Chapter Fifty: The Uninvited Guest
Lin Yu finally lived the idyllic life he had always dreamed of, where everything was done for him. He could sleep until he naturally woke up every day, and hot meals would always be served to him.
With the heating on full blast, she spends her days wandering around the house in a thin cotton loungewear.
Relatives or Lin Min's colleagues and friends would often come to visit. Whenever this happened, her mother would always greet them warmly. Then, while serving tea and water, she would deliberately jingle her gold bracelet on her wrist to attract the guests' attention.
Wearing a knitted short-sleeved shirt, she bustled about in the well-heated room, a barely perceptible anticipation hidden between her brows, waiting for some sharp-eyed guest to finally be unable to contain themselves and utter that exclamation she never tired of hearing.
"Hey, Lao Lin, your bracelet is really eye-catching!"
"Your husband is so good to you. Gold prices are much higher now than they were in the first half of the year!"
"Oh dear, he wouldn't know anything about those things." Lin Min's lips curled into an undisguised smile as she gently rubbed the bracelet on her wrist. Noticing the gazes of the crowd, she feigned humility and subtly covered the bracelet with her hand, while cleverly turning it towards the light.
"My child bought it; he just came back from Shanghai the day before yesterday." Lin Min's eyes and brows radiated unconcealed pride, and she couldn't help but feel proud when talking about Lin Yu.
“It’s not easy to make a living in a big city. I’ve told her so many times not to waste money, but she won’t listen.” She said while refilling tea for her relatives, “Look at what Old Liu is wearing, it’s cashmere, she bought it for him. The old stubborn man is used to wearing cotton, and he even complains that it’s itchy!”
Her words were laced with reproach, yet the laughter in her voice betrayed her inner pride. As Lin Min had hoped, the relatives' gazes turned to the kitchen, and they nodded frequently, offering their praise.
Lin Yu slept until the sun was high in the sky. Hearing the noise downstairs, she appeared at the top of the stairs on the second floor, still half asleep and wearing her pajamas. She was met with a room full of unfamiliar yet familiar faces. She forced a polite smile and then pretended to be calm as she went into the study.
Immediately behind them came a chorus of exclamations: "Wow! Is this Banban? She's grown so much! Girls change so much as they grow up!"
"Look at that aura, he's definitely back from Shanghai!"
"Old Lin, your daughter has really made you proud!"
The moment the study door closed, Lin Yu could still hear Lin Min's feigned modesty in response: "Oh, no, no, I'm already lucky you didn't drive me crazy! Your son is really something!" The pride in her voice practically overflowed from the crack in the door.
Lin Yu couldn't tell how much of the praise was genuine and how much was just politeness, but she was too lazy to delve into it. She simply let herself sink into the creaking rattan chair in the study, feeling a long-lost sense of relaxation.
All she knew was that she was back. Lin Min was content, Liu Wenbin was content, and she herself was content. This warmth, so full of life, was like a fluffy cotton quilt, keeping out the fatigue she brought from Shanghai and making her feel comfortable in every part of her body.
Even the exaggerated compliments and perfunctory formalities seemed lively and full of human warmth that the steel-and-iron-willed city of Shanghai would never possess.
Most of Lin Min's relatives live in other places, while Lin Yu's maternal grandparents and aunt's family live on a farm in the suburbs. They can only visit them after the second day of the Lunar New Year.
Uncle Liu's parents died early, and he had no children, so every New Year's Eve was cold and quiet, with only the three of them at home.
Although Uncle Liu is not a talkative person, he loves Lin Yu like his own daughter and always quietly helps her financially and physically when she needs it.
After so many years together, Lin Yu genuinely cared about his health and didn't want him to worry, so she mostly reported good news and kept the bad news from Shanghai.
On New Year's Eve, Lin Yu got up early, which was unusual for him, to help his mother and Uncle Liu put up Spring Festival couplets and clean the windows. After cleaning the house, he started wandering around looking for work to do.
After setting up a fruit platter on the coffee table, I went to the balcony to water the flowers and feed the fish. Uncle Liu used to say that if the fish ate too much, the water would become murky. Today, since it's the New Year, I decided to let them have a good meal for the first time ever.
Finally, when she wandered into the kitchen for the third time to help, Uncle Liu grabbed a spatula and chased her out. "You silly girl, haven't you had enough work at work yet?"
His round body, wrapped in an oversized apron, made him look like a clumsy penguin. "Go upstairs and play by yourself. Didn't your classmate lend you that game console yesterday? Go play your game, don't cause trouble here."
Lin Yu played games upstairs for a while, but got really bored, so she put on her coat and prepared to visit her high school classmate. As she was changing her shoes at the door, Lin Min rushed over and shoved a red envelope into her hand.
"You're a big kid now, it's your turn to give out red envelopes!"
Lin Yu then remembered that her classmate's child was already two years old, and it wasn't appropriate for her to go empty-handed. She accepted the red envelope somewhat embarrassedly and waved it at Lin Min. "I'll make it up to you later!"
"Come on, you!" Lin Min scolded as she stuffed the red envelope into the innermost zippered pocket of her backpack. She then zipped up her jacket all the way to the top, almost pinching Lin Yu's chin, which startled her so much that she tilted her head back.
"Wear warm clothes, don't catch a cold!"
"Don't bother them too much when you get there. Just sit for a while and then come back. Everyone's busy during the New Year."
"Okay!" Lin Yu replied with a smile and walked out of the residential area. After turning two corners, he arrived at his classmate's house.
