After circling his car without finding Jin Chao and Jiang Mu, San Lai had planned to climb the concrete post for a better view. Instead, he witnessed this intolerable scene.
Boss Wan squinted at the oddly dressed young man for a while. If not for the bare concrete post beneath his feet, such extravagant attire might suggest he was performing in some stage play—why else would anyone normally dressed like that climb up there?
However, Boss Wan soon recognized the young man and chuckled, “Ah, it’s Old Lai’s son. I was just drinking with your father before the New Year. Haven’t seen you visit home much lately?”
The mention of his father angered San Lai. He dramatically flung his scarf behind him and retorted, “Next time you drink with my father, please remind him to pay back what he owes.”
“…” Everyone exchanged bewildered looks, unsure what was happening.
Boss Wan spoke leisurely, “Little Lai, your father and I go way back. This matter with Drinking King—I advise you to stay out of it.”
San Lai hitched up his trouser leg, showing off his gleaming high-top leather shoes, and declared, “As they say, each wave of the Yangtze River pushes at the one ahead, each generation surpasses the last. Since you’re such good friends with my father, I’ll get involved.”
Boss Wan frowned. The kid’s words were flowing but nonsensical and illogical. He finally understood his father’s expression of resignation when mentioning his son.
After craning his neck upward for so long, Boss Wan’s neck was getting sore. He beckoned, “Young man, come down if you want to talk. Why stay up so high?”
San Lai replied with bravado, “I’d love to come down, but it’s too high to jump!”
“…”
While Boss Wan and San Lai were arguing, a group of elderly men and women cheerfully approached from the scenic area’s east gate, heading straight for a nearby Iveco van. Someone retrieved a banner from the van, and they lined up for photos. Due to poor lighting and background in the parking lot, they discussed returning to the main entrance for better pictures.
Though too far away to see the people clearly, Jiang Mu could make out “West Hollow Senior Activity Club” written on the banner.
Just as Boss Wan turned his attention back to Jin Chao, Jiang Mu raised her hand and shouted, “Grandpa Tao!”
The group with the banner turned around instantly. Jiang Mu continued waving and shouting, “It’s me, Jiang Nanshan!”
Jin Chao raised an eyebrow at her, wondering about this strange name.
Though the elderly men had poor eyesight, they immediately recognized Jiang Mu upon hearing “Jiang Nanshan.” They headed over en masse, carrying their huge banner.
Soon the small space was packed with people. Grandpa Tao smiled at Jiang Mu, asking, “You’re here to burn incense too?”
Then he nodded at Boss Wan’s group with a smile, “Are these your relatives?”
Jiang Mu quickly waved her hands, “No, we just met them here, and they were about to start a fight.”
As an honorary member of the senior club, Jiang Mu’s words of trouble immediately sparked action. The elderly men spontaneously surrounded Boss Wan’s group with their banner, loudly condemning them: “Who are these people? They look like troublemakers!”
One elderly man, a retired neighborhood police officer who’d spent years handling local disputes in their small town, recognized faces in the crowd. He stared at one young man and asked, “Aren’t you the son from the Mao family in Building 201, Unit 15, New District 3?”
He pulled out his phone: “Hey, Old Mao, Happy New Year! I’m at Wuyin Temple burning incense and ran into your grandson. Terrible business—he says he’s going to hit a young girl here.”
“…I didn’t say that.”
The crowd stirred as one man raised his fist to intimidate the gossipy old man, but before he could, a nearby elderly woman threw herself onto a car hood, crying, “Help! They’re attacking people!”
She grabbed the man’s waistband and shouted, “My son works at the courthouse! What’s your name? Don’t you dare leave—if you’re brave, wait for my son to arrive!”
As she began dialing her son, chaos erupted. An elderly man with a sage-like appearance and white beard confronted Boss Wan, saying, “The ancients say…”
“To hell with your ancients!” He Zhang cursed.
Boss Wan silently turned and got into his car. His young followers, faced with elderly men pointing and cursing, could only clench their fists in frustration. Unable to raise a hand against the elderly group, they retreated in humiliation.
Meanwhile, San Lai kept shouting from his concrete perch about wanting to come down. The elderly group finally noticed him, with one woman turning and crying out in shock, “Someone is standing up there!”
Eventually, two helpful old men managed to help him down, each supporting one leg.
