BOSF 051: The Pride of the Village

During the last winter break before his final year of college, Ji Yan didn’t go to find Xiang Yang. Instead, he returned home first to wait for him to come back for the New Year.

Ever since Xiang Yang’s feature in the magazine, his popularity had steadily climbed. A growing number of companies wanted to discuss collaborations, hold exhibitions, and commission exclusive art pieces. Some were even drawn to Xiang Yang’s appearance and image, hoping to book him for commercials or photoshoots. The invitations were varied and numerous. Most people, if given the chance for such wide exposure, would likely be willing to dabble in anything, as long as it didn’t take up too much time. But Xiang Yang was unwilling. He refused all work unrelated to origami and was even reluctant to show his face. He only loved origami and was only willing to spend his time on that. Shen Xiuqing usually filtered these offers first and then made selections according to Xiang Yang’s wishes. But even so, Xiang Yang’s daily schedule remained packed. Recently, there had even been invitations from schools and charities wanting to hire Xiang Yang to teach origami to children. A positive image was very beneficial for Xiang Yang, so Shen Xiuqing was more inclined to accept these types of jobs.

It was for this reason that Ji Yan was reluctant to disturb Xiang Yang. He didn’t understand any of it and felt that being in that environment would only distract Xiang Yang. He also felt he couldn’t be of any help at all.

Just as Xiang Yang had never disturbed him when he was focused on his studies, he would now quietly support Xiang Yang from behind while he worked hard.

He had once thought that after graduating from college, he would be the first to find a job and then bring Xiang Yang to live with him. He never expected that Xiang Yang would be the one to step into society first, establishing his goals and moving forward with steady, solid steps.

The field of art was still quite niche; people who didn’t normally follow it paid it no mind. Xiang Yang now had a small measure of fame. Although he wasn’t a major celebrity, this achievement was enough to completely change the villagers’ opinion of him. They now felt Xiang Yang had made something of himself. People are sometimes excessively pragmatic. The moment they saw Xiang Yang on a magazine cover and realized the things he folded weren’t worthless junk, no one dared to call him a retard anymore. Those who had once berated him all fell silent in tacit agreement, acting as if nothing had ever happened. The sounds of ridicule and sarcasm gradually faded away.

Last year, when Ji Yan came home for summer break, he overheard someone on the street praising Xiang Yang and thought he had misheard. He knew people were easily driven by self-interest, but he never imagined their attitudes could change so quickly. Now, because of this magazine, Xiang Yang had seemingly become the “Pride of the Village” overnight.

It was only in the past few days, after returning home, that Ji Yan learned from Lin Yueqin that it was Xiang Yang’s father who had been spreading the news about the magazine everywhere.

Gossiping during meals at their house was normal, and talking about the neighbors across the street seemed to have become a regular occurrence. Lin Yueqin, for reasons unknown, spoke with a resentful tone, “They didn’t give a damn before, practically wishing their son on ours. Now that Xiang Yang is successful, where do they get the nerve to go around bragging?”

Perhaps it wasn’t exactly resentment from Lin Yueqin; she just couldn’t stand the way the couple across the street behaved. They used to treat their son like he was nothing, and now that they knew he wasn’t an idiot but a genius, they couldn’t wait to announce it to the world, as if they deserved great credit for having given birth to him.

Ji Qiuyuan, however, had a different perspective. He didn’t care about the couple’s attitude but felt a bit sour about Xiang Yang’s seemingly easy success. He retorted, “It’s no use being jealous. It’s not like you gave birth to him.”

“Who’s jealous? I’ve just never seen parents like that, having a child and then not taking responsibility. Ji Yan took care of Xiang Yang plenty in the past. Have you seen them come over to thank Ji Yan even once?”

Ji Qiuyuan saw through her little ploy. “You don’t want them to thank Ji Yan, you want them to thank you, don’t you?”

