Born at the Right Time

“Xia Ying, I have been married for so many years, and I have treated you all well as much as I can. I know that you don’t like my daughter, and I didn’t interfere with anything between you two. I have tolerated everything, and even when she ran away, I didn’t say a word to you. But now my daughter is alone, and she has nowhere to go. Otherwise, do you think she will come back after so many years? Why can’t you think? Why don’t you accumulate some virtue?” Xu Guoan yelled because he couldn’t bear it anymore.

“Accumulate virtue!?” Xia Ying asked sharply, “Do you still have the face to mention the word “accumulate virtue” to me? Go and ask your daughter yourself: Is it out of desperation that she sent her son back, or is it now that she has found her next home and it’s inconvenient to take an oil bottle with her? My Xia’s house is not a place for her to throw her things and go.”

Xu Guoan’s face turned green and white, and his rough hands held Gu Yiran’s hand tightly. 

Xia Ying took a step forward, bent down, and knocked open the suitcase with one hand. The little boy’s clothes were scattered all over the floor. Xia Ying pointed to the clothes on the ground and said, “Look for yourself! Is he going to live with us for a few days? My God, why don’t we leave this child at our house and leave this house?” She pointed at Xu Guoan’s nose aggressively and said aggressively, “I’m telling you! Xu Guoan! Don’t even think about keeping him in my Xia’s house! You told him to go back where he came from! Go to his ba*tard father and his s*ut mother. Don’t dirty the threshold of my Xia’s house! Such a big Bodhisattva, I can’t hold him in this ruined temple!”

Then Xia Ying stepped forward and pulled Gu Yiran away from Xu Guoan.

Gu Yiran’s face was pale, but he didn’t cry, and Xia Ying pulled him out staggeringly.

 Xu Guoan scolded his wife angrily, “Xia Ying! Try moving again!”

“What?” Xia Ying sneered. “Now are you going to demolish the bridge after crossing the river? Do you have the strength to go against me? Xu Guoan, who has been working for several years, do you really think that you are a well-born person? If you hadn’t joined my family with your poor rural household registration, you and your daughter would have died of starvation long ago!”

Xia Chun sat on the sofa behind her stepfather, watching her stepfather’s shoulders hang down weakly. She knew that the stepfather never had the right to speak in front of the mother. 

Xia Ying put the pile of clothes scattered on the ground into the suitcase like rags, dragged Gu Yiran, and walked out the door. The neighbours in the community heard the movement and came out of their homes to join in the fun. No one spoke, everyone just watched the show with cold eyes.     

Xia Chun came out of the house, squeezed through the neighbours who were watching the excitement in the yard, and saw Xia Ying leading Gu Yiran out of the gate with a livid face. Then she let go of his hand, threw away the luggage brought by Xia Xuzhen, and said coldly, “You just wait here for your mother to pick you up.”

Gu Yiran stood alone outside the community door with a sullen face. There was a crowd of adults watching the show, but none of them spoke of him.

Fourteen-year-old Xia Chun stood in the crowd, looking at that delicate little boy who seemed to be abandoned by everyone.

Gu Yiran raised his head in silence and muttered with a slightly hoarse and trembling voice, “What if my mother doesn’t come to pick me up?”

“Then you will feed yourself.” Xia Ying said it coldly.

The neighbours behind Xia Ying suddenly started chattering, so she turned and left with a livid face. When Xia Ying saw her daughter in the crowd, she scolded her. “What are you doing here? Go back and do your homework! It’s time for dinner!”

Xia Chun shuddered, nodded quickly, and followed Xia Ying away. Halfway through, she turned her head and looked at Gu Yiran.

Gu Yiran was squatting to pick up the clothing that was lying on the ground, clean them off of dust and grime one at a time, and then place them in the suitcases. He didn’t sob, but instead remained silent. 

…………………….

The whole family had never had such an embarrassing dinner.

At the dinner table, Xu Guoan was just drinking one wine cup after another. Xia Ying kept eating, pretending not to care about others. Xia Chun bowed her head and did not dare to speak.

After the meal, Xu Guoan cleaned up the dishes and the kitchen. 

Xia Ying went to her bedroom to talk with a client on the phone.

After taking a shower, Xia Chun stayed in her small bedroom and did her homework. The sky was getting darker gradually, and it was already eight o’clock in the night. Although she was doing her homework, her mind was not there at all. After some time passed, she put down her pen, opened her bedroom door, and peered outside. There was no one in the living room, and she could hear that her mother was still talking with the client. The kitchen lights were still on, indicating that her stepfather was still there.  

Xia Chun took a flash flight, walked quietly out of the living room, opened the front door slowly, and stepped out.

The weather was much cooler after sunset, and the night wind was blowing, and the leaves of the huge old elm tree in the yard made rustling noises. The gate to the community was not locked; it was only ajar. Xia Chun lightly pushed open a gate, squeezed through the middle, and then turned on the flashlight in her hand. There, she saw Gu Yiran still curled up near the gate, covering his eyes with his hands. 

After feeling light on his face, Gu Yiran put his hands down, raised his head, and looked up at the source of the light. 

