The elderly woman walked further into the living room, still watching Zhan carefully.
"Where are you coming from?" she asked.
Zhan slowly looked up.
"Just three houses away."
"So you're from Shi's house?" she asked.
Zhan nodded.
The woman remained silent for a moment as she studied him.
"Did they send you here?"
Zhan shook his head.
"No… I just wanted something to eat."
The woman glanced at her son, who was still sitting nearby.
Zhan continued eating quietly.
The young man didn't say anything. He simply stood up to leave the living room.
His mother watched him.
"Go ask Sadi to serve you another plate of food," she said.
He turned back and replied,
"No, it's not like I'm hungry, Mom. I'll eat later."
Then he walked away toward the inner part of the house.
The woman continued watching Zhan as he slowly finished eating.
After a while, she also left the living room.
Zhan reached for the remote control, turned on the television, and adjusted his seat so he was facing the screen.
He continued eating, but most of his attention was now on the TV.
After about thirty minutes, he heard someone speak.
"Are you not going home? Haven't you finished eating?"
Zhan turned quickly to look at the young man.
Then he pleaded.
"Please… I want to finish watching this."
The young man stared at him in surprise. The plate in front of Zhan was already empty.
He didn't say anything, though. He simply picked up his car keys and walked outside.
Not long after he left, three girls wearing school uniforms entered the house.
From the moment they stepped in, they kept staring at Zhan.
But Zhan didn't even notice them.
The elder woman's voice came from the living room again.
"Aren't they looking for you at home?"
Zhan quickly looked up and frowned.
"Aunty, I don't want to go back to that house."
The woman widened her eyes.
"You don't want to go back?"
Zhan paused before answering.
"First… they are very dirty and unkempt. And I don't like their food. I just don't like the house."
The woman stared at him in disbelief.
"But isn't that your home?"
Zhan slowly shook his head.
"No. My uncle brought me there."
The woman sighed.
"Stand up and go home before they start searching for you."
Zhan looked at the clock.
It was already six o'clock.
He looked at her again.
"Please, ma'am… am I always welcome here?"
The woman smiled slightly.
"Of course."
Zhan gathered the plate and cups he had used.
"Where is the kitchen?" he asked.
She pointed him in the direction.
After returning the dishes, he picked up the coconut drink the young man had left behind.
"Can I take this with me?" he asked.
She nodded.
Zhan smiled and bowed slightly.
"Thank you, ma'am."
Then he walked toward the door.
The woman watched him as he left.
As soon as he stepped outside, Zhan saw a crowd gathered in front of his uncle's gate.
It took him about six minutes to walk there.
When he arrived, Shi, her children, and several neighbors were all standing outside, talking loudly.
San was the first to see him.
"Mom! Look, there he is!"
Everyone immediately turned to stare at him.
Shi rushed toward Zhan and grabbed him roughly.
"Where have you been?"
Zhan looked around at everyone and replied,
"Just a few houses away...."
Before he could finish speaking, Shi slapped him hard across the face.
Zhan cried out, clutching his cheek as the world seemed to spin around him.
In his entire life, no one had ever hit him before....not even touched his face.
The worst punishment he had ever received was being told to kneel with his hands raised.
Even at the expensive school he once attended, no teacher had ever struck him.
But today was different.
Shi, still furious, began shouting insults.
"Look at all the trouble you caused! We've been searching everywhere for you like fools! May God judge you for this! Just wait until Jincai returns...your stay in this house is over. He'll send you to live with your mother's poor relatives!"
Zhan could only cry while holding his cheek.
The neighbors tried to calm Shi down, reminding her that he was only a child.
At that moment, Ming came out of the living room holding an electric cable.
She was heading straight toward Zhan.
A woman quickly pulled him back.
"Please, stop. Let the boy go."
Another woman grabbed the cable from Ming's hand while trying to calm her down.
Shi scoffed.
"Let her beat him! This boy is a real troublemaker. Who knows which strange house he ran into?"
The woman holding Zhan ben down so she could look directly at his face.
"Where did you go while everyone was searching for you?" she asked gently.
Through his sobs, Zhan said,
"I was hungry and I had to…"
He couldn't finish his sentence before breaking down into louder crying.
The woman looked confused.
"Does he not understand Chinese?"
Ming snapped angrily.
