Epiphanies of Rebirth Chapter 84 (Part 1)
We’re at the second to last chapter of the main story 🥳🥳
Translated by Pure
Chapter 84.1 Jingzhe’s Hair Growth Serum!
Sitting silently at the table, Mother Zhou looked across the table at the top of Xiao Chi’s head. When she entered just now, she made a visual inspection and found that he was less than half a head taller than Lin Jingzhe. He was indeed over 1.9 meters.
No one spoke at the table. When the waiter who served the food came in, he was immediately frightened by the weird atmosphere. After he finished serving the plates, the waiter ran away in a hurry.
Hu Yu looked around, stood up, and closed the open door of the private room.
Gao Sheng, who had been sitting there silently, suddenly stood up and lightly stated, "I'm going to go out for some fresh air."
"Gao Sheng——" Zhou Haitang called out, but was unable to stop him. He watched Gao Sheng leave the room and looked helplessly at Lin Jingzhe. After a moment, he sighed and comforted him, "Don't worry, I'll take a look first. He probably just needs a little more time to accept it.”
Truth be told, Zhou Haitang also found it a little difficult to acknowledge. From getting the news from his mother this morning to seeing Xiao Chi and Lin Jingzhe waiting for them in this private room, he really couldn't fathom how Lin Jingzhe's long established ‘girlfriend’ became someone with a rod!
However, compared to the thoughtful and goal-persistent Gao Sheng, he had always been accustomed to going with the flow. Therefore, even in this confusion, he paid more attention to Lin Jingzhe's feelings than whether Lin Jingzhe's other half was acceptable in terms of common sense.
Lin Jingzhe nodded tiredly. "Thank you."
Zhou Haitang slowed down when passing by Xiao Chi, but in the end he only gave him a complicated look.
Xiao Chi's mood remained steady. Looking at Lin Jingzhe's pale face, he took the teapot and scalded a pair of bowls and chopsticks, then refilled the rinsed cup with water[1].
Lin Jingzhe's cold hands finally warmed up a bit after touching the walls of the teacup. During the summer, the temperature in the hotel's air conditioner was akin to that of an ice cellar.
Mother Zhou looked at his pale lips and downturned eyebrows. She had not seen Lin Jingzhe like this in countless years. She vaguely when he was a child, sometime between first or second grade, Zhou Haitang took Lin Jingzhe home for the first time and requested, "Mom, my classmate's grandfather isn’t home, can he have dinner at our house?"
At that time, the little Lin Jingzhe was staring at the ground and grabbing the edge of his pants, like a little sparrow who was always being driven away by others and had learned to be guarded.
Mother Zhou sighed, stood up, reached her hands out to Xiao Chi, who was pouring water across the table, and said softly, "I'll do it."
Her relaxed posture made everyone in the family breathe a sigh of relief. Father Zhou, whose neck was covered with scraping marks, laughed dryly and said, "Stop sitting around, let's all eat. I ordered my eldest apprentice to cook this table of food. Let's all have a taste of his cooking skills."
The restaurant they were in was a new store opened by the two fathers in the east district of Yan City. It was much larger than their first snack bar on Sun Street, with a more serious name called— ‘Family Restaurant.’
Family Restaurant had gained a reputation not long after it opened, and many gourmets came here because of its reputation. And during this time, the front of the diner was packed with customers queuing up.
Although the population of Yan City was increasing day by day, the disposable income of most people wasn't very high, so there were very few restaurants that were crowded with people queuing up. While recommending the basil shrimp that had just been served, Father Zhou tried his hardest to break the stagnant atmosphere in the room, "The business of our restaurant is getting better and better. It’s unreasonable to make customers wait outside in this hot summer weather. I discussed it with Ol’Gao, we’re planning to expand and take over the second floor of the building before the end of the year."
"There’s not even enough people working at the store now." Under Hu Yu's encouraging gaze, Father Gao also joined the conversation and worked hard to create a harmonious atmosphere. "You might not know, but the catering industry is really tiring. During meal times, even with our dozens of employees, we are still short of hand. Fortunately, the few apprentices Ol’Zhou brought over are all abled people, and the few little ones in the store are really tired. The managers of our store are also very resilient, so before scaling up, we should consider giving them a raise."
Father Gao had described his difficult situation positively. Since the opening of their new restaurant, their business had been getting better and better, so much so that the only leisure time the two fathers had was when they went to bed. Even so, they never regretted their original idea of expansion: in the first half of this year alone, this famous Family Restaurant in the eastern district had earned them nearly one million yuan in profits.
Even after dividing it in half according to the equity shares, this amount was enough to buy a large house in a relatively good community in Yan City, not to mention what this possession meant to ordinary people.
Occasionally, Father Gao would mention his former job as a construction laborer when drinking. At that time, he had lived away from his wife, and he would only see his son at most twice a year. To save a few dozen yuan a day, he slept in a shack casually built by his foreman in severe cold and heat, and ate from the dust-filled wok of missmassed foods. At that time, he was hopeful that this extra money would allow his family to live a good life. He really didn't think anything much about it back then, but looking back now, he could taste the bitter taste, and would lament with eyes brimming with tears of exhilaration.
