To You Whom I HATE The Most Chapter 10
Tenth Letter
During the holiday, the highway was congested. Zhou Ran drove for a whole day, and when he arrived at his grandparents' house, it was already 3 or 4 in the afternoon.
He hadn't even eaten lunch and was so hungry that his stomach hurt. He rubbed his abdomen with his palm.
The house was in an old alley. As Zhou Ran reached the gate, he heard loud voices coming from inside.
His heart skipped a beat, and he quickened his pace.
Li Mingying, hearing the noise, peeked her head out and reported, "Ranran’s back!"
The door was wide open. Zhou Ran stepped into the inner room and immediately noticed that his elders all looked sullen.
"What's going on?" He had a bad feeling.
No one responded.
Zhou Ran walked over to Yang Yurong and called, "Mom."
She gestured with her eyes for him to look at his younger aunt.
His aunt, Zhou Caihong, was only six years older than him. Although she was considered an elder, she always felt more like an older sister.
Zhou Ran looked over at his aunt, who was looking down. She was usually so cheerful and boisterous, but today she seemed completely deflated.
"What’s going on?"
Grandpa sat at the head of the table, his face ashen with anger.
His father and uncle sat at the lower end, not daring to say much.
It was the aunt-in-law who tugged at Zhou Ran’s arm and whispered, "Your younger aunt secretly changed her name. Grandpa got really angry."
Zhou Ran’s first reaction was to ask, "To what?"
"Zhou Zhan, 'Zhan' as in 'spread your wings and fly,'" came his younger aunt's voice, lazy and carrying a hint of defiance.
"How dare you say that!" Grandpa suddenly stood up, pointing at her, his whole body trembling with rage. "What is this Zhou Zhan nonsense? It sounds terrible. Why don't you just change your last name too?"
His younger aunt shouted back, "It’s still better than Zhou Caihong! I wanted to change this stupid name when I turned eighteen."
She lifted her head, and only then did Zhou Ran notice that the left side of her face was red and swollen.
The two of them started arguing again, and the family quickly stood up to try to calm them down.
Zhou Jianye and Zhou Jianjun, the two brothers, supported the grandfather on either side, and Zhou Ran held his younger aunt. The noise around him became a blur, and he could no longer tell who was saying what. The room was in chaos, as if the roof might be blown off.
It was complete mayhem.
Finally, Grandma came out of the kitchen holding a kitchen cleaver. She slammed it down on the table and said, "You people from the Zhou family can cook your own dinner tonight. Don’t you know what day it is? You're disturbing your ancestors and ruining the peace!"
"Exactly, stop arguing." Zhou Jianye had a headache all afternoon. "Let her call herself whatever she wants."
Grandpa raised his walking stick high and slammed it down heavily on the floor, too angry to speak.
He shakily walked back to his room, and his two sons, concerned for his health, quickly followed him.
Grandma glanced at her granddaughter, shook her head, her eyes red, but said nothing. She turned and went back into the kitchen. Yang Yurong and Li Mingying followed her to help and offer some comforting words to the old lady.
In the blink of an eye, only the aunt and nephew were left in the hall.
Zhou Ran had seen scenes like this many times growing up. His grandparents had been blessed with a daughter late in life, but she wasn't the sweet, dutiful daughter they had hoped for.
His younger aunt, Zhou Caihong, or Zhou Zhan, as she now called herself, had a fiery temper, always ready to explode, never allowing the elderly couple to have peace of mind.
A few years ago, when she wanted a divorce, it had been even worse than today. The neighbors almost called the police.
Zhou Ran couldn’t find any ice cubes in the fridge, so he grabbed a bag of frozen shrimp and wrapped it in a towel.
A strong fishy smell filled the air, and Zhou Zhan recoiled in disgust.
"Just make do with it, Aunt," Zhou Ran pressed her head down, applying the ice pack to her swollen cheek.
Zhou Zhan hissed and hit her nephew with her fist to vent her frustration.
Zhou Ran said, "Go ahead and hit me harder. It doesn't hurt."
Finally, his younger aunt laughed. "You can't get me to do anything."
After a moment, she asked Zhou Ran, "Is Xiao Yi coming back this year?"
"I don’t know." Zhou Ran switched the towel to his other hand, his right arm still sore from holding it up for too long. "Round-trip tickets are expensive, and it’s such a hassle. Last year, I only had her come back because I was worried about you."
"Now your sister’s doing well. Can you believe it? A PhD! Haha, our family must have ancestors smiling down on us."
"Yeah, she's the hope of the whole family."
"But you're the pillar of the family," Zhou Zhan smiled. "Do you get it? From now on, the family will be relying on you."
Zhou Ran nodded.
Trying to lighten the mood, Zhou Ran asked, "So, how’s it going? Are you seeing anyone lately?"
Zhou Zhan let out a sharp laugh. "Be careful, or Grandpa might hear you. If he does, next year, there’ll be one more paper offering at the tomb for me."
"Pah, pah, pah." Zhou Ran tapped her hand three times against the corner of the table.
Zhou Zhan laughed. "You superstitious little thing."
She tossed the question back at him. "Don’t talk about me, what about you? Do you have a girlfriend?"
"No."
"Well, there must be someone you’re getting to know, right?"
"Nope."
"Are you even trying, nephew?" Zhou Zhan sounded worried. "Don’t let your sister get married before you do."
"That won’t happen." Zhou Ran paused, then added, "Probably."
