Past
At eight o'clock in the morning, Chen Nanxing and his two companions drove to their destination. At four o'clock in the afternoon, Chen Nanxing and his two companions abandoned their car and rode on motorcycles. After a bumpy ride of an hour and a half, they finally arrived at a place where mountains surrounded each other and a small village grew in the center of the mountains.
Chen Nanxing, wearing a headscarf, sat on the back of a motorcycle and looked at the place she had escaped from when she was seven years old.
Nearly thirty years have passed, and economic development seems to have forgotten this mountainous area. The poverty here is still unbelievable. Chen Nanxing remembers that when she was a child, she lived in wooden houses and adobe houses. Now that she is back, she finds that the houses are still the same, except that they are more dilapidated. Everything else remains the same.
Chen Nanxing got back to the wheelchair from the motorcycle, covered her legs with the blanket around her head, and was pushed forward by her bodyguard. The old lady near the village entrance kept staring at her, but Chen Nanxing ignored her and wanted to rely on her memory to find the house where she lived in her childhood.
The more Huang Guihua looked at Chen Nanxing, the more familiar he seemed to her, but she just couldn't remember where he was. When Chen Nanxing turned his head to the side, Huang Guihua suddenly remembered him. She walked over with a bowl in her hand and asked Chen Nanxing with uncertainty on her face:
"You are the daughter of the Okura family, right?"
Li Dacang was the name of her biological father. Chen Nanxing hadn't heard this name for a long time, and she still felt very disgusted when she heard it again.
Huang Guihua saw that Chen Nanxing didn't say anything, so she assumed that she had recognized the right person. She excitedly ran over and shook Chen Nanxing's hand:
"Oh, what happened to you, little kid? A little girl of six or seven disappeared in an instant. We all thought you were dead, but you've grown up so big now. You look so cute, just like your mother."
“…”
Chen Nanxing smiled and pulled her hand back. Huang Guihua was also very adaptable. She immediately touched her leg, with a look of regret clearly written on her face:
"He was a good kid, but suddenly he became lame."
“…”
Chen Nanxing had no other expression except a smile. She didn't want to explain and let Huang Guihua do as she pleased.
Huang Guihua felt regretful for a moment, then shook Chen Nanxing's hand affectionately.
"Do you still remember me? I'm your aunt who used to live in the same room with you."
To be honest, Chen Nanxing didn't recognize her.
Chen Nanxing looked at the old woman in front of him with wrinkles on her face. He felt a little familiar but also didn't know her. She was only seven years old when she passed away. Her central nervous system was still developing and she remembered very little.
"I was too young at the time and don't remember it."
She called herself aunt, but Chen Nanxing couldn't call her that.
"Yeah, how could such a small child remember that?"
Huang Guihua agreed with Chen Nanxing's words and immediately went to pull Chen Nanxing's wheelchair, wanting to take Chen Nanxing to her home:
"Come in and sit down, come in and sit down."
Chen Nanxing wanted to know what Li Dacang was doing now, so he took two bodyguards to Huang Guihua's house.
Looking at the entire village, Huang Guihua's family is the best. Other people's houses are old wooden adobe houses, but Huang Guihua's family lives in a red brick house.
The bodyguard followed them in in a daze. Huang Guihua moved a few bamboo chairs for them to sit on and shouted inside:
"Sister Lan, go boil some water and make some tea."
No one answered from inside, but there was a rustling sound. Huang Guihua pointed behind her, feeling very disappointed: "The child doesn't understand what's going on. He doesn't like to say anything."
Lanmei Lanmei, the name fits Chen Nanxing's stereotype of this place. In just 0.01 seconds, Chen Nanxing guessed the reason why the child doesn't like to talk.
After scolding the child, Huang Guihua turned around and put on a good face towards Chen Nanxing.
"Sister, what's your name? Where have you been all these years?"
Chen Nanxing selectively replied: "Chen Nanxing."
"Yeah, why is your last name Chen?" Huang Guihua noticed something and finally remembered what Chen Nanxing used to be called. "I remember now. I used to hear your mother call you Nanxing. Back then, everyone said your mother was well-educated and gave you a nice name."
