull skin, which made her look less appealing.
After all, for a woman past a certain age, beauty and poise were built on money.
Zhao Rumo stared at Qin Zhen for a few seconds, then awkwardly turned her face away and frantically smoothed her hair with her free hand. Only after making her hair look somewhat neat did she turn her head back, her eyes shining with tears, and pull her cracked lips into a smile.
“Zhenzhen, you’re back. You really came back.”
Qin Zhen nodded, walked over, uncuffed Zhao Rumo’s hand, and gave her a gentle hug. “Mom, I’m back.”
Zhao Rumo’s tears fell instantly. She wiped them away and stared intently at Shen Jin’an for a moment. Just as Qin Zhen was preparing to pull the other man behind him, she suddenly pulled Qin Zhen and Shen Jin’an toward the living room just like a normal person.
“It’s good that you’re back. Zhenzhen has been so well-behaved since he was a kid, and the daughter-in-law he found is so pretty. Truly so pretty! Tonight, our family is going to have a proper meal and a proper reunion.”
Qin Zhen’s expression shifted sharply, the emotions in the depths of his eyes as he looked at Zhao Rumo extremely complex.
He had no idea how severe his mother’s mental condition had become by now, to the point where she could not even distinguish genders.
Yet just as he was about to stop her, Shen Jin’an suddenly uttered a single word of agreement.
Zhao Rumo became even happier. Letting go of Qin Zhen’s hand, she placed her other hand over the back of Shen Jin’an’s hand, patted it a few times, and began to smile as she earnestly sized up her future daughter-in-law.
After the two of them chatted about some domestic matters for a bit, she led them into her bedroom, took the only silver bracelet out of her drawer, and slid it onto Shen Jin’an’s wrist. She could not stop praising how good-looking he was, saying he was the prettiest person she had ever seen, and so gentle and obedient to boot. Qin Zhen really was a lucky guy.
Qin Zhen completely gave up on correcting his mother’s overly affectionate title of daughter-in-law every other sentence, standing with his long legs braced against the doorframe, watching quietly.
Hearing his mother describe Shen Jin’an as obedient, he could not help but let out a soft snort.
Whether out of a guilty conscience or something else, Shen Jin’an’s face quickly turned red after he put on the bracelet. Seen in profile, he even held his breath for a few seconds, his eyelashes fluttering a few times.
Outside the low-rise buildings of the small city were telephone poles and clothes drying on the rooftops. It was late evening, and a vast swath of sunset glow in the distance shone directly onto Shen Jin’an.
He looked as though he had been dipped in a red dye vat. Raising the hand wearing the bracelet, he turned his head to look at Qin Zhen. As their gazes met, Shen Jin’an suddenly curved his eyes and smiled sweetly.
Qin Zhen froze.
Everything happening right now made him feel as though he were trapped in a scene that existed nowhere else in this world.
Perhaps keeping this state just like this wouldn’t be so bad either, Qin Zhen thought with closed eyes, in silence.
Around 8:00 PM, Qin Sihai returned from the construction site.
Wearing work clothes covered in dried mud, a trace of awkwardness appeared on his face when he saw Qin Zhen. After offering a hearty, honest smile, he spent a long time at the entrance changing his shoes and clothes, stalling for quite a while.
Though he had already been notified over the phone during the day, father and son, having not seen each other for a long time, did not find intimacy easy to come by.
On the contrary, Shen Jin’an, who had arrived at Qin Zhen’s home, seemed a bit bolder. Accustomed to a position of authority for a long time, despite any underlying tension in his heart when meeting strangers, he appeared nothing more than cold and aloof to unfamiliar people.
“Good evening, Uncle,” he said, nodding politely in greeting.
Before Qin Sihai could respond, he was interrupted discontentedly by Zhao Rumo.
Having rarely cooked a proper table of food like a normal person, she looked at her husband with mild reproach upon seeing him like this, while pulling Shen Jin’an down to sit, calling him her daughter-in-law with every single breath.
Qin Sihai was struck with utter panic, looking Shen Jin’an up and down from left to right, opening his mouth as if to say something.
Qin Zhen abruptly pulled out a chair. “Dad, hurry up and wash your hands so we can eat.”
On an old solid wood table sat five dishes, two meat and three vegetarian. Four pairs of chopsticks reached out as Zhao Rumo attentively took care of Shen Jin’an, and Qin Zhen did the same.
Throughout the entire meal, each person harbored their own thoughts.
Qin Sihai did not even dare to raise his head, focusing entirely on eating for fear that he might blurt out questions at the dinner table and completely ruin the atmosphere of a proper family meal that they had not had in years.
Qin Zhen poured every ounce of his acting skills into that single day, nearly ready to pick out the fish bones and feed the fish to Shen Jin’an directly.
At the table, only Zhao Rumo and Shen Jin’an remained at peace. Observing Shen Jin’an in the gaps between dishes, Qin Zhen could not figure out how the other man managed to fake it so convincingly.
In the blink of an eye, night fell.
As bedtime drew near, Zhao Rumo happily carried a brand-new red floral duvet into Qin Zhen’s bedroom, helping them make the bed. She beamed with all eight teeth showing, looking extraordinarily festive, as if today genuinely were their grand wedding day.
“An’an, come quickly! Mom sewed this quilt with her own hands, and the cotton inside is freshly fluffed. Once you two sleep under it, you’re bound to live in harmony and happiness for a lifetime.”
This was the nickname Zhao Rumo had given him on her own after learning Shen Jin’an’s name: An’an, meaning safety and peace.
A watery sheen coated Shen Jin’an’s eyes. Stroking the quilt, he said, “It’s very soft.”
As soon as he finished speaking, his eye rims turned red, and he clutched the corner of the quilt, refusing to let go as if remembering something.
Standing on the side, Qin Zhen watched as the red quilt made Shen Jin’an’s skin look radiant. Reaching out, he gently stroked the corner of Shen Jin’an’s eye, then brushed through Shen Jin’an’s hair, telling him to go wash up and get to sleep early.