Life was great for Lin Miao. Her thoughts were simple, after all, she used to live in the mountains and had few friends at her school. She didn’t have many complex relationships with the people at the Yu family, either.
So, Lin Miao’s sadness caused by being separated from the Young Master soon dissipated.
Lin Miao’s father returned home before dinner.
Lin Miao’s mother peeked out of the kitchen, “What happened at the construction site?”
“A worker got in a fight with his wife. The other workers weren’t able to stop them so they called me in case accidents happen.” Since there were two children beside them, the father didn’t say any more.
Whatever. He returned, so it must be alright, Lin Miao’s mother thought.
Lin Miao and her younger brother helped bring the dishes onto the table.
It was an exceptional meal for Lin Miao: the table was full of dishes she loved, and she didn’t have to care about dining etiquette.
At night, Lin Miao’s mother went to sleep with Lin Miao.
She had often shared a bed with her mother at the village. She only had her own bedroom when she was working; it was hard to get used to at first.
Lin Miao enthusiastically told her mother how the Young Master taught her English and Chinese.
Lin Miao’s mother listened and knew that she took the Young Master as a real older brother, like how the Young Master was sincerely kind to Lin Miao. She patted her head, “I’ll bring you to the city to visit your Gege in the future.”
She didn’t know when this future would be.
Lin Miao soon fell asleep in her mother’s arms. She had a sound night free of nightmares.
It wasn’t just her who didn’t have any nightmares, her mother was the same. It was her first peaceful night in ages.
Lin Miao’s house was on the third floor. They were in an old neighbourhood without elevators so there were quite a few neighbours. Since they were very close to the school, there were many other families with children renting houses with the same goal as Lin Miao’s parents. It was winter break, so all of the children were at home. The school nearby was an elementary school, so everyone was roughly Lin Miao’s age.
Lin Miao had become familiar with the other kids in only a few days.
Of course, Lin Miao was very busy so she couldn’t play with them all the time. Even though she was the youngest in the group, she was the only one who came back from the city, so they wanted to invite her to play badminton at the school. Lin Miao couldn’t go, not because she didn’t know how, but mainly because she was returning to the village in the New Year to worship her ancestors.
Her brother’s health wasn’t very good. He couldn’t walk far, so he would be staying at home.
Her brother was only 6, so her mother was staying to accompany her brother.
Lin Miao and her father returned to the village by themselves.
Lin Miao carried her candies with her. She promised her buddies, and she kept her promises.
Her dad soon took her backpack. He was also carrying everything they needed for their worshipping.
Lin Miao was breathing heavily as she walked on the familiar paths, but she was also very happy, it was her birthplace!
She used to walk on this path everyday!
They heard a dog barking before reaching the village gate.
And saw a majestic yellow dog and Lin Miao’s eyes lit up, “Weifeng!”
Weifeng dashed towards her and ran around her feet. Lin Miao pulled a bag of dog treats out of the backpack.
How could she have forgotten about Weifeng when she went shopping?
Then, Little Mei and Lin Miao’s other friends all ran outside, “Shuishui!”
“Little Mei! I’m back from work!” Lin Miao said as she hugged Little Mei.
“Shuishui, you’re finally back. Are you thirsty? Do you need water?” Little Mei asked, “Shuishui, you’ve gotten prettier, and taller!”
Lin Miao was pleased. She also felt that she had gotten a lot whiter.
This feeling only got stronger when she saw her old pictures in her house. She was skinnier and more tanned...
Shuishui’s father conversed with a few other adults beside her, and then called Shuishui, “Shuishui, we’re going up to the graves.”
Lin Miao finally remembered her candy and shared it with her friends. “I bought some candy for you. My mom said that I should keep studying because it’s too harsh to work outside…”
This was what the Young Master told her to say: that they shouldn’t drop out of school and concentrate on their studies because working outside was too demanding.
Even though she felt that it was more fun than hard, she still had to tell them that it was hard.
Then, they went to their ancestors' graves. The worship ceremony was pretty simple.
They first lit firecrackers, then burned some joss money, and finally ended it with prayers.
Right after they descended from the hill, she heard Little Mei call her, “Shuishui, someone’s calling you!”
Lin Miao was surprised, Why would anyone call me? And why would they know the village head’s number? Suddenly, it came to her mind who it might be.
She told the Young Master that they worshipped their ancestors every New Year.
Lin Miao hurried to the village head’s house and reached for the phone.
She picked up the receiver.
“Hello?” Lin Miao said.
A pretty voice came from the other side, “Shuishui.”
