NOVPUBXia Xiaoxiao settled down gradually after finishing her noodles.
Seeing the other person comfortably belch, Xu Qingfan smiled lightly, "Where’s your mom?" he asked, puzzled.
Xia Xiaoxiao put down the stainless steel bowl and after wiping her mouth with a tissue, she said, "Mom said she was going to see if dad was actually going to work or not."
"Did your mom chase after him?" Xu Qingfan’s eyes widened in surprise, "It’s not easy to buy tickets to leave the province at this time!"
Back in the early 2000s, places like train stations were very unsafe, with illegal taxis, pickpockets, and love motels being the lesser evils. The biggest fear was encountering those who cozied up to you on the train and then several people would grab your arms and stuff you into a van once you disembarked.
Moreover, during the New Year period, stations were a mixed bag of fish and dragons, and the cases of women being trafficked to remote villages were not uncommon in those times.
Anyone who had flown over the Yun Gui region would know deeply, with Wumeng Mountain stretching beyond mountains, and the plane unable to exit its range even after more than an hour; if you were trafficked to such a place it would be hard to even describe your location when finally finding a phone to call for help.
Escaping was even more like a fool’s dream, with only one way out of the mountains, and you might be caught and brought back by the villagers before you even made it half an hour away.
"What’s your mom’s number? Call her quick and ask!" Xu Qingfan couldn’t sit still, getting up to call Lin Jing to check if she was safe.
Xia Xiaoxiao was a bit confused why Xu Qingfan suddenly became so agitated, startlingly saying, "My mom called me around seven, they’ve already left the province."
"They? Is a relative accompanying your mom?" Xu Qingfan asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"No, it’s just Uncle Xu and Aunt Yao, don’t you know?" Xia Xiaoxiao replied in surprise.
"My dad drove there?"
"Yes."
Xu Qingfan:...
He hesitated, "It’s not... how come I didn’t know about it?"
"It’s your own fault for not coming home earlier!" Xia Xiaoxiao walked into the kitchen with the bowl from which she had just drunk her noodle soup, her voice echoing out.
As Xu Qingfan exhaled, he couldn’t help but grumble internally: Turns out, he was the outsider!
[Being parents sure saves one a lot of worries.] He shook his head helplessly.
Ever since his family struck it rich, Xu Aiguo had effectively retired, turning to casual taxi driving and casual fishing when the weather was hot, rushing to his fishing spot at meal times, popping the trunk to grab his fishing gear and start fishing.
Yao Jiping was no less competent, playing mahjong and following TV dramas—her days passed in utmost comfort.
Xu Qingfan suddenly realized, the song "My Demands Aren’t That High" by Huang Bo really wasn’t asking for much when applied to his dad.
He was fiercely envious.
"Do you know where they’re going?" Xu Qingfan leaned on the kitchen door frame and asked Xia Xiaoxiao.
"I don’t know."
"Do you know how many days they’ll be gone?"
"I don’t know."
"Okay then, are you sleeping here by yourself tonight? You’re not afraid of the dark, are you?"
Xia Xiaoxiao put the utensils away, turned off the tap, and glanced at him, flicking her hands to try and splash water droplets on his face.
The two, having spent so much time together as described in Hong Kong dialect: "Familiar enough to know each other’s bathroom habits," Xu Qingfan quickly turned around, successfully dodging the water attack, and responded with a shoulder bump against Xia Xiaoxiao.
"I think you’re the one who’s afraid of the dark!" Xia Xiaoxiao retorted, neither annoyed nor arrogant.
Seeing the familiar haughty expression reappear on the young girl’s face, Xu Qingfan gave a light smile, "Ah yes, yes, yes."
"Hmph~ I want to play Bubble Bobble!" Xia Xiaoxiao suddenly jumped onto Xu Qingfan’s back, wrapping her arms and legs around him like an octopus.
Xu Qingfan nearly stumbled but stabilized himself and supported her by the hips, "Hmph~ I want to play Bubble Bobble!" he mimicked Xia Xiaoxiao’s tone playfully.
"I’ll bite you!" Xia Xiaoxiao bared her small tiger teeth and bit towards his neck, finding Xu Qingfan’s skin salty and instinctively licked it.
"Hiss~ you’re poisonous, hurry and wipe the spit off!" Xu Qingfan shivered, snapping back to his senses and retaliated by bumping his own head against Xia Xiaoxiao’s forehead.
"Hmph~" Xia Xiaoxiao pouted arrogantly, drooping her head onto Xu Qingfan’s shoulder, "Carry me fast!"
Xu Qingfan rubbed the saliva on his neck with his collar, disdainfully saying, "Did you bring the key?"
"It’s on the table in my room."
Xu Qingfan carried her to the room, picked up the keys, turned off the lights, locked up, and went back to his own house.
Once they arrived at his room, he disdainfully threw Xia Xiaoxiao onto the bed.
"You didn’t fold the blanket." Xia Xiaoxiao complained.
After turning on the device, Xu Qingfan said, "What’s the use of folding blankets? The reason to fold blankets in the past was because living spaces were small, and the bed was placed in the living room, so in the morning we needed to fold the blankets to make space for sitting. Oppose pointless customs, join our grand army of non-blanket-folders!"
"You and Aunt Yao go on with your speech!" Xia Xiaoxiao sat cross-legged on the bed, looking at him sideways.
Xu Qingfan:...
There’s a kind of laziness called your mom thinking you should fold your blankets.
"Are we playing games? Come log into your account!"
"Oh!"
After entering their account details, they randomly joined a game room and the game started promptly.
As soon as the game began, a bombardier character sprinted chaotically across the screen, instantly killing any player it touched, and the game ended quicker than it started.
"Xu Qingfan is cheating!" Xia Xiaoxiao said angrily.
Bubble Bobble had only been out for less than a year, and by now, the gaming community in China was rife with cheats; this was just one of the benign ones. Xu Qingfan had even encountered cheats where, upon loading the game, the failure screen would appear in the next second.
