Chapter 180: Mid-Autumn Festival

The cafeteria staff member showed it to them and said:

“There is a serial number on this card. Every faculty and staff member in the school has one. I charged money into this one myself; if the money is swiped away, it can’t be added back…”

Having said that, he somewhat apologetically didn’t let Bai Zimu take it to try out.

“The meal card just started being used this month, it’s very convenient. After you charge money into it, you just swipe it, pretty novel, right?”

Bai Zimu took a look, nodded, and said: “I haven’t seen this in other places.”

The other party smiled and said: “That’s right, among all major universities, this is the very first one!”

Bai Zimu asked a few more things, but the person wasn’t very clear, only knowing the operating method, which looked very simple.

Bai Zimu stood there, staying a while longer with interest.

Lu Ping returned very quickly, holding a meal card in his hand. Because it was his first time seeing it, he wasn’t familiar with using it, and swiping it twice didn’t work.

The school official following far behind also noticed, and hurriedly had a secretary come over to help. The secretary wiped the magnetic strip and operated it correctly, but the canteen employee was also clumsy when deducting the money, stumbling through it, and ended up pressing the wrong amount once.

The secretary’s face burned hot. Having just said a few critical words, the employee in the display window lowered his head.

Bai Zimu stopped the secretary and said: “It’s fine, I’m just curious about this card. You can take your time; swiping it a few more times is fine.”

Master He also said: “He didn’t do it on purpose, take your time.”

The secretary smiled and said: “Alright, alright, it is just starting to be used after all, we are also slowly getting the hang of it.”

The cafeteria employee in the display window lowered his head and operated it.

But because this had caused a bit of a stir, the disciples behind Master He also came over. Cang Tian was slow to arrive, but his voice was louder. Before his person had even arrived, he shouted:

“Master, what happened? [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] Why don’t we not eat here? I know a private kitchen where the chef is especially amazing, particularly skilled at making Sizzling Eel Paste, or perhaps we can go back to Baohua Silver Building, and you can try my craft…”

The cafeteria employee in the display window, who was swiping the card, had his fingers slightly stiffen.

After Master He came over, the head wearing the chef’s hat lowered more and more, even burying itself a bit.

The secretary on the side was sweating on his forehead, terrified that Master He’s party might have a bad impression of the school, but it wasn’t good to urge the other party, so he could only whisper:

“Master, don’t worry, press slowly. If you really can’t see the dish prices clearly, find someone younger…”

The other party seemed to be waiting for these words and agreed, wanting to leave.

Although Master He was advanced in age, his ears were very sharp. The person had only let out a single sound, but he heard a trace of familiarity in it, and immediately spoke:

“You come back!”

The cafeteria employee stood there not daring to move, lowered his head to look at the ground, and said in a hoarse voice: “Master…”

“You raise your head,” Master He stepped forward, staring fixedly through the glass, his gaze traveling from the other person’s body to his wrist. Seeing the other party subconsciously hide one hand, he drew a breath, his eye sockets slightly reddening: “Cao Six-Fingers (He was born with six fingers on that hand — a condition known as polydactyly)? Your fingers, how did they go missing?”

The employee’s shoulders trembled. He raised his head slightly—it was a middle-aged man with graying temples. His lips quivered, and he shed tears before a single word could escape.

The two words that remained unsaid were clearly “Master”.

Following Master He’s shout, Lu Ping and the others immediately surrounded him. Upon seeing this, they were all very surprised. Lu Ping muttered a Buddha’s name, while Ma Jie on the side called out “Senior Brother”. The few people who came from Baohua Silver Building all stepped forward to recognize him.

Cao Shanwu walked out, taking off his chef’s hat in his hand, intending to kowtow to his master.

Master He wiped his tears and supported him firmly with both arms, his voice trembling:

“This is not the place to talk. Shanwu, you get up quickly, don’t let outsiders see us as a joke.”

Lu Ping arranged for a place, going to a private room on the second floor of the cafeteria, where a few of them sat and talked.

