Sun Jingfei glanced over—their chat content was truly… lackluster.
Zhou Yu had sent: “The training session just ended, we’re about to go eat.”
Sun Jingcheng replied: “Good. I’m also off work…”
Sun Jingfei found it strange. “You guys send these trivial, boring messages all day?”
Sun Jingcheng looked at her. “Very boring?”
“Just say what needs to be said.” Sun Jingfei found it amusing. “You even need to announce when you’re going to eat.”
Sun Jingcheng didn’t think it was anything unusual. “We don’t have that many important things to talk about every day. She’s away for training, so we don’t usually message much otherwise.”
Sun Jingfei had nothing to say. After a while, she finally spoke: “Ke Yong and I haven’t really chatted about trivial things these past two years. Sometimes when he sends me a message I’m busy, and by the time I’m free to reply, he’s busy again. Basically we only message when there’s something specific.”
“There was once when we finally had a rare day off. We didn’t know what to do, so we both played on our phones for a long time before thinking we could go see a movie.” Sun Jingfei laughed. “Then we went and watched an incredibly boring movie.” Right after, she asked, “How are things between you and Zhou Yu?”
“We’re doing great.”
“Oh please, stop being so smug.” Sun Jingfei was speechless. “Did you forget about when you two were fighting?”
Sun Jingcheng laughed heartily. “We still fight now.” Then he said dismissively, “But fighting is fighting—neither of us can change our personalities.”
“Entering middle age really is different. All the sharp edges have been worn away, and naturally we’ve become more tolerant.” Sun Jingfei concluded.
“Not exactly.” Sun Jingcheng turned the steering wheel, saying seriously, “I’m quite satisfied with our current state. The other day when I came back from a business trip, I went to the school to find Zhou Yu. We didn’t say anything, but we both knew we had said everything. That’s enough.”
“As for personalities… I don’t need to change her, and she doesn’t try to change me. We each respect each other’s individuality—seeking common ground while preserving differences. My ideal state of marriage is for both parties to maintain their sense of self without resentment, able to be two independent individuals while also merging together as husband and wife.”
“Now we’ve reached a consensus. We can have small arguments and bicker, but we’ve clearly drawn lines, understanding which words can be said and which words would hurt the harmony.”
“Love is armchair strategy; marriage is real combat.” Sun Jingcheng summarized his personal relationships over these twenty-some years. Youth had its benefits; middle age had its wonders.
Different ages, different insights.
“Too philosophical—I don’t understand what you’re saying.” Sun Jingfei responded. “You’re becoming more and more like Teacher Zhou.”
Sun Jingcheng was noncommittal.
At this moment, a Luo Dayou song played on the radio. Sun Jingcheng adjusted the volume and hummed along. Sun Jingfei looked out the window, pursing away the tears rushing down. She simply pulled out a tissue and covered her face. “I really want to escape back to childhood—best if I could wake up and Mom would still be urging us to do homework.”
“If you could go back to childhood and reset your life, would you go back?” Sun Jingcheng asked.
Sun Jingfei hesitated, then finally shook her head.
“I wouldn’t go back either.” Sun Jingcheng said without hesitation.
“I’ve lost everything. At thirty-eight years old this year, everything has returned to square one. No marriage, no career, no friendship. Not a good mother, not a qualified daughter…”
“Then why not go back?” Sun Jingcheng asked in return.
“Unwillingness.” Sun Jingfei wiped her tears as she spoke. “Going back would mean I’d overthrow everything, admitting my own incompetence and failure.”
Sun Jingcheng understood, teasing her, “If Ke Yu heard this, he’d be so moved—to have such a great mother…”
“Get lost.” Sun Jingfei laughed and cursed at him. “I’m crying here!”
Sun Jingcheng chuckled and said nothing more.
“It’s really good.” Sun Jingfei suddenly said.
“What’s really good?”
“Seeing you and Zhou Yu doing well makes me especially happy for you both, happy for our family. Among us four siblings, Big Brother is gone, Second Brother isn’t doing too well either, I’m divorced—if you weren’t doing well either, how heartbroken Mom and Dad would be…” Sun Jingfei said with tears in her eyes.
“The other day I heard people gossiping, saying my personality isn’t likeable, saying I’ve failed as a person, saying my divorce was inevitable… If it were the old me, I would have confronted them directly, but that day I didn’t say anything—I just quietly left. We’re all ordinary mortals—who can withstand scrutiny, who can withstand being revealed by a truth-revealing mirror?”
After crying, she wiped her tears and touched up her makeup, then instructed him, “You need to work hard in your career. If you’re still only making eighty thousand, this time you’ll have to give away forty thousand.”
…
“You were cutest when you were little.” Sun Jingcheng was at a loss for words.
“Right? The older I get, the more annoying I become.” Sun Jingfei finished fixing her makeup and had him look left and right. “Second Brother won’t be able to tell I cried, right?”
“Can’t tell.”
Sun Jingfei took a breath, adjusted her emotions, and got out of the car with him. Once again she sighed, “Childhood was so good—none of these frustrating troubles.”
