Chapter 20: Home Truths

Jing Sicun was adjusting the car’s navigation, his fingertip gliding over the electronic screen.

He glanced at Ke Ni in mild surprise, “Are you sure?”

Ke Ni felt a little flustered.

She thought to herself, Didn’t I still owe Jing Sicun a meal of dumplings?

Well, I guess this counts as paying him back now.

Ke Ni looked straight ahead. “I’m sure!”

Jing Sicun chuckled softly.

“Let’s go, then.”

Ke Ni caught a glimpse of the destination Jing Sicun was entering and cleared her throat awkwardly.

“I actually know how to get to that address. No need for navigation.”

***

A dozen minutes later, Jing Sicun’s SUV pulled into a parking spot by the roadside.

Ke Ni got out of the car with Jing Sicun.

Her gaze passed over a few people gathered nearby to watch the commotion.

She saw a middle-aged aunt holding an elderly person’s hand, speaking face-to-face with a traffic officer.

It seemed the middle-aged aunt had scraped someone’s private car while pushing the wheelchair and was now discussing a solution with the other party.

Who were they to Jing Sicun?

And that elderly person…

The middle-aged aunt looked anxious, while the elderly woman in the wheelchair wore an odd, indifferent expression, as if none of it concerned her.

The old lady seemed impatient with the wait and tried to kick the aunt beside her.

The dust on her shoe left a gray smudge on the aunt’s trouser leg.

Ke Ni didn’t go over. She stood by the SUV, maintaining her distance, waiting for Jing Sicun.

Jing Sicun spoke with them briefly, then crouched down to dust off the aunt’s trouser leg and pushed the elderly woman in the wheelchair back.

Suddenly, the old lady in the wheelchair turned to Jing Sicun and asked, “Who are you?”

Ke Ni was baffled.

Jing Sicun replied, “Your grandson.”

“Who’s my grandson?”

“Me.”

The old lady frowned, thinking hard.

“You little rascal!”

Jing Sicun smiled.

“Worse than you? You bully the aunt who takes care of you every day, and now you’ve learned to use your feet too?”

At first, Ke Ni thought the old lady was in a wheelchair because her legs were weak, but seeing how nimbly she kicked and from their conversation, she realized the woman probably had Alzheimer’s.

Jing Sicun said, “Stand up, Grandma. Time to get in the car.”

The old lady reluctantly stood beside the SUV and slapped the car door.

She had quite a bit of strength—the window glass thudded loudly.

Ke Ni quickly helped open the car door.

“Please be careful.”

The old lady glanced at Ke Ni but didn’t move.

Jing Sicun folded the wheelchair and put it in the trunk, then came back to pick up the old lady.

“She’s forgotten. She doesn’t remember how to get in the car.”

Jing Sicun, clearly used to this, settled the cranky old lady in the back seat and fastened her seatbelt.

Ke Ni sat back in the passenger seat, piecing together the relationships:

The cranky old lady was Jing Sicun’s grandmother.

The other woman was the family’s auntie who helped out.

The whole incident became clear:

The auntie responsible for caring for Jing Sicun’s grandmother had scraped a parked car and needed to deal with the traffic police and handle compensation.

Worried she wouldn’t be able to watch over the old lady, the auntie called Jing Sicun for help.

Ke Ni glanced at the rearview mirror.

The old lady was looking out the window, her wrinkled face somehow familiar.

Ke Ni had seen this face before, in a photo posted beside a grocery store’s poster.

She couldn’t help but ask Jing Sicun, “Is the grocery store run by your grandmother?”

Jing Sicun said, “Yeah. I won’t introduce you. She doesn’t even recognize me these days, let alone remember you.”

Life was unpredictable.

The smiling old lady in the photo, holding a baby in her arms;

The one who would proudly mention her little grandson whenever she met Ke Ni’s father;

The one who would pin photos and newspaper clippings about Jing Sicun all over the grocery store…

Now, she had already forgotten Jing Sicun.

While Ke Ni was lost in thought, Jing Sicun’s grandmother suddenly slapped the back of Jing Sicun’s seat, startling her.

