A leisurely life starting in a bar after being reborn

Aunt Zhao Chunhua was busy in the kitchen, bringing out a large table of dishes—Anqiu's cuisine is heavier than Bincheng's, with more oil and salt, but they are all hearty dishes: fried lotus root, braised pork, stewed goose, steamed rice cake, and cold pig's ear salad.

Fu Xin and Fu Yao came out from the inner room to greet each other.

Fu Xin is 21 years old, the same age as Fu Xiao. She is a junior at Qiqihar University of Foreign Languages, majoring in English. She looks like her father, with a round face, not very tall, wearing black-rimmed glasses, speaking slowly, and looking quite quiet.

Fu Yao is fourteen years old and just started junior high school. He is a quiet and reserved person with his hair tied in a ponytail. He is always playing video games with his head down and occasionally replies with an "um".

Fu Xiao pulled Fu Xin's hand and sat down on the sofa. The two cousins, who were the same age, immediately started chattering—talking about school, teachers, clothes, and cosmetics, leaving Fu Yan no chance to get a word in edgewise.

While cooking in the kitchen, Zhao Chunhua complained to Liu Meilan, "Sister-in-law, tell me, isn't this old lady's favoritism just too much? As soon as Xiaoyan came in, she wanted to bring out all the good food in the house. But when my Fuxin came back, she just grunted and didn't even pour him a sip of hot water!"

Liu Meilan could only force a smile: "That's just how Mom is, don't take it to heart..."

"I'm not taking it to heart, I'm just feeling sorry for my daughter. Fu Xin is her own granddaughter too, how come she's not as good as Xiao Yan? Isn't it just favoring boys over girls!"

"Chunhua, Xiaoyan hasn't been back for several years, it's normal for Mom to be happy..."

"My Fu Xin doesn't come back often either! She studies in the provincial capital and only comes back two or three times a year!"

Liu Meilan didn't know what to say. She understood Zhao Chunhua's grievances, but she couldn't say anything bad about her mother-in-law—after all, she was her mother-in-law, and as a daughter-in-law, she shouldn't interfere.

Fu Yan heard the noise from the kitchen while in the main room and glanced at Fu Xin.

Fu Xin was looking down, stirring his drink with a straw, his face expressionless.

Fu Yan suddenly remembered something—when he was little, he would come to his grandparents' house for Chinese New Year, and his grandparents definitely doted on him the most. Every time he came, his grandmother would take out the candies and peanuts she had hidden for him to eat, and Fu Xin could only watch from the side. At that time, he was too young to understand and thought it was only natural.

Now think about it...

Fu Yan stood up and sat down next to Fu Xin.

"Fu Xin, are you studying English at Qiwai?"

"Um."

"What are your plans for the future? Graduate school or work?"

Fu Xin looked up at him, seemingly surprised that he would ask this: "I haven't decided yet...maybe I'll take the postgraduate entrance exam."

"Taking the postgraduate entrance exam is a good idea. If you want to go to Peking University, I can help you look into the schools there."

Fu Xin paused for a moment, then chuckled softly, "Thank you, brother."

Fu Yan then turned to look at Fu Yao: "And you? You're in the second year of junior high now, how's your studies?"

Fu Yao looked up from the game console and said succinctly, "It's alright."

"What's the ranking for 'not bad'?"

"Top ten in the class, I guess."

"That's not bad, keep up the good work."

Fu Yao hummed in agreement and then went back to playing her game console.

Zhao Chunhua peeked out from the kitchen and, seeing this scene, her expression softened somewhat. She didn't say anything, but she remembered it—this nephew was different from his grandmother; he wasn't biased and knew how to care for his younger sister.

……

The days after the New Year flew by in Anqiu.

Every morning, Fu Dehou would take Fu Yan for a walk around the village and introduce him to everyone he met: "My eldest grandson! He came back from America! He's 1.85 meters tall!" He was so proud of himself that he wanted to hang Fu Yan at the entrance of the village as a signboard.

Sun Guifen went to great lengths to cook delicious meals for Fu Yan—boiled eggs, steamed rice cakes, fried dough twists, and millet porridge—she wanted to stuff him with all the good food he could eat in a year.

Fu Yan accepted everything offered and ate everything, making the old lady very happy.

