Cangmang Asks the Way 1: Guardian of the Lamp

The next morning, the family sat around the table. Su Yumei served everyone porridge, and also brought out a dish of pickled vegetables and a plate of scrambled eggs. Lin Wanqing sat next to Tianci, head down, drinking her porridge sip by sip.

"Wanqing," Su Yumei called to her.

Lin Wanqing raised her head.

"Tianci has fallen behind in his studies." Su Yumei glanced at Tianci, then looked back at Lin Wanqing, "If it's convenient for you, could you...?"

"Auntie, I'll stay and tutor Tianci. He's missed more than a month of classes, and school is about to start. I'll help him catch up so he can at least keep up when school starts," Lin Wanqing said.

Su Yumei paused for a moment, then smiled, her eyes welling up with tears. She turned to look at Cang Zhenye, who put down his bowl of porridge and nodded.

"Okay, okay," Su Yumei said, her voice trembling slightly. "Wanqing, thank you for your hard work."

Lin Wanqing lowered her head, her ears turning red. Tianci glanced at her, said nothing, and finished the porridge in his bowl.

After finishing his meal, Tianci said to Su Yumei, "Mom, I'm going to see Grandpa."

Su Yumei was clearing the dishes when she heard this. She stopped, glanced at him, and nodded.

Tianci walked out of the courtyard gate and along the dirt road towards the old house. The morning light shone from the east, turning the dust on the road white. He reached the door of the old house, which was ajar. He pushed the door open and went inside.

The Cang family was having breakfast. Wang Guixiang was holding a bowl of porridge, Cang Yongqiang was eating his rice with his head down, and Cang Shouzheng was picking up a piece of pickled vegetables with his chopsticks. Cang Houde was sitting at the head of the table, drinking the porridge in his bowl with his head down.

When Tianci walked into the main room, everyone was stunned.

"A gift from heaven?" Cang Shouzheng put down his chopsticks, his eyes wide open.

Wang Guixiang's hand, which was about to pick up some food, froze in mid-air. Cang Yongqiang looked up, his mouth still full of rice, staring blankly at him.

Cang Houde rested his hand on the edge of the table, and his cloudy eyes brightened for a moment.

Tianci stood at the door, looking at them, and called out to them one by one: "Grandpa, Third Uncle, Third Aunt, Brother Yongqiang."

There was a moment of silence in the main room. Then Cang Shouzheng suddenly stood up, pulling his chair back with a jarring sound.

"You...you remember?" His voice trembled.

"I remember now. I remember everything."

Wang Guixiang put down her bowl, wiped her hands on her apron, and called out, "Tianci, have you eaten? Sit down and have something to eat." As she spoke, she got up to get a bowl.

"Auntie, I've already eaten."

Cang Houde sat there, his eyes fixed on Tianci's face, staring at him for a long time. Then he smiled. The smile was very light and faint, like the first ray of sunshine after a snowfall.

He put down his chopsticks and beckoned to Tianci, saying, "Tianci, come here and let Grandpa take a good look at you."

Tianci obediently walked over and knelt down in front of Cang Houde.

Cang Houde raised his right hand and gently stroked Tianci's cheek, murmuring, "Tianci, you've lost weight. You'll have to eat well from now on."

"Yes, Grandpa, I understand. I'm an unfilial grandson, I've caused you worry!" Tianci looked up at his grandfather, tears welling in his eyes. Through his blur, he seemed to see the tears in his grandfather's eyes as well.

Cang Houde raised his arm to wipe his eyes and said, "Good child, it's good that you're better. Go and tell your other two uncles this good news!"

"Okay, Grandpa."

After leaving the old house, Tianci went to Cang Jianguo's house again. He stood at the gate and called out, "Uncle." Cang Jianguo poked his head out from the oil press, saw him, and paused for a moment. Tianci said, "Uncle, I remember now." Cang Jianguo put down his tools, walked over, looked at him for a few seconds, and nodded: "That's good. Go back and rest, don't overwork yourself."

Finally, Tianci went to Cang Yuanzhi's house.

Cang Yuanzhi was sitting in the main room reading a document, a notice issued by the township regarding the development of specialty crops. His reading glasses perched on his nose, his brow slightly furrowed, his fingers slowly tracing the pages. Liu Wenxiu was busy in the kitchen, the spatula clanging against the iron pot.

Tianci walked into the main room and called out, "Second Uncle."

Cang Yuanzhi raised his head, his gaze passing over the reading glasses and landing on his face.

"Second Uncle, I'm all better now."

