Chapter 30 Happy New Year
On New Year's Eve, the Cheng family's three sons, daughter, and son-in-law all came back. The eldest son's family drove a Mercedes-Benz and a BMW, and the second son drove a Jetta, which took up half of the yard. There were more than 20 people in the family, which was considered a wealthy family in the resettlement area.
Cheng Lijia had just had his stitches removed and his eyes were swollen. Everyone tacitly ignored the fact that Cheng's grandson beat his father into the hospital as soon as he came back.
The aunt was still busy running around, and Cheng Che helped her in the small kitchen. The whole family sat in the living room, seemingly harmonious but actually divided, because the only ones who were happy about this reunion dinner were the two old people and the ignorant younger generations.
Above Cheng Che are his cousins from his eldest uncle's family, his second uncle's family, and his aunt's family. Below them are the younger generations born to his cousins, two girls and one boy, who call Cheng Che "uncle" in a baby voice. Cheng Che gives red envelopes to the children, and is neither intimate nor distant.
"Xiao Che, how is your new school? I heard it's amazing and all the graduates will become big figures."
The second aunt was not well educated and had always wanted to cultivate Cheng Che's cousin. However, although the cousin was pretty, she hung out with gangsters outside the school in high school and had no chance to go to college.
Cheng Che didn't stop stir-frying and politely replied, "No, it's just an ordinary university."
"Is the capital city very big? Have you seen the Chairman?"
"Mom, don't ask anymore. Xiao Che isn't going to be an official, so why would he care about the chairman?"
My cousin is a fiery person, and she would say whatever she wanted. "Our little Che is getting more and more handsome. Does he have a lot of girlfriends?"
They knew that Cheng Che was cold and had a strange temper, so they never bothered him before. But now it was different. Cheng Che was admitted to a good university and had a bright future, so they no longer ignored this strange boy.
"Yes, yes, yes. There are many female classmates in your school. Can you introduce one to your cousin?"
Cheng Che declined: "We all have partners."
The eldest aunt laughed and said, "The people I know are all top students. How can I be interested in a high school student?"
My aunt looked unhappy, and my uncle was still playing with his cell phone, seemingly not wanting to get involved in the family affairs.
Later, when the dishes were served, the grandparents gave red envelopes to their unmarried grandson and the three children. Cheng Che could feel that his was an especially important gift. He silently put the red envelope into his trouser pocket, not wanting to expose the two old people's partiality.
After Cheng Che's mother passed away, Cheng Lijia's temper calmed down a lot. Maybe he realized that he was old and was afraid that no one would support him, or maybe his body was really hollowed out by alcohol. He never dared to provoke Cheng Che when he was not drinking, but once he drank, he would become a madman.
For example, now.
Every word he said was filled with swear words, his face was red, and his chopsticks were clattering as he dropped them. He looked both pathetic and hateful.
Cheng Che sometimes wondered why Cheng Lijia didn't become completely bad, taking drugs, gambling, robbing, or doing some illegal activities, so that he would have enough reason to send him to jail.
But he just drank and went crazy, beating and scolding Cheng Che's mother. He beat her so hard that it was useless for Cheng Che to call the police. There were always people asking him to forgive the "father", and then they would reconcile, and then a new round of domestic violence would start, endlessly.
Later, Cheng Che gave up. He no longer placed his hope on the police. He chose to fight violence with violence. No one could kidnap him and force him to reconcile in the name of family affection.
The Cheng family is used to Cheng Lijia's temper, and their favorite saying is: He is just like that, it's enough if he can manage himself, what else do you want him to achieve?
A person has been lazy and gluttonous all his life, and has lived a rotten life. Everyone is disappointed in him, but he is still alive and well.
However, there are some people who can't stand this kind of mud. Cheng Che's aunt is one of them. Cheng Che can understand why his aunt doesn't like his grandparents, because they always favor the youngest son and always use their pension to subsidize the youngest son, spoiling him to be lawless.
What Cheng Lijia said was roughly to the effect that it didn't matter if his aunt's son had studied abroad, a purchased degree was not as valuable as the one Cheng Che had earned.
Cheng Lijia is also a weird person. On the one hand, he scolds Cheng Che for being useless in studying, and on the other hand, he brags to his friends that his son has been admitted to the best school in Beijing and how hard he worked to train him.
Everyone thought it was funny, as everyone knew that Cheng Lijia was a hopeless case.
My aunt was not a pushover and she made some sarcastic remarks, saying basically: So what if your son got into college? What benefits can you get from it as his father?
