Chapter 16: There is so much of his past here.
In the faint light of dawn, Chen Wengang stopped by to see the house where he lived with his parents when he was young.
It was located just three doors down from the Lu family’s place.
The residential houses in the old town area retained the authentic, rustic charm of a small fishing village. Low-rise dwellings were lined up closely together, stacked tightly like toy blocks. The outer walls were painted white, and the roofs blue, now mottled and stained after being washed by countless typhoons and rainstorms.
He stopped outside the door of his old home, only able to look over the wall. The place had already been rented out, and another family was living inside.
Suddenly, the front door opened, and a mother walked out with her child. She was carrying a guitar on her shoulder; they were probably heading to an extracurricular class.
The mother and son didn’t recognize him. They brushed past him while discussing what the teacher would be teaching today.
Taking advantage of the moment the door was open, Chen Wengang glanced into the courtyard. The scene inside flashed by in an instant.
The traces of his childhood life were likely all gone now.
His eldest uncle’s family lived on Chuntao Street, only two blocks away from Jiangchao Street.
Amid the calls of street vendors, Chen Wengang walked there on foot.
Eldest Uncle Chen Zeng and his family were very enthusiastic toward Chen Wengang. His usually stingy eldest aunt had even specially bought a chicken to stew.
Chen Zeng pulled his nephew over to pour him a drink: “You don’t visit often. You must have a couple of drinks with your eldest uncle today.”
Chen Wengang smiled and declined, making the excuse that his alcohol tolerance was really quite poor. The main issue was that Chen Zeng was an alcoholic; once he started drinking, he couldn’t stop.
“You don’t even think about the standard of living Wengang enjoys at the Zheng family,” the eldest aunt chided her husband. “When he drinks normally, it must be high-end foreign liquor, like Lafite or champagne… Who would drink that cheap rotgut with you?”
The eldest aunt was somewhat snobbish and mercenary. Chen Wengang let her unpleasant words go in one ear and out the other, not taking them to heart.
Besides, his purpose for coming today could be considered ill-intentioned; she might even regret stewing that chicken later.
The situation was primarily like this—
When Chen Wengang’s father passed away, Zheng Bingyi had provided a generous pension. Both the family house and some of his father’s life savings were supposed to be inherited by the only son, Chen Wengang. But because Chen Wengang was young, the property was entrusted to his eldest uncle to hold on his behalf until he reached adulthood, with a lawyer as a witness.
The proxy agreement stipulated that the assets would be returned upon adulthood, but until Chen Wengang turned eighteen, no one ever mentioned the matter.
The eldest uncle’s family didn’t live a wealthy life. Since he lived well-fed and well-clothed at the Zheng family, it was somewhat difficult for him to open his mouth and ask.
For the sake of familial affection, Chen Wengang had even considered playing dumb and just letting it go.
His mother was said to have grown up in a children’s home. She had only left him some warm but very faint memories, and there were no relatives on her side of the family. Since he could remember, the only relatives they interacted with were from his father’s side. Who could be closer than flesh-and-blood siblings?
It wasn’t that Chen Wengang didn’t know his uncle and aunt were calculating people. But humans are ultimately social animals, not completely independent, isolated islands. Even if the familial affection was a bit shallow, it was still affection, and it held some warmth.
He always felt that if they fell out completely and never interacted again, he would truly have no family left at all.
But later, one day, the eldest uncle suddenly took the initiative to transfer the pension to Chen Wengang, saying he had saved up just about enough for him and telling him not to spend it recklessly.
Naturally, the eldest uncle wasn’t that generous a person; even if he were, getting past the eldest aunt would have been very difficult.
Chen Wengang probed a few times before learning that Zheng Bingyi had sent someone to “have a chat” with Chen Zeng.
That sum of money was nothing to Zheng Bingyi, but his authority could not be challenged. If he gave a pension, you couldn’t use it if it wasn’t yours. This was the distance between a big shot and a nobody. With just one sentence, the eldest uncle didn’t dare short Chen Wengang a single cent.
However, the portion Zheng Bingyi helped Chen Wengang recover was only the pension.
The house and savings his father left behind were considered insignificant mosquito meat in Elder Zheng’s eyes. How it was distributed was entirely Chen Wengang’s own business. Whether he wanted to subsidize his relatives or take it back, it was up to him.
