The fireworks completed their brief life under mine and Mi Cai’s gaze. As the last glimmer vanished from our sight, reality pressed upon us again. Mi Cai and I looked at each other, noticing that both of us were covered in water stains and mud…
I asked her, “How many sets of spare clothes did we bring?”
“Two sets. One set is what we’re currently wearing, and the other is still drying at home—it’s not dry yet!”
I looked at Mi Cai for a while before saying, “We’ll have to buy another set at a nearby mall then!”
“Wearing the clothes we have on now?”
I instinctively looked down. If we actually went to the mall wearing these clothes, people would think we were insane. At this moment, both Mi Cai and I were troubled by these small, everyday annoyances.
Suddenly, Mi Cai seemed to remember something, her face lighting up. She said, “We still have our pajamas, right? Let’s wear those first. We can leave our wet clothes under the air conditioner overnight, and they’ll be dry by tomorrow… No need to waste money buying a new set when we aren’t short on clothes anyway!”
I smiled, hugging her again. I saw in her the small calculations and cleverness that come with daily life—the way she deals with little troubles. We were both genuinely running through our simple, ordinary lives… Thus, I was even less willing for Yan Zhuomei to cruelly disrupt our current life. My mood became complicated again, yet I had no way of dealing with Yan Zhuomei, because I understood her too little, and she was overly domineering and self-centered. With her, it was truly difficult to see any change outside of her own will!
…
After setting off the firecrackers, Mi Cai and I returned to the old house, only to be surprised the moment we opened the door. The dishes we had cooked were all gone, and Yan Zhuomei was nowhere in sight…
Then, we smelled cooking oil coming from the kitchen, realizing that the already cooled dishes had been reheated by Yan Zhuomei. Sure enough, she came out of the kitchen carrying a freshly reheated dish, looked at me and Mi Cai, who were covered in mud, and said, “The food got cold, so I reheated it.”
Mi Cai refused to communicate with her, and between us there was an insurmountable distance. I merely said “Thank you” in a very formal manner.
Yan Zhuomei had a very strong heart; she didn’t care at all about our coldness, and instead asked, “Can you tell me what you’ve just been through? You look like you’ve escaped from a refugee camp.”
She had clearly seen what had happened moments ago, so this kind of sarcastic question, asked with full knowledge, left me at a loss for words. Surprisingly, Mi Cai responded, “You worry less about what we did. Right now, I’m more curious if you burnt the food while reheating it?”
Yan Zhuomei placed the dish she was carrying on the table, sniffed once, realized something was wrong, and hurriedly ran back to the kitchen… I was both amused and helpless. Mi Cai merely cast a cold glance at her retreating figure before going into the bedroom to fetch our matching couple’s pajamas. Together, we went to the bathroom to change out of our soiled clothes. Then, in a way that clearly annoyed Yan Zhuomei, we sat on the sofa waiting. To be precise, it was the cartoon-patterned matching pajamas we wore that annoyed her more!
Finally, the three of us sat around the dining table. Yan Zhuomei picked up her chopsticks and started eating before us, casually asking, “Which one of you cooked these dishes?”
Mi Cai still ignored her, so I answered, “It was me.”
Yan Zhuomei nodded and replied, “As I expected. The flavor isn’t like Xiao Cai’s cooking… I must say, I didn’t expect you, a rebellious man with a negative reputation, to have such culinary skills! Not bad!”
I couldn’t feel happy because of Yan Zhuomei’s compliment, for I sensed another message behind her words. As Mi Cai had predicted, she had indeed thoroughly investigated everything about me. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have called me a rebellious man with a negative reputation. I began to resist. I didn’t want her bringing up my past foolishness at the dinner table, even less so my emotional relationship with Leyao that went beyond friendship, because that would hurt Mi Cai!
I remained silent. However, contrary to my fears, Yan Zhuomei didn’t mention those things. Instead, she turned to Mi Cai and asked, “Xiao Cai… Tell your mom, exactly what do you want me to do for you to agree to return to the U.S. with me… Or, in your view, is this matter non-negotiable?”
Mi Cai didn’t rush to answer. She countered, “Madam Yan, what I really want to know now is, when you’re sitting in this house, do you really feel not even a bit of guilt for what you’ve done before?”
Yan Zhuomei closed her eyes briefly. Her tone was complicated: “Whether I feel guilty or not no longer matters, because many things have already reached their conclusions, and we can’t change anything. Therefore, I’d rather try to make up for some of the regrets I have through you. I hope you can come back to me. For me, nothing is more important than this!”
Mi Cai put down her chopsticks, her face filled with hatred, replying, “I, I, I… How many times did you mention ‘I’ in just one sentence, Madam Yan? I really don’t want you to control others’ right to live with your own selfishness and the worldly power you possess! I don’t need your material support, and I definitely don’t want to return to your side, endlessly facing someone who only brings me pain!”
Despite Mi Cai’s outburst, Yan Zhuomei didn’t show even a hint of emotional fluctuation. She looked at me, then spoke to Mi Cai again, “Is it because of him that you don’t want to return to the U.S. with me?”
“Yes… We’ve decided to spend our lives together, no matter how others see him. But in my eyes, he’s irreplaceable!”
Yan Zhuomei nodded, then fell into a brief silence. Finally, she said, “He has a disgraceful past and an unremarkable life, but since you like him, as your birth mother, I can try to accept him… Of course, it’s because I see how much he cares about you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t recognize this man who’s accomplished nothing. Xiao Cai, I, your mother, am willing to compromise and agree to your being together… However, you two must come with me to the U.S., stay by my side, and together inherit my business. Also, when you have children, they must take your surname, Mi. Zhao Yang will become a son-in-law in the Mi family… This is my bottom line. I hope you won’t refuse!”
I was shocked! This was an unexpected outcome, and Yan Zhuomei had indeed made a compromise. I clearly understood how nearly impossible it was for her to accept me, yet she was genuinely trying—for Mi Cai.
Not only I, but even Mi Cai looked at Yan Zhuomei in astonishment… We remained speechless for a long time. This was a decision that couldn’t be made in an instant! I fully understood what moving to the U.S. would mean for me personally. I couldn’t part with Old Ban and Mom. They would never accept their only son leaving for a foreign country!
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