The people from Baohua Silver Building had never thought they would meet an old acquaintance here, and were all quite excited. When Lu Ping stood up to pour tea, his hands were trembling, spilling the tea, and he hurriedly wiped it away with his sleeve.

Cao Shanwu was wearing a cook’s uniform.

He had aged a lot, his face lined with deep and shallow wrinkles, looking like he hadn’t had an easy life. The only thing gratifying was that his health was considered healthy. He sat there and was busy comforting Master He, smiling and saying:

“Master, look, my arms are actually stronger than before. Over these years, carrying iron pots and flipping the spatula, I’ve gotten quite nimble.”

Master He held his wrist, ignoring the other party’s desire to dodge, and after pulling it before his own eyes to look, he felt a heart-wrenching pain:

“What happened to your hand?”

The hand Cao Shanwu originally had six fingers on now only had four left, leaving an old scar on it.

He tucked that disabled hand into his sleeve, somewhat apologetically:

“While working before, I wasn’t careful and cut it. Later, the little finger also became necrotic, no other way, only managed to keep these few fingers… Master, don’t look anymore, I don’t want to scare you.”

Master He didn’t mind it, immediately telling him to come back:

“Shanwu, resign from this job. Come to me, just stay by my side, don’t go anywhere else.”

Cao Shanwu smiled slightly: “Master, being a cook here is quite good.”

“Nonsense, with your skills, how can you just be a cook…”

“Master, I can only be a cook now.”

Master He was dumbfounded, his gaze fixed on his hand.

Cao Shanwu subconsciously tucked his hand into his sleeve, but quickly restrained himself, calmly placing his hand on the table and letting his master look.

His hand had become rough due to years of labor. Looking closely, it wasn’t hard to find that it would tremble slightly from time to time. His hand was ruined; he couldn’t do precision work. This was an undeniable fact.

Master He let out a choked sob, his eyes rimmed with red:

“It was me who harmed you, harmed all of you…”

Cao Shanwu was startled, flustered and hurriedly getting up. He was clumsy in his movements and didn’t know how to soothe the old man, anxiously saying repeatedly:

“Master, what are you saying? You were also a victim of what happened back then. Not to mention, it wasn’t just you who was locked up, even if it were other master craftsmen, we would still have gone… The one who was wrong was that era, those people who were rotten to the core…”

He said many things incoherently. When that hand was held by Master He, the man over fifty shed tears.

……

After a long time, the emotions of the people in the private room finally calmed down.

Although Master He was sad, he still insisted on keeping Cao Shanwu by his side.

“Speaking of which, it’s all fate. If it weren’t for these few disciples of mine coaxing me to come see the university, I wouldn’t have been able to see you.”

Master He laughed and scolded, but he wasn’t angry at Lu Ping anymore. He pulled Bai Zimu over to introduce him to his disciple:

“Shanwu, this is him. This is Zimu, I went to look at the school for this child today. He is in his third year of high school and will take the college entrance exam soon. If it weren’t for this child coaxing me to come in and stroll around the campus, I wouldn’t have found you today, and we wouldn’t have reunited…”

Cao Shanwu looked at Bai Zimu and was also happy.

He felt around his body, searching for items to use as a first-meeting gift, but he was destitute and poor, and after searching for a while, didn’t find anything valuable.

Bai Zimu was afraid he would be embarrassed, so he took the initiative to say:

“Uncle Cao, do you also have a Soochow University meal card? [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] Can you show me that card?”

Cao Shanwu agreed repeatedly: “Yes, yes, this card is gifted to you, just take it and use it. It’s just that there isn’t much money inside, probably less than 100 yuan…”

Bai Zimu took it with both hands and said seriously: “It’s enough, thank you, Uncle Cao.”

Cang Tian’s eyes were red and swollen from crying, and at this moment he reacted too. Sniffling, he took out a gold ring with embedded jewels and filigree from his pocket. This thing had originally been used as a prop in his lecture just now, a small ring made in the style of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The materials used were good, so he hurriedly handed it to Cao Shanwu, bending down to whisper a word in his ear:

“Senior Brother, you use mine.”

