Chapter Sixteen

  The next day, Yu Cai woke up at almost the same time as usual and lay in bed for another half hour before getting dressed after hearing some noise outside.

  As soon as she came out of the room, she saw Qi Shu Fan sitting on the sofa reading a newspaper. Seeing her, he smiled and said, "Teacher Xiao Yu is up so early, did you sleep well last night?"

  Yu Cai nodded and went to the bathroom to wash up. When she came out again, there were already two cups of steaming hot milk on the table, along with some pastries and bread.

  "Sit down, would you like some bread or something? The porridge will be ready soon."

  Yu Cai sat down and drank a mouthful of milk, and her stomach suddenly felt warm and comfortable. "Hasn't Jixi gotten up yet?"

  "He woke up and didn't like eating breakfast."

  With a gloomy face, she patted her own face and said, "No wonder, I'm someone who can't even go a day without eating."

  Qishu suddenly smiled and said, "I've invited He Qi and Yunyun to come over and play. Do you guys want to go out or just have some fun at home?"

  "Uh, never mind, I have something else to do today, maybe next time."

  Qishu knew that Fan was aware of her situation, but...

  "What's up? Is it important? I've already told them you're in."

  Yu Cai briefly explained the situation, and Qi Shu Fan immediately said, "Why don't we let Auntie go help out? She doesn't have anything else to do anyway, and we can go eat outside."

  Yu Cai hastily shook her head, "No way, that's too troublesome, no way".

  Qishu Fan changed the subject, "What are Little Yu's plans for winter break?"

  "Let's go home for Chinese New Year."

  "What do you usually do during Chinese New Year?"

  "Watching TV, playing cards."

  "Do you like playing cards?"

  "It's not about winning or losing, it's about the atmosphere and the people you play with."

  "Then last time you didn't like playing cards with Shi Zhe and the others, so you pretended to sleep?"

  Yu Cai had long forgotten about that matter, and upon hearing it, she became embarrassed, "It wasn't that either, I was just really tired that day".

  "You seem to not like playing with Ruzhi and the others. It's fine that Ruzhi doesn't talk, but Yunyun is such a lively and lovely kid."

  "Uh, no, I don't know them..."

  "You've already taught him a semester's worth of lessons, and you still study together every day, yet he's still not familiar with it?"

  Yu Cairen was at a loss for words, just as Auntie happened to be walking over with a bowl of porridge, so he quickly got up to take it.

  Auntie seemed to have gotten used to Qi Xizhe not eating breakfast and only brought out three bowls. Yu Cai saw this and said, "Not calling Qi Xizhe anymore?"

  Qishu raised an eyebrow, and Yucai, imitating his expression, also raised an eyebrow. "Maybe he's especially hungry today?"

  Qī shū fán zhàn qǐ shēn lái dào qī shì zhī mén qián qiāo qiāo mén, "shì zhī, chūlái chī zǎofàn".

  Translation:

  Qi's wife got up and went to the door of his study, knocked on it and said, "Qi, come out and have breakfast."

  After waiting for a while without any movement, Qi Shu Fan and Zhao Yu sat there with their shoulders shrugged, not expecting the door to suddenly open. Qi Shi Zhi walked in with an expressionless face and sat down at the table.

  Auntie went to scoop porridge while happily saying, "This is just right, how can you not eat breakfast, it's the time for growth".

  Yu Cai Chao raised an eyebrow and said with a smile, "You're up quite early, I thought I was the early riser!"

  Qī shì zhī diǎn diǎn tóu, shì yì zì jǐ tīng dào le.

  English Translation:

  He nodded slightly to indicate that he had heard it.

  "I actually used to love sleeping in a lot, whenever I had a holiday I would sleep until noon, but now I'm better."

  Alright, Yu Cai, you really have a bit of an awkward tone going on here.

  At this time, Ji Shu had also come back to his senses from the shock and returned to the dinner table, "Eat, or it will get cold".

  Yucai started eating the porridge before noodles, and Auntie's porridge cooking skills are still good, and also added some coarse grains with a healthy consciousness.

