NOVPUBThe first few days of winter break, Xu Qingfan drew a rough sketch of the selfie stick based on his memory of the device, with the help of Zhang Yiyi and Lin Wanning for touch-ups and redrawing the draft, the task was deemed a great success.
After all, the technical design of the selfie stick wasn’t complicated: a retractable stick, a phone holder, and finally a Bluetooth remote shutter button or a button on the bottom, and it was all set.
Xu Qingfan spent some time making a simple prototype of the selfie stick, with Lin Wanning and Zhang Yiyi standing behind the camera serving as Bluetooth photo-taking assistants, demonstrating his concept to Zhang Chunxue.
"Auntie, don’t you think people look better when photographed from a high angle? Of course, your beauty is flawless from any angle, it doesn’t really relate to the selfie stick, ha." Xu Qingfan removed the fixed phone, opened the recently taken photo, and showed it to her.
"Pfft~ stop feeding your aunt that flattery soup." Zhang Chunxue gently slapped him, her movements wafting a subtle trace of perfume that was refreshing.
"No kidding, auntie is naturally gorgeous, even better looking than the TV stars, right, Wanning, Yiyi?" Xu Qingfan said and set the photo as the wallpaper, showing it to her.
"Exactly, aunty is the prettiest!"
"Mom, gorgeous!"
"Cheeky Xiao Fan, this is your auntie’s phone!" Zhang Chunxue scolded him with a glance and snatched back her phone.
Her original wallpaper was a selfie with her daughter Yiyi, though this new photo was also quite nice. The boy was wearing a clean, crisp white shirt, his faint stubble not fully shaved, giving him a fresh, sunny look; the woman wore a tailored, slim black suit, her black wavy hair and confidently parted bangs giving her a mature, graceful air.
Xu Qingfan had reached a height of 1.7 meters by now, and the two in the photo looked no more than ten years apart in age. If someone were to say they were siblings, some might well believe it.
Zhang Chunxue leaned closer to examine the photo, nodded in satisfaction, and turned off the phone screen before putting it back in her bag.
"If it weren’t your phone, I wouldn’t mess with it, but you always use Yiyi’s photo as your wallpaper and I’m jealous, I need mine too!"
Zhang Chunxue slapped the back of the irreverent Xu Qingfan’s head, chiding him, "By your logic, if your phone wallpaper isn’t of your auntie, should I be jealous too?"
"Um..." Xu Qingfan was momentarily choked up because his wallpaper had always been a group selfie; basically, every time they went out together, they’d take one and he would update his phone with it.
"No more words, huh." Zhang Chunxue tapped his head again before seriously saying, "The selfie stick is a pretty cool invention; I’ll help you patent it later."
In her view, such a little gadget making a few million was pretty good, not worth a big fuss, especially since the domestic penetration of smart phones was still low—why spend five or six thousand on a touchscreen phone?
After all, it’s just for making calls; I’d rather spend five or six hundred on phone credit and use the free phone provided by Tianyi.
"Hehe~ thanks to the number one best auntie in the world!" Xu Qingfan, like a fawning minion, stood up and scampered to Zhang Chunxue’s back, "Auntie, let me give you a massage!"
"Hmm... just the shoulders will do, I haven’t worn high heels much lately." Recalling the recent embarrassment, Zhang Chunxue said somewhat unnaturally.
"Trying to deceive me again, huh? I saw your high heels at the door the moment I walked in, you must have worn them often!"
"I put them out today because the sun was nice, I was airing my shoes. Mm~ Xiao Fan, a little higher." Xu Qingfan’s massage skill was indeed very good, and it didn’t take long for Zhang Chunxue to close her eyes and start enjoying the experience.
"Auntie, I might not read much but you can’t fool me like this. Do high heels even need to be aired?"
"Um..." Now it was Zhang Chunxue’s turn to be choked up; she thought for a moment and didn’t come up with a good response, so she opted to close her mouth and play dead.
"Brother Qingfan, Yiyi and I also want a massage, this semester has been tough!" Lin Wanning and Zhang Yiyi had also enjoyed Xu Qingfan’s massage services before; every time they finished running 800 meters in PE, he would use his family’s traditional techniques to help the five girls relax their myofascial tissues.
"Okay, after I finish with auntie, I’ll help you guys." 𝙣𝒐𝙫𝙥𝙪𝙗.𝙘𝙤𝙢
Thinking of how they would be red-faced and squirming in pain during the massage, watched by his daughter and Wanning, Zhang Chunxue felt even more bashful, like a hesitant seventeen or eighteen-year-old despite being in her thirties.
Fortunately, a phone call saved her.
"Good afternoon, Director Zhang, there’s a document in the office that requires your signature, should I bring it over now?" The call was on speakerphone, so everyone else in the room heard it too.
"Cough~ no need, I was just about to head to the office." She hung up the phone, regretfully telling Xu Qingfan, "Looks like it’ll have to wait until next time, you three stay home and behave."
"Auntie, if you’re busy or feeling unwell, just call me. I’m available 24 hours a day!" Xu Qingfan said, bringing his middle and index fingers together and waving them above his forehead.
"Auntie, be careful on the road."
"Mom, drive safely."
"I know, thank you Wanning and my little Yiyi." She slung her bag over her shoulder, hugged them both one by one, and lastly tapped Xu Qingfan on the forehead with her index finger, "Yiyi has complained to me about you so many times, your comics haven’t been released for a while now. When will you publish new ones?"
"Mom!"
"Alright, I’m heading out now. If you guys go out to play, be careful too." Seeing her daughter’s anxious little expression, Zhang Chunxue waved goodbye cheerfully.
"Brother, I didn’t," as soon as her mom left, Zhang Yiyi immediately began to explain anxiously.
She had only told her mom that the comics hadn’t been released for a long time, but she had never complained about her brother. In her urgency, she even used the sign language she had learned as a child.
"Brother Qing Fan would definitely not complain about you, Auntie was wrong just now!" Lin Wanning too was anxious to defend her good friend, fearing that Xu Qingfan would be upset by the remark.
"We just said it’s a pity that the comics haven’t been released for a long time, and we’ve never complained about Brother Qing Fan!"
With Lin Wanning speaking up for her, Zhang Yiyi was nodding desperately at the side.
Seeing the two girls so anxious that they were nearly in tears, Xu Qingfan felt like he was drinking a hot cup of tea on a cold winter night, warmth filling his heart.
The next second, he used the sign language he remembered learning to express: "I believe you."
Lin Wanning hadn’t reacted yet, but Zhang Yiyi burst into laughter upon seeing his gesture.
"You two silly dogs, we’ve known each other for so long. Even if you did say something, I wouldn’t be mad." Xu Qingfan pulled them both into a hug and continued, "If Wanning and Yiyi both complain about me at the same time, then it must be something I did wrong, and I should correct it, not get angry!"
"Brother Qing Fan~"
"Brother~"
The two hugged his arm coquettishly, "Brother Qing Fan is the best brother in the whole wide world!"
"Yeah!" Zhang Yiyi nodded in complete agreement.
Xu Qingfan was about to say that she and Yiyi were the best sisters in the whole wide world but immediately realized the trap in those words and quickly corrected himself: "That’s because you deserve it."
"Heehee~ Brother Qing Fan is the best!"
"Yes!"
Xu Qingfan cuddled with the two girls on the couch for a long time, the television playing their favorite "Go Youth 2."
Suddenly.
"Brother Qing Fan..." Lin Wanning called out softly.
"What is it?"
"Yiyi and I are not silly dogs."
"Hahaha... you are not silly dogs, definitely not."
"Heehee!"
