When he went home that night, Duan Yuche told Duan Shumin about it: “I’m going out with a friend for a few days this National Day.”
Duan Shumin was watching the news, and when he heard this, he asked him, “Which friend? Where to?”
“Zeliang, his ge and sister-in-law. The four of us are going to Wu Town.”
“Wu Town?” Duan Shumin’s expression changed slightly. His eyes reflected the light of the TV, and his tone contained nostalgia, “It’s a great place. Your mother used to have an exhibition there.”
It was the first time Duan Yuche learned this, “When?”
“You haven’t been born yet.” After Duan Shumin finished speaking, he paused and continued, “By the way, why don’t you take your Xiao Feng-gege with you?”
“He doesn’t know any of them…” The back seat of the car squeezed three men, he was afraid it was unbearable. And with him, Duan Yuche could already imagine a series of embarrassing situations.
“Don’t friends always start as strangers? In addition, are you really going to leave him home by himself?
“Don’t he still have you at home with him?” Duan Yuche said.
Duan Shumin explained: “Dad has something to do these days too, and I have to go on a business trip. This is your Xiao Feng-gege’s first time going on a vacation after arriving in our house. As you know, he had been in his hometown before and has never been anywhere. Dad also thought of taking you guys to have fun together. Isn’t this a temporary matter?…”
Duan Yuche thought about it and eventually had no choice but to nod, “Fine, I’ll tell them.”
Duan Shumin called Cao Feng, took out a pile of cash and gave it to him: “You go have fun with your didi. Keep an eye on him and don’t let him wander off.”
Cao Feng didn’t take the money: “Uncle, I still have money here, it’s enough.”
“Take it, your didi is forgetful. In case he loses his wallet, you have to take care of him, you understand? The weather in Wu Town doesn’t seem to be well these days. Bring a thin coat, lest you catch a cold…”
This was his first time going out.
Cao Feng was inevitably excited. What should he bring when going out? Toothbrush, toothpaste, razor, bottle. Uncle Duan said that he had to bring a coat because the weather was cold there. He searched for a long time and couldn’t find any better clothes, so he put his school uniform coat in his school bag and put two pairs of underwear. His younger brother liked to eat dried mushrooms, so he brought another pack of dried mushrooms. If he is hungry at night, he can give him the noodles… He never thought about it, maybe there is no kitchen for him to use his skills.
As he finished packing up, his school bag was stuffed full and it was bulging. There was also his National Day homework, vocabulary and textbooks on it. There was a bottle and snacks in his side pockets, as well as quite a few packs of plum candy.
Early the next morning, before eight o’clock, Duan Shumin had breakfast and was ready to leave. At this moment, Duan Yuche hadn’t woken up. Duan Shumin came in and said to him: “Xiao Che, dad is leaving. Pay attention to safety when going out.” He just nestled under the blanket and didn’t answer.
On this National Day holiday, Duan Shumin also gave a leave of absence to the hardworking Xiao Zhang. He was driving out by himself: “Xiao Feng, no need to send me off, go back quickly, and always remember to keep an eye on your didi when you go out with him…”
This was the second time he had instructed this, and it could be seen that he was really worried about his son.
“Don’t worry, uncle. I’ll keep an eye on my didi.” Cao Feng assured him.
Not long after Duan Shumin left, Duan Yuche received a call, and only then he got up slowly. He didn’t wake up irritated, it was just he didn’t have the energy and he was in daze for quite a while before he became clear-headed.
Cao Feng made him breakfast but Duan Yuche didn’t have time to finish it, and hurriedly went back to his room to pack his things. He had a piece of clothing that he couldn’t find and was especially freaking out, but Zhou Zeliang sent him a message saying that he would be at the entrance of their neighborhood soon.
“Okay, I’ll come out right away.” Duan Yuche casually packed up some things with his mouth still shouting: “Cao Feng, have you seen my pair of jeans?”
“Which one?” Cao Feng went back to the room, put on his backpack, and ran over to ask.
“It’s, it’s…“ He didn’t know how to describe it, “The one with holes in it!”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
He had several pairs of jeans with holes in them. Cao Feng didn’t know exactly which one he was talking about, so he said, “Don’t worry, I’ll help you find it.” He entered Duan Yuche’s cloakroom and opened the trouser rack to help him look for it: “Is it this?”
Lf iloafv j qjlg bo qjcar rlwlijg ab ktja Gejc Temtf vfrmglyfv.
“Rba atlr.” Gejc Temtf kjr qjmxlcu eq tlr ablifaglfr, aegcfv tlr tfjv jcv rjlv, “Ktlr kjlra lr abb ylu obg wf ab kfjg.”
“Ktlr bcf, atfc?”
“Rflatfg!”
“Pr la atlr bcf?”
