Chapter 76: The Wandering Record of Han You (5)

  Listening to Qin Ke Yi's story, it's hard to imagine that the normally strong and cheerful Qin Ke Yi would have such a relatively painful past. It's also hard to associate the young lady from a wealthy family with someone who has had this experience. This makes me feel even more necessary to care for Qin Ke Yi, and almost all of my doubts are cleared up, except for one thing that still puzzles me: why Qin Ke Yi's father was out of contact during that time. I am also puzzled as to why the man who gave up the opportunity to return to the city for Qin Ke Yi's mother would abandon them in a foreign land without care.

  "Is it because of these reasons that you have a bad relationship with your dad?"

  "I hate him!" Qin Ke said fiercely.

  "I think your dad had other reasons... Even the most heartless person wouldn't abandon you in Korea, and considering what he did for your mom back then, it's clear that your dad loved your mom very much..." I comforted Qin Ke Yi, but I couldn't believe that a man who could make such an astonishing decision for Qin Ke Yi's mother would be someone without any sense of responsibility.

  "No matter what the reason is, I will never forgive him! If he had come back to take care of me and mom earlier, mom wouldn't have died..." Qin Ke said stubbornly.

  "But he is your family after all! The person closest to you in this world!" I asked Qin Ke in return.

  "Family?! Ha! In his eyes, everything except money is nonsense!" Qin Ke sneered.

  "Didn't he come back for you later? This proves that he still misses you!"

  "He has never fulfilled his responsibilities as a father! Even after returning to the country, he sent me back to someone else's home again, and he was busy making money. I started boarding at school from junior high school, and every time I went back home, I faced an empty and cold house... Only the nanny accompanied me! I almost forgot what he looked like!"

  "After all, a man's career is his priority! He's busy outside for the sake of this family!"

  "For the sake of this family!? Does this family need that much money!? He already has a lot of money, he already has a career! Why is he still so greedy, why is he still so dissatisfied?!" Qin Ke asked me back with a strong tone.

  "It's easy to start a business but hard to keep it going! He already has such a big operation, he can't just let it go, this is no longer just his own affair!"

  "Are you going to quarrel with me because of him? Why do you always speak up for him?" Qin Ke Yi lifted his head from my arms, looking at me coldly.

  "I didn't mean anything else... I just don't want to see you and your dad like this..." I said helplessly to Qin Ke Yi.

  "Sorry, Kang Jian... I was a bit excited just now... Can we not talk about this anymore?" Qin Ke Yi wiped away her tears and sighed as she spoke to me. I nodded lightly at Qin Ke Yi, then continued to sit on the ground and hold her in my arms...

  "Want to go out for a walk with me?" Qin Ke said to me after being silent in my arms for a moment.

  "Where are you going?"

  "There are many places here that are filled with memories for me, I'd like to take a look around... and by the way, would you like to see where I went to school when I was little?"

  "Alright!" I replied enthusiastically to Qin Ke Yi, and we walked out of the house. After Qin Ke Yi exchanged a few words with Shunying's mother, we held hands and walked out of the courtyard gate.

  It seems like a village here, most of the people walking on the street are over 40 years old, it's rare to see people our age. I held Qin Ke's hand and strolled along the street, she would occasionally point to a place and tell me about her childhood experiences related to that place, as if we were trying to replay the trivial matters of her childhood.

  After walking for about ten minutes, a building that seemed to be a school appeared in front of me. The simple playground had only one three-story small building that looked very old. Probably because it was after school hours, the school looked very quiet, with only a few little boys kicking a football on the playground.

  "Really?... Is this where you went to school when you were a kid?"

  "Hmm..." Qin Ke smiled and nodded, staring at the school in front of him, as if lost in thought.

  After walking hand in hand around the playground, Qin Ke and I walked into the teaching building and came to the door of a classroom on the first floor. The classroom door was already locked, and Qin Ke and I could only look at everything inside through the glass on the door.

  "It's been so many years... nothing has changed... it's almost the same as when I was studying here..." Qin Ke Yi looked at the decorations in the classroom, smiling lightly, and then continued to stare inside. Not long after, an elderly man who seemed like a security guard shouted at us from one end of the corridor, seemingly unwelcoming our arrival. When I was in elementary school, I had painfully thought about why China has so many grumpy old men, and they all happened to be working in the education sector as security guards for various schools? Just when this question had been puzzling me without an answer, today I unfortunately discovered that this phenomenon is not only limited to China, but has also begun to spread to some surrounding countries. Qin Ke Yi smiled and said a few words of apology in Korean to the security guard uncle, then pulled me out of the teaching building and left the school.

