A Cang
In the distance, across the vast mountains and rivers, there is a vast ocean.
Early in the morning in Taipei, Jin Cang's ordinary and busy day is about to begin.
In early spring in March, the weather is slightly cool and the sky is clear and blue in the early morning.
In the old residential area, low-rise houses that have not been demolished are lined up one after another, and the mottled walls are covered with moss marks of varying depths, leaving clear traces of time here.
In the alleys, there are several small noodle shops that have been open for decades, steaming with the simple aroma of food.
If residents want to take the bus, they have to walk up a slightly inclined slope first.
The entire area is filled with a tranquil atmosphere that is unique to the edge of a metropolis, a kind of tranquility that has almost been forgotten by time.
Jin Cang's home is located in such an ordinary alley.
The house wasn't big, bare indeed, but it was kept spotlessly clean. Across the street was a small dumpling shop, its wooden sign elegantly inscribed with the words "Fengqin Dumplings."
In the dim morning light, Jin Cang brought out two bowls of warm soy milk from the small kitchen.
Two newly bought sesame seed cakes and fried dough sticks had already been placed on the polished old dining table in the living room.
Jin Cang, 22 years old, has long arms and legs, a body of well-trained muscular body, and a slightly childish and handsome face, which always gives people a strange contrast.
He tiptoed to the door of his father Jin Changan's bedroom.
The door was ajar. Jin Changan had changed into the gray uniform of "Xingfu Security". He was facing the door with his back, concentrating on wiping an old photo frame on the bedside table.
In the frame was a faded family portrait, including his father Jin Changan, his brother Jin Yu, and him.
The father in the photo has a reserved expression, but the young Jin Cang is grinning with a hearty and brilliant smile. Jin Yu's arms are lovingly around his brother's shoulders, with a youthful and slightly melancholy smile on his face.
Jin Cang wanted to call his father to have breakfast, but seeing this scene, he swallowed the words back.
He turned around silently and took a few steps back.
"Dad, have breakfast!" He shouted towards the kitchen, his tone deliberately relaxed.
He walked into the kitchen, which was barely big enough for him, and carefully placed two freshly fried eggs in the pan onto a plate. The golden edges of the eggs had a slight burnt aroma.
When he walked back to the living room with the fried eggs, he saw Jin Changan already sitting at the dining table.
His father obviously didn't wait for him. He took out a bowl of braised pork left over from last night's meal from the refrigerator and was picking up a piece of greasy pork belly with chopsticks and stuffing it into the freshly torn sesame seed bun.
Jin Cang frowned, rushed over in two steps, and "grabbed" the piece of meat and the pancake from his father's hands without saying a word.
"Wait a minute! Drink some soy milk first."
His tone was a little helpless, but he nimbly brought over the bowl of braised pork, carefully scraped away the fatty parts with chopsticks, leaving only the lean meat, then put it back into the sesame seed bun and handed it back to his father.
Jin Changan frowned, watching his son's skillful movements, and muttered, "I've had this habit for decades, and it hasn't caused any problems."
"But your heart and blood vessels are already protesting against you." Jin Cang pushed a cup of soy milk in front of his father.
Jin Changan glared at him, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something, but he finally took them back: "I can't argue with you. You are the head of the family now, you have the final say."
The father and son ate breakfast in silence. Jin Cang ate the porridge in his bowl and couldn't help but say, "Dad, I'm doing this for your own good. Don't be angry with me."
Before he could finish his words, Yao Fengqin, the proprietress of Fengqin Dumplings across the street, walked in with a large, steaming bowl in her hand. Her voice was so loud that it preceded her arrival: "Jin Changan, your son is so filial, why are you sulking? Ah Cang, don't you have classes this morning? Go quickly, I'll watch your dad eat!"
Yao Fengqin is about 52 years old. She is cheerful and optimistic. Her face looks like it is smiling even when she is not smiling. She has been a neighbor of the Jin family for decades.
Jin Cang felt as if he had been pardoned. He immediately stood up, grabbed the backpack on the back of the chair, put it on his back, and walked quickly to the door.
"Dad, I'll bring you your favorite almond cookies when I get home tonight! Aunt Yao, I'll leave my dad in your care!"
He hurriedly said this, took a step with his long legs, and disappeared from the door in a flash, rushing to catch the bus.
Jin Changan looked up, looked in the direction where his son disappeared, and snorted with a half-smile.
Yao Fengqin scooped a few plump dumplings from the large bowl into Jin Changan's bowl with a large spoon, deliberately laughing and teasing him, "'You're the head of the family now,' and the following sentence 'I told you to go to the athletic program, but you refused and chose to study some hopeless drama department?' We used to say them together, why did you swallow them this time?"
Upon hearing this, Jin Changan's face darkened and he put the dumpling he had just picked up back into the bowl: "Take your dumpling back. I won't eat it anymore."
"Hey, why are you mad at me?"
Yao Fengqin wasn't afraid of him at all. Instead, she laughed out loud. "You used to manage me like a soldier, but now you're just letting me go. As a father, you've always failed."
Jin Changan frowned: "What exactly do you want to say?"
"I want to say," Yao Fengqin put away her smile and spoke in a more serious tone, "A Cang has grown up and can make his own decisions. Doesn't he earn his tuition and living expenses by working part-time? Don't you say that again, and it's best not to think about it anymore."
Jin Changan was embarrassed by her retort and said with a stern face: "If you were really my wife, I would have punished you long ago!"