"Oh, he understands perfectly! He's just spoiled because he grew up rich. But where is his rich father now? In the grave! If he wants to live here, he will live like the rest of us. I swear, I don't know why Jincai even brought him here. Saying 'I'm hungry' as if he's special. If he refuses the food we cook, maybe I'll cook his mother instead!"
Shi added coldly,
"That's enough. When Jincai comes back, he'll decide what to do with him. Let him go somewhere else where they'll cook noodles and eggs for him and give him thick tea. We didn't raise our children on tea and bread."
With that, she walked back into the house.
The woman who was holding Zhan asked him gently,
"Why did you leave without telling anyone? Even if you don't like the food, you should still eat it."
Zhan couldn't answer. He only cried.
As night began to fall, the neighbors slowly dispersed, wishing the family well.
Some of them quietly felt sorry for Zhan. If what the women said about his past was true, then perhaps life had been too easy for him before. No one knew what the future might bring. Parents should teach their children both sides of life....the comfort of wealth and the hardships of poverty...so they can adapt to any situation.
Soon Zhan was left standing alone in the courtyard.
Everyone had gone inside.
He wiped his tears and slowly opened the door, about to enter the house.
Shi shouted sharply from inside.
"Why are you coming in? Stay outside until Jincai returns! Get out before I faint from looking at your face!"
Zhan quickly turned and left again, closing the door behind him.
He found a spot outside the house and sat down, resting his head on his knees.
Night fell while he remained there.
Mosquitoes kept biting him.
His uncle didn't return until around ten o'clock.
After parking his car, Uncle noticed a figure outside and shone the light from his phone.
Zhan was still sitting there, fast asleep in the same position.
Surprised, Uncle called out,
"You!"
Zhan woke up immediately and jumped to his feet.
"What are you doing out here?" Uncle asked.
Zhan looked at him with swollen red eyes.
The mark of Shi's slap was still visible on his cheek.
"They told me to wait outside," he said quietly.
"Why?" Uncle asked.
Zhan remained silent and said nothing.
Uncle walked into the house and found everyone sitting in the living room with their children, laughing and watching television.
They all greeted him at once.
"Welcome back, Papa."
He ignored them and asked,
"What is that boy doing outside?"
Ming clicked her tongue.
"He's waiting for you to come back."
Shi added,
"Before four in the afternoon, we noticed the boy had disappeared. We searched everywhere with the neighbors. He didn't return to the house until almost six o'clock. He caused so much trouble for everyone."
Uncle frowned.
"So you left him outside with the mosquitoes? Are you trying to make me take him to the hospital?"
Shi replied,
"I was only doing what I thought was right, so I told him to stay outside."
Uncle said firmly,
"Don't ever send him outside like that again, no matter what he does. I'm telling you this now."
He turned toward Zhan, who was standing there quietly with his head lowered.
"Come here."
Zhan quickly walked toward him.
Uncle asked angrily,
"Where did you go?"
Tears filled Zhan's eyes. His body trembled slightly as he pointed toward the direction of the houses nearby.
Uncle grabbed him roughly and pushed him inside.
"If you try that again tomorrow, the mosquitoes that bit you tonight will be the least of your problems."
Then he walked further into the house.
"Give him food if he wants to eat," he said. "If he refuses, then let him sleep hungry."
He went straight to his room.
Zhan sat down on the floor beside a chair, avoiding eye contact with Shi and Ming, who continued glaring at him.
They eventually placed some food in front of him in an old rusty bowl.
Zhan slowly pulled the bowl closer and looked at the food.
He tasted a little of the soup and frowned slightly.
When he noticed Ming staring at him, he quickly adjusted his expression and pretended everything was fine.
Like the others in the living room, he kept his eyes on the television.
After a while, Ming told Hansu to take the bowl back to the kitchen.
Zhan didn't protest.
In truth, he wasn't even hungry anymore.
Around 11:30 at night, everyone finally went to their rooms.
Zhan lay down on the thin mat they had given him. He had been told to sleep in San's room because the mattress there could not fit everyone.
✴✴✴
Two days later, Zhan sat in the courtyard in the late afternoon, washing a large pile of dishes they had given him.
Inside the house, the women were relaxing with their children since it was Friday.
Zhan washed the dishes slowly, pouting slightly because he had been forbidden from watching television. That was the one thing he loved most, and almost every day he was scolded for it.
He had grown noticeably thinner.
Anyone looking at him could see that he was suffering from hunger and exhaustion.
At least now he could wash plates properly, though it still took him more than two hours to finish the dishes.