Not to be outdone, Lin Yueqin shot back, “They should thank me too. When Li Lilian was pregnant with Xiang Jie, wasn’t I the one helping look after Xiang Yang? You were always away for work and didn’t care about anything. You’d come home and get upset just seeing Xiang Yang. Didn’t you also think he was an idiot? Now, not only has Xiang Yang found a good job, but it looks like he’s making a lot of money too. You can tell just by the sudden change in their attitude. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be parading that magazine around everywhere.”

Ji Qiuyuan hated it when Lin Yueqin brought up his work. He scoffed, “What’s so great about being an artist? The work is unstable. Maybe he’s just making some money for now. Who knows what the future holds.”

Lin Yueqin immediately turned to her son. “Ji Yan, you and Xiang Yang are so close. Do you know how much he makes a month?”

Ji Yan hadn’t expected to be dragged into this just by eating a meal. He replied, “I don’t know.”

Even if he knew, he wouldn’t tell his parents.

Lin Yueqin didn’t give up, as if she had to get to the bottom of it. “You should ask Xiang Yang when you have a chance. He probably wouldn’t mind telling you.”

Ji Yan was getting impatient. He disliked how Lin Yueqin always pried into others’ private lives under the guise of concern.

Ji Qiuyuan, not wanting Lin Yueqin to drag him back into the argument, deflected the topic to his son. “You’re about to graduate too. Have you thought about what you want to do?”

At the mention of this, Ji Yan lost some of his confidence. “I’m still thinking. There’s still half a year, so there’s no rush.”

Lin Yueqin was still very concerned about her son’s future. She stopped arguing with Ji Qiuyuan and continued on the topic, “I hear graduates from your department all become engineers. Engineers are good, I hear the salary is high.”

“Probably.”

Lin Yueqin continued her earnest lecture, “You need to be more proactive, don’t always be so lazy. How would any boss dare to hire you if they see you like that during an interview?”

Ji Yan frowned but didn’t retort. He didn’t like hearing his mother say such negative things.

Lin Yueqin was getting more and more worked up. “How about Mom helps you ask around, see if there are any openings anywhere? It’d be best to find something close to home…”

“Mom—” Ji Yan suddenly cut her off. He thought for a moment before replying, “It’s not like I can just work wherever I want. I’ll look for myself. It’s more common to work at a company, so it might be hard to find something close to home…”

In truth, Ji Yan had originally wanted to say he was going to the city, which would also be a good reason to move out. But he was still very lost and had no idea what kind of job he would do after graduation, so he didn’t dare make any definitive statements.

“Is that so.” Lin Yueqin didn’t think too much of it and continued to nag, “It’s still better to be closer to home. You don’t know how to do anything. How will you live on your own? By the way, how are things with that girl?”

“What girl?” Ji Qiuyuan raised an eyebrow.

“He’s been on the phone with someone constantly during his breaks recently. It’s been a year or two now, it must be a girl.”

It was indeed a girl, but it was Shen Xiuqing, and all their conversations were about Xiang Yang. Ji Yan hadn’t wanted to explain at the time, nor would it have been easy to, so he just let them assume. Since it was inconvenient to explain now, Ji Yan decided to play dumb. “Nothing’s going on.”

This time, before Lin Yueqin could say anything, Ji Qiuyuan spoke up. “If she’s not interested in you, then give up. Don’t waste your time.”

Ji Yan didn’t want to talk anymore.

This year, Xiang Yang returned before New Year’s Eve, on the day of the Little New Year.

Perhaps Shen Xiuqing had been booking too many jobs for Xiang Yang recently and realized she was taking up too much of the young couple’s time together. Once the year-end work came to a close, she let Xiang Yang start his vacation early.

Ji Yan would usually get a heads-up about when Xiang Yang was coming back. But this time was a little different. When Shen Xiuqing told him, she also mentioned, “By the way, I also got a call from Auntie Li. She asked when Xiang Yang would be home.”

Ji Yan was stunned for a moment. His first reaction was, “What is she asking that for?”

It wasn’t surprising that Ji Yan reacted this way. Xiang Yang had been away for three years, and Li Lilian had never shown much concern. The first year Xiang Yang came home, she had even mistaken him for being a kept man. It was only after she started receiving money from Xiang Yang that her expression slowly softened, and she became more pleasant. This year, for some unknown reason, Xiang Hongxiu first started trumpeting Xiang Yang’s magazine feature around the village, and now Li Lilian was suddenly concerned about her eldest son who was working hard away from home.

