Chapter 12, Fish: They're not trash, they're treasures...
"Where do you want to go?"
"A recycling station." As if afraid her uncle wouldn't know, Qi Youyu gave a vivid example: "It's a place that recycles cooking machines and washing machines."
Yan Xingli didn't want the child to misunderstand: "I didn't sell the cooking machine to the scrap yard; I returned it to the merchant."
"I know what a scrap yard is for, but I want to ask, what are you going to do there?"
Yu Yu: "Buying things."
Yan Xingli looked utterly bewildered: "You're just a little foreigner... what are you going to the recycling center to buy? Cardboard? Pots and pans?"
"Uncle, this is a secret, I can't tell you now."
Yan Xingli has never sold scrap. He doesn't like his house to be cluttered, and he clears out all the express delivery boxes every day.
Since he had nothing better to do, Yan Xingli opened the map and searched for the nearest scrap yard, finding one 18 kilometers away.
After confirming that the business was open, Yan Xingli grabbed his car keys and took Qi Youyu downstairs.
Yan Xingli's first appearance on a lifestyle variety show revealed his surprisingly shrewd mind. He changed to a low-key car and brazenly drove out his only ride.
Cullinan's grand entrance immediately sent the live chat into a frenzy.
Many celebrities drive luxury cars in private, but they are all top-tier stars who have been in the industry for many years. Their status in the industry is unquestionable.
When a young actor like Yan Xingli drives a luxury car, people just wonder why he does it.
Holy crap, a Cullinan! Why is my dream car with you?!
[Let's see who takes pity on Yan Xingli again.]
[The entertainment industry is really lucrative; no wonder everyone's scrambling to get in.]
Just then, Yan Xingli looked at the blue emotion crystal disguised as a pendant and revealed a meaningful smile.
This made the comments even more sarcastic, and the fans who spoke up for him were silenced by the backlash.
In City A, thousands of miles away, Li Zhi, watching the live stream, rubbed her throbbing temples, feeling utterly exhausted.
What's going on with this banquet? Didn't the plan clearly state that it should be low-key? Flaunting wealth is a big no-no; how could he forget such a simple principle?
As the car drove along the busy road, no matter how the street scene changed, the child's eyes always shone with a clear light.
Qi Youyu turned her head to look out the car window, offering the camera a glimpse of her rounded profile; her attention was entirely focused on the taxi that was slowly catching up.
"Uncle, this car with the hat on it is so pretty, what's its name?"
Yan Xingli glanced at the rearview mirror: "It's called a taxi."
"You've never seen it before?"
"No." Qi Youyu was practically pressed against the car window. "Uncle, they're all wearing different hats. Some are blue, and some are yellow."
Yan Xingli: "Yes, there's also a green one."
Qi Youyu immediately raised her hand and suggested, following her uncle's suggestion, "Uncle, let's put a green hat on your little car too."
The child clapped his hands happily, thinking it was great: "When spring comes, I'll say: 'Ah, Uncle, your little car has sprouted!'"
The child was impulsive, and Yan Xingli was taken aback by her suggestion.
He closed his eyes, calmed himself, and hummed, "I don't want to."
While waiting at a red light, Yan Xingli turned around and looked at the short little guy in the seat, and a sudden thought struck him:
"Fish, say 'taxi' once."
Qi Youyu blinked and obediently repeated, "Taxi."
"Is that so, Uncle?"
Yan Xingli: "Yes, you said to try it quickly."
Qi Youyu didn't understand why her uncle's eyes were crinkled with laughter, unable to hide his happiness, but her uncle's happiness made her happy.
The child read faster and faster as his uncle instructed.
"The pig cart is being unloaded."
"Pig-cart".
"Uncle, there are so many pig-shaped carts on the road."
Yan Xingli, sitting in the driver's seat, trembled with excitement: "Yeah, there really are a lot."
Seeing Yan Xingli smiling, Yu Yu also grinned and giggled foolishly, filling the car with the laughter of the two.
"Uncle, what's the pig-shaped cart for?"
"Pig transport."
[I can't laugh anymore, hahaha.]
[Turns out teasing kids can really be addictive, haha]
Yan Xingli stopped laughing, cleared his throat, and asked, "Don't you have any there?"
Yu Yu thought about it seriously for a moment, then shook her head and said, "We don't have a truck to transport pigs."
The child's desire to share kicked in, and he gripped the handrail with both hands, craning his neck to ask, "Uncle, have you ever seen a flying car?"
"Never seen it before."
"Then wait for me to come home, and I'll treat you to a ride in the flying car."
"Okay, we're almost there. Sit down."
*
The owners of the scrap yard are a middle-aged couple.
They don't usually watch TV, so when they first saw Yan Xingli, they didn't recognize him as a celebrity. They simply thought he was quite handsome and had a little girl with thick eyebrows and big eyes by his side who looked like a lucky doll. They couldn't help but feel a natural affinity for him and were exceptionally warm and kind to the grandfather and granddaughter.
Yan Xingli didn't know what kind of junk Qi Youyu wanted, so he let her see for herself when they arrived at the location.
Qi Youyu seemed to see a buffet, jumped up and cheered, and was led by the female boss into the inner room like a happy little dog to choose her food.
Between the grandmother and grandson, the photographer decided to first shoot Yan Xingli, and then shoot a short clip of the child picking through recyclables.
Qi Youyu had a clear goal. She walked around inside and came out with a burlap sack in her hand, which she dragged on the ground with a clanging sound.
Yan Xingli, who was chatting with the male boss, was stunned when he saw this: "You've already finished choosing?"
