144: Reminisce

"My family had a hard time when I was young. When my father got married, because my grandparents discriminated against him, he didn’t have many possessions when he married my mother. After getting married, he was driven out of my grandparents’ house and rented a house with my mother. Our family of four lived in that small house of less than forty square meters. Although life was very hard and we could not eat much meat, we still lived happily. Until my sister was born."

Wang Cheng thought he had forgotten a lot when he sifted through his memories. However, he vividly remembered the past now, and as if his life was on rewind, every scene flashed before him.

"When my sister was born, I was six years old and my elder brother was eight years old. Don't look at our age as young, we ate a lot for every meal. My parents sacrificed much because they couldn't bear to see us hungry. My parents weren’t stingy with the little money we had. At that time, although my family’s income was not high, we could at least make ends meet. Although there was an extra child, my parents still grit their teeth and came up with the money, managing to raise my sister. In two years, bad news had crushed my dad."

In retrospect, Wang Cheng felt that he had really good fortune; it was because of this incident that he left that warm home and became a disciple of the old monk.

At that time, Papa Wang worked in a factory with a very modest income, but the family of five lived on this modest income. However, when he was eight years old, the factory closed down and Papa Wang was gloriously laid off. It was not easy to find a job that year, and without this source of income, their family suddenly fell into difficulties.

Later, there was really no way. The rice in the family was almost done, and they had no money to buy rice and noodles. Their family had to starve. Papa Wang brazenly begged the eldest and second uncle for them, but they were unwilling to lend money to Papa Wang. His parents, Granny Wang and her husband, turned a blind eye to this. Later Papa Wang never went to them again.

For the three children, Papa Wang washed dishes, served dishes, set up stalls, felled trees, worked temporary jobs, etc. He did so much heavy work, but each month, he made only half of the money he used to earn. Mama Wang also tried everything to be less dependent on money. Everyone else was living comfortably, only they were still running around for their three meals.

Although the eldest brother was mature at a young age, the ten-year-old boy couldn’t help with much, and could only go out every day to pick up rags or go up the hill to find something to sell. Wang Cheng was also already sensible at that time and wanted to help reduce his family’s burden along with his elder brother, but the two-year-old Wang Ziyu needed someone to take care of her, and that burden fell on him. Once, the two adults in the family went out to make a living, and Wang Ning'an also told Wang Cheng after they left that he would see if he could pick up anything, letting him take care of his sister. Wang Cheng nodded and agreed, but after two hours, he couldn't sit still.

When he was eight years old, he was as mature as Wang Ning'an. It was clear that they were a burden on his family. In order to reduce the burden on his parents' shoulders, he thought of picking wild vegetables or mushrooms from the mountain and selling them. He had seen adults do this before. However, he had to take care of his sister. What should he do? So he took his two-year-old sister with him. At her age, Wang Ziyu could already walk on her own. Wang Chengcheng held his sister with one hand and held a small basket in the other hand, walking up the mountain. Without adult supervision, the two little heads were watched by their ancestors as they went up the mountain without accident.

The first one who found them gone was Wang Ning'an. He was out of luck and didn't find much junk that day, so he returned after selling. When he ran out to look for them, he encountered Papa and Mama Wang who were going home. They heard that the two were gone and went to search in the village, frightened. Later, a villager told them that they saw two children walking in the direction of the mountain. The older one was around eight years old and the younger was around only two years old. They should be their children.

Papa Wang and Mama Wang turned pale with fright and staggeringly ran in the direction of the villager’s finger. However, before they entered the mountain, they saw an old monk walking two children down to the foot of the mountain. The two children were Wang Cheng and Wang Ziyu. It didn't take long for the two to enter the mountain, but fortunately, they met the old monk.

After asking about the situation, Papa Wang and Mama Wang thanked the old monk and even wanted to invite him to eat a meal at their house. However, the old monk refused, instead making a request that made the couple dumbfounded: he wanted to accept Wang Cheng as a disciple, allowing Wang Cheng to inherit his mantle.

Worshiping an old monk as master meant that he must also become a monk. How could Papa and Mama Wang agree for their son to become a monk? However, because the old monk showed kindness to their family, the couple did not refuse on the spot. Later, the old monk proposed another time to them with favorable conditions. After receiving Wang Cheng as a disciple, he would give their family a subsidy every year as compensation for Wang Cheng helping to clean the temple. His acceptance as a disciple would definitely cause him to do some chores. However, to Papa Wang and Mama Wang, this behavior was equivalent to selling their son, so they hesitated to nod.

Wang Cheng's elder brother already understood this at the time. Unlike them, he felt that this sale was not a loss at all. As long as he was a disciple of the old monk, he could help reduce the burden on their family. He felt it was very cost-effective, so he took the initiative to propose to his parents that he was willing to go on behalf of his brother.

