Chapter 75: Warmth
Xu Xin hesitated for a moment, a trace of sadness on her face. She turned her head and said, "It's nothing, just a quarrel. She doesn't want me as her daughter anymore, so why should I go back?"
I felt that things were not as simple as she said, but I could do nothing if she refused to say it. I tried to enlighten her: "There is no parent in the world who does not love their children. They discipline you because they care about you. Even if they scold you, it is for your own good. As a child, you should accept it with an open mind, instead of running away from home in anger. Your behavior is extremely irresponsible, and it will make your whole family sleepless and restless. Are you happy and satisfied with this? You are young and ignorant, and you don't know how precious family harmony is. When you reach my age, you will regret it. Listen to my advice, go back and apologize to your parents, they will definitely forgive you, and then live happily every day, how wonderful! You are wandering outside like this, without a job and without a place to live, how many days do you think you can live? As the saying goes, it is good to be at home for a thousand days, but it is difficult to go out. Do you think you can live happily without the care of your parents?"
I talked a lot, but Xu Xin just sneered. She said, "Of course I know that home is good. If I were at home, would I let you bully me? But there are some things you don't know, and I can't tell you. Oh! If only my sister were here, she would support me in many things and help me make decisions. This time I came here to play for two days. When my sister comes back from the United States, I will go to her."
I smoked a cigarette and looked at Xu Xin, who looked determined. She really seemed to have made up her mind not to go home. I really didn't know what kind of conflict she had with her family that made her so determined to leave. But then I thought, this is someone else's family's business, why should I care so much? Besides, I have no right to care. It seems that I still can't tell her that her brother came, so that she won't think of running away again. When her brother arrives at dawn, they should solve their own family affairs by themselves.
Xu Xin changed the subject and asked me, "By the way, is that woman really your girlfriend? I saw my sister brought you home, and I thought you two were developing a relationship. I didn't expect you to have a girlfriend. Now my sister is going to... Well, why don't you dump her and chase my sister? I can help you!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she immediately changed the topic: "No, no, you are such a bad person. If you become my brother-in-law, then I will not be able to take revenge. Let me tell you, no one has dared to hit me since I was a child. Today, you not only hit me, but also hit...that place. This is simply a great shame. Now I am single and have no choice but to compromise, but one day I will settle accounts with everyone, just wait!" Xu Xin became more and more angry as she thought about it. She clenched her two little fists, wishing she could beat me up right now.
I almost laughed when I heard that. I thought that children are just children, they are simple-minded and can't hide their secrets. If it were someone else, even if they hated me and wanted to do something to me, they would hide it and would never tell me in person that they wanted to retaliate against me. Doesn't that remind me to be careful?
I smiled and said, "Your sister has a boyfriend. Even if I want to pursue her, it's too late. What's your sister's status? How can a commoner like me pursue her? How can she be interested in me? Have you read too many romance novels? I just went to your house to pick up something, it's very simple. Why do your family members think that I have some relationship with your sister when they see me?"
Xu Xin said, "You want to take that scarf? Haha, I think you are a weird person. What are you going to do with that scarf? Baibai..." She suddenly stopped talking halfway. I didn't understand what she meant, so I asked, "Baibai what?"
Xu Xin just smiled mysteriously and said, "Well, it's just a white scarf, it's not very valuable, is it worth it for you to come all the way to my house in the middle of the night to get it?"
I took a puff of my cigarette and sighed, "Your sister and I... met by chance, and I asked her for it. This scarf was given to me by my girlfriend, and I can't explain to her if I don't bring it back." The misunderstanding between Xu Shu and I has been cleared up, and I don't want to bring it up again, so I'll just omit it.
Xu Xin leaned against the back of the sofa and said, "Boring! I thought something was going to happen between you two. But after all this time, this is all."
I put out my cigarette again and felt my eyelids begin to fight. I felt a little sleepy. This little witch might have just woken up. She was very energetic. I reminded myself not to fall asleep. If she had the opportunity to run away, the consequences would be serious.
The little witch suddenly asked me: "Hey! Do you have anything to eat at home? I'm a little hungry."
I thought about it and said, "I'm afraid there are no snacks for you. But if you just want to fill your stomach, I have noodles that can be cooked. Do you want any?"
The little witch nodded and said, "Yes, yes. I don't care what it is. As long as I can eat it, I was chased by you just now. I ran very fast and consumed a lot of energy. I'm really hungry."
It would have been fine if she hadn't said anything. Once she said that, I felt a little hungry. It was almost three in the morning. No wonder I was so sleepy. I stood up and prepared to go to the kitchen. I hesitated for a moment, and just in case, I said to the little witch, "You'd better come in with me, so that you don't have any evil ideas."
The little witch raised her lips in dissatisfaction and said, "Humph! You still don't believe me!"
I laughed as I walked into the kitchen, “Can you make people believe that?”
"What do you mean? Why can't I be believed?"
I smiled without answering and started to boil water and cook noodles.
The little witch leaned against the kitchen door, watching me cook noodles, and suddenly asked, "Hey! You and I are not related, and we are not familiar with each other, why do you care about me? And you will never let me leave you, oh! It's really rare to find someone as nosy as you nowadays!"
I scolded her, "What a nosy woman! You are such an ungrateful kid. I told you that your brother and I are good friends. How could I just watch my friend's sister end up living on the streets and do nothing? If anything happens to you, I will be so guilty that I won't be able to face your brother for the rest of my life."
"Is it really that simple?"
"How complicated could that be?"
The little witch made a "tsk " sound, expressing her disbelief.
I didn't care whether she believed it or not. I ignored her and put some leftovers in the noodles and boiled two eggs. After they were cooked, I added a little curry. The noodles were fragrant and delicious. I picked up a bowl for the little witch and we ate it in the kitchen with a slurp.
