Chapter 66: Parents Still Alive, the Wanderer Returns Home

Familiar rural concrete roads.
Familiar golden rice paddies.
Familiar two-story house.
Looking at everything around him, Chu Feng felt as though he had lived a lifetime in another world.
Perhaps by the current timeline, Chu Feng had only been away for half a year, but for Chu Feng, who had been reborn, more than a decade had passed.
In his past life, he hadn't even attended his parents' funeral.
Yet now, he was walking on the roads of his hometown, and the moss-covered courtyard ahead made his eyes moisten.
The few camphor trees beside the house seemed to overlap with the ones in his memory.
At that moment, an iron gate painted with red lacquer slowly opened, with couplets still pasted on both sides.
Because they had been put up during the Spring Festival, they were already somewhat faded.
"A joyous dwelling brings a thousand years of prosperity; fortune illuminates the family home with all endeavors thriving."
The moment Chu Feng saw the couplets, he smiled.
"What are you standing there grinning foolishly for!" A middle-aged man wearing an old-fashioned Zhongshan suit walked out of the house carrying a wooden basin.
When Chu Feng saw that weathered farmer, a sharp ache hit the back of his throat.
"Dad," Chu Feng said.
"Get inside quickly. Today your mother knew you were coming and specially bought mutton," his father, Chu Aihua, scolded affectionately with a smile.
"Alright!" Chu Feng smiled. He stepped across the threshold and entered the home he had been separated from for so long.
The house was filled with a familiar and warm atmosphere—the scent of home.
He looked around. Everything was just as he remembered: the persimmon tree in the courtyard still bore unripe persimmons.
Next to it stood a millstone once used for piling up miscellaneous items. Back when Chu Feng's grandfather was still alive, the old man had especially loved drinking soy milk he ground himself.
The family had been poor back then, and it was precisely by selling tofu that the old man had raised Chu Feng's father and his four siblings.
"Mom!" The moment Chu Feng called out, he saw a middle-aged woman with simple clothing and slightly graying hair walk out of the kitchen.
She was still holding a spatula, obviously in the middle of cooking.
Seeing Chu Feng, a flash of surprise crossed her eyes, immediately replaced by joy.
She dropped her spatula, walked quickly over to Chu Feng, and wrapped her arms tightly around him: "Oh my, you're finally back! Working outside during summer vacation must have been so hard on you, I've missed you to death!" Her voice choked slightly, and her eye rims reddened a little.
Feeling his mother's embrace, a warm current surged through Chu Feng's heart.
He held his mother tightly, as if wanting to infuse all the longing of the past ten-odd years into this embrace.
"Mom, I'm back." Chu Feng's voice was also somewhat choked.
His mother released Chu Feng and looked him over carefully, as if wanting to see clearly the changes in him over the past half year and more.
"Why have you lost weight? Did you not eat well at school?" his mother asked with concern.
Chu Feng smiled and shook his head, saying, "No, I ate very well at school. I've just been a bit busy lately, so I might have lost a little weight."
Hearing this, his mother's worry lessened slightly. But she couldn't help asking, "Did you encounter any grievances? Tell Mom, Mom will back you up."
Warmth filled Chu Feng's heart; he knew his mother was worried about him being bullied out in the world.
He smiled and shook his head, saying, "Mom, I'm really fine. You can rest assured."
At that moment, his father, Chu Aihua, also walked in. Seeing Chu Feng, a smile appeared on his face.
"I'm heading to the village committee. You brat want anything to eat? Dad will bring it back for you!" his father joked with a laugh.
Looking at his father's wrinkled face, a surge of guilt welled up in Chu Feng's heart.
He remembered how, in his past life, his father and mother had lived in poverty right up until their deaths: "I want to eat pig's head cake."
Pig's head cake was a cold dish made of pressed pig's head meat set into aspic, something Chu Feng had loved since childhood.
When he was little, it was because they couldn't afford pork belly; now, his fondness for it was entirely for the sake of that childhood memory.
His father nodded and said, "Go on inside and sit down."
Chu Feng acknowledged and went into the house.
He sat on an old sofa, watching his mother's busy figure in the kitchen, his heart filled with emotion.
Chu Feng's house wasn't large—two stories high, but occupying a small footprint.
Upstairs were two rooms and a bathroom, while downstairs were the main hall and the kitchen.
Beside it was a small room where his mother used to raise rabbits and chickens.
Later, when his mother and father started selling fruit, she stopped raising them, and it became a woodshed and a storage room.
"Mom, let me help you," Chu Feng said.
His mother turned back to look at him and smiled, saying, "No need, sit down and rest for a while. Mom can handle it by herself."
While bustling about, she chatted with Chu Feng about household matters.
They talked about the changes in the village and the recent news about their neighbors.
Listening to his mother recount these things, Chu Feng felt as though he had returned to that familiar rural life.
Just then, his mother walked over carrying a steaming plate of mutton.
She placed it on the table and said, "Come, have a knuckle first. This mutton has been stewed until it's falling apart."
When he was little, whenever his mother cooked, Chu Feng would always sneak off a piece or two to eat.
He hadn't expected his mother to still remember his favorite.
Looking at the mutton on the table, a warm current surged through Chu Feng's heart.
His father was about to leave and mentioned buying some liquor to share a couple of drinks with his son in the evening.
His mother complained a bit, telling him not to buy anything too expensive since the family was still in debt.
His father laughed and said he would just buy bulk liquor, which was cheap and tasted good.
However, Chu Feng took a bottle of Kweichow Moutai out of his suitcase. Seeing his father's surprised expression, he smiled and said, "Dad, I bought this for you."
Looking at the Moutai in his hands, his father found it hard to believe. He said, "This is Moutai? Don't trick me, boy, this wine is terribly expensive."
Chu Feng smiled, shook his head, and pulled a receipt from his pocket to hand to his father.
His father took the receipt, examined it carefully, and only then believed it was genuine Moutai.
"You child, why did you buy such expensive liquor?" his mother complained from the side.
Chu Feng explained, "I did some small business at school and made a little money. Consider this wine my filial respect to you two elders."
Hearing this, a smile bloomed on his father's face.
He said, "Good boy, you've made something of yourself. But don't buy anything this expensive next time; our family isn't used to such extravagance."
Chu Feng smiled and nodded in agreement. He knew that no matter how much money he made, in his parents' eyes, he would always be the child who needed looking after.
Half an hour later, Chu Feng's father returned home on his electric scooter, and a few more hot dishes were added to the dining table.
"A-Feng, look who's here!" his father said.
Chu Feng was chatting on his phone with Xuanxuan, but when he looked up, he saw two people he rather disliked.
"It's time to eat, remember to eat too, no dieting allowed," Chu Feng sent a message over.
Zhang Yanran replied almost instantly: "Next time I'll come home with you and bring some local specialties for your parents."
"In such a hurry to be my wife?" Chu Feng teased.
"Hate it, I'm not talking to you anymore!" Zhang Yanran ended the conversation.
In the courtyard, it turned out his uncle Chu Zhenghua had brought Chu Feng's cousin Chu Yun inside.
Their faces radiated complacent smiles, as if some great joyous event had occurred.
"Oh my, Big Brother and Sister-in-law, what good food are you preparing to eat today?" Chu Zhenghua asked loudly the moment he stepped through the door.
He caught sight of the steaming basin of mutton on the table and swallowed hard.