The sky darkened, and the wind rustled the leaves in the yard. The light bulbs cast a dim yellow glow, and mosquitoes buzzed around.
"Your younger aunt always wanted to see you two settled down before she goes."
Zhou Ran pretended not to understand. "Go where?"
"Where do you think?" She never shied away from discussing such matters. "My illness has a high recurrence rate. Who knows what’ll happen?"
Zhou Ran wasn’t sure how to respond. He took the ice towel off and sat down beside her.
Seeing his mood drop, Zhou Zhan patted her nephew on the shoulder. "So, hang in there, boy. I won’t have the luck in this lifetime."
"You will," Zhou Ran replied.
Wanting to offer some comfort, or perhaps some hope for life, he hesitated for a moment before lying. "Actually, there is someone. I’m still pursuing her."
Zhou Zhan’s eyes widened. "Who? Tell me more."
"It’s her. We were in the same high school, and we ran into each other recently because of work."
His younger aunt flipped through the pictures, narrowing her eyes as she smiled. "Not bad, not bad. Quite pretty."
She kept scrolling, then suddenly seemed to remember something. She tapped Zhou Ran. "Hey, isn’t this the one you had a crush on back in high school?"
"How do you know?"
"Your mom told me. It’s her, right?" Zhou Zhan zoomed in on the photo, trying to take a closer look.
Zhou Ran grabbed the phone away with a serious expression. "No, it’s not her."
"Really? Then who is it? Let me see again!"
"No, I’m hungry." Zhou Ran stood up and walked toward the kitchen. "Grandma, is there anything to eat?"
"You little brat." Zhou Zhan followed him, scolding, "Hurry up and tell me, is it her? It won’t matter if you tell your younger aunt."
Zhou Ran suddenly stopped, and Zhou Zhan almost bumped into his back.
"How does my mom know about this?" Zhou Ran suddenly realized what the problem was.
"How should I know?" Zhou Zhan rubbed his swollen cheek. "Well, once she asked me about it, wondering if you were dating early."
"When?"
"Freshman year? Or maybe sophomore year, I can’t quite remember."
"So, is it her or not?"
"No."
"Then what about the one you had a crush on? What’s she up to now? Is she married?"
Zhou Ran was getting annoyed by the constant questioning. He gave a vague response, "Yeah, she has two kids now."
"Cen Wei?"
Half-asleep, she lazily responded.
Zhou Ran furrowed his brow and placed the back of his hand on Cen Wei’s forehead to check her temperature.
She wasn’t running a fever, but it was already time for a meal, and she still showed no signs of waking up.
"Are you feeling unwell?"
The moment Cen Wei was lifted off the ground, she woke up with a start. She widened her eyes, screamed, and clutched Zhou Ran’s neck. "What are you doing?!"
"I..." Zhou Ran was stunned by her scream. "I’m taking you to the hospital."
Their faces were close. In his arms, Cen Wei looked at him with a confused expression. "Why do I need to go to the hospital?"
"Aren’t you having stomach pains?"
Cen Wei closed her eyes briefly and muttered, "I’m just hungry."
"......"
"Then why haven’t you gotten up yet?" He turned his body slightly but didn’t look at her.
Cen Wei pulled the blanket over herself. "I stayed up late last night, is that a problem?"
Zhou Ran placed his hand on his waist and sighed.
"Get up. I’ll find something for you to eat."
"Okay." Once Zhou Ran walked away, Cen Wei clenched her fists and waved them awkwardly in the air, feeling embarrassed and out of breath.
She procrastinated, spending a long time in the bathroom mentally preparing herself before finally coming out.
Zhou Ran fried two eggs, sprinkling them with salt and pepper.
"You just got back?" Cen Wei asked, then realized it was a pointless question.
"Mm."
Zhou Ran picked up the chocolate toast she had bought and said, "Try not to buy from this place again. It contains trans fats."
"Oh." Cen Wei scratched her head. "I just grabbed something."
"Is there no milk left?" Zhou Ran rummaged through the fridge, remembering there should still be two cartons.
"I drank it yesterday." Cen Wei added, "I’ll go buy more after work tomorrow."
"Then we’ll have to use yogurt. Unsweetened, is that okay?"
Cen Wei wasn’t picky by nature. "Sure, anything’s fine."
Zhou Ran layered yogurt at the bottom of a cup, then added oats. "Actually, overnight oats taste better."
Cen Wei leaned back in her chair, watching him as he worked. "Overnight oats?"
"Yeah, overnight oats. It’s a lazy person’s breakfast. You can give it a try."
"Oh!" Cen Wei suddenly remembered. "Is that the gray-looking thing in your fridge?"
Zhou Ran was momentarily stunned by her description, then nodded. "Yes."
After stirring the yogurt and oats together, he picked up the glass jar filled with mixed nuts.
"Hmm..."
The jar lid wouldn’t budge. Zhou Ran cleared his throat, switched hands, and tried again.
"......"
"Should I do it?" Cen Wei finally couldn’t watch anymore and reached out her hand.
"I..." Zhou Ran rubbed his nose and explained, "I pulled a muscle at the gym a couple of days ago. I can’t put any strength in this hand."
Cen Wei raised an eyebrow. Really?
Then where did the strength come from when you carried me just now?
Click. Cen Wei handed the opened jar back to Zhou Ran.
"Thanks."
Cen Wei smiled at him and went to the kitchen to get the utensils.
"Oh, by the way, I don’t eat almonds. Please don’t..."
She stopped, not finishing her sentence.