Chapter 10
Shen Huan spent five hours in the small dark room, mostly waiting for someone. Customs sent three people over, each asking the same questions: her travel history to the US, why she gave up her green card, and whether she planned to reapply for immigration this time to see her stepson.
She gave the same answer three times. With nothing to do in between, she almost memorized the ingredient list of the cosmetics in her suitcase. Finally, she was allowed to pass.
Having missed her connecting flight to New York, Chen Huan called Li Wangnan, but the call went unanswered. She left a message. She boarded the next available flight to Newark, landing three hours later. Li Wangnan still hadn't responded. She checked into a hotel.
For the next two days, she didn't hear a word from Li Wangnan. He didn't like her, but he was well-educated and wouldn't be so rude for no reason. Shen Huan didn't ask Li Ting. From a distance, she couldn't help, and it was useless for him to worry.
On Monday afternoon, she received a call from Chang Yueqing, asking if Chen Huan had reached Li Wangnan and why her son wasn't answering her calls. Chen Huan thought Chang Yueqing must be aware of Li Ting's scheme, but she had her own business and had been busy in Japan and Singapore lately, unable to pay attention to her son. She didn't object to Chen Huan's willingness to make a name for herself in her son's presence, perhaps to keep an eye on him.
In this respect, Chang Yueqing was a very easy ex-wife to get along with. Her calculations and tactics were all for practical purposes, without any fuss. Chang Yueqing had never had a quarrel with Shen Huan.
Shen Huan was now starting to worry about Li Wangnan. He was starting his summer internship at Morgan Stanley this Thursday, so he should have been living in New York long ago.
Chen Huan spent most of the day searching for Li Wangnan's college classmates on Facebook. She called countless people, her voice hoarse. A group of young people mistook her for a fake, attentive stepmother, and the other end of the line erupted in uncontrollable laughter. Finally, she finally got through to Li Wangnan's girlfriend, Caicai, and finally understood the situation.
Li Wangnan attended ten weeks of Army Basic Combat Training and was supposed to graduate two weeks ago, but Caicai couldn't contact him. He might have failed and stayed in the training camp to retake the exam.
Shen Huan asked Cai Cai why Li Wangnan wanted to participate in the army training. He never knew that the boy had plans to serve in the reserves.
Caicai said she wasn't planning on joining the military. One of the managing directors in the investment banking group was a veteran, and Li Wangnan was chatting him up during the interview when he got caught up in a conversation and started spinning a story about his Basic Bat Training. Li Wangnan had been lifting weights at the gym for three months, eating only lettuce and chicken breast. He'd finally gotten in, planning to just hang out for a few weeks so he could show off his skills at the investment bank.
Basic combat training required turning in cell phones. Shen Huan didn't know who Li Wangnan had left as an emergency contact for the camp. It probably wasn't Cai Cai. No one in military training took "girlfriends" seriously; unmarried people were treated as single. Shen Huan guessed the contact he'd left was his mother.
Sure enough, on Wednesday afternoon, Shen Huan received a call from Chang Yueqing. She sent him an address about ten kilometers east of Bennyburg, saying that Li Wangnan suddenly wanted her to pick him up at 6:00 AM the next morning. However, flights from Okinawa to the US were rare, so she could only book a flight for the next day, which was definitely too late.
Chen Huan agreed to pick up Chang Yueqing's son. To be honest, she felt that Li Wangnan was acting a bit like a young master. Not only did he have to make up the exam, but he also had to call his mother across the Pacific Ocean. It was a bit funny.
She booked the next available flight, packed her bags, and headed to the airport. Five hours later, the plane landed in Raleigh, North Carolina. Chen Huan waited in line for over half an hour at the rental counter before finally securing a Ram pickup truck. She didn't like driving pickup trucks; they were difficult to maneuver and the seats were stiff. However, the front desk explained that the recent tropical storm in the southeast had closed several airports, diverting many flights in Raleigh. The logistics for transporting the cars hadn't been rescheduled, and all the cars had been rented.
Shen Huan had no choice but to drive the iron-blooded pickup truck to Bennyburg, an hour and a half away, and found a motel in Fayette to stay in. It wasn't that she couldn't afford a high-end place; she had lived in this small building many times when she was in college.
She slept for a few hours and set off for the training base at dawn. She downloaded Google Maps before getting in the car. She remembered there was no cell phone signal for several square kilometers. The same dusty parking lot remained; by the time she arrived, six or seven cars were already parked.
Standing by the car were young women, seemingly in their twenties. Most of them had disposable tattoos of the American flag on their arms or cheeks. They were youthful, their jeans revealing a bit of their hips, and they wore wedding rings on their ring fingers. This was something you rarely see in big cities; girls their age were usually drinking and partying at university.
Chen Huan didn't get out of the car to chat with them. She never fit in.
Basic Combat Training, for recruits without a four-year military academy education, corresponds to the six weeks of training Meng Zixian underwent the summer before enrolling at West Point, commonly known as Beast Camp. Henry later joked that compared to Ranger School, Beast Camp was as shy as a virgin. He said this just as Meng Zixian was about to take the 24-day Green Beret screening test. Henry lamented that old bitch could grind you down to the bone.
