Night 13 – Remember
Feng Mian turned the page to the picture album resting on her lap. There were various pictures of her and her sturdy father, bald for much of her life, and her slender mother with rather plain features. Neither of her parents were considered attractive, being mediocre in image and even tame personalities. They managed the inn quietly, doing their duties with calm and persistent manners. It was a very popular place for the children to be, as her parents doted on the town children, letting them go on the yearly berry picking trip or even teaching them various skills to later take care of themselves.
No matter what had happened during the children’s visits, they always had left with broad grins and chirping laughter. Some of them were even jealous of Feng Mian, wishing that they lived within the property of the inn. It always made Feng Mian a little uncomfortable, but Gang Cheng had always prevented those children from doing any mischief.
Feng Mian’s lips twisted up as she giggled, looking at a picture of the youthful Gang Cheng with dirt all over his face after getting into a fight with the then smaller Song Men. That evening Song Men, in his impish ways, had placed a bucket of worms on top of one of the branches above the bench Feng Mian had always sat on with Chen Suyin. His intentions were to get Chen Suyin dirty, to even see her cry with the end goal of comforting her. It was Gang Cheng who had gotten the bucket of worms on him, angering him enough to push Song Men to the ground and start punching him. With Song Men’s retaliation, the two were soon covered from head to toe in dirt, with a few bloody scrapes from various ground debris.
That night both were punished severely for their actions, leading to a temporary cold war between the two. It was only after two weeks, and Song Men gossiping about how gallantly Gang Cheng went forth to save the two girls from a catastrophe far greater in consequence than it really was, that the two had returned to being friends. The rumor in question had either never reached Gang Cheng’s ears, or the individual never cared about it as there wasn’t any reaction from him.
The thought of Gang Cheng really helping her, rather than Chen Suyin, from a wild dog had made her so embarrassed she almost cried on the spot. Of course, she believed he would do such a thing, but he never had, as she didn’t need that help. It was only the insinuation that Gang Cheng would assist her and not her best friend when she was in love with the former, had shocked her. She never thought he would like her back, and in her youth, she was quite upset about it.
It took her until she was in middle school to realize that just because she loved Gang Cheng, it didn’t mean he had to like her in return. She didn’t enjoy his standoffish attitude, or his unwillingness to spend time with her, but she respected his choices and worked harder to learn the crafts her father was passionate about and the home skills needed to manage the inn later in her life. Thinking of the past and her various lessons and long nights studying different manuals, she turned another page.
The pictures were bright and colorful, ones of her fixing vehicles or housing appliances, even ones where she is cooking food with her mother. Occasionally Gang Cheng would be in a picture, sometimes with him talking, other times with him quietly with a book next to Fang Mian under her favorite tree. She liked that they had used to read together, him studying horticulture and architecture while she learned other skills.
The best picture, in her opinion, was of the one where it was just Gang Cheng solely working on one of the gardens at the inn. He was on his knees, back hunched over, his hands gently cupping a sapling he’d just loosened from its plastic container. The new plants littered the ground in front of him, the transplant being fresh and new without having their soil shifted or the fertilizer added yet. He seemed so happy, less stoic than his usual.
Her index finger traced the picture, stopping at the sapling in his hands. His happiness faded once he’d left Madaoxi, once he’d met that woman. Her lips pursed angrily and she closed the album, placing it on the desk next to her recliner. Feng Mian pushed herself up from the chair, shuffling around her manager’s room which she’d turned into her bedroom. She had her small bed, her desk, and dresser, all made out of light Hongmu wood. She pulled out a small, worn mat, and sat down, crossing her legs and getting in a meditative stance. She had to calm down, stop thinking about Gang Cheng, she had to remember that he is his own person and that no matter how she wished, she cannot protect him and his happiness.
