Luo Shufan, hearing the familiar voice, felt a twinge of annoyance. Why didn’t they come back when he was worried about them, but instead chose to return just when he was complaining? Still, he hurried to open the door a few steps faster, "You finally remember to come back, huh? It’s already dark outside."
"It was dark when we went out, too. Don’t you know that winter days are short and nights are long?" Qianqian tossed the bag in her hand onto Luo Shufan and, after kicking off her shoes, clomped over to Mother He: "Godmother, is there pig trotters? I could smell them all the way from outside~"
"Haha, such a keen nose. Why don’t your classmates feed you?" Mother He ruffled the girl’s head, which wasn’t the least bit cold, but instead nice and warm.
"Not at all." He Wenyu struggled to take off her shoes and entered the room slowly with her bag, "I’ve already eaten, but I still really want to eat it when I smell this, especially because it smells like it’s braised in a red sauce."
"What’s wrong with you?" He’s father shifted his gaze from the television to his daughter’s slow steps, "Did you hurt your leg? Why are you walking so slowly?"
"Ah?" Mother He cried out in alarm and quickly got up to check on her daughter’s legs and feet.
Ignored on the side, Qianqian didn’t feel the slightest bit neglected and laid across her mother’s thighs, laughing loudly: "Hahaha, she’s not injured, she’s just eaten too much and can’t walk, hahaha, eat one more bite, and it’ll come right back up."
Mother He, hearing her goddaughter’s laughter, looked unamused as she helped her daughter remove her coat and school uniform. She poked He Wenyu’s obviously swollen belly with disdain, "You look about five months pregnant, it’s already showing."
He Wenyu, caught off guard by the poke, felt her stomach burst and her throat itch, nearly throwing up. She hurriedly covered her mouth with a look of anger at Mother He, clearly very unhappy with her mother poking her belly.
"Godmother, hurry and get her some digestive tablets or she’ll have a rough night." Qianqian rubbed her stomach, then said to Luo Shufan, "Brother, let’s go eat the pig trotters."
Luo Shufan looked disdainfully at his sister but still handed the stuff over to his mother and followed Qianqian to the kitchen while continuing to grumble, "You don’t eat enough when you’re out, don’t you know you need to eat your fill to have the energy to do other things?"
"That’s because brother wasn’t there to encourage me to eat more." Qianqian said with a sly grin, playing innocent: "The food outside is nowhere as delicious as what godmother makes. Today I had a portion of pig trotters there, and oh boy, it was so greasy. One bite and I didn’t want a second one, it was not tasty at all, just meat and fish, completely unappetizing."
Shufan actually appreciated his sister’s dependence on him and silently admitted to himself that it wasn’t for nothing that he had saved some pig trotters for her—he hadn’t eaten much himself.
"Qianqian, why don’t you bring a few apples tomorrow?" Luo Shufan appreciated that she chose not to waste money on greeting cards but complained subtly, "I never used to give greeting cards, they’re so light, and I even find apples too heavy to bother with."
"Brother, you don’t give them to many people, right? Boys don’t care about this stuff, unlike us girls." Qianqian, unable to use her hands as she gnawed on the pig trotter, just fixed her eyes on her brother, "Good friends get one, casual chat buddies get one, the ones you sit with get one, and teachers get one. Oh right, tomorrow give two to Brother Zhuzi and one to his brother."
"Such a hassle. That’s why girls are so troublesome." Luo Shufan awkwardly averted his gaze. Qianqian saw her brother’s reaction and her eyes went round. Was there something going on? Did someone say something to her brother?
"What’s up?" Qianqian put down the pig trotter, indicating the importance of the question, "Tell me, I’ll keep it a secret."
"It’s nothing. Someone gave me a letter that I haven’t read yet. It’s stuck in my desk," replied Luo Shufan, his face turning red and his words hesitant.
Qianqian pouted disapprovingly at her brother, "Why didn’t you read it? It might be a challenge letter, telling you not to leave after school and to fight."
"You read too many novels." Luo Shufan looked at his sister disdainfully; he wasn’t about to admit that the letter was pink with a big heart drawn on the envelope.
