CH 18.3

Chapter 18.3

So what happened was his father had just been dumped, and bought alcohol to drink while crying. As he cried with a stupid face, he collapsed directly against the trash can, feeling that his life was completely ruined.

Fortunately, the trash can was quite close to Peng Jiahui’s house.

When they got home, Jiang Wang covered his nose and opened the window for ventilation. He took a book to fan out the musty smell in the house.

“Oh?” Peng Jiahui suddenly thought of his son, “Your movements are just like Xingxing.”

“Dude, I didn’t mean to take advantage of you,” he realized that he might have said the wrong thing, and held his hands up, “Maybe, I just miss my child too much.” 

“You better take care of yourself first.” Jiang Wang said in disgust, “Why don’t you take a cold bath first, let me see what clothes you have.”

“The bedroom is over there,” Peng Jiahui pointed the way. “Then I’ll go wash first.”

The echoes of rushing water sounded in the bathroom. Jiang Wang looked around, suddenly, he felt like he was back to the age of ten.

Many of his memories were like a pot of beans sprouting suddenly, only for the lid to be abruptly closed.

The man coughed as he held the book and continued his fanning movements near the open window.

Peng Jiahui finished washing quickly, wrapped in a bath towel he helped Jiang Wang pick out clothes.

Jiang Wang didn’t bother to be polite with him, he picked one up and then threw another.

“It’s really dirty.”

“This one won’t do, it’s ugly.”

“How can you date like this,” he threw another greasy polo shirt into the garbage bin. “No, you can’t even wear this out, your boss would surely be annoyed if he sees this.”

Peng Jiahui felt distressed and didn’t dare to resist, so he whispered to the side very reluctantly.

“This– this one should be okay, right?”

“No way.” Jiang Wang said straightforwardly. “Don’t say you’re Peng Xingwang’s father when you wear it out.” 

“I’m not asking you to wear high-end clothes,” he frowned, scrunching his eyebrows. “But, purple and green? Do you want to play the role of an eggplant?”

In the end, Peng Jiahui put on a white outfit and went to the cheap store to choose three sets of clothes and pants. They also picked several pairs of decent socks.

At the checkout, the total came to 503 yuan.

“You owe it,” Jiang Wang said expressionlessly. “The interest rate is 2.8%, and it should be paid back within a year.”

Peng Jiahui nodded with a sullen expression.

“I’ll pay, I’ll definitely pay.” He remembered something and looked for the black briefcase again. “By the way–”

“There is no interest on the five hundred yuan, so you can just pay it back later in one lump sum.“ Jiang Wang thought that he owed him more than that, but he simply raised his eyebrows before turning around. “Let’s go get the machine.”

Those vendors selling cotton candy in the park couldn’t possibly be hired for the carnival so he had to order the machine online and was planning to find someone to figure out the instructions.

Peng Jiahui had worked at the machinery company for several years, as he touched the cotton candy machine up and down, he suddenly exclaimed.

“How much did you spend to buy this machine?” He became energetic. “The principle of this thing is simple, in fact, I can even make it myself.”

Jiang Wang had no plans to expand his business for the time being. He pointed to the drawings and asked, “Then do you know how to use this?”

When the machine arrived, he wanted to make two cotton candies to bring home, partly to show off and also to give one to Teacher Ji and another to Xingwang.

As a result, he ended up with hands full of sugar residue, and almost caused the machine to overheat and burn.

…Later on, he had to ask the cleaning staff to wash it for a long time.

Peng Jiahui was still scratching his head, probably because of the cheap shampoo that made his scalp itch even more with every wash. “I’ll try.”

He compared the steps on the instructions, started the machine and put sugar in, pinched a bamboo stick, and slowly rotated it while stepping on the pedal.

The first one deflated, but the second one gradually started to look like actual cotton candy.

When it came to his fifth and sixth try, they looked exactly like the colorful picture in the instruction manual, fluffy and round.

Several female colleagues in the company surrounded them to watch.

“So this is how it’s done? ”

“You are really talented! Did you figure it out at first glance?!”

Peng Jiahui felt embarrassed and took the initiative to give them the finished samples to eat.

Jiang Wang looked at it with interest, patted his shoulder, and handed the machine directly to him.

“It’s just a side job, do it well.”

Peng Jiahui was serious this time. Although his drunkenness hadn’t completely faded, his mind had cleared up.

“What is this carnival you were talking about?”

Jiang Wang explained roughly, Peng Jiahui nodded while listening, rubbed his hands, and said, “That won’t work, I have to find a place to practice more first.”

“At that carnival, it is estimated that there will be a large flow of people and a lot of demand.” He was afraid of causing trouble to Jiang Wang, “Once I’m better at it, it will be easier to sell more, right?”

That’s true.

Children like to buy things in groups and as soon as they do orders will surely explode.

Jiang Wang rarely saw his father being reliable, he thought for a moment and said, “You can sell it next to my bookstore, the one next to Hongshan Elementary School.”

“But pay attention to safety measures. Do you know how to use the fire extinguisher?”

Peng Jiahui nodded quickly, “Yes, yes. They have them at the factory, and we have fire drills every year.”