These words really touched Cheng Lijia's heart. He was most afraid that Cheng Che would no longer support him when he became successful, but the facts had already developed in this direction. He didn't even have the ability to ask Cheng Che to cook a bowl of noodles.
Cheng Lijia blushed and asked Cheng Che to serve him food in front of the whole family to prove that he had authority.
Cheng Che looked at him coldly and remained motionless.
Cheng Lijia couldn't save face and was so angry that he smashed the bowl in his hand hard. The porcelain bowl hit Cheng Che's forehead with a dull sound, then fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.
Like Cheng Che’s increasingly heavy heart.
The children were scared and crying, calling for their mothers. The cousins were busy coaxing their own children. The uncles were still watching the Spring Festival Gala and eating the reunion dinner. No one cared whether Cheng Che was injured.
Only grandma wiped the water stains from Cheng Che's forehead with concern, and the aunt took a broom to clean up the debris on the ground.
Cheng Che's first words after he came to the table were: "Aunt, you don't have to clean up. Whoever made the mess should clean up."
My aunt sighed and said, "It's okay, it will be done in a while, you guys can enjoy it."
"I said. No sweeping."
His tone grew several degrees colder, and his expression was terribly violent.
The Cheng family was a little afraid of Cheng Che. He was weird and aloof on weekdays, but when he got angry, he would just pick up a knife and fight his father.
Seeing that the situation was getting serious, the uncle finally said, "Alright, alright, don't make your dad angry during the reunion today. Grandpa and grandma will be unhappy."
He always acted like the eldest son of the Cheng family and a successful man when teaching the younger generation, but he never fulfilled his responsibilities as an older brother and disciplined his younger brothers.
When Cheng Che saw his grandmother's red eyes, his heart softened and his temper softened. He didn't want to ruin the old woman's mood on such a day, as each year counted for her was one less.
But Cheng Lijia is a drunkard. He wants to get more out of his situation and curse Cheng Che with nasty words, including Cheng Che's cowardly and unlucky mother.
"Hey, stop talking!" Grandma scolded her youngest son in frustration.
The eldest aunt, enjoying the fun, added fuel to the fire, "Don't bother with him, Mom. He's an adult, but he doesn't think before he speaks. He even has the nerve to scold Xiao Che's mother. He squandered all her mother's death compensation."
"Yuan Lanfen!"
Yuan Lanfen is my aunt's name. It has mountains and grass, which symbolizes freedom. She is indeed free in speech and says everything she should and shouldn't say. I don't know whether it was intentional or not.
Everyone was trembling with fear, and most of them understood that they would not be able to have the reunion dinner.
"What's going on?"
Cheng Che's tone was very calm. He just glanced at Cheng Lijia and then his gaze fell on his grandmother. He knew that his mother's death compensation had always been in his grandmother's hands.
Grandma hid herself, not daring to look at him, feeling aggrieved and pitiful.
Her aunt answered for her: "You may not know this yet, but not long after you started school, your dad started asking your grandma for money, asking for your mom's compensation. When grandma refused to give it, he even pushed her away."
"Yuan Lanfen, you talk too much!"
Cheng Lijia felt hurt and started cursing his sister-in-law and wanted to hit her. His uncle stopped him immediately and the children started crying.
There was a skit from the Spring Festival Gala playing on TV, telling the story of a family on their way home for the New Year reunion. Cheng Che had never felt the taste of a normal home. His childhood and youth were spent in endless quarrels and fights.
"Cheng Lijia, why don't you just die?"
Cheng Che's eyes turned bloodshot. He grabbed the bowl at hand and smashed it over, leaving another severe mark on Cheng Lijia's swollen face.
The eldest aunt and the second aunt had already left with the child, and the cousins did not dare to intervene because they knew how ruthless Cheng Che could be when he got angry.
On this day of reunion, Cheng Che once again felt despair. Why was he the son of Cheng Lijia?
Why doesn’t Cheng Lijia just die?
He completely lost his mind and accidentally pushed his grandmother who was coming over. His grandfather went to help his grandmother and shouted Cheng Che's name, and only then did he wake up from the violence.
His forehead was covered in blood, his cheekbones were swollen, and his hand bones were stained with Cheng Lijia's blood.
Cheng Lijia was beaten black and blue by him, and the reunion dinner was scattered all over the floor. His cousins looked at him in fear, and his grandmother sat on the sofa, crying sadly.
Cheng Che's eyes were blurry, he didn't know if it was from the blood or something else. He raised his hand to wipe it, trying to see if his grandmother was injured. But the more he wiped, the more blurry his eyes became. He looked at his hand, and then caught a glimpse of Cheng Lijia lying on the balcony. It turned out that he had become Cheng Lijia without knowing when.
