Chapter Two: Celebration

Luo Wei very obviously did not take Ning Shuyi’s teasing seriously. He joked back with a few playful remarks, and the subject soon passed.

By Saturday morning, Father Ning and Mother Ning had already gone to the produce market at dawn and returned with a great heap of fresh ingredients. Since Ning Shuyi had recently agreed to train her stamina with Huo Yan, she did not dare slack off; even on Saturday she got up early as usual for morning exercise. Afterward, she ate breakfast and then sat in the kitchen with her parents, trimming vegetables and chatting as they worked.

Sorting vegetables was not exactly hard labor, but there was simply too much of it. After snapping stems for a while, Ning Shuyi felt as though her fingertips had been soaked through with the smell of green vegetable juice.

“Dad, Mom, do you really not find it burdensome, inviting your daughter’s coworkers over for a meal every so often?” she finally asked, puzzled. “If you were worried I might not get along with people at work, you really don’t need to worry about that anymore!”

“You silly girl!” Father Ning burst out laughing. He pulled out a garlic sprout and tapped her lightly on the head with it. “What nonsense are you saying? Don’t go imagining your parents are suffering nobly for your sake. We also want our own lives to be fuller.

“A little idleness now and then feels nice, but if you stay idle all the time, sooner or later something starts to go wrong.

“We’re both retired now. Our age is what it is. As for traveling, we can’t spend the whole year roaming around, and even one trip can be exhausting.

“As for square dancing, your mother has no interest in that sort of thing. And me, I’d rather study recipes than go learn singing, instrumental music, and all that. Our family simply doesn’t have that many artistic cells!

“And there’s another thing—it’s a flaw in your mother’s and my temperament. We just don’t enjoy constantly socializing with people our own age. Every time they open and close their mouths, it’s all petty domestic trifles. This mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had another quarrel, that old couple secretly favored their son over their daughter again—if you hear too much of it, it becomes maddening!

“And that’s from the ones still enthusiastic about life. If you run into the pessimistic sort, that’s even worse! They nag at you all day long. ‘Tell me, doesn’t getting old mean it’s all over? What’s the point of struggling through life? Why is the kindergarten gate crowded every day with people picking up children, while the entrance to the nursing home is silent and empty? Isn’t it because old people simply aren’t wanted?’”

Father Ning gave a heavy snort to express his feelings, then swept a large hand through the air. “I can’t stand hearing that! Isn’t that just asking for misery by brooding yourself into a corner?

“And what do they mean, why is the nursing home quiet? What nonsense! A nursing home isn’t a daycare center! If that place let out at a fixed hour every evening, the gates would be packed with people too!”

“Right, right, you’re the youngest at heart, the one most unwilling to admit you’re old,” Mother Ning said, ribbing her husband with her words, though in truth she agreed with him entirely. “So that’s why, aside from those few old friends we’ve been close to for decades, we’d much rather spend time with young people like you.

“Even if we just sit nearby and listen to you all talking, that lively energy makes us feel younger ourselves.

“Your father mainly likes showing off his cooking—he enjoys hearing people praise his food and watching everyone polish off the dishes. As for me, I like listening to you chat. It feels as if I get to know more about what’s going on outside, and it keeps me from falling out of touch with society.

“I have no wish to become the sort of old woman who knows only which market sells spinach two dimes cheaper than the others, or which department store is giving away free eggs again!”

Ning Shuyi could not help laughing and nodded repeatedly. “If I can grow old like the two of you, that would be wonderful! That’s what life ought to be!”

“Yes. When a married couple is working, each may be busy with their own affairs, but when they have free time, they should still be able to spend it together, find things to do together. It can’t always be one person staying home while the other is busy outside, each living separately.

“If that goes on too long, the home loses its warmth.” Listening to her younger daughter’s sigh of admiration, Mother Ning suddenly spoke from the heart and let out a faint, melancholy sigh of her own.

Father Ning quickly took her by the shoulders and steered her out of the kitchen. “Now then, my dear, children and grandchildren have their own fortunes. Don’t borrow trouble.

“I think I just heard someone knocking at the door. Go see whether it’s the supermarket downstairs delivering the order!”

“Was there? How come I didn’t hear it?” Mother Ning muttered doubtfully as she walked out. “You old man, your ears are still sharp...”

Once she had left the kitchen, Father Ning gave Ning Shuyi a somewhat helpless smile. She understood at once, and neither father nor daughter continued the topic they had just been on.

The one Mother Ning was troubled and worried about was naturally Ning Shuyi’s older sister, Ning Shuyue. Ning Shuyue was a kindergarten teacher. Though her work kept her busy, her schedule was extremely regular, and outside of work she stayed quietly at home.

Her husband, Nie Guang, on the other hand, spent all day out and about, and no one ever seemed to know what exactly kept him so busy. Even on days off he was often not at home. They were clearly not living in separate cities, yet somehow they had managed to turn their marriage into one that felt like constant parting and rare reunion.

If Ning Shuyi had been the one in such a situation, perhaps Mother Ning would have worried a little less. But the eldest daughter of the Ning family, Ning Shuyue, was soft-tempered and mild by nature, and very sensible besides. Ever since childhood she had only ever reported good news to the family, never bad, and that made her mother all the more uneasy.

Toward noon, members of the police team began arriving one after another. The first to come were Ren Yaya and Yan Xue, with Xia Qing and Ji Yuan following soon after. These were the ones more familiar with Father Ning, and they had come early of their own accord to help.

By around two in the afternoon, everyone else had gradually arrived as well. Only Huo Yan, who had previously said he would come, had still not appeared.

Luo Wei was bursting with curiosity and could not hold it in. While everyone was chatting together, he secretly asked Ning Shuyi, “That guy isn’t going to stand you up, is he?”

“That would be perfect!” Ning Shuyi laughed. “Let him stand me up all he likes! My dad’s roast pigeon is absolutely unrivaled!”

“The pigeon is so cute—how could you eat the pigeon?” Luo Wei replied in a deliberately affected voice.

Beside him, Zhao Dabao was so disgusted that he could not bear it and punched him lightly.

After they had chatted a while, just when it was nearly time to eat, someone knocked at the door. Mother Ning went over and opened it, only to find a young man standing there. He was very tall and strikingly handsome, but his face was unfamiliar; she felt certain she had never seen him before.

Then she lowered her eyes and noticed that in his hand he was holding a clean, empty lunchbox. That lunchbox, however, she recognized at once. It belonged to their family.

In an instant, Mother Ning understood. Her face lit with realization, and she greeted him with a warm smile. “Are you my little Yi’s new coworker?”

Huo Yan looked rather tense. His hand tightened unconsciously around the lunchbox, and he nodded to Mother Ning. “Hello, Auntie. I’m late.”

The end of this chapter.