Depend on it
At 6:30 in the evening, the setting sun cast a long shadow over the wrought-iron gates of the villa complex. Cheng Xiaorui stood beside the carved gateposts, his school uniform jacket puffed up in the evening breeze.
"Let's go! Thank you, I have to go back now." As he waved to Chen Zihan, his wrist bones peeked out from his sleeves, looking particularly slender in the twilight. The strap of his schoolbag was tied around his shoulder, containing the scholarship cash he had just redeemed.
Chen Zihan took two steps forward, and the street lights suddenly came on, giving the ends of his chestnut hair a golden edge: "Be careful!" His voice was half drowned out by the sound of the passing car engine.
The neon sign had just come on when the taxi pulled up in front of the supermarket. Cheng Xiaorui stood in front of the freezer in the fresh produce section, his face paler than ever before, the incandescent light making him look even paler. He picked up a box of discounted spareribs. Water droplets condensed on the cold plastic wrapper, trickling down his fingers and onto his wrist.
"The refrigerator at home is empty..." he muttered to himself, his shopping basket gradually filled with green peppers, potatoes, and corn. When he passed the drugstore, his pace slowed down significantly, but in the end he just tightened his grip on the coin purse and turned to the cashier.
The sound of the key turning was particularly clear in the empty corridor. Cheng Xiaorui stuffed the ingredients into the refrigerator, and the humming sound was like some kind of gentle rebuke.
"I learned this from my dad when I was little..." Cheng Xiaorui donned his mother's apron, tying the straps loosely around his waist. The rhythm of the knife's impact on the chopping board gradually became smoother, and the shredded potatoes spread out in the basin like a transparent flower.
As the smoke rose, he vaguely saw himself at six years old, standing on tiptoe on a small stool, his father's broad palm resting on the back of his hand, teaching him how to hold a knife. "Mom likes sweet and sour," the voice in his memory said, "add more sugar."
After preparing dinner, Cheng Zhixu still hadn't returned, so he went to take a shower. The cold water hit his scalp, and he shuddered. His mind couldn't help but recall what Chen Zihan had said about Lu Ziyi's past, "Fuck... He deserved it."
As braised spare ribs bubbled in the casserole, the door lock clicked. Cheng Xiaorui emerged from the bathroom, wiping his wet hair, a towel draped over his shoulders, water droplets dripping onto the hollow of his collarbone. He saw his mother frozen at the dining table, her fingers suspended in mid-air, as if afraid to disturb a sweet dream.
"Mom, you're back." Cheng Xiaorui's voice was mixed with the remaining moisture in the bathroom.
Cheng Zhixu's fingertips trembled. The sauce for the braised spareribs shone amber, the fermented black beans in the stir-fried pork and green peppers exuded a familiar salty aroma, and the steam from the corn soup curled upwards under the chandelier—each one of them was her favorite dish from her youth.
"This, this is all made by my son!" Her voice cracked, and her nails unconsciously picked at the threads on the edge of the tablecloth. "I didn't know you were so good at cooking."
"..." Cheng Xiaorui's hands were steady as he served the rice, but the small mountain of rice grains in the bowl was trembling slightly: "I read some books when I was bored." He lied. He didn't want to mention his father because Cheng Zhixu hated him.
Cheng Zhixu picked up a piece of pork ribs, the sugary sauce stretching into long, thin strands. As she bit into it, a moist glint welled up in her eyes. "I heard the teacher said they gave out scholarships..."
"Hmm." Cheng Xiaorui stirred the corn soup with a spoon, and the golden particles swirled in the vortex. "I want to make something delicious for Mom."
The streetlight outside the window suddenly lit up, casting a diamond-shaped spot of light on the dining table through the gauze curtains. Cheng Zhixu's chopsticks trembled slightly in the light and shadow. "Keep them for yourself later. I'll buy these."
Cheng Xiaorui lowered his head to eat his meal. He heard his mother's suppressed sobs, like the sound that leaked in through the crack of the door during countless late nights when he was a child working overtime.
