Chapter 5 Friends and Father
After Liu Xingquan's father's funeral, Liu Xingquan never came to the Yan family again.
A few days later, a new guest came to Yan's house. He was Yan's good friend of the same age, named Cui Mingzhi.
"Master Yan, what are you doing? You haven't responded to me for days." Cui Mingzhi complained, "I called you several times on QQ, but you didn't even reply."
Xiaozhen said that she was unable to log into her QQ a few days ago.
"Can't log in? Has your account been hacked? Was it because the last time you went to the Internet cafe..." When he mentioned the word "Internet cafe", Cui Mingzhi stopped talking and looked around.
"My mother isn't home."
"I came here because I knew your mother wasn't around." Cui Mingzhi breathed a sigh of relief. "Every time I come to your house, your mother's eyes always sentence me to death six times."
“Why six times?”
"That's a description! I'm scared of your mother!"
Xiaozhen soon understood why Cui Mingzhi was afraid of Yan's mother. Unlike Liu Xingquan, the excellent student in the parents' minds, Cui Mingzhi came here just to play games.
Cui Mingzhi turned on the home console with ease, and the two of them, each holding a controller, started playing games on the big screen. Xiaozhen was no stranger to video games. Intelligent creatures used them to find entertainment to stimulate the brain center to secrete pleasant chemicals to kill time. For him, this was just a test of the body's reflex nerves. Xiaozhen glanced at the operation process and got started smoothly.
They were playing a two-player battlefield game, and soon Choi Ming-chi was beaten badly. "My gaming experience was terrible," Choi Ming-chi said, looking unconvinced.
So they changed the game to see who could climb the mountain past the monkeys in the shortest time. At first, Choi Ming-chi had the upper hand, but when Xiao-zhen understood the game mechanics, his score was so high that Choi Ming-chi was left at the bottom of the mountain.
"This is unscientific!" Choi Ming-chi shouted. So they changed the game. Choi Ming-chi was beaten to pieces like the previous two times. After being beaten by Xiao Zhen, Choi Ming-chi fell on the sofa wailing, "How did you suddenly become so powerful!!"
“I’m just following the rules.”
"Really? You are insulting me." Choi Mingzhi hummed on the sofa and used inappropriate terms, then he exclaimed: "What is this?"
The chicken stood on the armrest of the sofa and looked at him with its head tilted.
Xiao Zhen said, "This is a chicken named Captain Spotted."
"chicken!!!!!!"
"Yes, a chicken."
“Why do you have chickens at home!!!”
“Chickens are common animals in the human ecosystem.”
"No no no, I mean, why is this chicken in the room??"
"It's my friend."
“Will it poop!!”
"nonsense."
"Why would you keep something like this? It poops!"
Captain Madara hissed, "Can't you poop, you two-legged freak!"
Of course, Cui Mingzhi only heard a series of hoarse chicken cries. Cui Mingzhi tried to touch it, but was hit by Captain Ban's wings and screamed. Xiaozhen told him that this chicken was very smart and would hold a grudge if someone said something bad to it. There are many ways to retaliate, not just by shitting.
Cui Mingzhi couldn't help but move to the side.
Xiaozhen didn't want to waste an afternoon just playing games, so she started to inquire about other information.
Even Cui Mingzhi knew about the death of Liu Xingquan's father.
When talking about this topic, Cui Mingzhi's voice became a little deeper. "Liu Xingquan's father passed away. His mother is so pitiful."
Xiaozhen asked him if he knew what kind of person Liu Xingquan's father was.
"Isn't his father your family's former driver? You should be the most familiar with him." Cui Mingzhi scratched his head and said, "He is a quiet uncle, very kind. My dad said that driver Liu is an honest man and is blessed."
"What's the meaning?"
"Liu Xingquan's mother is so beautiful and kind." Cui Mingzhi sighed, "This is what I envy most about Liu Xingquan. His mother is a fairy!"
“…”
"If Liu Xingquan's mother was my mother, I would also be able to get first place in the grade."
"Are you assuming that you and Liu Xingquan are brothers?"
"Tsk, who wants to be brothers with that hypocrite? I mean if."
"So if you assume that Liu Xingquan is your brother, your IQ will be able to make a qualitative leap now?"
"…Are you mocking my low IQ?"
"I am basing my speculation on your assumptions."
"Bullshit!" Cui Mingzhi said angrily, "I just think Liu Xingquan's mother is very good. Forget about Liu Xingquan. My cheap brother who beats my heart every day is enough to make me want to die every day."
The stepbrother Choi Ming-chi mentioned was a burden brought by his stepmother. Choi Ming-chi's mother divorced his father and ran away many years ago. Now his father has remarried, and Choi Ming-chi has a stepmother and a stepbrother.
His stepbrother's specialty is to say one thing to one person and another thing to another person. Together with his stepmother, he coaxed his father into submission. Now his father's heart has been tilted to the sky, as if his stepbrother is his father's authentic son. Choi Ming-chi then corrected his statement: "In fact, my stepbrother is his biological father, my biological grandfather!"
Xiaozhen began to feel confused about the chaotic ethical relationships of human beings.
Before leaving, Choi Ming-chi gave him a few books, which were numbered on labels, indicating that they were from the local library.