On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, the family went to pay respects at the graves of the maternal grandparents. The maternal grandmother passed away last year, and the maternal grandfather even earlier. Fruit and wine were placed in front of the graves, and Liu Meilan knelt in front of the tombstone and cried for a long time.

Fu Yan stood to the side, looking at her grandmother's name on the tombstone, and silently said in her heart: Grandma, I'm back.

It's the seventh day of the lunar new year; time to go.

Before leaving, Sun Guifen gave Fu Yan a large bag of things—pickled vegetables she had made herself, dried fish she had dried herself, rice cakes she had made herself, and a pair of cotton shoe soles she had sewn herself.

"They need to be dressed warmly. It's so cold up north. My grandson is suffering," the old lady said.

Fu Yan took it, her nose tingling with emotion, and hugged the old lady in her arms: "Grandma, I will come back to see you often in the future."

"Okay, okay, Grandma will cook you something delicious when you come back."

Fu Dehou stood at the door, leaning on his cane, without saying a word, but Fu Yan saw him secretly wipe the corner of his eye.

As the bread truck started moving, Fu Yan saw two elderly people standing at the door waving in the rearview mirror. Their figures grew smaller and smaller until they disappeared around the bend at the village entrance.

He turned his head and looked out the window at the farmland and villages rushing past.

This is my hometown.

No matter how far you go, there will always be someone waiting for you at the door when you come back.

……

On the morning of the day he left, Fu Yan got up very early.

Winters in Anqiu are colder than in Bincheng. A layer of frost covered the courtyard, and the air he breathed was all fog. He stood in the courtyard wrapped in his coat, staring blankly at the big locust tree for a while.

Then he pulled out two stacks of money.

Red, 100-yuan notes, brand new, 50,000 yuan per stack. This was all the cash he carried with him—he withdrew it from his bank card on the way back, intending it for New Year's expenses, but he hadn't touched a single penny.

He put one stack of papers into a drawer in his grandfather's main room, under Fu Dehou's reading glasses, and then found a piece of paper on the coffee table and wrote a note:

"Grandpa, this is a token of my affection, don't be stingy with it. — Fu Yan"

Then he went to his uncle's house next door.

Uncle Fu Qingguo and Zhao Chunhua still live in the old courtyard, in three red brick houses, which are even older than Grandpa and Grandma's house. In the main room, there is an eight-immortal table, a 21-inch TV, and a sewing machine—Zhao Chunhua usually alters clothes to supplement the family income.

Fu Yan placed another stack of money on the octagonal table, along with a note:

"Uncle, Aunt, this is a small token of my appreciation from your eldest nephew, for Fu Xin and Fu Yao to use for their schooling. — Fu Yan"

After writing it down, he felt something was wrong, so he took the note back and added a sentence at the end:

"Don't tell Grandpa and Grandma."

……

When we arrived at my grandparents' house, the family was already having breakfast.

Millet porridge, pickled vegetables, steamed buns, and boiled eggs—a typical breakfast in a northern farmhouse. Sun Guifen then brought out a dish of her own pickled garlic, insisting that Fu Yan take it with him on the road.

"Grandma, I can't bring it; the plane doesn't allow this."

"Then you should finish eating before you leave!"

"It's too late, my uncle is waiting outside."

Sun Guifen pursed her lips and stopped talking, only continuing to put salted vegetables into Fu Yan's bowl.

Liu Meilan watched from the side, feeling a pang of sadness. The old man was getting on in years, and every meeting was one less opportunity to see him, but life had to go on, and when the time came, he would have to leave.

After finishing their meal, the family walked towards the door.

Fu Dehou stood at the door, leaning on his cane. As usual, he didn't say much. But when Fu Yan got into the car, he reached out and patted Fu Yan's shoulder. The pat wasn't very strong, but it was very firm.

"Come back and visit when you have time."

"Yes, definitely."

Sun Guifen held onto Fu Yan's hand tightly, tears welling up in her eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall. The old lady had always been strong-willed and didn't want to cry in front of her grandson.

"Take good care of yourself out there. Don't just focus on making money; you also need to find a wife..."

"Okay, Grandma."

"Also, don't be too thin, eat more meat..."

"Okay, okay."

As the van started moving, Fu Yan saw that scene again in the rearview mirror—two elderly people standing at the entrance of the village, one leaning on a cane, the other hunched over, the wind blowing their sparse white hair into a mess.

He turned his head away, unable to look any longer.