The old lady asked, “Who are you?”

Jing Sicun replied, “A handsome guy.”

“I want to go home.”

“We’re heading home, Grandma.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m the Buddha.”

Ke Ni: “…”

How could someone just spout so much nonsense!

Ke Ni and Jing Sicun were the same age, so she assumed their parents were probably in similar situations.

She thought, Jing Sicun’s parents must be busy with work and don’t have time to care for the elderly either.

Ke Ni didn’t think someone as outstanding as Jing Sicun would have much experience taking care of elders.

She decided to help him send his grandmother home first, then take a cab back herself.

The SUV entered an unfamiliar, old residential neighborhood.

It didn’t look as shabby as Ke Ni’s rental, but the architecture was outdated. Still, it had an elevator, so it was reasonably convenient.

Jing Sicun parked by a greenbelt, took out the wheelchair, and carried his cranky grandmother out of the car.

Ke Ni asked, “Is there anything I can help with?”

Jing Sicun said, “Could you help push the wheelchair? Thanks.”

Maybe it really was unfair to call Jing Sicun weak.

He carried his grandmother through several buildings, into the stairwell, waited for the elevator, and up they went.

It took more than ten minutes, and he never seemed out of breath.

Jing Sicun’s family lived on the seventh floor.

After unlocking the door with a code, Ke Ni was surprised to hear a voice from inside, “Is that Xiao Yu back?”

Was there someone at Jing Sicun’s home?

So why…

Ke Ni paused at the doorway, pushing the wheelchair, and saw a figure come out to greet them.

The person looked surprised.

“Sicun, why are you and Grandma together? Where did Aunt Yu go? Is Grandma okay?”

It was a middle-aged woman with a faint air of fatigue.

She leaned out from the blind spot behind Jing Sicun’s tall frame and spotted Ke Ni, pausing in surprise, “And this is…”

Jing Sicun said, “Ke Ni.”

Maybe she hadn’t expected a stranger to be there.

The woman smoothed her hair by her temples and apologized gently, “Hello, Ke Ni, I’m Jing Sicun’s mother. What’s going on here?”

Jing Sicun’s grandmother said, “Who are you?” and Ke Ni replied, “Hello, Auntie.”

The doorway became a jumble.

Jing Sicun pushed his grandmother inside and briefly explained the situation with the auntie to his mother.

Jing Sicun’s mother visibly relaxed.

Ke Ni didn’t understand—if someone was home, why did Jing Sicun bring her along?

She didn’t have a chance to ask.

Because the old lady was still loudly asking, “Who are you?”

Ke Ni got ready to leave.

“Jing Sicun, Auntie, I’ll just—”

Jing Sicun’s mother gently grabbed Ke Ni’s wrist and pulled her inside, “Ke Ni, thank you for helping Sicun pick up Grandma. Come in and sit for a while, no need to change your shoes. Here, have some water before you go.”

And just like that, Ke Ni was swept into Jing Sicun’s home.

Jing Sicun’s mother had fine wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and smiled softly.

“I remember now—Sicun, is Ke Ni the girl you and Song Yi mentioned last time you came back?”

Jing Sicun had just finished settling the old lady in her bedroom and walked out.

Ke Ni turned to look at him, her eyes wide.

Last time?

Mentioned what?

The drinking incident?

Jing Sicun took a can of drink from the fridge and handed it to Ke Ni.

“Song Yi mentioned you. He showed my mom the video of you on the show.”

Ke Ni still didn’t know how to react when another unfamiliar voice came from inside, “Do we have a guest?”

There were so many people at Jing Sicun’s house?

The voice’s owner emerged from a room, walking with great difficulty:

One hand pressed against his abdomen.

He’d kick one leg forward stiffly, plant it, then drag the other leg after.

Ke Ni stood up.

Jing Sicun said, “This is my father.”

Jing Sicun’s father looked like he’d suffered some kind of cerebrovascular disease.

Ke Ni remembered—the aftereffect was called “hemiplegia.”

Jing Sicun’s mother went over to support him, helping him onto the sofa.

