Chapter 4: Wailing Five

  Five

  In front of the open window on the northwest corner of the third floor of Du's mansion, Du Bin picked up a cigar and took a deep drag under his nose, while the butler behind him lit it for him with a lighter and then stood behind him again.

  "Today is Hongyi's birthday, right?" Du Bin put the cigar to his lips and took a puff, then exhaled a stream of white smoke.

  "Yes."

  "He should spend his birthday however he wants, invite whoever he wants to invite, buy whatever he wants to buy, and I'll prepare whatever he likes." Du Hongyi said, looking out the window at the quiet little path.

  "He didn't really celebrate his birthday those few years after you left. Every year on his birthday, the nanny would just make a bowl of longevity noodles for him to eat and he'd go to bed early. I don't know what he likes, he never asked for anything." The housekeeper said respectfully.

  Du Bin slightly stunned, turned his head and looked at the butler, "Didn't invite any friends home?"

  "No."

  Du Bin waved his hand to signal the housekeeper to withdraw, and a sour and guilty feeling filled his heart. How had this child been living these years? He had been working hard outside for the family all these years just to make his children live a more comfortable life, but now it seemed that maybe staying behind at the beginning would have been better than now. At least his son wouldn't look at him like a stranger every day.

  He opened the door, and Du Hong stretched lazily, looking towards the main room. The brown door was tightly closed. His father had been back for two weeks now, but he only saw him in the mornings, sitting on the sofa in the living room reading the newspaper, with a cup of bitter tea always brewing on the table beside him. It had been six years since his mother's sudden passing, and he had left Du Hong alone to venture out into the world, not returning for six whole years. The time had passed so slowly that Du Hong had almost forgotten what his father looked like, until two weeks ago when he suddenly appeared at home again. He had aged, with white hair creeping up his temples - how much he had changed.

  Du Hongyi put on his clothes and went downstairs. Du Bin was already sitting on the sofa, holding a newspaper as usual, sipping bitter tea while reading.

  "Up already?" Du Bin put down the newspaper and took off his gold-rimmed glasses to look at his son.

  "Hmm." Du Hongyi picked up the water on the table and took a sip.

  Du Bin stood up from the sofa, looking a bit awkward, "Happy birthday, Hongyi."

  Du Hongyi was taken aback, looking up at Du Bin's increasingly haggard face, a sour feeling rising to his nose: "Dad..."

  "This is your pocket money, you can spend it as you like. I have to work overtime at the company tonight, so I won't be back to accompany you." Du Bin picked up the white envelope on the table and handed it to him, the warmth in the air gradually turned into something else.

  Du Hong looked at the envelope and snorted a laugh from his nose. He approached Du Bin and said clearly, "Is it money again? Do you always use money to solve problems? Do you think money can buy anything?"

  "I just wanted you to buy what you like, I thought you would be happy." Du Bin looked into his son's eyes, the hand holding the envelope still trembling in mid-air.

  "You think! Everything you think! Are all your thoughts correct? Don't be so self-righteous, okay? Six years ago, you thought it was for my own good to throw me out and make me work alone! Did you ever ask what I needed?" Du Hongyi shouted at Du Bin with red eyes, his right hand uncontrollably throwing the envelope on the ground, swallowing hard and panting as he stared at Du Bin.

  A tinge of sadness spread across his face, and Du Bin forced a smile: "If I didn't go out to work, what would you eat, what would you drink?"

  "Don't bring this up! I don't care about your money! All these years, I haven't used a single penny of yours! The money I've been using is all from mom's death compensation!" Anger filled his entire brain, and Du Hongyi couldn't calm himself down. Looking at his father's quiet yet sorrowful face, Du Hongyi opened the door and walked out.

  Du Bin looked at the open gate, and his old tears gradually flowed down with the lines on his face. "What death compensation? Your mother was a suicide, what death compensation?"

