Chapter 136: Aunt

Aunt rushed over, panting, and slapped me on the head. "All you know is how to drink horse piss," she scolded. "You should've just drunk yourself to death. Why come looking for your aunt?"

I gave a weak smile and said, "I had nowhere else to go."

Aunt didn't say another word. She hoisted me up and hauled me toward home like she was moving a dead dog.

My feet felt like they were treading on clouds, floating. I leaned against Aunt, climbing the stairs to the third floor with uneven steps. As soon as we entered, I felt stomach acid surging up my throat, followed by a churning in my gut. I stumbled into the bathroom, hugged Aunt's toilet, and vomited violently.

After retching several times, my body went limp, and I collapsed on the floor, unable to get back up.

Aunt came in, handed me a glass of water, and scolded, "Do you forget who you are the moment you see a pretty girl? Is Huang Weiwei really that good-looking? Why play the hero? If you're so capable, go get drunk and cause a scene at her house. When I was carrying you, you were a ghost of a person, but the moment you felt like you were dying, you remembered your aunt."

She crouched down, lifted my drooping head, stared into my eyes, and said, "Xiao Feng, it's not that I want to scold you. I just want to tell you that a person must have a clear conscience. I know your heart is bitter from drinking so much. Is it because you can't let go of Xue Bing?"

I shook my head, keeping my eyes closed to avoid looking at her.

"Little brat, you think you can hide it from me?" Aunt said with disdain. "I know every hair on your body; you still want to lie to your aunt?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized it was inappropriate. She quickly shut her mouth, stood up, and walked away, leaving me leaning against the toilet, breathing heavily with my eyes closed.

My aunt is three years older than me, a woman who grew up by my side. When Aunt was first picked up by my grandmother, she was like a dirty, messy little kitten, huddled inside a winter quilt, not making a sound. Grandmother had encountered her early in the morning while out buying groceries; a crowd was surrounding her on the ground by a trash can, but not a single person reached out to pick her up. It was no wonder—in the China of the late sixties, no family dared to take in an abandoned child. After all, in an era of planned life, this sudden arrival was unplanned. Anything unplanned meant the life wasn't meant to be, and to sustain it, one had to take food out of one's own mouth when there wasn't enough to fill one's own belly.

When Grandmother saw Aunt looking at her with round, wide eyes, Aunt suddenly curved her brows and smiled at her. My grandmother felt as if she'd been struck by lightning. She stared blankly at the smile of this little life, felt a pang in her heart, and tears began to stream down. She bent down, picked Aunt up, didn't even buy her groceries, and hurried home in one breath.

When Aunt entered my grandmother's house, it happened to be when my mother was marrying my father. My mother, having just become a woman, was overjoyed at the sight of Aunt's well-behaved appearance. The maternal love hidden deep in her heart exploded; she actually slept hugging Aunt for two years, until I was born.

By the time I was born, Aunt was already half-grown. Grandmother eventually couldn't withstand the ravages of time and passed away. Aunt, such a tiny person, stood guard by Grandmother's side for a whole day, refusing to let the crematorium truck take her away. My mother hugged her small body and said, "Xiaoyue, Mother has gone to heaven to find Father. It will be many years before she returns. You just follow your sister."

My mother remembered Grandmother's entrustment: Aunt was Grandmother's youngest daughter, not my mother's daughter!

From then on, I grew up with Aunt. When Aunt was three, she could take care of me at home alone while my parents went to work. Poor me, lying in the cradle, I would be lectured by Aunt, saying she was the elder and I was the junior.

By the time Aunt was in school, I had learned to walk and would follow behind her to school. I was a restless person; while Aunt was in class, I would play on the playground alone, and a rock broke the principal's window. The principal was furious, twisted my ear, and demanded to see my parents. I was so scared I cried earth-shatteringly, and Aunt rushed out of the classroom and bit the principal's hand, drawing blood instantly.

The principal was incensed, rode his bicycle to find my father, and threatened to expel Aunt. At the time, the price of a single pane of glass was enough to cover a family of three's food expenses for two days.

Father asked Aunt, and Aunt said indignantly, "Who told him to bully Xiao Feng? If the glass is broken, we'll just pay for it."

Aunt ran out of the house and was gone for two days, worrying my mother so much she almost jumped into the river.

On the third day, Aunt returned, dirty and disheveled, clutching a handful of small bills, and said to my mother, "Sister, this money is to pay for the principal's glass."

Aunt hadn't eaten a single meal in those two days, having walked almost every street and alley in the city picking up trash to sell for money. My mother hugged her, heartbroken, and cried until her heart felt torn.

When I was eight, I was still sleeping in Aunt's arms. Finally, one day, I refused. The reason I refused was that Aunt's daily growing body made me very shy.

The direct consequence of my refusal to sleep with Aunt was that Aunt insisted on moving home to live by herself.

After my parents tried countless ways, they finally couldn't keep Aunt. Aunt went to live alone in the house Grandmother had left her.

As for Aunt's later schooling, job recruitment, becoming a cadre, and eventually getting married, that is a book's worth of content, which I will not repeat here.

Aunt has many, many stories. In short, she is an indispensable and important character in my life.

Aunt walked back in, sighed, and said, "Xiao Feng, go sleep on the bed."

Without a word, she hoisted me up, helped me to her bed, brought a basin of water, carefully wiped the filth from the corners of my mouth, pulled back the quilt, and covered me.

I was limp all over, my eyes unfocused, as if the Aunt before me were a thousand miles away. I reached out, groping for her hand, and she tucked her hand into mine, letting me hold it quietly.

"Xiao Feng, to be a man, you must learn to let go. A man who is indecisive is the most useless kind of man. You are an adult now; I shouldn't have to lecture you. I'll just tell you one thing: only by losing something can you gain something."

I sighed and said, "Aunt, my heart hurts."

She pretended not to care and said, "You're a big man, what's with the pain? A real man doesn't have to worry about not having a wife! As long as you are successful in your career, you can choose from all the beauties in the world."

I held her hand and said, "Aunt, you are a great beauty yourself."

She gave a weak smile and said, "I'm your aunt."

After saying that, she touched my forehead and muttered, "Sleep well. I still have to go out."

I asked nervously, "Aunt, where are you going?"

Aunt comforted me, "It's nothing. I have some business to attend to; I have an appointment to drink tea with someone tonight. I left them hanging at the teahouse because I got your call."

I wanted to climb up and said, "Aunt, let me go with you."

She shook her head and said, "Just sleep peacefully."

Aunt opened the door to leave, walked to the edge, and looked back. "Xiao Feng, think about it carefully. Suxi Township is not a place for you to stay forever. Don't think about staying anywhere for a lifetime."

I said foolishly, "Where else can I go?"

Aunt gave a faint smile and said, "Little fool, the one who can help you walk out of Suxi Township isn't your cousin-uncle, but Huang Weiwei."

She left, and the room went quiet. I lay in her warm quilt, a fragrance wafted over, and I felt my head clear up quite a bit. I lay there for a while, drifting off into a hazy sleep. In my dream, I seemed to see Wu Qian running over with a smile, burying herself in my arms and crying. I jolted awake, the room was still empty, only the large clock on the wall was ticking and swinging. ===== CHAPTER 137 =====