 Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 5:01 pm
"Mother, are you pregnant?"
Qian Ehuang glanced up from the onions she was cutting into neat little slices, giving her son a mildly exasperated look. "Now what on earth gave you that idea?" she said. "And to answer your question, no, my dear, I am most certainly not pregnant."
Jianyu, leaning against the counter with his arms folded across his chest, made a noncommittal shrugging gesture as if to say how would I know? "Because you said we were 'getting an unexpected new member of the household,' " he pointed out, and reached for carrot lying on the cutting board. "So I just assumed - "
"You know what they say when you assume, right?"
"Mother."
Ehuang gave a teasing laugh, patting Jianyu's cheek affectionately - and a tad patronizingly as well, he thought, giving her a scowl as she said "Come now, Jianyu, I am much too old to bear children anymore."
Turning back to the task at hand, his mother began dicing up the carrots next, pushing the onion pieces into a neat little pile. After this came the celery, and then the potatoes, and it was during this that Ehuang said "Your grandfather and grandmother on your father's side are growing older, and they can longer provide for their grandson - your cousin. So they asked us to take him in, and we said yes."
Jianyu took a bite of the carrot in his hand, his teeth crunching down on the thick vegetable as he tried to comprehend this fact. "My grandparents..." he said slowly, tapping a finger thoughtfully against his arm. Which cousin of mine did they take in? I have many cousins, but...
Then it dawned on him. "Ah," said Jianyu, casting a glance at his mother. "Shinzo?"
Ehuang nodded, pushing the cut vegetables into a pot and then wiping her hands on her apron. "Yes, you remember him don't you? Tall for someone his age, a few years younger than you are...you used to play together as children quite a bit."
"Er...vaguely."
"Well, anyway," Ehuang continued, and poured a pitcher of water into the pot. "He's going to be living with us from now on, so I'll expect you to treat him with respect."
Jianyu's look was exasperated. "Mother, I am not four years old. I do not need to be told how to act around a new face."
There was a knock at the door. Ehuang wagged a finger at her son, giving him a teasing grin. "Now, now, érzi, if you're too ornery with your mother, I'll have to send you to bed without any supper."
Jianyu rolled his eyes. "Let's go, let's go, old woman," he said, but there was no irritation in his voice, merely affection as he kissed his mother's cheek then followed her down the hall to the front door. 
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