Liang He felt an itch beneath his nose. He reached out to scratch it, and a blanket slid off his body.
"Why didn't you go to your room to sleep?" He Chengyan was about to pick it up for him.
"I've got it," Liang He said, leaning over to scoop the blanket from the floor. "The weather was so nice that I decided to soak up some sun on the sofa. I didn't expect to fall asleep."
"Be careful not to catch a cold," He Chengyan chided. "You're a grown man; you should know how to look after yourself."
Liang He stood up and helped He Chengyan to the sofa. Glancing at the wall clock, he realized it was nearly two o'clock. He had slept much longer than he’d intended.
"Where's Zhou Wen?" He Chengyan asked, noticing the quiet house.
"She went out to buy groceries," Liang He said. "I heard her say you have a cold?"
"Yes, the flu is going around the school. A huge number of students are down with it, and I caught it too. But I got some medicine on Monday, and I'm mostly better now."
"You should still be careful. The sun looks bright now, but it's not midsummer yet. The temperature fluctuates a lot between morning and night. Don't be careless," Liang He urged.
He Chengyan smiled and asked, "Is everything alright at your school?"
The question reminded Liang He that several students in his class had taken sick leave—mostly from Qiu Xiaoyun's dormitory, it seemed. But the flu hadn't spread further, and those who were sick recovered quickly. "Our school is fine," he replied.
"Are you busy with finals lately? How did you find the time to come back today?" He Chengyan pointed to the kettle by the coffee table. "Pour me some water."
"Finals are a bit busy," Liang He said, standing up. There was a tea tin on the table; he opened it, pinched a few leaves into a cup, and continued as he poured the hot water, "But I can manage. Today..." He used the excuse he had prepared earlier. "I came back to pick up some summer clothes—shorts and shirts—to change into during the summer sketching trip."
"Oh? It's settled then? When are you leaving?"
"Mid-July. Three days after all the exams are finished." Liang He handed the steaming tea to He Chengyan.
"Where is the location?"
"Shanxi, the Yungang Grottoes."
"A good place." He Chengyan blew on her tea. "Just a bit far."
Liang He smiled dismissively. "It is indeed the furthest the school has ever gone. Fortunately, the school has plenty of funding this year, and the food and lodging there have been arranged. It's worth the trip."
He Chengyan gave a noncommittal hum and asked for more details about the trip. Finally, she gave him stern instructions. Although the counselor was technically leading the students, it was really just upperclassmen looking after the younger ones. Since it was Liang He's first time and he lacked experience, she went into great detail, especially regarding safety. Liang He found it a bit tedious but listened patiently.
"Look at you," He Chengyan stopped. "You're nodding like a woodpecker, but you're just humoring me on the surface. Your heart has already flown off to the northern grasslands."
Liang He smiled sheepishly. "No, I'm listening seriously."
He Chengyan glanced at him. "I've known you since you were small." She wasn't truly angry.
After talking for a while, He Chengyan felt her throat go dry and asked Liang He for another cup of tea. Liang He complied. He Chengyan took a sip and looked up to find Liang He still standing tall before her.
"Go pack your clothes," He Chengyan waved him off. "No need to hover over me. When I need you, I'll call for you."
"No rush," Liang He sat back down. After a moment's thought, he said, "There's still time. I'll keep you company for a bit."
He Chengyan turned to look at Liang He, slightly surprised. It was rare for Liang He to have the heart to sit with her like this; it had been a long time since mother and son had spent such quiet time together. She smiled faintly and agreed, "Alright. However," she scrutinized her son's expression, "is there something on your mind?"
Of course there was. Liang He thought, *But how do I start?* He was torn by an immense internal conflict. After some hesitation, he spoke cautiously: "It's nothing. By the way, Mom, the dumplings we had during New Year—were they made by my uncle's family?"
He Chengyan remained calm. "Yes."
"I thought they tasted good. I'd like to go to his house and get some more sometime."
He Chengyan picked up the newspaper beside her and put on her reading glasses. "If you like them, I'll let him know and have someone send some over."
"Is he home lately?"
"I don't know." He Chengyan put down the paper and looked at him over the rim of her glasses. "Liang He, what are you trying to ask?"
Liang He was never one for beating around the bush. Since she had asked, he decided to be blunt. "Mom, Lu Xialan came to see me."
He Chengyan gave a soft laugh, as if she had expected his first words all along. She raised the newspaper again. "Oh? For what?"
Liang He answered, "A member of her... family has heart disease. They want my uncle to be the lead surgeon for the operation."
He Chengyan said flatly, "If they want your uncle to operate, they should go find him. You're not a doctor; why are you meddling?"
"But..." Liang He pressed on, "Mom, Xialan said Uncle is at a seminar recently and won't be back for a while..."
"Liang He," He Chengyan interrupted him. "Regarding the Lu family and ours... all these years, I've turned a blind eye. I wanted the past to stay in the past; I didn't want to mention it again. Now, are you afraid I've forgotten, or," she studied Liang He closely, "or have you fallen for that Lu girl?"
"No," Liang He said, feeling both frustrated and amused that she would bring up their relationship. "But that's a separate matter. Mom, this is actually about..."
"If you haven't fallen for her, then stay out of it." Seeing that Liang He's expression didn't seem fake, He Chengyan felt slightly more at ease. She flipped the page of the newspaper and said directly, "Go pack your clothes. Don't be an eyesore here."