Cang Tian placed the item in Cao Shanwu’s hand, then pushed it towards Bai Zimu, somewhat helping his senior fellow brother do a favor.

Before it could be sent, Bai Zimu smiled and refused:

“No need, Uncle Cao already gave me a great gift just now.”

Cao Shanwu didn’t understand. He had only given a meal card just now, right?

Master He let his disciple fill up the wine. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] He was happy today, pulling Cao Shanwu and the others to drink a few cups together. The old man used a small wine cup, while the others all used teacups. There was no strong liquor here, but warming a pot of yellow wine was enough to intoxicate everyone.

After Master He returned, he kept Cao Shanwu to talk by candlelight all night.

Bai Zimu returned to his room alone, turning that thin meal card in his hand, and holding a fountain pen in the other, writing and drawing on paper.

A moment later, he organized his thoughts.

He just wanted to pick up the mobile phone on the side to dial a number, when he suddenly saw the alarm clock on the table; it was already past 12 o’clock.

After hesitating for a long time, he still didn’t call Lei Dongchuan.

It was already very late, Brother should be asleep by now. Tomorrow he was either going to school or to Baichuan. He didn’t know where Brother got so much energy to do so many things.

Bai Zimu lay on the wooden table, his fingers gently poking the mobile phone twice, then suddenly smiled.

He seemed to have also been slowly assimilated, busy for Baichuan’s affairs until midnight without feeling tired.

If only Brother were by his side.

If he had any thoughts like this, he could tell him face-to-face. As long as his eyes lit up, Brother would be like receiving some signal, and whatever was on his mind could be realized.

Mid-Autumn Festival.

The school gave a half-day holiday, letting everyone go back to eat a reunion dinner.

This was the busiest time for Baichuan, Lei Dongchuan stayed behind to work. Busy and tired, he didn’t have much time to think.

It was just that he would take out his mobile phone to look from time to time. Occasionally waiting for a text message to come, he would stand in place and reply. Back and forth, he replied to quite a few.

If other parents saw this, they might think the child was in puppy love, but when Mother Lei saw this, not only did she not stop it, she would even actively let Lei Dongchuan help her send two messages, asking:

“What did Zimu say, when is he coming home?”

Lei Dongchuan stuffed the mobile phone into his pocket and said: “Need to wait a few more days.”

Mother Lei was even more disappointed than him, pursuing:

“Why? Wasn’t it agreed before that he’d come back after Mid-Autumn?”

She stopped busy working, stood there directing Lei Dongchuan to send a text message with his mobile phone, “You ask, just say it’s my intention, say I miss him, tell him to come back early. Isn’t it just crabs? I’ll buy him a basket—”

Lei Dongchuan sent the original words over, and after waiting for a moment, a reply came.

Mother Lei leaned over to look: “Let me see, what did Zimu say?”

Lei Dongchuan took a look and smiled: “Said he customized a few silk qipao for you, all top-grade Suzhou embroidery. When he comes back, don’t need a basket of crabs, just saving two for him is enough.”

Mother Lei felt both sour and sweet in her heart, sighing:

“Zimu this child, first time leaving home for this long. Last time going to the Bai family wasn’t as long as this time, right?”

Lei Dongchuan looked at the message again, put the mobile phone away, and went to work.

Holidays were the busiest times for supermarkets and hypermarkets. After the day of busyness passed, Mother Lei took Lei Dongchuan to inspect every Baichuan supermarket in the county town once.

The Mid-Autumn banquet was also moved to later.

The countryside valued holidays. Lei Changshou was very supportive of his son and daughter-in-law’s work, not demanding that they must come over. However, seeing his daughter-in-law and grandson come over, the two elders of the Lei family were very happy.

Grandma Lei wanted to go stir-fry a few more dishes, but Mother Lei hurriedly got up and said:

“Mom, no need. Dongchuan and I ate at the banquet outside, Baichuan held a celebration banquet, letting everyone drink a cup of wine. Thinking of you and Dad waiting at home, we specifically rushed back early.”

