Jiang Nanzhou had been having the worst of luck lately.
As an ordinary white-collar worker, he had been working at a large enterprise in Modu ever since graduating from university. Thanks to his exceptional work capacity, he now held a middle-management position, but recently, his working environment had taken a turn for the worse.
His female boss—a three-time divorcee in her middle years—had developed a peculiar interest in him.
Although Jiang Nanzhou was from the south, he looked like a northerner, with strong facial features, wheat-colored skin, a height of one hundred and eighty-five centimeters, and a buzz cut. He worked out year-round, embodying the classic build of looking slender in clothes yet muscular underneath. He usually had to wear a suit to the office, cutting the picture of a sharp, imposing professional, and quite a few girls in the company were interested in him.
So the female boss could hardly be blamed for setting her sights on him. Who told him to look so handsome? Ah, being too handsome was a crime in itself.
After Jiang Nanzhou rejected the female boss, she behaved for a few days, but recently she had started finding all sorts of excuses to approach him again, causing him no end of trouble.
She frequently flirted with him verbally in the office, and on more outrageous occasions, she even got handsy, until the entire company knew that the female boss had her eye on him.
It left him feeling utterly embarrassed and helpless.
Ah, if she were only a pretty young matron, he might have just given in, but the female boss was truly unfortunate-looking—she had a round, flat face with bean-sized eyes, and every day she painted her big mouth bright red and smeared her face ghostly white, which was quite terrifying.
Jiang Nanzhou had tried reporting this to higher-ups on multiple occasions, but due to his female boss's family background, his complaints were consistently ignored and ultimately swept under the rug.
Finally, today, the female boss once again reached out her claws toward Jiang Nanzhou. Unable to bear it any longer, Jiang Nanzhou decided to resign and leave this agonizing work environment.
Having completed the resignation procedures, Jiang Nanzhou felt a great sense of relief wash over him.
With a little over a month left before the Lunar New Year, Jiang Nanzhou planned to secretly buy a plane ticket home tomorrow to give his family a surprise.
Ever since graduating from university, he had been constantly busy with work, only spending three or four days at home during the New Year. This time, he could finally go back and properly spend time with his family, looking for a new job only after the holidays.
Jiang Nanzhou's hometown was a rather impoverished little island off the coast of Nanhai, and making the trip back was no simple matter. A plane could only take him to the neighboring city, from which he had to take a high-speed train to their local city, and then a boat to the township dock. There was actually a small dock closer to his village, but it was only used by village fishing boats, and passenger boats didn't stop there, so he still had to take a motorized tricycle from the township to get home.
After booking his ticket, Jiang Nanzhou began packing his luggage. In truth, he didn't actually own many things; the only item in his entire rented apartment that he had paid for himself was a second-hand simple clothes rack, while the rest came furnished with the apartment. His clothes were sparse as well—he only owned two formal suits and a few casual outfits, with his laptop being his sole valuable possession, having already been in use for five or six years.
In the afternoon, he went out to buy quite a few local specialties, along with clothes, trousers, and shoes for his family. Since they wouldn't all fit in his suitcase, he decided to just carry a backpack containing a change of clothes and his computer, and send everything else back by courier.
The next morning, before the sky outside had even brightened, Jiang Nanzhou's phone rang. "The boundless world is my love, flowers are blooming at the foot of the rolling green mountains..."
By the time the third repetition sounded, Jiang Nanzhou was thoroughly awake.
After washing up and eating a simple piece of bread, he grabbed his bag and set off for the airport.
It was already past seven in the evening by the time he reached the Nawan Township dock, and there were only a few passenger tricycles left.
Rural areas basically had no nightlife; only a few restaurants and supermarkets still had their lights on.
At that moment, a motorized tricycle pulled up beside Jiang Nanzhou and honked its horn twice.
Jiang Nanzhou looked over and saw it was Jiang Tianfu from his village, who lived right behind his house. When he was a little boy going to school, he used to tag along behind Brother Tianfu.
"Brother Tianfu, what a coincidence."
"You rascal, I almost didn't recognize you. You've gotten even more handsome! Just got back, did you? Get in, I'll give you a ride back."
Jiang Tianfu's motorized tricycle wasn't a passenger vehicle; it was the kind with a cargo bed in the back meant for hauling goods.
Jiang Nanzhou stood on no ceremony and climbed straight into the vehicle.
"Xiaozhou, hold on tight. The road isn't good, I'll drive slow."
Along the way, the two of them chatted against the biting cold wind. Jiang Tianfu now went out to sea to catch fish with a fishing boat, earning a few thousand yuan a month to support his family. Upon learning that Jiang Nanzhou would be staying at home until after the New Year, he even invited him to go sea fishing in a couple of days.
When they arrived at his doorstep, Jiang Nanzhou's face was completely numb from the wind, though thankfully he had dressed warmly.
After thanking Jiang Tianfu, he walked into the family courtyard.
"Dad, Mom, I'm back."
Hearing their son's shout from inside the house, the couple dropped their chopsticks and walked outside.
"Xiaozhou, you reckless child, why didn't you let us know beforehand?" Mother Jiang hugged her son while playfully giving him a couple of thumps on the back.
Although Jiang Father didn't say a word, his face radiated a broad smile as he took the bag from his son's hand.
"Didn't I want to give you a surprise? Have you finished eating? I've been traveling all day and I'm starving."
Hearing her son's words, Mother Jiang hurried Jiang Father inside to get a bowl and chopsticks.
"So you're on holiday, then? How many days can you stay? Mom will tidy up your room in a moment."
"I've quit my job over there. I'm planning to take a break for a while and go back after the New Year."
Hearing his son say he had quit, Jiang Father was actually quite pleased; it would be better to just find a job locally in the city anyway, much closer to home. However, he respected his son's choice, as he was an enlightened father.
Mother Jiang, upon hearing this, grew somewhat anxious and hurriedly asked:
"Why did you quit? Didn't you say things were going quite well over there before? Were you bullied?"
Jiang Nanzhou was a grown man; he didn't want his parents worrying about him. He figured that he must never, under any circumstances, mention the matter of being harassed by his female boss, and so he had no choice but to tell a lie.
"Nobody bullied your son. It's just that the company I worked for went bankrupt and went under entirely. I figured since the New Year is almost here anyway, I might as well take a break and stay home to properly keep you company."
Hearing this, Mother Jiang finally set her mind at ease; as long as her son hadn't been bullied, that was all that mattered.
Jiang Nanzhou had originally planned to visit his grandparents after dinner, but his mother stopped him. "It's almost nine o'clock, your grandparents have all gone to sleep by now. You can go see them tomorrow after you wake up."
"All right then. I'm going to bed, then. Dad, Mom, you two get some sleep early too."
Whether it was the exhaustion of a whole day's travel or simply being back home, which put his mind completely at ease, this was the soundest sleep he had had in a long time—a night without dreams until dawn.
The next morning, when Jiang Nanzhou woke up, Mother Jiang had already prepared the meals and was waiting for him to eat together.
Breakfast was exceptionally lavish, featuring four different dishes early in the morning. Jiang Nanzhou thought to himself, *Ah, this kind of maternal love will probably only last a few days. After all, her good big boy has just returned; in a few days it will probably be plain porridge and little side dishes, eat what you're given or leave it, and she certainly won't wait for him—if you wake up late, you'll be lucky to have anything at all.*