Rong Heng very rarely called Song Yuan. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to; he wanted to see her every day, and he wanted to call her every day, but he couldn’t. He didn’t dare to take one wrong step, so he could only take it slowly like he was now. After counting down the days to New Years Eve, he finally found an excuse to dial her phone.
In the early morning of New Year’s Eve, Song Yuan was quite busy with dressing up not only herself, but Rong Ting as well.
Two people stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirror, looking like one large and one small red envelope1.
Song Yuan was wearing a red down jacket, and Rong Ting was dressed in the same style. It was extra festive, completely in line with the theme of New Year.
“Hello.” Song Yuan was watching Rong Ting write couplets when she answered the phone.
“It’s me.”
“En, I know, there’s caller ID.”
Rong Heng was silent for a moment, then said, “Happy New Year.”
“En, happy New Year to you, too.” Song Yuan wasn’t the kind of person to let the atmosphere get awkward. “Gugu is writing the couplets. We’ll put it up later.”
The cheerfulness in her tone made him involuntarily lift the corners of his mouth. “I’ve seen his calligraphy. His writing is indeed excellent.”
“He’s always saying that you have no equal in painting and calligraphy.” Song Yuan gave a light sigh, then said, “That’s right, I’m going to go see a psychologist to see if I can cure my amnesia. I asked the doctor. Since your amnesia was likely caused by damage to the brain, you could also go for treatment.”
Rong Heng’s expression froze, as though he hadn’t expected her to mention it. His gaze was profound, but his voice was as gentle as ever. “En, I’m receiving treatment, but the results aren’t very good. The doctor said to take it slow. I’m also taking medicine.”
“How did I not hear about this…” Song Yuan was somewhat surprised. “It looks like you were really hurt that time. My dad said that you were apparently resuscitated several times. Honestly, you don’t need to force yourself to remember.”
“Then why do you want to get treated? Do you want to remember?” Rong Heng asked her.
“I feel like I should. After all, I must have stayed in the ancient times for a long time. I can’t be muddleheaded or ignorant and act like that period of time didn’t exist ba.”
“I think so too. I always feel like I’ve forgotten some important people and things. After a while, I’m planning on going abroad. I’ve heard that there are some excellent doctors outside the country. There’s something I want to ask you.”
“What is it?”
Rong Heng’s expression was strained. “If, later, we recover our memories, and you find out that I was a terrible person, or that I hurt you, would you stop me from seeing… Rong Ting?”
It was a bit of a tricky question ah.
Song Yuan glanced at Rong Ting earnestly grinding ink, pondered for a moment, and gave an honest response. “I wouldn’t.”
“Really?”
“No matter what, you are his dad ah. If he wants to see you and you want to see him, I won’t stop it. With divorced couples nowadays, there’s no one who would stop the other party from seeing their children ba. The law would hold them accountable.”
Divorced…
Rong Heng suddenly understood her meaning.
She just treated them as an ex-husband and ex-wife who have already divorced.
Song Yuan had actually thought about this issue. Based on her knowledge of the historical abusive novels she had read when she was young and thoughtless, the fact that she was able to sit in the empress’s throne and give birth to a child who became the crown prince suggested that her footing in the harem wasn’t too miserable. The most pitiful plot she could think of was her being used as a diversion by the emperor, when in fact the emperor had a white moonlight2 in his heart, and he was only favoring her to protect that white moonlight… The most heartbreaking plot was the emperor fearing the General’s estate and disliking the General whose meritorious deeds overshadowed the master, and in the end causing her elder brother’s death…
If Rong Heng had a white moonlight, and she was a target, then upon thinking about it more carefully, she didn’t really care. After all, she didn’t like him now.
If he had caused her elder brother’s death… she found it too unlikely because from Rong Ting’s words, the emperor was a wise ruler. But it was also hard to say whether Rong Ting didn’t have fifty layers of filters regarding his Emperor Father!
As Song Yuan mused to herself, Rong Heng laughed lightly. “Then I’ll apologize to you first. No matter what I did in the past, I have to say sorry to you.”
“You don’t remember anything, so why would you say sorry?”
Rong Heng’s tone suddenly grew dispirited. “I’m afraid that I won’t have the chance to apologize to you in the future.”
Song Yuan said magnanimously, “As long as there’s no bloody enmity between us, I’ll accept your apology.”
“Thank you.”
On the third day of the new year, Song Yuan visited the People’s Hospital again.
It was not for her amnesia, but for her grandfather, Grandpa Song, who had been admitted to the hospital. Grandpa Song had high blood pressure, and this time the blood pressure had not dropped and had risen to nearly two hundred. Frightened, the family rushed him to the hospital. People at Grandpa Song’s age were most wary of cerebral hemorrhages. When he arrived at the hospital, he had to undergo a myriad of tests, and only after using their connections did they find a bed in the inpatient unit. Song Yuan wanted to take Rong Ting to go see Grandpa Song, but she was stopped by Chen Linjing.
Until now, there were many people in the Song family who believed that Rong Ting was Song Haiping’s illegitimate son.
Song Haiping also didn’t want to explain. It was just, how were they supposed to explain? Song Yuan didn’t know either. She could have no reservations for her parents, but not so for other people. If the news were leaked out, wouldn’t it be a bad situation for Rong Ting? After all, it was bizarre for a person from the ancient times to transmigrate to the modern times. It could attract the attention of relevant parties.
