Chapter Sixty-Six
[Late December in Wuhan]
As the G1719 high-speed train pulled into Jiangcheng Station, it was snowing lightly outside. Xu Li pulled the hood of her hoodie up to her head, leaving only her eyes visible.
Tan Yuze dragged a 20-inch suitcase with one hand and held her hand with the other; his palm was dry and warm.
Are you nervous?
A little.
"Don't worry, my parents have already hung up the 'Welcome Daughter-in-Law' banner."
"...Really?"
“Really, my dad practiced saying ‘daughter-in-law’ ten times last night, afraid that he would accidentally say ‘daughter’ instead.”
Xu Li laughed out loud, and the white breath she exhaled was quickly dispersed by the wind.
The Tan family's old residence.
A brand-new electric tricycle was parked at the entrance of the building. The truck bed was covered with a bright red cotton quilt, and on top of the quilt were bundles of fireworks.
Tan Jianguo, the father, was wearing a military green cotton overcoat and wiping the car door with a rag. When he looked up and saw his son, his loud voice immediately came on:
Mr. Tan is still relatively young, in his forties. However, he came home early this year and heard that his son had brought his girlfriend back. The tricycle in front of his house is not his; it belongs to a relative of Uncle Dong in front of the house. Mr. Tan is helping to wipe the tricycle.
"Aze, you're finally back! —Is that girl behind you Xiao Li?"
When Xu Li was called upon, she instinctively stood at attention and said, "Hello, Uncle."
"Don't call me 'uncle,' call me 'Dad'!"
Tan Yuze sighed and said, "Dad, we haven't gotten to that point yet."
"It was bound to happen sooner or later!"
Tan Jianguo slapped his son on the back, causing Tan Yuze to stumble forward and accidentally pull Xu Li half-into his arms.
Xu Li's ears turned bright red instantly.
The old-fashioned radiator made a "sizzling" sound.
On the coffee table were sunflower seeds, oranges, glutinous rice strips, and a plate of neatly arranged fried crispy pork.
Tan's mother came out of the kitchen wearing an apron, carrying two bowls of sweet osmanthus rice balls.
"Lili, sit down and warm your hands."
Just as Xu Li was about to take it, Tan's mother scooped up a spoonful, blew on it, and fed it to her lips: "Is it hot?"
Tan Yuze, watching from the side, couldn't help but laugh: "Mom, I never received this kind of treatment when I was a child."
Tan's mother raised an eyebrow: "Didn't you eat plenty of my cooking when you were little? Don't be jealous when that girl comes home for the first time."
As she spoke, she took off her apron and shoved it into Tan Yuze's arms: "Go, help your dad put up the couplets."
Tan Yuze: "..."
[Kitchen - Evening]
Xu Li wanted to help wash the vegetables, but Tan's mother made her sit on a small stool to peel garlic.
"Auntie, actually I'm pretty good at cooking, can you let me cook a dish?"
"Don't call me 'Auntie,' call me 'Mom'!"
"..."
Tan's mother lowered her voice: "When Aze was a picky eater, I wrote down all the dishes he liked in a little notebook. I'll make them all for you today. If he ever bullies you in the future, just throw garlic at him."
There is a housekeeper at home, but Tan's parents sent her home for the Chinese New Year, so Tan Mu does the cooking.
Xu Li smiled, her eyes crinkling: "Okay."
The old-style balcony had security bars installed, and it was windy.
Tan's father stood on a stool to paste the horizontal scroll, while Tan Yuze held the ladder below.
The horizontal scroll is handwritten with a calligraphy brush:
May you have peace and prosperity every year.
Tan's father was anxious because the poster was crooked, and he kept calling out, "Lili, come help your uncle see if it's straight?"
Xu Li ran over, looked up and directed: "Two centimeters higher on the left... a little higher... good!"
The red paper rustled in the wind, like clusters of tiny flames.
Mr. Tan clapped his hands in satisfaction: "Your name is hidden in the horizontal scroll, do you like it?"
Xu Li's nose was red from the wind, and she nodded vigorously: "I like it!"
The dishes were served: sweet and sour pork, braised lion's head meatballs, dry pot cauliflower, garlic vermicelli shrimp... all of which were Tan Yuze's favorites.
Tan's father opened a bottle of homemade plum wine and insisted on pouring it for Xu Li.
