NOVPUBThe next day.
After waking up, Xia Xiaoxiao announced her leg no longer hurt, so after breakfast, they waited for a bus to return to her grandparents’ house.
Xu Qingfan had never thought the young girl would lie to him. After boarding the bus and settling into a pair of seats, he casually asked Xia Xiaoxiao, "How long has it been since you last went back?"
"Six or seven years, I guess. Why?"
"Well, we’re quite similar then, I haven’t been back to Cong City for six or seven years either," Xu Qingfan said with a laugh.
Xia Xiaoxiao expressed that it was a boring topic and closed her eyes, ignoring him further.
Perhaps because yesterday was Valentine’s Day, the streets were not very crowded in the early morning. Despite it being Chinese New Year, the sanitation workers were still at work, sweeping up discarded petals into piles with large brooms. 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓹𝓾𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
In his previous life, Xu Qingfan had heard that some men would hide cell phones and cash inside flowers to gift to their crush, only for the flowers to be tossed into the trash. He hoped the hardworking sanitation workers would strike gold.
Soon, the bus left Li City. Xia Xiaoxiao stared out the window, expressionless and lost in thought.
Her phone rang just then. She picked it up and checked the number, barely perceptible frown forming as she did.
"It’s that person’s call, you take it," Xia Xiaoxiao handed him the phone.
Xu Qingfan was used to this, "that person" naturally referred to Xia Guofu.
"Hello, Uncle Xia? Xiaoxiao and I are already on the bus," Xu Qingfan spoke first after picking up.
"Haha, is that Xiao Fan? Where are you guys? I’ll drive over to the village entrance to pick you up," Xia Guofu sounded in a good mood, likely delighted that his daughter was finally willing to come see him.
Despite Xia Guofu’s immorally having affairs during his marriage, he had supported Xu Qingfan’s family quite a bit in the last life, so Xu Qingfan still treated him respectfully.
"We’ll be there in about half an hour. No need for the trouble, Uncle Xia, Xiaoxiao and I will catch a tricycle back," he replied.
"How can that be? I’ll come and pick you guys up!"
"Daddy, is it sister on the phone? Let me listen, let me listen!"
A little boy’s voice came from the other end of the line, and the next second, it reached Xu Qingfan’s ear, "Is it sister? I’m Xia Tian, five and a half years old this year!"
"It’s not sister, it’s brother." Xu Qingfan glanced at the young girl sitting beside him, and seeing no reaction from her, he responded into the phone.
"Who are you? Let sister talk!" the childish voice yelled into the phone, and then the voice disappeared, and Xia Guofu, sounding embarrassed, laughed, "Sorry, Xiao Fan, Tian Tian has only seen Xiaoxiao’s photos, he misses his sister."
"It’s okay, it’s okay."
"Um... is Xiaoxiao busy? Can she take the phone for a bit, I haven’t heard her voice in a long time," Xia Guofu’s tone softened, cautiously asking.
"Um..." Xu Qingfan patted Xia Xiaoxiao, motioning her to take the call with his hand.
The girl shook her head, clearly refusing.
"Uncle, Xiaoxiao might have had a bad sleep last night; she fell asleep as soon as we got on the bus. Should I wake her up for you?"
"No need, no need, let Xiaoxiao rest well. I’ll meet you at the village entrance," he insisted.
"Thanks."
After ending the call, he handed the phone back to Xia Xiaoxiao, "Whatever you choose, I support you. But Uncle Xia was good to me when I was young, I still need to respect him."
Xia Xiaoxiao stared blankly at Xu Qingfan for three seconds, initially thinking that he was trying to persuade her to reconcile with Xia Guofu.
Supporting her no matter what she did, which girl wouldn’t be confused by such words?
"Oh." She didn’t know how to express her thanks, so she opted for a façade of indifference to mask her inner gratitude.
"What’s that little boy’s name, Xia Yutian, right? Haha..." Seeing Xia Xiaoxiao retaining her stern face and not even cracking a smile, Xu Qingfan joked.
"Boring, his name is Xia Tian." The girl pinched his arm.
"Ouch, you Xia Xiaoxiao!" Xu Qingfan pinched her back on the thigh without holding back.
"Ouch~ you pinched me so hard!" Xia Xiaoxiao glared at him, and pinched his thigh back with even more force.
"Ouch, ouch~ you’re even stronger than me."
"Stinking Xu Qingfan, I’m not playing with you anymore!" Seeing Xu Qingfan about to pinch her again, the girl quickly blocked with her hands.
"Just because you say no doesn’t mean no!"
"Get away from me!"
"..."
"Xia Xiaoxiao, no more!"
"..."
The bus hadn’t been on the road for long before it reached their stop. The two of them had boarded without a crease in their clothes, but now they disembarked with creases everywhere, their hair as messy as if they had just woken up.
If it hadn’t been a bus ride, it would be hard to imagine what exactly the two had been up to on board.