By 6:30, the parking lot was already packed with more than a dozen cars. Women gathered outside a dirt road barred by wooden bars. Some said the graduating freshmen would emerge from there. Chen Huan felt that Li Wangnan hadn't missed out on anything by leaving the camp before his internship. She could also give Li Ting an explanation when she returned.
Chang Yueqing called, but the signal was too poor to be connected. Chen Huan sent her a message saying that he had arrived and would contact her after picking someone up and returning to the city.
Around eight o'clock, everyone finally arrived. A man in combat fatigues, apparently the instructor, arrived. A group of young women gathered around him, chattering, their colorful jackets draped over their arms waving like cheerleaders. Chen Huan followed behind. The sergeant replied that the boys would be out soon, then turned and left.
The women returned to the car, some bringing donuts and others baking cookies. Chen Huan hadn't prepared anything, so she stood by empty-handed. A few minutes later, tall, well-built freshmen began to run out, their faces stained with mud and sweat, their necks and arms sunburned.
When they saw the dry donuts, their faces were filled with the joy of kindergarten children. They picked up the girls and spun them around, yelling "Thank you," "You are awesome," and "God bless you."
Fifteen minutes later, the cars on the field left one by one, but Shen Huan still hadn't seen Li Wangnan. She was worried that Li Wangnan had failed the test again or was in solitary confinement for offending the instructor.
She wondered if Chang Yueqing had gotten the date wrong. She was heading back to her car to get her phone to send a message when she saw two people running dejectedly toward the end of the winding path: one white, the other Asian. The Asian looked a lot like Li Wangnan, but he was much thinner than she'd remembered.
Li Wangnan usually claimed to be a weightlifter, building the kind of thin muscles that girls liked. Shen Huan couldn't understand how three months of chicken breast and gym work had reduced him to skin and bones.
He picked up the wooden pole and came out, pretending not to know Chen Huan. His neck was still drooping and he walked with a slight limp. He walked towards the parking lot. Chen Huan caught up with him and said, "Let's get in the car first." Li Wangnan asked where my mother was. Chen Huan said, "Your mother is in Japan. If you calculate the time, she's about to get on the plane." The white man next to him looked at Chen Huan. Li Wangnan stiffened his neck and told her, "Then you go wait in the car first. I want to talk to my bro."
Chen Huan rolled her eyes at him. "Alright." She turned and walked away, hearing two kids behind her cursing the instructors and the school, using all sorts of dirty words. Chen Huan sighed silently. She didn't know why everyone who'd spent time in the military was like this. They had to act like I had gotten up this fucking morning and bought a can of fucking milk.
On the way back to his apartment, Chang Yueqing called. Chen Huan was driving, so he told Li Wangnan to talk to his mother. Li Wangnan lost his temper at Chang Yueqing and slammed the phone down, then began sobbing again. Chen Huan could understand; he'd been frustrated and wanted his mother to come over, not to invite someone he didn't know to make a fool of himself.
After returning to the apartment, Li Wangnan locked himself in the bedroom and ignored Chen Huan, but shouted at the top of his voice several times, "Don't tell my dad! Otherwise, you will be in trouble!"
Judging from the way Li Wangnan walked, he must have been injured. Shen Huan asked him through the door if he wanted to see a doctor, but he remained silent. She heard him on the phone, and it must be his girlfriend Caicai on the other end.
There was nothing in the fridge, so Chen Huan went to the supermarket to buy some. Her cooking wasn't great, but she could make noodles. Li Wangnan didn't even glance at the noodles until they were mushy. When she passed him on her way to the bathroom, he glanced at her and sarcastically said, "Aren't you just doing this for those few shares? Aren't you pretending enough?"
Chen Huan was playing Candy Crush on her phone. After listening to him on the phone for two hours through the door, she finally understood.
Li Wangnan had been kicked out of training camp. He'd spent a long time preparing for these ten weeks of training. Standing at 5'83", he'd spent the winter training himself, going from 170 pounds to 190, just inside the recruiting weight limit. When Shen Huan saw him today, he'd thought he probably didn't even weigh 150 pounds. It was truly torturous.
Shen Huan said calmly, “I’ll leave when your mother comes.”
Li Wangnan seemed to be annoyed by her and shouted, "You have to move out tonight. What if others misunderstand you if you stay here?"
Shen Huan looked up and down at his shaky figure. She wanted to say, "Don't worry, I eat better than this," but she didn't say that. She lowered her head and continued to play Candy Crush.
In the evening, someone knocked on the door. Chen Huan opened it and saw a tall girl standing outside. She was wearing a delicate nude outfit and had seductively slanted eyes. The girl stepped in on high heels and asked Chen Huan, "Who are you?" Chen Huan knew it was Cai Cai from the voice.
Li Wangnan was not good at being a soldier, but he was an expert at arguing with women. He scolded Chang Yueqing, scolded Chen Huan, and was about to scold Caicai again. The two of them were arguing loudly in the bedroom.
Cai Cai asked Li Wangnan why he let his stepmother live here to take care of him. "You two aren't that kind of relationship, are you?" "She can't stay here tonight. If she does, I'll leave." Li Wangnan shouted, "If you want to stay, stay. If not, get out." His tone was exactly the same as Li Ting's.
Shen Huan cooked a bowl of noodles for himself.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com