Tan Yuze stopped him, saying, "Dad, she can't hold her liquor."
Xu Li held the glass with both hands and said, "Uncle, I'll have a drink with you."
After downing a cup, the corners of her eyes turned red, as if she had applied the most vibrant rouge.
Tan's mother was overjoyed and whispered to her son, "This girl is honest and easy to get along with."
After dinner, Tan's mother mysteriously pulled Xu Li upstairs.
A warm yellow light bulb shone in the attic, and cardboard boxes were piled up in the corner.
Tan's mother opened the top album and took out a thick stack of photo albums.
"All of Aze's dark history from childhood to adulthood is here."
Page 1: At the kindergarten's arts performance, little Tan Yuze wore a tutu and danced the Little Swan, her expression as serious as if she were participating in a military parade.
Xu Li burst out laughing.
Tan's mother smiled, but gently held her hand: "He didn't like taking pictures when he was little. Every time I raised my camera, he would run away. Later, after you were born, he took the initiative to take a picture with me and said, 'I want to show this to Lili later.'"
Xu Li felt a sudden burning sensation in her chest.
The old house wasn't very soundproof; you could hear Mr. Tan snoring next door.
When Xu Li came out of the shower, she found Tan Yuze squatting by the bed filling her thermos with hot water.
"My mom was worried you'd get thirsty in the middle of the night, so she asked me to make you some honey water."
He was wearing an old T-shirt from high school, the collar of which was loosely washed, and his hair was limp, like a docile big dog.
Xu Li sat down next to him and took a towel to dry his hair: "Did I do okay today?"
"Not just okay." Tan Yuze grasped her wrist, his fingertips gently stroking her pulse. "My mom just secretly told me that she's even thought of names for her grandchildren."
Xu Li: "..."
Tan Yuze laughed and pushed her down onto the bed, resting his chin on her shoulder: "Xu Li, thank you for coming."
Xu Li hugged him back, her voice muffled in her chest: "Thank you for taking me home too."
[The next morning in the community courtyard]
The snow stopped, and the sun shone on the red confetti, making it sparkle.
Mr. Tan gets up early for a walk and introduces his daughter-in-law to everyone he meets: "See that? That's my daughter-in-law, a big star! She came all the way back to see us old folks!"
Xu Li, wrapped in a thick scarf knitted by Tan's mother, helped Tan's father load the fireworks onto the truck bed.
Tan's mother called from the kitchen window, "Lili, come and have breakfast! I'm making shepherd's purse wontons for you today!"
Tan Yuze stood behind her and suddenly leaned down to kiss her reddened earlobe:
"Welcome home, Mrs. Tan."
Xu Li turned around, her smile brighter than the snow. At this moment, there were no cameras, no spotlights, only the warmth of everyday life, and the most resolute words—"Every winter from now on, we will go home."
The snow has melted, and the first batch of shepherd's purse has sprouted in the flower beds of the old residential area.
Early in the morning, Tan's mother, carrying a small bamboo basket, called upstairs, "Lili, come quickly! This is the first harvest of the year, the freshest dumplings you can make!"
Xu Li was wearing Tan Yuze's high school uniform jacket—the cuffs were frayed, the hem covered her thighs, revealing a section of bare legs—and ran down in flip-flops.
"Auntie, you're here!"
"Call me Mom!"
"……mom."
The voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz, but it was enough to make Tan's mother smile from ear to ear. At the very back of the neighborhood was a tiny vegetable garden, which was Tan's father's treasure.
Today, he loosened the soil with a shovel, Tan Yuze squatted beside him handing over potato seedlings, and Xu Li was in charge of watering them.
The water ladle tilted, and the icy well water splashed onto Tan Yuze's face. He hissed and dodged backward.
"Murder her husband?"
"Who told you to steal my last shepherd's purse wonton last night?"
Seeing the two bickering, Mr. Tan was secretly delighted, but he pretended to be serious: "Water the roots, not your man's face."
Xu Li blushed, and the water ladle tilted even further, directly wetting Tan's father's shoes.
The three of them burst into laughter, the early spring wind carrying the scent of earth, mixed with the aroma of fried spring rolls from afar.
[12 PM - Kitchen]
The shepherd's purse wontons are ready; the wrappers are so thin they're translucent.
