Editor: Kitty
Before returning home, Luo Jian brought with him all the important things that he could. His weapons, his battle suit, and his task completion prize were all packed into a big backpack. Although he did not know whether his parents would let him in, it was still necessary to be well-prepared.
Then, with a big bag on his back, he took the bus home. About two hours later, he arrived at his destination, a small town. The town was remote and not prosperous, but it had a large population.
Luo Jian remembered that he was born in this small town. According to what his mother had told him, there was only one hospital in the town back then. If anyone was ill, they would head to the hospital to register there, so the wards were always full. Luo Jian was born there. Sometimes, when the hospital was overcrowded, there would be five or six pregnant women in the delivery room altogether, so the nurses were very busy. Luo Jian’s mother had given birth without medical attention, and Luo Jian was completely unattended to.
Luo Jian was not fussy or noisy. The process of giving birth to him was very smooth; he popped out of his mother’s stomach in an instant. Although he seemed to be very healthy at birth, when his family brought him home, he grew up with numerous illnesses. Although he often became sick, he also recovered from the illnesses very quickly. In a few days’ time, he would be able to scream, mess around, and run everywhere again.
Who did not want to play and was not curious when they were a child? Luo Jian also acted like this. He would draw strange graffiti on the wall, squat in the grass and dig earthworms, and fight with his friends. Luo Jian did not go to the kindergarten. His mother taught him to speak and read one word at a time. Later, he went to primary school. It was unknown when he met Ah Lan, who was in the same class. He found that he was not only classmates with Ah Lan, but they were also neighbours. Thus, their relationship got better. Day after day passed, and they grew up. They saw all kinds of things in the world together, until today.
Alone, Luo Jian thought about the past events in his life. He walked past a long road, took a public bus, and journeyed for about ten minutes before finally arriving at his former home, where he had grown up from a kid to an adult. However, Luo Jian had not returned here for many years.
It was a dilapidated residential building. He climbed the narrow stairwell to the second story, turned left, and arrived at the door to his house.
Similar to what it was like in the past, the door was stained with rust, and there were couplets and banners stuck on the doors. On the walls, someone had used a blank pen to write down some illegal advertisements, such as “Want accredits?: xxxxx,” etc. Stupidly, Luo Jian stood in front of the door for a long time. He took a deep breath, and when he was just about to reach for the door, there was a sound from the staircase behind him.
“Is…… Is that Ah Jian?”
Luo Jian shivered momentarily, turned his head to look behind him, and cried out with much difficulty, “Grandpa Wu.”
It was the old man who used to live above him. His children had left home to search for success. The old man used to have a wife, but she had passed away a few years ago. Now there was only the old man left. Luo Jian used to have a good relationship with this Grandpa Wu. Since the old man lived alone, there would always be some inconveniences. Luo Jian would go to Grandpa Wu’s house to help him clean the floor and sanitize his house when he had time, and Grandpa Wu would prepare some snacks for him as thanks.
The old man supported himself on his cane, shook his head, and sighed: “This lad, why did you wait until now to return? What have you been doing in the last few years?”
Luo Jian hesitated for a moment and decided to ask him, “Are my parents here?”
Grandpa Wu just sighed and shook his head: “You’re too late, too late.”
Luo Jian felt his heart turn cold for a long moment, and he immediately worried restlessly, “Too late? Did something happen to my family?”
“Nothing, nothing,” Grandpa Wu shook his head, “Your parents went to your uncle’s house to stay for two days. They had just left before you returned.”
“My uncle?” For a while, Luo Jian did not know whether to cry or laugh. He finally got up the courage to go home, but his parents were not here. He could only remain still and was at a loss for a long time. Next to him, Grandpa Wu seemed to understand what Luo Jian was thinking. He was very glad that Luo Jian had come back. He said with a smile, “Would you like to come to my house and sit for a while?”
“No…… I have something else to do… ” Luo Jian shook his head and refused, but then he asked Grandpa Wu uneasily, “Do you still live alone, old man?”
Grandpa Wu seemed to recall something that made him happy, and he smiled brightly. He said, “My son came to accompany me.”
“That’s good.” Luo Jian was relieved and said to Grandpa Wu, “I’ll make a trip to my uncle’s house, so I won’t stay to chat with you, then.”
Then, Luo Jian said goodbye to Grandpa Wu and thought about going to his uncle’s house. Luo Jian’s family had very few descendants. Almost all his elders died of illnesses or accidents. Apart from his parents, only Luo Jian’s uncle and his family were left in his family. Unfortunately, his uncle’s wife was also killed in a car accident. Their only son, Luo Jian’s cousin, had disappeared more than ten years ago. At the time, he was only 15 years old.
When his wife died and his son disappeared, his uncle was depressed for two years and did not get married again. Instead, he placed all his energy in his career and opened a shop. His uncle’s business was getting more and more popular and became a leader in the industry.
His uncle’s house was not far from here and was only two blocks away. Luo Jian strolled slowly with his head down and a big bag on his back. However, just as he was walking across the street, Luo Jian met something unexpected. He saw a man in a black hooded sweater and black jeans. He was tall, slender-looking, and had a big guitar bag on his back. He walked towards Luo Jian with his head down. Luo Jian could not see what the man looked like under his hood, but Luo Jian suddenly felt his heart race.
It was quite a strange phenomenon.
With a big bag on his back, Luo Jian stopped and turned back to look at the man who passed by. His back looked very familiar but also felt so foreign. Luo Jian glanced at his eyes, but the other party soon disappeared within the vast crowd. There was no appropriate reason for him to question the man, so he shook his head and thought that he probably imagined the familiarity of the man’s back.