Cang Yuanzhi paused for a moment. He slowly took off his reading glasses, placed them on the table, stood up, and walked to Tianci. He looked into Tianci's eyes, which were no longer empty but filled with light. He reached out and patted Tianci's shoulder heavily, saying, "I knew it! The men of the Cang family are tough; they won't fall so easily."

Liu Wenxiu poked her head out of the kitchen, her hands still wet. She smiled at Tianci and said, "Tianci, it's good that you're alright. You really scared us this time. Don't do that again, take it easy."

"Yes, thank you, Second Uncle and Second Aunt! I will definitely pay attention in the future. Also, I would like to use your phone to tell my older brother and Sister Liu Qing."

"Use it, use it. Call anytime," Cang Yuanzhi said, pointing to the phone on the table.

Tianci dialed Cang Lifeng's number first. After a few rings, it was answered.

"Feed?"

"Brother, it's me."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, then a trembling voice asked:

"Tianci? You...are you alright?"

"Yes, brother, I'm all better."

"Okay, okay. It's good that you remember." Cang Lifeng's voice trembled slightly.

Tianci held the microphone, wanting to tell his older brother about his martial arts practice the previous night. He also wanted to discuss his future plans with him. But he held back. He learned from his parents that his older brother had started a company. He knew his brother must be very busy, and he couldn't bother him any further.

Thinking of this, he said, "Brother, thank you!"

"Silly boy, I'm your own brother. What are you thanking me for?" Cang Lifeng said affectionately, scolding him.

He paused, then said, "Tianci, it's wonderful news that you can remember. I need to go tell your second brother and third sister right away, so they can be happy too."

After hanging up, Tianci dialed Cang Liuqing's number again. It rang four times before being answered.

"Sister Liu Qing, it's me, Tianci."

"A gift from heaven?" Cang Liuqing's voice was filled with surprise. "You're better? When did you get better?"

"Last night, my mother was teaching me to write the character '人' (person) under the oil lamp, and suddenly I remembered it."

Cang Liuqing said cheerfully, "Okay! Okay!"

"Thank you, sister," Tianci said.

Cang Liuqing was taken aback: "What are you thanking me for?"

"Thank you for speaking up for Great-Grandpa and the Cang family."

Cang Liuqing laughed and said, "You little rascal, why are you being so polite with me? My surname is Cang, and the Cang family's business is my business."

"Sister is right," Cang Tianci said with a smile, changing his tune.

"That's my good brother. I have to go now. Bye."

After finishing the call, Tianci stood up, turned around and said to his second uncle, who was still looking at documents, and his second aunt, who was still busy in the kitchen, "Uncle, Aunt, I'm going back."

Cang Yuanzhi raised his head, glanced at him, and nodded.

Liu Wenxiu then said loudly, "Tianci, come and play often when you have time."

"Yes, Auntie," Tianci replied.

Tianci stepped out of the courtyard. The morning light had risen, shining on the dirt road and the surface of the pond. He walked back along the path he had come from.

After walking a few steps, Cang Tianci saw Zhao Ergou, Wang Laizi, and Peng Xiaojun walking towards him.

Zhao Ergou and Wang Laizi were once Wang Yaowu's henchmen, and they often ganged up to bully Cang Tianci when they were young. Peng Xiaojun was two years older than Cang Tianci and had studied martial arts with Cang Lifeng for a year. He had fought alongside Tianci and others at the temple fair. Since Cang Tianci went to Ji County to study martial arts, they had rarely seen him.

"Brother Xiaojun, where are you going?" Cang Tianci greeted them.

Actually, the three of them had already noticed Cang Tianci before he even greeted them. They were wondering why he was out alone today, since he had amnesia and they had been seeing a limping girl leading him around these past few days.

They were all startled when Cang Tianci suddenly called out to them.

Peng Xiaojun asked in surprise, "Tianci, your amnesia is cured?"

"Yes, all done," Cang Tianci replied with a smile.

"Tianci, that's great!" Peng Xiaojun stepped forward and punched Tianci in the fist, laughing, "I was sad for a long time after seeing you like this before."

"Thank you, Brother Xiaojun!" Tianci said.

Wang Laizi and Zhao Ergou, standing to the side, were somewhat embarrassed. But they still forced themselves to step forward and greet Tianci.

Tianci nodded to them without saying anything.

"Tianci, let's go to Futian Town for a walk. Do you want to come?" Peng Xiaojun asked.

"No, I'm not going. You guys go ahead with your work, I'm going back." Tianci said, then brushed past them.

