"Father, today is the moon festival, so the moon is at its brightest and roundest. Mother must have seen our celebration and seen us eating delicious mooncakes, right?" At the entrance of the restaurant, Amy lay in Mag's arms and looked up at the moon as Mag sat on the stairs.
All of their friends had departed and everything had fallen silent, yet the bright moon still hung high in the sky.
"Of course. She must have seen Amy's adorable dance and seen us eat delicious mooncakes." Mag nodded in response.
Amy cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled up at the moon, "Mother! It's me, Amy! I really miss you!"
Mag looked down at Amy, and his heart throbbed with sympathy.
"The mooncakes really are very delicious, though; Father made the mooncakes from the moon. It's a pity that you can't taste them, but you can watch as I eat them." Amy suddenly pulled out a green bean paste mooncakes from her little pocket and took off the wrapping oil paper before taking a large bite. She chewed joyfully before swallowing, and raised the mooncake high above her head. A smile appeared on her face as she said, "Look, it's really super delicious! We'll finish eating the entire moon someday, then come to rescue
you!"
The sorrow in Mag's heart was washed away by Amy's amusing words as he burst into laughter. He patted Amy's little head, and said, "You'll have to work hard then, Amy. The moon may not look very big, but it's actually even larger than Chaos City."
"Really?" Amy's eyes widened in disbelief as she looked up at Mag. She then looked at her mooncake and compared it to the moon as she said, "But, Father, look, the moon is the same size as my mooncake! I can eat half of it in one bite."
"Well, it's kind of like how when a person stands far away from you, they look very tiny, but they're a lot bigger when they're standing right in front of you. This is an illusion caused by distance. The moon is very, very far away from us, so it looks like it's the same size as your mooncake, but it's actually extremely massive," Mag patiently explained.
"Oh..." Amy nodded even though her expression indicated that she didn't really understand. She took another bite of her mooncake, and looked up at the moon with an admiring gaze as she sighed. "I also want to live on the moon."
"Why?" Mag was perplexed.
"In that case, if I ever get hungry, I can just lay on the ground and take a bite of the moon. It must be really delicious!" Amy looked up at the moon with a bright look in her eyes.
The imagery of Amy biting off a chunk of a moon appeared in Mag's mind, and he couldn't help but chuckle. However, he didn't continue his science lesson. A child's heart was something that had to be preserved, not crushed by scientific facts.
"Father, tell me a story. I want to listen to a story with Mother today." Amy turned to look up at Mag.
"Sure. Today is the moon festival, so I'll tell you the story of 'Chang'e Flying to the Moon'," Mag replied with a smile.
"Yay!" Amy was elated as she settled into a more comfortable position, nestling in Mag's arms before looking up at him with anticipation in her eyes.
A smile appeared on Mag's face as he began to tell the story. "Once upon a time, there were 10 suns in the sky..."
The story of Chang'e Flying to the Moon had been told to Mag by his grandmother countless times as a child. She would tell him the story almost every moon festival, and even as a young man over 20 years old, Mag would still pay attention and listen to her tell the story.
That adorable old woman had already forgotten the names of many people due to her dementia, but she still remembered how to make the osmanthus cakes that her grandson loved the most, and she made sure to cook some for him every moon festival.
During the first moon festival after his grandmother had passed away, Mag didn't hear the story, and was unable to sleep for an entire night. He felt as if something irreplaceable was missing in his heart.
However, as he told the story to Amy, he felt as if he had returned to that small courtyard in which he had spent his childhood. He felt as if the benevolent old woman was back, telling him that age-old story. This was the feeling of inheritance. It created a connection between three generations of people that transcended beyond space and time. In that instant, the hole in Mag's heart was filled.
Mag continued to tell the story in a gentle voice. "Chang'e took the immortality pill and rose into the sky, all the way until she flew up to the moon..."
"And then... she ate the moon?" Amy asked.
"Why would you think that?" Mag asked with a smile.
"Because the moon is sometimes missing a chunk, and that chunk slowly becomes larger and larger until almost the entire thing has been eaten. Then, it takes a while to recover back to it's full size. After that, Chang'e must have returned to the moon and begun eating it again. It's a good thing that the moon can recover. Otherwise, we wouldn't even have a moon anymore," Amy analyzed with a serious expression.
"Er..." Mag had no response to this. It was not a simple task to explain the lunar cycle in such a unique way. As expected of a little foodie like her.
"She can even finish such a big moon, so it must be super delicious. When we find Mother, I also want to eat the moon... Eat... Moon..." Amy murmured as she fell asleep in Mag's arms.
"Moon... Moon... I'm gonna eat you..." Mag couldn't help but smile at the sight of Amy smacking her lips in her sleep. He looked up into the sky, only to find that half of the moon had already been obscured by dark clouds. It appeared that it was going to rain that night.
He rose to his feet with Amy in his arms, and was just about to enter the restaurant when he detected someone behind him, and turned around again.
A figure emerged from the square and limped his way toward Mag. Despite limping, he was walking rather briskly, and soon arrived at the restaurant entrance. He smiled at Mag, and said, "The mooncakes were really delicious. Would I be able to purchase a box from you? I'd love to be able to take a box back for my kids."
"Of course, that's not a problem, but I'll need some time to make the mooncakes, so come in and have a seat." Mag cast a surreptitious glance toward the dense vegetation nearby before quickly withdrawing his gaze. He nodded at Louis and opened his door, making sure to scan the few passersby on the streets with his eyes before entering.
Louis had also realized that something was wrong, but he still calmly followed Mag into the restaurant.
"I'll carry Amy upstairs and tuck her in first. Feel free to have a seat anywhere. It looks like the annoying rats came, after all," Mag remarked as he carried Amy up the stairs.