Outsider: The Fifth Young Master of the Kang Family

Chapter 104 Mid-Autumn Festival
"Zi, really not?"

After Tianxiu pulled the second brother and his wife, the eldest brother Guang Xianglan, Kang Qirui and others who were at home into his room, and told them that he did not see any scar on Mr. Chang's back, the second brother asked again for confirmation.

"Really not." Tianxiu was very sure. "Is it really fake?" Erlao sighed, this old man Chang really was not Xianglan's biological uncle.

"A Zong, do you want to talk to Uncle Chang about this?" asked the eldest brother Guang. Although he was the eldest brother, the affairs of the family were always headed by the second brother.

The second brother first drove Tianxiu away, "Ah Xiu, go out and play with that old man." After Tianxiu left, he said to the eldest brother Guang, "You can't tell him. Tomorrow is Mid-Autumn Festival. If you tell him now that Xianglan is not his relative, how will he celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival? He will be very lonely."

"But I have to take him back to the countryside tomorrow." Xianglan felt a little disappointed and worried.

The second elder thought for a moment and said, "I can't do anything about it. You two parents-in-law can handle it." He then asked Kang Qirui, "What do you think, A Rui?"

"I think so?" Kang Qirui said, "I think Tianxiu has already told Uncle Chang."

"Ah?" Everyone was surprised. "Ah what? Did you forbid him to say it? Does he look like the kind of person who would keep secrets on his own initiative?" Kang Qirui analyzed.

"Then why didn't you remind me to tell him not to say it?" the second brother blamed.

"Don't you think it's best for Tianxiu to tell the story?" Kang Qirui slowly explained the mystery to everyone, "The truth is too cruel, and it would be too hurtful for us to tell it specifically. But Tianxiu is different. It's normal for him to let something slip."

"Then what should we do?" Xianglan was more concerned about what she should do next.

Kang Qirui glanced at Xianglan, signaling her not to worry, and said, "It depends on how Mr. Chang wants to deal with this matter. If he asks, we will tell him frankly. If he pretends not to know, then we will accompany him to play this drama."

Everyone nodded and agreed with this approach. Er Lao suddenly said, "Then we have to remind Old Dou Madam." Then he took Kang Qirui out to find Old Dou Madam and told them the truth.

"A Zong, why didn't you tell me about this earlier?" said the old man a little angrily.

The second brother helplessly spread his hands and said, "We just confirmed it. We were just guessing before."

"Alas." The old man sighed, "Then let's do as you say. Every festive season makes people miss their families even more. It's pitiful." As he was talking, Uncle Chang came into the living room accompanied by Xianglan, and everyone hurried to greet him. Uncle Chang, who had already learned the truth from Tianxiu, looked like he knew nothing at this time, but asked in a concerned tone: "A Zong, you call me uncle too, why didn't you want me to buy your mooncakes last time when I asked Mrs. Zhu next door to buy your mooncakes?"

"Uncle, I appreciate your kindness. It's such a waste that you buy so many mooncakes and you can't finish them all. My dad has always taught me to be honest in business. I would rather lose money myself than let you suffer." The second brother has always made money in a gentleman's way in doing business.

Mr. Chang admired Er Lao's business acumen and said with some regret, "That's a pity. You will lose all those mooncakes."

"Your father and I are going back to the countryside in northern Guangdong tomorrow. A'zong, why don't you take all the mooncakes back to give to the neighbors?" the nanny suggested. It would be better to let her take them back to the countryside instead of letting them go unused.

Before Er Lao said anything, A Zu asked in confusion: "Mom, I remember your hometown was Nanhai, why did you go back to northern Guangdong?" When the mom heard this, she smiled and replied: "You don't know this. I am from Nanhai, but your mother-in-law is from Lianxian. Relatives from other places raised funds to build a new house and said they would go back for a reunion during the Mid-Autumn Festival."

"So that's how it is. That's no problem, mom. I still have more than a hundred boxes of mooncakes. Are they enough? If not, I'll go get more." The second brother agreed with the mom and asked her if it was enough.

"Enough, enough. Do you want to go back with us?" the nanny asked again.

