JOS Chapter 138

Strange

Jiang Feng heard the sound of the refrigerator being opened, followed by the sound of running water, and then the young man began fiddling with various things.

The other party seemed to really cook often.

The two elderly people were accustomed to this, continuing to eat the snacks from the coffee table while turning on the television.

Jiang Feng wasn’t entirely clear on this, but when a son had just finished work and come home, wouldn’t parents normally greet him, help out, or let him rest for a bit?

The kitchen work proceeded in an orderly fashion. Jiang Feng asked, “Does he do all the household chores?”

“Yes, he’s particularly sensible. Since middle school, he’s taken care of everything at home. He insists on doing everything and won’t let us help. We two are just idle, with nothing much to interfere with each day, so we go out to play cards and dance with others. When we tell the other old ladies and gentlemen about this, they don’t believe us. Those living with young people at home basically live like servants – cooking, shopping, taking care of children. They give up their pensions and still get criticized by their sons and daughters-in-law. How does that make sense? I feel sorry just watching them. Tsk tsk tsk. Why don’t they just stop living together then? They can’t – each one treats their child like a treasure, can’t bear to be apart.” Liu Yu spoke with particular pride, her face flushed as she continued, “And his grades used to be excellent too. In high school, he never fell below top three in his class. He went to a prestigious university – I was the one who chose it.”

Jiang Feng was somewhat surprised. “You chose his university?”

“Not just that. I even chose his major. He’s indeed very sensible and obedient. Listening to adults is never wrong – after all, we have more experience and it’s for his own good.” Liu Yu patted her leg, saying, “Sigh, it’s just that the job prospects for that major weren’t great. After asking around, the salaries were all mediocre, so I invested money to let him open a shop.”

Liu Menghong said, “That’s just you being too clever for your own good. Choosing computer science or finance would have been so much better! In recent years when the market was good, I heard their year-end bonuses were in the hundreds of thousands.”

Liu Yu replied, “You heard this, you heard that – how many things you’ve heard are actually true? They’re just bragging.”

The two seemed unable to exchange more than a couple of sentences before starting to argue.

Jiang Feng said, “So he seems quite intelligent.”

Liu Menghong said, “It’s through hard work! How can young people succeed without effort? His grades weren’t good in middle school either – children that age are all a bit rebellious, but later he learned to behave.”

“I always say today’s parents are all unqualified, raising children like little emperors. They don’t dare say this, can’t do that. They come up with all sorts of strange terms to explain and make excuses for them. Rebellious phase, chuunibyo syndrome – so the moment kids get slightly upset, it’s life or death. Not studying, skipping classes, going on hunger strikes, tsk tsk.” Liu Yu waved her hand dismissively, “These are all spoiled habits. What nonsense. A good beating would fix it. In our generation, who dared to act like that? Everyone begged their parents to let them go to school. They’re too pampered – I can’t stand watching it.”

Liu Menghong said regretfully, “My grades were very good in elementary school too, but the family was poor and didn’t let me continue to middle school. Later I self-studied for two years, and only now am I starting to read properly.”

Liu Yu said, “I say character is more important than education. We run a shop, so we don’t need too high an education in daily life. Education is for his own face. Knowledge can be forgotten, but character stays with a person for life. Young man, remember that.”

Jiang Feng observed the situation inside the house.

There were only belongings of the two elderly people and the young man, with no signs of a young woman’s presence.

But looking at the young man just now, he seemed to be around thirty or older.

Jiang Feng asked, “He’s not married yet?”

“No. He had a girlfriend before – I introduced them. They were supposed to get married, but then the woman proposed not living with us after marriage. I didn’t expect her family to have such values, so I had them break up.” Liu Yu frowned angrily, “Who doesn’t live with their parents? What happens when we’re old later – won’t she care for us then? What’s the point of marrying such a woman?”

Liu Menghong said, “We’re very open-minded. He has money anyway, so what’s there to worry about?”

Jiang Feng found this family somewhat surreal. “He agreed to this?”

“Like I said, he’s very obedient.” Liu Yu had a matter-of-fact expression, “Besides, I was doing it for his good – why would he argue with me?”

“For such major life decisions, one must definitely consult parents’ opinions. If we two firmly disagreed, would he disown us as parents? What kind of son would that be?” Liu Menghong asked, “Young man, where are your parents?”

Jiang Feng said, “I don’t have parents.”

“Oh… I see.” Liu Menghong cracked sunflower seeds, saying, “That’s quite pitiful. It must not be easy, right?”

Liu Yu said, “So you can’t understand the concept of family – this is a very heavy topic.”

Jiang Feng asked, “…Is it?”

The group fell into an awkward silence. The TV volume in the living room was turned up high, accompanied by the crack-crack sound of sunflower seed shells.

The screen was showing rural dramas from the eighties and nineties.

Seeing he still wasn’t leaving, Liu Menghong tactfully urged, “Do you have… any other matters? Here, let me write down the village address for you. You can go look for yourself – we’re not going back.”

Jiang Feng said, “Alright.”

Liu Yu put on glasses, took paper and pen, and wrote down a brief address.

His handwriting had a somewhat childish quality – clearly he wasn’t accustomed to writing.

Jiang Feng tried to give them money, but they refused.

Liu Menghong said, “That painting wasn’t worth much anyway. When I was moving, I sorted it out but it wasn’t convenient to bring out of the village, so I donated it to a museum worker. If it can help you find your relatives now, that would be quite good. Why would we take money for such a thing? No need, no need.”

