NOVPUB"Grandpa is the impressive one, all these dishes were taught to Mom by him. Grandpa used to be the village chef; he knew so many dishes!"
"Oh? Then why did your grandpa stop being a village chef?" Xu Qingfan asked curiously.
"It seems that Dad came down to the south to work and met Mom, and then Grandpa followed them."
Xu Qingfan nodded, the saying ’having an elder in the family is like having a treasure’ really was true, "Does Xiao Yu know what Qingqing sister is doing in Li City?"
"To open a duck neck shop, and maybe franchise a McDonald’s or something?" Wu Lingyu recalled what she heard Xu Qingfan mention during hotpot last time, answering uncertainly.
"Well, yes, but it’s about opening a duck neck shop with your grandpa’s secret recipe," Xu Qingfan said with a smile.
"Mmm, Brother Fan and Qingqing sister will definitely succeed!" Wu Lingyu didn’t understand why Xu Qingfan was telling her all this, but she still offered encouragement.
"Of course we’ll succeed, because the recipe is from Xiao Yu’s family, so your family will have a share in the store. If it makes money, Xiao Yu will have the funds to take your dad to the Beautiful Country for treatment," Xu Qingfan said, ruffling the little girl’s hair.
"I... I... I didn’t know..." Wu Lingyu wanted to say it wasn’t necessary, that they could just use the recipe, but it was about her dad, and the little girl couldn’t bring herself to say it at the moment.
Her dad getting an operation and being cured was a dream she had day and night.
"But it’s not for free, Xiao Yu. Your family will need to help too. Xiao Yu’s mom will be responsible for marinating the duck necks and regularly improving the flavors and introducing new products based on feedback. When the time comes, let Qingqing sister and Auntie Li discuss these things, and we’ll just be responsible for eating!" Xu Qingfan knew what the other party was thinking; she must have felt unworthy of such generosity, so he spoke to dispel Wu Lingyu’s doubts.
Even though Xu Qingfan said this, Wu Lingyu still knew that he just wanted to help her family.
How much was a recipe worth? Last time, her mom sold the fried snack recipe for only a thousand yuan, but opening a store costs a lot more, a difference she understood well.
"Thank you, Brother Fan!" Wu Lingyu quickly came to terms with it; she already owed him so much that one more time wouldn’t make much difference. She could always repay him by promising herself to him once she grew up, just like in the TV dramas!
[This humble girl has nothing with which to repay your kindness, but to offer herself in marriage!] She recalled a scene from a TV drama she had watched, her cheeks flushing slightly at the thought.
The little girl obviously didn’t fully understand the meaning of ’offering herself in marriage,’ thinking it simply meant sleeping in the same bed, fully clothed.
In Wu Lingyu’s understanding, ’offering herself in marriage’ probably meant giving all the money she earned from working to Xu Qingfan, taking care of his meals and daily life, doing his laundry and cooking for him, and if Brother Fan had children in the future, she would help take care of them...
"Xiao Yu? Xiao Yu?"
"Ah! Brother Fan." Wu Lingyu returned from her fantasy world, her head shyly bowed.
"What were you so engrossed in thinking about?"
"Nothing... nothing..."
Just then, some children came to play on the ride-on cars, so Xu Qingfan stood up to give up his spot, and Wu Lingyu followed suit.
"Let’s go, come play at my house!" Xu Qingfan took Wu Lingyu’s hand and prepared to leave.
"Oh... Oh." Wu Lingyu glanced back at the convenience store and then followed Xu Qingfan, walking forward.
When the two returned home to Lianhua Courtyard, Xia Xiaoxiao was sitting in front of the computer at Xu Qingfan’s bedroom desk, playing a game.
Hearing Xu Qingfan’s footsteps, the little girl immediately cheered from the room, "Xu Qingfan, come quick and look, I caught a Mutated Sea Worm!!"
Xu Qingfan slapped his forehead, feeling guilty for turning a promising Qingbei Seed into a gaming addict.
"I’m coming, let me see!" He changed his shoes and hurried into the room.
Xia Xiaoxiao had already brought up the pet panel for him to see, a full 1550 attack stat, with its speed only a point short of being full, and five skills: Guaranteed Kill, Night Battle, Poison, Advanced Shock Absorption, Weakness Fire.
"Wow, impressive!" Xu Qingfan was taken aback.
"Cool, right?" Xia Xiaoxiao raised an eyebrow proudly.
