CH 32

“Come find me in five days,” Cui Dingchen said in a low voice.

For a moment, Xu Zhao didn’t understand Cui Dingchen’s words, and confusion appeared on his face.

Seeing this, Cui Dingchen said, “We’ll go to the city together.”

Xu Zhao finally understood, then asked, “Youngest uncle, won’t you be busy?”

Cui Dingchen paused for a moment, then said, “I need to go to the city in five days, anyway.”

“That’s great. Thank you, Youngest uncle.”

Cui Dingchen let out a faint hum, then started the car to leave again.

Xu Zhao was in a happy mood, and lowered his head to look at Xu Fan. Xu Fan’s small arm was hugging the toy car as he anxiously looked at the black car, his face full of envy and longing as if saying “I really want to ride the car.” He looked very pitiful.

Xu Zhao couldn’t help but pick Xu Fan up until they were eye level and called, “Xu Fan.”

Xu Fan looked at Xu Zhao and called as well, “Daddy.”

Xu Zhao patted Xu Fan’s tiny face and said, “In five days, Daddy will take you to ride in a big car, okay?”

Xu Fan’s watery eyes shimmered as he asked, “Really?”

Xu Zhao nodded. “Of course.”

“Are we riding in Second Grandpa Cui’s big car?” Xu Fan’s milky voice asked.

“Yes.”

“T-t-then, when will we ride it?” Xu Fan asked.

Xu Zhao smiled and said, “Didn’t I just tell you? In five days. Five days, okay?”

“Okay!” Xu Fan said obediently.

His milky voice was really pleasant to listen to.

Xu Zhao lovingly kissed Xu Fan’s tender and meaty little face and said, “Then, let’s head inside the store and eat roast duck.”

“We’ll return to the store and eat roast duck!” Xu Fan happily repeated Xu Zhao’s words.

The roast duck was purchased by Cui Dingchen. It was large, with crispy skin and thick meat. It was dripping with so much oil that it had soaked the two pieces of oiled papers that were used to wrap the package. This made the ever economic Mother Xu feel distressed and she couldn’t help but think what a waste of oil it was. If this oil was used for stir-frying, it would be enough to last for two days.

However, Mother Xu didn’t save it, saying that this kind of cooked duck wouldn’t last long on such a hot day. Therefore, the whole family gnawed clean more than half the roast duck along with multi-grain steamed buns. The remaining smaller half would be saved for dinner. This was the first time their family was eating something so delicious and so meaty.

After eating, Xu Fan acted like he was satisfied. He smacked his lips as he liked his meaty fingers.

“Xu Fan,” Xu Zhao called.

Xu Fan raised his watery eyes and looked at Xu Zhao with a smile. He immediately stretched out his two small meaty hands and said, “Daddy, wash my hands.”

Xu Zhao grabbed Xu Fan’s small meaty hands as he squatted beside the water basin and used soap to rub them clean. After he washed them, Xu Zhao went to the Cui residence again to prepare that afternoon’s portion of popsicles.

Xu Fan stayed at Fan’s Little Shop, saying that he wanted to help sell popsicles, but in reality, he wanted to play with the neighborhood kids. He wanted to play marbles, water guns, and hoop rolling. He was too small, so the others didn’t want to play with him. However, he still blindly followed them, running behind happily. He finally used his “red bus” to integrate with the group of four and five year old kids, playing with them happily.

He played all the way until it was time to go home in the evening. When Xu Fan ran back to South Bay Village to play with Da Zhuang, he was hugging his toy car, and the five year old Xu Erwa snatched it from him.

Xu Fan and Da Zhuang weren’t easy to mess with, and they both bit Xu Erwa. Xu Erwa cried as he ran home to complain, and not long later, Xu Youcheng ran over to cause a scene. Although Xu Youcheng and his son weren’t able to receive any benefits, they saw the half a roast duck and the half a bowl of dry pickled Chinese mustard with sliced meat sitting on the kitchen table.

Xu Youcheng returned to the tiled house and told Xu Youcheng about this matter.

“Are they really eating both roast duck and sliced meat?” Xu Zuocheng asked.