Jing Sicun’s father’s face twitched as he spoke, “Hello.”

Ke Ni also said, “…Hello, Uncle.”

Jing Sicun’s family kindly asked if they wanted to stay for dinner.

Jing Sicun said, “No, thanks. I’ll just wash my face and then take Ke Ni home. She has class soon.”

Jing Sicun’s mother smiled, speaking so quickly it was almost a rush, “Go on, then. I’ll tell Auntie that next time, she can call me if anything comes up. Your dad’s fever is gone today. Focus on preparing for your competition, don’t worry about home.”

Jing Sicun responded with a soft “Mm,” then said to Ke Ni, “Wait for me a moment?”

Ke Ni nodded.

Jing Sicun went into the bathroom, leaving only his parents smiling at Ke Ni.

Just today, Ke Ni had said her relationship with Jing Sicun was ordinary.

This scene felt a bit like meeting the parents, which should have felt absurd and strange.

But Ke Ni’s chest felt a little tight.

With mixed feelings, Ke Ni looked around Jing Sicun’s home.

It was very similar to the layout of her childhood home—a standard three-bedroom apartment.

The place was clean, tidy, and fresh, well cared for by its owners.

Even with two family members struggling with mobility, all you could smell was the faint scent of laundry detergent.

Even Ke Ni’s father had moved to a high-end community, but the furniture in Jing Sicun’s house was still the old style from their generation’s childhood.

The wheelchair, the bed assist device, the grab bars on the wall, and the anti-wandering device on the coffee table all looked brand new.

But all these things…

Were nothing like what Ke Ni had imagined.

In Ke Ni’s childhood, she’d heard plenty about “other people’s kids,” and Jing Sicun wasn’t the only one.

Her father had mentioned many.

Those names would hover briefly in Ke Ni’s ears, in one ear and out the other, soon forgotten by both her and Ke Ni’s father.

But her general impression of “Jing Sicun” and people like him was always:

They could change their fate through knowledge.

Because they were outstanding, even fate favored them.

Everything went smoothly for them.

They had it all.

So-and-so graduated from a top university and joined a big company, earning a million a year;

So-and-so was getting a doctorate overseas, working on an important research project, with a bright future ahead;

So-and-so started a company with so-and-so;

So-and-so was now a project engineer in some engineering department…

If even the unnamed ones were so successful, how could Jing Sicun not be even more impressive?

Jing Sicun’s father seemed unable to control his facial expressions; his smile looked like he was about to cry. “Xiao Ke, are you also a contestant on the show?”

Ke Ni replied obediently to the elder, “Yes, Uncle.”

From the bathroom came the sound of running water.

Jing Sicun’s mother smiled, “Amazing. You’re younger than Sicun and Song Yi, aren’t you?”

Ke Ni shook her head.

“We’re the same age. I’m not as amazing as Jing Sicun.”

Jing Sicun’s mother lowered her eyes, a fleeting trace of regret flashing through them.

It was so fast that Ke Ni hadn’t even figured it out before Jing Sicun’s mother was smiling gently again.

“That’s really rare.”

The words distracted Ke Ni.

She looked up, puzzled.

“What…?”

Jing Sicun’s mother said, “Sicun always brings Song Yi and those boys home. We’ve never seen him have a close female friend.”

The can of cola Jing Sicun had put on the coffee table was quietly gathering a layer of frost.

Ke Ni didn’t touch it.

She figured she wouldn’t see these elders again and didn’t want to explain too much.

She just smiled obediently, following along with Jing Sicun’s mother’s “close friend” line.

From the bathroom, the sound of running water stopped.

Jing Sicun pressed a tissue to his face and walked out.

Water still clung to half his face.

He glanced at Ke Ni as he wiped his face, then opened the fridge again and took out another juice, walking over.

He set the drink in front of Ke Ni and, leaning in, teased her in a voice only the two of them could hear, “We’re close friends now? Didn’t you say our relationship was just ordinary?”

That ear again!

Ke Ni whipped her head around.

Jing Sicun was still smiling, the ends of his damp hair swaying gently with his laughter.

Ke Ni really wanted to strangle him.