"Since we have seven days off and we haven't decided where to go, let's just go back to the countryside of Lian County." The second brother said, and everyone agreed. "That's it, we'll split into two groups tomorrow. A Guang and the eldest sister-in-law will accompany Uncle Chang back to southern Henan, and the others will go back to Lian County." The old man made the decision. Xianglan, who originally didn't want to take a holiday, asked for leave early because she met her relatives and wanted to go back to see them.

When Mr. Chang heard that the Kang family was going back to Lian County, he was thoughtful, and then he didn't sleep much all night, and went out early the next morning. When he came back, the Kang family was ready to leave for Lian County, "I want to go with you, can I?" Mr. Chang asked.

"Where to go?" The second brother was a little confused.

"It's so nice to be with your whole family. I also want to see the customs of the people in Guangdong Province celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival, so I want to go to Lianxian with you all." Mr. Chang replied. "But I've already bought the ticket." Xianglan said, holding Mr. Chang.

"I went to return the tickets early this morning and just got back." Mr. Chang had already made preparations. He returned all three tickets, so everyone had to take him back to the countryside. "How about it? Do you welcome me to go with you?"

What else could everyone say? They could only say, "Welcome, welcome." Fortunately, A Yao rented a minibus with enough seats for two more people. Just as they were about to leave, another person came in, "Hello, everyone. Godfather." It was Zeng Ruoting who came back.

"Ruoting, why did you come back today?" asked Mr. Chang.

"I'm going to finish the things over there, so I want to come back and relax." Zeng Ruoting said. Kang Qirui complained in his heart: If I were 5 minutes later, everyone would have gone out, who would you go to relax with?

The Kang family, along with Uncle Chang and Zeng Ruoting, finally set off for Lian County. The minibus took more than three hours to arrive. When Kang Qirui and his family got off the bus, their relatives were already waiting. Led by their relatives, they took a good look at this county town with a lot of history. The development here is still relatively backward. Unlike the modern buildings in Guangfu, the houses here are basically tiled.

There weren't many houses in the county, so they finished the tour in just half an hour. Soon they came to the house that the nanny mentioned, a three-story self-built house. The nanny took Uncle Chang and Zeng Ruoting upstairs to rest and drink tea. Kang Qirui and his friends were sitting in the living room on the first floor chatting. "You just arrived." Cousin Bing asked as he entered the room. This is the hometown of Kang Qirui's grandmother, the five brothers, and also the hometown of cousin Bing's grandmother. He also came back for this year's family reunion.

"You showed up at the right time." Er Lao came up with an idea when he saw his cousin Bing. "I need your help with something, but first I want to ask, do you speak Henan dialect?"

"Of course I can. I travel a lot for business, so of course I can speak Henan dialect. If you don't know, you can ask Xianglan." Cousin Bing thought that Er Lao had some business to introduce to him. "Now, tell me a sentence in Henan dialect." Er Lao asked.

"I'm from southern Henan." Cousin Bing said, and Xianglan thought it was quite authentic.

"Second brother, what do you want to do?" Kang Qirui asked. Second brother motioned for everyone to move closer, and he whispered, "Today, Uncle Chang did not go to Henan but came to Lianxian with us. I felt it was strange, so I quietly asked Tianxiu on the way, and he did tell Uncle Chang the truth. So the situation now is that he knows and we know, but no one said it out loud. How can we keep it in our hearts?"

"So you want your cousin Bing to stage a play and let everyone tell the truth?" Kang Qirui guessed.

"That's right. This will be good for everyone." The second brother nodded, then pulled his cousin Bing over and talked about his plan, and his cousin Bing agreed immediately.

At night, the whole Lian County was bustling with people. The dragon and lion dances were performing, firecrackers were everywhere, and everyone was having a great time. After watching the performance, the Kang family had a barbecue, ate mooncakes, drank wine, and admired the moon on the rooftop. It was so pleasant.

"Drink, drink, wish your mother good health." "Wish your uncle Chang good health." Everyone says a blessing every time they drink.