Perhaps the most correct decision he made in his life was to choose to stay in Yan City in order to be reunited with his wife and child. Life had not to fail to live up to his expectations.
On the contrary, Father Zhou never wanted to recall his past and his once complacent job at Liyun Theromos Factory, earning a salary of four to five hundred yuan a month. Back then, he had to battle hard with others to be allocated a rough and slipshod housing unit. Now, he was able to create with his own hands wealth that was previously unimaginable. Although its production value and scale couldn’t outdo his wife’s Haitang Food Factory, Father Zhou was nevertheless satisfied.
He had also slowly come to accept that there was nothing wrong with his wife doing business. Although she became more independent, more strong-minded, and more hard-mouthed, compared with her gentle and submissive appearance in the past, the current Mother Zhou was now so much brighter and beautiful!
Realistically speaking, after so many years of marriage, as their child grew day by day, and with their constant contact while back in Liyun Town, the spark between the couple had been worn down to a bland and tepid familial relationship. Even the rare times they got to do ‘that’, it just felt like another routine. Now, as they reached middle age, the couple had fewer opportunities to get along with each other as everyone's time was filled to the brim with work. However, once in a while when they were blessed with some free time, Father Zhou’s heart would occasionally skip a beat for his old wife's new hairstyle or recently bought dress. It was as if he had regained the passionate love he had when he was twenty years old, while holding her hands and taking secret peeks at her.
When Mother Zhou first started her career, she went through a period of confusion, trying to rediscover herself. As if to vent the emotions suppressed by life these years, the couple had many quarrels during that time, but the situation improved soon after.
The bigger the Haitang Food Factory got, the busier she became. Traveling around the country all day long, meeting with commercial dealers, she must ensure that every inch of guarantee was strived for during negotiations. Therefore, on the occasional breaks she was about to go home to rest, at the sight of her long missed husband and son, it was difficult for her to maintain her publicly committed style. During times like those, all she wanted was to draw warmth and sweetness from her family.
As they approached their fifties, the Zhou couple's dull relationship quickly rekindled, which provided impetus to the introverted Gao Fu and Hu Yu into harmony. Father Gao's sense of machismo was actually very severe. After arriving in Yan City, his wife refused to stay at home as a full-time housewife and insisted on continuing her studies while his son also tried his best to support her; this matter had caused him to be unhappy for a long time. However, at the sight of Mother Zhou's increasingly bright temperament, he gradually came to terms with his wife's persistence. At least Hu Yu's temper was still gentle, she was still willing to spend his money, and she would find him as soon as possible when she encountered difficulties. The only thing that changed was that life became more fulfilling and rich.
A happy life undoubtedly made people more tolerant. The fathers now rarely force their children to study, so it was also difficult for them to show firm opposition to Lin Jingzhe’s current relationship.
They raised this child as their biological son, but after all, he was not their biological son.
Mother Zhou watched Xiao Chi peeling shrimps for Lin Jingzhe, and she looked away after a long while. During the whole meal, she didn’t cause any difficulties, as if she was just getting to know Xiao Chi in a normal way. Only after eating, when Lin Jingzhe silently supported her from behind, did she gently ask, "Does your dad know?"
This question made Xiao Chi, who was walking in front, stop and look back at her conscientiously. After a moment, he was able to confirm that there was only worry on her face, and not disgust.
Lin Jingzhe nodded silently.
As if touching a fragile bubble, Mother Zhou cautiously continued to ask, "Did they... agree?"
Lin Jingzhe quietly replied, "Yes, my dad and his family have discussed the wedding date, it’ll be on November 6th. Can...can you all attend?"
"It’s good that they accepted it, I’m glad they didn’t make it difficult for you." As if a large stone had been removed from her shoulders, Mother Zhou breathed a long sigh of relief and said, "Of course, how can we not attend on the day of your marriage? I have been looking forward to this day for many years. For your family to agree… is wonderful news."
At her words, Lin Jingzhe raised his head to look at her with an earnest gaze, "Aunt Zhou, you all are also my family. Even at the wedding, you all will be seated at the main table."
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the forced happy smile on Mother Zhou's face gradually disappear. Her eyes quickly turned red as tears fell in large drops.
The people in front all stopped and turned back to gather around. Xiao Chi quickly came over and stood behind Lin Jingzhe, guarding Lin Jingzhe vigilantly, fearing that Mother Zhou would throw a fit like what his father had previously done.
"It's okay! It's nothing! What are you all doing? I'm okay. Who do you think I am? How can I casually weep in public? These are just tears of joy." However, Mother Zhou just wiped her tears, pushed away the concerned inquirers, and continued to speak, "I was just so happy to hear that a wedding is going to happen. This kid Jingzhe said that we should sit at the main table at the wedding. You brat, you've always been sweet-mouthed since you were little, how dare you use those words to coax me…"
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Footnote:
[1] Cleansing rituals - Is a chinese restaurant etiquette equivalent to wiping the serving utensils with a napkin, but in china, it's with hot water. It doesn’t happen all the time here, so don’t go asking for hot water and pouring it over your bowls and wetting the floor, you’ll get some stinky eyes haha. You can watch the first part of this video for some visual demonstration.
Basil shrimp https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJFM6gL_bo0