  After leaving school, Qin Kaiyi took me to an open space not far from the school. There were two swings and two simple goalposts on the open space. When Qin Kaiyi saw the swing, she quickly ran over, sat down excitedly on one of them, so I followed her and stood behind her, slowly pushing her.

  "When I was a kid, I often came here to play with my classmates after school... We would often wrestle on the mound over there with a bunch of boys..." Qin Ke said with a smile.

  "What's going on!!?" I asked in utter bewilderment.

  "Yes! When I was young, I was taller than most boys! Many people couldn't keep up with me! They all said that at the time I looked like a boy, with short hair. Before going to college, I had never worn a skirt or high heels!" Qin Ke smiled proudly as she told me.

  "It seems that I'm still quite lucky then? To have had the good fortune of experiencing a more refined period in your life!" I said with a smile.

  "At that time, I often played here until late at night before going home... Mom would come to find me every time when it was time to eat... Every time mom found me, my body was basically covered in dirt and mud... But mom never scolded me..." Qin Ke suddenly looked into the distance, saying quietly, as if the image of her mother from back then appeared before her eyes, smiling and helping Qin Ke wipe off the dirt on her body, then leading her home happily.

  "Maybe... we should head back... Shunying grandma is probably waiting for us to have dinner..." I slowly pushed Qin Keyi on the swing, accompanying her in silently reminiscing about the few happy moments of our childhood. In the end, I couldn't help but remind her. Qin Keyi let out a sigh and reluctantly got off the swing, pulling my hand as we walked towards Shunying grandma's house...

  When I stepped into the yard, Soon-young's family was already seated around the long table in the living room of the main house waiting for me and Qin Kaiyi. So, Qin Kaiyi and I hastily took off our shoes and entered the main house. Qin Kaiyi apologized to everyone in Korean with a smile, then sat down next to me.

  Sunying's mother-in-law made a sumptuous dinner, the long table was almost full of dishes, except for a large bowl of steaming hot soup, most of them were cold dishes. I could only recognize some common ones in China, such as Chinese angelica, spicy white cabbage, kimchi, bean sprouts and pollock fish. In the center of the table, there was a charcoal brazier, similar to the charcoal fire pot in China.

  At this time, Uncle Jichang raised his wine glass and said a few words. Through Qin Ke's translation below, I knew that it was roughly welcoming us to come, their whole family was very happy and excited. After Uncle Jichang finished speaking, everyone filled the small wine glasses in front of them with Korean liquor and drank together with Uncle Jichang.

  After putting down their wine cups, everyone started to move their chopsticks, and Uncle Jichang and Aunt Shunying occasionally picked up dishes for me and Qin Ke.

  "Is it delicious?" Qin Ke asked me from beside.

  "Delicious! Today I finally had the good fortune to taste authentic Korean home cooking!" I said to Qin Ke, as I stuffed my mouth with food.

  "The best dish that Shunying's mother-in-law makes is the side dishes, which are absolutely unbeatable. The so-called 'authentic Korean side dishes' on our street can't compare to hers. After all these years, I still want to have another chance to taste her side dishes!" Qin Ke said with a smile, and then said a few words to Shunying's mother-in-law, who listened and smiled happily before getting up and walking into the kitchen. Before long, she came out of the kitchen smiling, carrying two small stone pots which she placed in front of me, Qin Ke.

  "I just asked my mother-in-law if there was a side dish, and she said she knew I loved to eat it, so she had already prepared it for me! Try some, this is the authentic Korean-style stone pot rice!" Qin Kaiyi said, then hastily cracked an egg into the stone pot and stirred it with a spoon. In my impression, domestic stone pot rice always has half-cooked eggs on top, but seeing Qin Kaiyi eating with gusto, I also felt a surge of competitiveness. Moreover, as a representative of China's 1.4 billion people, I couldn't let a raw egg intimidate me and make Koreans laugh at us. So, driven by both appetite and national pride, I calmly cracked the egg into the rice, stirred it, then carefully scooped up a small mouthful with my spoon and brought it to my lips.

  "How was it?" Qin Ke asked with a smile after I finished eating.

  "Mmm! Delicious!" I closed my eyes and chewed, finding that although it was a bit spicy, the flavor was indeed very good, much better than the side dishes I had in my home country. So I started devouring it in big mouthfuls.

