Chapter 20: A Homecoming of Memories and Unspoken Love

Almost an entire night passed without sleep for the two of them.

By early morning, their exhaustion became unbearable. They hailed a taxi back to the county town, settling for a reasonably decent hotel to pass the night.

When they finally awoke, dusk had already fallen once more.

Guan Qing believed they could simply head back, but Xie Xu demurred. He insisted on returning to the small town.

“There are some things I haven’t seen yet,” Xie Xu stated definitively, his gaze unwavering as he met Guan Qing’s eyes.

“Then you absolutely cannot act like you did yesterday,” Guan Qing admonished softly, reaching out to gently stroke his hair.

Xie Xu took Guan Qing’s hand, holding it firmly. With his other hand, he held the tofu pudding they’d bought in town.

He took a bite himself, then offered a spoonful to Guan Qing, a hint of embarrassment in his voice as he promised, “I truly won’t do it again.”

“It’s quite sweet,” Guan Qing commented.

“Mhm,” Xie Xu agreed, taking another bite. “But it’s not very hygienic.”

In just a few quick mouthfuls, he devoured the entire bowl of tofu pudding.

Guan Qing: “…”

“Hungry?” Xie Xu asked, a mischievous smile playing on his lips.

Guan Qing ground his teeth. “Not hungry. Not at all.”

“Ah—” Xie Xu sighed dramatically, pulling a takeout box from his backpack. “Then I bought it for nothing. What should I do, throw it away?”

Guan Qing watched him, helpless. Xie Xu always had to tease.

Xie Xu then pointed to his own face.

Guan Qing remained still, simply observing him.

Xie Xu looked a bit awkward, staring at the ground. “Don’t be so wasteful. Just force yourself, eat it.”

Guan Qing took the takeout box but didn’t open it. Xie Xu looked up, puzzled—

Suddenly, Guan Qing leaned in and kissed him.

Xie Xu: “!!!”

His face flushed a suspicious shade of red. He opened his mouth, stammering, “Guan Qing, you…”

Guan Qing opened the box, picked up a pork chop with his chopsticks, and shoved it into Xie Xu’s mouth. “Shut up and eat,” he ordered without preamble.

Guan Qing himself felt a blush creeping up his neck, but fortunately, the dimming twilight obscured it. They sat beneath a streetlight just outside the town, plagued by numerous mosquitoes.

He truly couldn’t fathom the purpose of returning here.

As the two of them shared the box of food, Guan Qing suddenly felt a tug on his pant leg. He looked down and met a pair of dark, bright eyes.

“Hungry—”

It wasn’t cold in the late summer, yet the child had two streams of snot running down his nose. His small face was tanned and gaunt, his hair a messy bird’s nest. His clothes were heavily patched but clean—he wasn’t a homeless orphan, but rather from the small town.

Guan Qing hadn’t known there were children so young in this small town.

Most of the able-bodied youth had gone to work in the cities, leaving behind only the elderly, young, sick, and disabled in the villages. This child was likely a ‘left-behind’ child.

“Little one, are you lost?”

Guan Qing unwrapped a new spoon and fed him a few pieces of meat. Seeing him gobble it down, he then gave him the unopened soup.

The child was remarkably well-behaved. Though clearly hungry, he didn’t snatch or fight, eating whatever was given to him. Hearing Guan Qing’s question, he shook his head, pointing towards the small town to indicate he was from there.

Xie Xu suddenly looked displeased. “I want to feed him too.”

Guan Qing had no choice but to feed Xie Xu two more bites.

It was strange. Three people sharing a single meal, one of them a child of unknown origin. In the past, Guan Qing and Xie Xu would have found it unbearable. Yet, perhaps due to their circumstances, they now found the meal surprisingly delicious.

Once they finished, the child was clearly not full, but there was nothing more to offer.

“Little one, which house do you live in? We’ll take you back.” Although the area was desolate, human traffickers still existed. They worried about a young child wandering alone late at night and something happening.

The child, wearing slippers clearly two or three sizes too big, hopped up and walked forward. After two steps, he looked back and waved to them. “Follow, follow.”

They followed the child. His home was in one of the more secluded parts of town, with only this one household nearby. Next to it stood a house that had been abandoned for a long time.

As Guan Qing looked at that house, his eyes slowly widened—

It was where he used to live.

So, this child was the child of his former neighbor.

He remembered that a solitary woman lived in that house. She was a little older than Guan Qing’s mother, and whenever they met outside, she would roll her eyes and walk away with her nose in the air.

But his mother would always smile apologetically, not taking it to heart.

He remembered being very afraid of that sharp-faced auntie back then. The time he hit another child, that auntie was the first to rush out, pointing her red-painted, sharp fingernail at him as if to poke out his eyes:

“You naughty child, you’re so thoughtless! Do you know how hard your mother works?”

He had been terrified then, and consequently, he disliked that auntie immensely.

Thinking back now, it wasn’t quite like that.

For instance, he vaguely recalled that evening, the auntie bringing two of her home-raised chickens and some money, pressing them into his mother’s hands. Ye Anxian insisted on writing an IOU, but the auntie rolled her eyes and snapped, “Ye Anxian, who the hell are you looking down on?”

Then she walked away with an empty basket.

He also remembered returning to pick up his mother to move to S City after he started earning money. By then, neither his mother nor the auntie were young anymore. The auntie was sewing clothes by her door. His mother wept bitterly, wanting to embrace her, but the auntie coldly snorted, pushing her away.

