Chapter 77#
Chapter 77#
Qiao Nanqi took a moment to compose himself.
To hide his expression, he kept his head down and remained silent.
After a long while, he asked, “Did you say anything else?”
Xiao Wu had clearly noted the time Qiao Nanqi had hung up the phone, knowing he had missed the subsequent conversation. He immediately replied, “Nothing else was said. He’s quite familiar with people and just chatted about random things with me.”
“He only mentioned one thing related to Mr. Zhao: that Mr. Zhao seems to really like tomorrow’s street parade and said a long time ago that he wanted to go see it.”
Then perhaps he could catch a glimpse of him tomorrow night.
“I’ll come myself tomorrow,” he told Xiao Wu. “You can still make it back to Yang City for New Year’s if you leave now.”
Xiao Wu was flattered. “I already told my family I’d be working overtime and wouldn’t be coming home for New Year’s.”
Young Master Qiao, who had never cared for holidays, surprisingly said this time, “Go back. It’s not a good feeling to be alone during family reunions.”
“Thank… thank you, Master…”
A day passed in the blink of an eye, and New Year’s Eve arrived swiftly.
Zhao Rong and the others had already prepared the New Year’s goods. In the afternoon, a group gathered at Zhao Rong’s house and began preparations. Zhao Ming was in good spirits today, and Zhao Rong had picked her up from the nursing home early.
Everything went smoothly—except Xu Xin and his wife absolutely refused to let Zhao Rong do any work.
Zhao Rong tried to enter the kitchen four times and failed, finally giving up in exasperation. He sat in the living room with Zhao Ming, watching variety shows.
As night fell, he took Liang Youjun, who wanted to play, out to the streets to watch the parade—they had agreed on this earlier.
Liang Youjun slung an arm over his shoulder and offered him a fruit candy. “Want a candy?”
Zhao Rong didn’t like sweets. Although he took it, he didn’t eat it, simply tossing it into his pocket.
“Isn’t this lively?”
“It’s alright. Many people are probably eating at home. This isn’t the liveliest; there might be more people during the Lantern Festival.”
The main road was already decorated with lanterns and bustling with noise. Besides the parade, there were all sorts of stalls and vendors.
Zhao Rong was already very familiar with these things from his previous life, so he didn’t find them novel, only nostalgic.
But it was Liang Youjun’s first time seeing them. He bought something whenever he saw anything new and stopped to queue for a snack he hadn’t tried before.
Zhao Rong stopped waiting for him too many times and eventually gave up, walking leisurely on his own. Anyway, Liang Youjun would quickly catch up after buying something.
As he strolled along, he saw a teenage girl ahead of him, holding a large bunch of balloons, approach him and ask if he wanted to buy one.
He didn’t play with such childish things and shook his head, refusing. He then casually looked at the nearby stalls.
Not long after, the girl returned from the other side, completely forgetting she had already asked him, and asked again, “Big brother, do you want to buy a balloon?”
Zhao Rong glanced at her and noticed that none of the balloons in her hand seemed to be missing.
In the middle of winter, and a teenager at that, she had walked back and forth, yet hadn’t sold a single one. How long had she been wandering around here?
He swallowed his refusal, took a few unsold balloons from the girl’s hand, and asked, “How much?”
The little girl quoted him a number, neither more nor less, the same price as balloons sold by others.
“Okay,” he said, “I’ll give you the money now.”
Zhao Rong first looked at the bunch of balloons in his hand.
He hadn’t taken many, just three or four, and their colors were mostly blue and light-colored, appearing more elegant than the bright reds and purples sold by many vendors on the street.
But if one looked closely at the balloons, they would see that each one was printed with “Happy Birthday” and some cartoon patterns.
These weren’t New Year’s balloons.
No wonder their colors were so different from the others.
He paused.
“Did you blow these balloons yourself?”
The little girl shook her head.
It seemed they were given by her parents.
Families that needed their children to earn pocket money like this were often not well-off, and the parents might not be literate, perhaps having been misled by a wholesaler when they bought them.
The remaining ones might not sell even if she walked the streets all night.
He looked at all the balloons in the little girl’s hand again. “Sell them all to me.”
Without waiting for her reply, he reached out, grabbed the balloon strings, and took them into his hand.
In an instant, he held a dozen light-colored balloons printed with “Happy Birthday,” standing out conspicuously in the New Year’s crowd.
Zhao Rong tied the ends of the balloon strings to his wrist and found some change in his wallet—he didn’t give too much; too much money on a little girl would only bring potential danger.
The little girl took the change he gave her, her big eyes blinking as she looked at him. Just as she was about to say thank you, Zhao Rong handed her the only candy left in his pocket.
“Thank you, big brother! Happy New Year, big brother!”
