In mid-September, the first group of wedding guests arrived at the provincial capital's international airport.
Lin Qile and Jiang Qiaoxi went to the airport to greet them. From a distance, they saw their cousin's wife pushing their cousin in a wheelchair, walking towards them with a smile. The cousin's wife was holding a little child in her hand, who was Jiang Qiaoxi's little nephew. He was seven years old and was already in the first grade in Hong Kong.
"Uncle Qiaoxi!" The little nephew, carrying his small schoolbag, let go of his mother's hand and ran towards him with his arms open.
Then he was picked up by Jiang Qiaoxi.
Lin Qile helped his cousin's wife carry the luggage, and together they folded up his cousin's wheelchair and put it in the trunk. His cousin's hair had become much thicker and darker than when they last met in Hong Kong. He looked very energetic and wore a fitted shirt. He now used a small cane to walk around, but unfortunately he still couldn't travel long distances.
Jiang Qiaoxi drove the family home for a family dinner. The cousin's wife looked out the window curiously. This was her first time in mainland China. She asked Lin Qile how the wedding preparations were going.
Lin Qile took the Lego toys from the car and gave them to his little nephew to play with.
"I just picked out the wedding candy boxes today," Lin Qile said to his cousin's wife, "I'll call back in the evening to confirm whether the guests can come."
"Yes, yes," the cousin's wife nodded and said with emotion, "Cherry looks like a child, but she is so careful in doing things."
Jiang Qiaoxi was driving and glanced to the side. His wife's face was full of joy when she was praised.
Lin Qile opened the door and pulled it as wide as possible, watching Jiang Qiaoxi push his cousin in. His little nephew ran out from the side and said, "Wow, Uncle Qiaoxi's house is so big!"
"You're big, right?" the cousin said, holding his son's hand. "Are you envious? Do you want to come to the mainland to work in the future?"
Lin Qile went into the kitchen, took the dishes out of the oven, and put them on the table. His cousin's wife came in and asked, "So many dishes, are they all made of cherries?"
Lin Qile took off her gloves and pointed at the table with a smile: "The cold dishes were made by Jiang Qiaoxi, and the braised beef in soy sauce was also braised by him. My cousin and his wife will try it later and tell us if it's delicious!"
Jiang Qiaoxi took another box of new Lego toys and played with his nephew outside. He turned on the TV. Lin Qile came over and whispered, "Go get some wine and drinks. I'll go downstairs to pick up Uncle Jiang!"
Jiang Qiaoxi looked up at her.
Lin Qile stood beside him. His cousin sat opposite him, flipping through a fund prospectus from Jiang Qiaoxi's company.
Lin Qile pursed his lips and discussed with Jiang Qiaoxi: "My cousin and the others are all here. It's not good for us to go down. I will go and pick them up myself."
She changed her shoes, said something to her cousin's wife, and quickly went downstairs with her key and owner's card. When she reached the visitor's hall on the first floor, Lin Qile opened the door and saw a gray-haired man in his early sixties, wearing work clothes, sitting on a bench.
He lowered his head and had a suitcase beside him.
"Uncle Jiang!" Lin Qile shouted and she ran over.
Jiang Zheng raised his head and saw a touch of red running towards him. Immediately, his wrinkled face broke into a smile. He stood up and hugged the daughter of his old friend Mr. Lin.
Lin Qile choked up. She has been a crybaby since she was a child.
Jiang Zheng lowered his head and said, "You still call me Uncle Jiang?"
Lin Qile suddenly laughed.
"It's time to call me dad." Jiang Zheng said.
Walking into the elevator, Lin Qile put the key on his wrist and said, "Dad, let me help you get the box."
Jiang Zheng stood by and watched her take it.
The numbers jumped up, and Jiang Zheng suddenly smiled and said to Lin Qile, "I haven't heard the word 'Dad' for a long time."
Lin Qile raised his eyes and looked at her.
Jiang Qiaoxi was wiping red wine glasses at home. He looked up and saw Lin Qile opening the door and entering the hallway through the window pane of the dining room.
"Jiang Qiaoxi," Lin Qile said softly, "Dad is here!"
"Uncle!" my cousin suddenly called out, "Long time no see!"
