Chapter 1 (1/2)

One

Xu Ping’s dad pa.s.sed away.

The man had laryngeal cancer and was only diagnosed in the advanced stage. The surgery had only lasted fifteen minutes. The surgeon made an incision on his neck and poked around before sewing it right back up. The cancer cells had already spread to the lungs and nose cavity. The removal of infected organs was no longer a viable solution because the patient would not have lasted long after such a procedure.

The doctor took off his mask and said to Xu Ping who was waiting outside, “I’m sorry.”

It took Xu Ping a while before understanding. He accepted it calmly. “How much longer does he have?”

The doctor was surprised by his easy att.i.tude. “Six months at the most.”

Xu Ping wondered how many deaths the tumour surgeon had to face every year to be able to announce the ultimate death of the patient to their family without batting an eyelash. Although his rational side told him that this man was a doctor and he could not blame his dad’s illness on a stranger, his emotional side could not help but feel hatred towards the news breaker.

The two stood in silence.

“If you could excuse me, I still have other patients to attend to.” The doctor broke the awkward pause.

“Yes, of course. I just need a minute to myself,” Xu Ping said with reddening eyes as he tried to control himself.

On the way to what would be the last meeting with his dad, Xu Ping pa.s.sed by a flowering tree of which he did not know the name. It was blooming with tiny white flowers growing in tight-knit bundles like clouds lost in the mortal world.

He stood under the tree with his hands clasped behind his back as he watched the baby green leaves turn the noon sun into gold glitter.

Xu Ping was thirty-five that year. He worked as an editor for an up-and-coming publis.h.i.+ng house. His workload consisted of reading the received material, finding the able writers and polis.h.i.+ng them up. The pay was average but the satisfaction that came with it was not measurable by currency.

Xu Ping’s dad was a veteran actor, Xu Chuan, who enjoyed wide recognition. The building across from Xu Ping’s office still sported his advertis.e.m.e.nt for stomach medication on its wall. His hair was dashed with grey but he looked lively. Sometimes when Xu Ping would sneak a tea break and look out the windows, he would see old ladies walking with canes stop in their paths just to gawk at his dad’s advertis.e.m.e.nt.

There weren’t many in the publis.h.i.+ng house that knew Xu Ping’s family background, the only one being his boss and good friend, chief editor, w.a.n.g Zedong. His friend had been surprised and studied Xu Ping’s face closely.

“You’ve got to be kidding. You look nothing like Xu Chuan.”

Xu Ping chuckled, knowing that he wasn’t good looking. He didn’t argue with his boss. “You’ll see when you meet my brother.”

Xu Ping had a younger brother, Xu Zheng.

“I’ve been hearing about this brother of yours for so long,” w.a.n.g Zedong began to complain, “But you never once introduced him to me. What are you doing hiding him away?”

Xu Ping did not take the bait and started talking about the publis.h.i.+ng house’s budget for the first period.

For the past few months, Xu Ping had been leaving his office building at twelve-thirty sharp, walking three blocks and crossing one overpa.s.s to visit his father at the city hospital.

He had rushed past this tree every single day without ever stopping once.

On this day, however, he saw the bursting energy that this tree harboured under the sunlight. He was absolutely in awe.

The abundance of life hit him in the face like a fist and made his body burn.

Xu Ping found a young labour worker squatting by the road and handed him twenty yuan.

“Get me a branch from that tree.”

The young fellow looked at Xu Ping and the tree with a frown and stayed squatting. “I’ll get fined.”

Xu Ping pushed at his gla.s.ses. “I’ll give you twenty more.”

Forty yuan to climb a tree? That was a good deal. The young man threw his cigarette b.u.t.t on the ground and asked, “How many you want? I’m chargin’ extra for more.”

Xu Ping arrived at the hospital with a branch dotted with pinkish-white flowers and a bag of apples.

His dad looked very good that day. Xu Ping stuck the branch in a vase and placed the vase by the bed. His dad even smiled at him.

Compared with the average-looking Xu Ping, his dad had a handsome face that not even old age could spoil.

His dad had been an actor his whole life, a supporting role if there ever was one. When he was young, square-set jaws and bold brows were in. Wide shoulders and a broad frame in general were desired for a Herculean effect. He was so good-looking, however, that he had the bad-boy aura instead. When it came time for the distinctive cutie-type to gain popularity, like Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok and Edison Chen, he was already an old man.

Xu Ping grabbed a chair to sit by the bed and started peeling an apple for him.

The sickly man kept his eyes on his elder son.