NOVPUBAfter the five million in startup funding had been transferred to the account, Zhong Wenqing began the nonstop task of site selection.
Xu Qingfan, after selecting a few plots of land that he believed could soar in value up to two hundred thousand in the future, never inquired about the duck neck shop again.
Life for him had returned to its tranquil state once more.
With just a few days left until school started again, several of them had signed up for a competition in assembling four-wheel drive cars for elementary students, and today was the day of the competition.
Since they had agreed on a time yesterday, Xu Aiguo drove to the main entrance of Bijui Garden just after nine in the morning to pick up Lin Wanning and Zhang Yiyi, and the cheerful group of seven set off on their way.
Wu Lingyu, although not signed up for the competition, decided to come along as well because once school started, she wouldn’t see her father for a long time.
Today, the five little ones all wore dresses that Xu Qingfan had brought back from Yanjing. Looking back from the front passenger seat, Xu Qingfan felt as though he had stepped into a fairy tale. The little girls seemed like five blossoming flower fairies from an enchanted forest, each more delicate and graceful than the next, as if it was early February when the cardamom just begins to bloom.
Car modification is a technical skill that requires balancing horsepower, rotational speed, and vehicle stability.
However, for the group, participation was more important; they assembled a four-wheel drive car according to their preferences and came to compete. 𝔫𝖔𝖛𝖕𝖚𝔟.𝖈𝖔𝔪
"It would be great if the competition was held during school hours!" Lin Wanning said, resting her head on the window frame and looking at the string of small bungalows outside.
Every time Xu Qingfan and Xia Xiaoxiao went out for competitions, they could skip an entire day of classes, which Lin Wanning envied immensely.
"Ningning, don’t stick your head out; it’s dangerous!" Xu Qingfan hurriedly cautioned her as he saw what she was doing.
"I know!" Lin Wanning obediently pulled her head back in, "Brother Qingfan, did you take this road to Hong Kong for the exams last semester?"
"No, we took the highway; the car went really fast!" Xu Aiguo was concerned about safety since the car was clearly overloaded and did not take the highway.
"As fast as an airplane?" Lin Wanning asked again.
"Definitely not, what are you thinking? It was probably around twenty meters per second, while an airplane can fly over two hundred meters in a second!" Xu Qingfan said with a chuckle.
"Wow~ that means one could run a hundred meters in a flash, right?" Lin Wanning imagined Xu Qingfan sprinting a hundred meters during the school athletics meet the previous semester.
"Ningning, a rocket is even faster than an airplane. Last year, Shenzhou 5 flew all the way to space!" Xiao Ruawen joined in the conversation.
"I wonder if there really is a Moon Rabbit on the moon. It would be great to go up and see!" Lin Wanning said, looking up at the azure sky.
"You can just eat Xizhilang jelly, right." Xiao Ruawen made a very cold joke.
Lin Wanning was about to ask why, but seeing everyone else laughing, she belatedly realized the joke and laughed along loudly, "Hee hee hee~"
Xu Qingfan, on the other hand, did not join in the laughter; he was reminded of the physics he had studied in high school, with the first cosmic velocity being 7.9 km/s and the second cosmic velocity being 11.2 km/s. As for the third cosmic velocity, he could no longer remember due to the few times it had been examined.
The competition was scheduled for the afternoon, and around eleven in the morning, the group drove to the old streets of Zhengguo to enjoy wontons for lunch.
The history of Zhengguo wontons could be traced back to the Qing Dynasty, where virtually every household in the area knew how to make wontons. In some northern regions, wontons are also known as chao shou or hun tun, but they are essentially the same dish.
After parking the car, they arrived at Kun Ji. Wontons were five yuan per bowl, ten wontons per bowl, making it fifty cents per wonton—a bit expensive at the time.
The wonton store beneath Xu Qingfan’s apartment sold them for three yuan a bowl.
These time-honored Hong Kong eateries seemed to share a common flaw: the owners had notoriously poor customer service, often exuding an attitude of ’eat if you want, get out if you don’t’.
When you prompted them for slow service, you would invariably hear the female proprietor scold in Cantonese while wiping tables: "Nag, nag, nag, what’s there to nag about, it will be served when it’s ready!"
Yet many diners seemed to like this grouchy service approach, even saying they came to eat just to be scolded by the proprietress—something Xu Qingfan found incomprehensible.
Despite the lack of service, the wontons were quite nice. Everyone ordered a bowl priced at six yuan, and they also bought over a pound of fried wontons to eat with garlic chili sauce, which was delicious!
A small fried foods stall was set up at the doorway of a residential house on the street, where freshly fried shrimp balls and sweet potato cakes were casually placed on a wire rack. Xu Qingfan couldn’t resist the temptation and ended up buying one for each person before they left.
The group got back into the car and set off again. When they arrived at Renmin Hospital around one in the afternoon, Wu Suowei had just finished his dialysis and was still asleep in his hospital bed.
Long-term dialysis can cause dehydration, electrolyte disorders, low blood pressure, and other issues in patients. Seeing her father, his face the color of earth, lying on the bed, Wu Lingyu’s eyes shimmered with tears.
Since children naturally have strong empathic abilities, seeing Wu Lingyu cry also caused the other children to tear up.
Zhang Yiyi gently held Wu Lingyu’s hand, and Lin Wanning cried even harder than the person involved, assuring, "Yu’s dad will definitely get better soon!"
"Yes!" Wu Lingyu nodded in gratitude.
[I hope Yummy Duck Necks gets on track quickly.] Xu Qingfan thought to himself.
After exchanging a few words and leaving Wu Lingyu with her grandfather, Xu Aiguo and the little friends left the hospital.
Still influenced by the earlier emotions, the atmosphere in the car was subdued all the way to Tianshui Science and Technology Park, where the children finally regained their energy.
