Chapter 149: Brother A'Yin

Chapter 149: Brother Yin

Brother Yin had a rather peculiar name, one that many Wenzhou locals found difficult to pronounce correctly in Mandarin: Leng Lianyin.

The story of how Meng Fan and Leng Lianyin met is quite interesting.

It happened when Meng Fan was seven or eight years old. During that summer vacation, his family went back to their ancestral home in the countryside, where there were many relatives. Among them were children older and younger than Meng Fan, and a group of them were having a grand time playing in the creek by the mountains.

One boy in the group, four or five years older than Meng Fan, was dark-skinned and wild. He took Meng Fan around to catch cicadas and raid bird nests. They played so recklessly that Meng Fan didn't even notice when his original playmates had drifted away. They spent the entire afternoon in a frenzy, and when the sun dipped below the mountains, Meng Fan followed the dark-skinned boy home.

Upon arriving, Meng Fan was bewildered, and the dark-skinned boy was equally stunned.

Meng Fan was confused because he didn't recognize a single soul, while the boy was confused because none of his family members recognized this chubby little stranger.

Only after some questioning did they realize that several groups of children had been playing by the creek; Meng Fan had joined the wrong "team," and the boy had mistakenly assumed Meng Fan was one of his own relatives.

A frantic search ensued. The boy’s family scoured the village to no avail, then moved on to neighboring villages. They finally crossed paths with a group searching for Meng Fan, and he was at last found.

The village Meng Fan was supposed to return to was three or four villages away from the boy’s home.

Even now, Meng Fan wonders how he managed to walk such a distance at that age.

That dark-skinned boy, of course, was Brother Yin.

Their meeting was a twist of fate. Meng Fan spent the next few days playing with Brother Yin, but they had to part ways just as they were getting to know each other.

When the next summer finally arrived, Meng Fan returned to the countryside only to find that Brother Yin and his family had moved away.

They didn't meet again for nearly a decade. Meng Fan was in high school when, on his way home from class, he saw a large dog chasing and biting a little girl. While the bystanders stood paralyzed, a tall, dark man appeared and, with a single punch and kick, sent the beast to the ground, whimpering and convulsing.

What was both absurd and infuriating was that when the dog's owners arrived, the girl's parents—seeing she was unharmed—simply grabbed her and fled, terrified by the two burly, tattooed men who were enraged that their dog had been killed.

The ending wasn't entirely tragic, at least not for Brother Yin, because the two owners were no match for him. Eventually, all three were taken to the police station.

Meng Fan called his third uncle, and in the end, the matter was settled privately. The two men, who had previously threatened to bring a hundred thugs to hack Brother Yin to pieces, ended up bowing and apologizing to him.

After his uncle left, Meng Fan curiously asked Brother Yin if he was angry that the girl's parents had run off. Brother Yin laughed and said he was, of course, but that it was worth it since the girl was safe.

Later, Meng Fan asked where he had been for the past ten years. Brother Yin only mentioned he had been away, without going into detail, adding that he had returned for a friend’s funeral. At the time, Meng Fan couldn't fathom how a man in his twenties could already have a friend who had passed away.

For about two months after that, Meng Fan saw Brother Yin frequently. One night, deep in the small hours, Brother Yin called him out.

"If you see me trying to do something stupid, make sure you stop me from dying."

Brother Yin said this inexplicably, then began downing beer, can after can. Meng Fan didn't know whether to intervene, and eventually, Brother Yin fell into a drunken stupor. It was only through his mumbling that Meng Fan realized it was his birthday.

Meng Fan never understood why Brother Yin acted so strangely on his birthday, but from then on, he noted the date. Every year, he sent a birthday wish at the first moment of the day. He didn't know if it helped, but he felt it was the right thing to do.

Since then, they had kept in touch. The last time they met was during the Lunar New Year. Brother Yin had changed significantly, saying he was tired of the hustle and had found a stable job. Perhaps because Meng Fan had grown up, they talked at length.

Through their conversation, Meng Fan gained a vague understanding of some of the things that had happened to him over the years.

Meng Fan had always known Brother Yin was a man of literary talent, so he asked why he didn't weave these stories into a novel. Brother Yin laughed and said he had thought about it and would write it when he had the time.

Before his rebirth, Meng Fan had seen Brother Yin one last time during the National Day holiday. He had stopped in Wenzhou before heading to Shanghai and shared a heavy drinking session with him. It was clear that Brother Yin disliked his current job but was forced to endure it for the sake of survival.

Brother Yin said something that left a deep impression on Meng Fan, even if he couldn't fully resonate with it at the time: he said that when he was young and carefree, he did whatever he wanted. But one day, he realized his parents were aging, and he understood that making money was vital—at least fast enough to keep pace with his parents' aging, rising housing prices, his children growing up, and his wife’s waning patience.

Because of the changes following his rebirth, Meng Fan had gone straight to Shanghai for a concert during the holiday instead of returning to Wenzhou, so that drink and that conversation never happened.

The birthday reminder triggered this memory like a tidal wave. Coupled with a Weibo post he’d seen the day before—shared by "Flat-Head Brother"—about how Harper Lee’s friends had gifted her a year’s salary for Christmas in 1956 so she could quit her job and focus on writing, leading to the creation of *To Kill a Mockingbird*—Meng Fan had a sudden impulse.

He transferred a year’s salary to Brother Yin: 150,000 yuan.

Though Brother Yin hadn't been to university, he was capable and hardworking. In his first year, he had climbed from a monthly salary of 3,500 to an annual income of 120,000. Meng Fan reckoned 150,000 was a target he would surely reach this year.

Meng Fan couldn't guarantee Brother Yin would become a famous author, but he was willing to be that kind of friend first. Even if Brother Yin never wrote a word, Meng Fan wanted to use this as a pretext to offer him some help.

About ten minutes later, Brother Yin replied: "Thank you! I’ve already handed in my resignation to my boss! I’ll treat this money as a loan!"

Although it was now a loan and wouldn't count toward his "wealth distribution" experience, Meng Fan was still happy—happy to have been able to help Brother Yin.