  Everything was just a kind lie made up to comfort the child when Du Hongyi was young. His mother had an affair, abandoned him, and chose death after being abandoned, which was a scandal that shook the small town six years ago. Every day after school, Du Hongyi would return home crying, only to find out that he was bullied by his classmates, who said his mother ran away with another man and didn't want him, and that she killed herself in shame after being abandoned, calling her a worthless person. As a child, Du Hongyi couldn't bear others speaking ill of his mother, and every time he fought back, he ended up getting beaten and bruised, with the emotional scars growing deeper. All Du Bin could do was tell his son that what others said were lies, that his mother was a kind and virtuous person who died unexpectedly, and that they wouldn't have to worry about living expenses anymore because of the compensation for her death, which was left behind by his mother, telling him not to hate her.

  He had thought it was just a lie of the past, but unexpectedly, his child still remembered and hated himself for not being with him all these years. Du Bin wiped away the tears on his face, closed his eyes and took a deep breath in pain.

  The small town's deep winter was a bit cold, and it had just frosted the night before. The main street was gray and hazy, and the morning air emitted a chilly breath. Du Hong wrapped his coat tightly around him, constantly exhaling white mist from his mouth. The small town's winter mornings were still bustling, and through the fog, one could faintly hear the hawkers' cries. Pushing aside the foggy barrier, he walked into the market where calls of vendors continued unabated, and only then did Du Hong deeply feel the simple and genuine atmosphere of life.

  Just wanted to calm down alone, to calm the fire that had flared up so easily, but didn't know why emotions were revealed so thoroughly when facing that person I both loved and hated. Later, thinking of his old yet loving face filled my heart with guilt again, why was I always so contradictory? Du Hong patted his pocket, only to find a crumpled one-dollar bill inside, not even enough for breakfast, suddenly realizing that after leaving the place called home, he could barely maintain basic living, what an irony, and what sorrow.

  Du Hongyi smiled self-deprecatingly and continued walking forward, his eyes inadvertently catching a familiar figure in the crowd. Zhang Chongyu was leaning against a small wooden chair behind a fruit stand, with his legs crossed and his hands clasped behind his head, his eyes gazing into the distance as he watched the crowd shouting and calling out to each other, with seasonal fruits arranged in front of him.

  Du Hongyi walked over with a stride, "Hey, so early."

  Zhang Chongyu was pulled back from his thoughts and looked up in surprise at Du Hongyi, who had suddenly appeared in front of him. His expression was a bit awkward, "Is that you?"

  "Looks like you're really surprised! What's up, helping out with the family stall?" Du Hong raised his chin and smiled lightly.

  Zhang Chongyu looked at him without speaking, feeling inexplicably uncomfortable in his heart, with a kind of irritation that someone had discovered his secret.

  "It's reassuring to have a son like you."

  "Do you have something on your mind?" Zhang Chongyu stood up from his chair and faced Du Hong.

  Nothing much, just saw you selling fruits here and was a bit surprised, so came over to ask.

  Zhang Chongyu let out a snort from his nose, stepped forward and grabbed Du Hongyi's collar with his hand: "What do you mean? I advise you to be careful what you say, especially in front of Lan and Xiao Yi."

  Du Hongyi looked at the somewhat unfriendly face in front of him with some surprise, then hooked up the corner of his mouth and smiled faintly. "What's wrong, are you afraid that I'll tell others about how you, a top student, ended up selling things on the street and feel embarrassed, so you're being so unfriendly? Do you think I'm afraid of your threats?"

  Du Hongyi pulled away the hand grasping his collar and gave Zhang Chongyu a deep look before walking into the fog.

  I absolutely didn't mean to mock, but rather felt incredulous and admiring. Compared to Zhang Chongyu's efforts, I was more like a carefree little rascal. Du Hong turned his head back to look, but could no longer see Zhang Chongyu. His eyes only saw a white mist, and he could still hear the continuous shouting sounds coming from within the fog.