Whenever he washed them, his clothes became soaked with water as if he had fallen into a river.
Eventually they stopped asking him to sweep the compound because he was so bad at it.
Now his duties were mostly washing dishes and carrying water when there was no electricity.
Since the day he ran away earlier, he had never left the house again except when they sent him to the nearby shop or asked him to fetch water using the small bucket he carried.
And he had never tasted food as good as the meal he once ate at that neighboring house.
The food in his uncle's house was usually suffergetti, sweet potatoes, or rice with beans and oil.
Unfortunately, he disliked all of them.
Because of that, he was constantly hungry.
Hansu came outside and threw some money toward him.
"Zhan, Mom said you should go to the shop and buy washing soap and two bags of bleach."
Zhan pouted but said nothing.
After Hansu left, he stood up slowly.
He knew Shi might look outside to check whether he had gone.
When he entered the living room, Shi asked,
"What about the errand?"
Zhan looked at his wet clothes and said,
"Aunty, I want to change my clothes first."
Shi grabbed him immediately.
"Get out of here! Foolish boy. You deliberately soak your clothes while washing dishes even though you know better."
Zhan turned and left again.
He looked down at his clothes. From his knees to his feet they were completely wet
.
He headed toward the gate, wearing a small cap on his head.
The shop was quite far away.
As he walked, he played with a small stick in his hand.
He passed the house where he had once been given food and looked at the gate longingly, but he knew he couldn't enter.
When he arrived at the shop, he suddenly realized he had only remembered the soap from the errand.
He quickly ran back home.
Entering the living room again, he looked at Hansu as if he might cry.
"What else did you say I should buy?"
Shi smiled slightly while looking at Ming.
"What did I tell you?"
Ming sighed.
"See what I mean? Whenever you send him on an errand he always comes back saying he forgot. That's what happens when someone grows up spoiled and only speaks English."
Shi shook her head.
"Your father ruined your life. Your stepmother clearly didn't care about you, otherwise she wouldn't have spoiled you this badly. Look at this big boy...every time he's sent somewhere he returns saying he forgot. All he knows is speaking English. Since he arrived in this house, he has given me more trouble than my own children ever did."
Ming shrugged.
"You're the one who tries to be patient. Me? I would simply beat him."
Shi repeated the errand carefully.
Zhan hurried out again, repeating the instructions in his mind until he reached the shop.
When he told the shopkeeper what he needed, the man laughed.
"Are you a foreign child or something?"
Zhan blinked.
"I don't understand."
The man laughed again.
"No, I'm not a foreigner either. I'm just saying that next time you should ask them to write the list for you so you won't forget."
"Oh… alright," Zhan replied.
At that moment he heard a familiar voice behind him asking for chewing gum.
He turned quickly.
Their eyes met.
Zhan smiled brightly.
"Good evening."
The young man looked him up and down.
"How are you?"
Zhan tilted his head slightly.
"I should say fine."
He nodded.
"Good."
The shopkeeper handed him the chewing gum, and he took it before looking back at Zhan.
"You're very tall. Why don't you wear proper clothes when you come outside?"
Zhan replied quietly,
"I don't have any long clothes right now."
The young man didn't respond immediately. He opened the chewing gum and then asked,
"Why are your clothes always wet?"
"I've been washing dishes since afternoon," Zhan answered.
"Where do you live?" he asked.
"Our home is three houses away from yours."
He looked at him again.
"Mr. Jincai's house?"
Zhan nodded.
"You're his child?"
Zhan slowly shook his head.
"When did you come there?"
Zhan looked up as if counting.
"Ten days ago."
The young man nodded but said nothing.
Zhan collected the bag with the items he bought and the change.
Before he could leave, the young man asked,
"What's your name?"
"Zhan."
"Good."
Zhan hesitated, then spoke softly.
"I want to come and eat at your house again… but they said they will kill me if I return. And I can't eat the food they cook. It's just… strange mixtures."
He finished the sentence quietly.
"Why did they forbid you?" the young man asked.
"They said they will beat me if I go anywhere," Zhan replied. "And I'm afraid."
The young man simply looked at him.
Zhan stepped closer.
"Could you bring food from your house to me sometimes?"
"Where?" the young man asked in surprise.
"To our house," Zhan said. "I can hide in the backyard and eat."
Tears filled his bright eyes as he spoke.
When the young man remained silent, Zhan added softly,
"I'm always hungry…"
The young man lowered his gaze but said nothing.
💚💙❤🖤