Chapter 1309: GRANDPA'S MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL (II)

BAI ZHEN sat in his wheelchair at the head of the long table, taking everything around him. The table stretched before him, covered in different dishes. Braised pork belly in a dark glaze. Steamed fish with ginger. Plates of cold appetizers. Stir-fried greens. Sliced meats. A large pot of soup in the center. Mooncakes stacked nearby.

And dishes easy to digest were placed within his reach. A velvety egg custard steamed until smooth, bowls of warm millet porridge, and delicate tofu braised in a light, savory broth. There were also soft-boiled shredded chicken and well-cooked yam medallions.

His family moved around him, settling into their seats. His son Bai Chen sat to his right. Next to him, his daughter-in-law Sun Xiulan. His grandson Bai Ze took a seat across from them. Little Bai Ye was already in his chair, legs swinging, eyes on the food. Luo Wei Tian, his son-in-law, sat further down with his boys. Luo Ren, his eldest grandson. Luo Jin, the youngest of the three brothers. And Luo Yan, who had just pushed his chair here and now sat nearby.

He looked at his daughter's seat. It was empty. It had been empty for a long time. He thought of her face, her laugh. Beside her, the place where his wife used to sit was empty too. He missed them. The weight of that missing was familiar, something he carried without always remembering why. But tonight, with the moon above and the family around him, it felt less like a wound and more like a quiet ache. They should have been here. He wished they could see this. See how everyone had grown. See the table full and the laughter rising.

He looked up at the sky. The moon was full and bright, casting light over the garden. It was a good moon. A good night. He looked back at the table, at all the faces gathered around it. They were all here. Most of them, anyway. He didn't know how long it had been since they were last together like this. But that didn't really matter. The important thing was that they were all together.

"Grandpa, Grandpa," Bai Ye called out as soon as everyone started eating. "Can you tell us again how you and Grandma met?"

"Xiao Ye, don't bother Grandpa," Sun Xiulan said gently to her youngest son.

"No, it's alright," Bai Zhen said, if there's a chance to talk about his wife, he'd gladly take it.

He smiled, his eyes going distant. The family quieted around the table, waiting to hear the story again.

"The first time I saw Yingying," he began, "I was in a car on the way to a meeting. We were stopped at a light near the market district. And there she was, walking along the street with a basket of vegetables, arguing with a vendor who had apparently shortchanged her. Right there in the middle of the sidewalk, pointing at her vegetables and telling him exactly what she thought of his business practices."

Luo Jin grinned. "She sounds like she could hold her own."

"She could," Bai Zhen said. "I watched her for a full minute before I even realized the light had turned green and the driver was waiting for me to notice. I told him to pull over."

Luo Ren raised an eyebrow. "You chased after her?"

"I got out of the car and walked up to her," Bai Zhen corrected. "Introduced myself. Said I admired her spirit. She looked at me like I had three heads and asked if I made a habit of approaching strange women on the street."

Sun Xiulan laughed quietly.

Bai Zhen continued. "I asked if I could buy her a meal sometime. She said no. I asked if I could at least buy her new vegetables. She thought about it for a second, then reached into her basket, pulled out a slightly bruised cabbage, and held it up. She said, 'This one's for you. Since you're so eager to buy me things, start with this. Consider it your first test.' Then she handed it to me and walked away."

Bai Ze laughed. "She made you carry a bruised cabbage?"

"Well, that certainly sounds Mom," Bai Chen said with a slight smile.

Luo Wei Tian nodded in agreement.

"For a week, I had it on my desk," Bai Zhen said. "People kept asking why there was a rotting vegetable in my office. I told them it was a gift from the woman I was going to marry. They thought I had lost my mind."

Luo Yan grinned in amusement. "And had you?"

"Probably," Bai Zhen admitted. "After that, I kept finding reasons to be near that market. And she kept finding reasons to tell me to go away. It went on for months. Every time she rejected me, I came back. Eventually, she asked why I wouldn't just give up. I told her because she was the only woman who had ever handed me a bruised cabbage and made me feel lucky to get it."

Bai Ye giggled. "That's silly, Grandpa."

"It was," Bai Zhen agreed, his voice softer now. "But it worked. She finally agreed to a meal. One meal turned into many. And the rest..." He looked around the table, at all the faces. "Well, you're all here because of a bruised cabbage and a woman who didn't take any nonsense."

Luo Yan nodded slowly. "Grandma sounds like she was something else."

Bai Zhen smiled. "She was."

As they ate, the conversation drifted naturally to other memories. He mentioned a story about Bai Chen as a child, and soon everyone was adding their own. Sun Xiulan talked about the first time she met the family and how nervous she had been. Bai Ze recalled being scolded by his grandmother for tracking mud through the house. Luo Wei Tian shared a memory of his first Mid-Autumn Festival with the family, years ago, when he was still newly married and how Meihua tried to comfort him.

The stories went around the table one after another, each one bringing laughter or soft smiles. Bai Zhen listened to all of it, nodding along, his eyes moving from face to face as each person spoke.

He raised his head once again to the moon, a quiet smile crossing his lips and his heart filling with satisfaction and happiness.

Maybe it's time to go meet Yingying and Hua-er.

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