They were best friends in middle school, going to and from school together, eating and studying together, often saving the taxi fare their parents gave them to buy a bag of QQ candy, eating it as they walked home.
Later, the two went to different cities for their exams. Lin Yu went to Shanghai after graduation, while her classmate stayed in their hometown, passed the civil service exam, and settled down early. Gradually, they lost common topics and their contact became less and less frequent.
When Lin Yu reached the intersection near her friend's apartment building, she was drawn to a firecracker stall. Since fireworks were banned in Shanghai, Lin Yu couldn't resist and immediately picked out a bunch of firecrackers with cool-looking designs, spending several hundred yuan on them.
She specially divided her spoils into two packages, one to give to a friend's child, and the other to keep for herself.
My friend looks the same as I remember, just a little heavier. Only her husband and mother-in-law are at home; her child has been taken back to her hometown by her maternal grandmother and won't be back until after the second day of the Lunar New Year.
Lin Yu was a little reserved when she first met her friend's husband. After exchanging a few pleasantries and putting down her gift, her friend eagerly pulled her into the second bedroom to have a private chat behind closed doors.
Lin Yu's friend pressed her down to the foot of the bed, dragged a chair over to sit next to her, and enthusiastically stuffed peeled oranges into her hands, then turned around and began to complain in a low voice.
"My mother-in-law has been picking on me all the time ever since she came to help take care of the child. Anyone who didn't know better would think I was her hired nanny!"
As she spoke, she skillfully peeled an apple, the peel forming a long strip that was then coiled into a flower shape on the plate. "If it weren't so tiring taking care of a child alone, I'd really like to send her back to her hometown!"
Lin Yu tasted a segment of orange, her brows furrowing slightly at the sourness. "Should I have your husband mediate?"
"Don't mention him, it makes me angry!"
My friend stabbed half an apple with a fruit knife and took a big bite. "He's like a dead man. If someone invites him to a dinner party, he might just come back to life. Otherwise, he's just like a decoration in the house."
"Who doesn't work? Who isn't tired? Does he think he's some old-fashioned lord? But we didn't see how much dowry he gave after all the betrothal gifts!"
"You must be quite busy with work?" Lin Yu didn't want to discuss family matters in other people's homes, and marriage was a completely foreign concept to her, so she subtly changed the subject to work.
"It's so busy! Besides the stability, this job is practically useless!" my friend said, pursing her lips. "The bosses and colleagues are all like NPCs; you trigger a mission the moment you get close to them."
She grumbled on and on about her work and marriage, as if life was being particularly harsh on her. But Lin Yu could hear the everyday realities of life in her complaints.
Perhaps life wasn't as bad as she described; it was just that facing her former best friend, all the pent-up grievances finally found an outlet. She could finally vent the resentment she couldn't usually express, so she could move forward smoothly in the coming year.
As dusk settled outside the window, Lin Yu rose to say goodbye. She took out a prepared red envelope and handed it to her friend. "It's not much money, keep it to buy some snacks for the kids."
The two engaged in a playful tug-of-war over the red envelope at the doorway, with Lin Yu ultimately managing to slip it under the drawer by the door. Feeling apologetic, her friend kept stuffing fruit and snacks into her bag and gently stroking her hand.
"Banban, you've changed so much over the years, that's wonderful! I really envy you. Shanghai is such a big city, and I've never had the chance to visit it." There was an indescribable sense of melancholy in her voice.
Lin Yu sensed his friend's sincerity, his heart warmed, and he put his arm around her shoulder. Although they only contacted each other a few times a year, the intimacy at this moment felt so natural. "It's not as good as you think."
She tried to reassure her friend with feigned nonchalance. "I'm two-faced too, saying one thing to your face and another behind your back, haha!"
Her friend squeezed her fingers again, and asked hesitantly, "Do you have a boyfriend? I remember you had one in college. I saw him at your house when your dad had his car accident. He was tall and handsome!"
Lin Yu knew she was referring to Chen Guang, but the moment she asked the question, she couldn't help but think of Jiang Chuan. He only had his grandmother left at home, and he must have had a very lonely New Year's Eve.
"You're mistaken, that's just a classmate!" Lin Yu tucked a stray hair behind his friend's ear and added half-jokingly, "No man from out there is as reliable as one from our hometown. If you find someone suitable, you'd better think of me!"
Her friend wanted to chat a little longer, but Lin Min suddenly called, urging her to hurry home because she had guests. Lin Yu was puzzled; who would choose to visit during the Lunar New Year?
After a hurried farewell, she carried the heavy firecrackers home. Colorful lights were lit up on the balconies and windows of every household, and some families had already started setting off firecrackers. A faint smell of gunpowder wafted in the night air.
Lin Yu took out her key, inserted it into the lock, and gently turned it to open the door. She hunched her shoulders, shook off the snowflakes, and casually placed the fireworks she had just bought against the corner of the wall. While taking off her coat, she called out into the house, "Mom, I'm home! I'm starving!"
As she bent down to change into her slippers, she noticed some beautifully packaged gift boxes piled up in the entryway, and then she remembered that her mother had mentioned on the phone that guests had come to visit.
She changed into slippers and peeked into the living room through the gap in the carved screen. Under the warm yellow light, her mother was smiling and talking to someone who had come in. When she walked around the screen and saw the familiar figure on the sofa, she froze on the spot and exclaimed in disbelief.
What brings you here?
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