Upon hearing this, Yao Fengqin burst into laughter. "Hahahaha! Jin Changan, what era is it still repairing? Try repairing it yourself! Domestic violence will lead to jail time, do you understand?"
As the saying goes, "One thing conquers another", in Minnan dialect it is called "A rouge horse meets Lord Guan". Jin Changan has a bad temper and a hard mouth, but Yao Fengqin can always make him obedient.
The morning sun penetrated the clouds, scattering across the city. Wearing a mask, Jin Cang was sorting trash in the stairwell of a mixed-use residential and commercial building.
This was his first job after school, and he was responsible for daily garbage collection for the management committee of the two buildings.
In the corner of the stairwell, there are two large classified trash bins, which are now filled with a lot of garbage bags discarded by residents.
Jin Cang skillfully separated the ordinary garbage and recyclables into large garbage bags of different colors, and then carried the heavy bags downstairs.
He shuttled between different floors of the building. Some residents who hurried downstairs would greet him familiarly when they saw him: "A Cang, you've worked hard!", "Brother, you're here so early?" He always responded with a smile and a nod, but he never stopped working.
Sweat soon soaked the hair on his forehead, but he didn't care. He only focused on cleaning the garbage room on every floor, in an orderly manner and without any sloppiness.
The sun gradually sets and it is evening.
Jin Cang's figure appeared in another brightly lit shop, "Yonghe Soy Milk".
This is his second job, a traditional breakfast and late-night snack shop that does thriving business.
In the back kitchen, the hot steam from the steamer mixed with the sweet aroma of soy milk and the crispy aroma of fried dough sticks filled the air.
Taking advantage of the moment when the customer took a break, Jin Cang carefully took out a neatly folded ticket from his trouser pocket, his eyes lighting up involuntarily.
It was a ticket for the premiere of "Fudu Youth". The three words "Wu Kanglun" on the ticket were extremely dazzling and weighed heavily on him. Wu Kanglun was his idol from the bottom of his heart. This was Wu Kanglun's latest work, and he had already won several "Best Actor Awards" overseas.
Mr. Wang, the boss of the soy milk shop, a middle-aged man in his fifties with a slightly plump figure, walked into the kitchen carrying an empty wooden barrel, ready to put the glutinous rice that had just been steamed in the large rice cooker into the rice balls.
As soon as the lid of the rice cooker is lifted, scalding hot steam mixed with the rich aroma of rice hits you in the face.
Seeing this, Jin Cang immediately put down his movie ticket and rushed forward to help.
Boss Wang glanced at the kitchen from the corner of his eye. There were two large basins of finely chopped cabbage and leeks, two large basins of dough that had already been kneaded and fermented, and a mountain of freshly washed bowls and cutlery... Everything was in perfect order, all prepared by Jin Cang in advance.
He glanced again at the movie premiere ticket that Jin Cang had just placed next to the kitchen counter.
"We still need to reserve seats for the premiere, right? Why don't you hurry up?"
Boss Wang's voice was filled with his usual smile and full of energy. "If you go slowly, you'll only be able to draw in the front row. You're so tall, if you sit in the front row, what will the people in the back see?"
Jin Cang blushed, feeling a little embarrassed: "Boss, I'm sorry, I... I must leave two more tomorrow..."
"Alright!" Boss Wang interrupted him with a wave of his hand. "Prepare all the ingredients for tomorrow and focus on seeing your Wu Kanglun!"
"Then... I... I..." Jin Cang was grateful in his heart but didn't know what to say.
Boss Wang laughed and scolded, "Get out! Adong and I are enough!" After that, he picked up the wooden barrel filled with glutinous rice, turned around and walked back to the outside field.
Jin Cang quickly inspected the newly prepared materials again, confirmed that they were correct, put on his backpack, and was about to leave through the back door.
"A Cang!" A clear voice called out to him.
It was Maidong who worked with him in this soy milk shop.
Mai Dong is the same age as him, also twenty-two years old. He is slightly shorter than Jin Cang and has handsome features. At this moment, he ran over quickly, holding a small plastic bag in his hand, and stuffed it into Jin Cang's backpack without saying a word.
"I'll sneak some out to eat while watching a movie," Maidong said, lowering his voice and winking mischievously. "Cabbage doesn't smell as strong as leeks, so I won't get booed by the people around me."
Jin Cang felt warm in his heart and nodded gratefully: "Then I'll go!"
Maidong reached out and grabbed him, and his other hand quickly reached out to his head and gently patted off the few specks of white flour that were stuck to his hair.
"Wait a minute..." Mai Dong's movements were natural, with an unspoken familiarity and intimacy. "You're so silly, how are you going to become a movie star in the future?"
Jin Cang's cheeks flushed instantly, and he grinned, revealing his white teeth: "What movie star... Thank you, Mai Dong!"
Without further delay, he turned around, opened the back door, quickened his pace, and ran into the alleyway where dusk was gradually falling.
A strong and young figure was running.
The smooth muscle lines formed by his diligent exercise and the eye-catching and proud long legs all show his high spirits and full enthusiasm for life, as well as his passion to give it his all.
His delicate features, which were extremely disproportionate to his athletic figure, revealed a gentle temperament.
At this moment, his eyes were burning with an indescribable enthusiasm for movies.
Soon, he will be able to see the movie emperor Wu Kanglun in person!
A lively, lively person was standing right in front of him!
This thought made every cell in his body like the earth awakening after the Waking of Insects, full of vigorous vitality eager to rush forward.
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