The orange-yellow key turned.
An Jing, smelling the aroma of dishes drifting from some unknown house, heard a “click” as the lock opened.
Then, he gently pushed open the entrance door—the “Fu” (blessing) character pasted on it seemed to have peeled off a bit more.
“Bang!”
“Whoa!”
An Jing was startled by the sudden sound.
Zhu Ying also took half a step back in fright.
“Damn it, what was that?”
Zhou Chao instinctively yelled.
Looking closely, they saw a floor full of colored streamers and a slightly chubby beauty smiling triumphantly at An Jing.
“Sister Fei, you’re…”
“Confetti! A birthday surprise, how about it?!”
“How did you know I was back?”
“I just happened to hear the door open. I was originally planning to use it when we cut the birthday cake, but I wanted to give you a surprise, so I just set it off directly.”
“It’s all over the floor. Sister Hui Hui will have to work hard to clean up.”
“What’s the big deal? You’re not the one cleaning it, why are you complaining!”
Yu Mingfei glared fiercely at An Jing, but still looked back at the kitchen with a bit of a guilty conscience.
“Ahem, Sister Fei, this is Zhou Chao, I’ve mentioned him a few times before. And this is Zhu Ying, also a classmate…”
“Oh~”
Yu Mingfei’s gaze shifted between the two of them, then she smiled gracefully, “Hello there, I’m this little guy’s cousin! Just call me Sister Fei Fei or Sister Fei!”
“Hello, Sister Fei.”
Zhou Chao’s smile became even brighter.
This sent a chill down An Jing’s spine.
He seriously suspected this guy was even interested in his cousin…
“Hello, Sister Fei Fei.”
Zhu Ying sweetly greeted, “Do we need to change shoes?”
“Yes, you do.”
Yu Mingfei nodded, finally unable to resist asking, “Where are the others? Only two came? Your Sister Hui Hui cooked a huge table of dishes, and—are these two a couple?”
“Who’s a couple?”
“Who else? Could it be you and him?!”
An Jing’s eyes were almost rolling into the sky.
“Haha, no, Sister Fei misunderstood. Zhu Ying specifically came to attend An Jing’s birthday party.”
“Oh~!”
Yu Mingfei immediately narrowed her eyes with a mischievous smile, “Could it be…”
“Sister Fei, don’t joke around!”
An Jing hastily slipped on his slippers, and took out two other pairs from the shoe cabinet, “She just wants to experience what a boy’s birthday party feels like.”
“Is that so?”
Yu Mingfei clearly didn’t believe a single word.
“As for the others… there were originally three more, but they all had urgent matters come up. The important kind. You remember A Qiang, right? His dad fell off a scaffolding and broke a bone.”
“Well, an accident can’t be helped then—”
Yu Mingfei shook her head with some regret, “It seems it won’t be as lively today. Why are you two standing foolishly at the door? Come on in!”
***
(2)
The dining table wasn’t big, it would be a bit cramped for seven or eight people, but it was just right for five.
There were seventeen or eighteen dishes on the table.
Although the quantity of each dish wasn’t large, it was enough to be impressive.
“It’s dazzling, just like a Manchu-Han Imperial Feast.”
An Jing exclaimed, “Why did you make so much this time?!”
“It’s because I thought you’d have many friends coming over, and boys usually eat a lot.”
Yu Mingfei glanced at him, “Before, it was always just Fang Qiang, that’s why I didn’t make much.”
“Haha, this is my last birthday in junior high. I’ve never celebrated it at his house before, so I definitely can’t miss it this time.”
Zhou Chao laughed heartily, “After all, who knows if we’ll have a chance after junior high graduation.”
“Small cities are just that big.”
An Jing picked up his chopsticks, hesitated, then stood up again and twisted open the unopened bottle of cola, “We can meet often, not to mention we can contact online. What’s so hard about having a birthday?”
“I might not be studying high school here.”
Zhou Chao stared absently at the platter of large lobsters on the table, silent for a few seconds, then suddenly came back to his senses when he realized others were listening, “Oh, my parents want me to study in H City and live with them.”
He currently lives with his grandparents.
In fact, many children in small cities don’t necessarily live with their parents.
“H City, at least it’s within the province.”
“But it’s still quite far.”
“H City? Driving from here, it’ll take at least four or five hours.”
Yu Mingfei mumbled with cheeks full of food, “Meeting might not be so easy.”
“It’s okay, I’ll go to H City for university!”
“Damn, I might not even get into a university in H City!”
“You gotta have confidence, kid!”
“Is your little sister called Zhu Ying?”
Yu Minghui showed concern for Zhu Ying, who hadn’t joined the conversation, “Can I call you Ying Ying?”
“Yes, you can.”
“Ying Ying, help yourself to the food. There’s so much, we can’t even finish it all, eat more.”
“No, don’t eat too much, there’s still cake later!”
An Jing quickly said, “How regrettable would it be if you can’t eat cake on your birthday!”