“Rb, cb… la’r cba atja bcf, P ibbxfv obg la atfgf, cba atja qijmf,” Aera atfc, atf qtbcf tf vgbqqfv bc atf yfv gjcu. Gejc Temtf rjlv lc ogeragjalbc, “Mbgufa la, obgufa la, vbc’a ibbx obg la, atfs jgf tfgf.”
Cao Feng said, “Could it be in Uncle’s room?”
“How do I know where it is. I didn’t wash the clothes either… Let’s find it again when we come back. Go, go, go, hurry up, they are here…”
Cao Feng carried his school bag and Duan Yuche’s school bag. The two walked out of the neighborhood together.
“Beep——beep——” The car horn sounded. Zhou Zeliang shouted to him: “Here! Here!”
It was a small white Audi.
The two walked over. The car door opened and Zhou Zeliang’s cousin greeted Duan Yuche, and then said to his son: “Call him gege.”
The child then obediently called out, however, its voice very low, it was shy with strangers.
Zhou Zeliang took Duan Yuche’s school bag and asked him to get in the car.
Up until now, Cao Feng didn’t speak, because no one asked him or looked at him. When Duan Yuche got in the car, that’s when an embarrassing problem was discovered. The driver’s seat was the Zhou family’s cousin, in the front passenger seat was the Zhou family’s sister-in-law, and in the back seat were him, Zhou Zeliang, and Zhou Zeliang’s four or five-year-old nephew.
There was hardly any seat left for Cao Feng to sit.
Cao Feng was standing outside, looking at the gap a few centimeters wide, neither getting in nor not getting in. Not knowing what to do.
Duan Yuche gave Zhou Zeliang a look and asked him in a low voice: “Cao Feng is coming with me, you didn’t tell… your ge?”
“Yesterday, I… played a game and forgot about it.” He scratched his head. His sister-in-law heard their conversation and said, “It’s okay, the three of you sit in the back. Son, come here, sit in front with mom.”
The child then began to make trouble: “I won’t sit with you, I won’t sit in front!”
“Be obedient, how can he sit if you don’t get up? Come, mom will hold you.”
“I don’t want to! I don’t want to!” When the child was making trouble, he even used his eyes to look at his uncle.
One big and one small exchanged meaningful glances. The child began to cry frantically, wailing and saying not to sit in front.
The sister-in-law was very embarrassed. She glanced at Cao Feng, who she didn’t know, and said, “Let me sit in the back, Zeliang, you sit in the front…”
No matter how sluggish Cao Feng was, he could see clearly——he was unneeded.
Duan Yuche remained silent, glanced at Cao Feng, then lowered his head.
“It’s fine. You guys have fun. I won’t go. It just so happens that I have something to do.” Cao Feng smiled broadly. Bending over to Duan Yuche in the car, he said, “Gege will wait for you to come back home. This for you. Eat when you get hungry on the way.” He took out all the snacks and plum candies in his school bag, stuffed them to him through the car window, and then asked him, “Xiao Che, have you brought your coat? The weather in Wu Town has turned cooler these days…”
Duan Yuche shook his head.
Cao Feng then gave him his school uniform coat as well: “The coat has just been washed and is very clean. You can wear it when you’re cold.”
Duan Yuche looked sideways at him. He then smiled with his teeth showing: “Give ge a call when you arrive.”
Duan Yuche nodded and said yes. He pulled the strap of his school bag with his hand. After a pause, he added, “Are you really not going?”
“I won’t go, you have fun. Pay attention to safety and call if something happens.”
He nodded and waved his hand: “Bye-bye.”
Cao Feng waved goodbye while watching the car drive away. After a long while, he carried his school bag that was obviously lighter yet was heavy at home.
The villa was empty and he was the only one left.
Cao Feng had nothing to do, so he started to clean the house, beginning from the kitchen, wiping the table, mopping the floor, and watering the plants…
In the car, Zhou Zeliang was talking about Cao Feng to his ge and sister-in-law.
“A student sponsored by Uncle Duan, an ethnic minority who makes a fool of himself all day long.”
“Xiao Che took him to wash his hair that day. That guy hadn’t been to a barber shop. Guess what, he used the shampoo sink as a foot bath…” He was never tired of telling this joke.
Hence, the day before yesterday, Duan Yuche called him and said, “My dad made sure I took him with me.” When the time came, he thought of a way——bribed his little nephew with toys.
Whenever his nephew made trouble, his cousin and sister-in-law couldn’t do anything about him.
He didn’t tell Duan Yuche about this either.
The journey was very dull and it was thanks to Zhou Zeliang’s “jokes” Duan Yuche told him that it was filled with laughter.
Duan Yuche wrinkled his brows, as if a little unwell.
Zhou Zeliang noticed, so he asked what’s wrong with him. Duan Yuche said, “I’m a little carsick.”
“Then what’s to be done? How about you eat a piece of xylitol?”
