Chapter 8: Homesickness

When he opened his eyes again, the room was pitch dark. He had slept straight through until night. He checked the time on his Mobile Phone. Wow, it was already past nine in the evening.

“Hss… Phoo…”

As soon as Liu Heming sat up, he couldn’t help but suck in a few sharp breaths. It hurt. Every part of his body ached. He felt that if he tried to use the bathroom and push, even his stomach would hurt.

After gritting his teeth and enduring it for a while, he was finally able to move slowly, hunched over. He had to bear the pain. He was cold and hungry; he needed to sort out dinner and light the Fireplace. He had no family here. If he got sick with a headache or fever, finding a doctor would probably be difficult.

He ate a piece of Bread and drank a large cup of hot water. His body finally felt a bit more comfortable. Then he went to the bathroom, ran the water, and sank his body into the tub.

He never expected that taking a bath could feel so incredibly pleasant. He felt like every bone in his body was relaxed, and every cell inside him was singing.

After soaking for a while, the water temperature dropped. Liu Heming looked at the large blisters on his hands from working that day and could only smile helplessly.

He wasn’t used to manual labor and didn’t know how to protect himself. Not only was his whole body sore and his legs cramping, but these blisters on his hands would also be a big problem for working tomorrow. Three blisters on his left hand, four on his right. They looked shiny. They didn’t hurt now, but he guessed it would be awful after they popped.

He barely managed to dry himself off, put on his bathrobe, and sat by the Fireplace. By the time he finished all this, it was already past eleven at night. But if he didn’t deal with these blisters, he definitely wouldn’t be able to work tomorrow. He didn’t have much time to waste. Three months would pass in a flash.

Having no other choice, he decided to call home for help. It should be morning back home, so he wouldn’t be disturbing his parents’ rest.

“Mom, what did you have for breakfast?” After the call connected, Liu Heming tried to sound as cheerful as possible.

“I made some millet porridge. How are things over there? Hold on a moment, let me get your father so we can all talk.” After saying this, Liu Heming’s mother, Su Rong, went quiet.

“Did you see the child today?” After a short wait, his father Liu Zhaoxiang’s voice came through the phone.

“Haha, Dad, Mom, I can’t see her every day. I’m way up north in the United States, and the child is way down south. Next time I see her, I’ll take a picture. Hehe, she’s so pretty, I adore her.” Mentioning the child, a smile spread across Liu Heming’s face.

“That’s good, that’s good. Don’t call too often if there’s nothing important. Is that Lawyer of yours reliable? He said he’s arriving tomorrow, told us to help with some procedures, and asked us to send the money. Could he be a scammer?” Liu Zhaoxiang asked.

“It’s fine. His English name is Jack, his Chinese name is Liu Yi. He’s practically family with the same surname. I have a contract with him here, he wouldn’t dare trick us. Don’t worry,” Liu Heming quickly reassured him.

“Heming, is there something else going on?” His mother Su Rong’s voice came through.

“Oh, I almost forgot. I planned to tidy up the house today, but I overdid it and got a blister on my hand. Mom, can you tell me how to pop it properly?” Liu Heming asked with a laugh.

“Silly child, don’t go popping it randomly. Find a needle, thread it, then poke it through the blister. Leave the thread inside the blister. The pus will drain out along the sides of the thread. Get some sleep, and it should be much better by tomorrow,” Su Rong instructed.

“And remember, take good care of yourself over there. Don’t skip meals, try to eat hot food. Your stomach isn’t good, it acts up easily. Also…”

“Oh, come on, that’s enough useless talk. The phone bill is expensive, let the child save some money. He can take care of himself.” Su Rong wanted to say more, but Liu Zhaoxiang cut her off.

“Dad, Mom, it’s really okay. I’m doing fine here. After all, this is my new home, I need to fix it up properly. Once things are more settled here, I’ll bring you over too. We can live in a Villa here,” Liu Heming said cheerfully.

“Let me tell you, my land here is huge, really huge. I drove around for ages today and still didn’t see all of it. Once I get everything here sorted out, I’ll bring you over to see it.”

“I should go now. You take care of your health too. I need to deal with this blister quickly. I still have to clean the house tomorrow. It’s so big, I estimate it’ll take me three to five days just by myself.”

“Okay, okay, take good care of yourself. You hang up first,” Su Rong said from the other end of the line.

“Mom, you hang up,” Liu Heming said with a laugh.

“Goodness, why is hanging up so difficult? I’ll do it.” After his father’s voice came through the receiver, the dial tone followed.

Liu Heming held the Mobile Phone to his ear for a long time. Only when he felt the coldness on his face did he put the phone down.

His parents hadn’t said much, but he could feel their care and concern. He was their only child. No matter what, he had to bring his parents over in the future.

He wiped his tears, searched through drawers and cabinets for a while, and finally found a needle and thread. He didn’t know how long they had been there. To be safe, he soaked them in some leftover alcohol from yesterday for a bit. After they dried, he used the method his mother taught him to deal with the blisters on his hands.

He didn’t feel the pain of the needle piercing his skin at all. Instead, he found it quite interesting. Each blister now had a little tail, and the blisters seemed slightly flatter than before.

He wiggled his fingers, quite satisfied with his handiwork. He also gave himself a pep talk. He had to keep working tomorrow. No matter how hard or tiring it was, for the sake of his child and his parents, he had to endure it.

He added some more firewood to the Fireplace, then went back to bed to rest. This could be considered his first real night’s sleep here; yesterday, he had slept fitfully on the recliner.

“Owooo…”

Not long after he lay down, he heard the rising and falling howls of wolves outside. It scared him terribly.

He had heard before that there were many wild animals in the United States, but he never expected this many. The wolf howls seemed to be very close to his Ranch. He was worried the wolves might come into his house and tear him to pieces.

The wolf howls outside didn’t stop just because he was scared. Every now and then, another one or two would sound. Liu Heming was truly frightened. He curled his whole body up on the bed, his eyes frequently darting glances toward the bedroom door.

He stayed like that, trembling with fear, until eventually, he was just too exhausted and slowly fell asleep, although his sleep was not very sound.