“Happy New Year to you too. But these aren’t New Year’s balloons, they’re birthday balloons,” he said with a smile. “Don’t buy the wrong ones next time.”
The little girl rolled her eyes and said in a clear voice, “Then I wish big brother a happy birthday!”
With that, the little girl, clutching her money and candy, skipped away.
Zhao Rong, however, stood rooted to the spot, a hint of surprise on his face.
—Happy Birthday.
Amidst all the “Happy New Year” and “Happy New Year’s Eve” greetings, he had actually received the only “Happy Birthday.”
On New Year’s Eve.
He thought he would never hear anyone wish him “Happy Birthday” on this day again in his life.
In his previous life, Zhao Rong was found in an alley on New Year’s Eve, so New Year’s Eve was set as his birthday.
Until his death from a terminal illness, his previous birthdays were spent vaguely, eating a slice of cake along with other children at the orphanage during New Year’s Eve.
But the Zhao Rong in “The Return Journey” was not born on New Year’s Eve.
Although Zhao Ming’s memory had worsened over the years, twenty-something years ago, Zhao Ming’s health wasn’t as bad, and she remembered older events more clearly. She naturally always remembered “Zhao Rong’s” birthday.
Even if they celebrated his birthday, it was the one recorded in his current file. When he transmigrated, although the original “Zhao Rong” at nine years old had already died, he had taken on “Zhao Rong’s” circumstances and did not change this birthday. When asked, he always gave the birthday on the official records.
Others naturally couldn’t know that his actual birthday was on New Year’s Eve.
The moment he heard “Happy Birthday,” the moment he heard those words on the streets of his hometown, he felt a hazy sense that nothing had changed over the years.
It was as if this blessing had broken through the passage of time, leaving a cluster of illusory flowers flowing in his heart.
The little girl seemed to have said this playful blessing simply because the balloons were bought incorrectly.
Was it such a coincidence?
Only last year had he asked Sister Li to make him longevity noodles, and he had never told anyone else about the special significance of New Year’s Eve.
Perhaps it really was a coincidence.
A coincidence that brought him a surprise on New Year’s Eve.
Those four light words, to him, were heavier than a thousand pieces of gold.
Zhao Rong looked at the words on the balloons again.
Like a childish boy, he shook his wrist, watching the balloons sway in mid-air, pulled by his movement.
So lively.
Warmth gradually spread through Zhao Rong’s heart.
He wasn’t actually a lucky person.
On the contrary, whether in his previous life or during his time in Yang City after transmigrating, he had rarely encountered good fortune.
His only two strokes of luck were when Zhao Ming fell seriously ill at fourteen, and he, out of the blue, called Qiao Nanqi, who was God knows where, and actually saved Zhao Ming’s life.
The other was the inheritance left to him by Old Madam Chen, which, after so many years, still reached his hands.
Apart from that, he usually encountered more trouble and bad luck. Many things required him to work many times harder than others to achieve. So, when he first got into a stalemate with Zhou Yueqing, he wasn’t even surprised, because he was already used to it.
But after coming to Zhuxi, his luck seemed to have improved.
He had his own home, could slowly invest, open a leisurely and elegant bookstore, and had people like Xu Xin and Liang Youjun accompanying him.
Zhao Ming’s illness was also being treated by the best medical team in the area.
And just now, he had received a coincidental “Happy Birthday.”
“Bang—”
Fireworks exploded in the distance, suddenly blooming into a vast expanse of vibrant colors in the sky, bright and dazzling.
Someone held a sparkler, waving it as they walked, illuminating the night along with the streetlights. All around were bustling vendors and performing troupes, a kaleidoscope of light and color.
Liang Youjun, having finished buying his snack, was gnawing on it as he approached. “Boss, what are you smiling about?”
Zhao Rong tilted his head.
“Smiling because the fireworks are beautiful,” he said.
“Oh,” Liang Youjun nodded. “They are beautiful. Want some?”
“It’s spicy. My stomach isn’t good, so no thanks.”
“Where did these balloons come from?”
“I bought them.”
“Why buy birthday balloons? Whose birthday is it? Were you scammed?”
“…”
Zhao Rong didn’t answer.
He received a call from Xu Xin urging them to come back for dinner. He grabbed the large bunch of balloons and walked back with Liang Youjun.
Meanwhile.
The little girl ran to an alley entrance.
Qiao Nanqi was waiting for her there. Seeing that her hands were empty of balloons, he asked, “He took them all?”
The girl nodded, opening her palm to reveal a few banknotes and a candy. She smiled and said, “The big brother gave them to me!”
Qiao Nanqi lowered his head.