“Okay, I’ll give you one to keep nearby.”

The next afternoon, a cotton candy stall was indeed added near Jiang Wang’s bookstore.

“Cotton candy here! Five yuan each, eight yuan for two!”

“Strawberry flavor, cantaloupe flavor, we have whatever you want to eat!”

There were many children who came to read books here. They often ordered a cup of milk tea and sat for the whole day, unable to resist they all came over.

Peng Jiahui had never been surrounded by so many children. He was a little flustered at first but also proud. His tone was much more patient than before.

“Come one by one, everyone line up, line up!”

Every time he handed out a cloud-like pink, light blue, and light yellow cotton candy, a child would cheer as if they were celebrating Children’s Day.

Peng Jiahui suddenly felt energetic at work.

His main motivation was to finish work quickly, and then go to the bookstore to sell cotton candy after work.

——As a result on the third day, he paid back more than five hundred yuan, and then confidently made a cotton candy rabbit and a cotton candy sunflower. One on the left and one on the right, he inserted them on the stall like a sign.

The children were very polite, knowing that he was Peng Xingwang’s father, and they behaved when they paid. There were also children who became obsessed with watching after they bought their cotton candy, feeling like Uncle Peng was performing magic tricks.

Jiang Wang pretended to be checking the accounts at the front desk and glanced at Xingxing who was quietly watching outside the group of children.

The child actually received the news on the first day, but he didn’t dare to come and see it.

His feelings for his father were too complicated, the experiences he had until the age of eight could not be easily digested.

He was the only close relative he ever had in this city, he was afraid that if he get closer, he would get hurt again.

Peng Xingwang had been brewing his thoughts for two or three days, even pretending not to care much. He asked casually while eating oranges at night.

Jiang Wang deliberately didn’t say anything.

“Go see for yourself, why ask me?”

Peng Jiahui was busy making cotton candies for all the children when suddenly he raised his head and saw the small Peng Xingwang behind the group of elementary and middle school students.

“Son!” His voice suddenly grew louder: “Son, come here!”

Peng Xingwang was momentarily stunned.

The children subconsciously made way, watching Peng Xingwang approach with admiring eyes.

Peng Xingwang remembered being chased and beaten before, so he didn’t dare get too close. He softly whispered, Dad.

“Which one do you want to eat?” Peng Jiahui’s eyes turned a little red. He wiped his hands with his apron and smiled embarrassedly: “Dad just learned how to make rabbits and small flowers, I’m still learning the others.”

Peng Xingwang turned his head to look at Jiang Wang, who shrugged indicating him make his own decision.

“…I want the rabbit!”

Peng Jiahui nodded quickly and with the most focused expression he had ever had in his life, he made him the best-looking blue-eared rabbit.

The bookstore was still very lively. The children have been making friends and chatting with each other while they waited, and many people were sitting on the long table nearby playing aeroplane chess.

Peng Xingwang stood at the front, just like his dad, carefully and attentively watching the cotton candy grow fluffier.

When the rabbit ears were fixed in place and the blue eyes were decorated, Peng Jiahui breathed a long sigh of relief. He bent over and handed it to Peng Xingwang, smiling a little shyly.

“Be careful when you eat,” he didn’t know what else to say: “There are two toothpicks in it, be careful not to poke yourself.”

Peng Xingwang nodded and raised the latest model of rabbit cotton candy high.

“Look!!”

The children followed and raised their heads: “Wow—”

“Uncle, I want that too!”

“We all bought pink rabbits, why is his blue!”

“Eat slowly! It’s okay if you can’t finish it!” Seeing that he was leaving, Peng Jiahui called out again, “If you want to eat from now on, Dad will make it for you anytime!”

“Ung!” Peng Xingwang responded quickly and ran away.

Jiang Wang breathed a sigh of relief and continued to check the accounts. It was also time to check and clear the inventory.

At six or seven in the evening, the secretary called to say that the layout plans of the venue had finished and asked him to go over and see for himself where the decorations needed to be changed.

Jiang Wang agreed and was about to leave but was stopped by Peng Jiahui.

The middle-aged man’s eyes looked at him with an awe-inspiring and kind gaze, he was a little embarrassed to hand him a pink cotton candy.

“You, you should taste it too.” Peng Jiahui mustered up the courage and said, “It seems… quite delicious.”

Jiang Wang looked at him, hung up the phone, and reached out to take the candy.

“I actually… I’ve never eaten this before.” The man murmured, “Let me try.”

In front of Peng Jiahui, he tilted his head like a child and took a big bite, getting the corners of his mouth covered in sugar.

The light and soft strawberry-flavored candy melted and flowed on his tongue, resembling willow fluff and flower petals.

Jiang Wang stood there in a daze and suddenly realized something.

It seemed that after he became an adult, he was particularly resistant to touching things that belonged to children as if instinctively avoiding some wounds.

But now he was eating candy.

Peng Jiahui was still waiting anxiously for him to give a comment.

“It’s delicious.” Jiang Wang wrinkled his brows and smiled, “It’s sweet but really tasty.”

“I should have tried it earlier.”