"Kidney disease is..." Xu Qingfan explained patiently to his little friends the dangers of kidney disease, and they all started to worry about Wu Lingyu’s father.
"Brother Qing Fan, is there a way to cure kidney disease?" Lin Wanning asked anxiously.
"There is, as long as there’s a suitable kidney source..." Xu Qingfan did not finish his sentence, thinking about the domestic situation, where if one waited in line honestly for a kidney transplant, it might take a hundred years to get one.
After all, how many people are willing to their relatives’ organs after death? In China’s culture, there’s a belief in arriving whole and leaving whole.
"Yu’s dad will definitely recover! Once Ningning gets home, she’ll fold a thousand origami cranes to pray for him." Lin Wanning thought of the fairy tale she had read before, that if you sincerely fold a thousand cranes, the gods would grant you a wish.
"So your family can’t afford to rent another shop for now?" Xu Qingfan asked.
"We need to save the money for Dad’s medical treatment..."
In fact, Xu Qingfan was being overly imaginative, thinking that renting a shop could be just like renting a house, paying the rent month by month.
But normally, when renting a shop that someone else is transferring, which doesn’t have three to five years left on the lease, not to mention the "tea money" for the landlord, you can’t secure it without at least ten to twenty thousand.
Xia Xiaoxiao suddenly kicked Xu Qingfan: "Auntie Yao’s convenience store happens to have a free space that’s not being used, right?"
"That’s right!" Xu Qingfan lit up.
Because the variety of goods wasn’t very rich, an eighty-plus square meter shop would use seven to eight square meters for storage, leaving eight to nine square meters free with nothing to put there.
Yao Jiping had originally planned to resume her old business of selling sweet soups, but just like Xu Qingfan, both of them were slackers, and despite taking their time, there was no action.
Xu Qingfan thought it was feasible; those who came to eat skewers and those coming to shop could overlap, and business would only complement each other and get better.
[Convincing his own mom wasn’t very difficult, the challenge was how to convince Wu Lingyu’s mom.] Xu Qingfan pondered in his heart.
"Yu, we’re looking to rent out our shop, and I can ask my mom to delay the rent for a month," he said.
Wu Lingyu’s eyes lit up, but they quickly dimmed again: "No... no need, my mom said we’ve already troubled you too much..."
"What’s the problem with that? No worries, duck, we’ve eaten a lot of your mom’s marinated duck necks too!"
"That’s right, and besides, your mom might not even like the location. My mom’s been trying to rent it out for a long time without success, so if your mom can rent it, it’s a win-win!" Xu Qingfan also spoke up to persuade her.
Yao’s convenience store was located at the junction of an elementary and middle school; it was impossible for it not to be rented out.
"Then... I’ll go ask my mom..." Wu Lingyu felt the urge to cry again.
"Yeah, go tell Aunt Li about it, and if she agrees, come look tomorrow to see if it’s suitable," Xu Qingfan said with a smile.
"That’s the situation, Mom. I think if you rent the space to her, it would be win-win. Aunt Li’s duck necks and skewers, you’ve tried them before and they’re really delicious!" After school in the afternoon, Xu Qingfan and Xia Xiaoxiao went to the convenience store to persuade Yao Jiping.
The result was simpler than expected; Yao Jiping agreed without hesitation before even hearing the entire story.
"Is it the mother of Wu Lingyu, who was always top of the class just like you last term? No problem, it’s not like it’s doing anything just sitting empty!"
"Auntie, her dad is sick, and they have to spend seven to eight thousand a month on treatment, so they might need to delay the rent a bit." Xia Xiaoxiao gave Xu Qingfan a glare, thinking that he couldn’t even summarize the situation properly.
"Ah? Sick? What sickness?"
"Kidney disease requires a kidney transplant for treatment, just like cancer and leukemia, it’s very troublesome," Xu Qingfan explained.
"Ah? How pitiful. Then let’s not talk about stall rent anymore. I’ll make a call to your dad to have him bring her mom to check out the spot. If it’s to her liking, she can start her stall tomorrow," Yao Jiping said, unusually decisive as she immediately used the landline in the shop to call Xu Aiguo.
"Her mom is probably setting up her stall at the west gate of Licheng Park right now!" Xu Qingfan reminded her.
"Right, right, right, the woman you took to the hospital last time. You go and bring her over... My son says she’s at the west gate of Licheng Park."
Yao Jiping didn’t say much before she hung up the phone, "Alright, go home and do your homework, Xiao Xiao, you better not let this stinky kid copy, understand?"
"Auntie, if I don’t let Xu Qingfan copy, he’ll steal it!" Xia Xiaoxiao pouted and complained.
"If he dares to steal, you tell auntie, and I want to see if he’s itching for a beating and wants to eat stir-fried bamboo shoots with pork!" Yao Jiping said, hands on hips, glaring at her own son.
"I’ll do it myself!" Muttering under his breath, Xu Qingfan pulled Xia Xiaoxiao away. Before leaving, he grabbed two tri-color ice cream cups from the freezer.
"Stinky kid, you’ve eaten dinner and still want ice cream!"
Xu Qingfan heard Yao Jiping’s scolding voice from behind as he ran off, pulling Xia Xiaoxiao along with him.
"Tattling on me again!" After they were a distance away, Xu Qingfan punished Xia Xiaoxiao by sticking the ice cream tub onto her face.
"Hmph! It’s because you always copy homework and don’t pay attention in class!" Xia Xiaoxiao snatched her share of the ice cream and retorted, refusing to back down.
"Actually, I’ve been secretly studying at home, you know. Not listening in class is just for show, do you really think I’m only playing around?" Xu Qingfan scooped up his favorite strawberry part with a wooden stick, talking while enjoying his ice cream.
He was trying to find an excuse for the fact that he apparently didn’t study but managed to ace every exam.
"Really?" Xia Xiaoxiao was skeptical.
"Absolutely, pearls aren’t as genuine as I am, when have I ever lied to you!" Xu Qingfan swore.
"Cut it out! You lie all the time. Xu Qingfan, you’re nothing but a big liar!" Xia Xiaoxiao looked at him with scornful sidelong glance.
"Anyway, that’s how it is, so stop worrying about my studies. Just give your brother some face in school, and don’t blow my cover as a ’study god,’" Xu Qingfan said, bumping his head against Xia Xiaoxiao’s.
"What’s a ’study god’ persona?" Xia Xiaoxiao really couldn’t understand why Xu Qingfan kept coming up with all these new terms every day.
"A ’study god’ is someone who doesn’t need to study but still scores full marks on every exam."
Xia Xiaoxiao cracked a rare smile, which made the young girl’s poker face break. After recovering her cool composure, she coldly said, "Boring!"
"Can it be anything but boring?" Xu Qingfan was really struggling with Xia Xiaoxiao’s consistent verbal cold violence, which was a blow to his ego as someone who had been reborn!
"As long as you’re happy..."
"And you’re not allowed to copy my homework either, and after you’re done, you have to let me check it!" Although Xia Xiaoxiao didn’t understand and respected Xu Qingfan’s silly game of pretending to be a ’study god,’ she was worried he might really let himself go.
[Such a headache!] Xiao Xiao silently complained in her heart.