“Gege!” Lin Miao called the Young Master ecstatically. Even though she could guess that it was the Young Master, she was still excited hearing his voice, “Happy New Year, Gege!”
Hearing her joyful voice, the Young Master was able to make out that she was enjoying her current life a lot. She probably met her friends back at the village, too.
“Mm, Happy New Year to Shuishui too.” The Young Master said.
“Gege, my mom said that I could visit you once the next break comes.” Lin Miao said, “Gege, how are Dahuang, Feifei, and Jiajia? Oh, I also saw Weifeng, he looks so similar to Dahuang.”
The Young Master wasn’t as happy as Lin Miao, “I’m busy, let’s talk later.”
And then he hung up.
Lin Miao was stunned. She had so many things to tell the Young Master. She wanted to tell him that she missed him…
Lin Miao put the receiver down.
Lin Miao’s father was waiting outside.
“Shuishui, we have to go home.” Her father said.
Lin Miao nodded and said goodbye to her friends.
Her pomelo tree had grown many fruits this year, and Little Mei had left her a dozen pomelos. She couldn’t bring all of them back, so she only took five.
Back in their apartment, Lin Miao peeled the skin off of the pomelos and gave the fruit to the other children in her building, saving one for herself.
She was reluctant to open the last one.
Her brother wasn’t able to run and jump around due to his surgery. As a result, Lin Miao felt that he was way quieter, almost the polar opposite of what he was before.
Not only that, her brother also began to read at home. He was reading her books from her old school.
Lin Miao’s newfound friends asked her to play badminton with them at the school again. Lin Miao’s mother willingly agreed and purchased rackets and shuttlecocks for her.
Lin Miao wanted to bring her brother out, but he refused as he wanted to read. Lin Miao looked at him as if he was a total alien. He was only six but had already started burying himself with books in his room.
“Shuishui, it’s about time for you to meet up with them. Don’t come back too late.” Lin Miao’s mother was happy seeing her being able to make so many friends. At least she wouldn’t get bullied as easily in her new school.
The school that Lin Miao’s buddies were going to was Lin Miao’s new school. It was beneficial for her to familiarize herself with the building. Moreover, Lin Miao didn’t seem very happy after returning from the village. The mother thought that it might have been related to how she was separated again from her friends at the village.
After Lin Miao left, the mother went to see her son.
He was focused on his book.
The younger brother had attended kindergarten in the village but dropped out of school soon after due to his sickness.
He was the one who had changed the most for the past six months. He had virtually stopped whining after learning that his sister had gone to work at another home due to his sickness.
The mother soon returned to the kitchen. For the past half a year, she had been responsible for all of the workers’ meals. It was about time for her to cook and deliver their next meals.
Meanwhile, Lin Miao was heading to their school’s playground.
The school was still open despite it being the holidays.
They were originally a group of five. They only had four rackets before so they had to take turns to sit out.
But now that Lin Miao joined them, everyone could play at the same time. Lin Miao’s mother had bought Lin Miao two rackets. They played in pairs.
Lin Miao didn’t know how to play, so the eldest of the children, Meimei, volunteered as her partner to introduce her to the game.
Copying Meimei, Lin Miao tossed the birdie in the air and hit it with the racket.
She missed her first attempts but her confidence immediately built up after scoring a hit on the birdie.
She was the athletic type so she enjoyed it very much, becoming happier the more she played.
The games she played with the Young Master were mostly mind-based and calm.
Unlike this! Lin Miao was at an energetic age. She couldn’t tell herself to stop!
To the point that Meimei exhausted herself. “I can’t, I need a break, can someone substitute for me! Look at Shuishui, she could go on forever!”
Lin Miao couldn’t help but comment, “This is so fun!”
So, a person switched in to play with Lin Miao.
*
After a seven to eight-hour car trip, the Young Master, who had come to visit Lin Miao with the three dogs, saw her playing badminton with a bunch of other girls, their laughter filling the air.
The Young Master, who had been generous and never fussed much his entire life, suddenly felt so uncomfortable that he didn’t want to see her.
But Dahuang didn’t care. Seeing Lin Miao, it ran towards her with its two puppies who have fattened significantly.
Dahuang had also added much bulk to herself. She looked intimidating even when resting. Now that she was excitedly speeding towards the group of girls, she scared the hearts out of the other girls so much, knocking the colour out of their faces.
Lin Miao turned around, full of surprise. “Dahuang! Feifei! Jiajia!”
Dahuang rubbed herself repeatedly on Lin Miao.
Lin Miao patted and comforted the dog, “Dahuang, you’ve gotten so much fatter.”
But more importantly, “How did you get here? Where’s Gege?”