Chapter 33. Someone surnamed He just called me looking for you...
Shen Xinan told Wen Xingmou that it was time to leave.
Wen Xingmou reluctantly returned the little rabbit to Lin Wuyang, "Will you bring it to school tomorrow?"
Lin Wuyang blinked her big eyes and looked quietly at Wen Xingmou.
"Okay, you have to bring a different doll every day."
Wen Xingmou slung her schoolbag over her shoulder. For the first time, she didn't want to go back so soon. "Teacher Shen, Fourteenth Brother needs to close all the windows and lights. He might not be out of school yet. Shall I wait for him to finish school before I leave?"
Shen Xinan laughed and said, "I just passed by their classroom and saw that he had already closed it. He's probably waiting for you outside right now."
"Is that so? Okay then." Wen Xingmou picked up her water glass and asked Shen Xinan, "Will Lin Wuyang be scared being alone in the classroom?"
If Lin Wuyang is scared, she can stay with him; the teacher said we should be helpful.
Shen Xinan said, "It's okay. Teacher Lin will come back to be with him right after seeing off the others, and his grandmother will arrive soon too."
Ms. Lin is their class's life teacher.
"Oh." Wen Xingmou followed Shen Xinan out, and when she saw An Fusheng standing outside the gate, she immediately became excited.
Wen Xingmou ran over quickly and hugged An Fusheng's leg, "Big brother, why are you the one picking me up today?"
“Mrs. Wen has been working a lot these past few days and doesn’t get enough sleep during the day. She needs to sleep until later before going to the hospital, and Mrs. Lou will have to stay at the hospital for a while longer. So she can’t come over when you get out of school, and I’ve asked her to pick you up.” An Fusheng took Wen Xingmou’s schoolbag and water bottle. “Let’s go.”
"Handsome...handsome guy?" Shen Xinan suppressed her excitement. Wasn't this the handsome guy Wolf Fang Potato who suddenly disappeared and made her miss him every day?
"Huh? You... hello, you... is there... anything I can do for you?" An Fusheng was a little flustered when a young and beautiful woman, who was Wen Xingmou's teacher, suddenly called him "handsome." She seemed very excited.
Realizing there were still students and parents around, Shen Xinan tried to calm himself down. "Why don't you go sell wolf tooth potatoes?"
Although the grandma's wolf tooth potatoes were delicious, they just didn't taste quite the same as the ones this handsome guy made.
God is my witness, she wasn't just infatuated; she was only after the wolf-tooth potatoes that the other person made.
An Fusheng suddenly realized and explained, "Oh, I was just helping out there for two days. I've found a job now, so I'm not going back."
"Huh? What kind of job did you find?" Shen Xinan was quite disappointed. Would he not be able to afford food anymore?
“It’s about being a chef,” An Fusheng said.
"A chef? Which restaurant?" Shen Xinan's heart, which had been sinking, surged again. She had to go and eat there!
An Fusheng smiled and said, "It's right here in the orphanage."
"An orphanage? Is that their orphanage?" Shen Xinan pointed at Wen Xingmou and An Shisi.
“Yes.” An Fusheng nodded.
How is she supposed to eat at the welfare home? Shen Xinan's heart sank again.
"Teacher, my older brother is an amazing cook." Human joys and sorrows are not shared, and Wen Xingmou proudly boasted to Shen Xinan, "My older brother's pumpkin-flavored milk sticks are also incredibly delicious."
Shen Xinan finally understood why Grandma Lin Wuyang had asked her for the milk stick recipe yesterday—it really was delicious! Waaah… she wanted the recipe too… waaah… but even if she got the recipe, she wouldn't know how to make it… waaah…
"Well... if there's nothing else... we'll be going now." Seeing Shen Xinan's heartbroken appearance, An Fusheng stammered as he said goodbye.
"Okay, bye-bye..." Shen Xinan said weakly.
"Goodbye, Teacher Shen," Wen Xingmou said.
An Fusheng took Wen Xingmou and An Shisi to the primary school to pick up Wen Xinglin.
The children love new experiences. Today was the first time their older brother had come to pick them up, and they were very excited. They chattered incessantly with An Fusheng about what was happening at school the whole way.
"Big brother, Lin Wuyang has a rabbit. It wears a blue dress and it looks so pretty."
"Yeah?"
"That's right, its skirt has pretty flowers on it, it's really super pretty. I also love blue, next time Mommy Wen buys me a skirt, I want a blue one too."
"OK."
Wen Xingmou spoke excitedly and walked quickly, soon becoming breathless.
"Can't walk anymore?" An Fusheng asked. "Do you want me to carry you?"
"want!"
An Fusheng squatted down, and Wen Xingmou jumped onto his back, "I love it when you carry me, big brother."
“Fourteenth Brother, I’m taller than you, hee hee!” Wen Xingmou looked down at An Shisi.
"Hmph! Only those in the lower grades need to be carried. I'm in the middle grade and I walk by myself," An Shisi said sourly.
Wen Xingmou shook her head happily, not caring that she was in the youngest class.
An Shisi took a small metal car out of his pants pocket. "Big brother, look, my Land Rover."
"Where did you come from?" If An Fusheng remembered correctly, there didn't seem to be this toy at home.
“I swapped it with Fang Wangxi,” An Shisi said.
An Fusheng had a bad feeling. "What did you offer in exchange?"
“I have three milk sticks, one for Fang Wangxi, one for Fang Wangxi’s sister, and one for me. That’s just right.”
"You're quite generous, giving away two out of three." An Fusheng asked, "Didn't Aunt Lou say that milk sticks shouldn't be shared with other children?"
Why is it that none of these kids are under control?
“I didn’t give him any today; we exchanged them.”
An Fusheng: "..."
