And then... and then there were the countless helps from Brother Fan, finding a new place for Mom’s skewer stand, making sure I was no longer bullied by the girls at school, the shoes for my birthday, taking me to see all sorts of wonderful new things, and the Good Taste Duck Neck Store...
Mom and Dad both thought our lives were getting better because our luck had changed, but only I knew that the earth-shaking changes in our home were all thanks to Brother Qing Fan...
She had had that kind of dream more than once, a world without Xu Qingfan, where Mom was hawking from a tricycle on the roadside, but there were a group of very bad people harrying Mom away, Dad’s health was deteriorating from not having enough money for treatment, Grandpa was overworking himself into the ground with several part-time jobs, and Yu’s grades plummeting due to overthinking, leaving Experimental Primary School for a very poor school. In the end of the dream, Yu was like the little match girl in the fairy tales, lighting her last match...
Every time she woke from the nightmare, she couldn’t stop thinking about Xu Qingfan’s figure, silently telling herself, ’It was just a dream, thank God for Brother Fan’...
It didn’t matter that Mom and Dad didn’t know everything Brother Fan had done, Yu knew, and she made up her mind to repay Brother Qing Fan when she grew up!
She would tell herself countless times in her heart.]
It didn’t take long for the bus to return to Lianhua Courtyard. Knowing that Xu Qingfan was cooking everyday at home, a few little girls said they wanted to taste his cooking.
They had all been here so many times that the moment they stepped into Lianhua Courtyard they excitedly ran up to the third floor, leaving Xu Qingfan behind.
"Brother Fan, hurry up!"
"Brother Qing Fan, open the door quickly!"
"Coming, coming." Xu Qingfan quickened his pace, taking out his keys to unlock the door.
With no adults at home, the little girls made themselves at home as soon as they stepped inside, turning on the TV, the air conditioner, heading to the bathroom, without regarding themselves as outsiders.
"Make yourselves comfortable. There are juice and cola in the fridge. Xiao Xiao, call them and ask them to come back for dinner; I’m a quick cook!" Xu Qingfan, after changing his shoes, headed into the kitchen without looking back.
"Okay." Xia Xiaoxiao stood up and picked up the landline phone to call her mother.
Xu Qingfan had prepared all the dishes he planned to cook today before leaving. He turned off the light broth with arrowroot and pork bones that had been simmering for over two hours, washed his hands, and began to rinse rice for cooking.
The preserved vegetable steamed meat patties, which had been marinated earlier, were put into the rice cooker; they would be ready when the rice was done.
Ginger scallion chicken, stir-fried beef with straw mushrooms, steamed scallops... When the final dish of stir-fried greens was served, the adults who had gone out fishing or playing mahjong also just happened to return home.
"Burp~ Brother Fan, is there any more soup? It was so delicious!"
"Hehe, nope, Ningning just took the last bowl!"
"Then I’ll have water, I choked!" Xiao Ruawen belched and trotted into the kitchen.
"Xiao Fan could even open a restaurant and be a chef in the future," Lin Jing said with a smile.
"That’s a long way off. I only know how to make some home-cooked dishes."
"I’m just saying, no matter what job you do in the future, you must take care of your family," Lin Jing said seriously, looking first at Xu Qingfan and then at her daughter.
What is with this mother-in-law’s look at her prospective son-in-law?
"Auntie, I understand." Xu Qingfan nodded.
"In the future, Brother Qing Fan, Wan Ningyi, and... together as comic artists, can work from home creating comics!" Lin Wanning always remembered their initial dream of the three little ones to create an anime that, like Doraemon, would go international!
"Brother Fan, let’s sing together, like that S.H.E from Taiwan. You’re the wind~ you’re the lightning~ you’re the only myth!" Xiao Ruawen, after drinking water, came out of the kitchen, "Our group will be called O.U.R when the time comes!"
"Our? Why don’t you just call it UFO?" Xu Qingfan said, unamused.
"Hehe~ Brother Fan, if you like UFO, that’s fine too!
"Pfft~" A wave of laughter from the group at the two’s antics echoed through the house.
After a joyful lunch, Xia Xiaoxiao started clearing the table and washing dishes as usual, and the few little girls pitched in to help.
Xu Qingfan stopped Wu Lingyu, who wanted to help too, and gave her a knowing look to take this opportunity to ask Lin Jing for help while everyone was busy.
Having finished his meal, Xu Aiguo went out again to run his taxi (go fishing), leaving only the two mothers in the living room.
"Auntie, Yu has something she needs your help with!" Xu Qingfan, pulling Wu Lingyu along, said to Lin Jing.
"Oh? What is it?" Both Lin Jing and Yao Jiping looked over with curious eyes.
Wu Lingyu nervously glanced at Xu Qingfan, who nodded encouragingly to her.
With courage, she said, "Auntie, I... my mom wants me to transfer to a school in Hong Kong to study third grade next semester. I don’t want to transfer... Auntie, can you talk to my mom?" Her voice was faint, but loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.
"Transfer? Why do you need to transfer?" Lin Jing asked, puzzled.
Yao Jiping knew about this situation and explained, "Meijuan is going to Hong Kong to take care of her husband, and they are not going to keep the skewer stand here."
"Oh~" Lin Jing nodded in understanding, "Yu, why don’t you want to transfer? If you stay at Experimental Primary School, you won’t see your parents often, right?"
"I... if I study in Hong Kong, my mom will be distracted taking care of me... I’m afraid the new classmates won’t like me... I’ll miss my friends at Experimental Primary School... I’ll miss Brother Fan..." She whispered the last part so softly that few in the room could hear her.
"So where will you stay if you continue your school here? There is an empty room in auntie’s house, but your mom might not agree."