"My adoptive mother's last name is Chen, and my adopted mother's last name is Chen."
Chen Nanxing doesn't want to talk much about her biological mother. Her memory of her is vague and her feelings are complicated.
Emotionally, Chen Nanxing resented her for having seen her clearly at that time but cruelly abandoning her here, leaving behind a message that her name was Shangguan Mingzhu before running off with someone else.
Intellectually, Chen Nanxing hated to understand her. She was a college student of that era, pretty and from a good family. However, because of her kindness, she was trafficked to this remote mountain village and sent to the bed of an old man, and was forced by the old man to give birth to an illegitimate child.
The old man was Li Dacang, and the illegitimate child was her. Ever since Chen Nanxing had some memories, Shangguan Mingzhu had been tortured to the point of almost going insane.
Sometimes she would suddenly push her to the ground and strangle her, calling her a bastard and wishing her death; sometimes she would hold her in her arms and coax her by saying that she was her son.
When Li Dacang and Xu Xianglian were calling her a money-loser in a fierce manner, Shangguan Mingzhu held her in her arms and called her Nanxing over and over again.
So Chen Nanxing couldn't hate her, but he couldn't feel a strong love for her either.
Huang Guihua was also very considerate and did not continue to ask questions, but asked some other questions.
Huang Guihua asked, "You've grown so big now, you must be in your thirties, right?"
Chen Nanxing replied: "I'm thirty-three this year."
Huang Guihua asked again: "What did you say to them?"
Chen Nanxing replied, "I'm married, so I'm a local of G City."
At this time, the water was boiled, and a girl named Lanmei came out carrying a kettle and a few bowls for eating. Huang Guihua took a look and then turned her attention to the two bodyguards.
"Who are these two?"
Chen Nanxing spoke nonsense without blinking:
"These two are my friends. They usually help people fight. My husband said it's inconvenient and unsafe for me to go out alone, so he asked them to come with me. Eh!"
"Bang!"
The bodyguard behind him reacted quickly and pulled the wheelchair back to prevent the entire bowl of boiling water from spilling onto Chen Nanxing's legs.
Huang Guihua slapped her legs and stood up to lift the blanket covering Chen Nanxing's legs:
"Sister, you're not burned, are you?"
Chen Nanxing pressed his hands on the blanket to prevent Huang Guihua from lifting it:
"I'm fine, I'm really fine. My friend reacted quickly and pulled me away."
The bodyguards were also there to stop Huang Guihua from attacking Chen Nanxing. Huang Guihua sat back on her stool after seeing that Chen Nanxing was indeed fine. She glared at Lan Mei, who was at a loss holding the kettle, and scolded her viciously:
"How come you can't do anything at this age? You've even eaten the food like a dog! You're a money-loser!"
The girl was probably only seventeen years old, dark and thin, and timid. She didn't dare to look up even when Huang Guihua pointed at her nose and scolded her. Chen Nanxing couldn't stand it anymore and took out a twenty-yuan note from his wallet and gave it to Huang Guihua:
"I'll buy that bowl, so stop scolding me."
Huang Guihua's scolding stopped abruptly, and she rubbed her hands:
"How can this be possible?"
Chen Nanxing understood her half-heartedness, took the dry towel handed to her by the bodyguard and wiped the water stain on the blanket, watching Huang Guihua put twenty yuan into her pocket.
She looked at Lanmei who was still there, but happened to meet Lanmei's eyes as she was stealing glances at her. In just a moment, Lanmei looked away in panic.
Chen Nanxing no longer looked at Lanmei. Growing up in such an environment, timidity became a common problem for all girls, and freedom was their only belief, just like she used to be.
"Sister, come, have some tea, have some tea."
Huang Guihua, who had received the money, smiled brightly, but this was only directed at Chen Nanxing and the other two. She still glared at Lan Mei:
"What are you doing standing here? Go inside and clean up the kitchen!"
Lanmei was so frightened that she shrank her body and ran as fast as she could.
After this little episode, Huang Guihua turned the topic back to Chen Nanxing:
"You kid, why didn't you come back two years ago? There's no one left in your house. Your grandfather died of stomach cancer four years after you left. Your nanny also died of stomach cancer a few years ago. If you had come back two years earlier, your nanny would have had peace of mind. Your nanny would have died thinking your grandfather didn't have a son or daughter."