"Uncle Chang, are you happy to be back for the Mid-Autumn Festival?" My father and Uncle Chang were drinking and chatting happily. "You are so lucky to have a family reunion." Uncle Chang envied my father very much. The Kang family has three generations living together, with sons and daughters, all of whom are filial. My father is indeed a blessed person.

While everyone was having fun, Er Lao was muttering, "It's already twelve o'clock, why hasn't this cousin Bing come to 'work' yet? Is he really reliable?"

"A gentle kiss has already touched my heart." Just when Er Lao was about to greet his cousin Bing's family, his cousin Bing finally appeared and sang: "A deep love"

"Sir, judging from your accent, you seem to be from southern Henan?" The second brother came out to sing the dragon and phoenix at the right time.

Cousin Bing nodded and said, "I am from southern Henan."

"How did you get here?" Er Lao asked again. "It's a long story." Cousin Bing immediately switched to Cantonese, and Er Lao hurriedly whispered in his ear: "Speak Henan dialect."

"I was sold here when I was young, and I can no longer speak the Henan dialect." Cousin Bing whispered in Erlao's ear. He used the plot that Gousheng's younger brother was sold when he was young to make it reasonable that he could not speak the Henan dialect but only Cantonese.

"Tonight I looked at the round moon and thought of my hometown. I couldn't help but sing a song about my hometown for everyone." Cousin Bing began to show off his acting skills, "A big river with rolling waves."

The second brother couldn't listen any more, so he asked again: "I can't tell where your hometown is after listening to you for a long time." Cousin Bing said his line, "My adoptive mother said I was from Changjiagou, Taohuayu, southern Henan."

"Wow, sister-in-law, he and you are from the same hometown." Er Lao guided the story back to the normal plot set by him and his cousin Bing.

Cousin Bing continued his drama, "On a stormy night in 1948, my parents sold me to someone else when I was less than a year old because they were poor. That night, the sky was just as dark and cold as this."

"Wait a minute, come with me." Er Lao pulled his cousin Bing in front of Mr. Chang. "This old man is also from Changjiagou, Taohuayu, southern Henan. He has two brothers, one is called Gou Wa, and his is called Gou Sheng. He also has a younger brother who was sold to someone else."

"I heard my adoptive mother keep telling me to die." Cousin Bing seemed to be reading from a script.

"Hey, sister-in-law, come here." The second brother called Xianglan over, then pointed at his cousin Bing and said, "Could this be Mr. Chang's long-lost little brother?"

Upon hearing this, Cousin Bing bowed his head to Uncle Chang and said, "Brother, please accept my little brother's greeting." Uncle Chang quickly helped Cousin Bing up, then bowed to everyone and said thank you.

He choked up and said, "It's really hard for everyone. For an old man like me, your Kang family has really put in a lot of thought. I am so touched. I appreciate your kindness. In fact, Tianxiu told me yesterday. I may never find my brother Gou Wa in this lifetime, but I am so satisfied now. You Kang family members are closer to me than my own relatives."

The matter was finally brought to light, and everyone felt much better without having to continue pretending not to know. "Uncle, you don't blame me for pretending, do you?" Cousin Bing asked apologetically. "No, no, you are all good people." Uncle Chang comforted Cousin Bing.

Then Uncle Chang asked everyone to take him to the river. The Kang family didn't know what he was going to do, so they went together. Uncle Chang, with the help of Zeng Ruoting, lit a candle in the mooncake box, and then put the mooncake box into the river to let it float away. "This is what a friend of mine from Jiangsu and Zhejiang taught me. He said that on the 15th day of August, putting a lantern in the river can send our longing for reunion to our relatives far away. I didn't find my brother, so I can only tell him that I miss him this way."

Uncle Chang stared at the river lantern by the river until it floated away and disappeared. Then he turned around and said to the Kang family, "Let's say goodbye here. I want to go back to Taiwan. Don't worry, Yao. Ruoting will follow up on the investment I promised you. Xianglan, come to Taiwan to see me when you are free. I treat you as my own niece."

Xianglan cried and said, "I also regard you as my own uncle. Please come and visit me often."

(End of this chapter)