27. The Prodigal Returns
In September, the weather in Taiwan was still unbearably hot. Having gotten used to San Francisco, where even in July and August it was only ever a pleasant ten-some degrees, it took a little adjusting to get used to this again.
Wen Mingjuan sat with the air conditioner blasting and the electric fan running at the same time, as if only that combination could drive away the muggy heat.
Zhenyi wasn't sleeping very well, probably also because of the heat; she whimpered softly, her tiny cries thin and fretful, her little legs kicking restlessly now and then, clearly unsettled.
"Why's she crying?" Gao Weizhao walked into the room; he'd just gotten back from the university, and the moment he walked in and heard his daughter crying, he hurried over to see what was wrong.
"Come here, let Daddy hold you." As he said this, he set down his briefcase and lifted Zhenyi from her little crib, letting her nestle against his chest.
"Probably just the heat — look how sweaty her head is, she's probably not used to it yet." Wen Mingjuan answered lazily; truth be told, she herself was dizzy from the heat too.
"Exactly." Gao Weizhao looked closely and, sure enough, Zhenyi's hair was matted with sweat.
He smiled and picked up the small hand towel nearby to wipe away her sweat.
"You need to dry her off before you turn on the air conditioning, or she'll catch a cold easily." Gao Weizhao said gently to Wen Mingjuan.
"I know that! But I wipe her off and she's wet again, wipe her off again and she's wet again, I'm worn out, and she's still sweating up a storm." Wen Mingjuan grumbled, shooting Gao Weizhao a sideways glance, feigning displeasure. "The moment you're home you start nagging me. Getting older makes you like this, huh — I'm covered in sweat too, and I don't see you worrying about me."
"I've been worrying about you for four whole years now — I show a little concern for our daughter once in a while and you're already complaining, that's really something!" Gao Weizhao laughed dryly, walked over to Wen Mingjuan's side, and freed up one hand to pinch her nose.
"Right, right, right, whatever you say, Associate Professor Gao—" Wen Mingjuan deliberately drew out the word "professor."
"Don't you tease me. If it weren't for you, I'd still be living my carefree life, and wouldn't need to get all dressed up formally like some kind of robot, so uncomfortable."
That's right! For her sake, Gao Weizhao had completely reinvented himself, transformed into an entirely different person.
To truly sever all ties with the underworld, and to keep the friction between Wen Mingjuan and her parents to a minimum, the two of them had first gotten a civil marriage, then gone to America. Gao Weizhao's parents were already living in San Francisco; there could be no parents happier than they were to see their prodigal son finally turn back from his wayward ways. Hearing that some girl had brought their son back onto the right path, they happily cleaned up the house, waiting for the two of them to arrive. Gao Weizhao had always loved studying, and so he chose to continue his education, pursuing a doctorate at UC Berkeley — and just like that, four years passed.
This time around, the more he studied, the more he found himself enjoying it. After earning his doctorate, he wanted to keep pursuing research in academia, and with Wen Mingjuan missing her family back in Taiwan besides, he began sending out his resume to universities across Taiwan.
Things went smoothly, as if by some stroke of divine help — it wasn't long before he received a hiring notice from his alma mater, National Taiwan University.
From an underworld boss to a university associate professor — this was no small transformation, and Wen Mingjuan was more than happy to see it happen. Originally she'd thought about taking the exam to become a middle school teacher again, to relive old dreams, but with their daughter only a year old now, and having grown used to caring for her herself, she couldn't bear to part with her. Besides, Gao Weizhao treated her exceedingly well — not only did he hand over his entire salary for her to manage, he'd even turned over all of his own personal assets to her as well. So she set aside, for the time being, any thought of going out to work, and devoted herself full-time to raising their child at home.
They'd come back to Taiwan in August; aside from the house itself, which Gao Weizhao had paid for, the renovations and furniture had all been arranged in advance by Wen Mingjuan's parents on her behalf, and the family of three had made their grand return from San Francisco together. Hearing the news that their daughter was coming back to Taiwan, the two elderly parents had been overjoyed beyond words. At first they'd been so upset with their willful daughter for insisting on running off to a foreign land with Gao Weizhao that it had genuinely soured their moods for a long while. But blood is thicker than water after all, and she was still their own daughter in the end — besides, Gao Weizhao really hadn't embarrassed them; he'd gone the whole distance and come back utterly transformed, now serving as an associate professor.
As for this outcome, the two old folks were more than satisfied. Having missed their daughter so much, always nagging for them to come home, they'd finally gotten their wish, and were naturally overjoyed.
Especially over their adorable little granddaughter, who looked so much like Wen Mingjuan that she was simply irresistible — she often had her already-retired grandparents lingering, unable to bear putting her down, so much so that they simply moved to Taipei outright, dropping by every few days to visit.
Wen Mingjuan often liked to tease her mother, saying: "You're back again? Aren't you afraid of what Weizhao might do to you?"
And her mother would always scoff right back at her: "For Zhenyi's sake, I wouldn't be afraid even to climb mountains of swords or dive into vats of boiling oil. Ha! Little Zhenyi isn't scared, so why on earth would her grandmother be?"
Gao Weizhao was reserved by nature, not one to warm up easily to people; to be honest, apart from Wen Mingjuan, whom he had the most to say to, he remained fairly quiet and reticent even in ordinary times. Her mother never had all that much to say to him either, but at least she no longer regarded him with the same wariness as before. Especially since Gao Weizhao had gotten better at smiling now — even when he didn't say much, letting his smile stand in for words could bring people just as close together.
