29: Chapter 29 Going Back to My Uncle

Thin mist permeated the canyon in the early morning as Chen Mo walked back along the Yin River.

On his way here, he had observed as he walked, taking quite some time to reach the source from the outer area;

On the way back, he had no observation tasks, so he picked up his speed, moving quickly through the dense forest at a steady rhythm.

Tree trunks and bushes flew backward on both sides, and the mud and gravel under his feet were instantly kicked away after each step he planted firmly, his entire figure tracing a quiet and swift arc through the forest.

In less than an hour, he had exited through the gap in the wire fence on the perimeter of the Shennong Mountain Range.

The warning sign was still the same one, its writing still blurry.

He followed the route he had taken, passing through barren slopes and mixed forests; the gravel road turned into a concrete road, the concrete road turned into the town's main street, and the old house appeared at the end of his view.

When he pushed open the door, he paused for a moment.

There was no dust in the house.

The tables, chairs, stove, and floor were all spotless.

The windows had been opened, and there was a faint scent of dish soap in the air.

He put down his backpack, stood in the Main Hall for a few seconds, and then took out his phone.

The phone had run out of battery on the first day he entered the mountain, and there was no signal in the core area of the Shennong Mountain Range, so he had simply turned it off to save power and used it as an electronic watch.

Now that he plugged in the charger and turned it on, a string of unread messages and missed calls immediately popped up on the screen.

Most of them were from his uncle.

The first message was sent five days ago: "Ah Mo, I heard from Old Li that you returned to town? Why didn't you say anything?"

The second was from three days ago: "I couldn't get through to your phone, where did you go?"

The third was yesterday: "Call me back when you see this, your Aunt is worried."

There were also a few messages from Old Zhou and Xu Lei—a former colleague and an old student.

Old Zhou asked how he had been lately and said that Manager Yang had mentioned him, wanting to ask if he was interested in returning.

Xu Lei sent a photo, a side view of him practicing squats, with the caption: "I can squat 150 now."

Chen Mo read them one by one and first replied to Old Zhou and Xu Lei.

Then he picked up his phone and called his uncle back.

The phone rang twice before it was answered.

"Hello? Ah Mo?" His uncle's voice came through the receiver, sounding a bit anxious, "Where have you been these past few days? You haven't been answering your phone, and your Aunt has been worried sick."

Chen Mo said, "My phone broke; I just got it fixed."

There was a second of silence on the other end of the line. His uncle obviously didn't believe the excuse, but he didn't press the matter.

He simply said, "It's good that you're okay. Come over for lunch; I'll have your Aunt make a few extra dishes."

Chen Mo agreed.

"Same place as always. Just come straight up when you arrive."

His uncle added, "You kid, you didn't even give a heads-up when you came back; I only get to see you once a year during the New Year. Come over early at noon; let's have a good chat."

Chen Mo said okay and hung up the phone.

He sat on the chair and placed his phone on the table. The screen lit up again; it was a message from his uncle in the family group chat: "Ah Mo is back, come to the house for lunch at noon; Chen Wei, you guys come back if you have time." Chen Wei immediately replied with a "Good."

Chen Mo looked at the messages in the group and didn't type anything.

After his parents passed away, these were the only people closest to him left in this world.

His uncle, Chen Fulin, was his father's older brother. After his father passed away, his uncle would call him every year during the New Year to invite him back for the reunion dinner.

His Aunt, Xu Fengying, used too much oil and salt when cooking, and every time his uncle would tell her to "use less oil," she would still use just as much the next time.

His cousin Chen Wei was five years older than him and ran a hotpot restaurant in Yi City. He was already married to a woman named Jiang Ning, and the two of them had been dating since college.

His cousin Chen Ting was two years older than him and ran a nail salon in Yi City. She was pretty, but her standards were high, and she hadn't been satisfied with any of the several blind dates she'd been on.

He remembered eating at his uncle's house last New Year, when Chen Ting, while putting food on his plate, complained about a blind date: "He dares to claim he's 1.8 meters when he's only 1.75; I'm taller than him when I wear high heels."

His uncle had sighed at the time, saying that if she continued to be so picky, she'd be thirty soon.

Chen Ting rolled her eyes and said, "So what if I'm thirty? It's not like I don't have a house or a car, what's the rush?"

Thinking of this, the corners of Chen Mo's mouth twitched slightly.

He got up and changed into clean clothes. He dug out a white shirt and a pair of dark trousers from the wardrobe.

After putting them on, he stood in front of the mirror and took a look; the clothes were a bit tight. It was because the thickness and width of his shoulders, chest, and back had increased during the nearly twenty days of training, and the originally well-fitting cut now strained into smooth and sturdy curves.

Fortunately, the shirt fabric was elastic, so it wasn't noticeable unless one looked closely.

He went to the supermarket in town, bought two bottles of Baijiu and a case of milk, hailed an autonomous taxi on the side of the road, and reported the address of Chenqi Mansion after getting in.

The car drove out of the small town, heading along the mountain road towards the urban area of Yi City.

The scenery outside the window changed from dense forest to farmland, from farmland to suburban factories, and finally to urban residential buildings.

Over an hour later, the car stopped at the entrance of the Chenqi Mansion residential compound.

Chenqi Mansion was a mid-range residential area built in Yi City a few years ago.