With the situation resolved, the elderly group prepared to return to the main entrance for their photo session, inviting Jiang Mu along. Unable to refuse, she joined the procession of senior club members. While they chatted and laughed along the way, Jin Chao and San Lai exchanged helpless looks before following.
The elderly women crouched in the front row, men standing behind, with Jiang Mu pulled to the center to hold the banner. While arranging everyone, some women complained about the men’s uniformly gray-black clothing looking dull in photos. They spotted San Lai and insisted his red scarf would add color, pulling him into the group of elderly men.
They thrust a professional DSLR camera into the hands of Jin Chao, who had been smoking nearby, telling him, “Young man, take several shots, and make us look younger!”
Jin Chao extinguished his cigarette and stepped before the group, bemused. While he could handle basic photography, he had no idea how to make people look younger.
Several elderly women enthusiastically surrounded him, teaching him about angles and camera placement, while complimenting his looks and asking if he had a girlfriend, offering to make introductions.
Jin Chao wore an awkward expression as he deflected, “Yes, yes, my kid’s already old enough to run errands.”
The women looked disappointed. He glanced up to see Jiang Mu giving him a cool stare, making him smile as he raised the camera to capture her expression.
The elderly group had high standards for their photos, making San Lai wave his scarf for dramatic effect and having Jin Chao adjust for different lighting angles. San Lai got into it, even wrapping his scarf around the necks of two nearby elderly men to add more color. Jin Chao had never experienced such an absurd New Year’s celebration, wondering how he’d been drafted into the senior club’s impromptu photo session.
…
After getting in his car, He Zhang turned from the passenger seat to ask, “Boss Wan, were you serious about matchmaking Little Qing with that kid?”
Wan Shengbang leaned back in his seat, eyes half-closed, and replied with a soft snort, “Little Qing has been arguing with me about Drinking King for half a year. If I didn’t force her to see today in front of everyone, she might never give up.”
He Zhang relaxed, his expression finally softening, “I thought you wanted to take him as a son-in-law.”
Wan Shengbang spoke slowly, “If he were truly willing to set aside his grudge against me for Little Qing’s sake, I might have agreed.”
He Zhang frowned, “You think that highly of him?”
As their car wound through the streets, Wan Shengbang slowly opened his eyes to look out the window, saying, “In a jungle full of dangers, you never know when an enemy might stab you in the back. When a fierce beast appears, the most clever solution isn’t to hunt it—but to tame it.”
He Zhang fell silent for a moment, then heard Boss Wan continue: “Of course, if it can’t be tamed, the safest option is still…”
He turned to He Zhang with an icy smile: “Your small provocations only feed the beast’s ferocity. It’s time to consider other methods.”
…
On the drive back, they asked Jiang Mu about the name “Jiang Nanshan.”
The story went back two months to her chess matches in West Hollow. She had played against an elderly man named Zhang Beihai—the sage-like gentleman with a white beard. Their game had been intense, lasting for hours as worthy opponents. When they learned Jiang Mu was a girl from the south, the nickname spread through the pavilions of West Hollow, and thus the legend of Zhang Beihai versus Jiang Nanshan was born.
Not everyone knew Jiang Mu, but everyone knew of Jiang Nanshan.
Having lived in Tonggang for so many years, Jin Chao and San Lai had never heard of anything so absurd, shaking their heads with laughter. After all, West Hollow was a local middle-aged and elderly community, highly organized and notably exclusive.
After San Lai parked beneath Jin Qiang’s building, Jiang Mu got out, walked a few steps, then turned back. Jin Chao lowered the window to look at her. “What is it?”
Jiang Mu hesitated without speaking. San Lai stuck his head over, “Afraid to go up alone?”
Jiang Mu retorted, “Not at all.”
Then she simply said, “Goodbye, Brother San Lai,” glanced at Jin Chao, and hurried upstairs.
San Lai’s head still hung in front of Jin Chao as he watched her disappear, sighing, “Don’t you think Little Mu looks pretty dressed up like this?”
Jin Chao lowered his eyes to the head in front of him and closed the window.
San Lai pulled back and drove toward Tongren. On the way, he suddenly asked, “Why did you hold her hand back there?”
Jin Chao stared ahead without responding. San Lai glanced at him and clicked his tongue.