Luo Qianqian lowered her head and continued to gnaw on the pig’s trotter. After thinking for a long time, she said, "Puppy love is bad. Big brother is an example, if big brother goes astray, I will too."
Luo Shufan watched his sister lower her head after finishing her sentence and couldn’t help but laugh and cry. Was this a warning or a premonition? He wasn’t foolish enough not to realize that failing grades would be embarrassing.
After eating one-third of it, Luo Qianqian was full. She cleaned up the trash, wiped down the table, washed her hands, and then followed her mom and brother home. Before they left, He Wenyu was still on the sofa questioning her life.
As soon as Luo Qianqian got home, she took out the large patterned glass paper and ribbons she bought a few days ago and started squatting in front of the doorway’s apple crate to wrap apples, mumbling as she worked: "This is for Jiang Qian, this is for Zhang Sheng, this is for Ye Chen, this is for Old Niu, this is for Jiang An, this is for Yang Yang, this is for Bai Yizhu, this is for Bai Yixian, this is for Zhang Ye, this for Uncle Aijun, this is for Auntie Yinyin, this is for Grandpa Zhang, this is for Grandma Zhang, wondering if big brother even bought the apples he was supposed to."
After wrapping the apple in her hand, she divided them into two parts – one with eight apples for her brother to carry and another with five... oh, and one for Xiao Yu, so six for her to carry.
"I bought the big red apples you wanted, but they were expensive." Luo Shufan came out with his backpack, which contained six large apples.
"Didn’t you say five would be enough? Why buy so many? There are only five people." Luo Qianqian looked at her brother.
"Aren’t you a person?" Luo Shufan watched his sister’s puzzled expression and couldn’t help feeling exasperated, tapping her forehead with a two-finger poke.
"I’m giving them to myself? That’s so weird." Luo Qianqian looked at the snake fruit in the backpack, heart bleeding – they’re expensive and not even as tasty as the Red Delicious, besides looking good, what else is there?
"Can’t I give one to you? Hurry up and wrap it. Once you’re done, come write the punishment copy," huffed Luo Shufan as he left the backpack and went back to his room.
Luo Qianqian rolled her eyes: "So arrogant? Who does he take after?" It wasn’t in her previous life; could her rebirth have possibly changed her brother’s personality?
The next day, Luo Qianqian, with her bulging backpack, and Luo Shufan, with his bulging backpack, set out. This was after they had already handed out the apples for Luo’s Mom, Mother He, and He’s father in the early morning. Luo Shufan’s desk was adorned with the apple that Luo Qianqian had wrapped meticulously, sealed with a lollipop sticking out. The apple resembled a flower crown, the wrapping paper the petals, with the lollipop as the stamen.
Seeing He Wenyu with an even bigger bag, Luo Qianqian’s mouth twitched: "Can you even carry that?"
He Wenyu, handing over two apples, said, "Mom, Dad, these are yours." Then, setting down her backpack, she dashed upstairs and gave one to Luo’s Mom, but still couldn’t zip up her backpack.
"Big brother, this is yours." Saying so, she took out an apple and placed it in Luo Shufan’s hands, and finally managed to close her backpack. Luo Shufan had to go back upstairs to rearrange it.
Luo Qianqian and He Wenyu tacitly chose not to give apples to each other. Luo Qianqian said, "You could take out another one, you know, to give to Zhuzi later."
"Right, right, right." With one less bulky apple, the backpack didn’t seem as close to bursting at the seams.
Arriving at their usual spot, they saw Bai Yizhu with breakfast in his hands, each portion accompanied by a bright red apple.
The three of them accepted them joyfully. Luo Qianqian looked at Bai Yizhu holding three apples and said, "Only two of those are for you, the other one is for your brother."
Bai Yizhu, thinking of his unreliable brother, grinned and nodded anyway. Which sane person ditches the social scene to turn their karaoke bars and dance halls into bookstores and restaurants? Constantly losing money, he couldn’t bear to look anymore. But such family embarrassments were better kept from others.
Once they got to the classroom, many people were already there. Looking at several greeting cards laid out on the desks, Luo Qianqian smiled lightly as she took out the apples and distributed them to a few friends: "This is a peace apple, wishing you safety, happiness, and joy every single day~"