Tan's mother served Xu Li a large bowl full of soup noodles with seaweed and dried shrimp floating on top.
"Eat more, shepherd's purse is good for your energy, and may it give me a healthy granddaughter."
Xu Li almost spat out a mouthful of wonton, while Tan Yuze chuckled beside her, only to be slapped on the back by his mother: "What are you laughing at? You need to eat some too!"
So he also got a bowl, with two extra poached eggs added, symbolizing "completeness and fulfillment".
"Mom, I'm not in a rush to have children right now. I'm not even married yet. Let's wait a few more years."
This actually helped Xu Li out of her predicament.
Two o'clock in the afternoon.
The curtains are blue plaid from over a decade ago; sunlight streams in, and dust motes dance in the air.
Xu Li sat cross-legged on the wooden floor, flipping through his high school diary. Actually, Tan Yuze had two diaries, the other one being a secret—"March 12, 2018. Today was the flag-raising ceremony. A girl in my class with a ponytail turned around and smiled at me. My heart rate was 120."
Xu Li raised an eyebrow: "Oh, your first love?"
Tan Yuze hugged her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder: "Later, that girl became my wife."
The next page of the diary was a piece of paper torn in half, with jagged edges.
What does this page say?
"...I wrote down my fantasy of marrying you ten years from now, but I was afraid my mom would see it, so I tore it up."
Xu Li ran her fingertips over the rough edges, her heart softening completely.
The community organized a "New Year Talent Show," and Mr. Tan, as a "retired employee representative," was pulled in to play the big drum.
The drumbeats were deafening as Tan's mother dragged Xu Li to dance to the square dance "Drunken Butterfly".
Xu Li was initially hesitant and her movements were stiff like a robot, while the aunties surrounded her with laughter.
Tan Yuze held up his phone to record a video. In the video, she gradually kept up with the rhythm, her hair flying and her smile revealing her tiger teeth.
As the song ended, the aunties applauded: "Old Tan's daughter-in-law danced so well!"
Xu Li, panting, turned around and made a face at Tan Yuze. The man smiled, reached out, and pulled her into his arms.
The old apartment building has no elevator on the sixth floor, and the rooftop is private property.
Tan Yuze had brought a beanbag chair and a telescope in advance, and on the small table next to them were two cans of chilled orange soda and a bag of spicy strips—Xu Li's "source of evil".
"There will be a Perseid meteor shower tonight."
How did you know?
"Nanyou sent me a hundred messages this afternoon, saying it was a global live stream and that I shouldn't miss it."
Xu Li laughed and fell back onto the sofa, her scarf unfurling to reveal a small, pale red mole on her collarbone.
As the first shooting star streaked across the sky, she closed her eyes and made a wish.
Tan Yuze turned to look at her: "What did you promise?"
"I can't say it, it won't work if I do."
"Then maybe I'll go alone—"
He lowered his voice, whispering in her ear, "I hope that by this time next year, there will be another baby chair on the rooftop."
Xu Li's ears instantly turned red. She raised her hand to punch his chest, but he grabbed her wrist and they intertwined their fingers.
In the distance, meteors fell one after another, like a silent fireworks display.
Tan Yuze suddenly knelt on one knee and took a small red velvet box out of his pocket—
Inside was a plain band ring with the letters "x" and "t" engraved on the inside.
"Last time I proposed with a pull ring, you said it wasn't formal enough."
I'll make it up today.
"Xu Li, are you willing—"
Before she could finish speaking, Xu Li had already reached out her hand: "I do." The ring was pushed all the way in, just right.
She laughed and threw herself into his arms, and the beanbag chair, unable to bear her weight, collapsed halfway with a "thud".
Two people rolled on the cement ground, with a sky full of stars above them and the lights of thousands of homes below.
They walked downstairs hand in hand, their footsteps echoing in the stairwell.
The motion-activated light on the second floor was broken, so Tan Yuze turned on his phone's flashlight, and the dust particles dancing in the beam looked like fine snowflakes.
Xu Li suddenly stopped, stood on tiptoe and kissed his chin: "Tan Yuze".
"Um?"
"From now on, every winter, spring, summer, and autumn, let's go home, okay?"
The man gripped her hand tightly, their fingers intertwined, his voice low and resolute:
"Okay, let's go home, let's go home together."
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