Chapter 420 - 416: Deep Thought

Chapter 420: Chapter 416: Deep Thought

"Hongyi? I can’t believe it’s really you. I was inside and thought I heard a familiar voice. Goodness, what brings you back all of a sudden?" Luo Hongyi’s voice hadn’t alerted his own family, but it did bring out Aunt Li from next door.

"Aunt, I got a telegram at my company saying my mom is critically ill." The expression on Luo Hongyi’s face was frantic. "There’s no one home right now. Is my mom still at the hospital? Do you know which one?"

"What? Your family sent you a telegram saying your mom is critically ill?" A look of astonishment appeared on Aunt Li’s face.

"That’s right, look."

Luo Hongyi immediately pulled out the telegram he was carrying, which he had deliberately crumpled, and handed it to her. Then, with a hint of confusion and hesitation, he asked, "Aunt? Is something wrong? Could it be—" The light in his eyes suddenly dimmed, his face a mask of utter despair. "Am I too late?"

"No, no, don’t let your imagination run wild. Your mom’s fine. She went with your dad to your future sister-in-law’s house to propose a marriage." Aunt Li was startled by Luo Hongyi’s expression and quickly waved her hands as she explained. She muttered to herself, ’Honestly, what kind of person curses themself like that, telling their own son they’re dying for no good reason?’

"She... she’s okay now? That’s great!" Luo Hongyi instantly relaxed, inwardly quite impressed with his own convincing performance.

"Hongyi... it’s not that your mom is okay now. It’s that I never saw her get sick at all. Although, she has been worried sick recently over that whole mess with your fourth brother." Aunt Li glanced at the telegram in her hand. It was crumpled, looking like it had been clutched and reread countless times by worried hands. She felt a pang of pity and decided to tell him the truth.

Truth be told, while her family and the Luo family were next-door neighbors—and it’s true that a good neighbor is better than a distant relative—their relationship could hardly be called good. She and Luo Hongyi’s mother frequently bickered over trivial matters. In fact, aside from Luo Hongyi, who always greeted her and her family politely, the rest of the Luo family, from the eldest to the youngest, would walk right past her and her household without so much as a glance.

This was also why, when she heard Luo Hongyi shouting outside, she knew no one from the Luo family would come out to answer. If it had been Luo Hongyi’s second sister visiting her family, tsk tsk, she wouldn’t have paid any mind even if the girl had shouted her lungs out.

"My fourth brother? What kind of trouble could he be in?" Luo Hongyi looked completely bewildered.

"Hongyi, you must be tired after rushing all this way. Your parents won’t be back so soon from their trip, and your eldest brother, sister-in-law, and nephew aren’t here either—I think they went to visit her family. Since you can’t get into your house anyway, why don’t you come over to my place for a drink of water and rest your feet? I can tell you all about it then. No need for us to keep standing here at the gate."

Aunt Li was more than willing to curry favor with Luo Hongyi. He was, after all, said to be a minor figure at his company who managed dozens of people, and was now the most successful person from their village. Firstly, she didn’t want to offend him. Secondly, she hoped she might be able to ask for his help at a critical moment. And thirdly, of course, she thought it would be a great way to annoy his mother, Tang Ermei. That was why Aunt Li was being particularly enthusiastic in her invitation to Luo Hongyi.

"Alright, Aunt. In that case, I won’t be polite. I was in such a hurry and so worried on the way here that I didn’t even think to drink any water. I really am a bit thirsty."

Luo Hongyi readily agreed. In his past life, no matter how tired or thirsty he was, he definitely would not have accepted. The most he could ever manage with Aunt Li, this neighbor who didn’t get along with his mother, was a strained politeness. How could he not see the petty calculations behind her goodwill?

"You didn’t even have time for a drink of water? Doesn’t that mean..." Overjoyed, Aunt Li pulled Luo Hongyi into her house. Her eyes swept over the old-fashioned mantle clock in the main room and saw that the time was ten past one. She now truly felt it was unfair to Luo Hongyi and sighed. "You sit tight. I’ll go boil some water for you."

"Aunt, don’t go to the trouble. The water here is good; it’s all sweet spring water we carry down from the mountains. You can just scoop a ladleful from the water vat for me to drink." Luo Hongyi quickly stopped her. "I’ve been drinking it like that at home since I was a kid."

"Nonsense. Look at the weather we’re having. It’s not freezing yet, but how can you drink cold water now?" Aunt Li smiled and shook her head. "Boiling water is quick, it’s no trouble at all."

"Then I’ll help you with the fire, Aunt?"

"Stay seated, stay seated. There’s no reason to make a guest do chores." Aunt Li quickly held Luo Hongyi back.

"Then I’ll have to trouble you, Aunt," Luo Hongyi said gratefully.

"It’s no trouble, just a simple thing." Aunt Li went to the kitchen as she spoke, and in no time at all, she came out with a large, steaming bowl of poached eggs and placed it in front of Luo Hongyi. His eyes swept over the bowl and saw at least five or six poached eggs bobbing inside. His eyes couldn’t help but redden. "Aunt, what is this?"

"Don’t be so formal with me. They’re just eggs from our own chickens; they’re not worth anything. Since you called me ’Aunt,’ I can’t be stingy, can I? You must have been scared stiff on your way here. I don’t even have to ask to know you probably rushed back without even stopping for lunch. If you wait for your parents and your brother’s family, they might not even be back by dark. Am I supposed to let you starve until then?"

Aunt Li felt a sense of injustice on Luo Hongyi’s behalf. He was their son, after all. Just because he worked out of town, they didn’t even give him a key to his own house? There were many things the Luo family did that were better left unsaid. Anyway, if it were her, she could never bring herself to treat such a successful child that way.

’No, even if her child wasn’t successful, she would never treat him badly. If you don’t cherish your own flesh and blood, who else will?’

She shook her head silently but didn’t say anything more. As the saying goes, an outsider shouldn’t meddle in family affairs. She didn’t want to anger Luo Hongyi by being too nosy. So, she just said sympathetically, "Our village is far from the county town, the roads are bad, and there’s no bus service. Even if you grabbed a bite in town, you’d surely be hungry again by the time you got back. My Shunzi can eat a whole bowl of poached eggs just like this every time he comes home. You can’t be a smaller eater than him, can you?"

"Thank you, Aunt. Then I won’t be polite." With her kindness laid out before him and the food already cooked, Luo Hongyi couldn’t bring himself to say anything ungrateful. He stopped being formal, lowered his head, and took a sip of the broth. It was sweet.

He was a little dazed. ’That’s right, even Aunt Li next door could figure that the road to our village is long and difficult, with no bus service, and that her son would be hungry when he got home. But why is it that in my past life, and in the early years of this one... in two whole lifetimes, when had my mother ever remembered to ask if I was thirsty or hungry after I traveled a great distance to get home? When had she ever asked, or even just gone straight to the kitchen without asking, to bring me a big bowl of poached eggs like this? It didn’t even have to be this many, and it didn’t need sugar. Just a simple, clear broth with one or two eggs would have been enough.’

’He recalled how every time he arrived home, if it wasn’t mealtime, he wouldn’t get anything to eat unless he specifically asked for it, regardless of whether he was hungry. Then he couldn’t help but think of the reception he got every time he visited the Zhang family these past few years. Every time, the first thing Nuannuan’s grandmother, or her grand-aunt, or his mother-in-law would ask upon seeing him was always, "Are you hungry? What would you like to eat?"’

He lowered his head. Many things he hadn’t given much thought to in the past now surfaced in his mind with particular clarity, forcing him to reflect deeply.