Heart Flutter

Chapter 54

After finishing her conversation with the advisor that day, Tang Yan returned to Aunt Ji’s hospital room. Both of them tacitly avoided mentioning what had happened, silently agreeing to act as though it had never occurred.

The train screeched to a halt at Huadu West Station, where Tang Jun and Hu Chunhua stepped off into a packed crowd. It was Tang Jun’s second time visiting Huadu; the first had been twenty years earlier, when he had brought his younger sister Tang Huiyi here for school—an event that had brought honor to their entire village. But now he had received a call from the Huadu police, summoning him to deal with the mess his disappointing son had created.

During the trip, Tang Jun and Hu Chunhua quarreled repeatedly. Hu Chunhua insisted that Tang Yan was to blame, while Tang Jun shouted that Tang Yawen had only himself to blame for his predicament.

Upon arriving in Huadu, they found a cheap motel to stash their luggage and then immediately took a taxi to see their son. At the moment, Tang Yawen was in temporary detention at the local police station, awaiting the next steps in the investigation.

They arrived to find Tang Yawen brought out by two officers, dressed in plain clothes resembling prison garb, his hands cuffed in front of him. His face was covered in stubble, and his hair, evidently unwashed for days, hung in a grimy tangle.

He did not appear very happy to see his parents, who had traveled so far to get here. He simply looked at them with a blank expression. Hu Chunhua covered her mouth, quietly sobbing in distress.

Tang Jun, however, was a man of hot temper. Without a word, he went up and slapped Tang Yawen, so hard that the young man’s head spun and buzzed.

“You good-for-nothing brat! I swear I will kill you today!”

The officers present had no choice but to intervene. Hu Chunhua, crying, tried to hold Tang Jun back, shouting, “Why are you hitting him? Stop!”

“And you still protect him?” Tang Jun roared at her. “You have been coddling him all along, and he has turned into a useless piece of trash!”

Hu Chunhua was not one to be intimidated; she raised her voice in challenge, “He is my son. If you do not care about him, I do! Is that wrong?”

A police officer approached to mediate. “Are you the family members of Tang Yawen? Could you sit down and talk, please?”

With some persuasion, Tang Jun and Hu Chunhua finally calmed down enough to sit across from each other for a discussion. The police produced a medical report detailing the injuries to the victim, Ji Yuqing, and explained that if the victim decided to press charges, Tang Yawen would face legal consequences. According to Article 234 of the Criminal Law, he could be sentenced to at least three years and up to ten years in prison for intentional assault.

Hearing this, Hu Chunhua trembled as she sat in her chair, stricken as though her soul had flown away. She only had this one precious son. If he went to prison and ended up with a criminal record, she felt his future would be utterly ruined.

Tang Jun fell silent, bowing his head. Nobody could tell what he was thinking. Hu Chunhua, shaking Tang Jun’s arm, cried out, “Say something! What are we going to do now? Do you really want to watch our son go to jail?”

Seething, Tang Jun snapped, “He brought this on himself.”

On the other side of the table, Tang Yawen scowled, clearly resentful. “If prison is where I go, then so be it. It’s no big deal. I will take responsibility for my own actions.”

That same day, Zhang Miya and Pei Wen visited Ji Yuqing with a lawyer to discuss filing charges. The lawyer’s letter was already being drafted. Tang Yan was not with them; she stayed downstairs at the hospital looking after a child—Dou Dou, who was Zhang Miya’s daughter.

They believed Tang Yan was still young, so there was no need for her to be involved in these proceedings. Deep down, Tang Yan understood the real reason: her relationship with Tang Yawen was that of cousins, and everyone worried it would be uncomfortable to talk about such matters in front of her. Yet Tang Yan did not mind. She already despised Tang Yawen.

Behind the hospital’s inpatient building was a recreational area filled with people—adults and children alike. Since Dou Dou was too little, she had to remain in her stroller. Tang Yan did not find it too tiring; all she needed to do was push the stroller through the garden.

Children saw the world through simple, joyful eyes, able to giggle endlessly at the slightest novelty. Tang Yan sat on a swing, swaying gently while keeping one hand on Dou Dou’s stroller. As she rocked, the baby gave occasional little laughs that only infants could make.

People often said that a fortunate childhood could heal a person for life, whereas an unfortunate one meant spending a lifetime trying to mend it. At that moment, Tang Yan just hoped this nightmare would soon end, that the crisis would be resolved, and that Aunt Ji would recover quickly.

She realized some time had passed since she last contacted Xiao Yun. Right then, she received a message from her—a new selfie. The picture showed a group of men and women at a table laden with good food. According to Zhao Xiaoyun, she was out dining with colleagues that day.

Gazing at the girl in the photo—hair nicely done, wearing makeup and lipstick, dressed far more stylishly and exuding happiness and confidence—Tang Yan felt genuinely glad for her. Xiao Yun was slowly discovering herself instead of spending every day confined to factory shifts, living in endless drudgery, and being exploited by her own family.