Since Liang He had started this, he was determined to finish it. "Mom, I'm not here to plead for anyone today. I just feel that if Uncle is truly avoiding them, then... a human life is at stake."
"A human life?" He Chengyan's face darkened. "Do you know who she's pleading for?"
Liang He opened his mouth but said nothing.
"It seems you do know. Then I'd like to ask—since you know, how can you even bring yourself to say this?" He Chengyan set the newspaper down and asked sharply, "Liang He, do you even remember what your last name is? Your father is right there watching you," she pointed to the black-and-white photograph on the cabinet, her finger trembling slightly. "How can you plead for that person right in front of your father! Do you even remember how your father died?"
*Boom—*
Without warning, a sudden crack of thunder rolled across the clear sky outside.
The sky darkened as a thunderstorm gathered its strength.
Of course Liang He knew how his father, Liang Kun, had died. It was also a sweltering summer afternoon. The atmospheric pressure was low, and the air was so humid it felt as if one could squeeze water out of it with a bare hand. He was doing his homework at his uncle's house in the countryside when several people wearing armbands suddenly burst through the door. They asked if he was Liang Kun's son. He nodded blankly, and without a word, they dragged him into a car. Liang He screamed, asking where they were taking him. The one who looked like the leader said, "Taking you to see your father."
Liang He hadn't seen his father in a long time. He hurriedly asked about his father's condition, asking if he had returned from his teaching post in Guizhou. The man only said coldly, "You'll know when we get there." After two hours of bumping along the road, Liang He was hauled out of the car like a small chick. The street was packed with people. He asked where his father was. Just then, the crowd grew restless, and people began marching and shouting slogans. He heard his father's name.
Excitedly, he squeezed forward, standing on his tiptoes and shouting at the top of his lungs, "Dad! Dad!" No one paid him any attention. He was too small, too insignificant—sallow, thin, and frail. He was quickly pushed to the edge of the crowd. Refusing to give up, he ran forward and saw a man standing on a platform, looking down from on high, announcing his father's various "crimes."
He was stunned—wasn't that man his father's colleague, Lu Wenfang? Wasn't he Lu Xialan's uncle? Wasn't he the Uncle Lu who often came to their house to borrow soy sauce and garlic?
What was Lu Wenfang saying? How could he lie and say Dad was guilty? How could Dad be a bad person, a criminal?!
He ran forward, crying and screaming, but he only saw his father's hunched back. His father seemed unable to hear his voice. He didn't know that by then, Liang Kun was already deaf in one ear; he couldn't distinguish his son's voice from the deafening roar of the crowd. Liang He's voice went hoarse from crying. Liang Kun seemed to sense something and turned slightly toward Liang He. But before their eyes could meet, a voice screamed, "To hell with your space physics!"—and a brick struck the back of Liang Kun's head without warning.
The crowd erupted in a frenzy, swarming forward.
Liang He's memories of what happened next were a blur. Even as an adult who could look back at the past with composure, he couldn't remember what he had endured in the interim. He only remembered that he didn't speak for a long time. Every day he went to school with his backpack, but instead of going to class, he went to a cave in the mountains. When the sun set, he would carry his backpack home. But somehow Lu Xialan found out. After school, she would secretly come to the cave to find him, telling him about school and the homework the teachers had assigned. Then one day, Liang He didn't know what had come over him. He saw a pond in the countryside and stared at it for a long time. Then he walked toward it, took a step, and fell cleanly into the water.
But he didn't die.
Lu Xialan had run over screaming, drawing adults to save him.
It was also that day, when he woke up soaking wet, that he saw the first white hair on He Chengyan's head.
He didn't know if that single strand was still hidden among the silver hair that now shimmered in the sunlight.
The air in the room was terrifyingly still.
Liang He felt a crushing weight; the eerie, bizarre feeling from years ago had returned. He struggled to calm himself, to return to the track of reason. He said, "Mom, Lu Xialan saved my life back then. In all these years, she has never mentioned it, let alone asked for anything because of it. Based on that alone, I cannot refuse her."
"Yes, she saved your life, but the Lu family owes us a life too!" He Chengyan slammed her hand on the coffee table. "For their own benefit, they destroyed your father. They dragged him from being a university physics professor to some unknown mountain region in Guizhou for 're-education.' They labeled him, smeared him, and ruined his reputation until he died with his grievances unavenged! Even if Lu Xialan saved you, so what? If your father hadn't met with disaster, you wouldn't have been in trouble in the first place. What chance would Lu Xialan have had to play the hero? Even if she saved you, our two families are even—a life for a life. The debt was settled long ago!"
"Mom!" Hearing about Liang Kun, Liang He could no longer hold back. "Was it only the Lu family who harmed Father? Didn't you also divorce him and draw a clear line just to protect yourself, which is why you are now the nationally famous economist He Chengyan? If you hadn't divorced him first, how could everything that followed have happened!"
"Liang He..." He Chengyan's lips trembled with rage. "You... what are you saying! You were so small then; you understood nothing!"
Liang He felt an immense ache in his heart. He thought of the few years his father had left in his life and the final moment he had seen him. He said, "Mom, sometimes I really wish Dad were still alive and the three of us were still together—even if we were wandering the streets with nowhere to call home."
***
