The village of my old home had been transformed into a tourist spot, and all those dirty, chaotic, and poor impressions from my childhood that lingered in my mind had now shifted into a scene of peace and harmony.
Every few steps along the road, a green trash bin sat by the roadside. From time to time, I caught sight of elderly men or women holding big brooms, leaning against the wall, chatting leisurely while cleaning the street.
The once pothole-ridden roads had been repaved into a glowing stone path, and stepping on it always gave me a surreal feeling.
It wasn’t that I had never seen such a sight before, but the broken-down village of my memories clashed fiercely with this so-called ‘Civilized Countryside’ that stood before me now.
Mother didn’t seem surprised by the dramatic changes back home. Perhaps, for me, all these shocking scenes had played out long ago, but because Mother had always openly or subtly asked me to stay at home, I never had the chance to know.
Driving the yellow sedan smoothly along the unusually flat cement road, we occasionally passed the corner store I used to buy snacks from as a child, and the lake where I would toss pebbles to watch the water splash.
Now, they had become a rather modern convenience store and an ornamental lake equipped with a fountain. The water inside was so clear you could see colorful goldfish swimming about, and on the man-made rockery by the shore, a lazy turtle basked in the sun.
Maybe I was just imagining it, or maybe it really did sense my distant gaze, but that big turtle even lifted its ping-pong-ball-sized eyes and glanced my way, then let out a strange cry. I had always thought turtles couldn’t make any sound…
Mother skillfully parked the car in an open space beside a stadium, where several strong-looking teenagers in professional sportswear were playing basketball with enthusiasm.
Because a tall, dark green iron fence surrounded the field, we didn’t have to worry about basketballs flying over and hitting the roof of our car.
The number of tourists in the village today wasn’t very high, but with all these changes, the days when you could park anywhere at will were long gone.
Mother hurried me out of the car first, then focused her attention on backing the car slowly into a suitable spot.
Since I couldn’t drive and was afraid of getting in Mother’s way as usual, I simply walked to the edge of the stadium to watch what was happening inside.
My fingers poked through the mesh fence. Clinging to it, I watched the youths pouring out their youthful energy. For a moment, I couldn’t tell if I had returned ‘home’, or if I’d arrived at a more developed place from the backward seaside town.
“What a huge change…”
Looking at the spotless ping-pong tables, the blue-and-white surfaces shining, and the teenagers in their sports team uniforms, gripping paddles and fiercely smashing ping-pong balls—it was all so full of power.
I vaguely remembered that before moving to the seaside town, this had been the village’s sports and fitness center, but there were only a few stone tables awkwardly piled together. When the ball hit the surface, it made a startlingly sharp sound.
My first encounter with ping-pong was in that environment, and I’d really thought my skills were terrible, because no matter how I played, the ball always went off course.
Now, thinking about it, the fact that I could manage to hit back any balls at all onto those stone tables—missing one or even two corners—was already pretty impressive.
“Wanna play?”
Suddenly, an unfamiliar boy’s voice sounded in my ear. Startled, I turned my head. A young man with a fresh face was squinting and smiling at me. Several other boys and girls carrying ping-pong gear stood nearby—they seemed to be sports team members who had just finished ancestor worship and come to play.
“Uh… No, thanks, I still need to go back and pay respects to my ancestors later…”
I waved my hands repeatedly, my feet instinctively taking a few steps back. After tossing out those words, I turned and slipped away as fast as a bad cat caught stealing the villagers’ grain.
Vaguely, I heard a flurry of chatter behind me. Even though I wasn’t interested in what they were talking about, my overly sensitive hearing still caught some of their conversation.
“Is this cat-eared girl really the daughter of that kind uncle who sponsors us? If I’m not mistaken, her features all match.”
“Not sure. Didn’t that uncle come back to pay respects to his ancestors this year too? If his wife and daughter have returned, word will definitely get out soon. Let’s just play ball first.”
At first, I couldn’t figure out who they were talking about, but then I remembered that my father and mother were childhood friends from this very village.
Now that Father was successful in business and occasionally appeared in ads related to his company on TV, sponsoring a small open-air stadium for a village would be no trouble at all for him.
Realizing that this news was likely related to my long-absent father, I couldn’t help but slow my steps and strained my cat ears to catch more voices from behind.
Unfortunately, their conversation was brief and didn’t go any deeper, so my idea of gathering intel ahead of time had to be put on hold.
Mother was waiting at the parking lot entrance, arms crossed over her chest. Her well-maintained figure was all the more evident because of this posture, and her blood-red eyes stared at me coldly.
Only in moments like this did I realize I was truly this cold woman’s child—the excellent genes we shared were evident all over our bodies.
“Where did you go? Wasting so much time.”
As I approached Mother, I heard her utter those words in her expressionless voice.
My heart twinged, and I pressed my lips tight, fighting down the sudden feeling of grievance. In a small voice, I replied, “I just looked around outside the stadium, sorry.”
Mother shot me a sideways glance, then turned and headed into the village’s winding alleys, her tone brooking no argument as she instructed,
“Don’t go near there, it’s dirty.”
“…Mm.”
I said nothing more, my head hung low as I followed behind Mother’s “clack-clack” footsteps in her jet-black ankle boots.
The road Mother led me down stirred up some familiar feelings inside me, and fragments from the corners of my memory flashed by without warning.
But before I could truly feel anything, the next moment—strange, newly built houses, bright public boards plastered with all sorts of civil slogans, and modern trash sorting bins—thoroughly shattered any nostalgia I had.
Almost every house we passed had its exterior walls painted a beautiful grayish-white, while in the past, all the walls were rough stone, bumpy and even a bit prickly to the touch.
When we reached this area, even Mother seemed unsure of the way. She stopped now and then at a crossroads, frowning and thinking for a while before leading me onward.
Occasionally, we’d run into relatives I’d met once or twice as a child, but as soon as they saw us—or rather, saw me trailing behind Mother—their gloomy eyes would suddenly light up. Without a single greeting, they’d dart off in the same direction at a brisk pace.
What are they doing? Am I really that annoying?