The little witch was eating with a smile on her face, and praised me, "Oh! I didn't expect you to be so clumsy, you can cook some delicious noodles."
I laughed and said, "Are you praising me or insulting me?"
After eating, I washed the dishes and said to Xu Xin, "Okay, you are full now, and it's still a while before dawn, so go to sleep for a while. If you think my quilt is smelly, then go to my sister's room to sleep, but don't wake her up."
The little witch actually stretched herself and said, "I'd better sleep in your room. It may be a little smelly, but I hate sleeping in the same bed with others." She walked into my room and deliberately provoked me when she closed the door, "Don't fall asleep outside, or I might take the opportunity to slip away!"
I was angry and helpless, so I had to smoke desperately to stay awake while sitting on the sofa. But sleepiness was like a huge temptation, constantly tempting me to close my eyes. I leaned on the sofa and felt bored. After forcing myself to hold on for an hour or so, I finally fell asleep.
I don't know how long it was before I was woken up by someone shaking me. Someone called me, "Brother, wake up! The girl is gone!" I was startled in my daze, and quickly opened my eyes and sat up, saying, "Who? Who is missing?"
My little sister squatted in front of me and said, "It's the girl you brought home last night. When I woke up, I found that there was no one around me, not even her clothes, shoes and socks. Did she leave?"
I stood up quickly, walked to my room in two steps, and pushed the door. The door opened, and I saw that the bed was empty. Where was the shadow of the little witch?
I cried out in pain, secretly regretting that I could not even hold on to this little bit of sleepiness and fell asleep at the critical moment. Now the little witch has escaped again. How can I explain this to Brother Xu?
I was filled with regret and anxiety. I rushed out of the door in a few steps, down the stairs, and came to the community garden. It was already dawn for a while, and the residents who got up early to exercise were doing exercise in twos and threes. I asked a few people, and they all said that they had never seen the girl come out of my house. It seemed that she had slipped away earlier. It was impossible to chase her now.
I regretted it so much that my intestines almost turned green. I thought to myself, no matter if it was possible or not, I had to go find her. Otherwise, how could I face Brother Xu when he came? I was about to go out and look for the little witch on the street. I just ran two steps, but I heard the little sister upstairs calling me loudly: "Brother! Brother! Wait a minute!"
I turned around and said to the little sister who called me from the window, "There's no time. I'm going to go out and find someone!" The little sister in the window suddenly laughed, and then dragged a person over and showed up in the window. That person had a naughty look and a cute face, but who else could it be but the little witch Xu Xin?
I was surprised and happy, and hurried back upstairs to go home. As soon as I entered the door, I saw my sister and burst into laughter again. She said, "Brother, look at how anxious you are. My little sister is the bathroom, and you rushed out in a hurry. If I didn't stop you, you would probably go around the street looking for her, right?"
I smiled awkwardly, and the big stone in my heart fell to the ground, so I ignored my little sister's ridicule. But the little witch Xu Xin was very strange. She stood quietly behind my sister, with a look of three parts joy, three parts shyness, three parts mischievousness and one part touching.
At this time, the door of my parents' room opened, and my father came out yawning and said, "Xiaoying, why are you grinning so foolishly so early in the morning?" Then he saw Xu Xin and said, "Oh, the little girl is awake too?"
I hurriedly introduced him to Xu Xin and said, "This is my dad."
Xu Xin was very polite at this time. She bowed and said, "Hello, Uncle Tang. My name is Xu Xin. I'm sorry to have troubled you last night."
My father smiled and said, "It's okay, it's okay. Just treat this place as your own home. Don't be polite. Xiaoqian has already told us about your situation. I think you are quite sensible. You are not like what he said..."
I quickly interrupted and said, "Ah! She is a very sensible girl. Hey! Mom, you are up too?" My mother also came out of the room, and I introduced her again. As usual, Xu Xin bowed and greeted, and my mother smiled and praised her for being a good child.
When Xu Xin wasn't naughty, she was born with the ability and talent to attract people's attention. After just a few words, my parents were so happy that they almost treated her as their own daughter. I could only shake my head.
After a while, my mother said she was going to buy breakfast. Xu Xin took advantage of the moment when no one was paying attention and whispered viciously in my ear: "What did you say about me to your parents? I'm warning you not to ruin my image!"
I laughed and said, “Do you have an image?”
Xu Xin snorted and said, "Don't be complacent, I'll get back at you sooner or later!"
After everyone finished washing up, my mom also bought breakfast and the family invited Xu Xin to sit down and eat. Xu Xin sighed: "Uncle Tang's house is still warm, the whole family eats breakfast together happily. It's nothing like my home. When I eat breakfast, my dad is still working, my mom hasn't gotten up yet, my brother never eats with us, and my sister is often not at home. How can it feel like home? Oh! It's different when compared."
My dad said, "No, not really. Every family has different situations. You can't say that if no one eats breakfast, the family will be cold. I see that your family members care about you a lot, like your brother..."
When I heard my dad was about to reveal the stuffing, I quickly grabbed a steamed bun and handed it to him, saying, "Dad, have a steamed bun!" Then I winked at him repeatedly.
While drinking porridge, Xu Xin asked in confusion: "My brother? What's wrong with my brother?"
My dad is an honest man and he never lies. He ignored my look and said, "Don't you know? Your brother was so worried when he saw you run away from home. He mobilized the troops to look for you all over the world. He searched for you for a whole day and didn't even have time to drink water. How great! Can you say he doesn't hurt you?"
Xu Xin's face began to darken. She turned her head and stared at me, saying, "What's going on? Didn't you swear not to call my family?"