He placed the Barbie doll he had bought earlier into the little girl’s hand, didn’t take the banknotes, but picked up the candy.
That ordinary fruit candy.
He said, “Thank you.”
The little girl was already completely oblivious to verbal thanks. Hugging the pocket money she earned from her “errand” and the Barbie doll, she ran off to play with her friends. [1]
Qiao Nanqi stood at the alley entrance, head bowed, looking at the fruit candy in his palm.
He had never seen candy on Zhao Rong, especially not this kind. It was likely not Zhao Rong’s own.
When he had seen Zhao Rong from afar earlier, Zhao Rong was walking with that young man wearing glasses, and the young man was even clinging to Zhao Rong’s shoulder…
Was it that person who gave it to Zhao Rong?
But it was something Zhao Rong had handled, after all. Qiao Nanqi held it in his hand, wanting to grip it tightly, yet afraid the warmth of his palm would melt the candy. So he held it open in his palm, yet feared it would be knocked away and lost.
At this moment, if he walked onto the street, he might run into Zhao Rong, so he didn’t move. He just lowered his head, looking at the candy for a long time.
Only after the performing troupes had all left and the street vendors outside began to pack up did he walk out, heading in the direction of Zhao Rong’s house.
Zhao Rong’s residence was originally in the city center, with the bookstore and school nearby. The main road was just a few streets away.
He arrived not long after walking.
Only one of the small, adjoining Western-style houses was lit up; the others were dark, clearly indicating that everyone inside had gone to the lit one.
He was afraid of being seen, so he didn’t dare to get too close. He could only vaguely see many figures coming and going through the light filtering from the windows.
He found a bench in a corner nearby and sat down.
He could only, in this way, pretend to spend New Year’s with Zhao Rong.
Inside Zhao Rong’s house.
Zhao Rong had just taken a bite of the dish made by Xu Xin’s wife and exclaimed, “Sister-in-law is amazing! Is this the first time you’ve made it following a recipe? It tastes almost like the local flavor.”
“Little Zhao, you’re exaggerating,” Xu Xin’s wife said, smiling shyly. “You talk as if you know what the local flavor is like. We’ve only been here a few days, haven’t we?”
Zhao Rong’s gaze shifted, and he remained silent.
Liang Youjun poured a beer. “Come on, let’s toast. Happy New Year!”
Zhao Rong consciously poured himself some juice. He served soup to Zhao Ming and said, “Mom, do you want this?”
“Yes, please,” Zhao Ming said, her eyes curving into a smile as she looked at him. “Xiao Rong, where’s your partner? Not celebrating New Year’s with us?”
Zhao Rong’s movements paused. The others also felt a little guilty for a moment, and no one spoke.
After a moment, he said, “Busy.”
“Why isn’t he spending New Year’s with you?”
“He’ll be back tomorrow.”
Zhao Ming finally relaxed.
She said, “That’s good. Otherwise, waking up alone every morning would be so lonely.”
On the round table, plates of food steamed, and the air was filled with enticing aromas.
The birthday balloons Zhao Rong had brought back had completely spread out, floating in various corners of the room, touching the ceiling, decorating the house.
Outside, fireworks continued to “bang—” “bang—” “bang—” one after another, illuminating the sky as if it were daytime.
Zhao Rong lowered his head, concealing the complexity on his face. When he looked up again, a smile had already appeared.
He raised his glass and clinked it with the others.
Outside the house.
Qiao Nanqi watched from afar, sitting alone, with not even a passerby in sight.
He slowly peeled the wrapper off the candy and finally put the fruit candy he had gotten from Zhao Rong into his mouth.
The candy melted in his mouth, bringing a rare taste of sweetness in these days.
Yet, for some reason, he felt as if he was tasting bitterness.
Qiao Nanqi’s phone vibrated incessantly, flooded with New Year’s greetings.
It was always like this every year, but he had never paid attention.
Qiao Anqing had been gone for so many years, He Nan was still in the mental hospital, and other aunts and uncles were not close. His only cousin of the same generation used to live abroad, and he felt no familial connection with him.
He had no family, so he had never felt any New Year’s spirit.
It was even better to visit Qiao Anqing’s grave on Qingming Festival every year.
This year was no different.
But Zhao Rong must be celebrating New Year’s with others, right?
The lights in all the windows of that house were on, and from the figures moving inside, there must have been at least four or five people, enough to make it lively.
It must be very noisy.
All the other houses were brightly lit, too. Only he sat in the darkness, with only this cheap fruit candy in his mouth.
Author’s note:
[1] The little girl’s role is for the plot of the novel and has some artistic embellishment. In real life, encountering strangers who ask you to do things in an alley carries a higher risk of encountering human traffickers than encountering Qiao Nanqi. Please remain vigilant.