Once Old Zhang and Old Xu had left for work together, Xu Ye drove Wang Yuxin over to Red Leaf Estate again.

Having a car really was convenient. He was planning that tonight, once he’d laid his cards on the table with Old Zhang about the company, he’d go and have a look at a dealership nearby and buy himself a runabout for something around a hundred thousand.

Jiangzhou to Shanghai was about seven hours on the road if the traffic held off, and Zhiwei had a licence too, so the pair of them could swap over on the expressway and it wouldn’t be too tiring.

The morning was short and went by in a blink.

In the afternoon Xu Ye drove Chen Qingqing and Wang Yuxin into town to order a birthday cake for Old Zhang.

On the way back he asked, smiling, “Qingqing, do you want to come home with me tonight?”

“I…”

Chen Qingqing squirmed and couldn’t get a word out. She was thin-skinned. She had nothing to say to strangers at the best of times, let alone going to Xu Ye’s house to meet his parents.

Xu Ye glanced over at her and went on, “My mom was telling me to bring you home just last night. But I’ve already explained on your behalf — I said you’re timid and there’s no chance of you daring to come yet.”

Chen Qingqing kept her head down. “Not everybody has skin as thick as yours.”

“I know. Which is exactly why I explained it for you.”

“There’s no hurry,” Xu Ye said. “There’ll be plenty of time later. Tonight I’ll do my mom’s birthday, and tomorrow evening I’ll take you to Encounter Music Bar. I wonder whether Xiaonuan jiejie and Zhou Ying are still there.”

“I’ll ask Auntie Wang, then we’ll know. She goes to see that bar’s proprietress often enough.”

“Oh, right. Auntie Wang was the one who took you there the first time.”

They talked the whole way, and after dropping Chen Qingqing home Xu Ye drove Wang Yuxin back to his own compound.

The moment the door was open, Xu Ye said in a rush, “Quick, quick, quick — let’s get the place tidied up. They’ll be off work any minute.”

“Okay.”

The two cousins set about cleaning the place up, straightening everything and mopping the floor until it was spotless. Only then did Xu Ye get the cake out, set it on the table, and put the candles in ready.

“Yuxin, go out on the balcony and keep watch. Shout when you see Dà yí coming. We’ll give her a surprise.”

“Righto!” The little thing was thoroughly enthusiastic.

Xu Ye went into the bathroom and dug out the lighter Old Xu kept hidden in there. They had been waiting barely ten minutes when Wang Yuxin called out, “Xu Ye-gege, Uncle’s back.”

“My mom took the scooter to work today, so she definitely won’t be in the car with him. Keep watching.”

“Oh.”

A moment later Old Xu was knocking at the door. He came in, saw the cake on the table and the spotless living room, and laughed out loud. “Your mom’s going to be over the moon.”

“Dad, did you get the phone?”

“Got it.” Old Xu pulled a phone box out of his briefcase, smiling. “The shop recommended it. There were two versions, and I bought the more expensive one — put in two hundred of my own on top.”

The model was printed on the box: an OPPO from the Find series, running a Snapdragon 801. That year, practically every mainstream handset processor was that same chip.

“She’s coming, she’s coming — Dà yí’s back!”

Wang Yuxin shouted it from the balcony. Xu Ye hurriedly lit the candles and had Old Xu switch off the living room light.

Zhang Hong came all the way to the door carrying two bags of groceries. She knocked twice, and when nobody opened it she muttered, “Where’d everyone go,” fished her keys out of her bag and let herself in.

The living room was pitch dark. Just as she was reaching for the light, Xu Ye came out carrying the cake, Old Xu and Wang Yuxin with him.

“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you~~~”

The three of them sang it together.

Looking at the cake in her son’s hands, and the line written across the top of it — Happy Birthday, Mom — Zhang Hong froze for a second, and then her eyes went wet.

The most romantic thing Old Xu had said in his entire life was the “I love you” he’d managed when he proposed, and he had never once brought himself to say anything like it since.

Every birthday until now had been a bowl of noodles in the morning and the family going out for a meal in the evening.

Zhang Hong had in fact been thinking they wouldn’t go out this year — restaurant ingredients weren’t fresh and the hygiene wasn’t up to much either, so she might as well cook a couple of dishes at home.

It had never once crossed her mind that Xu Ye would have a surprise waiting for her at home. She put the bags down on the floor in a hurry and complained, “You gave me a fright” — while her face was nothing but smiles.

“Mom, go on. Make a wish.”

Zhang Hong stepped forward smiling, pressed her palms together, and prayed silently: let the whole family stay healthy; let Xiao Ye be safe and happy, and make something of himself in the years to come…

Once she’d blown out the candles she had Wang Yuxin turn the light on, then snatched the bags up off the floor and hurried into the dark kitchen. While nobody was looking, she quietly wiped the corner of her eye.

“Mom, what are you doing in the kitchen? Come out and have some cake.”

“You go ahead. I’ll get the vegetables washed first.”

“Aren’t we going out to eat later?”

“We’ll just eat at home.”

Xu Ye shot Old Xu a look, and Old Xu trotted off to the kitchen and hauled Zhang Hong back out.

Then he took the new phone out of his briefcase and held it out in front of her.

Zhang Hong glanced at it. “What’s this?”

“Birthday present.”

“Where did you get the money?”

“Year-end benefits from work,” Old Xu explained quickly. “There was a bonus.”

“There’s nothing wrong with my phone.”

“You’ve cracked the screen.”

“It still works.”

“Enough. It’s bought now. Get your son to move the data off the old one onto the new one later.”

Zhang Hong took the phone, and didn’t forget to smack Old Xu’s great pig’s trotter of a hand while she was at it, and “warned” him: “No more throwing money around.”

Old Xu gave a sheepish smile.

Xu Ye saw straight through the whole thing and said nothing about it. He quietly cut a few slices of cake and handed them round to his mom, his dad and little Yuxin, then said, in all seriousness, “Mom, there’s something I need to come clean about too.”

Zhang Hong looked up, saw how serious his face was, and her brow drew together slightly.

“What is it?”

“You have to promise me first that you’ll stay calm once you’ve heard it.”

Zhang Hong went blank for a moment, then asked very carefully, “Don’t tell me you’ve got your girlfriend pregnant?!”

Xu Ye rolled his eyes. “Of course not.”

Zhang Hong let out a breath. “Go on, then. What is it?”

“I’ve been running a bit of a business at university. I’ve made a little money these past six months.”

“A business? What business could you possibly run?”

“I opened a fruit shop with my roommates first, and then we started a company.”

Old Xu’s face went completely blank.

The fruit shop I knew about. What’s this about a company?

“A fruit shop? A company?”

Zhang Hong thought about it and asked quickly, “You haven’t lost money on it, have you?”

“No. Not only haven’t I lost any, I’ve made some. In six months I’ve made two… two hundred thousand and change.” Xu Ye had come within a syllable of saying two million out loud, and changed course just in time.

Even so, both Old Xu and Old Zhang got a shock when they heard it.

More than two hundred thousand!

The two of them together couldn’t earn that much in a whole year.

“Really?”

“Mm.”

To make them believe him, Xu Ye opened his phone banking app and showed them the balance. Zhang Hong looked at it, turned her head stiffly, and brought her hand down hard on Old Xu’s thigh.

“Ow!” Old Xu yelped and nearly came out of his seat. “What are you hitting me for?”

Zhang Hong said, dazed, “Seeing whether I’m dreaming.”

(End of Chapter 185)