Male Sing and His Pet Owner: Chapter 116

Although he hadn’t been back in many years, Zhan Hang could still roughly make out the directions from memory, not needing to rely on his phone’s GPS every step of the way.

Around noon, all the shops on the street had their doors open. Pedestrians and vehicles bustled about. Every few steps there was a street vendor. Zhan Hang stopped here and there, wanting to buy this and wanting to buy that. He hadn’t strolled around the streets like this in a very long time. The last time he casually wandered around was when he was secretly following Zhao Kaile, trying to see what he was up to.

When he entered the funeral goods shop, the owner was sitting with his feet up watching TV, fiddling with a string of Buddhist prayer beads in his hand. It wasn’t Qingming or any other memorial holiday right now, so business was slow.

Seeing Zhan Hang come in wearing a hat and mask, he wasn’t particularly surprised. His eyes still fixed on the TV, he only casually asked: “What do you need?”

“Came back to pay respects to my ancestors.” Zhan Hang was used to shops full of enthusiastic salespeople and clerks, so he instinctively asked: “Any recommendations?”

But the owner only pointed at the series of paper offerings and incense candles displayed on the counter with clearly marked prices, then pointed at the QR code pasted on the wall behind him, indicating he should help himself.

“……” Zhan Hang nodded, grabbed a paper bag on his own, and started picking things out.

On the TV, a news broadcast was playing on a certain red satellite channel. A female anchor in a blue suit was reporting with a serious expression: “This year, the anti corruption efforts in state owned enterprises have clearly intensified. A large number of state owned enterprise ‘tigers’ such as Xu Moumou and Liao Moumou have been caught… The pace of overseas fugitive pursuit has clearly accelerated. After the Sky Net operation was launched, key arrests…”

“Tsk tsk tsk.” The owner said with some emotion: “That much money. I don’t make that much profit running this shop for a whole year.”

Hearing this, Zhan Hang glanced at the TV screen. The content was switching from the studio to a field reporter’s broadcast. The building in the background looked quite familiar, but he couldn’t immediately remember where he had seen it. He collected himself, finished picking out what he needed, paid, and left.

When he got back, Zhao Kaile was still sleeping soundly. Zhan Hang gave a mischievous smile, laid out the lunch and snacks he had bought in a row on the nightstand, and fanned his hand in Zhao Kaile’s direction. After a moment, he successfully woke him up with the smell.

After the two of them finished eating and cleaned up, they finally drove out to the countryside.

But this time when they went back, the muddy roads in Zhan Hang’s memory had completely disappeared. In their place were solid, flat cement roads stretching straight into the village entrance. Earthen tiled houses had also become rare. Most people had already built small Western style villas. Zhao Kaile looked out the window curiously. There were very few people in the village. On workdays, most were at work. Those with free time to sunbathe were all elderly and children. Seeing an unfamiliar car drive in, they all cast curious glances.

Zhan Hang didn’t directly take him to the public cemetery. He only parked the car on a road in front of the old house and signaled Zhao Kaile to get out.

An auntie carrying a child passed by and said familiarly: “Oh, no one has come to this house in years.”

Another one also smiled and said: “What was the old man’s surname again, seems like it was…”

“Feng.” Zhan Hang said: “Feng Xinghuai.”

“Yes, yes.” The woman said: “You’re his grandson, right? You’ve grown so big? You have gotten so tall, not bad.”

Zhan Hang nodded at her and led Zhao Kaile inside.

The two women looked at him and Zhao Kaile for a moment, then walked off chatting and laughing. It seemed one could faintly hear them discussing the old story of how the Feng family’s daughter had been dead set on marrying outside.

“The key is here.” Zhan Hang said on his own, pulling out a string of keys from above the doorframe. When he got them, his hand was covered in dust.

Zhao Kaile wiped it for him with a tissue, a bit pleased, and said: “Looks like they all still remember.”

Zhan Hang pushed the door open and said indifferently: “What they remember aren’t good things.”

The moment the door opened, the smell of old dust that hadn’t seen light in years wafted out. Zhan Hang was wearing a mask so it wasn’t much of a problem, but it was hard on Zhao Kaile. Before his foot even stepped inside, he let out a huge sneeze that made his head buzz.

Zhan Hang said: “Wait here for me a bit.”

“Okay.” Zhao Kaile asked: “Are you looking for something?”

“Rarely come back.” Zhan Hang said: “Taking some things back.”

Zhao Kaile nodded, watching Zhan Hang go inside and upstairs.

He stood at the boundary between sunlight and shadow, his gaze sweeping over the tables and chairs in the hall covered with dust covers. He was stunned for a moment, as if he could follow the memories Zhan Hang had once spoken of, and see Feng Xinghuai sitting in the chair wearing reading glasses and flipping through the newspaper. In the next moment, young Zhan Hang would come out of the small side room with a crying face, shouting that his homework was already done, hurry up and let him go out to play.

Zhao Kaile imagined on his own, looking at the evergreen tree planted in the courtyard. During the New Year when heavy snow fell, little Zhan Hang would squat alone on the snowy ground playing with firecrackers. If he accidentally blew one up against the window corner, he would be called back inside by Feng Xinghuai to get his ear pulled and scolded. And after rain in early summer, the road in front of the door would be muddy, but little kids probably didn’t care about that. Not coming home after school, he was probably making plans with his good buddies to go catch loaches along this small path.