  "Who does Xiao Cai like to play cards with?"

  Yu Cai was very depressed, why hasn't the card game thing passed yet?

  "Uh, usually just a few days during Chinese New Year, usually with uncles and aunts."

  "Oh, so Xiaocai likes playing cards with people older than herself."

  "Uh, no, the key is playing cards with them, they'll let me win, and I can occasionally bluff."

  Qishu Fan hurriedly covered his mouth and smiled, "It seems that Xiaocai's goods are not good".

  Yu Cai smiled and didn't answer.

  "It's settled then, from now on let them yield to you too."

  "That's not okay, they're all big shots, what makes them think they can order me around? But if it were you, I might make an exception."

  "That's for sure, you don't know how badly I lost that night!"

  Yu Cai was amused by his exaggerated expression, "How miserable?"

  "One yuan per game, I lost sixty."

  "If I were you, I'd play sticker tag with you, lose a round and get stuck with one," Yu Cai imagined Qi Shu Fan's face covered in stickers and laughed even harder.

  "Then I won't dare let you in the future," said Qi Shu Fan with a smile.

  "What do you play during Chinese New Year?"

  "Watching TV and chatting, going out with the village kids, sometimes playing cards."

  "How many days will you stay in the countryside?"

  "Usually from twenty-eight to fifth of first month".

  "What did you do after coming back?"

  "Relax and read a book, play with classmates, watch TV and read a book."

  "Not playing cards?"

  I don't like it very much.

  "Not online either?"

  I'm not very good at it.

  "It can make you happy, going online is fun and also very important."

  Qishu nodded in agreement, "However, as one gets older, it's harder to learn new things".

  Yu Cai's face was stern, "Uncle, if you can't keep up with the times, you'll be eliminated by us soon!"

  "Xiao Cai, every time you call me 'Uncle', I get a strange feeling. Does this 'Uncle' of yours have some special meaning?"

  Yu Cai shook her head firmly, "Absolutely not, Uncle you're overthinking".

  Qishu Fan couldn't help but smile and said, "Xiao Cai, from now on just call me Shu Shu, it's less confusing than calling me Mr. Qi one minute and Uncle the next".

  "Uh, it's just that kind of thing, my family has countless uncles who only show up when there's a big deal?"

  Everyone was amused by her funny tone and accent when speaking Beijing Opera, "I didn't expect you to know two lines of Beijing Opera".

  "No way, my dad stays at home all day and loves blasting music super loudly, it's been going on for so long that I'm starting to get used to it."

  Qibook Fan smiled again, Yu Cai touched the cooled milk and stood up, "Auntie, what kind of hot milk do you use?"

  Auntie quickly got up and put a few cups of milk on the tray, "I'll go, you eat here."

  Yu Cai sat down and finished drinking milk at 8:30. Yu Cai stood up to bid farewell, but Qi Shu Fan tried his best to persuade her to stay. Just as they were being polite, the doorbell rang, and He Qi and Xia Yunyun arrived. As soon as Xia Yunyun heard that Yu Cai was leaving, she immediately asked her to stay. Yu Cai felt that this beautiful woman, who was half spoiled and half overbearing, was even more difficult to deal with than Qi Shu Fan. After arguing for a long time, they finally compromised. Fortunately, she hadn't promised to help again today, thinking that it would be enough just to show up...

  After deciding on Yucai's stay, the group began discussing where to go and have fun. He Qi suggested going for a drive, which was immediately responded to by Xia Yunyun. Yucai also had some itchy hands and glanced at Qi Shu, who seemed to be somewhat interested as well. However, Qi Shufan said that now is the peak travel season with many cars on the road, and outside it's icy, making it very unsafe, so he vetoed the proposal.

  "Shall we go to the zoo in XX City?" suggested Xia Yunyun.

  "Uh, don't animals hibernate in winter?" Yu Cai was uncertain, and wondered if the zoo would be open during winter.

  "Shall we go to the museum?"