So, it remained in the eldest uncle’s hands to this day.
The tenants living inside were found by the eldest uncle and aunt, and the rent was deposited directly into the couple’s account.
Therefore, while eating lunch, Chen Wengang proactively brought the matter up: “When the lease is up, I want to take my dad’s house back.”
Before this, the topic of conversation had just been about relocating his grandparents’ graves. Chen Wengang agreed to bear a portion of the cost, but he wanted his father’s things.
The eldest aunt froze for a moment: “That house is so old. It’s already good enough that it can be rented out. What do you want to take it back for?”
“It just needs a fresh coat of paint. When I come back, it can still be considered a place to stay.”
“You still want to live there?!” She was shocked. “You have it so good at the Zheng family. Why do you insist on coming back when you could be enjoying your blessings?”
“Why can’t he come back?” The eldest uncle glared at his wife. “Is this not Wengang’s home?”
The eldest aunt twisted her body and went to the kitchen, saying she was going to check the soup, throwing a subtle tantrum.
Chen Zeng curled his lips at her back, took a sip of liquor, and turned back around: “Tell your eldest uncle in detail, what are your plans for the future?”
“Adoptive father raising me to eighteen and letting me go to university was already fulfilling his moral duty. I’ve already overstayed at the Zheng family for an extra two years,” Chen Wengang said. “By the time I graduate from university next year at the latest, I’ll be able to support myself. It would really be unjustifiable if I still didn’t leave.”
“I know you’re an ambitious child, and having the idea of relying on yourself is good,” the eldest uncle said. “But your eldest uncle also has to advise you to think twice before you act. Once you really step out into society, you’ll realize these ideas of yours are very naive, and wanting to turn back won’t be that easy. Living in the Zheng family—do you know this is a starting point that many people can’t even touch? Let alone you, just take your uncle here. I worked hard for half my life just to become an ordinary manager. Just during Chinese New Year this year, when we were drinking together, my boss heard that my nephew was connected to the shipping magnate, and his attitude immediately changed completely. He even begged me to be the legal representative when setting up a branch company…”
Cousin Chen Xiangling, seeing that her father had had too much to drink and was speaking without a filter, turned her head to observe her cousin’s expression.
Chen Wengang wasn’t displeased by him borrowing someone else’s prestige; he simply asked: “You agreed?”
The eldest aunt walked over carrying the soup: “Why wouldn’t he agree? Wengang, look, the world is just this realistic. Whether you have someone backing you or not makes a difference. You don’t know how highly your eldest uncle’s boss values him now.”
Chen Wengang pretended not to understand: “It’s best not to agree to this kind of thing.”
But the eldest uncle didn’t listen either, entirely immersed in his own smugness of an impending promotion and wealth.
To be precise, he had already been promoted and given a raise. His boss was unprecedentedly friendly to him, calling him a brother and never forgetting to invite him along to play golf, get foot massages, or sing karaoke, promising that as soon as there was a vacancy in the company’s senior management, he would quickly promote him again.
When other colleagues in the company saw him, they jokingly called him “President Chen,” “President Chen.”
Chen Zeng’s face was flushed with alcohol. The day this “President” title would become worthy of the name seemed to be just tomorrow, something he could reach out and touch.
Returning to the issue of the house’s ownership, the eldest aunt wanted to argue further but was stopped by the eldest uncle: “That is Wengang’s father’s house. Giving it to him is only right.” Ultimately, a house in the old town area wasn’t worth much; he wouldn’t go so far as to forcefully occupy his nephew’s property.
She glared at her husband and feigned difficulty: “That’s unfortunate, then. The tenants just renewed their contract last month. They have a family to support and are used to living there; they don’t want to keep moving around. This time they signed for five years in one go. You see, this child didn’t say anything earlier…”
Chen Xiangling suddenly looked up: “Mom, you remembered wrong. That family proposed wanting to renew the lease for five years, but you guys said you wanted to raise the rent, and an agreement hasn’t been reached yet. Hasn’t the new contract not been signed? That means it’s just about to expire.”
The eldest aunt slammed the table and yelled at her daughter: “What the hell do you know! When adults are talking, is it your place to interrupt?”
The eldest uncle tried to smooth things over: “We’re eating, what are you yelling for? Since the contract hasn’t been signed, let them vacate.”
Chen Xiangling lowered her head and continued to silently shovel rice into her mouth.