Xiao Zhen is not unfamiliar with the term library. Even in the Milky Way, the library is the collection place of intelligent life civilization and the most convenient place to obtain knowledge.
He opened the library website and checked the serial numbers of these books. The information showed that these were books that the host Yan Zhen borrowed a month ago and were about to expire.
"Are you going to the library to return books?" asked Yan's father who had just walked in.
Xiao Zhen nodded. Father Yan came back earlier than usual today.
"I have to go out and do some work. It's just on my way. Let's go together."
Driver Zhang at the side quickly caught up. Father Yan shook his head to indicate that he didn't need a car, and went out with Xiaozhen.
This was the first time that Yan Zhen was alone with his host's father. Yan's father was a tall Homo sapiens with broad shoulders and a well-proportioned body. Because of his regular exercise, Yan's father looked very energetic and much younger than his actual age.
Captain Madara jumped onto Xiaozhen's head and found a suitable position to lie down.
Father Yan, who had been staring at the chicken, finally couldn't help but ask, "You want to take it to the library?"
"yes."
"I don't think the library would let your Captain Madara in."
Captain Ban shouted , "Racial discrimination! This is politically incorrect!" He flapped his wings in protest. However, in Yan's father's eyes, it was just a chicken chirping.
"Got it." Xiao Zhen grabbed Captain Madara and stuffed him into his schoolbag, zipping it up.
"..." Father Yan said, "Your little chicken might suffocate."
"It won't die." Xiao Zhen answered confidently: "My schoolbag has enough gaps for air circulation."
The father and son fell into silence.
It was summer, and the crape myrtles on the roadside looked even more beautiful in the sunlight, and the golden privets were neatly piled on both sides of the street. Going forward and down the slope, there was a river across the city. When they reached the river, Father Yan suddenly stopped and looked straight at the other side. Xiaozhen followed his gaze and saw only a lush green park on the other side.
"It's all demolished." Yan's father sighed, "I used to pass by here every morning on my way to school."
"oh."
"There used to be a newspaper distribution point here. At that time, my father and I had to get up at 5 o'clock in the morning to get newspapers here."
" Is it a part-time job?"
"Yes." Father Yan nodded. "First, I had to sort and fold hundreds of newspapers, one by one according to the layout. There was ink on the newspapers, and my hands were black every time I folded them. Sometimes I forgot to wash my hands and got my face stained. I ran to school like this, and a bunch of people stared at me. I thought it was because I was handsome." He smiled as he lost himself in memories.
"The leader of the newspaper distribution point is a good person. He knows that I have to rush to school, so he specially assigned me to the nearest community along the way. After delivering the newspapers in the morning, I can just make it to school."
"At that time, I didn't have a good environment like you. Your study room was bigger than the house your grandparents and I lived in. The three of us lived in a small room of 10 square meters for more than ten years. I didn't have a desk, so your grandma's sewing machine workbench was my desk. Every day I had to finish my homework before your grandma used it. The dining table at home was temporarily built with a piece of board. It had to be put away after dinner, otherwise there would be no place to turn around in the room."
"I once visited a classmate's home. He had a small garden that was big enough for dozens of people to have a party, but what I envied most was his study. Since then, I have been dreaming at night, imagining what it would be like to have a small room that truly belongs to me."
Xiao Zhen listened to Yan's father's past quietly, guessing that he was trying to encourage him to study hard. But his host's father didn't say that.
"At that time, the only thing I was proud of was my academic performance. Because my grades were good, I would work as a tutor during the holidays. But one time, the home of a junior high school student I tutored was robbed and many of their valuables were stolen. So the parents suspected me, just because I was poor. They made a big fuss, called the police, and even reported the matter to the school."
Xiao Zhen raised her head and looked at Yan's father. The man's face was calm, without sadness or anger. "The teachers and the principal at school all believed in me, argued for me, and asked me to use evidence to speak. I am still grateful to them. Unfortunately, I was still bullied and excluded by my classmates at school, and was given a very bad nickname. Later, the police confirmed that it was his child who did it secretly, and the matter was finally over. Unfortunately, no one apologized to me."
"You hate them?"
"No."
"I wished then that I could be like the principal and my teacher. I wish now, too."
Father Yan put his hand on Xiaozhen's shoulder. "We have a live-in nanny and a driver. I have subordinates and employees in my company. But you have to remember that they are not our servants. I pay money and they provide labor. In the spirit of the contract, they are equal to me. Your father is not superior to others."
After saying this, Father Yan gently patted Pa Xiaozhen's head. There were sparkling reflections of water in his eyes.
Xiao Zhen nodded.
The library was not far away, so Father Yan sent Xiaozhen to the door and left.
Xiaozhen walked up the stairs, and the chicken in the schoolbag suddenly shouted, "Hey, look over there."
A bird's head appeared from the seam of Captain Ban's schoolbag. Xiao Zhen pressed the bird's head back with her fingers: "Don't come out. These humans are not happy to see me bring a chicken in."
"I mean, look at the guy next to him! Your host's father is really an incredibly wealthy man."
Xiao Zhen also saw the small stele, and was stunned after reading the words on it clearly.
This is a library donation monument, and on it is clearly written the name of Yan Zhen’s father: [Yan An].