  "What's the point of a museum? It's not as good as a library! Why don't we go to an arcade instead, there are many fun things inside."

  "My mom doesn't let me go to those places."

  "Uh, can you ice-skate?"

  "Can you?" He Qi looked at Yu Cai's eyes like looking at some precious animal, "I thought neither of you could".

  "It's possible to learn, I've always wanted to, but never had the chance."

  "What about you?"

  Xia Yunyun hesitated a bit, "I heard it's quite messy in there."

  "Don't worry, with us here, what's there to be afraid of?"

  Xia Yunyun nodded after thinking for a moment, Yu Cai was very excited, although she said that her ice skating skills were not good, but she really liked it.

  "Uncle Qi, this ice rink is too run down, let's go to XX city?"

  Alright, pretty boy, you really live up to your reputation as a playboy, even going ice-skating requires a special trip to xx city by car.

  Yu Cai immediately opposed, "Too much trouble, just play around, maybe they'll be back in a while, why bother running so far".

  Qishu Fan stood up and said, "It doesn't matter, I didn't have anything going on today anyway, might as well go out for a stroll."

  Yu Cai looked at the natural expressions of several others, speechless again. Alright, here she was the only poor person, please forgive her petty bourgeois sentiment!

  They went to a nearby city, and arrived after an hour's drive. Several high school students got off the bus, while Qishu Fan insisted that he was really overage and sat on one side watching the excitement.

  Ji Xie and He Qi's techniques were not bad, Yu Cai could also slide slowly by herself, only Xia Yunyun was a bit uncoordinated. He Qi patiently taught her, but at that time, boys and girls still had a strong aversion to physical contact, so they couldn't directly let the skilled ones guide them like Yu Cai did when she learned, and gradually got the feel of it.

  Yu Cai herself was a muddy Bodhisattva crossing the river, and naturally couldn't help her. She said to Qi Shu Fan, "Anyway, you're fine, why not hold onto her and slide slowly, it'll be faster that way".

  Qishu Fan nodded in response, and He Qi felt that he had already taught what he could teach. Now it's up to Xia Yunyun herself to practice. He was already impatient and saw Qishu Fan coming over as a great pardon, so he rushed to find Qishi Zhizhi instead.

  Yu Zai slowly regained her old feeling, and relying on thick clothes and young age, she didn't mind falling down, and gradually became more and more agile.

  Ice skating is always more fun with two or three people, but Qi Xuan and He Qi were not around, so Yu Cai started looking for a target on the ice rink. Before long, she spotted a boy who looked like a college student, and with a smile, she stretched out her hand to him, "Hey, classmate, I'm just learning, would you mind taking me for a spin?"

  The college student was taken aback, then smiled and nodded, pulling Yucai's hand to slow down. With someone leading the way, Yucai felt much more at ease and didn't have to be constantly careful not to fall, slightly quickening her pace, hoping that after playing today, she wouldn't have to stay in the embarrassing stage of always worrying about falling.

  He Qi soon noticed that Yu Cai had an extra person by her side, and poked Xi Zhi beside him, "Look, I didn't expect your cousin to be so open-minded!"

  Qī shì zhī méi yǒu chū shēng, hé qí kuài suō dào yù cǎi shēn biān, "wèi, nǐ yào rén dài gàn má me? bù zhǎo wǒ?"

  Translation:

  Without making a sound, he quickly slid to Yu Cai's side, "Hey, why did you want someone to accompany you without finding me?"

  Yu Cai shrugged her shoulders and said, "You're so clumsy, I don't want to fall down in a little while, it's not only painful but also very embarrassing."

  "When did I become so sloppy?"

  "You know this best yourself, what's the point of asking me?"

  What a coincidence! At this time, Fang also saw it and hastily called out, "Xiao Cai!"

  Yu Cai smiled apologetically at the boy, who shrugged and slid away. Yu Cai slowly slid over to Qi Shu Fan and Xia Yun Yun's side, "What's going on?"

