Page 118 of Love Unlimited

Zhong beamed. Thank you. He bowed his head one more time.

We will let you eat now, Zhong’s mother told them as they both rose. Make sure you take some food with you, too. There are cakes. She lifted the platter of round, shiny buns with Chinese characters stamped on them in red ink. Walking around the table, she offered the platter to each of them with two hands.

Zhong’s eyes widened and he carefully took one, and when Landon’s turn came, he took one as well, thanking her profusely. He had the sense that, like all of the other food, this had some element of symbolism and ritual to it.

After they had each claimed a cake, Zhong’s parents departed.

Dustin was the first to comment. That went well, I think.

Yes, Zhong looked both surprised and pleased. It went very well. He turned to Ash. I’m sorry that they were not as respectful toward you as they should have been.

Ash shook their head. I think they were trying. And you said this was a good outcome, right?

Yes. Zhong gestured at the cake. Do you know what these represent?

They all shook their heads.

The words on the top are double happiness, which is always used at weddings. He gestured around the room, where the complex symbol abounded. Each character began at the top with two crossed lines like a plus, and a wider horizontal stroke below it. The next three strokes formed a box, resting on two short diagonal lines. After another wide horizontal line, a final box rested at the bottom. But since it was doubled, the horizontal lines connected across, and on the cakes the edges had been rounded to form a circle.

As soon as he explained it, Ash picked up their cake and lined it up next to Zhong’s. Look! Quadruple happiness!

Zhong grinned. Much better.

Landon loved that idea. A quadruple happiness.

These cakes are served, Zhong went on, because they are sweet and sticky. They represent the sweetness of the love shared by the couple getting married, and that they also will always stick together.

Is that what your parents want for us? Ash asked.

I’d like to think so. Zhong smiled at each of them, looking more relaxed than he had in days.

I’m very good at being sticky and sweet, Ash suggested.

Everyone laughed.

Yes, you are, Zhong agreed. Just like you should be.

Chapter 20

Zhong

Zhong looked around the clearing, breathing in the crisp evening air and filling his senses with the familiar landscape. The towering pines were already so old that they’d hardly seemed to grow, though the first nail he and Dustin had pounded into the bark to hang a trash bag on was now beyond his reach.

One of the boards on the picnic table was loose, but overall the table was still in good shape. The logs around the fire pit had started to grow moss at the ends, but they seemed stable enough.

The people Zhong’s parents paid to maintain the property kept the grass mowed in a few areas to keep the bumpy drive clear and make a camping spot, but mostly it was wild.

Flowers bloomed between the trees, the hearty remnants of a packet of native seeds he’d sprinkled years ago. The first two years there had been a lot of variety, but now only the Queen Anne’s lace, some asters, and the fireweed remained, though they’d spread over the hills.

He loved the small evidences of his history here, but also the way that it was still wild. This land belonged to the earth, and his impact was only visible because he knew where to look.

He’d missed this place. Maybe he could come back more often.

Today had been a full day at the wedding, but largely a happy one. He was overjoyed for his sister, of course. But his parents’ tentative blessing had meant even more to him. He knew he might hear from them later, and there would undoubtedly be pressure about his own marriage. It still wasn’t something he wanted, but the idea didn’t seem so ridiculous now if he could give Ash a parade. Ash deserved a parade and every other thing that would make them happy.

But right now, he got to spend the next two days in the woods with the people he thought of as his family.

Ash had taken Zhong’s notebook from his pocket as soon as they finished eating their bean buns earlier and carefully drawn four happiness symbols inside the front cover. They hadn’t made any of the lines in the right order, starting on the top and working down, but they were clear all the same. Two long horizontal lines connected all four symbols, and Zhong had already taken out the notebook twice to look at it.