“Scram, scram, scram! Once you leave, don’t ever come back.”

But the moment he turned away, he distinctly saw the auntie lift her apron to wipe her eyes.

It felt like a lifetime ago.

A lamp glowed by the doorway, illuminating a small, hunched old woman who was sewing. The child, clattering in his ill-fitting slippers, bounced up, excitedly shouting ‘Grandma,’ and buried himself in the old woman’s arms.

The old woman sternly scolded him a few times, then suddenly noticed the two men. Her high-set eyes darted over, and she hunched her back, shielding the child behind her. “Who’s there?!” she asked warily.

“Auntie Zhang,” Guan Qing emerged from behind Xie Xu, revealing his face. “It’s me, Guan Qing, Ye Anxian’s son. Do you still remember me? I used to live next door.”

Despite her age, Auntie Zhang’s face was still as fierce as ever, clearly indicating a difficult personality.

She suddenly took two steps forward, peering at Guan Qing’s face in the faint light. Her brows were tightly furrowed, her face a mass of wrinkles, and her skin was very rough.

Xie Xu frowned, moving to shield Guan Qing. However, Guan Qing shook his head, meeting Auntie Zhang’s gaze.

Auntie Zhang opened her mouth, seemingly intending to utter something scathing, but then she abruptly turned away.

Guan Qing watched her pick up the hem of her apron again, wiping the corners of her eyes. After a long moment, she said to them, her voice weary, “Come in and sit.”

The house was small, yet everything was meticulously arranged and tidy. Two small bamboo chairs sat on the floor, an old, bulky television rested against the wall, and there were two beds.

“This child is…” Auntie Zhang’s husband had passed away early, and she had never remarried. When Guan Qing left, she was still living alone.

“I found him,” Auntie Zhang said, glancing at the child who was playing with his fingers and swinging his feet outside. “Four or five years ago, when he was just a tiny tot, his mother abandoned him outside town. No one looked after him.”

“He’s an Alpha, isn’t he? Aren’t there child protection agencies to take him in?” Xie Xu, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke.

“Even the Emperor of Heaven couldn’t manage this place,” Auntie Zhang scoffed. “Otherwise, why would Guan Qing’s mother back then…”

She glanced at Guan Qing, then stopped speaking.

“Auntie Zhang.” Guan Qing walked over to a photo frame—inside were two women. One had a gentle appearance, while the other had high-set eyes and bright red nail polish, a strikingly beautiful face. They were both holding a child, smiling happily at the camera.

“No, it should be… Godmother.”

Guan Qing’s hand brushed the photo album, and he suddenly remembered something from long ago.

‘Your Auntie Zhang is just a bit fierce, but she’s a very good person… Silly child, she’s your godmother. Back then, when your mother had no milk, she went door-to-door, finding ewes that had just given birth to feed you. She offended countless people doing so.’

‘But she’s so fierce!’ Little Guan Qing clenched his fists, ignoring his mother, and ran out, colliding with someone.

‘Guan Qing, why are you running around again?’ Auntie Zhang glared at him, her brows furrowed.

‘Waaah—’ The little boy cried, running into his mother’s arms, trembling uncontrollably. ‘Scared, ghost lady…’

‘You thoughtless child!!’ Mama Guan was furious, raising her palm but unable to bring herself to strike him.

It was Auntie Zhang who sighed first, interjecting, ‘If he doesn’t want to, then he doesn’t want to.’

‘No, you’re alone. In the future, he’ll have to take care of you in your old age and see you off…’

****

The old woman froze, watching him, her eyes slowly reddening.

“Godmother, I’m sorry.”

Guan Qing looked at her, then suddenly knelt before her.

“You child—” Auntie Zhang, tears streaming down her face, helped him up. “Get up quickly, I’ve never blamed you.”

Guan Qing pressed his lips together, shaking his head.

How could he have ever thought his childhood contained no beautiful memories?

The entire plate of meat that appeared unexpectedly on New Year’s Eve, the new clothes and small gifts every festival, the extra sum of money that appeared when he went to college…

He had been loved all along.

It was a peculiar feeling—like a dark, silent film in his memory suddenly gaining a hint of color.

Though only a mere touch, it was already enough.

Auntie Zhang, still weeping, helped Guan Qing to his feet. Meanwhile, Xie Xu stood up and bowed deeply to Auntie Zhang.

“You, what are you doing?” Auntie Zhang asked.

“Thank you for taking care of Guan Qing,” Xie Xu said softly.

“Get up quickly,” Auntie Zhang went to help him again, then asked Guan Qing, “And who is this?”

Guan Qing looked at her, his peripheral vision catching Xie Xu looking their way too. He paused, then said, “A male… client.”

“Boyfriend, you mean,” Auntie Zhang said, playfully tapping him with a palm-leaf fan. “What’s there to be embarrassed about? Auntie Zhang isn’t that old-fashioned.”

“He really isn’t,” Guan Qing mumbled, a little embarrassed.

Xie Xu also chimed in, saying, “Auntie, he isn’t, currently.”

‘Currently’…

Guan Qing shot him a glance. Xie Xu’s expression was utterly serious, even looking at him and winking, as if to say, ‘Is something wrong?’

After much fuss, the three finally settled down. Xie Xu suddenly spoke:

“Auntie, would you like to live in the city? With us?”

Guan Qing was somewhat surprised.

Xie Xu had actually said everything he wanted to say, preempting him.

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