His attitude was resolute, and he also analyzed the benefits of being the old monk’s disciple to his parents. Wang Cheng’s elder brother was already very clever as a child. In the end, his parents were really convinced by him. As a result, the old monk disagreed. Only Wang Cheng could be his disciple, he didn’t want anyone else. Wang Cheng was not as smart as Wang Ning'an at the time, he was still a small child. He was not happy when he heard that he would be separated from his family, and couldn’t warm up to the idea the first few days. Later, Wang Ning'an persuaded him to give his consent, saying that when he was the old monk’s disciple, he could often return. As a result, when he reached the mountain, the old monk would not let him go down.

The old monk seldom went down the mountain himself, usually only once every half month or month, and he only went to buy some daily necessities. The old monk was very strict with him, because many things could only be effective when taught as a child. So, Wang Cheng’s schedule for the day was arranged in full, and there was no time to go down the mountain, not even much time to think about it.

Papa Wang and Mama Wang had always felt sorry for him. If it wasn't for their incompetence, he wouldn’t have to be the old monk’s disciple. Later, when Wang Ning’an and Wang Ziyu grew up a bit, the situation at home improved a lot. The couple often let the brother and sister take some delicious goods uphill for Wang Cheng. Of course, they couldn’t see Wang Cheng most of the time.

When he grew up, around 14 or 15 years old, his family's financial situation was much better than when he was a kid. Papa Wang and Mama Wang proposed to the old monk that Wang Cheng should go to junior high school. They volunteered to pay for Wang Cheng to study, and hoped that the old monk would be able to let Wang Cheng down the mountain. Wang Cheng did not go to elementary school. They mentioned it at the beginning, but the old monk refused, saying that he would teach him literacy. He really did teach it, but Wang Cheng always felt that the reason why his academic performance was not as good as his elder brother and sister’s was because he didn't study in elementary school and did not lay a solid foundation.

Fortunately, the old monk later agreed, so they paid for Wang Cheng to attend both junior high school and high school. When he was later accepted to college, he did not go. First of all, he didn’t want to increase the burden on his family. Second, the old monk’s body was gradually failing. Although the old monk was strict with him, he was really sincere to him. Because the way he displayed it was different from others, Wang Cheng did not understand it before; however, when he grew up, he understood.

However, they still had not met each other for a long time. Later, a gap inevitably developed between Papa Wang and Mama Wang, and Wang Cheng. It was unlike when he was a child who often ran around Papa Wang, called by his parents affectionately. Zhang took the opportunity to mix her foot in this matter.

After Wang Cheng was able to go down the mountain, he encountered Zhang several times. Zhang had been at odds with his parents since he was very young, so that every time she saw him, she would say bad things about his parents in front of him. Although he was obviously not abandoned by his parents, Zhang would say that he was pathetic, and even hinted why they insisted for him to go instead of Wang Ning'an, saying that the palms and backs of the hands were all meat, but the heart is still partial. At that time, Wang Cheng felt that Zhang was so stupid that she could not be saved. He was eight years old when he was sent to the old monk, and was still sensible. How could he believe what she said? However, after experiencing what happened last night, Wang Cheng now learned that when Zhang originally said “the heart is still partial”, she was actually hinting that he was not the biological son of his parents.

[T/N: palms, back of hands is all meat = a phrase that refers to two options that are so similar it’s equally hard to pick, usually referring to siblings. However, Zhang adds that the heart is still partial, meaning that the parents still have a favorite in their hearts.]

"For so many years, I never felt that my parents were biased towards us siblings. It was so difficult when we were young, yet they never thought about sending me away. Sometimes my elder brother went hungry, and I wasn’t left hungry, because my parents always said that the eldest brother should let his siblings eat first." Wang Cheng looked up at Chu Yifeng. “With parents that were so good to me, how could I not be their biological son?"

Chu Yifeng touched his head and said, "Maybe God saw you look so handsome, so he wanted to give you a better family."

Wang Cheng gave him a glance, "Be serious. I think my parents are very good. As you said, my elder brother looks handsome."

"Your elder brother is very capable now, good genes are just the icing on the cake."

Wang Cheng narrowed his eyes, "Do you mean I’m not capable?"

"How could it be." Chu Yifeng shrugged. "You are also very capable now. To have a perfect lover like me, this is the cultivated blessings of your past life."

"Boss Chu, you still have to wake up early. Let's sleep in separate bedrooms at night."

Wang Cheng directly sat up, making a gesture as if to leave.

Chu Yifeng caught his waist, “I mean, it’s the blessings cultivated in my past life."

[T/N: Because he said before that Wang Cheng was lucky to have him, now he’s saying he’s lucky to have Wang Cheng. You might not have needed that reminder.]

"It's pretty much the same." Wang Cheng sat back again. However, his personality really differed greatly from Wang Ning'an’s, mainly because he was too much affected by the old monk. Otherwise, according to the situation of their family when young, Wang Cheng should also follow Wang Ning'an to pursue money.

"What are you going to do now?"

"What else can I do? I don't plan to go back for a while. I'll think about it slowly."

Wang Cheng hadn’t figured out how to deal with his parents who suddenly weren’t his flesh and blood.

Chu Yifeng seemed to think of something and asked, "You don't want to find your biological parents?"

When Wang Cheng heard this sentence, his expression was a bit complicated. "Twenty-five years have passed, how can I find them? If we are destined, I will meet them sooner or later."

***

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