"Xiao Che... Xiao Che... Don't be sad... Grandma is fine..."
The disgust and despair in his eyes were unbearable for anyone to see. How could such heavy sadness come from an eighteen-year-old boy?
Cheng Che wiped his hands on the seam of his pants, squatted in front of his grandmother, touched her face, and said with a smile: "I'm sorry, if I had known I wouldn't have come back."
He hugged his grandmother and patted her back, saying helplessly, "I'm going to be out for a while. You and your brothers and sisters can have dinner later."
It was snowing in the town. There was no one on the road. Among the thousands of lights, not a single one belonged to Cheng Che. Cheng Che found a pavilion and sat there watching the snow, the brilliant fireworks, and the sound of firecrackers wishing peace every year.
A few children were lighting firecrackers, wearing thick cotton-padded clothes, while the adults were shivering in the cold wind, but they were still guarding their babies.
Cheng Che had fantasized many times, if his mother hadn't died, if Cheng Lijia was a competent father... But there are no ifs, it seems that he was not born to be worthy of romance.
He still couldn't learn to be sensible in the eyes of adults, nor could he learn to be patient like his mother. They all told Cheng Che to be patient and not to go against his father, and that a harmonious family is the key to success.
So Cheng Che became what he is today. He is a loner, has no friends, and is like a hedgehog. He doesn't trust anyone, nor does he believe that anyone will love him wholeheartedly. Even his grandmother only loves him out of her own spare time, on the premise of loving her son.
Nearing twelve o'clock, Li Zimai called. The call rang for a long time before Cheng Che answered.
"Have you had the New Year's Eve dinner?"
Still unable to hear the other party's answer, Li Zimai asked: "What's wrong?"
Cheng Che didn't know what was wrong with him. He was so defeated by Li Zimai's "What's wrong" on the other end of the phone.
When Cheng Lijia pointed at his nose and beat and scolded him, Cheng Che did not cry. When his neighbors pointed at him and called him an unfilial son, Cheng Che did not cry. When everyone advised him to forgive Cheng Lijia, Cheng Che still did not cry. But at this moment, he suddenly collapsed. All his pride, inferiority, dissatisfaction and anger were like a sudden downpour, hitting every corner of his body heavily.
Tears streamed down his cheeks, dropping into the snow, creating tiny ice dots. He sobbed softly, and the air was filled with unbearable gasps.
Li Zimai stopped talking. He heard Cheng Che's weak and suppressed cry. The small figure curled up in the corner of the snow-covered pavilion, with his head buried in his knees and his arms tightly hugging himself. He cried heart-wrenchingly, but still suppressed his sobs.
After a long time, Li Zimai asked, "Do you want to watch the fireworks?"
The children who had been playing with fireworks had already returned home. It was quiet and deserted. Cheng Che said, "I want to."
"Then close your eyes."
"Um."
"You lied to me, you didn't close your eyes."
Cheng Che hummed again and slowly closed his eyes. He believed that Li Zimai would let him see the fireworks. Li Zimai was always omnipotent.
"Bang~ Fireworks."
The sound came from the empty snowfield, intertwined with the cold sound of electricity from the mobile phone. Cheng Che couldn't tell which was reality. He opened his eyes and looked into the eyes that were so close to him.
In the icy and snowy weather, Li Zimai's gaze was like a flint with a flame, staring at him intently.
He was wearing a black coat, the collar covering half his face. The tips of his hair, visible from beneath the brim of his hat, were wet, as if kissed by crushed snow. His slender fingers were an unnaturally red and purple, but he still maintained his grip, holding the burning baby's breath, and extended it towards Cheng Che. He said, "Happy New Year."
Cheng Che had never felt happy about the New Year. Any festival was equally unbearable for him. He hated eating at home, hated seeing Cheng Lijia's ferocious face, and hated the way his mother always accepted everything. He never felt happy about the New Year, but the crackling sound of the flames of the baby's breath became the most beautiful music at this moment.
The snow stopped, and the bare tree trunks creaked under the heavy snow. The shadows of the trees under the street lights swayed continuously, as if they were going to sway into Cheng Che's heart. He reached out and took the baby's breath.
The flame quickly disappeared, leaving only a figure illuminated by the streetlights. Li Zimai's fingers fell on his swollen forehead and cheekbones, and his fingertips slowly covered the corners of his moist eyes, and finally curled up and retracted.
Cheng Che finally woke up, his eyes seemed to be blooming with a grand fireworks display, a flash of burning and brightness, "...Why are you here?"
Li Zimai extended his hand to him and said, "I'm here to celebrate the New Year with you."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