He just didn’t know what Brother Hang looked like as a child… would he have been as handsome as he is now?

He was so absorbed in watching that he found some amusement in it, not noticing that Zhan Hang had already come downstairs.

“What are you looking at?” Zhan Hang asked.

Zhao Kaile paused, turned to look at him, and was abruptly pulled back to reality.

Without waiting for his answer, Zhan Hang casually handed him the old photo album in his hand and said: “Let you see my childhood photos.”

Zhao Kaile: “……”

This was too much of a coincidence!

After locking the door and hiding the key, Zhan Hang drove to the public cemetery. Zhao Kaile sat in the passenger seat, flipping through that yellowed old photo album with great interest, letting out exclamations from time to time.

“So even male celebrities wore split pants as kids…” Zhao Kaile said in shock: “And played in the mud?”

Zhan Hang’s head was full of black lines: “Shut up.”

Zhao Kaile laughed heartily, then flipped to a family photo of them. At that time, Feng Xinghuai’s wife was still alive. The two of them sat in the front row, holding the split pants wearing, pacifier sucking Zhan Hang with beaming smiles. Young Feng Biqin and Zhan Hongyuan stood shyly behind them. The whole family was harmonious and happy.

Just based on this warm and harmonious scene, no one could have imagined that years later, the people in the photo would fall apart so completely.

Flipping further down, Zhan Hang was already toddling, able to take a few steps on his own without his grandfather’s hands protecting him. Further back were photos from elementary school with the red scarf.

Zhao Kaile secretly went “wow wow” in his heart, thinking to himself, one year old Brother Hang was so cute so cute! He was already so handsome and photogenic and knew how to pose in elementary school! So there really are people who can be handsome from childhood to adulthood!!

But, even the most handsome kid would cry with tears and snot all over his face after getting beaten by the adults at home.

“……” Zhao Kaile suddenly shook his head hard, shaking that image out of his brain, then continued flipping. By middle school, there were very few photos left.

Zhan Hang said: “No taking photos with your phone.”

“Don’t worry.” Zhao Kaile was amused by his wariness, then looked out the window, relaxed his eyebrows, and said: “He must have loved you very much.”

Loved you, so he used photos to record every moment of your growth and the little details of life.

Zhan Hang looked at the road ahead, not responding for a long time, one hand habitually reaching for his pocket.

Zhao Kaile knew at one glance that this gesture meant he wanted to smoke again. He only sighed and said: “Brother Hang, this habit of yours isn’t good. Let’s slowly quit smoking from now on.”

Zhan Hang didn’t argue this time. He only gave an “mm” and said: “I’ll listen to you.”

Arriving at the public cemetery, Zhao Kaile followed behind him, searching all the way to Feng Xinghuai’s gravestone.

On the black and white memorial photo, the old man smiled gently, without his usual sharp expression, as if he was just an ordinary kind and amiable old man.

Zhan Hang bent down to light the incense and candles. Zhao Kaile squatted down and took out the paper offerings he had bought one by one, the more he took out the more he felt struck by lightning: “Funeral products are this trendy now?”

He laid the things out one by one. Besides paper money, there were also paper offerings of pineapple phones, SUVs, refrigerators, microwaves, and so on. Flashy and colorful, everything you could want.

“……” Zhan Hang said speechlessly: “Just grabbed them randomly, didn’t look closely. Burn them all.”

Zhao Kaile nodded, putting the things into the paper burning basin one by one, saying: “Hope Grandpa can use them.”

Zhan Hang said calmly: “Mm, there will be ghosts to teach him.”

Zhao Kaile looked at him helplessly, unable to help but laugh.

Zhan Hang moved his eyebrows, walked to the front of the gravestone on his own, clasped his hands together in the center position, and bowed, muttering softly under his breath. Zhao Kaile waited on the side, but Zhan Hang looked up at him, tilted his head, and signaled him to come over too. Zhao Kaile was blank, but did as told and stood over.

“Today I brought my grandson’s wife to see you.” Zhan Hang said toward the front: “Bless our careers to go smoothly, our lives to be peaceful and safe, bless us to always be together.”

Zhao Kaile’s face turned red hearing this. He also followed him in bowing, mumbling vaguely: “Thank you, Grandpa.”

Hearing this, Zhan Hang finally broke into laughter: “He told you not to stand on ceremony.”

Zhao Kaile still wanted to say something, but he heard a woman’s voice coming from not far behind them.

Her tone seemed quite helpless, speaking slowly: “Didn’t I already tell you, if you want to come, we can come together. Why deliberately avoid coming at the same time as me? What’s there to be embarrassed about? If I hadn’t stayed a few extra days, would I still not have seen you?”

Hearing this, Zhan Hang’s expression somewhat froze. He turned to look at her, not very happy, and said: “What’s the need to come together?”

“Only let your grandfather see, not let your mother see?” Feng Biqin was wearing a small blue dress, her face lightly made up, looking still very young.

She carried a small shoulder bag, walking slowly up the steps, her gaze turning to Zhao Kaile, and she smiled: “Hello.”

“……” Zhao Kaile completely didn’t expect to see her in person here. His brain immediately crashed. After a good while he finally reacted, panickedly reaching out his hand, trying to appear calm: “Hello, Auntie.”

Feng Biqin politely shook hands with him, casting Zhan Hang a “see, I knew it” look. Zhan Hang turned his head away on his own, completely not wanting to deal with it.