Jiang Zheng laughed. He had been a leader in a state-owned enterprise group for his entire life, and his laughter was deep and reserved. When Jiang Qiaoxi was a child, he always thought that his laughter was hypocritical.
"Ruocheng," Jiang Zheng said, "you have survived the catastrophe, kid!"
Jiang Qiaoxi put down the wine glass in his hand. Lin Qile pulled him by the arm, pulled him out of the kitchen and in front of Jiang Zheng.
Jiang Zheng first looked at his daughter-in-law, then raised his head to look at Jiang Qiaoxi.
"You've grown up." Jiang Zheng smiled, as if he had never been separated from his son.
Jiang Qiaoxi lowered his eyes and looked at him. They were not looking at each other through the phone screen, but face to face. Jiang Zheng had aged so much that Jiang Qiaoxi didn't recognize him. He said "hmm". The whole family was there. He nodded, still a little reserved.
At the dinner table, my cousin told my uncle Jiang Zheng that the three of them planned to attend Qiaoxi and Yingtao’s wedding and then go to Beijing to meet some old classmates.
Jiang Zheng held a piece of date flour bun in his hand and picked up the braised beef with chopped green onion from the plate on the table with his chopsticks. He said, "You have been lying down for so many years. It's not easy for you to walk now. Walk more."
Jiang Qiaoxi's little nephew sat between his mother and Grandpa Jiang Zheng, eating the sweet and sour pork his grandfather gave him with a spoon. Jiang Zheng looked up and said with a smile, "Cherry's cooking skills are better than Juanzi's! You kid!" Jiang Zheng raised his hand and pointed at Jiang Qiaoxi opposite him with the back of his hand, "How can you be so lucky!"
Both my cousin and his wife were laughing, and Lin Yingtao also smiled, looking very happy.
Jiang Qiaoxi was sitting opposite, his face originally expressionless, but when he heard these words, he lowered his eyes and seemed to smile as well.
Jiang Zheng talked about the Sudan project at the table: "The food is too bad. It's not like when we were in the mountains, where we could go to Yingtao's house for a meal from time to time..."
The cousin turned around and looked at his younger brother and sister-in-law: "With this rub, Qiao Xi has brought his future wife here!"
The meal lasted until about eight o'clock. Except for Jiang Qiaoxi, everyone at the table had drunk some wine, and the adults had more and more things to talk about. Lin Qile walked around the table, holding the hand of his confused little nephew, and accompanied him to play Lego.
My little nephew was sitting on the floor, playing with his Lego toys. He said, "Sister Cherry, why is my mom crying?"
Lin Qile turned around and looked at what was happening at the dining table.
"Because your mother, brother Qiaoxi and your grandfather haven't seen each other for a long time." she said.
My cousin’s wife held the wine glass in her hand, her cheeks flushed with drunkenness, her eyes moist: “If it weren’t for Qiaoxi, I, our family, my uncle, and Ruocheng, I would have no idea what happened.” She wiped her eyes with the crumpled paper ball in her hand and said to Jiang Zheng, “2008 was so terrible. There were two elderly people in the family and the child was just born. Ruocheng was taken directly to the hospital, his life or death was uncertain. His company concealed everything, and his colleagues could not be contacted. Qiaoxi was in class, and I forgot to call him. He saw the TV news and ran over by himself—”
Jiang Zheng listened, nodded, and pointed at Jiang Qiaoxi from the side: "He may not be afraid either. He is just like that. He likes to hold on." He looked at him: "Right?"
Jiang Qiaoxi felt a little uncomfortable with his cousin's wife's words, and he and his father looked at each other.
My cousin said, "Uncle." He turned around and looked outside the door again: "Cherry!"
He held onto the edge of the dining table and suddenly stood up tremblingly: "I've always wanted to find an opportunity to say sorry to you all!"
Lin Qile was silent outside the door. She was frightened. She heard Uncle Jiang Zheng scolding, "Ruocheng, what are you talking about? Sit down!"
Lin Qile found that his little nephew also raised his eyes quietly and looked quietly in the direction of his father. His big eyes flickered and he looked very uneasy.
Lin Qile gently hugged him, touched his head, and listened with him.
My cousin sat back in his wheelchair.
