Li Chenchen returned home to an apartment that he shared with his parents. It was very common to live with parents, but the new trend was for millennials to own their own homes. Unfortunately for Li Chenchen, he had only started working and his salary wasn't enough to afford a place anywhere in Imperial City.
“Mom, I think I saw Cousin Yun here in Imperial City,” Li Chenchen mentioned during dinner.
“What is that brat doing here?” asked Li Nan, Li Chenchen's mother. “He’s in town, and he hasn't even call us?”
There were certain about of face relatives should give to one another, and Li Nan firmly believed that it was rude of Li Yun to ignore his relatives.
"Who's cousin Yun?" Asked Rong, the new daughter-in-law and Li Chenchen's wife.
"Uncle Li Fan's family son," replied Li Chenchen. "He's the one that missed our wedding because he was busy studying for his medical exam."
"Oh, the doctor," said Rong in a dismissive tone. "Why did he decide on being a doctor? There's no future in that field."
"Well, he's lucky he has good Li family gene," said Li Nan. "I tried to set him up with your cousin's friend in Yide, but he turned it down."
"You can't really blame cousin," said Li Chenchen. "I heard residency is very tiring and laborious. I wonder why he's in Imperial City."
“I’ll give him a call," said Li Chao, the father of the house, as he whipped out his phone from a fancy holster. "Sari, call Little Yun."
"Calling Little Yun," the mechanical female voice responded.
Li Chao waited for the phone to ring. On the fifth ring, someone finally picked up the phone.
“Uncle Chao?” Li Yun’s voice could be heard over the phone. “How are you?”
“Hey Little Yun! Heard you’re in town, why haven’t you visited!?” Li Chao yelled out over the phone in his usual voice. He always sounded like he was screaming at someone.
“I was busy for a few days, are you still in the same apartment?" Li Yun responded. "I’ll stop by after finishing up.”
“Sure, sure! But we moved to a new apartment last year, I’ll send you the address," Li Chao ended the call and immediately sent over the new address.
****
Li Yun put away his phone in the back pocket of his jeans and continued walking down the street market. Imperial City was much livelier than Yide, but there were also a lot of imitations and fakes. By the afternoon, he still has 5% of his energy left and would rather spend it all treasure hunting. Unfortunately, his uncle had already figured out he was in Imperial City and it was better to pay them a visit than receive an earful from his mom about not being respectful.
Li Yun hadn’t seen them since his paternal grandfather passed away almost 20 years ago. His family had video chat with them briefly every New Years to wish everyone the usual blessing. He was surprised Li Chenchen had even recognized him, but Li Chenchen seemed like the type that was always surveying his surrounding. People in Imperial City needed to stay sharp and gather connections if they wanted to be successful. From his mom’s constant complaints, his uncle and his family were always much more focused on building wealth. There wasn’t anything particularly wrong about it. Many people wanted to build wealth but were either unmotivated or lacked ambition.
He took the taxi ride and arrived in a middle class neighborhood, located on the 3rd ring of Imperial City. There were five major roadways surrounding Imperial City known as the rings. Outside of the fifth ring was the cheapest available real estate, and inside the first ring was the most expensive. The 3rd ring location meant that his relative was doing well.
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Uncle Chao owned a restaurant and it had been booming in the past few years. His son Li Chenchen had recently acquired a position at the General Administration of Quality. It wasn’t the highest-paying job, but it had good upward mobility and many potential connections. From all the boisterous postings on social media and Meibo, all the relatives assumed that Li Chenchen had some sort of managerial position instead of a simple office clerk.
As soon as Li Yun arrived, his relative pulled him inside a spacious living room. Li Yun chatted with Li Chao and Chenchen as Li Nan and Rong prepared dinner.
“Little Yun, you know we live here, and we have an extra room, why do you have to be a stranger?” his uncle Chao scolded him. “You know how expensive it is to stay here? You should be saving up for marriage!”
Li Yun nodded, “It’s not a problem uncle, I didn’t want to inconvenience you and I’m only staying for a short while.”
