BIAS Chapter 2: Cake

To avoid wasting time due to taking public transportation, Yan Xu directly took a taxi to the community entrance. He found the dessert shop “Sweet” with ease.

“Hello, I’m here to pick up the cake I ordered,” he said to the shop assistant. “The number is 138…”

The assistant entered the number, glanced at the cash register display to confirm the order, and said, “I’ll immediately pack it for you. The cake cost a total of 388 yuan. May I ask how you would like to pay?”

Yan Xu was stunned for a moment, asking with uncertainty, “It hasn’t been paid?”

The assistant looked at the display again, then nodded in affirmation. “Yes, and because it’s a premium member, no deposit was required either.”

Holding back the confusion in his heart, Yan Xu handed his card over. “I’ll pay with a card.”

While waiting for the assistant to pack the cake, Yan Xu looked around the shop. He was very familiar with this shop. During the years he lived here, he would pass by this shop almost everyday. Through the glass display window, he could see a whole row of golden and glossy breads and dessert shining under the light.

He actually doesn’t like eating sweets, but he inexplicably liked to look at this shop’s dazzling array of desserts, or perhaps it was out of envy for not being able to get them. Now that he thought about it, this shop had been open for at least ten years, and it was the first time he had gone in today.

“Hello, the cake is ready.”

The assistant’s voice brought Yan Su out of his thoughts. He withdrew his gaze, then hurriedly went to the cash register. The moment he saw the cake box, the excited sparkle in his eyes slowly dimmed.

Half a year ago, due to some trivial matters, he fought with his mom, and the already unharmonious mother-son relationship reached a freezing point. They had not contacted each other for half a year. So, when he suddenly got a call from his mom today, he was startled, but what followed was a nice surprise.

Today was his birthday, his mom called him to return home, and she even ordered a cake. Although she didn’t say it over the phone, he knew his mom wanted to use the opportunity of celebrating his birthday to give both of them a way out.

His mom had always been a feisty woman and didn’t easily give in. For her to take the initiative to call him was already unprecedented, so he was happy in his heart.

It had been twenty-eight years, and this was the first time his mom celebrated his birthday since he could remember. Yan Xu really wanted to see what design Lu Qiuying chose for his cake, but the packaging of the boxes of this store weren’t transparent acrylic boxes. He also couldn’t ask the assistant to untie the exquisite bow so he could see it, so he could only take a look at the pattern of the box and imagine it.

“Thank you.” Yan Xu took the cake and was about to leave—

The assistant called out to Yan Xu, “Do you want candles and a birthday hat? They’re free-of-charge.”

Yan Xu looked at the cake in his hand, then hesitated for a moment. “Did the person who ordered say they wanted it?”

The assistant shook their head. “It wasn’t specified on the order. It could be that we forgot to ask.” They paused for a moment before continuing, “Usually customers want them, they’re free anyway.”

Yan Xu thought about it. “Thank you, then I would like them.”

Thus, the assistant took a kraft paper bag with candles and birthday hats inside and handed it to him.

When he entered the community and reached the downstairs of the unit, Yan Xu suddenly became a bit nervous. It had already been half a year since he came back, and for a moment, he didn’t know what kind of expression to use to face his mom. He stayed downstairs for a while in the cold wind of midwinter. He took a deep breath before opening the unit door and going upstairs.

The community had been built for more than thirty years, and there were no elevators. He walked up to the sixth floor in one go, then knocked on the door of 601.

The door opened from the inside with a squeak.

“Oh, Yan Xu is here.” The one who opened the door was his stepdad, Fang Jianguo. He had yet to reach the age of sixty, but because his health wasn’t great, he looked wan and thin, so he looked a lot older than those of his age.

“Hello, Uncle.” Yan Xu handed the gift bag in his hand to him. “This is the milk powder I bought for you¹.”

“Very considerate of you,” Fan Jianguo responded, but didn’t take it. “Come in first.”

Yan Xu’s outstretched hand stiffened. He placed the powdered milk on the cabinet in the foyer. After thinking about it, he also put the kraft bag with the candles inside on it.