  Just as I was savoring the delicious side dish and enjoying the pleasure it brought me, Uncle Jichang suddenly held a bottle of wine in his hand and said something to me. So I looked at Qin Ke with confusion.

  "Uncle wants to pour you a drink, quickly pick up your cup!" Qin Ke said to me, so I followed the Chinese mindset and hurriedly politely told Uncle Jichang that I would do it myself, and tried to take the wine bottle from his hand.

  "In Korea, when an elder pours a drink for a younger person, it's a sign of affection towards the younger one. You must hold the cup with both hands and take a sip to show respect to the elder." Qinkai hastily stopped me and said.

  "Ah!? There's such a rule!?!" So I hastily picked up the wine cup and respectfully accepted Uncle Jichang's pour.

  "Hey... hey! You can't drink it like that!" Qin Ke suddenly stopped me just as I was about to take a swig from the wine cup.

  "How am I supposed to drink it!?" I asked in puzzlement again.

  "You can't face your elders like that, you have to turn sideways, use one hand to block the wine cup...... like this!" Qin Ke Yi said while introducing and demonstrating it to me.

  "What a hassle!?" I muttered to myself, then followed Qin Ke Yi's example and drank it down...

  Mr. Gil Chang seemed very happy today, and after a few cups of wine, he started singing happily at the dinner table, and his family members followed him in harmony, bringing the atmosphere to a climax. After Mr. Gil Chang finished singing, I felt it was necessary to raise a glass to toast their whole family, so I picked up my cup and stood up. At this time, all of them looked at me with questioning eyes, and then Qin Kaiyi explained to them in Korean with a smile.

  "We Chinese people respect our elders by standing up when we toast, especially to show respect to our seniors. So today, I would like to propose a toast in the traditional Chinese way!" After I finished speaking, Qin Kaiyi translated my words into Korean during the brief pause that followed. When they heard Qin Kaiyi's translation, everyone excitedly picked up their bottles and poured themselves full glasses of wine.

  Before I drink, I want to say a few words. First of all, I would like to thank you for your warm hospitality, which has allowed me to taste the delicious traditional Korean cuisine... Secondly, I would like to thank you for taking care of Qin Ke Yi for such a long time when she was little. In this short contact of less than one day, I have already felt that you treat Qin Ke Yi as if she were your own family member, and she treats you in the same way. Please rest assured that in China, I will take good care of Qin Ke Yi, love her well, and do my best to love her... As I was speaking, I paused several times to let Qin Ke Yi translate, but when I finished saying this last sentence, I waited for half a day without seeing Qin Ke Yi translate. So I lowered my head and asked her in a low voice what was going on.

  "You...the last sentence is so corny! How can I bear to translate it for them?" Qin Ke said to me with a red face.

  "How embarrassing!? Who's always forcing me to say these things normally!? I'm saying it voluntarily now, so why is it embarrassing all of a sudden?!" I asked with a laugh.

  "That's what you say to me when there's no one around, now you want me to translate it for others... I... how can I bear the shame!"

  "What's wrong with this?! This is the most important sentence, it's what I'm going to say to my parents to show them my determination! They have to hear it!" I said with a smile.

  "Cut the crap! No need to show any determination! Everything depends on action! Drink up!" I smiled helplessly, then turned my head and continued to say a few words of blessing to Uncle Jichang and others, and then downed the wine in the cup...

  After dinner, Qin Kaiyi pulled me to sit on the long bench under the big tree in the courtyard, leaning on my shoulder and looking up at the night sky of South Korea.

  "Hey! Do you remember last time we climbed up here and gazed at the stars together?" Qin Ke asked, looking up at the starry sky.

  "Of course I remember, every scene of that night, every word we said, I will never forget for the rest of my life..." I said thoughtfully.

  "When I was little, on warm nights, my mom would often hold me and sit here to watch the stars, telling me stories...and singing songs for me to listen...I still remember a song that my mom used to sing to me all the time..." Qin Ke Yi said, softly singing in Korean the song her mom used to sing to her. It was a folk-like song from Korea, and although I couldn't understand the lyrics, the beautiful melody made me feel like I was experiencing the happiness she felt when she listened to this song in her mom's arms back then."

  "Kang Jian... thank you... I really didn't think you'd accompany me to Korea, and I never thought I'd be back here again in this lifetime... Before, I also wanted to come alone and take a look, but I never had the courage to face all of this... It's because of you that I've regained the courage to recall my life here..." Qin Ke Yi said softly after finishing singing, and tightly hugged me.