Xu Qingfan had not played Westward Journey Online in his previous life, since it was a game that charged by the hour, costing 40 cents per hour, and he didn’t have that much money to spend back then.
However, not having tasted pork didn’t mean he hadn’t seen pigs run. Turn-based games, after all, boiled down to a numbers game, and a full-stats, full-skills Mutated Sea Worm was seriously awesome!
"Awesome!" he said, giving a thumbs up.
"But how long have you been playing? Get off the computer and go out to see the scenery. It’d be terrible if you had to wear glasses in primary school," Xu Qingfan said, patting the heated computer case and tapping her head.
"Humph~ You won’t be able to beat me in a PK next time." Xia Xiaoxiao obediently turned off the game and stood up, but still couldn’t help taunting.
Wu Lingyu didn’t play Dream Journey to the West, so she couldn’t join the conversation and stood quietly aside, watching the two bicker.
"You better hide your game card well; if my mom finds it, I’ll get scolded again," Xu Qingfan said gruffly, stashing the Shanda game card into the drawer.
"Hee hee~ Sorry about that!" Xia Xiaoxiao, remembering the last time Xu Qingfan took the blame for her, scratched her head sheepishly.
"Wow, you even know how to apologize," Xu Qingfan said with a laugh as he turned off the computer and led the two into the living room.
"Brother Fan, what are we going to do now?" Wu Lingyu asked, sitting stiffly on the stool.
"Er..."
Well, Xu Qingfan didn’t actually know what to do at the moment; he had brought Wu Lingyu home on a whim.
"I want to go watch ’Finding Nemo’!" The day before yesterday, Xu Qingfan took Lin Wanning and Zhang Yiyi to the cinema without her, so Xia Xiaoxiao spoke out.
"I’ve already seen it, but going to the movies is fine. How about we watch something else?"
"Then you can just watch it again!"
Xu Qingfan glanced at Wu Lingyu beside him, "Let’s watch it again."
He thought that the values conveyed in the movie might resonate with Wu Lingyu, and besides, ’Finding Nemo’ was quite a good animation.
Wu Lingyu let herself be pulled out the door by Xu Qingfan, and the trio, holding hands, arrived at Gualv Square’s fifth floor. After buying tickets for the nearest movie showing, Xu Qingfan entered the theater with a large bucket of popcorn and the two others in tow.
The ticket prices at this cinema seemed to have always been the same, selling for 30 Yuan in 2004, a decade later it was still 30 Yuan.
Wu Lingyu was in a cinema for the first time and followed Xu Qingfan curiously looking all around.
[So this is what a cinema looks like, kind of like our school’s auditorium.] she thought to herself after settling into her seat in the theater.
The movie started with a vast expanse of blue sea, and two talking clownfish instantly captured all of Wu Lingyu’s attention.
When Nemo was caught by humans, she clenched her fists nervously, and when Marlin eluded the shark’s pursuit, she unconsciously relaxed her grip.
Xia Xiaoxiao was no less engrossed, gripping Xu Qingfan’s hand enough to make it sweat.
While Xia Xiaoxiao and Wu Lingyu were absorbed in the movie, Xu Qingfan also watched the two little ones’ expressions with interest, occasionally feeding them some popcorn from his lap.
At the end of the movie, both looked like they hadn’t had enough.
A thousand people have a thousand Hamlets, just as Zhang Yiyi saw himself in Nemo, who was born with an underdeveloped fin, Wu Lingyu also saw her own father in Marlin.
As for Xia Xiaoxiao, the little girl thought everything about the animation was great, but it would have been better if the father fish had been changed to a mother fish.
"Not bad, but why is it that the mother dies instead of the father?" On the way back, Xia Xiaoxiao asked.
"Pfft~" Xu Qingfan couldn’t help laughing, surprised by Xia Xiaoxiao’s unique perspective, and explained, "Clownfish are hermaphrodites, like chickens. If the female dies, a male from the young ones is selected to become the new female, so it’s actually okay to think of Marlin as a mom."
"Is that so?" Xia Xiaoxiao felt like Xu Qingfan was pulling her leg.
"Why would I lie to you, go check on the internet when you get back!"
"Brother Fan, you know so much!" Wu Lingyu looked up at him, admiration in her voice.
"Haha, it’s alright; I came across it while reading ’Ten Thousand Whys’." Xu Qingfan smiled.
Suddenly, his eyes widened. If that’s the case, then wouldn’t Marlin and Nemo be...