It was a dream of hers that he would be happy, but he’d just grown more depressed as time went on when he’d gone to Beijing. His smile disappeared unless he talked about Hui Yin, his wife had even forced him to wear a green hat. Her heart ached as it burned fiercely in disgust. If she ever met that public bus she would slap her and tell her that if she liked giving rides she should ask for tickets. Hmph, a righteous wife? A quiet woman? Not that Mo Chou. Grinding her teeth, Feng Mian tried her best to clear her head, yet it only accentuated her anger.
It was a lost cause, even after several minutes, so she put up her mat and climbed onto her bed to lie down. She wanted to be able to face Gang Cheng with a smile on her face. Even while she knew he had his own mischevious side, he’d grown out of it eventually and she wanted to prove that she had definitely grown in his absence since he’d always considered her a child. While she was ok in her head about not being acknowledged by Gang Cheng, she was in her heart, quite upset even after all these years.
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Gang Cheng had sobered up and his hangover had gone, thus he began putting his bags inside of the trunk of his car, making sure that the foodstuff had room in the back seat. Feng Mian was even kind enough to pack them inside of a cardboard box for easier transport. He observed Feng Mian who was smiling as cheerfully as ever and he swallowed heavily.
“Thank you.”
“No problem, you sure you’ll be alright in Song Men’s home? He has been ‘training‘ his son in bravery the past few years, so he’s placed various dummies around the house. I hear tales of that often from Xiao Huan, you know. How her brother had come home from school and would scream at 3am in the morning because Song Men placed one of the dummies in the shower with a fake knife. Ah, that was only once though. He got scolded by Suyin for that.”
“Eh? Really?”
Gang Cheng snorted in displeasure as Feng Mian giggled, glancing at him from the corner of her eyes.
“Yes, he was very drunk that night, admittedly, but after that point A’da didn’t trust him and even swore him off for a couple of months. He did end up paying for his affection though, bought A’da a new computer.”
“Serves him right, even I would have probably had a heart attack.”
“Oh my… well, let’s hope you don’t find one, hmm?”
“Let’s hope.”
Gang Cheng shrugged his shoulders, shuffled his feet and cleared his throat before climbing into his car.
“Thank you for the help again, Xiao Mian. I’ll be back in a week.”
“I’ll leave the room open for you. It will spend the week being serviced while you’re out.”
Both Feng Mian and Gang Cheng gave a short wave before they parted ways, the sound of the car fading from the inn’s premises.
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Gang Cheng opened the door with the key he’d been given, juggling his one day bag in one arm. He slipped inside, dropped it and rubbed his hands together.
“Ok, let’s figure out where the guest room is, I think he said it was on the second floor on the right, third room down.”
He talked to himself mostly to boost his morale. He didn’t like dummies much, and he didn’t want to run into one. He took a deep, ragged breath and returned to his car to carry in the food.
It had taken several minutes to find the kitchen and get the food placed inside, and thankfully there was enough space for it, and then to have some lunch. Chewing the shredded pork he pondered on what to do for the week.
He could read one of the books he’d brought, or he could go over one of the future proposals for work. He finished his meal and placed the dish in the sink to wash it. His hands busy and his mind floating and considering ideas, he realized he could just try exercising.
Reaching down with a soapy hand he grimaced, touching his stomach. He had to lose the bit of fat he has, thinking it wasn’t as attractive as he was in his youth. That was that, then, he was going to exercise through the week and forego too much food consumption. He wanted to get his body back into shape, maybe then he could confront Feng Mian and hold her close. It would be comfortable to spend time with her, though he supposed taking her to the city is not applicable and he wasn’t sure about living here again.
Gang Cheng concentrated on that thought, musing dating Feng Mian and the future of his health. He was distracted as he took his day bag up to the guest room, and thankfully the room had a metal frame bed and some chestnut furniture and a chair in the corner. It was rather well furnished for a guest room. He placed his bag on the dresser and picked out the tablet he’d stored inside.
