Chapter 12

At the dinner table, He Yu sat down next to me.

She took out several lunch boxes from the takeaway bag she’d brought, opening them as she spoke: “These are all made by Mom herself. You should try them.”

After she finished, she glanced at me and whispered, “Mom knew you were coming, so she specially made small dried fish.”

I looked at the golden small dried fish placed in front of me, and my thoughts seemed to drift back to a certain summer.

Back then, our family was still poor. Every day after work, Mom would go pick up vegetable leaves that others didn’t want, carefully selecting and bringing them home to cook for us.

The pond in the neighboring village was being drained. The owner took the big fish, and the leftover small fish were free for anyone to pick up.

My brother was still young then. He took me along and we only managed to bring back a lot of tiny fish.

When we got home, we were both covered in mud. Mom scolded us for being so little-what if something happened when we sneaked off to the river? But she couldn’t help it, and secretly cried behind our backs.

That night, Mom made us fresh fish soup. The leftover small fish were salted and made into small dried fish for us.

The small dried fish back then were really delicious-salty and crispy. I once thought I’d never get tired of eating them in my life.

But it’s been a long time since I last ate them. And I don’t really want to anymore.

Yet at the dinner table, everyone kept watching me, as if my not eating would be taken as me blaming them.

Mr. He urged, “Have some. Didn’t you really like this before? In the years right after you came home, your mom even tried to learn how to make it.”

I glanced up at Mrs. He. She seemed caught off guard by Mr. He’s sudden words, her expression flustered for a moment before she awkwardly turned away.

Honestly, I rather dislike this kind of thing.

Sudden, deliberate gestures of goodwill only make people feel more uncomfortable.

I picked up a chopstickful of fish and swallowed it.

Mr. He laughed twice in a row, and the atmosphere at the table finally seemed to relax.