Before the outbreak of coronavirus, Xiaoxiu had recently begun dating a boy. However, once their relationship began, the pandemic struck, causing the entire city to come to pause and preventing them from meeting frequently despite being in the same city.
Xiaoxiu is a person near Nanning in Guangxi, and her parents are Christians. But when they learned that their daughter's boyfriend was from an area inundated with numerous Idols and favoring boys over girls, they were opposed to the relationship, afraid of potential troubles in the future. Nevertheless, Xiaoxiu affirmed that her boyfriend was a person with good character and was open to the gospel and Bible readings; he was also a fitting catechumen, as he would ask questions when in doubt.
With limited options, Xiaoxiu's parents continuously reminded her they could be in love, but should never cross the physical line before marriage. Xiaoxiu promised her mother that she would faithfully uphold these boundaries until married.
By the third year of COVID-19, individuals were finally permitted to travel home for the New Year holidays. Xiaoxiu's boyfriend was insistent on taking her home to visit his parents. Regrettably, his mother was strongly against the relationship as she knew Xiaoxiu was a devoted Christian. But her son expressed that he was infatuated with Xiaoxiu, unable to erase the image of her peacefully reading a Bible by herself during a vacation with other friends.
During the Chinese New Year, high-speed train tickets were difficult to obtain, so they took the bus home instead. The two packs of instant noodles they packed to eat on the train remained uneaten.
After a long journey, they finally arrived. However, upon seeing Xiaoxiu's cheerful smile, the boyfriend's mother only greeted her with a perfunctory "hello" and smirked, thinking how troublesome it was for an old lady like her to speak Mandarin.
Once Xiaoxiu's boyfriend came home, he eagerly engaged in conversation with his father while preparing Kung Fu tea, completely ignoring Xiaoxiu. She did not understand the local dialect and did not like to drink Kung Fu tea. Furthermore, the TV only showed Teochew's opera. Later on, she witnessed her boyfriend's mother setting food offerings on the counter next to an idol, even taking the inner pot of rice out of the rice cooker for worship. At that inexplicable moment, Xiaoxiu remembered the two packs of instant noodles still inside the suitcase.
During the family feast, Xiaoxiu enjoyed a bowl of instant noodles while the rest of the family indulged in a table of delicacies. The next day, Xiaoxiu witnessed her boyfriend's mother continuing with the same behavior as the night before and began to understand her mother's concerns about the relationship due to the potential distress marrying into a non-Christian family may cause. Thinking to herself, "These three years in a relationship are just a lesson learned," Xiaoxiu finished her second pack of instant noodles and bid farewell to her boyfriend, making her way back to her parent's home.
Moments after Xiaoxiu arrived home, her boyfriend called and started with an apology regarding his mother's actions. He went on to explain that his mother was surprised to see Xiaoxiu remain calm and treat her with sincerity despite the previous two meals. As a result, his mother believed that Xiaoxiu was a gentle and understanding person who wouldn't quarrel casually because of her son's mistakes. His mother even suggested that he could follow Xiaoxiu and become a Christian as he wished.
Upon hearing these words, Xiaoxiu’s tears fell with a snap.
- Translated by Joyce Leung