The female boss smiled and said, "This child is very quick and efficient, without any hesitation. He's a child who plans things out."
Knowing that the aunt was praising her, Yu Yu proudly raised her head and replied sincerely, "Thank you, Auntie, you're great too."
Yan Xingli: "Open the bag and see what you've packed inside."
The work itself can be kept secret, but the materials can be.
Fish waved her little hand: "Don't blink, look all you want."
The fertilizer sack, bulging like a giant stomach, was pulled open, revealing mineral water bottles, some broken children's toys, and an inconspicuous piece of sheet metal inside.
Yan Xingli was truly at a loss for words.
What can we do with all these things together?
He picked up one of the dirty toy excavator cars and said gently:
"Yuyu, you like this, right? Uncle will buy you a new one, so put this one back."
Upon hearing this, Qi Youyu quickly snatched the toy car back and hugged it tightly to her chest, saying nervously, "Uncle, I want this one."
[YuYu's reaction is so strange, it doesn't fit the usual logic of children liking new toys. Doesn't anyone at home buy her toys? Is that why she's so fond of her old ones?]
Oh my god, what a pitiful child.
Are Yu Yu's parents reincarnated stingy people? How much could a toy cost? Look how greedy their child is!
The child's whimsical ideas were beyond Yan Xingli's comprehension.
Seeing that Yu Yu insisted on having the broken toys, he stopped trying to stop her. He glanced at his phone; it was still early.
"Would you like to pick out something else?"
"No need, no need." Qi Youyu wasn't greedy. "These are enough."
"Alright then."
Qi Youyu spent less than fifty yuan on the sack of recyclables she selected. Yan Xingli helped her stuff the recyclables into the trunk and turned on the navigation to go to the nearest shopping mall.
He found those broken and tattered toys an eyesore and felt he had to take the child to get some new toys.
As soon as the car arrived at its destination, Qi Youyu hurriedly got out and went to the trunk to check if her precious broken car had fallen apart.
Yan Xingli really didn't want to show off his precious car in the street, so he used a fertilizer bag instead.
He stopped the child and reassured him, "Your baby is alright, let's go inside quickly, I'll take you to KFC later."
The child, who was pouting and unhappy just a second ago, lit up instantly at the mention of KFC, grabbed his uncle's hand, and started pecking at rice like a chick.
"Okay, okay, Uncle, let's go now."
Meanwhile, in a corner unnoticed by the grandfather and grandson, a stylishly dressed foreign man with brown skin gradually approached them.
"Excuse me."
Before the figure came into view, a peculiar smell wafted into view.
Yan Xingli instinctively protected Yu Yu and took a step back, his eyes slightly stern.
The foreign man standing in front of the grandmother and grandson had deep-set eyes, a high nose, and a set of white teeth. He opened his mouth and spoke a long, fast string of English.
Here it comes! The classic scene of a foreigner asking for directions is hilarious. You can practically feel Yan Xingli's panic even through the screen.
[Yan Xingli's evasive and shifty gaze is exactly like mine when I bump into my teacher on the street—I'm terribly guilty and flustered.]
Yan Xingli was completely bewildered by the garbled, curry-flavored English.
I already find English annoying, but "curry-accented English" is even more hellish.
Yan Xingli smiled and said, "I don't understand Korean."
Indian guy: "?"
"Korea?"
The Indian man asked uncertainly again, "Foot basin?"
Yan Xingli's expression changed immediately.
Why are you swearing? And swearing so filthyly! Yan Xingli's face darkened. "NO, bye-bye!"
The viewers in the live chat were practically laughing themselves silly.
[Hilarious! The moment the Indian guy mentioned Japan, Yan Xingli clenched his fists! Hahaha!!]
As an international metropolis, S City has a foreigner every five steps, and five out of ten foreigners can speak fluent Chinese.
Yan Xingli has lived in this city for many years and has never encountered a foreigner asking for directions. Now that technology is advanced, there are plenty of translation software available, and navigation apps even have English versions. Asking people is not as convenient as consulting software.
It's rather suspicious that foreigners, whom we rarely encounter asking for directions, are suddenly appearing in droves today. We just saw off an Indian and now an American has arrived.
With cameras following them, Yan Xingli couldn't ignore the foreigner asking for directions, so he simply pretended to be disabled, pointing to his ear and waving his hand.
Wow, this guy's awesome!
[Sobbing, as someone who's terrible at English, I have to give this a huge thumbs up! I just want to know how foreigners can accurately spot someone like me asking for directions from a crowd of people?]
Qi Youyu was still dazed and didn't understand what was going on. She shook Yan Xingli's sleeve and asked softly:
"Uncle, what happened to your ears?"
"Do you want me to fix it for you?"
Yan Xingli's eyes flickered slightly: "No need."
"You're better again." The child's dark eyes widened. "Were you faking illness?"
"Of course not."
How can an adult's actions be called faking illness?
Yan Xingli corrected him sternly: "This is called a polite refusal."
He held up a finger and spoke with conviction, his demeanor bearing a striking resemblance to Qi Youyu.
"When you encounter something you don't want to hear or someone you don't want to see, and you're too lazy to respond, pretending to be deaf and dumb is the most dignified way to deal with it."
"Fish, this is the wisdom of adults."
Listening to Yan Xingli's profound and unfathomable words, the child gradually became serious and nodded vigorously: "I understand, Uncle, I will remember."
At this moment, Yan Xingli was unaware of the seriousness of the matter. Seeing that Yu Yu was so teachable, he patted the child's head with satisfaction.
A note from the author:
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