Zhao Xiaoyun wrote: How is Aunt Ji doing?

Tang Yan replied: The lawyer came by today. I think we will be heading to court soon.

Zhao Xiaoyun wrote: Good. That jerk Tang Yawen needs to be locked up. I still remember that time when we were kids and he brought a bunch of boys to bully me.

Right then, Tang Yan’s phone rang. It was Pei Wen calling to say they were about to leave.

Ending the call, Tang Yan got up from the swing, knelt down to speak to Dou Dou, and said, “We are going upstairs to find your mom now, all right?”

“Mommy, mommy,” Dou Dou exclaimed, waving her arms in delight.

Tang Yan smiled, her eyes betraying a hint of longing. Her memories of her own mother were almost nonexistent. After all, shortly after Tang Yan was born, her mother had left her behind right after the one-month milestone.

Pushing the stroller back to the building, Tang Yan happened to run into Aunt Zhang Miya, Pei Wen, and the lawyer in the hospital lobby. Aunt Zhang Miya thanked her profusely for watching Dou Dou. Tang Yan replied that it was no trouble and went on to praise how well-behaved Dou Dou had been.

Pei Wen patted Tang Yan’s shoulder lightly and said with a smile, “Go on up. She is waiting for you.”

Tang Yan nodded.

When she returned to the hospital room, Aunt Ji was alone, leaning against the headboard. She seemed tired at first, but as soon as she saw Tang Yan, her expression softened with warmth. “They all left?”

“Yes.” Tang Yan nodded and then could not stop herself from asking, “Is everything settled?”

“Yes,” said Ji Yuqing. She shifted her posture and looked at Tang Yan. “Yan Yan, would you push me around outside for a while?”

They found a nurse to help transfer Aunt Ji into a wheelchair, and Tang Yan pushed her into the elevator and downstairs. The evening wind was strong, blowing Aunt Ji’s hair behind her. Tang Yan, walking behind her, quickly asked, “Is it cold?”

“I am fine,” Aunt Ji said calmly. “It has been a while since I got some fresh air.”

“If you like,” Tang Yan said, “I can bring you out here every day.”

Sitting in the wheelchair, Aunt Ji gave a faint smile. “You really are a good kid, Yan Yan.”

“That is only because… you have always been so kind to me,” Tang Yan replied.

Trees lined both sides of the path, their leaves swaying in the wind. After fluttering through the air, the leaves fell again in layers, like a golden carpet.

They walked on until a ringing phone shattered the silence. Tang Yan glanced at the caller’s name, not intending to answer, but the phone rang again, persistent and annoying.

“You have a call,” Aunt Ji remarked.

“It is probably just a sales call.” Tang Yan tried to shrug it off.

“It is all right. Go ahead and answer. It does not bother me.” Aunt Ji seemed to have guessed the truth, leaving Tang Yan with no place to hide.

Tang Yan had long since realized that nothing ever escaped Aunt Ji’s notice. With no other choice, she answered. Tang Jun’s voice came over the line.

“Yan Yan, your aunt and I have just visited the station to see Tang Yawen.”

“Uncle…” Tang Yan lowered her voice, glancing at Aunt Ji for any reaction.

“I know nothing can change what has happened, but he is still your cousin. You know your aunt dotes on him. I have no choice but to call and ask if there is any way you could help by saying a few words on his behalf. Yan Yan?”

“It was his fault in the first place. He should learn a hard lesson.”

“Yan Yan, I beg you, as your uncle. Could you please try? Just help us out—please?”

“Uncle, do not do this—”

At that moment, the phone was clearly snatched by Hu Chunhua, who started berating Tang Yan loudly enough to nearly rupture her eardrum. “How can you be like this, Tang Yan? Has our family ever mistreated you all these years? How can you be so heartless, watching your cousin face prison and turning a blind eye?”

Tang Yan bit her lip and ended the call.

Noting the sudden hush, Aunt Ji finally asked, “What is it?”

“It is nothing,” said Tang Yan, continuing to push the wheelchair forward.

Meanwhile, Tang Jun and Hu Chunhua headed back to their motel. They had just left the station, and after Tang Yan hung up on them, Tang Jun chastised Hu Chunhua. “Why did you lose your temper? Now look at what happened. There is no one to save your son. Let him go to prison.”

Unable to hold back her panic, Hu Chunhua burst into louder sobs, drawing attention from passersby. Through tears and sniffles, she wailed, “What are we going to do? I never thought Tang Yan would be so stubborn. She really has grown wings and learned to defy us!”

“What else can we do?” Tang Jun said. “We will have to go to the hospital tomorrow!”

“That girl is so ungrateful, a heartless brat,” Hu Chunhua cursed all the way along the street.