“I saw it very clearly!” Xu Youcheng said with conviction. “Sanwa even has toys to play with. Just think about our Dawa and Erwa’s two slingshots. We had to make those ourselves. And just look at Sanwa… Look how fat he is now. He must be eating meat everyday or else how could he have gotten fatter than Dawa and Erwa.

“Where did they get the money to eat meat?” Xu Zuocheng asked.

“That woman has money!” The woman Xu Youcheng was speaking of was Mother Xu.

“Where did she get the money?” Xu Zuocheng asked.

Xu Youcheng insisted and said, “How could she not have any money? If she didn’t have any, how could she send Xu Zhao to secondary school? She must have saved up over these past few years. We usually never have anything to eat or wear. She always mistreated us and saved up the money to use for her biological son!”

Xu Zuocheng pensively looked at Xu Youcheng.

“Eldest Brother, Dawa will turn eight soon and can enter the first grade. Tuition will be at least two to three Yuan. Plus, there’s still school books, notebooks, pencils, and other school related fees. Dad didn’t send us to school, so he must send Dawa and Erwa to school. He can’t be too biased!”

Xu Zuocheng hesitated for a second before saying, “But Dad is ill…”

“Isn’t Dad better now? Besides, he’s having that woman hold all the money. So that woman has to take out some money to treat his illness. It’s not like we’re unfilial, it’s because we don’t have any money! Who wouldn’t be willing to treat his illness if they had money, right? Shouldn’t you help each other out if you have money? It’s obvious that Dad and them have money. How can they only spoil Sanwa and not think of Dawa or Erwa? I won’t mention anything else, but their Grandparents must pay for their tuition or else how will your wife and my wife have a second child?!”

Xu Zuocheng got lost in his thoughts again.

“Eldest Brother, don’t you think what I said is correct?” Xu Youcheng asked.

Xu Zuocheng returned his gaze and said, “Yes.”

“Then we’ll go and ask them for money.”

“We need to plan it out.”

“Plan what?”

“Xu Zhao is different now, so we can’t act recklessly.”

While Xu Zuocheng and Xu Youcheng were discussing how to deal with Xu Zhao, Xu Zhao was currently washing his and Xu Fan’s clothes. He had wanted to wash Mother and Father Xu’s clothes as well, but they weren’t willing.

Therefore, Xu Zhao only washed his and Xu Fan’s clothes. Afterwards, Xu Zhao, wearing the underpants Mother Xu had made him, sat under the light of the kerosene lamp to balance the accounts, write a summary, and jot down each step of the next plan.

As he wrote, Xu Fan, who was wearing a dudou and had his booty exposed, ran over. His small tiny scratched his tiny booty non-stop as he called out in a milky voice, “Daddy.”

“What is it?” Xu Zhao asked without lifting his head.

“A mosquito bit me.”

“Where did you get bitten?”

“The mosquito bit my butt.”

“Come here and let me see.”

Xu Fan walked two steps forward as he stuck out his booty to show Xu Zhao.

Under the light of the kerosene lamp, he really saw a small red bump on Xu Fan’s pump and tiny right booty.

“Does it itch?” Xu Zhao asked.

“It’s itchy.” Xu Fan used his meaty hand to scratch his booty again.

“I’ll help you scratch it. All right, let’s go. We’ll kill the mosquitoes on the mosquito net, and then you’ll go to sleep.”

“Mn.”

When all the mosquitoes were killed, Xu Zhao also became tired. He wrapped Xu Fan in his arms and fell asleep.

The next morning, the whole family brought their lunch to Fan’s Little Shop. While they were having lunch, because it was hot, they didn’t think that their cooled lunch was unpalatable. However, once it got cold, it definitely wouldn’t be good for them to eat cold food. And it especially wouldn’t be good for Father Xu’s body.

Xu Zhao planned in his mind to buy some pots, pans, ladles, and basins in the county town. However, they currently didn’t have any money, so it was still only just a plan. He should focus on passing the Mid-Autumn Festival first.

Very quickly, the agreed upon time with West Prefecture Food Factory came. Xu Zhao remembered Cui Dingchen’s words, and carried Xu Fan to the Cui residence to first find Cui Qingfeng. Cui Qingfeng needed to go to his grandmother’s place with Mother and Father Cui today, so he couldn’t go to West Prefecture City’s East District.

