This was a very special breakfast.
Mother and son sat at the dining table, the fried eggs on their plates had already gone cold, yet neither had started eating.
Chai Meicen forgot to scold her son.
Zhou Rui forgot to apologize.
The two sat there together questioning life.
The clock on the wall of the living room was muted when bought, and hadn't been changed in eight years. Now it ticked loudly every second, "tick tock tick tock".
Mother and son listened to the clock's sound, an unusual silence between them.
After a long while, Zhou Rui finally let out a slow breath, as if coming out of a daze.
"You used to brag to me about your stunning beauty when you were young, and I didn't believe you. Now I do, you really were so damn...so damn good looking." After Zhou Rui said this, he still had to add, "No wonder you gave birth to such a handsome son like me."
The previous Chai Meicen was short and stout, with decent features, but poor skin care had left her complexion sallow and pores large. There were also acne scars on her chin from hormonal imbalances, as well as eye bags and dark circles around her eyes.
Her complexion was just not good, her appearance really not very attractive.
Zhou Rui had always thought his father was just a gigolo, seducing Chai Meicen for her money. After taking advantage he would disappear without a trace.
He had looked at himself in the mirror several times, imagining what his father looked like, and each time couldn't help sighing: "So handsome..."
He really wasn't being narcissistic.
Zhou Rui was 16 years old this year and already 185 cm tall, as handsome as an idol star. If he entered showbiz he could make a living purely on his looks.
He was also athletic, liking basketball, road cycling, swimming, his physique was especially good. Adding to his nice complexion, fair and delicate skin, he had a touch of charm when quiet.
He wasn't the school heartthrob, purely because he was too overbearing at school, so when voting those who disliked his reputation didn't pick him, and the heartthrob title went to someone Zhou Rui looked down on.
Looking at his mother's appearance now, he finally admitted that some of his good looks came from her.
But he really didn't know how Chai Meicen had ruined such a good foundation, making herself look as she did before.
"What's going on here? How can I change back?" Chai Meicen was still in shock, too distracted to care about her son's foul language.
"Why change back? This is returning to your youth, those ancient emperors loved taking immortality pills to live forever without aging. Not one succeeded. If they heard about you they'd definitely jump out of their graves in jealousy, wearing yellow dragon robes, looking like old lemon demons, and be sour at you."
"Can you be serious? I don't even know what's happening to me right now." Chai Meicen was so angry she kicked Zhou Rui, not too hard, just itching to hit this annoying brat.
Zhou Rui howled as if gravely injured, "We just fought and my leg is already bruised yet you still kick me."
Only then did Chai Meicen come to her senses, pulling up Zhou Rui's pant leg to see a distinct bruise on his fair calf.
What Zhou Rui didn't say was that he had kicked too hard himself when fighting someone, not that he was hit. The person he beat up was too skinny, all bones, and he didn't connect properly, causing this bruise.
"Why are you always fighting for no reason? In the end you're only hurting yourself?" Chai Meicen was extremely distressed.
"I'm acting righteously."
"Let me call your Uncle Hou and ask." As Chai Meicen spoke she was about to call Hou Ranxi, not noticing Zhou Rui's reply.
"Uncle Hou is away on a business trip. If you call he'll definitely rush back from out of town, disrupting his work. First we need to make sure you're physically okay. Change your clothes and come with me." Zhou Rui stood up and led Chai Meicen to the bedroom to find clothes.
Chai Meicen had poor taste, her clothes loud and colorful, not fitting for a girl in her teens.
After much difficulty they finally found a pair of black sweatpants with a drawstring, and Zhou Rui gave her one of his own t-shirts.
"These clothes are too big." Chai Meicen complained.
"It's called boyfriend style, very popular nowadays. Go change into them." Zhou Rui pushed Chai Meicen into the bedroom and closed the door.
After Chai Meicen finished changing, Zhou Rui came to tuck the front of the t-shirt into her pants a bit. Seeing her current look he was finally satisfied.
But her hairstyle really left much to be desired. He took one of his own baseball caps and put it on her head, then brought Chai Meicen out of the house.
Chai Meicen wanted to drive but Zhou Rui stopped her. "Your license photo looks nothing like you now. If you get pulled over I'll have to bring you meals for 15 days. Let's call a car to the hospital."
"I feel like an undocumented migrant, very insecure."
"Don't worry, you have me." As Zhou Rui spoke he was also messaging on his phone, fingers continuously tapping.
Chai Meicen turned to look at Zhou Rui. His face was still injured, he didn't seem like a proper young man, crude and wild. Yet suddenly she felt Zhou Rui was a bit reliable now.
Since discovering her change she had felt panicked. At her age it was difficult to immediately accept such a sudden occurrence. She really wasn't as calm as Zhou Rui.
The two went to the hospital but didn't immediately register, waiting in the lobby instead.
Soon a girl came over upon seeing Zhou Rui and said, "Why the urgent call to get me here?"
"Did you bring your ID?" Zhou Rui asked.
"I did."