Seeing the dusty face looking at him with a puzzled expression, Xia Chun felt a little sad and took out a half-used toilet paper from her pocket, and brought it closer to Gu Yiran’s face.

Gu Yiran moved back sensitively.

“Don’t be afraid, I will just wipe the dust off your face.” Xia Chun whispered.     

Gu Yiran froze there, not knowing what to do for a while, and let Xia Chun carefully wipe off the dust and dirt on his 

Xia Chun threw away the dirty toilet paper, went around, and brought the suitcase over. “You take the flashlight,” Xia Chun said.

Gu Yiran looked puzzled at her, but there was no movement.

Xia Chun lowered her voice and said, “What? Do you really want to spend the night outside here? There are wild dogs here at night.”

Gu Yiran’s eyes dodged a little, he hesitated for a moment but grabbed the flashlight beside him and stood up from the ground.

Xia Chun was satisfied and said, “That’s right, you come in with me first.” Taking Gu Yiran for two steps, she suddenly turned around and said solemnly, “When you go inside, don’t make any noise. Don’t be discovered by my mother, otherwise, I will be beaten too.”

Gu Yiran nodded.

“What should I say… Although I don’t have a clear picture of my sister, I am also your little aunt. My mother has a bad temper, but she is not a bad person. Wait until her anger subsides. You stay here for two days, and my sister will come back to pick you up.”

Gu Yiran held the flashlight in his hand, followed behind Xia Chun, was silent for a moment, and then said lightly, “My mother… will not come back. She is gone.”

Xia Chun turned her head and asked in a surprised tone, “What did you say?”

Gu Yiran bit his lip and muttered, “It’s nothing.”

The two of them tiptoed into the house and happened to meet Xu Guoan, who came out of the kitchen.

Seeing Xia Chun with Gu Yiran, Xu Guoan was startled at first. Xia Chun hastily gestured for him to be silent. Xu Guoan nodded knowingly, smiled approvingly, and walked to Xia Ying’s bedroom.

Xia Chun took Gu Yiran to hide in her small bedroom, closed and locked the door with her backhand, and then let out a long breath.

Gu Yiran looked around the room and saw that it was a mess. It didn’t look like a girl’s bedroom at all; things were piled here and there, and it was difficult to even find a place to sit.

Xia Chun kicked away a pile of comic books on the floor with her foot and said like a host, “Sit here.”

Gu Yiran sat down in response.

“Are you hungry? Let me get you something to eat.” Before Gu Yiran could answer, Xia Chun opened the door and slipped out. 

Not long after, she came in with a bowl. She closed the door slowly, sat down next to Gu Yiran, and passed the bowl and chopsticks. There was a bowl full of rice and braised pork. “It’s been in the refrigerator for a while, but it’s still edible.”

Gu Yiran looked at the bowl of rice in front of him and then looked at Xia Chun suspiciously.

Xia Chun put the bowl in front of Gu Yiran again, raised her head, and joked deliberately, “Don’t worry, although my mother doesn’t like you, I don’t have any opinion on you, and I won’t give you rat poison! 

“No… I didn’t think that,” Gu Yiran said in a low voice.

“Then you eat quickly. I have to quietly wash your bowl later.”

Gu Yiran took the bowl and the chopsticks and slowly and hesitantly took two bites of the rice, acting as though he was extremely hungry. He eventually just ate it all up, like a refugee who hasn’t had enough to eat in several months. While eating, tears flowed from his eyes.

He didn’t dare to make a sound when he cried, so he could only swallow the sobs with the rice.

Xia Chun looked at Gu Yiran helplessly. “You…don’t cry.” She patted his back indiscriminately, comforting him clumsily. “I tell you, if you cry while eating, your tears will go to your stomach, and you will have a tumour on your neck! How ugly that is! Ah, oh, don’t cry.”

The tears in Gu Yiran’s eyes seemed unstoppable, he ate a bowl of rice with tears in his eyes and didn’t stop crying until he finished eating.

Xia Chun put the bowl aside and forgot to take it back to wash it. One big and one small sat on the narrow and dark bedroom floor, only the humming sound of the electric fan could be heard.

Gu Yiran wiped away his tears and remained silent.

Xia Chun didn’t know what to say and had no topic to talk about. So she could only think of sleeping to get rid of this awkward situation. She took out a stack of quilts from the closet, spread them on the floor, took two old clothes as pillows, explained a few words to Gu Yiran, then turned off the lights and went to sleep.

Moonlight came in through the blinds, and Gu Yiran lay on the quilt, feeling the night breeze.

Xia Chun, next to him, had already fallen asleep.

In the darkness, Gu Yiran opened his eyes wide and looked at the ceiling above his head. It seemed that his mother’s voice could be heard in his ears.

“Of course, you hate your mother for abandoning you! It’s not that I don’t want you, but your mother can’t support you alone! I want to live, there is no way… Of course, you live with your grandfather at his house. No matter what, you have to live there. Do you hear me? That is the last person you can rely on. When you grow up, you can support yourself… However, your mother still loves you…” 

The nine-year-old Gu Yiran remained motionless while tears flowed down from the eye sockets one by one, branding a large piece of warm dampness on the quilt.