The refrigerator began to hum again. Cheng Xiaorui counted the sound, the rhythm of his mother's chewing, and his own steady breathing. In this evening filled with the aroma of food, he allowed himself to temporarily forget the gaze behind the attic window, the fading bruise on his neck, and even the dark figure that had left when he was eight years old.
Only the last piece of pork ribs left in the casserole was slowly losing its temperature in the gradually solidifying sauce.
"Mom, are you tired today?" Cheng Xiaorui pressed his fingertips on the tense trapezius muscle on Cheng Zhixu's shoulder. With a twist of his knuckles, he felt a hard muscle knot. He rubbed it with less force.
Cheng Zhixu felt comfortable being massaged, half-closed her eyes and sank into the sofa. "The store isn't very busy today," she patted the back of her son's hand, her voice a little hoarse with fatigue. "Why don't you go to bed and rest up?"
"It's okay, I'll press it for a while."
"Today, a customer accidentally knocked over some instant noodles on a shelf. Thanks to a little girl, she cleaned it up for me. Otherwise, I would have been late coming back..."
Cheng Xiaorui paused and asked, "How troublesome will it be to clean up?"
"That's right," Cheng Zhixu sighed with a smile. "I was scrambling when the girl squatted down to pick it up. Her school uniform skirt was covered in dust, but she didn't care." She suddenly sat up straighter, her eyes lighting up. "That little girl is not only clever and cute, but also kind-hearted. I saw the school badge on her uniform chest, it's exactly the same as the one on your schoolbag."
Cheng Xiaorui's heart skipped a beat for no apparent reason, and he unconsciously softened the strength of his hands.
"Also, she left in a hurry and seemed to have left this behind." Cheng Zhixu took out the little whale badge from somewhere. "This fell off her. I guess she didn't pay much attention to it."
"Maybe I know her," he whispered, slowing the movement of his fingertips across his mother's shoulder. "I'll go to the store tomorrow to help you watch over it. You can take a break. If you see her, thank her and return the things."
Cheng Zhixu slapped his hand away and pushed him into the bedroom: "No need. The girl told me before she left, 'Thank you, no need. I'll take care of your business when I have time!' You can return it when you pass by on your way to school..."
Cheng Xiaorui's ears turned red. How could he dare to do this? If Lu Ziyi found out, he would be in big trouble. He turned around and walked towards the bedroom.
“…”
"Little Whale Badge..." Cheng Xiaorui muttered while lying on the bed, "I'm free tomorrow anyway, so I might as well go to the store."
There were quite a lot of people in the store today, as expected on weekends. Cheng Xiaorui came to the convenience store, but his mother had gone out early in the morning and didn't call him. Although it was a convenience store, it looked quite large. He changed into his work clothes. The boss saw him, smiled and waved, and said, "You haven't been here for a long time. Are you here to help your mother again today?" Cheng Xiaorui nodded in response.
"You little brat, why are you here?" Cheng Zhixu was sorting things on the shelf. He glanced at him and said, "Come here and put all these on top..."
Cheng Xiaorui lowered his head and got busy. "There's a customer at the counter who seems to want to buy something. You go ahead and I'll take care of it here." After a while, Cheng Zhixu said.
"Welcome, what would you like to buy?" Cheng Xiaorui looked up and met Lu Ziyi's half-smile. The other's slender fingers tapped on the counter glass.
Shit... No way. Cheng Xiaorui felt unhappy and turned to Cheng Zhixu for help, but his mother kept her head down and didn't want to look at him.
"What? You don't like seeing me?" A crisp voice echoed beside him, and Lu Zi raised an eyebrow at him. His eyes swept across the shelf behind Cheng Xiaorui, where a row of canned deep-sea fish sat. The whale designs on the packaging glowed an eerie blue under the light.
Cheng Xiaorui's fingertips unconsciously stroked the pockets of his work clothes. He heard his heartbeat was surprisingly loud, as if a whale was rolling in his chest.
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