"Big brother, you're right. I did the laundry yesterday and I'm driving my Land Rover today, hehe!" An Shisi said, even crawling on the ground to drive his car.
An Fusheng kicked An Shisi: "Get up quickly, your clothes are dirty, you'll have to wash them yourself when you get home today."
"Do I have any other Land Rovers tomorrow?" An Shisi asked innocently.
"You'll have two pear-shaped bumps tomorrow!"[1]
An Shisi silently got up.
“Brother, that’s where they sell wolf tooth potatoes,” Wen Xinglin said, pointing to Grandma Ao’s stall. “You used to be there too.”
“Yes, that’s Grandma Ao’s stall. I was just helping out before,” An Fusheng said. “I was also surprised when I passed by this street on my way to pick you up. It turns out everyone lives very close to each other. No wonder you were able to run into me last time.”
"Shouldn't we go and say hello?" Wen Xinglin asked.
"No need, I already told Grandma Ao when I arrived."
The food street was packed with people. An Fusheng carried Wen Xingmou on his back with one hand and held An Shisi, who was so engrossed in his Land Rover that he forgot to watch where he was going, with the other hand. Looking at the stalls surrounded by people, An Fusheng said to Wen Xinglin, "This is the busiest time right now, so let's not bother you."
It's easy to go from simple to luxurious. The past two days, there was food when they came home from school. Today, as soon as they returned to the orphanage, An Shisi and Wen Xingmou were clamoring to find food again.
I made quite a few pumpkin rolls in the morning. They ate some for breakfast, and Wen Xingrui and Wen Xinghe ate a few more during the day. There were still four or five left. An Fusheng knew that An Shisi and the others would be hungry when they got home, so he put them in the rice cooker to heat up before picking them up from school.
The steamed buns were already heated and kept warm in the rice cooker. An Fusheng took them out and said, "They're a little hot, let's eat them later."
An Shisi and Wen Xingmou's eyes lit up the moment they saw the food, and they jumped and bounced around An Fusheng's legs to express their excitement.
"Big brother, I love you!"
"I love my big brother too!"
"Okay, okay, I understand."
Why does he keep hugging people's legs? It's really itchy for him!
An Fusheng took the two children off his lap. "Go and see if the bean sprouts have sprouted yet."
"right!"
The two of them rushed to the backyard.
An Shisi and Wen Xingmou, like thieves, furtively lifted a corner of the black plastic sheet covering the ground, tacitly even lowering their breathing.
"Fourteenth Brother, did you see that?"
"not yet."
It wasn't until An Shisi saw a tender white sprout emerging from a bean that wasn't covered by soil that he suddenly screamed, "Ah! It's sprouting! It's sprouted!"
Wen Xingmou leaned closer to take a look and screamed, "Ahhh! I saw it too!"
Hearing their screams, Wen Xinglin couldn't resist his curiosity and ran over to see what was going on.
"Brother Xinglin, look! It's here!"
Did you see that?
“I saw it.”
The steamed buns had almost cooled down when An Fusheng shouted from the kitchen, "Do you still want to eat steamed buns?"
"I want to eat!"
"I want to eat too!"
The food was definitely more tempting, and the children rushed back in a flurry.
"Big brother, I want to eat!"
An Fusheng gave each person a steamed bun, and the group picked them up and started eating them.
"Waaaah, the steamed buns are so delicious!"
"This steamed bun is as soft as a cloud in the sky."
Are clouds soft?
"Yes, because clouds and cotton candy look very similar, and cotton candy is soft."
...
As Wen Min came out of her room, she saw An Fusheng walking into Wen Xingrui's room from behind.
"Fu-zai," Wen Min called out to An Fu-sheng.
An Fusheng pulled his foot back from inside. "What's wrong?"
“A man surnamed He just called me looking for you,” Wen Min said. “He seemed to want you to pack something.”
"Oh, can I borrow your phone to make a call?" The man surnamed He must be the original owner's boss.
When An Fusheng went to the company last time, He Zhi wasn't there. What if he's not there again this time? Wouldn't that be another wasted trip? An Fusheng needs to call He Zhi in advance to arrange a time.
Wen Min unlocked the phone, scrolled to the recent call log, and handed it to An Fusheng: "It's the first number."
"Okay." An Fusheng took the phone. "Thank you."
Wen Min went to Wen Xingrui's room.
An Fusheng deliberately walked a little further away before making the call, mainly because he was afraid that if He Zhi scolded him, Wen's mother would hear it and he would lose face.
"Hello." The phone rang three times before being answered.
An Fusheng felt he wasn't ready, so he took a deep breath before answering the phone: "Mr. He... it's me."
He Zhizhi became sarcastic as soon as he heard An Fusheng's voice, "An Fusheng, you're something else. You run away at the drop of a hat, and once isn't enough, you come twice. What, are you playing the workplace game with me, running away and being chased?"
"I...I didn't run away, I left you a note." An Fusheng also felt a little guilty.
Speaking of sticky notes, He Zhi got angry immediately: "You write a sticky note and then throw it on the ground. It's one thing to throw it on the ground, but you also stomp on it a few times. What, you don't want to work here anymore, so you think you can act like you're above the law?"
“I didn’t,” An Fusheng argued. “I stuck it to the door, but…it might have fallen down by itself.”
He was too lazy to listen to his explanation: "I'm quitting, so I'm coming over and taking all your things with me!"
"Will you be at the company tomorrow? I can't open the door if you're not there," An Fusheng said.
"Yes, yes, yes! Come over here right now!"
"...Okay, thank you, Mr. He."
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The author's note: "梨疙瘩" means to tap someone's head with your hand. ("梨疙瘩" likely has a dialectal connotation; it's a term I've heard since childhood. I wonder if there are other variations, haha.)
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