Tianci returned home. Lin Wanqing was sitting at her desk reading. Several textbooks were also on the desk. Hearing footsteps, she looked up and smiled, saying, "You're back?"

"Um."

He walked over and sat down next to her, opened his math textbook, and his gaze fell on a geometry proof problem. He used to be able to spot the auxiliary lines at a glance, but now, staring at the figure, his mind went blank. He picked up a pen, drew a few lines on the diagram, erased them, drew a few more, but it was still wrong.

He turned to the next page and found another question. He couldn't answer it. He turned again, still couldn't answer it. His breathing became rapid, and his fingers moved faster and faster across the pages. Chinese, classical Chinese translation—those sentences he used to memorize so fluently were now just blurry shadows. English, the words were like looking through a fog; he recognized a few, but couldn't recall their meanings.

He stopped. His hand pressed on the page, his knuckles slowly tightening.

The Tao Te Ching. He had memorized the entire book. "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name." He opened his mouth, and the first line came out. The second line stuck. He frowned, thinking for a long time, his mind a complete blank. He closed his eyes, trying hard to recall, but the words still wouldn't come out. It was as if something was blocking his mouth, right there on the tip of his tongue, but just out of reach.

His hands began to tremble.

He didn't believe it. He flipped to the last page and found a five-character quatrain. He used to be able to memorize such short poems after reading them three times. Now, he stared at the first line and read it six times. He closed the book, recited it once, and missed two lines. He read it again, recited it again. He missed another line. He read it again, recited it again. He memorized it, but he knew it wasn't his memory. It was something forced in by brute force. Tomorrow, or perhaps not even tomorrow, in a few hours, it would slip through his fingers like sand.

He realized that his memory was more than half as bad as before. Even if he remembered something, he forgot it just as quickly. He recalled the days when he used to memorize texts in the bathroom under the dim light, those dense formulas, words, and classical Chinese texts like nails driven into his brain, impossible to remove. Now those nails were loose, falling off one by one. He squatted down to pick them up, only to have them fall again.

He sat there, staring at the open book on the table. The words on the pages were still there, the ink still clear. But he didn't recognize them anymore. Or rather, they didn't recognize him.

He suddenly felt afraid, afraid that he would never be able to go back to that classroom, never be able to keep up with his classmates again. He remembered what Teacher Xu Wenyuan had said: "The pace of the gifted program is very fast, are you sure you can keep up?" At that time, he nodded and said "yes." Now he didn't know if he could. Even if he was demoted to a regular class, getting into high school would probably be a problem. He lowered his head and looked at his hands. His hands were still trembling.

Lin Wanqing reached out and took his hand.

Her hands were steady and warm. She put his two hands together and wrapped them in her own.

"Heaven-sent," she called him.

He didn't look up.

"Tianci, look at me."

He slowly raised his head. Lin Wanqing's eyes were bright. She stared into his eyes and said:

"You were injured when you were seven months old. Everyone said you wouldn't survive, but you did. You couldn't speak until you were three, and everyone called you mute, but you started talking. You stuttered terribly, and everyone called you stutterer, but now you speak more fluently than anyone else. You once only scored eight points on a test, and everyone called you a bad student, but you still got into the gifted youth program with the highest score in the county. The provincial coach said your physique wasn't good enough for martial arts, but you still won the gold medal in the provincial martial arts competition."

She paused, then gripped his hand even tighter.

"Tianci, your mother said you were born to create miracles. I believe this time will be no exception."

Tianci looked at her. There was a light in her eyes, a light that was not dazzling, but warm, like the light of an oil lamp.

"As long as you're alive, there's hope," she said slowly, her voice firm and strong.

His hands stopped trembling. He looked down at those hands, and saw that Lin Wanqing's hands were still covering them.

He remembered his mother's words: "A person must have a light in their heart." He believed that the light in his heart was still there, and as long as that light was still there, darkness could not overwhelm him.

He took a deep breath, withdrew his hand from Lin Wanqing's palm, picked up the pen again, and said, "Wanqing, explain it again. I didn't understand this question."

Lin Wanqing paused for a moment, then smiled. She pulled over the draft paper, picked up a pen, and added an auxiliary line to the diagram.

"Look, connect the midpoint and the vertex to construct the midline..."

She spoke slowly. He listened intently. Outside the window, sunlight peeked through the clouds, falling on the desk and on the backs of their hands. The pocket watch ticked on his chest, tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock. The sound was so steady, so unhurried.