Xu Zhao had no choice but to take Xu Fan to find Cui Dingchen.

Cui Dingchen looked at Xu Fan who was hugging the toy car, then turned to Xu Zhao and unconvincingly asked, “He’s going too?”

“Mn. Let him have a ride in the car,” Xu Zhao said embarrassedly.

“Who’ll look after him?” Cui Dingchen continued to ask.

“I will,” Xu Zhao said.

Cui Dingchen didn’t say anything else. He opened the car door and let Xu Zhao and Xu Fan into the car.

Xu Zhao sat in the car first, then stretched out his hand outside to Xu Fan and said, “Xu Fan, come on.”

The feeling of a dream coming true was unbelievable. Xu Fan stood dazed before letting Xu Zhao carry him inside the car. Once he sat in the car, Xu Fan didn’t act as crazy as before. Instead, he quietly sat in the car as he elegantly looked left and right. When the car started, he made a slight sound. He was a bit startled as he stared at the center console. And when the car started moving, his body unsteadily fell backward.

“Ow.” Xu Zhao hurriedly supported Xu Fan and asked with a smile, “What’s wrong? Didn’t you always want to ride in the big car? Now that you’re riding in it, why aren’t you happy? You don’t want to ride anymore?”

Xu Fan didn’t turn back and looked outside the window inside. He saw the houses and people flashing by through the window, and he finally had a sense that he was actually riding in the big car. “Daddy! Look! It’s running so fast!” he suddenly shouted.

“Yes, do you like it?” Xu Zhao asked.

“Love it!” Xu Fan finally regained his senses. The love and craziness he felt for cars reappeared and he couldn’t sit still. He stared outside the left window for a bit, then climbed on Xu Zhao’s lap to look outside the right window, before finally climbing in front of the left car window and pointed outside as he called, “Daddy! Look! Daddy! Look!”

“What is it?” Xu Zhao asked as he came closer.

“Cow! Calf!” Xu Fan said as his small finger pointed to the cow outside the window.

“Mn, it’s a calf.”

“And a sheep, baaaa.”

“Yes.”

“Wow, it’s a big house! Daddy! A big house!”

“It is a big house. It had three floors.”

“Ah, Daddy! There’s so many people!”

“Mn.”

“…”

Xu Fan didn’t stop speaking the whole way there.

Xu Zhao kept looking after Xu Fan, and he tried to make Xu Fan lower his voice so that he wouldn’t disturb Cui Dingchen.

Cui Dingchen concentrated on driving. But from time to time, he would catch Xu Zhao’s eyes through the rearview mirror, his beautiful face was taut. He drove all the way to the entrance of the West Prefecture Food Factory like this.

Xu Zhao helped Xu Fan off the car, and as they were about to enter the West Prefecture Food Factory, the guard stopped them and said that children weren’t allowed to enter.

Xu Zhao tried to reason with the guard, but failed, so he could only leave Xu Fan by Cui Dingchen’s side, in the passenger seat. Knowing that Cui Dingchen didn’t like kids, Xu Zhao repeatedly promised Cui Dingchen that within 20 minutes, no, 15 minutes. 15 minutes max and he’d definitely return from the factory to watch Xu Fan again.

Cui Dingchen nodded unhappily.

Xu Zhao hurriedly entered the food factory district.

Xu Fan sat in the passenger seat, hugging his toy car. Once he watched his daddy’s disappear, he turned his gaze to Cui Dingchen.

Cui Dingchen glanced at Xu Fan.

The atmosphere suddenly became silent.

Cui Dingchen didn’t speak. It was actually very awkward. He looked the little fatty Xu Fan up and down. This was the first time he saw this child up close and interacted with him.

This was also Xu Fan’s first time interacting alone with Cui Dingchen. His small arm tightly clenched the toy car, and sensing Cui Dingchen’s glance, he suddenly said, “You have a big car. T-t-this is my big car. Daddy bought it for me. I won’t let you play with it!”

Cui Dingchen: “…”

Ahhh first time Cui Dingchen and Xu Fan is together! Xu Fan is as hilarious as always. xD