He immediately navigated to a beginners website for stretching and exercising, wondering what kind of exercises were popular these days. He followed the instructions, pushing his palms against the wall to ‘plank’ his body vertically. It was 30 minutes of stretching, 10 sets of 5 squats and then a break. He didn’t want to exhaust himself just yet, so he sat in the chair, browsing his various social media.
As expected, Song Men had reached his destination safely and a picture of Song Men, Chen Suyi, Song Da and Song Huan appeared on his screen. The four looked very happy and Gang Cheng’s heart ached slightly. He was glad though, that Song Men seemed to be enjoying himself. He put away his tablet and closed his eyes, deciding to rest after his exercise.
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“I’m fine, mom. Yes, I can visit you tonight for dinner”
Gang Cheng sighed as he listened to his mother on the other side of his phone.
“No, I won’t take back any leftovers. I already have plenty, you’d made me enough food for the week.”
He reached for his watch, placing it on his wrist as he dressed himself to go to his mother’s. He had taken off his accessories in order to rest easier earlier. He didn’t really want to visit her already, but he was close to her and if he said no and concentrated on settling in she would have been quite upset.
Gang Cheng quickly got into his car and drove to his mother’s home early, just so he can cheer her up even more.
“Mother, I’m here.”
He called out, stepping into the house. Lu Mei, his mother was sitting on the love seat knitting and she stood quickly, placing her tools on her bed.
“Cheng’er! Oh!”
She shuffled over and held his face carefully in her hands, giving him a kiss on his cheeks and forehead as he bent down.
“You’re here early, didn’t we just get off the phone?”
“I wanted to see you, mother. I wouldn’t want to leave you waiting for me until later, that would be bad manners, wouldn’t it?”
“You’re too good, Cheng’er.”
Lu Mei wrapped her arms around her son, sniffling as he pat her back.
“You had better come visit me more! Spending all that time in the bar with Song Men, that rascal! He’s been keeping me updated on how you have been doing and he claims to have spent much of the week with you at the bar. You’d even passed out yesterday!”
His mother began to lightly berate him by slapping his shoulder and he grunted at each hit, pretending to be hurt by her soft smacks.
“Mother, I will come visit you, don’t worry. I haven’t been there every day, I just went three times this week, and only because he invited me! I might have passed out yesterday but that’s because I got too worked up and drank too much.”
“Then don’t get worked up, you silly boy. You’ve got to show me that you’ve grown up since college!”
“I didn’t pass out during college, that was Song Men who had to get carried home all the time, and that was in high school.”
“Don’t try and shift the blame. I know you drank a lot too, you and that Mo Chou drank a lot.”
“Yes, yes. Understood.”
Gang Cheng decided to relent to his mother’s whims and smiled sheepishly as she ranted until her face grew ripe and red.
“Watch your blood pressure, mother. I don’t want to have to remind you of what Old Man Ling had said.”
“Hmph, he doesn’t know everything. I’m only keeping my heart pumping, that’s all! After all, if I didn’t have you to fret over my heart wouldn’t pump at all.”
Feeling distressed, Gang Cheng began to wave his hands.
“Mother, please! Don’t speak like that. You would be fine without me, you’d managed without me after father’s death and–”
“Thanks to Feng Mian, she’s been like a daughter-in-law to me. Helping me keep the house clean whenever its winter, and even fixing my things, free of charge. I always pay her in food, though.”
“Mother…. don’t guilt me like this. I would have come to help you, but–”
“Your work and your wife and child, I know. Don’t worry, I don’t blame you for anything. Now, shall we get started on getting dinner prepared? I need to start soaking some meat.”
“What will you be making?”
“I’ve been desiring Peking Duck and I thought having you so close is good enough reason to celebrate and eat duck.”
“Mother, buying and eating all of this meat… your health.”
“It’s fine, now hush and come to the kitchen with me. You’re my best assistant.”
“What about Feng Mian?”
“I’m her assistant, you fool!”
His mother snapped as the two stepped into the kitchen to begin cooking.
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