Song Yuan placed down what was in her hand and pulled Rong Ting to sit on the bed.
She earnestly apologized to him. “I’m sorry, Mom forgot. Actually, soaking in the springs isn’t all that different from swimming. First you go to the locker room to change into your swimsuit, then go into the hot spring. Also, they might give you a bracelet. You can use the bracelet to open your locker in the locker room and buy snacks at the snack center. Don’t soak in the hot spring for too long. Your grandpa also knows this. When the soaking is over, you go to take a shower. Then after the shower you take the bracelet and go out.”
Rong Ting quietly engraved these words in his heart.
“Grandpa will be with you, so just do whatever he does. Tomorrow morning Mom will go to the convenience store to buy you a waterproof bag. You can put your phone in it, and if there’s something that’s inconvenient to tell Grandpa, you can call me.”
“Okay.”
Song Yuan sighed in her heart as she saw his well-behaved and sensible appearance, but outwardly she comforted him. “Actually, there are a lot of things that Mom isn’t good at, and there are a lot of places I haven’t gone to, but that’s okay. In the future, any places you haven’t gone to, anything you haven’t experienced, Mom will stay with you for all of them.”
She felt she still wasn’t attentive enough. Why didn’t she realize that Rong Ting had a sense of inferiority when faced with novel things?
Think about it. He hadn’t gone through such experiences or seen such things. He only put on a facade, afraid that others would laugh at him.
When they set off the next day, Song Haiping found that his daughter was being particularly, especially long-winded. Looking at the suitcases placed in the hallway, he felt his head ache. “We’re staying for one night at most. Why does it look like we’re moving out? The hotel has everything.”
“All the things in the case are useful. Anyways, I want a video check-in at night.”
“Aiya, got it, got it. Why are you so long-winded today?”
“Dad–”
When the grandfather and grandson duo finally entered the elevator, the world was much quieter.
Song Haiping gripped the handle of the suitcase with one hand and held Rong Ting’s hand with the other. “It looks like that person became more naggy after becoming a mother, am I right?”
Rong Ting gave a soft snort. “Did not nag you.”
“… you’re showing off, aren’t you?”
Early in the morning, Xie Yanjun called Rong Heng and asked him to join him in meeting an elder today. Xie Yanjun was a forceful parent. On the surface, he was seeking his son’s opinion, but in fact he was just giving a notice. After the illegitimate son’s murder attempt on his son, Xie Yanjun had cleaned up much of his private life. He gave that lover a sum of money and broke things off with her. Given that she had borne him a son, he had wanted to give her some face, but this person was just too greedy, even vying for the Xie family’s property. He couldn’t tolerate it.
He seldom interfered in his son’s life. After all, as a father, there were many things that were difficult or impossible to control. But last time, when he and his friends got together for tea, a friend said something as a warning. That friend said that when he had first seen him when he was a few years old, he’d been afraid that he wouldn’t survive. If A’Heng got married and had a child, then the circumstances wouldn’t be so difficult.
In retrospect it was very reasonable.
If from the beginning A’Heng had already been married and had a child, the company and the family would not have been so panicked.
Xie Yanjun didn’t consult his wife this time, He knew that his wife had been frightened, and she protected her son from everything from then on. If he let her know of his plans, she might want to stop him.
The father and son sat in the backseat. Xie Yanjun cleared his throat. “The doctor said that your vocal cords aren’t damaged, so it should be a psychological problem.”
Rong Heng calmly nodded his head.
“Today I’m bringing you to meet your Uncle Yu1, the boss of the Yu clan. He even held you when you were young. He’s a pretty good person.
“Your Uncle Yu has just one daughter. You’ve been studying abroad since young, and you hadn’t come back to China that entire time, so you wouldn’t have met her. She’s two years younger than you and still studying.”
Rong Ting’s expression shifted minutely upon hearing this, his mood finally changing.
“You’re also in your twenties. When I was your age, I was engaged to your mother.” Xie Yanjun sighed. “Normally speaking, it should be your mom helping you arrange this sort of thing, but your mother’s being unreasonable2 and is afraid that you’ll have another accident. She’s probably not in the right mindset for it. I’ve seen Your Uncle Yu’s daughter before, and Dad won’t harm you. She’s really not bad…”
In fact, Xie Yanjun was also very embarrassed about setting up a blind date for his son like some matchmaker, but he could only bite the bullet and do it. Who told him he only had one son now, who told him to be afraid?
“In any case, you meet her ba, and try to get along. Nowadays, the Xie family doesn’t need to rely on the method of marriage, but nobody dislikes a little extra support3 ba.”
Rong Heng’s expression was wooden. He hadn’t expected that Xie Yanjun would come look for him for this sort of thing.
It truly was… too preposterous!
But he also knew that he was already sitting in the car now, and he was still playing mute. Although he didn’t understand the real Xie Heng’s temperament, he had been observing other people’s reactions when they first faced him, and he could guess that that person had had a good temperament…
“This time, we’re visiting a resort under the Yu family’s name, so you can also relax.”
Rong Heng neither nodded nor shook his head. Xie Yanjun was also aware that Rong Heng was still affected by the psychological trauma and could not speak. There was no meaning in one person asking and answering by himself, so he no longer made a fuss. After all, this was his first time introducing his son to a blind date. He was not very skilled, and he found it awkward.
Rong Ting followed Song Haiping to the hot spring resort, 100% satisfied.
His skin was very pale as he sat in the hot spring in his swim trunks, relishing in the experience with his eyes closed.
