After a round of “harsh interrogation,” Old Xu finally surrendered every last bit of loose change in his pockets to Zhang Hong.
Then he slumped onto the sofa, looking utterly defeated and thoroughly aggrieved.
Xu Ye put his backpack in his room, came back out, sat down beside Old Xu, draped an arm over his shoulder, and grinned sheepishly. “Dad, I didn’t do it on purpose.”
Old Xu: “Get the hell away from me.”
Xu Ye chuckled. “It’s only a hundred-odd yuan. I’ll transfer it to you right now.”
“Don’t bother.”
Old Xu was standing firm on this.
One thing had nothing to do with another. That was his hard-earned secret stash. Whatever else, Old Xu had never once thought about taking money from his son.
“Dad, come on, it’s you and me. I’ll tell you the truth — I opened a fruit shop at school with some classmates. We clear ten thousand or so a month.”
Xu Ye didn’t dare bring up the trading company. If his parents learned he was sitting on nearly two million, they’d assume he’d done something illegal. So even with the fruit shop, he understated the profits considerably.
But Old Xu’s eyes went wide all the same.
He made only four or five thousand a month at his work unit. Even adding in the year-end bonus and various benefits, the monthly average topped out at six or seven thousand.
Hearing that Xu Ye could clear ten thousand a month was flatly unbelievable to him.
Seeing his father’s disbelief, Xu Ye pulled out his phone, opened Alipay, and showed him the payment notifications.
When Old Xu saw the running record of fruit shop receipts — four or five yuan at the low end, a few dozen at the high end — he asked, dazed, “Ten thousand or so every month?”
“Mm.”
“You little rascal. Barely started university and you’re out-earning your own father.”
Xu Ye asked, insufferably, “Should we tell Mom?”
“Not for now.”
“Why not?”
“Right now she looks forward to video-calling you at the end of every month to ask whether you’ve got enough money. If you don’t even need us for living expenses anymore, your mom’s going to stop ‘nagging’ you the way she does now.”
Xu Ye thought about it, then nodded. “Fair point.”
Old Xu hurriedly pulled out his phone and issued an order. “Now transfer your old man some money. Your mother’s got me on such a short leash I don’t have cigarette money in my pocket.”
“Dad, could you stop calling yourself ‘your old man’ every other sentence?”
“Am I your old man or not?”
“You were just saying I should be the father.”
Old Xu smacked him on the head. “A complete inversion of the natural order!”
Hearing the noise, Zhang Hong poked her head out. “Old Xu, what are you doing?”
Old Xu said guiltily, “Nothing, nothing. Just asking about things at school.”
Xu Ye pulled out his phone and was about to transfer the money when Old Xu said quickly, “Don’t send it on WeChat.”
“Why not?”
“Your mother checks my phone. Send it to my Alipay.”
Xu Ye obediently opened Alipay and transferred two thousand yuan, not forgetting to add, “Try not to spend it all at once.”
Old Xu murmured agreement automatically.
It was only after Xu Ye had gotten up from the sofa that it registered.
Hang on.
Isn’t that a line a father is supposed to say to his son?
…
Xu Ye finished a steaming bowl of dumplings, then went to shower.
Zhang Hong told Old Xu to wash the dishes, and Old Xu trotted off to do it eagerly. What could you do — as long as there was money in his pocket, he was happy to do anything you asked.
When Xu Ye came out of the bathroom, Zhang Hong asked, “Son, what do you want for breakfast tomorrow?”
“Radish pancakes,” Xu Ye answered offhandedly. [TL: 萝卜饼, a savory pan-fried pastry stuffed with shredded white radish — a common regional breakfast item.]
“All right.” Zhang Hong smiled. “I’ll have your dad go buy some tomorrow. Remember to dry your hair before you sleep.”
“I know, stop fussing over me.”
After a few more rounds of nagging, Zhang Hong went back to the master bedroom. By the time Xu Ye had dried his hair and lay down in his room with his phone, it was already twelve.
He quickly messaged Chen Qingqing: “I’m home. You’re asleep already, right?”
He was about to send a goodnight—
Chen Qingqing: “Not yet.”
Chen Qingqing: “I was waiting for you.”