Grandma Lei said with heartache: “When so busy, no need to specifically run a trip home, how tiring. You, too, need to cherish your body. Dad and I live here all the time, whenever you come back to see us is fine.”

Lei Changshou also smiled and nodded, approvingly:

“Right, Fang Jin, the old saying goes ‘the moon of the 15th is round on the 16th’. Our family will have plenty of opportunities for reunion in the future, no rush.”

He glanced at Lei Dongchuan, seeing the grandson’s footsteps somewhat floating, and asked:

“What’s wrong with Dongchuan, drank alcohol?”

Mother Lei said: “Hey, don’t mention it. Isn’t it happy today at the celebration banquet? Someone came to toast, Dongchuan helped me block it, drank two cups for me.”

“Drank a lot?”

“I don’t know either, this silly boy grew up so tall, I didn’t have time to see—”

Lei Changshou laughed cheerfully: “Dongchuan grew up, knows how to protect you. It’s fine, he sleep for a while and it’ll be fine.”

Lei Dongchuan had a pretty good capacity for alcohol. Sitting there, he didn’t utter much sound, and knew to drink when given soup.

After drinking it, he went to brush his teeth on his own—at this moment he looked drunk, didn’t take the toothbrush, and performed a non-existent object simulation for half a day. The movements were quite standard.

Lei Changshou was amused, handed him a toothbrush. The silly boy stood dazed for half a day, then brushed once seriously.

When sleeping at night, Lei Dongchuan slept in the room he shared with Bai Zimu as usual.

Those few cups of wine quickly made him fall asleep.

Lei Dongchuan had a dream.

He had had such hot dreams before. In the dream, the person was unclear, and it ended in a fog. But this time, he saw clearly.

That person sat beside him as usual, sleeping on the desk. Spring sunshine and a breeze blew, a lock of the other person’s hair curled up slightly, uncontrollably curly just like when he was a child.

Clearly it was in the classroom, but Lei Dongchuan was very bold.

Lei Dongchuan grabbed the boy’s hand and placed his hand on his own body.

The other party was somewhat surprised, his face slowly flushed red, and he glared at him:

“In class—”

The boy’s skin had always been very white, blue veins under the skin could be seen clearly, carrying a cold white luster he was born with. When that beautiful face, which always had an indifferent expression towards everyone, looked at him, what was reflected in those eyes was him. The earlobes and neck flushed red, also because of him.

Before he could pull away, that slender and long hand was grabbed and pulled tight by Lei Dongchuan again. The palm was burning hot, and the force of pressing down was also very heavy.

Lei Dongchuan stared fixedly at him.

Those hands, slightly smaller than his, had distinct knuckles, nails round and clean. Even the slightest struggle became sparks scattered on dry wood. With just one move, it became an uncontrollable prairie fire.

He was more agitated than any other time, his heart almost jumping out of his chest.

Lei Dongchuan also reached out, cautiously touching the other party.

First was the forehead, then the raised bridge of the nose, and then the corners of the lips. He leaned closer, gathered his courage, and planted a kiss on his lips.

The other party closed his eyes, letting him do whatever he wanted.

The clothes on his body were not messy, but he blocked the person in the corner against the wall, watching him lying on the desk trying to cover up everything. He was very patient, his breathing slightly heavier than usual. Even at the very last moment, it was just the nasal sounds rising, letting out a light hum.

Lei Dongchuan let go and whispered: “I just, also want to make you happy.”

He leaned over to speak in his ear, his gaze falling on the ears that were red as if dripping blood, his Adam’s apple rolling slightly. He couldn’t think of the words that followed.

He leaned closer and gently planted a kiss on it.

……

Lei Dongchuan woke up, opening his eyes to look at the ceiling of the bed.

His heart was still pounding wildly.

He reached out and covered it, wanting it to calm down for a moment, but quickly realized the sticky stuff stained on his body. He shook it off and cursed in a low voice.