The Missing Piece: 貌合神离
Extra Story 10: New Year's Eve
The busiest time of the year was always Chunyun (see note viii). Ji Mingxuan, Shen Mo and Ji Ning were travelling together by train during the Lunar New Year rush.
Ji Ning had just started kindergarten; children this age were the most energetic. He usually travelled by plane or car, but this was his first time going on a train.
Everything he saw seemed novel to him. Unable to sit still, he kept trying to squeeze into the crowd, wanting to explore the other compartments.
Afraid of him getting lost, Shen Mo had to follow closely behind him. Even on the winter day, sweat formed over Shen Mo’s body.
In the end, it was Ji Mingxuan who said, “Ji Ning, come back.”
Ji Ning could only come back reluctantly.
Ji Mingxuan patted the seat next to him.
“Sit here.”
Ji Ning jumped onto the seat and obediently crossed his legs, resting his hands on his knees. Ji Mingxuan gave Ji Ning’s head a rub.
“Good boy. Take a look at the view out of the window.”
Outside, scenes of Southern China’s creek towns were flying past. Apart from the expansive paddy fields, one or two dainty Western-style houses could also be seen at times.
But Ji Ning couldn’t sit still. After looking out for just a short while, he began to wriggle in his seat again. Turning around, he asked, “Daddy, how much longer until we get there?”
Ji Mingxuan glanced at his watch and replied, “About half an hour.”
“Yay!” Ji Ning cheered.
However, Shen Mo had a completely different expression. He mumbled, “So soon?”
Somewhat amused, Ji Mingxuan gazed at Shen Mo and asked, “What’s wrong? Feeling a little nervous?”
“... No.”
Despite what he said, Shen Mo unconsciously tapped his finger on the table.
The destination of their trip was Shen Mo’s hometown, a scenic town in Southern China.
Back then, because of Zhou Yang, Shen Mo had fallen out with his family and hadn’t gone home in years. Only after he began to raise Ji Ning alongside Ji Mingxuan did he truly come to understand the difficulties of raising a child, and he had been trying to mend his relationship with his parents. Unfortunately, though, he hadn’t made much progress.
Once Ji Mingxuan found out about this, he bought train tickets to Shen Mo’s hometown without telling Shen Mo. It wasn’t until New Year’s Eve that he dragged Shen Mo onto the train. Shen Mo hadn’t prepared anything; even his luggage had been packed last minute, so of course he was nervous now.
“What are you worried about? That your parents might kick you out?”
“It’s definitely possible.”
“If worse comes to worst, we can book a hotel. No matter what, we won’t be out on the street.”
Shen Mo forced a smile.
Ji Mingxuan reassured him, “Don’t worry. I made sure to bring the secret weapon this time.”
“What secret weapon?”
Ji Mingxuan pointed at Ji Ning, sitting next to him.
With a pair of wide, innocent eyes, Ji Ning smiled sweetly.
Shen Mo asked, perplexed, “Xiao-Ning?”
Ji Mingxuan nodded and turned to Ji Ning.
“Do you remember what Daddy taught you?”
“Yes!”
“What do you call Uncle’s parents?”
“Grandpa and Grandma.”
“What else do you do?”
“Say ‘happy New Year’ and ‘wishing you prosperity’ and…” Ji Ning got stuck.
Thinking hard, he managed after a few moments, “Give me red packets, please!”
Ji Mingxuan cleared his throat, reminding Ji Ning, “Not the last one.”
“Okay.” Ji Ning pouted, looking somewhat disappointed. “Fine, then.”
The father-son duo was finally able to amuse Shen Mo. He didn’t know whether the “secret weapon” would work, but he himself felt much more relaxed.
The half hour passed quickly, and the train arrived soon. Ji Ning’s excitement surged again. Putting on his backpack, he skipped out of the station.
It was already New Year’s Eve, so not many pedestrians were walking in the street. It took the three of them quite some time to get a taxi. They then headed toward Shen Mo’s parents’ house.
Shen Mo’s parents lived in an old-style compound. The exterior walls of its residential buildings were already mottled.
Shen Mo stepped into the corridor and climbed the narrow stairs. At last, he paused in front of a door on the third floor.
Looking at the place where he had grown up, Shen Mo couldn’t take another step.
Ji Mingxuan walked to Shen Mo’s side and asked: “Why aren’t you knocking?”
“What if… they refuse to open the door?”
“You won’t know until you’ve knocked.”
“That’s right, Uncle.” Ji Ning also came up.
Holding Ji Mingxuan’s hand in one hand, he grabbed Shen Mo’s with his other.
“Hurry up and knock.”
Gazing at the two of them, Shen Mo finally smiled. He lifted his hand and knocked.
On New Year’s Eve, Shen Mo and his mother were making dumplings in the kitchen.
“... This friend of yours, he’s really considerate. For three whole months, he called Lao-Shen every night. Your dad’s such a stubborn person, and even he gave in and agreed to see him once.”
“And then what happened? How did he persuade my dad?”
“Your dad doesn’t have many hobbies. All he likes is to drink tea.” Mrs Shen pressed her lips together and smiled. “Your friend brought him some good tea.”
Shen Mo couldn’t help smiling either.
He knew it—when would Mr Ji ever do something he wasn’t confident in?