Xu Ye: “What are you waiting for me for? It’s late, just go to sleep.”
Chen Qingqing: “Can’t sleep.”
Xu Ye: “Then I’ll sing you a lullaby.”
Chen Qingqing: “Then I’ll put my earphones in.”
Xu Ye: “Wait—”
Xu Ye: “You actually want me to sing? It’s midnight.”
Chen Qingqing: “You’re the one who offered.”
Xu Ye: “I still need to message your mom.”
Chen Qingqing: “Why?”
Xu Ye: “Your mom picked me up at the train station earlier.”
Xu Ye: “She insisted on it herself.”
Chen Qingqing: “How would my mom know you were coming back to Jiangzhou?”
Xu Ye: “She called to ask if I was visiting you this weekend, and I told her I was on the train.”
Chen Qingqing: “Oh.”
Chen Qingqing: “I’ve got my earphones in.”
Xu Ye understood the meaning instantly and sent a voice call request.
Once the call connected, he did in fact start humming a lullaby — the old cradle song, the one that opens by telling a beloved child to sleep. [TL: 《摇篮曲》 — the standard Chinese lullaby familiar to virtually everyone, sung here from the first line.]
He was about to keep going when Chen Qingqing cut him off. “Don’t sing any more.”
“Then I’ll switch to a different one.”
“Which one?”
Xu Ye sang a few lines from an old, gentle nursery song — the kind about a bright moon, a still wind, leaves against the window lattice, and crickets chirping like the plucking of strings. [TL: 《听妈妈的话》-era classic, 《月儿明，风儿静》 — a well-known Chinese cradle song from the film Ivan’s Childhood era of Chinese cinema; instantly recognizable as something a mother would sing.]
“All right,” Xu Ye said. “Now it really is time to sleep. Goodnight.”
Chen Qingqing: “Goodnight.”
The night passed without incident.
Xu Ye slept until nine the next morning. He’d actually woken once at seven-thirty — a habit formed at school — but back at home he’d rolled over and gone back to sleep, and when he opened his eyes again it was nine.
He washed up and came out to find Zhang Hong taking radish pancakes out of the microwave, while Old Xu carried out a bowl of congee and set it on the table.
Xu Ye picked up his chopsticks and wolfed everything down. Breakfast dispatched in short order, he walked to the door and said while putting on his shoes, “Mom, I’m heading out to take care of something. If I’m not back by noon, don’t wait on me for lunch.”
“Where are you going?”
“Heh heh. Classified.”
Zhang Hong was about to say something when Old Xu caught her arm. “Leave him be, let him go. He’s a grown man — are you afraid he’ll get lost?”
Jiang Meilin knew Xu Ye wouldn’t be in Jiangzhou for many days, so around seven that morning she’d already messaged him to come over before noon.
Xu Ye left the compound, hailed a taxi, and headed for Red Leaf Estate.
At ten-thirty, he arrived at Jiang Meilin’s house.
“The contract’s on the table. The bank card has five million in a current-deposit account. The PIN is Qingqing’s birthday — you do know her birthday, don’t you?” Jiang Meilin said, getting straight to the point.
Xu Ye smiled. “Of course. We watched a movie together on her birthday. And that evening I got to eat her birthday cake, didn’t I.”
“Then have a look at the contract.”
As she spoke, she poured a cup of hot water and brought it over to him.
Xu Ye picked up the pen from the table and, looking at the bank card, asked, “With this much money — would I need to apply to the bank to transfer it all at once?”
“You shouldn’t have to. I’m a bank member. If the transfer won’t go through, you can ask your Uncle Chen.”
Xu Ye was about to answer when the doorbell rang.
Jiang Meilin laughed, exasperated. “Speak of the devil.”
She went and opened the door, and sure enough it was Chen Hansong. He glanced at Jiang Meilin, then at Xu Ye sitting on the sofa, hurriedly kicked off his shoes, and strode straight in. “Xu Ye, you’d better think this through carefully. You should know there are plenty of people in this world who won’t earn five million in their entire lives.”
Xu Ye picked up the contract, smiling. “Uncle Chen, you’re too late. My mother-in-law and I have already signed.”
(End of Chapter 160)