Grandpa Song very much liked Chen Linjing, this ex-daughter-in-law of his. In the past, when he found out about his son’s affair, he took out his belt and brutally thrashed his son, Song Haiping, causing him to lay in bed for half a month. In the words of Grandpa Song, the Song family was so upright, so how could they bring up this rat shit?
Now, if Song Yuan were to bring over Rong Ting to see the elder, he would likely die of anger.
Therefore, since the elder was getting up there in age and wanted someone to keep him company, and Song Yuan was considered to be relatively idle amongst her cousins, she could only stay with him.
Once Song Yuan arrived at the hospital, she discovered the her grandfather’s physician was Dr. Meng.
Dr. Meng’s name was Meng Jingyan.
Grandpa Song was full of praise about Meng Jinghan and even began to ask about Dr. Meng’s private life. In just a short two or three days, the elder had stunningly managed to ask about where Dr. Meng lived, how many people there were in his family, and what his parents’ professions were.
In fact, when Song Yuan brought over the congee today, the elder chuckled mysteriously as he pulled her in to whisper, “Yuanyuan, Grandpa told you that there’s no day like today3. This Doctor Meng is very good–he’s still single, and he’s only thirty this year! He’s young, and his future is boundless. Grandpa’s been watching him, and he’s an excellent person. He’s very patient with us old fellows, has good character, and his salary… Grandpa didn’t get to ask yet, but that’s fine. Our family isn’t short on money!”
Song Yuan was dumbstruck. “Grandpa, what are you doing? You’re here to be hospitalized!”
“If Grandpa can solve your problems while in the hospital, then Grandpa will profit from this hospitalization.” The elder was a logical genius. “Yuanyuan, Grandpa is telling you, when looking for a partner, everything else is secondary–the character and temperament must be good. This Doctor Meng is truly very good.”
Meng Jingyan had an excellent temper. During his rounds, the elder said to him, “Doctor Meng, my granddaughter doesn’t know how to get to the cafeteria. If it’s convenient, could you take her there ah?”
Song Yuan felt that her grandfather’s request was a bit inappropriate.
But Dr. Meng nodded with a smile. “That’s fine.”
After Song Yuan helplessly followed Dr. Meng out the door with her lunch box, the elder proudly boasted to the elderly lady in the next bed over. “You see, Doctor Meng should be my family’s grandson-in-law, don’t try to snatch from me. In any case, your granddaughter definitely isn’t as beautiful as my family’s Yuanyuan.”
This old man had been traveling the world for so many years. It was a miracle that he hadn’t been jumped by a mob.
Song Yuan and Dr. Meng didn’t have much to talk about. Dr. Meng was a complete gentleman. He took her to the cafeteria and even lent her his meal card, but Song Yuan didn’t dare to take it.
Dr. Meng was wearing a white coat, and he had an elegant demeanor. Just standing in the cafeteria drew in many people’s attention.
Rong Ting did not follow Chen Linjing out today. He didn’t like eating outside food from restaurants, so Chen Linjing had no choice but to buy some vegetables and cook some food for her grandson.
When Rong Ting finished eating, Chen Linjing had a last-minute dinner party and had to leave. There was only Rong Ting left at home, but he really enjoyed the feeling of being at home.
Reading a book, eating soft candies, drinking Yakult, and having washed strawberries on the coffee table–it was the ultimate enjoyment.
While he was immersed in reading, his iPad rang with a video chat request. He clicked on it and saw that it was a call from Emperor Father. Not daring to remain lying down, he immediately sat upright. He shoved all the Yakult and snacks into the drawer of the coffee table before connecting to the call.
Rong Ting no longer called Rong Heng Emperor Father, and he also acted based on the situation. At the moment, he didn’t know if there was anyone else with Rong Heng, so he could only politely call him Uncle.
Rong Heng sat along in the living room, and the contents of the conversation between the father and son pair was monotonous–
“Have you eaten?”
“I’ve eaten.”
“Did you practice calligraphy today?”
“I practiced for an hour.”
“Did you read a book?”
“I read for half an hour.”
Rong Heng laid the groundwork for a long time and finally asked, “And your mom?”
“She went to the hospital to accompany Great-grandfather.”
“What’s wrong? An illness?” Rong Heng asked, concerned.
Rong Ting was still unused to this sort of Emperor Father, but he still answered honestly, “Great-grandfather is ill and in the hospital. These past few days, Empress Mother has been going to the hospital in the morning to accompany him, then returning in the afternoon.”
“En, I’ll come over sometime in the next few days. Is there anything you want to eat?”
“Nothing.” Rong Ting asked hesitantly, “Emperor Father, when will you come visit?”
“I’ll call you and your mom before I come over.”
Neither the father nor son wanted to continue the awkward chat. After hanging up, Rong Ting returned to his room and opened the drawer of the bedside table. Inside lay the jade pendant that he had taken from Emperor Father’s secret room. He constantly felt that Emperor Father had not lost his memories. Should he probe Emperor Father once?
*****
[1] 红包: a red envelope with money that’s often given out by elders during the new years holiday, though it’s also given out during other holidays or special celebrations.
[2] 白月光: has a similar connotation as first love. Your white moonlight is someone who you yearned for, but was never able to attain for some reason or other. Originally came from one of Zhang Ailing’s works about the two types of women in men’s hearts
[3] 过了这个村可没这个店: something like “once you pass this village, there is no shop.” Basically, seize the chance now because there won’t be another one in the future