It turned out that Ji Mingxuan had already bribed his parents. Shen Mo had been so anxious throughout their entire journey, afraid he might be kicked out, but when the door opened, he found his parents had already finished preparing the reunion dinner and were waiting for him.
Remembering how touched he had felt at that moment, Shen Mo felt a little teary-eyed even now.
Ji Mingxuan was with Mr Shen in the living room, studying the tea set Ji Mingxuan had brought them. Ji Ning was watching TV, at times running over to the kitchen to ask, “Are the dumplings ready yet?”
He seemed desperately eager.
Mrs Shen grinned widely and answered, “Almost, almost. Just go outside and wait a little longer, Xiao-Ning.”
“Okay. Thank you, Grandma.”
Ji Ning was quite a sweet kid. The second he had come in, he’d called the elders “Grandpa” and “Grandma,” easily winning over their hearts.
Eating dumplings wasn’t actually a New Year’s tradition here in the South, but because Ji Ning had wanted to eat dumplings, Mrs Shen immediately pulled Shen Mo into the kitchen and had him make dumplings with her. Even Shen Mo, her actual son, felt a little jealous.
Once they finished making the dumplings, everyone gathered in the living room to watch the Spring Festival Gala, while Shen Mo went to tidy up his bedroom.
Shen Mo’s house had only two bedrooms and one living room, so it was a bit cramped with the three additional people, especially when it came to sleeping. After much discussion, they could only let Ji Ning sleep in the bigger room with Mr and Mrs Shen while Ji Mingxuan would sleep with Shen Mo in the smaller room.
As Shen Mo was making his bed, Ji Mingxuan knocked on the door. He walked in and asked, “You’re not finished yet?”
“No, the room is too small. It’s a little messy.”
“I’m fine as long as there’s a place to sleep at night. Don’t stress about it.”
Shen Mo still felt embarrassed. “Maybe… you should take Ji Ning and go spend the night in a hotel.”
“Ji Ning likes it here quite a lot.” Ji Mingxuan looked at Shen Mo. “I do too.”
“Mr Ji…”
“Besides, I’ve always wanted to see the place where you grew up.”
There were no chairs in the room, so Ji Mingxuan sat down on the edge of the bed, tilting his head as he watched Shen Mo make the bed.
Slowly folding the blanket, Shen Mo whispered, “Mr Ji, thank you.”
“For what?”
“You must’ve spent quite a lot of effort on my parents.”
Ji Mingxuan only smiled. “Just a few phone calls.”
He patted Shen Mo on the shoulder. “All right. Let’s go watch some TV.”
Shen Mo and Ji Mingxuan went back to the living room together. The whole family was huddled on the sofa, watching the Spring Festival Gala. Only when Ji Ning began to yawn did they retreat to their bedrooms to sleep.
Shen Mo’s bed was really a bit too small. With two full-grown men lying on top of it, it creaked with the slightest movement.
Of course, Shen Mo couldn’t fall asleep.
Staring at the ceiling, he said, “I wonder if Ji Ning is sleeping well.”
A while later, he said again, “Should I sleep on the floor instead?”
Hearing this, Ji Mingxuan couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s enough. Don’t bother.”
When he finished, he sat up on the bed.
This startled Shen Mo. “You’re not sleeping anymore?”
“It’s almost midnight. We should go set off some firecrackers.”
“Oh… right.”
Fireworks and firecrackers had long since been banned in large cities—Shen Mo had almost forgotten about such a custom.
Since Ji Mingxuan was heading out, Shen Mo got up too and put on some layers. The two didn’t wake up Mr and Mrs Shen, who were sleeping next door, and felt their way downstairs in the dark.
Outside, many people were already setting off firecrackers. Bursts and crackles sounded one after another. These days, the weather is still cold. Shen Mo stomped his feet, suddenly remembering something.
“We didn’t buy firecrackers, did we?”
“Don’t worry. I have it all ready.”
With astonishing familiarity, Ji Mingxuan brought a box of fireworks out of Shen Mo’s family’s garage.
Shen Mo originally wanted to ask Ji Mingxuan when the latter had prepared all this, but he thought better of it. Ji Mingxuan had already dealt with his dad behind his back, so what was there that Ji Mingxuan couldn’t do? A box of fireworks was a piece of cake to Ji Mingxuan.
Ji Mingxuan glanced at his watch: only two minutes until midnight. He asked Shen Mo,
“Do you remember that year, on New Year’s Eve, when I called you while I was abroad? You said you were spending New Year’s at your parents’ house, but I knew you were lying the moment I heard you.”
“Of course I remember.” Shen Mo could also recall that later on, Ji Mingxuan had even flown back looking for him.
“At the time, I thought”—the street lamps lit up Ji Mingxuan’s face, revealing the tinge of tenderness hidden deep within his eyes—“that one day, I was going to go back to your hometown with you on New Year’s Eve, and set off fireworks with you.”
Shen Mo felt his heart skip a beat. Right then, the clock struck midnight. Ji Mingxuan tossed a lighter toward Shen Mo.
“Let’s light it up together.”
Once the fuse was ignited, the blaze sprang up, bursting into brilliant colours in the night sky.
But the beautiful scene wasn’t what Ji Mingxuan looked at. He turned around, toward Shen Mo, and like many years ago, uttered in a low voice, “Shen Mo, happy New Year.”