Childhood wasn’t good at all! Sun Jiarui was crying in frustration right now. He just wanted to grow up quickly. Tomorrow was Brother Jiaxing’s birthday, and the day after tomorrow was his birthday. Their birthdays were always one day apart. But the treatment for this one day was vastly different.
Jiaxing’s birthday always had the biggest cake, and all the adults happily shared it. When it came to him, it was the smallest cake. Mom said they had just finished Brother’s birthday and everyone was tired of eating cake, so ordering a small one to mark the occasion was fine.
He didn’t want something just to mark the occasion—he wanted a big cake, he wanted all the adults to sincerely bless him. He especially wanted to be like Brother when he turned twelve, wearing a custom-made suit and having an emcee host his birthday party at a big hotel.
He crouched on the floor of the cake shop refusing to leave. He didn’t know how to express the grief and anger in his heart—he could only cry. He didn’t want Jiaxing to order a big cake, because once the adults ate his cake, they wouldn’t be willing to eat his anymore. He clearly remembered last year’s birthday—Auntie ate a lot of Jiaxing’s cake but didn’t eat a single bite of his, saying it was too rich!
Second Sister-in-law was getting a bit annoyed. There were lots of people right now, yet Jiarui kept making a fuss. At this moment, Jiaxing suggested giving his tomorrow’s birthday to his younger brother, and he would celebrate his brother’s birthday the day after tomorrow instead.
When Jiarui heard this, he stopped crying and said he was willing to swap with him. Second Sister-in-law couldn’t help but laugh—as long as they were happy. In the end, she still didn’t know why Jiarui had made such a fuss.
She had just led them back to the car when she received a call from Sun Jingcheng, saying Second Brother was drunk and asking her to come pick him up at the restaurant. Even if he wanted to take him home, he wouldn’t let him—he specifically wanted her to come get him.
In the private room, the three siblings were drunk beyond recognition. Sun Jingfei and Second Brother were drinking with genuine emotion, while Sun Jingcheng was provoked and forced to drink by those two, having no choice but to pretend to go along with them.
Sun Jingfei said now that Big Brother was gone, only the three of them remained, so they should love each other from now on. Then she told them the story of the Peach Garden Oath. Second Brother had already been drinking at other tables to begin with and was already tipsy. Coming to this table, after a few more drinks, Sun Jingfei hugged him, crying and confessing, saying she had done many things to him in the past that she shouldn’t have.
Second Sister was the most introverted among the siblings. Being hugged by Sun Jingfei like this, and with talk of Big Brother, they were all emotional people—she also shed a few tears. She even had the server bring over a bouquet of fake peach blossoms, placed it properly in the center of the table, and wanted to recreate Liu, Guan, and Zhang’s Peach Garden Oath.
Sun Jingcheng wanted to faint.
When Second Sister and Third Sister knelt on one knee, he excused himself to use the bathroom, saying he needed to relieve himself. Sun Jingfei told him to hold it and pulled him over, pressing him in the middle, saying they should take the oath first.
Sun Jingcheng wouldn’t kneel—he squatted in the middle, but those two enforced it. After the oath, Sun Jingfei shouted at Second Sister, “Second Brother!”
Second Sister responded, “Third Sister!”
The two hugged tightly.
Sun Jingcheng leaned on a chair to sit down and drank in silence. Drink up! Once drunk, he’d get into character! But the alcohol was really too hard to drink, and he bore the mission of taking them home, so he could only play along.
Second Brother threw up twice with Sun Jingfei. He felt it was about time to leave, but Second Brother refused, directing him to call Second Sister-in-law instead. At the mention of Second Sister-in-law, Sun Jingfei used her remaining rationality to warn him to treat Second Sister-in-law well—these years had been so hard for her, and so on and so forth.
Second Brother also took a break, sitting there smoking silently. Sun Jingfei asked why they divorced and then remarried. Second Brother said nothing. When pressed, he just said he was a bastard.
“Did you cheat again?” Sun Jingfei couldn’t believe it.
“I didn’t! Why won’t you believe me! I didn’t!” Second Brother got a bit angry.
…
By the time Second Sister-in-law arrived, the private room had quieted down. The three siblings were each drinking yogurt, sitting there obediently chatting. When Second Sister saw her, she called out “Wife,” then announced with a face full of joy, “Your sister-in-law is pregnant!”
…
Second Sister-in-law told him to keep his voice down—she had a headache.
Sun Jingfei was surprised. “Pregnant again?”
“An accident.” Second Sister-in-law looked a bit worried. “Don’t say anything yet—we’ll talk about it later.” After speaking, she tugged at Second Brother. “Let’s go—the two kids are still in the car.”
Sun Jingcheng supported Second Brother to the car. Sun Jingfei chatted with Second Sister-in-law behind them. Second Sister-in-law was still hesitating—first, she was getting too old; second, she was afraid it was a boy.
She only wanted a daughter.
Sun Jingfei advised her, “Then just decide after three months.” After their car left, she leaned over a trash can to vomit while Sun Jingcheng called for a designated driver and rubbed her back.