“I heard your mom said you’re training to be a surgeon?” asked Li Chao. “Are you here for training or exhibition?”
Li Yun felt a bit awkward as his family didn’t even know he was in Imperial City. “I took time off to check on a friend. I’m staying with his family.”
“Oh, I didn’t know you had friends in Imperial City. Why don’t you relocate here to work? You’ll have a lot better pay.”
“I’ll think about it,” Li Yun replied in a typical non-committed tone.
“I would never guess a little brat like you would become a surgeon!” Li Chao laughed. “It must be tough work though.”
“Yeah, I heard it’s pretty exhausting," Li Chenchen chimed in. "Why don’t you come work for the Ministry of Health?”
Li Yun understood it was just lip service. A lot of families liked to boast about where the city they lived in. After some idle chatter, Li Nan and Rong both sat down after setting up the roasted duck, lettuce, and rice.
“So we have a doctor in the family, isn’t that convenient?” Li Nan gave Li Yun his bowl and chopsticks. “Do you have any advice for your uncle? He’s constantly complaining to me about his stomach after eating my food.”
Li Yun returned her a smile. The family was overall healthy. There were minor ailments that everyone suffered from. Both his uncle and cousin enjoyed drinking parties, so it was common for them to have aches and pain. Even if he told them to drink moderately, they wouldn’t listen.
Amongst Li Yun’s group of friends, they would gather and drink, although it was often exaggerated. Bufu, despite having a high tolerance, wouldn’t drink beyond his capacity, but always acted like he was drunk. Bu Tao and Fatty rarely ever drink heavily. Ersan and Ju De were both lightweights who drank light beer.
“It’s the same old advice, eat, sleep, and exercise,” Li Yun replied. “Don’t drink or smoke too much.”
Everyone laughed, typical doctor’s advice everyone had heard over and over again. There really weren't any secrets to healthy living and a longer life. Some people were lazy, but could spend hours searching the internet for secret cure-all remedies or paying an exuberant amount for 1,000 years old ginseng.
“The last I heard, you were dating a teacher?” asked Li Nan. “When is the wedding?”
“I’m seeing someone else," Li Yun could guess that it had been a while since they spoke to his parents.
Li Nan nodded, “If you’re in town again, you should definitely introduce us. You know what’s even better, have your wedding in Imperial City. Did your parents show you pictures? Little Chenchen and Rong's reception was in our restaurant. It’s quite roomy and can fit up to 750 people.”
The more marriage was discussed, the more Li Yun felt that marriage was a much more difficult ordeal than any surgical plan and prescription formula. He heard Fatty Fang complaining about it before, but he didn’t think he would have to be a part of the planning, and he wasn’t even engaged!
“We are planning to look for another property to open a restaurant,” said Li Chao. “But handling one is already very difficult. If your parents ever plan to move here, managing the restaurant is a lot easier than working in the factory.”
“Dad enjoys any type of work, so he doesn’t want to stop working," Li Yun replied. "And mom likes taking care of the apartment.”
Li Chao sighed, “I guess different people have different walks of life. But you’re still young, so you should try to think about your future and try to accomplish more things.”
It was a typical family discussion. Li Yun waited for a little over an hour before excusing himself to check on his friend. When he got back to his accommodations, his mother called him about his trip, wondering why he was in Imperial City. He had expected his mom to call and explained to her that he was visiting a friend.
****
Lu Suyin ended the call after telling Li Yun to sleep and eat for regularly. There was an unsettling look as she turned to her husband, “I feel like Little Yun is keeping things from us.”
“He has been like that since high school,” replied Li Fan. “He’s grown up now, and even has his own place; we are quite lucky to have a good son.”
“I know, but remember when he used to tell us everything about his missions?”
“Isn’t it good that he has grown out of it?”
“You honestly believe that?”
Li Fan paused for a moment. He was also worried about Li Yun’s obsession with completing his missions. When Li Yun stopped talking to them about it, he sensed it was because he didn’t want them to worry. Growing up, Li Yun was always a bit more sensitive than most children.
“As long as it doesn’t interfere with his regular life, it should be fine,“ Li Fan replied.