Jiang Feng couldn’t insist further, so he gave up.

Liu Menghong stood up, saying, “We won’t see you out.”

Jiang Feng nodded. As he was preparing to leave, the young man who had been cooking also came out.

He stood at the edge of the sliding door between the kitchen and dining room, wearing a smile, and said calmly, “Take care.”

However, when Jiang Feng made eye contact with him, for an instant, he saw panic in the man’s eyes.

Or rather, it was a very complex gaze, containing anger and hatred as well. Paired with that face, it seemed extremely incongruous.

It appeared for just a moment before disappearing again.

Little Mountain God shivered and tugged at his pant leg, asking hesitantly, “Daddy?”

Jiang Feng changed his mind, stepped back to the entrance, and asked, “Sorry, could I use your restroom? The child’s stomach is a bit uncomfortable – he might have caught a chill.”

Liu Menghong hesitated slightly but still pointed, “The guest restroom is right there.”

Jiang Feng led little Mountain God into the restroom.

After lingering inside for a little while, Jiang Feng heard the young man’s warm call: “Dad, Mom, dinner’s ready.”

Hearing this now somehow sent chills down one’s spine.

Jiang Feng said, “Later, just say you’re hungry and want to eat here.”

Little Mountain God nodded: “Mm.”

Jiang Feng flushed the toilet and washed his hands before coming out.

Seeing this, Liu Menghong politely asked, “Would you like to stay for dinner?”

A normal person would definitely refuse at this point, but Jiang Feng smoothly replied, “That would be troublesome then.”

The corners of the two elderly people’s mouths twitched unnaturally, but they maintained their composure and invited him to sit.

Liu Yu sat in the main seat with Liu Menghong on his left.

Their son sat in a more distant position, gesturing for Jiang Feng to sit across from him.

The young man’s face showed no flaws as he picked up a shrimp for each of the elderly people, saying, “Dad, Mom, eat more of this.”

Liu Yu said, “Just eat your own food, don’t serve us.”

The young man continued caring for them. “Eat more vegetables. Your blood pressure is high again, eat more wood ear mushrooms. Here.”

Liu Menghong complained verbally but looked pleased. “Alright, alright.”

The two elderly people ate very slowly, and little Mountain God was even slower. Since he could eat pretty much anything anyway, as long as Jiang Feng didn’t tell him to stop, he continued gnawing on a bone.

The young man finished first, took his dishes to the sink to soak, then went to the balcony and began washing the clothes that were in the basket.

Jiang Feng followed him over. The other party buried his head in work, seemingly not noticing him.

The young man skillfully rolled up his sleeves, applied soap, and scrubbed.

“Don’t you use the washing machine?” Jiang Feng asked. “Didn’t you specifically buy a small washing machine here?”

The other party replied distantly but politely, “Colors might run – hand washing is more convenient. If you put just one or two thin pieces of clothing in the washing machine, they’ll say it’s wasteful of water and electricity.”

Jiang Feng asked, “What else will you do later?”

The young man replied, “Me? Later I’ll mop the floor again, wash the dishes, then boil ginger water for their foot bath. After taking a shower I can sleep. Tomorrow morning at six, I still need to get up to open the shop.”

Jiang Feng asked, “Don’t you find it too tiring?”

The young man turned his head with a sincere and happy expression, saying, “This is what I should do as a son.”

Jiang Feng raised an eyebrow. “Oh…”

The young man turned back to continue washing clothes while Jiang Feng stood behind him.

The mechanical watch he had placed on top of the washing machine ticked second by second, the silver hands turning round and round on the dial.

Jiang Feng had a strange feeling but couldn’t articulate it.

At this moment, the young man suddenly turned and forcefully grabbed his left arm.

“Son…”

At the same time, Liu Yu’s voice rang out.

The young man also jerked violently.

Liu Yu appeared at the balcony entrance, hands behind his back, asking, “What are you two doing?”

The young man hastily let go, saying apologetically, “Oh dear, sorry about that – I got your clothes dirty.”

Liu Yu muttered, “How can you be so careless, child?”

There was some soap foam on Jiang Feng’s clothes, but it wasn’t a big deal.

Liu Yu asked, “It’s getting late. If you don’t head to a hotel soon, it’ll be dark. Young man, have you booked your hotel?”

Jiang Feng replied, “Yes, I have.”

Liu Yu hinted at wanting him to leave. “You can call a taxi now. Since you’re a man, it doesn’t matter – it’s very convenient here.”

Jiang Feng said, “Thank you, I understand.”

He really couldn’t stay any longer, so he took little Mountain God to wash hands and then left.

****

As soon as Jiang Feng left Liu Yu’s home, he began contacting Officer Ye.

He reported the names and address of Liu Yu’s family members, saying, “Could you please help me check the identity information of these people, including their work and education records?”

Officer Ye seemed to have something in his mouth, speaking unclearly, “What? I can look up the records we have in our files first. What’s wrong with this family?”

“Something feels off, but I can’t put my finger on it,” Jiang Feng said. “I’m investigating someone and the trail led me here. I’m not sure if there’s a connection, so I want to verify everything.”

Officer Ye replied, “Oh, I don’t understand you people’s lives. Maintaining world peace, right? Keep up the good work, brother. I’ll contact you if there’s any news – keep your phone on.”

Jiang Feng acknowledged with a couple of “mm” sounds and ended the call.