“I don’t know. Maybe she suddenly felt like being a good mother,” Shen Xiuqing said with a laugh in her voice. Her words were tactful; an ordinary person would never detect the sarcasm.

But Ji Yan heard it and couldn’t help but chuckle. Shen Xiuqing seemed friendly and easygoing, but she had a temper too. The “kept man” incident had probably soured her opinion of Li Lilian for good. How little must a mother care for her son to have such a misunderstanding?

Ji Yan might not have understood, but Shen Xiuqing, being in this line of work and often needing to negotiate contracts, knew exactly why. Xiang Yang’s father was a businessman. While he might have no connection to the art industry, he could easily use his son’s fame as a starting point to create conversation and win over clients. Furthermore, Xiang Yang wasn’t just any artist; he was an artist with autism. Even if he wasn’t a household name, once his hard-working and positive image was established in people’s minds, it would be much easier to close business deals. Those who didn’t know the full story would think that Xiang Hongxiu was a good father who had worked hard to raise Xiang Yang and cultivate such an outstanding child. Playing the family card worked in almost any situation; it was nearly foolproof.

Shen Xiuqing had seen the dark side of things, and she had seen pure-hearted people. But regardless, no matter how well or how poorly other people’s parents behaved, she knew she had no right to comment. So, she didn’t mention any of this to Ji Yan. And Ji Yan was no longer a child; he could understand the things that were left unsaid.

Ji Yan chatted with Shen Xiuqing for a few more moments before hanging up.

On the day of Xiang Yang’s return, Ji Yan timed it right and prepared to go to the village entrance to meet him. By now, everyone in the village knew how close he and Xiang Yang were, so he wasn’t worried about what others might think.

But for the past two years, he had stood at the village entrance waiting for him all by himself. This year was different.

Li Lilian was at the village entrance early in the morning with eight-year-old Xiang Jie. Even Xiang Hongxiu was there. The whole family had turned out, as if afraid people wouldn’t know they were waiting for their son to come home.

When the couple ran into acquaintances on the road, they would greet them warmly, announcing to everyone that they were waiting to welcome Xiang Yang home. Only Xiang Jie frowned with reluctance, looking utterly bored by the wait and just wanting to go home.

Seeing this scene, Ji Yan didn’t know what to say. His feelings should have been complicated, but he suddenly felt an urge to laugh.

Yes, he wanted to laugh—the kind of laugh one has when finding something ridiculous.

And so he really did laugh. He had never imagined Xiang Yang’s parents would have a moment like this.

Half an hour later, a black car stopped at the village entrance. Ji Yan recognized it as the studio’s car; the driver always stopped at this spot to let Xiang Yang out before turning around and leaving.

When Xiang Yang got out of the car, Ji Yan waited on the side, letting Xiang Yang’s parents go up to him first. In public, he shouldn’t act more intimate than family.

After Xiang Hongxiu and Li Lilian reached Xiang Yang, they stood on his left and right, speaking to him with eager warmth, likely trying to project an image of a happy family reunion for outsiders to see.

However, Xiang Yang’s gaze didn’t linger on his parents. He spotted Ji Yan at a glance and walked straight toward him, seemingly not hearing a word they said.

Xiang Hongxiu and his wife were suddenly caught in an awkward silence.

Even Ji Yan was taken aback, not expecting Xiang Yang to ignore his own parents. But Xiang Yang had always been a person who lived in his own world; this was a typical Xiang Yang reaction.

Ji Yan saw his own reflection in Xiang Yang’s eyes.

In that moment, he understood. Xiang Yang didn’t have to force himself to come back to this place. He had never received love from his family, he had no happy childhood memories, and he had been looked down upon by the villagers as a retard. Those unbearable and humiliating words had been heaped upon him, accompanying him through the first half of his life.

But he still came back.

So, all this time, he had been coming home for him.