"There was a period of time when I was very lucid. I could see and hear." He gestured with his right hand beside his cheek. "Qiaoxi, he should go to school well. He came to stay with me every day and take care of me. Sometimes he even gave me money... He should study hard. Since he was young, I hope he can become a mathematician or any profession he wants to do. I hope he can be free and happy and display his talents..." Jiang Qiaoxi sat over, and his cousin put his hand on his shoulder. "Instead of working outside..." The cousin was silent for a while. He choked and shook his head. He suddenly said to Jiang Zheng, "Qiaoxi is actually not suitable to be a banker..."
Jiang Zheng nodded and said, "Yes... Liang Hongfei and I..."
He blurted it out, then paused and stopped talking.
Jiang Qiaoxi lowered his head and looked straight at Jiang Ruocheng's face. He whispered in Cantonese: "What are you talking about?"
Jiang Ruocheng took a deep breath, shook his head and said to his cousin, "A few days ago I was talking to your sister-in-law, if I really lie there for the rest of my life, what should I do?" He asked Jiang Qiaoxi, "How long will it take for my wife and my brother to be dragged down?"
Jiang Qiaoxi looked at him and suddenly snorted coldly.
"You won't be a burden to me for long," he said in a cold and ruthless manner, "I have Cherry to look for me, and I don't have time to accompany you when you are sick."
Laughter broke out at the table. The little nephew leaned in Sister Cherry's warm embrace. He saw that his father and mother were both laughing. He continued to play with the Lego in his hand, raised his head, and smiled at Sister Cherry.
After Jiang Ruocheng finished his meal, he stood up from his wheelchair and walked back and forth a few times with his cane, showing it to Jiang Qiaoxi. Jiang Qiaoxi was watching from the door, as if inspecting him.
"How was my journey?" Jiang Ruocheng asked, turning around.
"How is my family?" Jiang Qiaoxi looked at him and asked.
Jiang Ruocheng nodded, looked at everything in the house, and saw Yingtao smiling and talking to her father-in-law in the kitchen, and said with relief: "This looks like your home!"
Jiang Qiaoxi stood there and lowered his head.
Jiang Ruocheng walked up to him with his cane, clenched his fist and tapped Jiang Qiaoxi's shoulder gently. Jiang Qiaoxi leaned back and lowered his head.
After a while, Jiang Qiaoxi raised his eyes and took a deep breath.
He suddenly hugged his cousin tightly.
Lin Yingtao asked in a low voice: "What's wrong with you?"
Jiang Zheng and Jiang Ruocheng's family sat in the living room and chatted. Lin Yingtao finished washing the dishcloth in the kitchen. She felt Jiang Qiaoxi hugging her from behind, burying his head in her shoulder, and acting coquettishly without saying a word.
Lin Yingtao said, "Send my cousin and his family back to the hotel, and send Dad to the headquarters apartment."
Jiang Qiaoxi put his arm around her and said, "I'm not used to you calling him dad."
Lin Yingtao turned her head and looked up at him.
"You don't like to scream, so I can't scream either?" she asked.
Jiang Qiaoxi lowered his head and looked at Lin Yingtao stupidly.
Lin Yingtao put her arms around his waist, raised her head and said, "I want to scream myself, but if you still don't want to, I'll just scream for you, okay?"
Jiang Qiaoxi suddenly felt that his wife had studied preschool education specifically for the purpose of educating him.
The nephew was holding the Lego toys he had assembled, but couldn't find Cherry. He walked to the kitchen door and saw Cherry in the corner being held by Brother Qiaoxi, "chewing" her, just like he was chewing his favorite big chicken drumstick.
"Cherish life, cherish the time we can spend together," the cousin said to Lin Yingtao and Jiang Qiaoxi before he left, his eyes curved, "You should also cherish your health and your family..." The cousin glanced at Uncle Jiang Zheng intentionally or unintentionally, and said to Jiang Qiaoxi, "For some things, don't wait until you are at the gate of hell like me before you regret and leave regrets..."
He hugged Jiang Qiaoxi again and patted each other on the back.
My cousin's wife then picked up a paper bag and said softly, "Cherry, this is a gift from Ruocheng and I to you."
"Ah?" Lin Yingtao was confused.
Inside the paper bag was a pearwood box of ancient style. Jiang Qiaoxi took the box in his hand, and for some reason, he suddenly had a bad feeling.