Fan Jianguo injured his leg when he was in his youth and didn’t take good care of it, which left him with a chronic condition. Whenever winter comes around, it would hurt unbearably. He limped into the living room and raised his voice toward the kitchen, “Qiuying, Yan Xu is here.”

Lu Qiuying rubbed her wet hands and hastily went out. The first thing she said to Yan Xu was “You got the cake?”

Yan Xu stood at the foyer and raised the cake box in his hand, then raised his lips into the smile he had practiced many times when he was downstairs. “I got it. It’s quite heavy, what size did you order?”

Lu Qiuying took the cake box from Yan Xu’s hand, the said beaming, “An 8 inch cake.” Her gaze stayed on the cake box from beginning to end, not looking at Yan Xu even once.

“Mom…” Yan Xu wanted to ask Lu Qiuying where the slippers were, but seeing that she had already turned around, he could only open the cabinet himself to find one.

His mom had always liked to keep things clean, so the shoes were arranged according to season and style. The top shelf were home shoes, and there were a pair of dark grey soft-soled cotton slippers in the middle. However, Yan Xu knew they weren’t prepared for him; they were his brother’s Yan Bai’s slippers.

Lu Qiuying and Fang Jianguo started arguing in the living room over how much beer to put in the beer braised duck. Yan Xu hesitated for a moment, then simply took off his sneakers and walked in wearing only his socks.

There was no heating in the south, and this decade-old house had no floor-heating. There was only a heater in the corner blowing negligible warm air. Yan Xu rubbed his feet together a few times before getting used to the cold wooden floor and walked into the living room.

Lu Qiuying had already gone back to the kitchen, while Fan Jianguo sat on the sofa next to the heater and watched TV, the warm air making his cheeks glossy and red.

Yan Xu went over to the sofa, then whispered “Uncle.”

Fang Jianguo withdrew his gaze from the TV and kindly smiled. “Sit, your mom is still busy.”

“It’s fine.” Yan Xu smiled and shook his head. “I’ll go over to the kitchen to see if I can help out.”

Their family was a reconstructed family. When he was thirteen, his mom married Fan Jianguo, and it had been fifteen years since. Both were older and it was their second marriage. Their personalities matched well, so they have always had a good relationship since they got married, never fighting.

Fang Jianguo had a steady and amiable personality. Although they weren’t biological father and son, they have been together for more than ten years. Logically, he should have things to talk about with Fang Jianguo, but in fact, he always felt uneasy in front of him since he was little, so there was nothing to say.

When he got to the kitchen entrance, Yan Xu asked, “Mom, do you need me to help?”

Lu Qiuying turned around and said, “No need. You can just sit for a bit.”

Yan Xu saw the dumplings on the stovetop and went in to ask, “How about I make the pan-fried dumplings?”

“No, no, no.” Lu Qiuying pushed Yan Xu. “I need to personally do it. You can go to the living room and watch TV with your Uncle.”

Yan Xu was caught off guard and staggered. There was some water on the kitchen floor, he stepped on it, and his socks instantly absorbed the water, wetting his feet. He moved his feet uncomfortably and could only leave the kitchen, returning to the living room.

Fang Jianguo chuckled, calling Yan Xu over to watch TV together with him. However, in less than five minutes, he massaged his legs and said, “Sitting for too long hurts my leg. I’m going to return to my room to rest. Do you still want to watch TV? If you don’t, I’ll close it.”

Yan Xu smiled. “I won’t watch anymore, you² can close it.”

“Alright, then you sit for a while.”

Fang Jianguo closed the TV, then closed the heater while he was at it. With slow steps, he walked into the bedroom.

Yan Xu silently stared at Fan Jianguo’s back figure until the door closed neither too lightly or too heavily, then he withdrew his gaze and lightly sighed.

He sat in the living room for almost twenty minutes when the doorbell suddenly rang.

Yan Xu thought it was Yan Bai returning home from work, so he got up to open the door. When he saw the person at the door, his pupils couldn’t help but tremble—two people stood at the door, one was Yan Bai, while the other one was his stepbrother, Fang Jincheng, who had been studying abroad for three years without returning home once.