Xie An’yu followed the flow of people out of the subway station. He stopped by the roadside, head bowed, staring at the old-style mobile phone in his hand. His aunt had sent him his older cousin Wu Jie’s phone number, instructing him to call her once he arrived at the station, as the subway station was still some distance from her home.
Xie An’yu had only met his cousin a handful of times. Although they were relatives, without that connection, they were practically strangers. His relationship with all his relatives in this city, except for his aunt, was distant. He was too embarrassed to call and ask her to pick him up.
Xie An’yu stopped a passerby—he’d spoken more to strangers today than in the past month combined.
Xie An’yu mentioned the name of the residential area and asked if the person knew it, then inquired how far it was from here.
“Not far, probably about four or five kilometers. A taxi would get you there in seven or eight minutes.”
Five or six kilometers was indeed not far for Xie An’yu. He then braced himself and asked, “How do I walk there? Could you give me directions?”
The person blinked in surprise. “Huh? You’re going to walk? That’s quite a distance, and you’re carrying so much stuff.”
Adjusting his glasses, the passerby thought this guy was odd—planning to walk five or six kilometers was one thing, but if he planned to walk, why didn’t he just look it up on a map?
Xie An’yu was already accustomed to this kind of confusion in people’s eyes. He directly told the person, “I don’t have a smartphone.”
That single sentence explained everything. The person said ‘Oh, oh’ twice, pulled out their phone from their pocket: “Ah, it’s hard to describe verbally. I’ll just search on the map and show you.”
“Thank you.”
The passerby held the phone up to Xie An’yu, zooming in on the map with two fingers before glancing at the road ahead. “After the traffic light up ahead, turn left and walk about… two kilometers, then turn right and keep going straight.”
Xie An’yu studied the phone screen intently, silently memorizing the route.
“Can you remember it?”
Xie An’yu nodded. “Thank you for your help.”
The passerby habitually adjusted his glasses and smiled. “No problem.”
Not having a smartphone was incredibly inconvenient—that was Xie An’yu’s first realization after leaving Shuangye Isle.
Xie An’yu stopped by a nearby fruit stand to buy some apples and oranges. As he waited at the second traffic light, the ringtone ‘I Wish You Wealth’ suddenly blared from his phone. He held his bag in one hand and fished out the phone with the other, raising it to his ear.
A female voice came from the other end of the line: “Hello, Xie An’yu? This is Wu Jie.”
Xie An’yu took half a second to process, then said: “Cousin.”
“Where are you? Haven’t you gotten off the subway yet?”
Xie An’yu paused on the sidewalk, looking ahead. “I’m almost there.”
“Got it, I’ll be right over.”
“Cousin, you don’t need to pick me up. I’m nearly at your place.”
“Did you take a taxi?”
“I walked.”
“…Huh?”
“Mm, I’ll be there soon. I’ll hang up now.”
“Wait, you—” Wu Jie hesitated, “Where are you? Do you know the way?”
Xie An’yu glanced at the road sign and told her the street name.
“Got it,” Wu Jie said, then hung up.
Wu Jie hopped on her electric scooter to find him. Her cousin was easy to spot—the tallest guy on the sidewalk, with bags on his back and in his hands—clearly someone who had just come from the station.
Xie An’yu carried a bulky black tote bag, striding steadily through the crowd. He walked swiftly, his feet almost gliding over the ground. Despite the luggage, he moved with surprising ease.
Wu Jie sped up on her electric scooter and stopped at the intersection, swinging her leg to the side as she called out, “Xie An’yu!”
Xie An’yu looked up and saw the girl on the scooter beckon him over: “Put your stuff in the front, hop on.”
Xie An’yu hurried over and greeted her with a hesitant ‘Cousin’. He hesitated before getting on. “I can just walk the rest of the way. It’s not far.”
Wu Jie grabbed the bag from his hands and placed it at her feet, tightening her grip on the handlebars as she turned her head. “I came all the way to pick you up, and you still want to walk?”
In the end, Xie An’yu climbed onto the back seat. The small electric scooter struggled under the weight of two adults, especially since Xie An’yu was tall with long legs—his shoes nearly scraped the ground as he sat.
Xie An’yu’s backpack was stacked on top of the tote bag, completely blocking Wu Jie’s chest. With the bags in front and a person behind, the small electric scooter was bearing more than it should.
Wu Jie remarked casually, “You’ve gotten so tall.”
Xie An’yu let out an ‘Ah’, lifting his legs slightly as he held two bags of fruit in his hands.
Wu Jie glanced down at his awkwardly positioned legs, inexplicably wanting to laugh. “Good thing you’re not fat. Are you stupid? Carrying all that heavy stuff and still walking all this way? Didn’t my mom tell you to call me?”
The distance wasn’t much for Xie An’yu. Back on Shuangye Isle, he walked everywhere and rarely used transportation.
“It wasn’t that far. Walking was fine,” Xie An’yu said.
Wu Jie didn’t say anything else and drove the electric scooter home.
The neighborhood was an old residential area with low-rise buildings, the streets lined with parked electric scooters. Wu Jie found an empty spot, pushed the scooter in, locked it, and led Xie An’yu upstairs.
Only Wu Jie was home. She poured Xie An’yu a glass of water before retreating to her room, saying before closing the door, “Just wait here for a bit. My mom should be back soon.”
Xie An’yu was used to the spacious single-story houses on the island and this was his first time he entered an apartment unit. He felt the space was a bit cramped. The place showed its age—the paint in the corners of the walls had begun to peel. Xie An’yu set the fruit on the coffee table.