Perhaps there weren't many people in the world quite as delightfully odd, in both mind and manner, as Wen Mingjuan, and it was often her wild, spontaneous ideas that could stir Gao Weizhao's desire to talk at all. Otherwise, he was always just smiling, or reading.
* * *
Before the new semester began, Tao Muwei brought Chen Hongjia, You Chunjing, and Lan Yunmei to visit Wen Mingjuan's family. All three of them — Chen, You, and Lan — had, in one way or another, received kindness from Gao Weizhao back in the day, and now that Gao Weizhao had returned to Taiwan in the role of the teacher's husband, they naturally wanted to pay a visit to express their thanks. And of course, they'd never once stopped thinking fondly of Wen Mingjuan either. Back then, if not for having such a wonderful homeroom teacher in Wen Mingjuan, how could they possibly have become who they were today?
You Chunjing had gone on to study law; because of her family's upheavals, and because her father had ultimately been driven to take his own life after being cornered by gambling debts, she'd decided to become a lawyer, so she could stand on her own two feet, protect herself, and protect others too.
Back then, with Gao Weizhao stepping in to mediate, the gambling den's men had never gone after the mother and two daughters for the debt again; her mother had been able to find a job, earning a modest wage to keep food on the table for the three of them. Life was hard, but the family pulled through together and managed to get by.
Now, she was working part-time to support herself through school.
Her father's death had been no small blow to her, but in time it had passed, and the ache in her heart had gradually begun to heal.
Chen Hongjia had later chosen to attend military academy; his grades had never been all that promising, and he felt that this path offered a practical guarantee for real life, one well suited to him. Perhaps Gao Weizhao's agile, formidable presence had left some faint impression on him back then? He felt that joining the military could train him a strong, tough body and a fine set of martial skills. Only in the end, he found that the world he'd imagined and reality were quite different — by his third year, he still hadn't quite mastered any particularly impressive skills. The one thing that did match his original expectations was that he'd certainly grown strong and sturdy.
But the most surprising of all was Lan Yunmei.
These past several years, Tao Muwei had had a girlfriend the whole time, yet had always been mysteriously tight-lipped about who she was. It wasn't until this visit that it finally came out — it was none other than Lan Yunmei! They had been together for several years now, and their relationship was quite stable. Tao Muwei, wanting to match the girl's academic credentials, had failed the entrance exam in his first year, but with the guidance and companionship of Lan Yunmei — a star student in business administration at National Chengchi University — he'd finally passed and gotten into the same business administration program at Chengchi the following year.
Tao Muwei's family was in business, and with both of them studying business administration, it seemed likely to help them both when it came time to eventually take over the family enterprise.
Well! Perhaps this is exactly what they mean by "the ways of the world are impossible to predict."
Having caught up on news of these various children, those who couldn't make it to visit in person had mostly sent word through the others to pass along their regards to Wen Mingjuan and Gao Weizhao. From their conversations, she also learned that Lin Yitan and Zhang Tingyu — that money-grubbing couple — had opened up a joint cram school together, one teaching English, the other math, and were rapidly accumulating quite a fortune between the two of them.
It turned out that after Wen Mingjuan had turned Lin Yitan down, Zhang Tingyu had stayed right there by his side, offering him her greatest care and comfort through his lowest moments.
It seemed everyone had their own path to walk, and they were all busy actively planning out their own lives.
Thinking of this, Wen Mingjuan smiled to herself, comforted.
Her world was a very happy one, and one that satisfied her deeply.
Her life now was Gao Weizhao and Gao Zhenyi — the two of them, father and daughter, were the most essential part of her life plans at present.
As for whatever might come after, there was no need to think that far ahead just yet.
The doorbell rang outside; Wen Mingjuan hurried to answer it, and Gao Weizhao, carrying their daughter, followed along behind her out to the door.
"Mom." Seeing her mother had arrived, Wen Mingjuan called out to her.
"Mom." Gao Weizhao called out after her too.
"My little Zhenyi." The moment she caught sight of the little one in Gao Weizhao's arms, her mother paid no mind at all to the couple, stepping forward at once and scooping Zhenyi up into her own arms. "Come to Grandma, sweetie."
"Honestly, I can't stand you — all you see is Zhenyi, don't you see the two of us at all?" Wen Mingjuan pouted in protest.
"You're just not as cute as her!" Her mother didn't even spare Wen Mingjuan a glance, shooting back the reply at once.
"Well, really..." Wen Mingjuan grumbled.
Gao Weizhao stood off to the side, shaking his head with a little laugh.
"As long as I think you're cute, that's all that matters. Don't be so petty about it." He pulled Wen Mingjuan's shoulders in close against him as he said this.
"Well said." her mother praised.
"Oh..." Suddenly, her mother seemed to remember something.
"Right, I meant to tell you — I heard there's been some kind of pervert lurking around the neighborhood lately, quite the sleazy character. Mingjuan, if you go out, or take Zhenyi out, you'd better be extra careful — it would be safest to have Weizhao go along with you. Otherwise, just give me a call, I'll be there within ten minutes."
"A flasher?" Wen Mingjuan startled, instinctively turning to look back at Gao Weizhao.
Her mother carried the little girl into the other room to play with her, paying no attention at all to how the couple might react — she was too busy enjoying herself, doting on her granddaughter.
Suddenly, Wen Mingjuan burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" Gao Weizhao asked her.
"Do you want to go catch another pervert? I want to go too." Wen Mingjuan's eyes were brimming with laughter.
"You really are something..." Gao Weizhao laughed, shaking his head, and reached over to give Wen Mingjuan's nose another playful pinch.
"Fine, I'll go too."