  Qī shū fán gāng cái kàn dào yù cǎi lā zhe yī gè nán shēng de shǒu xiǎng yě bù xiǎng de jiù jiào zhù tā, zhè shí tīng tā yī wèn, fǎn ér bù zhī dào zěn me kāi kǒu, yóu yóu fǎn fǎn dào, "xiǎo cǎi, shì wǒ dài nǐ chū lái de——"

  Yu Cai rolled her eyes, "Uncle, you're really out of touch. This is an ice rink, have you ever seen anyone wear long sleeves and pants to a swimming pool?"

  "Qibook Fan's words were cut off, and Yu Cai continued to roll her eyes. 'If I had brought others with me, it would have been even more troublesome, so I simply found someone unfamiliar instead. Who knew it would still be troublesome? Hey, you're at least a worldly person, right?!'"

  "You can slide by yourself."

  "I like it when there are two people together, uncle, will you or won't you, how about we do it together?"

  Qishu Fan shook his head repeatedly, Yu Cai pouted and said, "Forget it, I'm leaving, you take your time".

  "What's wrong with you? Are you really not going to let me take you?"

  "I don't want to be scolded to death by some Yang Xi Li Xi".

  "I have nothing to do with them!"

  "Yang Xi Li Xi didn't go, where's Zhang Xi? One of them went."

  "Do you think I'm Mo Fei?"

  "I didn't think you were Mo Fei, I thought you weren't even as good as Mo Fei. At least she only has Qiao Jia."

  "Come out and play together, what's eating a meal!"

  "It's nothing, but just now I pulled an unfamiliar boy and slid for three minutes, then was scolded by a big uncle. Am I not more wronged!"

  "How can a girl's hand be pulled by others at will?"

  "So I won't let you bring it."

  He felt like he was playing a lute to an ox, and would have liked to kick Yucai in frustration.

  At this time, the boy also slid over, saw Yu Cai's long hair and whistled, Yu Cai also returned a whistle. The boy waved at Yu Cai and slid past again.

  "How astonishing! Do you often do such things?"

  "What's going on here? It's not as dirty as you think, forget it, you're just a little kid, what do you know? Go away and don't bother me."

  "How dare you! You're just a kid yourself, what right do you have to call me a little brat? I think you're the one who's a little brat!"

  Yu Cai shrugged and ignored him, but He Qi felt disrespected and got even angrier. He kicked Yu Cai's ice skate with one foot. Yu Cai was already not very skilled, and couldn't withstand this kind of treatment. Suddenly losing balance, he fell to the ground. Following the revolutionary spirit of "die together", before falling, Yu Cai grabbed onto He Qi's arm tightly, and the two of them fell into a heap.

  Ji Shi was always close to the two of them and saw them fall down, so he hurriedly slid over.

  He Qi had already stood up, but Yu Cai was still sitting on the ground, rubbing her knees and glaring at He Qi fiercely. "He Qi, you scoundrel!"

  "You're not much better off either! You clearly knew you were going to fall and yet you pulled me down so tightly!"

  "Who made you trip me up? It's really a little brat, as soon as we disagree, you stab me in the back!"

  He was so angry that he couldn't find any words to retort, and huffed, "It's not like you fell very hard, why are you still not getting up!"

  "I'm not getting up!"

  "Get up!"

  "I'm not getting up!"

  "What exactly do you want?"

  "Sorry!"

  He took a deep breath and said "sorry".

  "Not sincere, try again!"

  He let out an "hmmph" and ignored her, running away on his ice skates.

  Overwhelmed with great hatred, he touched his leg and decided to take a rest on the spot.

  "Does it hurt?"

  Yu Cai heard the sound and raised her head, only to find that Qi Shi was right in front of her. She didn't know how long she had been standing there, but she couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed.

  "It doesn't hurt, I'll sit for a while, you go play first."

  She looked at her with a puzzled expression, thinking that she was quite skilled, even if she fell, it wouldn't be too serious, and she shouldn't be in so much pain that she couldn't get up.