"Let me borrow it to register." Zhou Rui held out his hand to the girl, palm up, speaking very impolitely.
The girl didn't mind, taking out her ID and placing it in Zhou Rui's palm. Still curious, she followed Zhou Rui and asked, "What do you need my ID to register for?"
"Don't ask, go drink some milk tea. I'll return it after." Zhou Rui showed her his phone screen, "I sent you a red envelope."
The girl really left after taking the red envelope, very easygoing.
Chai Meicen hurried to ask, "She's..."
"My classmate, don't worry, not my girlfriend." Zhou Rui already knew what Chai Meicen meant.
"She's quite pretty."
"I'll go register for you, do a full physical to see if anything's wrong with your body. Using her ID the age matches your current appearance, that's simplest." As they entered Zhou Rui continued, "They won't check IDs inside either, won't discover anything, so just relax and go through with it. Let's first confirm your body is fine before discussing anything else."
Chai Meicen nodded and Zhou Rui went to line up.
As she waited by herself she glanced at her blurry reflection in the glass door, a little lost looking at her younger self.
When she was this age, she had been happiest, before everything that happened later.
*
Some physical exam results wouldn't be out until the afternoon.
Chai Meicen waited nearby, while Zhou Rui returned the classmate her ID.
After all results were out, the two went to ask the doctor together.
Chai Meicen was very healthy, with no issues found.
This news relieved both of them.
Standing outside the hospital, Chai Meicen asked Zhou Rui, "If I tell the doctor I suddenly became young, won't they think I have mental problems?"
"They would."
"Who do you think I should ask for help and advice now?"
"Uncle Hou of course." At the mention of Hou Ranxi, Zhou Rui smiled crookedly, his tone vaguely ambiguous.
"Then let's wait until he returns. Maybe I'll change back tomorrow morning."
"That's possible too."
The two got in a car to go home. Just after getting out, Zhou Rui ran into classmates. The two boys came over calling out, "Brother Rui, I thought you couldn't go out after what happened, so specially bought this to honor you."
As he spoke, one boy opened the plastic bag he held, inside were two packs of cigarettes.
Seeing them, Zhou Rui's face darkened immediately, and his heart lurched.
Chai Meicen knew Zhou Rui often fought, and his grades were poor, but didn't know he smoked too.
Seeing the cigarettes, her mind exploded. Fury overturned reason and she slapped Zhou Rui's back.
Zhou Rui stumbled forward two steps from the force before steadying himself.
"What are you doing with that stuff? Take it away, I hate the smell of smoke!" Zhou Rui kept waving his hands dismissively.
The two boys finally noticed Chai Meicen. The shorter one's eyes lit up seeing her.
He rarely saw such a pretty girl. She seemed close to Zhou Rui, could it be... was something going on?
"Oh right, Brother Rui doesn't smoke." The boy was smart and immediately put the cigarettes away, even explaining to Chai Meicen, "Beauty, don't misunderstand."
Chai Meicen forced a smile to appear calm, then pulled Zhou Rui aside and pinched his face, puckering his mouth.
"I'm injured, that hurts!" Zhou Rui's features scrunched together.
"Let me see if your teeth are yellow or not. Quite capable aren't you, even learned to smoke?" Chai Meicen released Zhou Rui's face, glaring at him with eyes wide in anger.
She wasn't stupid. His friend was clearly covering for him just now. How could she not see through it?
The previous Chai Meicen glaring like this was quite scary. Zhou Rui didn't dare make a peep now.
The current young Chai Meicen glaring looked falsely ferocious and cute instead.
Seeing her face, Zhou Rui felt unaccustomed, avoiding her gaze as he fruitlessly explained, "No...they're framing me. We're not close friends."
Zhou Rui looked toward his buddies to see the shorter boy actually taking photos of them!
He had a bad premonition and checked his phone to see the boy had posted in their class group chat.
Yang Ming: I ran into Brother Rui bringing a super pretty girl home. They were very intimate, the girl even wearing Brother Rui's clothes and hat!
Yang Ming: [short video]
Classmate 1: Whoa, explosive stuff!
Classmate 2: What's the situation!
Classmate 3: So pretty! This girl is gorgeous!
Classmate 2: Brother Rui is clearly whipped, is this the legendary "one thing subdues another"?
Zhou Rui quickly typed a reply: Stop kidding around. She's a relative from my hometown, blood-related.
Li Xiaonan: Yeah, you two do look a bit alike.
Yang Ming: You're right, now that you mention it.
Classmate 3: To have such a beautiful relative, please introduce me! Ah ah ah, little sister is so gorgeous, I'm falling in love.
Classmate 4: How could you not introduce us to a girl, Brother Rui? She have a boyfriend? From today on, I'm your relative too. We'll play mahjong together during New Year's and holidays, we're all family. Am I your brother-in-law or sister's husband?
Seeing the chat messages, Zhou Rui was furious.
I see you guys as brothers, yet you want to be my dad!
Zhou Rui: All of you piss off!