Sure enough, when the lid of the box was opened—
Inside was a string of golden pig cards glittering with gold.
Jiang Qiaoxi collapsed and said, "I already said I don't want this pig!"
His cousin's wife was amused by his reaction, and told the confused Lin Yingtao that in Hong Kong, brides must wear a golden pig pendant: "It means giving birth to many sons and bringing happiness!"
There was also a letter in the box containing the Golden Pig Cards. Jiang Qiaoxi picked it up and saw that it was written in his cousin's handwriting. On the cover it was written, "To Sister Xiaolin."
Jiang Qiaoxi raised his eyes and looked at Jiang Ruocheng, and he reluctantly accepted the gift.
He didn't drink, and drove his cousin's family to the hotel. Lin Yingtao was left at home. She poured a cup of tea for her father-in-law Jiang Zheng, and they watched TV together. Lin Yingtao went to the study to get some paper and scissors, and while chatting with her father-in-law, she continued to make teaching aids for tomorrow's class.
Jiang Zheng asked her about her work and inquired about the health of Mr. Lin and his wife.
Lin Yingtao asked: "Dad, have you... have you contacted Aunt Liang recently?"
Jiang Zheng looked at her.
"Cherry," he asked with his head down, "you don't hate your Aunt Liang, do you?"
Lin Yingtao held the printed colored paper in her hand. She thought for a moment and whispered, "Aunt Liang and I are not very familiar with each other..."
Jiang Zheng nodded.
"Back then, whether it was your Aunt Liang or the people in the power system, they all thought that Jiang Qiaoxi was selfish and unfilial," Jiang Zheng said softly. He looked at the old TV series being replayed on the TV screen and rubbed his fingers. "But in recent years, the more I think about it, the more I understand that a child is just a child," he sighed, "Look at his cousin, Jiang Ruocheng. He never gave him food or clothes since he was a child, but he often called him and talked with him. I even thought Ruocheng was meddling in my business, but he often sent some books and study materials from Hong Kong..."
"He's just a cousin," Jiang Zheng looked at Lin Yingtao. "Jiang Qiaoxi treats him like this today. I think this kid is very sentimental."
When Lin Yingtao heard this, she looked at Jiang Zheng's face. She understood that he was talking to her.
"You are also in the education industry," Jiang Zheng said with a wry smile, "You don't even have to be too nice to a child like Jiang Qiaoxi. The child will actually repay you willingly."
"Dad..." Lin Yingtao didn't know what to say, "Give him a little more time..."
Jiang Zheng waved his hand.
He seemed to want to smoke very much, and his fingers kept moving, but seeing his daughter-in-law here, he didn't dare to smoke.
"I'm already so old," Jiang Zheng smiled and pulled up his trouser legs at the knees. "Jiang Qiaoxi... I know this kid very well. Seeing that he is living a happy and good life now, I feel relieved. After attending your wedding, I will go back to work." After he finished speaking, he picked up the tea and drank it.
After seeing his cousin off, Jiang Qiaoxi came back. He stood by the door and watched Jiang Zhengzheng looking at the old photo album of mountains that Yingtao had taken over with a smile.
Jiang Qiaoxi didn't change his shoes either. He walked in and waited for a while before saying, "It's quite late."
Jiang Zheng turned around and saw him, and quickly stood up.
Lin Yingtao also stood up. She watched Jiang Qiaoxi reach out and pull the box that Uncle Jiang Zheng had placed behind the sofa, and said, "Let's go. I'll take you there."
On the night road, the car drove towards the headquarters community, with neon lights outside the window.
"Qiao Xi." Jiang Zheng was sitting in the back with the window open, holding a half-smoked cigarette in his hand. He broke the silence.
Jiang Qiaoxi was driving in the front, and he seemed to be in a very bad mood. He had unbuttoned a few buttons on his shirt collar and opened the window.
"Dad, I'm sorry for you before."
The car was quiet. Jiang Qiaoxi was about to turn, but when he saw the green light suddenly turn yellow, he slammed on the brakes.
He sat in the driver's seat silently, his left elbow resting on the window. Jiang Qiaoxi raised his blurry eyes and looked forward, biting his thumb unconsciously.