  Yu Cai's mood had reached its lowest point, and in her heart, she scolded Xiao Bai's face again. Her skills were too poor, and it was impossible for her to get up by herself unless she slowly crawled to the railing and climbed up while holding onto it... but to do so in front of Ji Shi would be like crawling like a turtle... Oh no, her image!

  "Let me go, you play by yourself, I'm really fine, just sit for a while and get up".

  Qí shì zhī hái zài yán jiū tā bù qǐ lái de yuán yīn, nán dào shì zài dì shàng zuò zhe bǐ jiào shū fu?

  Translation:

  Qi Shi is still studying the reason why she can't get up. Is it more comfortable sitting on the ground?

  At this time, He Qi slid back in a circle and saw Yu Cai still sitting on the ground. He couldn't help but ask, "Why haven't you gotten up yet?" Seeing Yu Cai not responding, he was shocked and asked, "You can't get up by yourself, do you want me to pull you up?"

  Yu Cai was so angry that she blushed, "You can't even get up, I like sitting here, what's it to you!"

  Ji Shi saw Yu Cai's face twisted in pain and immediately understood, stretching out a hand to her.

  Yu Cai saw He Qi's smug expression, and also saw Qi Shi giving face, so she had to take advantage of the situation and pulled Qi Shi's hand to get up, but her posture was not very elegant.

  He saw it again and burst out laughing, Yu Cai hated him to death but couldn't do anything about it, so he stomped away on his ice skates, out of sight, out of mind.

  The next time, Yu Cai always took ice skates as his face trampled, and the technology was also rapid progress. When several people didn't want to play anymore, it was already one o'clock in the afternoon. Qi Shu Fan took the tired few people to eat.

  At mealtime, He Qi threw Yu Cai to the ground and made a joke out of it to tell Ji Shu Fan, who listened with a fake smile, but in her heart she had already cut him into eighteen pieces.

  Xia Yunyun was a bit unhappy. In the afternoon, the other three didn't pay attention to her, making her learn alone very boring. Until now, she can only slide slowly, like walking.

  Ji Shu saw it naturally and asked Xia Yunyun where she wanted to go in the afternoon.

  Xia Yun proposed going to sing songs, He Qi immediately responded, and Yu Cai asked weakly, "Is there a KTV house in xx county town?"

  Qishu nodded slightly.

  "How about we go back and sing?" Yu Cai tried her best to avoid being a killjoy.

  "The county town may not be as effective as here."

  What else can be expected? It's not like going to a young singer competition! "It shouldn't make much difference either?"

  "Does Xiao Cai dislike it here?"

  "Uh, no, it's just... " Yu Cai secretly glanced at Xia Yunyun's face, "I have to go home this afternoon".

  Xia Yunyin exclaimed, "Yu Cai, don't be a spoilsport!"

  "It wasn't like that, you guys think about it, actually in the past it was always just the three of you, right? You also had a lot of fun, whether I was there or not didn't matter."

  Xia Yunyun didn't care about Yu Cai's presence or absence, but she still had to put on a show, and upon hearing this, she immediately expressed her opposition.

  Just as Yu Caiqi was about to scold her mother, Qi Shu Fan spoke up, "Little Cai, you might as well go back and play for a couple of days since nothing will happen anyway."

  "Actually... actually, I miss my dad and them, it's been half a semester since I last saw them..." Yucai's expression was filled with infinite longing.

  "Alright then, Uncle Qi, let's go back and sing."

  Qishu Fan didn't believe a single word, but could only nod in agreement.

  Yu Cai was overjoyed, on the way back she insisted on driving, and Qi Shu naturally trusted her, so he agreed. Listening to Xiao Bai's discontented shouting in the back seat, Yu Cai became even more pleased with herself.

  When returning to the city, Yu Cai handed over the driver's seat to Qi Shu Fan and declined his suggestion to send her to the station. She rushed back to the dormitory to pick up the two small turtles, packed two books, went to the supermarket to buy some gifts for her parents, and didn't mention going home for New Year's.