His uncle came home earlier than his aunt. When he entered the house and saw Xie An’yu standing in the living room, he paused in surprise.
“Uncle,” Xie An’yu greeted stiffly.
Wu Guosheng forced a smile. “Ah. You’ve grown so much—I almost didn’t recognize you.” He glanced at the apples and oranges on the coffee table. “Why do you still buy things? You’re too polite.”
“It’s the least I could do,” Xie An’yu replied.
Xie An’yu didn’t know what else to say. He wasn’t very good at dealing with such occasions and exchanging pleasantries with his elders, but like his cousin, his uncle didn’t say much to him either. After a few polite exchanges, his uncle took the groceries into the kitchen.
Xie An’yu wasn’t so oblivious that he couldn’t sense his uncle and cousin weren’t exactly welcoming his arrival.
After a long while, Xie An’yu finally saw his aunt.
Xie Li took off her coat as she entered and walked over to hug Xie An’yu. “You must be exhausted from the trip.”
“It was alright.”
His aunt’s appearance hadn’t changed much, though fine lines now framed her eyes. Her gaze was bright, and her palms were warm.
Xie Li grabbed Xie An’yu’s hand, studying him over and over, and smiled. “How did you grow so fast? A few years ago, when I saw you, you were just as tall as me. Now you’re so much taller.”
Wu Guosheng came out of the kitchen carrying a tray of food. “Let’s eat.” He turned and called toward Wu Jie’s bedroom, “Wu Jie, it’s time to eat.”
Xie An’yu asked Xie Li quietly, “Where’s little cousin?”
“She’s at school. She has evening self-study and won’t be back until later. Come, sit down and eat first. You can unpack your luggage afterward.”
The atmosphere at the dinner table was a bit awkward. Neither Wu Jie nor Wu Guosheng spoke much, and Xie An’yu was already a man of few words, so the room was almost entirely filled with Xie Li’s voice.
Wu Guosheng looked at Xie An’yu and asked, “Did you not receive any of the compensation money from the demolition?”
Xie An’yu nodded.
Wu Guosheng frowned. “How can that be? Didn’t the demolition office handle it properly? You should be able to report this kind of situation and get it resolved.”
Xie Li sighed. “You think it’s like it is here? Those old houses didn’t have property deeds to begin with, so no one could say for sure who it belonged to. If Xie Jianxing then went and bribed the officials to keep them quiet, do you think they’ll still side with An’yu?”
Wu Guosheng shook his head. “Your younger brother is really something.”
Wu Jie picked up her bowl and chopsticks and stood up. “I’m full.”
Xie Li said, “There are still some of Xiao Meng’s things in the room that haven’t been moved. You can take them to your room in a bit.”
Wu Jie gave a noncommittal hum.
After dinner, Xie Li led Xie An’yu into her younger daughter Wu Meng’s room. As soon as he stepped inside, Xie An’yu could tell something was off. Although the bedsheets had been changed to a more masculine style, it was still obvious that the room had belonged to a young girl—the bed was cream-colored, and the curtains still had lace trim.
Xie Li looked at Xie An’yu’s luggage and said, “You only brought this much stuff?”
Xie An’yu hummed. “Just a few clothes. I didn’t have much to begin with. Auntie, is this Xiao Meng’s room?”
“Yes. I had her move in with her sister. You’ll stay here.” Xie Li smiled. “It might be a bit small for you—you’re even taller than your father was. I’ve cleared out the wardrobe for you. You can just put your clothes and things in there.”
“Auntie, I can just sleep in the living room.”
“How would you sleep in the living room? The sofa’s too small—you wouldn’t even be able to stretch your legs.”
“I can sleep on the floor.”
Xie Li knew Xie An’yu didn’t want to trouble her, so she simply cut him off firmly. “If you sleep on the living room floor every day, what kind of household would we be? The living room wouldn’t be a living room, and the bedroom wouldn’t be a bedroom. Alright, just stay here and don’t think about such things.”
The effect was immediate—Xie An’yu instantly relented.
Xie An’yu opened his tote bag and took out the local specialties he had brought from Shuangye Isle: “These are things I brought for you.”
Xie Li was incredulous: “You only brought two bags, and this big one was stuffed with so many specialties?”
Xie An’yu rubbed his nose. “I didn’t have much else to bring.”
After his long journey, fatigue was evident on his face, and stubble had begun to shadow his jaw. Xie Li patted his shoulder. “Go take a shower and get some rest. It’s a bit late today. Tomorrow, Auntie will take you to the supermarket to buy some daily necessities.”
[dropdown title=”List of Idiom in Chapter 03.1″]
硬著頭皮 (yìng zhe tóu pí): to brace oneself to do something difficult or against one’s will; to put a bold face on it; to summon up courage; to force oneself to; pluck up courage; steel oneself; grit one’s teeth; tough it out; bite the bullet; to be forced to undertake things beyond one’s ability in a difficult situation.欲言又止 (yù yán yòu zhǐ): to want to say sth but then hesitate; start to speak, but then falter; hold back words which spring to one’s lips; want to say but stopped; describing unspeakable difficulties.
立竿見影 (lì gān jiàn yǐng): lit. to set up a pole and see its shadow (idiom); fig. instant effect; describes something that has immediate effect; set up/erect a pole and you see its shadow―get instant/quick results; produce an immediate effect.
難以置信 (nán yǐ zhì xìn): hard to believe; unbelievable; incredible; be difficult to believe.
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