“No need. I’ll just listen to some songs.” As he said, he put on his earphones and then took out the plum candy that Cao Feng had just given him from his bag. Some sour sweetness pressed under his tongue, and vaguely heard Zhou Zeliang saying to his cousin: “Ge, drive slowly, he has motion sickness…”
Cao Feng diligently cleaned the house and played songs to listen to. After an hour, he received a message from Duan Yuche talking about Wu Town.
After he received the message, he continued to clean, and after noon, he changed his clothes and went out.
The other day, he asked the girl at the front table to inquire about a few good places to buy gifts.
It’s Duan Yuche’s birthday at the end of this month. He hasn’t prepared a gift for him yet. Cao Feng’s hands could only do some rough work and carpentry. If he gave woodcarving, it would appear that it wasn’t innovative enough.
He went into the boutiques in the mall, shopped around, and was scared off by the prices of thousands of yuan. After leaving the mall, he went elsewhere to continue shopping and entered an antique store. The things sold in this small store had the atmosphere of ancient times. Cao Feng looked at them one by one and his eyes lit up. He casually picked up a metal piece that looked like a pocket watch and asked, “Boss, what is this?”
The owner said in a lazy voice: “That is a miniature music box.”
“Music box? Can this play a song?” He had never seen such a small music box before. When he went to the gift store just now, he also saw music boxes, but they were all very large.
The owner said, “Yes, there is a clockwork in the back, it will produce a sound by turning it around.”
Cao Feng tried it, and sure enough there was a sound, and it was Beethoven’s 《Für Elise》.——
When he used his younger brother’s computer, he listened to Beethoven’s piano songs exclusively and listened to many of them.
Cao Feng was so interested, put the miniature music box and asked, “How much is it?”
“This is an original antique mechanical music box from Sankyo, Japan.” The owner was then a little bit more energetic at this time, took a look, and said, “The piece you took is basically brand new. It’s in good condition and costs two thousand five hundred.”
Cao Feng: “…”
Cao Feng went out of the antique shop and received a call from Duan Shumin.
“Hello? Xiao Feng, have you guys reached the hotel?”
Cao Feng said they had arrived and asked him, “Have you arrived?”
Duan Shumin also said that he had arrived: “You two have fun.” Soon, the two ended the call, and Cao Feng took the bus home.
He was not familiar with the road conditions here, so he accidentally took the opposite route, and as a result, by the time he arrived home, it was almost nine o’clock in the evening.
Opening the gate and entering, Cao Feng saw a black car parked in the garage——the one Duan Shumin drove away in the morning.
Didn’t Uncle Duan go to Shanghai?
How come the car is at home?
Cao Feng was a little puzzled. He took out the key and opened the door.
At the same time, the two individuals on the sofa were taken aback and hurriedly separated.
Cao Feng turned on the light and happened to see Uncle Duan, who was usually in a suit. He was sitting on the sofa with his clothes somewhat unkempt and his hair disheveled. He also tried to block the face of the girl next to him with a sofa pillow.
But Cao Feng’s gaze still met the girl’s eyes——
The atmosphere was quiet for a long time. Duan Shumin stared at him. After a while, he didn’t see Duan Yuche, he then breathed a sigh of relief: “Xiao Feng, you… didn’t you go to Wu Town? Where’s Xiao Che?”
Cao Feng was so embarrassed that he didn’t know what to do. Without any better option, he explained the whole story: “The car is a bit too narrow to sit, so I-I didn’t go.”
Duan Shumin barely regained his composure and said, “This matter, do your uncle a favor and don’t tell your didi, okay?”
Cao Feng looked at the girl with some difficulty, unable to say a few words. She didn’t seem to be very old. Maybe she had just gone to college. She blushed and hung her head, not daring to look at him.
He didn’t know what had happened to the Duan family, nor did he know what the story was between Duan Shumin and Duan Yuche’s mother. He only knew that Duan Shumin was too important to Duan Yuche. According to his younger brother’s character, his father would not be allowed to marry twice——but this matter wasn’t something he could care about as an outsider.
Cao Feng was silent for a while, and heard Duan Shumin say, “Help uncle keep the secret for the time being. Regards it as Uncle’s request, okay?”
Thanks for the update! 😭💕💕
welcomee!! tysm for reading 🥰
Thank you for the chapter ❤️
Thank you for still updating this novel 🥺
Not sure if it’s just me or that there is a repeated whole paragraph after the “Regard this as Uncle’s request, okay.”
Thanks for the chapter
thanks for noticing, i fixed it already 🥹
why did them leaving him behind get me so emotional? QAQ
thanks for the chapter <3
For me it’s the utter rejection disregard Duan Yuche’s friend has for Cao Feng constantly. How Cao Feng was so excited to go and how Duan Yuche noticed the predicament Cao Feng was in with the whole car space thing but chose not to say anything. That’s why I felt emotional and cried a little. Not to mention, I had this type of situation happen to me in the past multiple times where people somehow “forgot” and me trying to not think about it would stupidly think that it was not unintentional. I was at a point of finally actually liking Duan Yuche and then this happened.