Jin Chao rested his elbow on the window, answering flatly, “Didn’t want her getting the wrong idea.”
“Wrong idea about what? How do you know what she’s thinking? So what if she thinks something? Why hold her hand?”
Jin Chao glanced at San Lai’s persistence and rubbed his temples. “Did I hold your hand? Why are you so worked up?”
San Lai immediately broke into a knowing smile: “Ah, Drinking King, karma’s caught up with you.”
Jin Chao shot back, “Don’t worry, karma will get you before it gets me.”
San Lai continued unprompted, “I told you before—don’t be too cold to girls. Reject too many, and when the one you want stands before you, karma strikes. Tell me, doesn’t it hurt?”
Jin Chao pulled out a cigarette and tossed it to him to shut him up, turning to stare out the window at the dark, endless road ahead, his brow gradually furrowing.
…
The next day, Jin Qiang and Zhao Meijuan returned with Jin Xin. They called Jin Chao to come home for dinner, but he said he had business and couldn’t return for a few days.
Hearing this, Jiang Mu went to her room and messaged him, asking what was wrong.
Jin Chao didn’t call back until that afternoon. The background was very noisy, with San Lai nearby arguing with someone.
Jin Chao told her that Iron Rooster’s family had an emergency—his father had jumped from their old house’s roof early that morning and was now fighting for his life in critical care. He’d be staying there for a few days. He’d already spoken with Jin Qiang about having her go with him to the auto shop that afternoon to bring Lightning home.
Someone called for him, and Jin Chao hung up hurriedly. Though Jiang Mu didn’t know what had happened, she went with Jin Qiang to the shop that afternoon. Jin Chao had left the keys in a flowerpot by San Lai’s store entrance.
They brought Lightning home, but at the building entrance, Jin Qiang went to buy cigarettes, telling Jiang Mu to wait. Lightning’s poor health meant limited control over bodily functions, leaving a trail from the cage. As Jiang Mu struggled to move the cage to a tree, a middle-aged woman passed by and started lecturing: “What kind of dog owner are you? You can’t let it soil the whole building! How are people supposed to walk here? Dog owners these days have no consideration.”
Jiang Mu apologized repeatedly, promising to get cleaning supplies from upstairs immediately. The woman continued grumbling, “I don’t even want to scold you during the New Year, young lady dressed up so nicely but doing such uncivilized things.”
Nearby neighbors, not knowing the situation, all turned to stare at Jiang Mu, who blushed crimson. Just then, Zhao Meijuan threw open her fifth-floor window and shouted down, “Aunt Liu, mind your karma! Better hope when you’re down one day with no control over your functions, your daughter-in-law doesn’t call you uncivilized!”
Aunt Liu looked up at Zhao Meijuan, pointing, “What’s it to you?”
Zhao Meijuan stood her ground, her voice carrying across ten buildings: “Why wouldn’t it concern me? My girl, my dog—just wait till I come down!”
She rushed downstairs in her slippers, full of righteous anger. Jin Qiang returned with his cigarettes, asking about the commotion. Seeing their unified front, Aunt Liu left without another word.
Zhao Meijuan called a few more times toward Aunt Liu’s window before helping carry the dog cage upstairs. Jiang Mu followed, wanting to say “thank you” several times but unable to get the words out.
These days, Jiang Mu usually slept until she naturally woke. Several times when Jin Qiang wanted to wake her for breakfast, Zhao Meijuan stopped him: “Let her sleep more—once school starts, she won’t get the chance.”
However, on the fourth day of the New Year, Jiang Mu was awakened by the aroma of stir-frying. She walked out of her room in pajamas with messy hair to find Jin Xin crouched by the cage playing with Lightning, while Jin Qiang and Zhao Meijuan were making dumplings. She wondered who was cooking that smelled so good.
She shuffled to the kitchen door with her disheveled short hair to find Jin Chao wearing an apron and handling the wok. He managed the stir-frying with casual expertise, his tall frame making the large wok look like a toy in his hands.
Sensing movement at the door, he turned to look at her for a few seconds, his lips curving slightly: “Morning.”
Catching her reflection in the kitchen window—hair exploding like a bird’s nest—Jiang Mu yelped and ran away. Jin Qiang wondered aloud, “What’s she jumping at?”
Jin Chao turned back to his cooking, an undefined light flickering in his eyes.