Song Haiping ordered a bottle of sake and sat next to him. He soaked in the hot spring as he happily drank the sake. He sighed. “If it were snowing right now, this would taste excellent.”
Rong Ting opened his eyes and saw that his grandfather was drinking. He felt his heart stir. Hands holding to the stairs of the hot spring, he took a step closer, carefully saying, “Grandfather, I’m also thirsty.”
“I don’t think you’re thirsty. You just want something to drink4.” Song Haiping saw Rong Ting’s big eyes darting towards the sake in his hand and understood what was going on. “Don’t cause trouble for me, you can’t drink this. If I let you drink this, your mom and grandma will kill me.”
Rong Ting looked disappointed. He really wanted to give the alcohol a taste. Why did so many people like it?
“Just a drop.” He knew Grandfather doted on him, so he had the courage to go back and forth with him and haggle. Grandfather was easily convinced when facing him and Empress Mother. Maybe if he talked and begged, Grandfather would agree.
“I won’t let you get a whiff of it! You’re harming me, you have no conscience! I brought you to the hot springs, and you want to harm me. No more, you can’t touch wine until you’re an adult. Of course, you can’t touch cigarettes or alcohol either. If you have to touch it, you need to wait until adulthood. If you start smoking in middle school, see if I don’t beat you to death!”
Rong Ting sighed. “If Grandfather is being petty then be petty, if being stingy then be stingy. Is there a need to speak so much?”
No wonder Grandmother didn’t want to listen to you.
“You, this child!”
“Grandfather is just henpecked. No, not henpecked; Grandmother is no longer your hen.” Rong Ting deliberately provoked him. “Grandfather is also afraid of Empress Mother. Empress Mother is your daughter, and you are her father. It’s the first time I’ve heard of a father fearing his daughter.”
“This method of provoking is useless to me. I’m afraid of Yuanyuan because I love her. No matter what you say, I can’t let you drink this wine today.” Song Haiping paused. “When your mom was very little, we had to take her back for her hundredth day5, and there was someone who wanted to dip a chopstick in baijiu6 and give your mom a taste. Your grandma gave that person a verbal lashing, and I almost started a fight. This alcohol is not a good thing, and children should touch it. It’s bad for your health.”
“Ei!”
For Rong Ting this trip to the hot spring was not perfect without being able to taste the sake.
Song Haiping didn’t plan on going back today, and the resort had everything. After soaking in the hot spring, the grandfather and grandson returned to their room. A staff member asked for something last-minute, but fortunately he had brought his laptop. While he was working, Rong Ting approached the desk. “Grandfather, I’m hungry.”
“Then use the phone to call and order something to eat. There’s a menu on the bedside table.”
“I saw. There’s nothing on it I want to eat.”
Song Haiping unthinkingly opened his mouth. “Then go to the restaurant and order something to eat. You can give them the room number.”
“Can I?” Rong Ting wanted to go out for some fresh air. There was no point in being in the room.
“You can.”
The price of this resort was not all that cheap, which meant that the management and security measures here were quite strict.
Song Haiping knew that Rong Ting was a clever child, so he could rest assured about him going to the restaurant by himself.
Rong Ting took his phone and went out. This resort was very large and had both Chinese and western restaurants. He didn’t like western food, so he followed the signs and the directions given by a young woman and finally reached the doors of the Chinese restaurant. He looked inside. There didn’t seem to be many people in the restaurant.
Unwilling to let others look down on him, he swaggered in with his head held high.
He was not tall, and while he was looking for a place, he unwittingly caught sight of a familiar person.
The color of Emperor Father’s hair was easily recognizable. Even with his back to him, he could tell with a glance.
But there was a young woman sitting across from Emperor Father!
The young woman smiled happily, and Rong Ting’s heart leapt to his throat. He was afraid that he’d seen wrong and that Emperor Father would find out, so he moved stealthily. Fortunately, there was something covering him, so he dared to stretch out his head.
After confirming it was Emperor Father, Rong Ting’s heart plummeted straight down. Even his expression was unsightly.
Song Haiping had just finished his work and was getting ready to go look for Rong Ting when he heard an angry knock at the door.
He didn’t know what had happened, nor who was knocking on the door, so he quickly got up and walked over to the door. He opened the door and was stunned.
What was wrong with the kid? Clearly he’d been so happy when he went out, so why was he so desolate when coming back? Like someone owed him a lot of money.
“What’s wrong? Why didn’t you eat dinner at the restaurant?”
Rong Ting scrunched his little bun face, his tiny fists clenched tightly. “Grandfather, I don’t wish to stay here anymore.”
“Why, what’s wrong?” Song Haiping saw him looking like this and brought him inside.
“Nothing. I just miss home and feel a bit uncomfortable.”
“I miss Empress Mother a bit.”
*****
[1] 伯伯: father’s elder brother, but it’s likely being used as a title for the friends of one’s father
[2] 神神叨叨: seems to be a Northeast dialect for saying or doing things normal people wouldn’t do
[3] 锦上添花: on brocade, add flowers; to decorate something already perfect
[4] 嘴巴寂寞: lit. mouth is lonely. I dunno how to phrase this. Getting the munchies?? That feeling when you’re not hungry, but you want something to chew on?
[5] A celebration of a child’s hundredth day is pretty common in Korean culture, and I assume it’s the same for Chinese culture
[6] A super strong alcohol. Its alcohol content can be as high as 65% (disgusting)