Chapter 17: Notice
“What about me? What about me? Sister Ning!”
Fu Ting, anxious and scratching his head nonstop, was like a firecracker jumping around her in all directions.
“You go too…”
A huge surprise smashed down, and before he could steadily catch it, it burst with a splat sound—
“Go send us back.”
When they were little, they could ignore the difference between boys and girls, but now they were all grown up—how could they let him follow them back and hang on the wall to sleep at night?
Her movements could be called lightning-fast; Fu Ying, already out with her schoolbag on her back, slapped the top of her noisy wailing silly younger brother’s head. “If you call again, I’ll tell Mom about that ten yuan…”
“Two good sisters, let’s go. Younger brother will definitely send you safely home!”
His attitude did a complete one-eighty; after hearing her threat, Fu Ting’s expression turned serious and he didn’t dare act up anymore.
“Come, sisters, give the stuff to me!”
“Hmph~ That’s more like it. Here, take it.”
A handle delivered right to her door—how could she not seize it?
Smug Fu Ying tossed her own schoolbag and the leather bag in Su Ning’s hand right to him.
“Mom, Grandpa, we’re heading out first~”
“Be good over there and listen to Sister Ning Ning!”
“Go on, be safe.”
After bidding farewell to Grandpa Fu and Auntie, Su Ning took sister and brother Fu Ying and Fu Ting and left Qinghe Lane.
……
On the main street that had completely darkened, there was a streetlight every twenty meters, each topped with an iron-covered round box.
The lights weren’t bright but attracted swarms of moths and flying insects, clustering in the light beams and occasionally banging into the light bulbs with thudding sounds.
Unlike the usual chill, the street was filled with many smartly dressed men and women, all with excited looks on their faces, hurrying toward the same place.
“They must all be rushing to see the new song-and-dance drama The East is Red. My classmate said it’s super exciting and great!”
Just from the direction they were heading, Fu Ting guessed the result. Leading the way obediently in front, he said in a fawning tone, “Sister Ning~ When summer vacation starts, take us to see it, okay~”
“Straighten out your tongue before you speak!”
Rubbing the goosebumps on her arm, Fu Ying glared coldly and snapped at him. “You think you’re still a two-year-old baby? Using a baby voice to act cute—aren’t you disgusted?!”
“Cough~”
For a moment, he was so embarrassed by his own older sister that his face turned bright red. Fu Ting turned his head awkwardly but still stubbornly shot back, “Wasn’t saying it to you, so why do you get to complain?!”
“No fighting.”
If she didn’t stop these two now, they’d start fighting right on the street. Su Ning could only helplessly speak up early.
They really were like the pair of sworn enemies Auntie mentioned—missing each other terribly when apart, but unable to say two nice words once together.
“When you two are on break, before I leave, I’ll take you to have some real fun. Shopping, song-and-dance dramas, roller skating—no problem.”
“……”
For a moment, even the most playful Fu Ting lowered his head in silence.
Fu Ying even directly grabbed her arm and asked the question she’d bottled up inside for so long. “Sister Ning Ning, do you really have to go to Xiangnan? Couldn’t you just stay in Beijing City and work without going to university?”
“Yeah, the job over there is all set!”
“Then…”
When he looked up again, Fu Ting had regained his usual energy and grinned playfully. “Sister Ning, wait for me. I’ll graduate next year and go to Xiangnan too!”
Right, it could be like that!
Reminded by her dumb younger brother, Fu Ying shook off the worry and reluctance on her face: Going to Xiangnan, she’d not only see Sister Ning Ning all the time but also temporarily escape Mother’s ‘surveillance’ for total freedom!
The more she thought, the better the idea seemed. If Grandpa and them opposed it, she could just secretly sign up as an educated youth to go to the countryside.
“Alright, all come find me!”
She didn’t object to the two who came up with ideas on a whim; on the contrary, Su Ning even thought it was pretty good this way.
Xiangnan was better than someplace with nothing but endless sandy wastelands and dust, like the great Gobi.
Once there, with her and the Peach Blossom Spring Space, she wouldn’t worry about not being able to support a few more people.
“Then it’s settled. Sister Ning Ning, we’ll come throw ourselves on your mercy then!”
“Good. Now, watch the road obediently.”
“Oh~”
……
Steel Factory Family Courtyard gate.
Xu Zixin stood by the cement wall with its red slogan, his checkered shirt tucked into black straight-leg pants, his bespectacled face wearing his signature smile, looking all gentle and refined.
The dim light from the Tingzi behind the wall stretched his shadow long; who knew how long he’d been waiting there—his face and neck had several fresh mosquito bites swelling into little red envelopes.
When he finally spotted the three appearing around the corner, the relieved Xu Zixin strode forward and asked warmly, “Why’d it take so long to get here?”
“Tingzi and Ying Ying are here? Come on home. The factory gave out Dragon Boat Festival welfare yesterday—super sweet big watermelons!”
“Dad.”
“Uncle Xu!” “Good evening, Uncle Xu!”
“Good, good, good. Head home first, call your grandpa, and then we’ll have a good chat.”
Exchanging a glance with the two sisters, Fu Ting flashed a mouthful of big white teeth, smiled, and rubbed the back of his head. “Uncle Xu, I won’t go. It’ll be too late getting back, and Grandpa will worry even more.”
“No rush, Tingzi. Later you can ride my bicycle home.”
“Right? You’re at Uncle’s home, how can you not come in? Let’s go!”
Xu Zixin threw an arm around his shoulders, smiling as he led him through the gate while giving a hard pat. “Good kid, you’ve grown so sturdy. You look more and more like your dad every day—father and son, like father like son!”
Lagging several big steps behind the chatting pair, Fu Ying glanced ahead, then sneaked a look at Sister Ning Ning beside her, still feeling something was off.
Holding back again and again, but unable to contain herself, Fu Ying tugged her arm, stood on tiptoe, leaned close to her ear, and whispered, “Sister Ning Ning, you… did you fight with Uncle Xu?”
“Hm? Why do you ask that?”
“I can’t say why, but it just feels weird between you two?”
Su Ning unconsciously stopped walking, licked her lips, and countered, “That obvious?”
“I don’t know about others, but anyone familiar with how you two used to get along would definitely notice.”
Her hand at her side clenched tight; her mind quickly recalled their interactions since she’d ‘seen’ Xu Zixin’s true face at the hospital.
She’d thought she’d controlled herself well, pretended okay…
In the end, she was still too inexperienced, too naive in front of the old fox.
“Sister Ning Ning?”
“Ning Ning, what secrets are you two little sisters whispering? Hurry up a few steps—lots of mosquitoes outside!”
Feeling her fingertips trembling slightly in her grasp, actually feeling cold in this scorching summer heat.
Fu Ying looked seriously at Uncle Xu’s profile for the first time. Was it an illusion? In the dim light, his eyes held an indescribable meaning that inexplicably sent a chill down her spine.
Looking closely again, there was nothing—just the familiar warm and loving Uncle Xu she knew.
But her body reacted faster than her brain; Fu Ying instinctively blocked his inquiring gaze, squeezed her palm, and whined unnaturally, “Uncle Xu, no looking! This is a girl’s secret!”
With a bit of angry embarrassment, a flush even shot straight from her neck to her face.
Thinking of something, Xu Zixin cleared his throat uncomfortably, turned his head, and first led the curious Fu Ting, who wanted to turn back and see what was up, into the stairwell.
