The group managed to finish the rest of the journey by nightfall without the necessary stop by the school run by Teacher Woo. Regardless, they knew Teacher Woo would now be fast asleep and decided to head back tomorrow morning. Along with ReZhui and his two companions, Mr Zhang had brought along several useful items and supplies for the upcoming winter season. All were planned to be shared equally among the villagers.
As usual, the residents of Bai village were already waiting for them at the foot of their fertile plateau. Once they saw the hanging lamp of the wagon, they burst out with cries of welcome. In the center, ReZhui saw his mother waving with his baby brother in hand, while the children, consisting of mostly his classmates and his brothers began their wild charge towards the cart, excited to see ReZhui and the toys that Mr Zhang had apparently promised to buy for their efforts in the harvest. While ReZhui and the others now barely had any interest in such things after what they learned and witnessed, it was still a curious sight for their downtime and they instantly released the bags that contained them. The reunion party has already commenced.
Another warm greeting from his mother had ReZhui in tears once more and Mr Zhang began unloading the cart with the help of the other farmers. Meanwhile, the mothers and the children returned to the village square where large red tables were spread about and filled with a lot of dishes. To a corner, ReZhui saw the distinctive vases of wine that he and ShiYan carried together up the hill, lined alongside the other brown pots of cheap wine on multiple racks.
‘The adults surely are going all out.’
With his thoughts scanning around the nostalgic village, ReZhui suddenly felt a mass scurrying behind his back, cowering in fear. Of course, it was Eddisson. Sighing, ReZhui looked back as ShiYan approached close, followed by an intrigued crowd.
“What’s the problem, Eddi?”
“T-those kids…they started pulling my hair. Should I…faybe I should return to caking my hair in-”
“That’s enough, Eddi!” Before ReZhui could say the same, ShiYan apprehended those self-deprecating words of his.
“Stand up straight!”
“Y-yes, Madam!”
“Good.” And she yanked him away from ReZhui and into the group of children behind her.
“...” ReZhui looked on with weary eyebrows. It seemed that ReZhui would have to be dealing with this routine until whenever in the future. As he walked up to his fellow classmates and village friends, they immediately bombarded him with questions as well as ShiYan.
“Brother! Brother! Who is this?”
“Is he a friend?”
“ReZhui, he looks funny!”
“What happened to his black hair?”
“Did you tame a spirit?”
“Where did you find such a monster?”
“No way, he looks ugly with that nose.”
“He speaks funny too.”
“Is he sick?”
“Should we replay him as the enemy?”
“...” ReZhui watched on, wordless.
“ShiYan! W-why did you come back?”
“Did you come back for us?”
"Who did you miss?”
“Did you bring your makeup box this time?”
“I w-want to conf-”
“I hope you show you around my father’s field. We got the largest stockpile of rice grains in the world!”
“Nonsense, I hunted the most boars.”
“...” ShiYan decided to let it all pass out from one ear to the other. Certainly, this louder group was the minority and many other of his classmates stayed at the back, watching things unfold. Slowly and patiently, ReZhui waited until all the chaos had died down and gestured to ShiYan to do the same in order to maintain her image of a studious town girl. From within, she gritted her teeth.
“Is everyone done with their questions?” ReZhui exclaimed, and silence and nods answered.
“Alright then everyone, please welcome another close friend of mine, Eddisson He. Eddi, introduce yourself.” He demanded.
“H-hello everydone, I am honored to make your acquaintance…”
“...!” ReZhui released Eddisson wasn’t done.
“I am nine years old like you all. I love reading and learning. My favorite meal is red braised pork belly and my hometown is a large city near the sea called ShanWei.”
As he continued his impromptu introductory speech, no one interrupted. Everyone surprisingly paid full attention to his every word. Even the women and most of the arriving farmers, who were initially puzzled at this weird boy, listened closely.
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“I sleep on a mattress of soft fabric, and wear clothes of the kingdom I was borned and raised in all my life…I am the son of a Middle Kingdom woman and a man of the Manustrion Principality, a foreign land crossing oceans on the other side of the world where I heard men of different origins thrive, such as my definitive looks. I-I may not be made purely of the blood of all of you, but, I still live the same lifestyle as you all. The same beliefs, practices and language. Your culture is very much mine as well!”
“...!”
“…Hence, I pray that you all will accept me regardless.”
Eddisson bowed down in face of flush scarlet.
“...”
Silence soon filled the square as the villagers remained deep in thought. They were clueless on what to consider. Like Mr Zhang, they never heard of these places like ShanWei nor the Manustrion Principality. A cautious instinct of a like-minded, homogenous group.
“...”