"Boring!" Xia Xiaoxiao said while combing her hair in front of the mirror, which also reflected Xu Qingfan, who was busy patting the wrinkles out of his clothing that she had just crumpled.
"You huh?"
"You!"
From afar, Xia Guofu spotted a young couple that resembled his daughter and Qingfan. Upon getting off the bus, he hurried over, and upon closer inspection, it indeed was them.
"Daughter... Xiao Fan, why aren’t you crossing the street, happy New Year, here are your red envelopes," Xia Guofu said cautiously as he dug out two red envelopes from his trousers, which he had prepared in advance, and handed them over to both of them.
Xia Xiaoxiao merely nodded without any intention of accepting his red envelope.
"Wishing you fa cai, thank you Uncle Xia. Xiaoxiao’s dress doesn’t have pockets, so I’ll look after it for her," Xu Qingfan, playing the peacemaker, took the red envelopes, surely without any intention of handing them back to Xia Xiaoxiao.
"Haha, yeah, right, Xiao Fan, you keep them. Let’s cross the street. Are you hungry? It’s been a year, and you’ve grown a lot," Xia Guofu managed to ease the awkwardness by putting his arm around Xu Qingfan’s shoulders.
"Your grandparents have really missed you. When you have time, come visit more... For lunch, I’ve prepared your favorite sweet and sour pork loin, and osmanthus cake. Your grandma dried the osmanthus last year and has been saving it just for you," Xia Guofu talked continuously after getting on the vehicle, keeping an eye on his daughter’s expressions through the rearview mirror. Seeing her frown, he quickly changed the topic.
"Hmm."
Based on Xu Qingfan’s understanding of Xia Xiaoxiao, if she were just angry, she might retort harshly, but such a plain nod probably meant she now viewed Xia Guofu as a stranger.
The car took only a few minutes to return to Xia Guofu’s rural home, a five-story tiled building that towered over the village.
They hadn’t even disembarked when various aunts and uncles had already crowded at the door, apparently all coming out to see Xia Xiaoxiao.
From the crowd, Xu Qingfan only recognized Xia Xiaoxiao’s grandparents and a woman he had briefly met years before who had been a homewrecker.
The moment Xia Xiaoxiao stepped out of the car, her grandma energetically embraced her, murmuring, "My little Xiao, you haven’t visited grandma for so many years, I’ve missed you so much, I couldn’t even sleep!"
"Xiao Xiao, do you remember your second aunt? This is your cousin Tingyu."
"Xiao Xiao, try to visit your grandparents more often."
Xu Qingfan awkwardly moved aside, unable to cope with the sudden kinship claims at the scene.
"Grandma." Instantly, Xia Xiaoxiao recalled numerous warm childhood moments and was equally emotional.
Just as it seemed a tear-jerking melodrama was about to unfold, someone suddenly blurted out, "That woman really, not letting Xiao Xiao come to visit after so many years!"
Upon hearing this, Xia Xiaoxiao gently freed herself from her grandmother’s arms and loudly said to the person who had spoken, "It was my own decision not to come back, it has nothing to do with my mom. She has asked me to come back every year; I just didn’t want to."
Silence fell over the scene, plunging into a death-like quiet.
Xia Xiaoxiao realized as soon as she had spoken that she had said something wrong, but she didn’t regret it; no one could slander her mom!
[How bold of Xia Xiaoxiao!] Xu Qingfan stood there so awkwardly he wanted to sink through the floor.
"Haha~ Ah, Uncle Xia, this little kid must be Xiao Xiao’s little brother, he’s so adorable, what’s his name?" he asked, pointing at the child clinging tightly to Xia Guofu’s leg.
"Ah haha, yes, his name is Xia Tian, he’s five and a half this year, Xia Tian, come say hello, this is your Brother Fan," Xia Guofu quickly caught on, eager to lighten the mood.
The child had on a tiger hat just like Zhou Xingchi’s in "The Deer and the Cauldron" which, combined with his young age, made him look extremely cute and charming.
"So he’s called Xia Tian, is he in first grade yet? Come over here to brother," Xu Qingfan clapped his hands, his movements mimicking those used to call a little dog.
The already silent atmosphere turned even more silent as everyone shifted their gaze from Xia Xiaoxiao to him.
Xu Qingfan didn’t realize his mistake yet, continuing to coax the child with "come here, come here."
The next second, looking at his spread hands, he suddenly realized something.
"Hiss~" It was as if he had just come to his senses, and he immediately covered his mouth.
"Cough cough... What a cute kid, haha... Xia Tian, what a nice name you have... haha... It sounds very nice, indeed."
Xia Xiaoxiao watched the awkward self-talk of this embarrassing dog and suddenly burst into a radiant smile.
"Grandma, I want some osmanthus cake," she said.
"Alright, grandma will get it for you right away!"
[What a silly dog!] The young girl gave Xu Qingfan a reproachful look and walked towards the door.
The relatives glanced at him with odd expressions and followed her inside.
Xu Qingfan looked back in the direction they had come from, several kilometers away, and gritted his teeth, following them inside as well.