Her two younger brothers were laughing and joking next to her, fighting in a heap, eating while fighting.
Chen Wengang’s eldest uncle and aunt had one daughter and two sons. Chen Xiangling was the eldest, seventeen this year.
The two boys below her were twins, Chen Guangzong and Chen Yaozu. They were much younger than her; the eldest aunt had gotten pregnant with them late in life.
The eldest aunt was unhappy today. When serving food to the children, she placed two chicken drumsticks into Guangzong and Yaozu’s bowls respectively.
According to past custom, one of them was originally Chen Wengang’s. But he didn’t lack this bite to eat, and usually passed it to Chen Xiangling.
The eldest uncle glared at his wife again and took action himself, scooping two pieces of chicken breast for Chen Wengang: “Come, come, Wengang, eat more.”
After finishing the meal, the eldest aunt virtuously told them to rest, taking Chen Xiangling with her to clear the bowls and chopsticks and take them out.
Chen Wengang stood in front of the windowsill for a while. The eldest uncle came over to greet him and told him to sit down and watch TV.
While pouring him tea, the eldest uncle spoke: “Actually, there’s another matter. Your younger sister is not young anymore…”
Holding his teacup, Chen Wengang smiled: “Didn’t she just celebrate her coming-of-age birthday this summer? Should we celebrate it for her?”
The eldest uncle’s expression stiffened: “Ah? …Oh, celebrate, we should celebrate. Time flies so fast. She’ll be graduating next year too. Your aunt was originally supposed to tell you this, wanting to ask if you have any friends of a suitable age that you could introduce to her.”
“Blind dates already? There’s no need, right? Kids from other families are just starting university at this age,” Chen Wengang gave him a sidelong glance.
The eldest uncle immediately denied it: “How could that be? Of course it’s not a blind date. But, she’s not going to university either. It’s precisely because it’s time to consider finding a job that we thought having an extra friend means having an extra path.”
After Chen Xiangling graduated from middle school, Chen Zeng and his wife took charge and enrolled her in a vocational high school, studying secretarial work. It was targeted training; she had already attended for two years, and after one more year, she could come out and find employment, being assigned to a partner company as a receptionist or secretary.
But it wasn’t that strict. Those with some connections at home could find a job themselves if they wanted to.
Chen Wengang actually looked down on that kind of diploma mill. It was filled with young hooligans and delinquent girls who had no intention of studying—those with no future, whose families didn’t want to completely give up on them, sent them there to barely scrape by and get a diploma, just so their educational background sounded slightly better than a middle school dropout.
Walking into the courtyard, the eldest aunt was nowhere to be seen.
Chen Xiangling was squatting alone in front of the sink, her sleeves rolled up, washing a massive pile of cups, plates, and bowls.
“Lingling,” Chen Wengang squatted down beside her. “Where’s Auntie?”
“Oh my, Wengang-ge!” She jumped in fright. “Why don’t you make a sound when you walk? She went out for a stroll.”
From the neighbor’s house next door came the sound of playing Mahjong. Someone shouted, “Mahjong!” followed by a clatter.
Chen Wengang reached out wanting to help her, but she hurriedly refused: “No need, don’t get your hands wet. I’ll be done soon.”
Still, the four hands finished washing the dishes together. Only then did Chen Wengang say softly: “Come on, let’s go out for a stroll.”
Chen Xiangling took the bowls to the kitchen. When she came out and was about to step forward, she looked down at the dusty T-shirt she was wearing, hesitated for a moment, said “Wait for me a second,” rushed back to her room to change into a floral dress, combed her hair, and then followed him out.
Chen Wengang took her out without saying where they were going, just strolling aimlessly.
Chen Xiangling didn’t know that every dilapidated street and ancient alley was a landscape he had been separated from for more than a decade.
There was the maternal and child health hospital his mother stayed in when he was born, the primary school he only attended for three years, the grocery store and stationery shop he reluctantly parted from every time he passed by as a child… When Chen Wengang was released from prison in his past life, he would rather settle in the more chaotic dock area than return here. There was too much of his past here, too many people who knew him. They still remembered him; he actually didn’t dare to come.
Later, Huo Niansheng also asked him if he wanted to go home, but he still couldn’t muster the courage to face it.