Yet, from what YaoMing said and reinforced by Eddisson’s plea, Mr Zhang soon reached an epiphany. His face darkened.
“...”
Mr Zhang was, after all, the Chieftain of the Bai people and to catch up with what he predicted are decisive times of change in the nearseeing future. It’s entirely for his people’s sake. So…
“Everyone!” Mr Zhang had to set an example, even if it’s not entirely righteous when compared to his son’s actions. Opening up to this boy of mixed race would be their first step to rejoin with the surrounding villages of the Bai River basin for their cooperation, starting first with DongBu and the Winterless Spring Festival.
‘I still have a lot to learn and take action.’
“Shall we accept this young friend of ReZhui as our own?!”
“...”
“Ultimately, we are all human beings. What’s so trivial about color when even my son treats him like every one of us? Are the people of Bai village so scared of change?”
Slowly, Mr Zhang will try his best to engrave his ideas with the community. Change is coming and he has to prepare for it.
“Well, I do! And what better way to interact with one another than our communal grand feasts!”
“OOOOHHHHHH!!!”
Suddenly, a loud uproar of the crowd erupted at those words. A new mentality is seeding in.
“Welcome everyone, I call for this feast…BEGIN!”
With his signal, the hundred or so individuals rushed for the tables in quick succession. Some of them were nearly toppled over.
Eddisson, still burning hot from embarrassment, was soon dragged into ReZhui’s village friends who had decided to give him a chance at having fun. Admittedly, Eddisson’s playing was tougher for him than understanding economical books.
“Pa…Nice work.”
As for ReZhui, he made short contact with his father who smiled in relief at his son’s response. Mr Zhang truly hoped this was the best route for his people. Once Mr Zhang walked to the wine rack with his fellow farmers, only ShiYan and ReZhui remained at that spot, and they looked at each other.
“...”
“...”
Sooner or later, they will also be swept away with the party spirit so ReZhui decided to ask her this right now.
“ShiYan, there’s something I would like to ask-”
“Was it only because of the heat in the moment or due to their lack of education? Either way, what they did to Eddi was awful and now they shove it under the rug like that?”
But ShiYan said hers quicker.
“...What…”
“ReZhui, do you think it’s unnecessary for me to ask about that?”
“Well…at first, I thought that my journeys outside the village had changed my perspective so much that I believed that what I saw before of my childhood friends was false.”
“Do you still think like that?”
“...No, not any more.”
“I see…”
“ShiYan, I think you raise some good points that counter my new first impressions so thank you.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
“Also, for your question earlier, I can confidently say that my father will change the status quo of this village, alongside Mr Xu for everyone else.”
“...What does that mean?”
“It’s just a hunch, ShiYan. I just…want to share my thoughts.”
“There’s no problem there, ReZhui. It will be all safe with me.”
“...One more final thing, ShiYan.”
“Yes?”
“Back then, when you laid eyes on Eddisson, why didn’t you react in a similar way to everyone else?”
“...why huh?”
“Ahhh, if I offend you in anyway, please forgive me-”
“It’s not like that, ReZhui.”
“What…”
“It’s true that I nearly freaked out when I first saw Eddi. He looked…strange and acted foolishly. There’s no way I will even come close to greet him.”
“What harsh words…”
“I-it was you, ReZhui.”
“Huh…?”
She averted her gaze.
“I felt jea-NO!”
“...!”
“...Honestly, if it weren’t for your showcase of friendship with Eddi, I would have hesitated, even after knowing he is my step nephew from Father.”
“Oh…”
“But, I don’t think like that anymore! I think he’s just your average guy dealing with a dysfunctional family like myself.”
“...”
“That’s my first connection with him, and it sprung up more from there. So, I thank you too.”
ShiYan smiled beautifully back at him.
“...Oh…alright…That’s nice to hear, ShiYan.”
He then gave her his hand.
“...?”
“We should enjoy the feast ourselves too. Shall we?”
“...! YES, LET’S GO!”
Instead, ShiYan grasped hold of his hand and ran, pulling him ever closer to the loud crowd of food and wine. It was a lively time that night.
.
.
.
---
When morning came, the rising sun rose in between the towering mountains. Slim gaps of light shone through onto the village square where bodies laid about, fast asleep. While most of the mothers and younger children returned to their homes at midnight, the rest continued, leading to the scene before them. ReZhui, awakened from a nearby call of a rooster, found Eddisson clinging by his side on a patch of grass near his home; while ShiYan slumped over a wooden bench in deep slumber across the route.
Mr Zhang passed out on a table and the wine rack was unfortunately toppled over.
It was a fun homecoming.