From childhood to adulthood, because there had not been many friends, my birthdays were usually spent with family. Later, my brother went abroad, leaving only our parents and I to celebrate. But this year, Fang Xiānsheng was an extra on my birthday celebration.
Originally, I didn’t want to invite Fang Xiānsheng. After all, we had only been together for a month and a half, so seemed too fast to take him home to meet my parents. But my parents seemed very worried about Fang Xiānsheng and I being together and secretly expressed their desire to meet Fang Xiānsheng. I knew they were only worried about me, so I finally agreed to invite Fang Xiānsheng to our house for dinner.
Dinner was set for seven o’clock, and Fang Xiānsheng said he would be there at six-thirty. As soon as my dad got off work, he went into the bathroom, took a shower, and changed into new clothes. My mother also dressed up specially and wore a dress, which she rarely did.
I was setting out the dishes in the dining room when the doorbell rang.
My mother said: “Stop moving around and open the door.”
I put down my chopsticks and ran to the entrance to open the door wearing two gray rabbit slippers.
Fang Xiānsheng was wearing a white shirt and suit trousers, holding a gift in his hand, stood outside the door, and looked a little at a loss. Ms. Jiang said that Fang Xiānsheng was easily nervous in an unfamiliar environment.
I gently closed the door behind me while my dad wasn’t paying attention, gave him a quick hug, comforted him, and said: “Don’t be nervous, the people inside are my parents, the same as Fang Xiānsheng’s parents.”
“Okay.” Fang Xiānsheng nodded.
“Remember to call them Auntie and Uncle,” I instructed again.
Fang Xiānsheng said: “I remember.”
I opened the door and walked in with Fang Xiānsheng. My mother had come out of the kitchen and was standing in the living room with my father, they looked at us.
“Fang Xiānsheng, you have already met my mother. This is my father. Dad, this is Fang Xiānsheng.”
Fang Xiānsheng put down the gift, stretched out his hand to my dad, and said, “Hello, Uncle.”
My father shook his hand, nodded, and said, “Hello.”
Fang Xiānsheng took his hand back, turned around, and greeted my mother, as he said, “Hello, Auntie.”
My mother smiled and greeted, “Hello, Mr. Fang. Please sit down for a while. The food will be ready soon.”
“Okay.” After Fang Xiānsheng said this, he found a seat and sat down.
I picked up the gift Fang Xiānsheng brought and said with a smile, “How about I open the gift first.”
“Xiao Xiao, you cannot open it,” Fang Xiānsheng stopped me and said,” The gift is for my Auntie.”
“Huh?” I looked at him in confusion and asked, “Why?”
“Because Xiao Xiao’s birthday is also Auntie’s Good Friday.1Birthday is someone’s mother’s suffering day(/Good Friday). It means that the birthday represents the mother who suffered the pain of childbirth on this day. This sentence expresses praise and respect for the mother. It must have been hard for Auntie to bring Xiao Xiao into this world, so I want to give this gift to Auntie,” Fang Xiānsheng said seriously.
The smile froze on my face.
God damn it, it was your boyfriend’s birthday. Did you fucking give him a gift???
Also, my dad was still here, okay!!!
After a meal, my heart was stuffed, and my father’s face was not very good either. Only my mother laughed profusely and kept saying that Fang Xiānsheng was too considerate. In all these years, she had never seen a man more considerate than Fang Xiānsheng and blah blah.2巴拉 巴拉: [bā lā bā lā]
My dad & I: “…”
During the meal, my mother kept on serving Fang Xiānsheng dishes, saying ‘Taste this delicious food, Mr. Fang’ and ‘Try that delicious food, Mr. Fang’. She put all the good things that originally belonged to me into Fang Xiānsheng’s bowl.
Fang Xiānsheng, a mentally retarded man, looked satisfied when he ate. He ate whatever my mother gave him. He whispered thank you while eating, which made my mother smile all the time.
I stabbed a piece of chicken hard, put it into my dad’s bowl, and said firmly: “Dad, today is my birthday. You have worked hard too. Eat a piece of chicken!” After saying this, I suddenly felt so aggrieved and a sense of injustice, as if it was easy to come into this world on your own, it was obviously not easy for me too, okay?
I lowered my head to eat the rice and felt like tears were about to fall.
God damn broken birthday.
I couldn’t bear it anymore.
After dinner, my mother directed me to cut fruit for Fang Xiānsheng.
I said, “He ate too much food. What to do if he ate more fruits and held on3Eat until you’re full/Eat to hold on [Pinyin] chī bǎo chēng zhe [English meaning] having nothing better to do. It describes that people who have eaten too much and now have nothing else to do may look for trouble to use their energy. This is a kind of derogatory way or can also be used as a joke between acquaintances.?”
Fang Xiānsheng touched his stomach and said, “I feel a little full now.”
My mother quickly rummaged through the cabinets to get Fang Xiānsheng a digestive medicine. I walked over and touched his belly, and it was indeed bulging. I said, “Are you stupid? If you can’t eat it, don’t eat it.”
Fang Xiānsheng felt a little aggrieved and said, “I don’t know. My mother said that when people give me things, then I have to say thank you in return. I said thank you a lot, but my aunt kept on giving me food.”
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. It took me a while to realize that this mentally retarded person didn’t know how to reject others.
Due to accidentally overfeeding Fang Xiānsheng, my mother felt very embarrassed and hid in the room. She was coaxed by my father for a while before coming out.
I noticed that Fang Xiānsheng always looked at his watch from time to time, I thought that he had something urgent to do, so I said to my parents: “Fang Xiānsheng has something to do at home, so he may have to leave first.”
My mother didn’t dare to persuade him to stay this time. She just smiled and said, “Mr. Fang, come again next time.”
Fang Xiānsheng nodded and said, “Okay. Auntie, uncle, goodbye.”
I took Mr. Fang downstairs and as he walked out of the elevator, he suddenly said, “Xiao Xiao, close your eyes.”
“What are you doing?” I asked, closing my eyes and unable to help but curve the corners of my mouth upwards.
I knew it! How could Fang Xiānsheng not prepare a gift for me! Thinking about the small and exquisite flower baskets he had made, I was instantly looking forward to the gift.
Fang Xiānsheng held my hand and said, “Xiao Xiao, walk forward slowly.”
I closed my eyes tightly and moved forward little by little following his words. After walking for an unknown amount of time, Fang Xiānsheng said again: “There are steps below, so be careful.”
I said, “Aren’t we there yet?”
“Soon.”
I felt that I was stepping on pebbles and there was a faint scent of flowers at the tip of my nose, which should have led me to the flowerbeds in the small area.
“We’re here,” Fang Xiānsheng said.
I opened my eyes instantly, and a white and delicate marble statue burst into my eyes. The man on the statue had his neck held high and his arms stretched out, forming a beautiful arc in the air. He touched the ground with one toe and lifted up with the other in the air, like a noble and elegant swan dancing gracefully under the moonlight.
Under the statue was a truncated cone-shaped base with a sentence engraved on it ——
Xiao Xiao, welcome to this world.