If he hadn’t inherited Huo Niansheng’s estate, Chen Wengang wouldn’t even have known that he had bought the Chen family’s old residence.
The last chance to see it was when Huo Niansheng asked: “Jiangchao Street is going to be demolished. Do you want to go back and take a look?”
At that time, they were lying in bed, the passion having just subsided. Chen Wengang closed his eyes in his embrace, imagining the desolate and scattered scene filling the street, and ultimately still said “No.” Perhaps he hadn’t understood Huo Niansheng’s painstaking efforts; he should have come to take a look.
Later on, he didn’t have the chance even if he wanted to.
Jiangchao Street and Chuntao Street only retained their street names; the stone-paved roads were rebuilt into asphalt roads. The old buildings were razed to the ground and built into monotonous high-rise residential buildings. The alleys full of craftsmen and small workshops were also gone, replaced by monotonous shopping malls and pedestrian streets.
Chen Wengang walked two steps and couldn’t help but look back. Chen Xiangling turned her head with him, but didn’t understand what there was to look at.
Since childhood, taking Chen Xiangling out to play was always worry-free for Chen Wengang. Whenever he asked her what she wanted, it was always “nothing,” unlike Chen Guangzong and Chen Yaozu, who would constantly pester him for this and that. It was still the same now; whatever he asked, the answer was “no.”
Only when passing by a bookstore did Chen Wengang buy her two popular novels she wanted to read.
After coming out, there was a female vendor on the roadside selling small accessories she designed herself, claiming they were 925 silver. He let Chen Xiangling choose, but after looking for a long time, she said she didn’t like any of them. Chen Wengang reached out and picked up a pair of small bells. The vendor flattered sweetly: “Look, how well it suits your girlfriend.”
Chen Wengang smiled: “This is my younger sister.”
The other party hurriedly apologized and collected the money.
Chen Xiangling’s thick hair was combed into two fluffy braids. After buying them, she didn’t say she disliked them anymore, tying the bells to the ends of her braids.
Chen Wengang looked at her fluffy head, feeling apologetic toward her in his heart.
His eldest uncle and aunt calculated shrewdly, thinking that any random classmate or friend of his would be a rich second-generation or corporate heir, wanting their daughter to marry up. In his past life, Chen Wengang hadn’t agreed. But after Chen Xiangling started working, she did encounter someone with good conditions. The boss’s son courted her fiercely. Under her parents’ urging, Chen Xiangling, having reached marriageable age, got her marriage certificate with that respectable-looking sea turtle (overseas returnee).
The wedding was grand; all three traditional gold gifts given were gold bars. The procession of Bentley wedding cars stretched grandly for half a street.
Every time they met during holidays, she would say she was living very well, and that brother-in-law was gentle and considerate to her in front of others.
It wasn’t until several years later at the hospital that he learned the man was secretly a control freak and a violent abuser, constantly suspecting her of cheating, committing domestic violence, and restricting his wife’s personal freedom. It was only when she was beaten to the brink of death that the doctors and nurses called the police.
Looking back, it was impossible that there weren’t any clues: she used foundation to cover the bruises on her face, said her broken bone was from a fall…
This was an extremely regrettable matter that Chen Wengang couldn’t find an excuse for, and it was a thorn in his heart. As her cousin, as her maiden family, it was such a severe dereliction of duty. He didn’t know where his so-called regard for familial affection had gone.
Passing a potholed stone-paved road, Chen Xiangling suddenly said: “Brother, what my dad said at noon about relocating grandpa and grandma’s graves—he actually wants you to pay the bulk of it. How about you just don’t give it. Don’t believe him crying poor; he and my mom have saved up a lot of money.”
“Mm, I know.”
“Also, do you want the property deed for your house? I know where my parents put it; I’ll help you steal it.”
“No need, I have a way,” Chen Wengang said. “We’ll talk about those things later. I’ll give you a coming-of-age gift first.”
“What is it? No need to spend money or make it so troublesome.”
“After walking around all afternoon, I’m hungry again,” Chen Wengang said instead. “Let’s find a place to eat and talk.”
Most of the places along the road were hole-in-the-wall restaurants packed tightly together, but Chen Wengang showed no intention of stopping. Chen Xiangling chased after him as they walked all the way to the next intersection, where Chen Wengang reached out and hailed a cab.
This taxi drove for a solid hour.
I hope there’s justice for her, too, in this restarted life.