The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 470: Rainbow

“I’m going with you too!” Gao Xinxin didn’t want to be left behind when her brother and sister-in-law were going.

Zhuang Mei was pleased. “Sure. Let’s all go together.”

Gao Yang’s father, the only one with mobility issues, volunteered to stay at the farmhouse.

A few minutes later, they got changed and put on shoes before setting out excitedly with wicker baskets. Gao Yang turned around to see his father moving the wheelchair from the living room to the front yard, seeing them off.

“Be careful and don’t be too late!” his father called out.

He looked like a little puppy left behind to watch the house.

The sight made Gao Yang feel a pang of pity in his heart, but at the same time there was something amusing about it.

No, I shouldn’t laugh, or I’m gonna lose ten years worth of good karma over this.

The five of them climbed up the mountain in the back via the pebbled road, quickly getting halfway to the top. They rested in a rundown stone pavilion. Zhuang Mei pointed at a small fork where roads had formed through repeated treading.

“Once further in, look under the trees. There should be plenty of mushrooms. Do be careful though, and stay away from the steeper slopes, or you’ll likely fall.”

“Of course!”

Gao Xinxin had changed into a jacket and a pair of long pants that were easy to move in. She took the lead, shaking around the small wicker basket in her hand. Then she thought of something, and she turned around to ask, “Auntie Mei, are there gonna be poisonous mushrooms?”

“Haha, it’s unlikely. Just avoid the ones with vibrant colors.” Zhuang Mei took Lin Yue’s hand. They walked along the path together. “Even if you do, it’s okay. I’ll check your finds one last time before cooking.”

“Don’t put any fruit you find in your mouth,” Gao Yang called out, worried.

“Do you think I’ve got sponge for brain?” Gao Xinxin turned around to shoot back.

Gao Yang smiled. Ha, I didn’t say that for your benefit.

Trailing behind Gao Xinxin, Little Qing Ling felt a jab to her sister.

They walked along the path for a few minutes before soon reaching a lower depression. The place didn’t see a lot of sunlight. A faint smell of decay permeated the air amid the pine trees.

With gloves and boots on, they walked in the dim pine forest, looking for mushrooms amid the roots.

“Look! There’s a big one!” Gao Xinxin exclaimed in excitement, holding up a matsutake mushroom covered in soil and pine needles. “Is this edible?”

“It is. Forage away,” Zhuang Mei responded from not far away with a smile. Their voices resounded in the forest.

Little Qing Ling started foraging seriously with her wicker basket too. Gao Yang wasn’t too worried about her since she had her older sister. Thus, he went up to Gao Xinxin.

Gao Xinxin had already found a few mushrooms, mostly matsutakes.

Gao Yang stopped before a toppled, decaying tree trunk, about to pick a mushroom.

“Stop! I saw that first!” Gao Xinxin rushed up to grab the mushroom before he could, putting it in her basket and turning to leave, huffing.

Gao Yang smiled in resignation and followed her.

“Don’t follow me around. Don’t take my mushrooms!” Gao Xinxin snapped.

Gao Yang asked with a smile, “Are you angry, sis?”

“Why would I be?” Gao Xinxin played dumb.

Gao Yang didn’t beat around the bush. “Because I took Qing Ling home.”

“Ha, what’s there to be angry about?” Gao Xinxin pretended to be nonchalant. “You’ve entered college. It’s normal for you to get into a relationship. Sooner or later, you’ll graduate and get married, even having children.”

“I have a boyfriend too, and we’ll both start our own families. We’ll only visit each other during Lunar New Years and send each other texts. Isn’t that how things go for everyone?”

Gao Yang didn’t know what to say. He felt a pang of loss in his heart.

He quietly followed his sister, looking at the petite but stubborn girl from behind. A memory from their childhood came to him.

During one spring, after a drizzle, their mother took the two of them to a stream to collect bamboo shoots. Wearing boots and hats, they followed their mother with Gao Yang holding his sister’s hand.

Before sunset, his then three-year-old sister saw a rainbow, and she jumped up and down in joy.

But then the rainbow disappeared not long after. She was heartbroken and wouldn’t stop crying.

“The rainbow’s gone. I want rainbow...I want rainbow...”

“Rainbows are natural phenomena. It always disappears.” Gao Yang explained to his sister proudly. He had started taking science class at school.

His sister wouldn’t hear it though, and she kept whining that she wanted the rainbow back.

Irritated, Gao Yang shook off his sister’s hand. “If you keep crying, I’m gonna drop you here. I’m not taking you home...”

He walked away, pretending to leave her behind. His sister immediately stopped crying and ran up to him.

“Don’t leave me behind, Brother... I...I don’t want rainbow anymore. I want Brother...”

She even tripped and fell, getting mud all over her.

Gao Yang was still immature then. He wasn’t so much feeling bad about his sister getting hurt, but terrified that their mother would scold him for not taking care of her properly.

He immediately rushed back to help his sister up, wiping the mud from her face. “Stop crying, stop crying...”

His sister wailed even harder. “The rainbow doesn’t want me. Brother doesn’t want me either...wah...”

“Stop crying.” Gao Yang panicked. “The rainbow doesn’t want you, but Brother wants you. I will always be with you, okay?”

Finally, Gao Xinxin slowly stopped crying.

After collecting bamboo shoots, their mother took the siblings home. She couldn’t stop smiling after hearing what had happened.

She gave Gao Yang five cents and told him to buy skittles for his sister.

His sister couldn’t make herself eat the candy, and she hid it under her pillow for a long, long time until it melted into spoiled syrup, sticking to the pillow and refusing to get off even after washing.

Gao Yang didn’t know why he suddenly remembered that.

Perhaps his sister had thought since then that he would be her exclusive rainbow forever, that no one would take him away from her.

The siblings collected more mushrooms until there wasn’t any to be found in the area. They started heading back.

Little Qing Ling had gotten quite a harvest too. The three of them met up in the woods before going to find Zhuang Mei and Lin Yue.

The two women were about finished, too.

They stood on top of a large boulder, chatting while resting. The setting sun shone a ray of light at an angle through the dense forest, the golden light rimming their silhouettes.

Gao Yang, Little Qing Ling, and Gao Xinxin walked toward them.

“Mom! I’m awesome! Look how many I’ve got!” Gao Xinxin happily skipped forward, leading the way.

Lin Yue and Zhuang Mei stopped talking, turning to look at them.

For a moment, Gao Yang froze, heart pounding and back drenched in cold sweat. It felt as if the world was spinning around him.