When he got to his uncle’s house, Luo Jian hesitated for a long time before reaching out to knock on the door. He anxiously waited for a while. When the door opened, Luo Jian did not even dare to look up to see who opened it. For a long time, no one spoke. After a few moments, Luo Jian suddenly felt a big hand press on his head and rubbed it twice. Then, he heard someone loudly holler, “Old fogey! Your son is back!”
In response, Luo Jian pursed his lips, raised his head, and called out to his mother.
Luo Jian’s father, Luo YuCheng, was a soldier in his youth, but he retired from the army after a few years due to an injury. Luo Jian’s mother, Ning Xia, used to study traditional Chinese medicine. However, her generation must have committed an evil since all her relatives passed away. There were no longer any descendents that she could pass down her family’s knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine to.
However, Luo Jian’s mother was a reasonable person and did not think her son’s homosexuality was bad. At most, she had been troubled over it for two days, accepted the situation suddenly, and moved on. She decided to let her son do whatever he liked. All was good as long as he was safe and happy.
But Luo Jian’s father did not think the same. He had raised Luo Jian from a young age with no apparent issues and thus could not figure out how his son became homosexual. Therefore, he firmly opposed it. He thought that as long as he found a girlfriend for his son, and as long as Luo Jian believed that men should be with women, all problems would be solved.
In those years, these issues caused Luo Jian’s family to argue so much that the house was almost turned upside down. However, Feng YuLan, this fool, was a young master who was too free, and he also came to take part in the argument. He insisted that he was Luo Jian’s lover, so the two families quarrelled and did not reconcile for a long time. Then, Luo Jian and Ah Lan acted like lunatics and left home. Of course, in the eyes of their parents, what they did was “elope.”
Luo Jian also asked Feng Yulan why he wanted to “elope” with him. Ah Lan was extremely optimistic regarding the issue and said, “You’re my good brother. Naturally, I should stay with you.”
But Luo Jian obviously did not believe such a perfunctory reason. Under Luo Jian’s endless questions, Ah Lan said the truth with a bitter smile: My parents wanted to force me to marry a girl I did not know. I did not want to marry, so I left with you.
Some issues were complicated at the start but ended simply.
Four or five years later, when he saw his parents again, no one mentioned that day again. Luo Jian’s mother scanned Luo Jian’s body, frowned, and said, “Son, why have you become thinner?”
“I didn’t become thin. This is called having muscles!”
“Where are the muscles? Why can’t I see them?”
“Of course you can’t see it because it’s blocked by my clothes.” Luo Jian took his mother’s hand and thought that his old parents had more wrinkles and white hair now. Time and tide wait for no man. They would send one into old age in an instant. The lost years could never be returned. It had been many years since he last saw his parents, and he could not help but burst into tears when he thought of it. He only blamed himself for being too stupid and stubborn. Why did he not come back earlier to see his parents?
“This lad, at long last, you remembered to come back.” Luo Jian’s father pulled a long face but had a gentle tone. He came to rub Luo Jian’s head and said with a wry smile, “The child has grown up and doesn’t heed our words.”
Luo Jian was speechless and could only lower his head. Fortunately, his father did not badger him. After that, he pulled Luo Jian into the house. His parents surrounded him and sat down. Seeing that they planned to interrogate him about what he had done for the past few years, he was also ready to answer all their questions. However, he did not expect that his mother would ask such a question as soon as she opened her mouth.
“Luo Jian, how are you and Ah Lan doing?”
Luo Jian was embarrassed for a moment, considered for a long time, and said with a wry smile: “Dad, mom, Ah Lan, he…… We’re not in that kind of relationship.”
Luo Jian’s parents looked at each other and seemed to realize that their son was embarrassed by the topic, so they did not continue to pry but started to ask other questions intermittently, such as: How was he doing? Did he have enough money to spend? What kind of friends had he made? What did he want to do?, and so on and so forth. They asked these sort of trivial questions.
Their conversation seemed to carry on forever. When it was time for supper, his uncle returned. When he entered the door, he seemed to be stunned. He turned to look at his father and asked, “Ah Jian is back?”
Luo Jian’s father shook his head helplessly. “This lad couldn’t support himself outside and came back crying for his mother.”
Luo Jian’s uncle, Luo JinCheng, was the eldest brother of Luo Jian’s father. It was said that he had done something illegal in the past and spent a year or two in prison, but his parents did not tell him the whole story. Now, the old man was just an ordinary, honest man who lived a life where he only traveled to two places: his workplace and his home.
After having dinner at his uncle’s house, Luo Jian asked his parents why they had come to live in his uncle’s house. When he mentioned this, his father’s face suddenly turned blue, and he said, “It’s an odd issue to speak of.”
“Odd?” Luo Jian was curious. “Tell me. Maybe I can help to solve it.”
“Someone seems to have been watching your uncle recently.”
“Ah?” Luo Jian was a little surprised and said, confused, “Uncle shouldn’t have caused any trouble outside! Why would he be watched?”
“I don’t know if it can be considered ‘being watched,” his uncle interjected at this time. With a frown, he said, “It’s just that recently, it felt like I was being watched by someone. When walking on the street, I feel that someone is always staring at me, and it makes me feel strange and uncomfortable.”
Kitty: If any of you guys are involved in/in areas affected by the racial unrest and protests going on recently, please make sure you stay safe! Things are getting dangerous out there.
T/N: If Ah Jian & Ah Lan were together, who do you guys think would be the gong & the shou? And yes, like what Kitty said, please stay safe everyone!