Chapter 19: When the Leg Aches, Rain Is Near

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“Years ago, my father got beaten by his own students for saying the wrong thing at school. That’s when he injured his leg. The treatment was delayed, and coupled with the humid climate of the Southwest region, some unknown ailment developed. It’s not noticeable usually, but today my father is unwell and walks unsteadily. You watch, it’s bound to rain in the next couple of days.”

Ah Zhe spoke these words with a remarkably calm tone.

Li Xiangdong asked, “You didn’t take him to the hospital?”

“My father and I just got back. We haven’t had time for a check-up yet.”

Ah Zhe smiled, “Anyway, the injured leg of my father is more accurate than the weather forecast now.”

Zhang Sen suddenly stood up, slamming the table with anger on his face: “Damn! You can still laugh? Whoever beat your father like that, a few of us will find him—I’ll make sure he’s done for!”

“Keep your voice down; don’t let my father hear.”

Ah Zhe moved to close the door, but Qian Bin rushed in at that moment. He grabbed a cup from the table without asking whose it was and emptied it in one gulp. “What were you arguing about just now? Ah Zhe, do we have any chili at home? I’m thinking of stir-frying some large intestines.”

“We do. I’ll get it for you. After staying in the Southwest for these years, my father and I have changed our tastes. We lack everything at home except for chili.”

Qian Bin stopped Ah Zhe from leaving the room. “It’s in the kitchen, right? I’ll get it myself. Ah Zhe, you and Dongzi keep chatting.”

After Qian Bin left, Ah Zhe went over and closed the door firmly. Sitting back down at the table, he lit a cigarette and continued, “I appreciate you guys’ goodwill, but the matter is settled. The person who beat my father has already come to apologize. Let’s just leave it at that.”

Changing the topic, he said, “Binzi, I know he’s been working in his father’s restaurant kitchen. What about you guys, after coming back from the countryside? Have you been assigned jobs?”

Xiang Lin touched his shaved head. “Didn’t I just tell you? I was assigned to be an apprentice at a barbershop.”

Zhang Sen looked embarrassed. “I was assigned by the neighborhood committee to pedal a tricycle. Been doing it for a while now.”

“I’m reporting to the passenger transport section under the Beijing Railway Bureau tomorrow.”

Li Xiangdong didn’t want to say it; it felt like bragging. But since everyone else had spoken up, he had no choice.

“Damn! Dongzi, weren’t you assigned to pop popcorn by the neighborhood committee?”

“Yeah, Dongzi, I heard that too. Why are you running off to the railway system again?”

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Xiang Lin and Zhang Sen heard Li Xiangdong say he was going to report to the railway system tomorrow. They were admittedly envious, but it was harmless curiosity.

“We’re in the same place!”

Ah Zhe looked surprised. He too had been assigned by the neighborhood committee to the passenger transport section of the Beijing Railway Bureau, but he had no intention of going.

Xiang Lin seized the opportunity. “What do you mean ‘no intention’? Ah Zhe, you weren’t assigned to the railway system too, were you?”

Seeing Ah Zhe nod, Zhang Sen jokingly complained, “That’s so unfair! I want to work for the railway system too. Pedaling this tricycle every day has my legs all swollen!”

Xiang Lin laughed heartily. “Come on, if anyone should go, it’s the three of us. With your long legs, it’s a waste not to pedal a tricycle.”

“Get lost! Who said long legs mean you have to pedal a tricycle? You’re just jealous that I’m taller than you. Who told you not to eat well growing up so now I have to look down when I talk to you?”

Zhang Sen shouted for Xiang Lin to stand up and compare heights.

Seeing these two about to argue again, Ah Zhe laughed. “You two, stop it. Honestly, I don’t plan to take the job assigned by the neighborhood committee. Maybe I’ll go talk to them and transfer my job to you two—though I don’t know if they’d agree.”

Xiang Lin quickly said, “Ah Zhe, we’re just joking around. I have no intention of stealing your job. If I did, would I still be human?”

“Yeah, man, you’re not the kind of person we think you are!” Zhang Sen chimed in. He was just teasing, never serious.

“Ah Zhe, don’t act on your own whims. The neighborhood committee isn’t your family business; you don’t get to decide.”

Li Xiangdong asked knowingly, “Besides, if you don’t take the job assigned by the neighborhood committee, what do you plan to do?”

Ah Zhe hesitated before saying, “Many families have had troubles over the years, but most returned last year. Why has my family only come back now? It’s because my mother and my grandfather’s family say we have overseas ties. My father still hasn’t been assigned a job. The two of us plan to go abroad soon to join my mother.”

Xiang Lin and Zhang Sen were quite surprised by this news, but Li Xiangdong was not.

In a past life, Ah Zhe and his father had gone abroad like this. Because communication was inconvenient, they had little contact. Ah Zhe had returned once after the millennium, so he knew some of the situation.

After arriving abroad, Ah Zhe and his father, through local overseas Chinese, found his mother and grandfather’s family. But his mother had already remarried and had several children.

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The two of them didn’t make a fuss over this and simply rented a place to live abroad, staying there.

Li Xiangdong knew that because of language and skin color, their days afterward were not very comfortable.

Especially since, to go abroad, they had sold their family’s courtyard house. After the millennium, Ah Zhe wanted to buy it back but was stunned when he heard the price from Li Xiangdong.

Knowing that Ah Zhe and his father were not doing well overseas, Li Xiangdong, as a friend, felt compelled to offer some advice.

“Ah Zhe, do you have your mother’s or grandfather’s address abroad?”

Ah Zhe nodded. “My father knows. After my mother left, she sent us letters.”

“Good that you have an address. Ah Zhe, since we’ve been childhood friends, I might speak plainly. Don’t take it the wrong way.”

When Ah Zhe gestured for him to continue, Li Xiangdong went on, “After so many years, how can you be sure your mother hasn’t remarried? I think you should write her a letter first and ask how she’s doing.”

Ah Zhe hadn’t expected such words from Li Xiangdong, but he knew his friend meant well. They were all adults; some things were obvious on reflection.

“Dongzi, thank you. I’ll discuss it further with my father.”

“There’s nothing to discuss. Ah Zhe, do you speak foreign languages? Don’t lose yourself when you go abroad.”

“Xiao Lin is right. If you leave, we won’t see you anymore. You’ll be lonely over there.”

Xiang Lin and Zhang Sen each said a word, urging Ah Zhe not to go abroad.

“I still say, you and your father need to consider this carefully.”

Li Xiangdong still remembered clearly that when Ah Zhe returned to China in the past, he was followed by a big, black, chubby guy.

Ah Zhe had introduced him as his son. Li Xiangdong was blown away at the time!