Chen Mo carried his things into the elevator and pressed the floor for his uncle's home.

When the elevator doors opened, he could already smell the aroma of stewed meat drifting through the corridor.

The door opened, and his uncle, Chen Fulin, stood at the entrance. He was about fifty years old, of medium height, with deep wrinkles on his face when he smiled.

When he first saw Chen Mo, he was clearly stunned for a moment. He looked him up and down for several seconds, then smiled and patted his shoulder: "You kid, you've bulked up even more since the New Year. Why does it feel like you've also grown a bit taller?"

Chen Mo smiled but didn't respond, instead handing over the things: "Uncle, I brought two bottles of wine."

"Just coming is enough, why bring things?"

His uncle took the items and pulled him into the house, "Come in quickly, your Aunt has been stewing ribs since early this morning."

His Aunt, Xu Fengying, poked her head out from the kitchen, wearing an apron and holding a spatula in her hand: "Ah Mo is here? Quick, quick, sit down, the ribs will be ready in a moment."

Without waiting for Chen Mo to answer, she retreated back into the kitchen, and the sound of the spatula stir-frying resumed.

Chen Mo sat down on the sofa.

His uncle poured him a cup of tea, placed it on the coffee table, then sat on the single sofa opposite him, took out his reading glasses, put them on, and looked at him.

"Did your phone really break?" his uncle asked.

"It really broke," Chen Mo said.

His uncle stared at him for three seconds, but ultimately didn't press further.

When he was young, he had been an accountant at the town's supply and marketing cooperative. Having looked at ledgers his whole life, he had developed a calm and unhurried personality—if others didn't volunteer information, he wouldn't force the question.

He changed the subject: "Last time I heard you say you were working as a coach in Li City, how is that going?"

"It's going quite well."

"Then why did you suddenly come back?"

Chen Mo took a sip of tea, thought for a moment, and said, "I wanted to take a break for a while."

His uncle nodded, not saying anything more.

He didn't think there was anything wrong with resting—it was normal for young people to rest when they were tired.

He just felt that Chen Mo's state upon returning this time was a bit different from previous years.

In previous years, when he returned from Li City, he was either rushing back for the holidays or had to leave in a hurry; but this time, there was a quiet, peaceful, and serene Qi about him, as if he had truly shed some of the burden from his shoulders.

A family portrait hung on the living room wall—a photo of Chen Mo's parents and his uncle's family; the photo had already yellowed somewhat.

Chen Mo glanced at it but didn't speak.

His uncle followed his gaze, was silent for a moment, and then said: "There are spring rolls your Aunt fried in the kitchen, go get a couple to snack on. The ribs still need to stew for a while."

Before Chen Mo could get up to go to the kitchen, the sound of a door opening echoed in the corridor.

The door opened, and Chen Ting walked in, yawning, her hair not yet fully tied up, wearing loungewear with the flush of just waking up on her face.

Her nail salon was busy until very late every day, and she was used to catching up on sleep in the morning; her Aunt must have been the one to wake her up just now.

She paused when she saw Chen Mo, and then her eyes suddenly widened.

"Chen Mo!" She shouted, walking over quickly to give him a hug.

"Why did you suddenly come back? You didn't even give your sister a heads-up!"

Chen Mo was hugged so tightly that the teacup in his hand nearly spilled; he put the cup back on the coffee table and said, "It was a last-minute decision; I didn't have time to tell you."

Chen Ting let go of him, stepped back to look him over, and then reached out to pinch his arm.

Upon that pinch, she froze—the texture didn't feel like flesh; it felt more like steel cables wrapped in rubber.

She pinched it again and looked up at him: "What on earth have you been training for these past six months? These arms are more than a circle thicker than they were during the New Year, right?"

"Just normal fitness training."

"Normal fitness training can get you like this?" Chen Ting completely disbelieved him, "Tell me the truth, did you eat something?"

"Just protein powder, protein powder."

Chen Ting stared at him suspiciously for several seconds, but finally decided to give up on the interrogation and turned to shout toward the kitchen: "Mom, are the ribs ready? I'm hungry!"

His Aunt's voice came from the kitchen: "Almost, almost, we'll eat as soon as your brother gets here!"

Just as the words fell, the doorbell rang. Chen Wei and his wife Jiang Ning were standing at the door.

Chen Wei was just over 1.8 meters tall, about the same height as Chen Mo, but there was already a clear difference in their physiques—Chen Wei belonged to the category of normal, well-proportioned people, neither fat nor thin, and standing next to Chen Mo, he looked a whole size smaller.

As soon as Chen Wei entered, he stared at Chen Mo for three seconds, then turned to his wife and said, "See? I told you, this kid must be secretly doing extra training."

Jiang Ning smiled and shook her head, changing her shoes to enter the house.

Chen Wei walked over and patted Chen Mo on the back with considerable force, the kind of strength used for greetings between brothers.

Then he also froze—the sensation of the pat wasn't right.

He couldn't put his finger on what was wrong, but it just felt like he was patting a wall.

"What have you been eating lately?" he couldn't help but ask.

"Eating normally," Chen Mo said.

"Your skin is also so good," Chen Wei looked at his face, "What face wash do you use?"

"Clear water."

Chen Wei gave him a suspicious look, then gave up on pressing the question and flopped onto the sofa.