While saying this, Huang Guihua sighed repeatedly, as if she felt sorry that Chen Nanxing did not see Li Dacang and Xu Xianglian for the last time.
Chen Nanxing had no regrets at all, and there was not even a ripple in his heart. However, when he heard that Li Dacang had died of stomach cancer, his hand subconsciously rested on his stomach.
She felt that this world was absurd. Her body and spirit had escaped from here, but her genes were put in a cage made of steel, trapping her here.
Huang Guihua's mood changed very quickly. She was extremely regretful one second, and the next second she put her hand on Chen Nanxing's knee and suggested:
"Now that you're here, shall I take you to the back hill to burn incense for your grandfather and your nanny?"
I don't want to see Chen Nanxing when he's alive, and I don't want to see him even more when he's dead:
"No, I'm not going."
Huang Guihua looked at the sky outside and agreed:
"Yes, it's late. Let's wait till tomorrow."
Huang Guihua thought from the beginning that Chen Nanxing was here to trace her roots, and when she heard Chen Nanxing's refusal, she automatically understood that she didn't want to go today.
But she took it for granted that Chen Nanxing didn't want to go today, didn't want to go tomorrow, and would never go at any time.
"I won't go today, and I won't go tomorrow."
Huang Guihua slapped her thigh again after hearing this:
"Hey, you little sister..."
Although she claimed to be Chen Nanxing's aunt, she and Chen Nanxing had not seen each other for many years and were essentially strangers. She could not force Chen Nanxing to go if he did not want to.
"So what are you doing this time?"
Chen Nanxing patted the blanket covering his legs and said, "I just wanted to come over and take a look."
Whether they came to recognize their ancestors or to visit, they needed a place to live. Huang Guihua saw that Chen Nanxing was rich, so she wanted to make some money from Chen Nanxing:
"Oh, the house we used to live in has collapsed for the most part and is now uninhabitable. Do you have a place to stay? Or you can sleep in my room?"
Living with others makes it easy for people to do something to you. Chen Nanxing came here specifically to hire two bodyguards, so how could he live with others?
"No need, Auntie. Is there any vacant house in the village? I'd like to rent it for a few days."
Huang Guihua's face changed when she failed to earn Chen Nanxing's money as she wished, and she tried to sell another residence to Chen Nanxing.
"Yes, my nephew Erlong's house is empty. His maternal grandmother and father-in-law died two years ago, and he went out to work. I don't know if it's available for rent."
Good things should be kept within the family, and this money should not be allowed to be earned by others. Even if Erlong does not agree, Huang Guihua will persuade him to agree.
Chen Nanxing has only two requirements for living: safety and independence, and it doesn't matter where he lives.
"Do you have his phone number?"
"Yes, I'll call you."
Huang Guihua immediately took out a piece of plastic from her trouser pocket. Chen Nanxing watched her rummage through the plastic for a long time and finally took out an old cell phone for the elderly. She clumsily opened the phone book and began to look for Erlong's number.
The old cell phone would automatically announce every name it pressed, and the voice was so loud that Chen Nanxing could hear Erlong's call even though he was sitting far away.
"Hey, Erlong, your Uncle Dacang's daughter is back. She's your Grandma Xianglian's granddaughter, Meizi. Yes, Uncle Dacang has a daughter. You're too young to know her. She wants to rent your house for a while. Okay? How much a month?"
Huang Guihua looked at Chen Nanxing and asked the price.
Chen Nanxing made a five, Huang Guihua nodded, turned around and said to the other end of the phone:
"Fifty dollars a month, isn't that enough? How about a hundred? One hundred, sir, one hundred is fine, is one hundred okay?"
“???”
It's four hundred less than the price she asked, so why not?
Chen Nanxing nodded and silently put his hand down. The price was agreed upon. Huang Guihua hung up the phone immediately because she thought the call bill was too expensive. She wrapped the phone in a plastic bag and put it back in her pocket, then took the key and took Chen Nanxing to identify the house.
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