“Mmm, it’s good to save a little room.”
“Oh, by the way, Sister Hui Hui, she also has her birthday today.”
“Wow, really?”
“Mmm.”
Zhu Ying blinked with a smile, “But it’s according to the lunar calendar. Next time on my birthday, please come celebrate with me?”
“We won’t go.”
Yu Mingfei shook her head, “Just call little An Jing.”
“Can you stop adding ‘little’!”
An Jing yelled in dissatisfaction.
Most of the dishes on the table were seafood.
After all, the small city was located by the sea, so buying seafood here was inexpensive and fresh enough.
There was even a plate of sashimi.
But even An Jing wasn’t very used to eating that.
Only Yu Mingfei liked to eat it at home.
And today…
Zhu Ying also seemed to really like it.
“You can actually eat sashimi? I feel like I can’t even swallow that stuff…”
An Jing looked at her with some surprise.
“Mmm, it’s my first time eating it too. I’ve seen it before, but never dared to eat it. I wanted to try it today.”
“And it turned out to be quite tasty?”
“Yes, it is.”
“It’s delicious, little An Jing. If you don’t believe me, try it. Your Sister Hui Hui’s knife skills are extraordinary!”
“No way, I’ll throw up if I eat that…”
“This big lobster is better.”
“Damn it, Zhou Chao, you ate half of it by yourself!”
“Didn’t you say just eat whatever?”
“You’re really not holding back, kid.”
“What are you talking about, why be polite with brothers!”
“Exactly, don’t listen to him, eat whatever you want, the slow eaters won’t get any later!”
“Ah, ah, leave some for me!!”
***
The table had been cleared, and the leftover dishes were consolidated and put into the refrigerator.
The messy streamers on the floor were also cleaned up, and the cake in the foam box was finally placed on the table.
For a birthday, there always has to be a birthday cake.
At least for An Jing, who grew up in this era, a birthday without a cake was incomplete.
“Wait!”
Zhou Chao yelled, interrupting An Jing who was about to lift the foam lid.
“It’s time for birthday presents before the cake.”
“Ah… Ahem, when you say it so formally, I get embarrassed. Actually, Fang Qiang used to just buy me random things, sometimes even…”
“It’s the last birthday of junior high, so it has to be a bit more formal, after all, once we graduate, we can’t go back to junior high.”
“It’s okay, there’s still high school!”
“Anyway, I’ll go first!”
Zhou Chao took out a small, pre-prepared gift box from his pants pocket.
Although he was a boy, he was always very meticulous when it came to preparing gifts, probably because he often gave gifts to girls.
“Come on, open it and see!”
“Open it now?”
“Open it!”
An Jing struggled a bit to untie the outer bow, then tore open the wrapping paper inside, and carefully opened the box.
Inside…
Inside lay a pile of brand new glass marbles.
They were of various colors.
When gently shaken, they made a crisp sound.
“What’s this?”
“In elementary school, I won all your marbles from you, and you got so angry you never played again.”
“…Ahem!”
An Jing secretly glanced at his two cousins who, for some reason, insisted on squeezing onto one chair, then looked at Zhu Ying who was listening intently to the story, and coughed twice loudly, “You still remember that.”
“Actually, I originally wanted to give them back to you, but then I forgot. I looked for them these past few days, but couldn’t find them, so I bought a bunch of new ones for you.”
Aside.
“Damn it, I’m not a kid anymore!”
An Jing carefully closed the lid and grumblingly put the gift box full of childhood memories aside.
“Xiao Jing, Fei Fei and I bought you a birthday present together, you don’t mind, do you?”
“Well, there’s nothing to mind…”
“Here, it’s this.”
Yu Minghui bent down and took out something placed in the corner.
“Fei Fei went to buy it for you today. You always buy your own shoes, and today we just realized they’re a bit ill-fitting—did you buy them too big?”
“Ah…”
The shoes An Jing was wearing today were from his first year of junior high.
Although they were size 37, they were still a bit loose.
“It’s really not easy to find a size 35 men’s shoe! This pair should fit your aesthetic, right? Red and white, like your phone, very cool.”
“Uh… where did you buy them?”
“T City.”
“Ran that far?”
“I told you it was hard to buy.”
Yu Mingfei propped up her cheek, “Actually, this should be considered large-sized children’s shoes, but for someone your age, wearing them shouldn’t be a problem, and the style is quite good—this is the first time Sister Hui Hui and I found out your feet are so small.”
“Can I wear them…?”
“Try them on.”
An Jing shrunk his neck, put the shoes on the ground, and slowly extended his sockless little feet into them.
It had to be said, his cousins’ eyes were sharp; the size they chose was quite accurate.
“Even if you buy oversized clothes and shoes, it doesn’t mean you’ll definitely grow up.”
Yu Mingfei seemed to have misunderstood something, smiling at An Jing, “Just be yourself, there’s no need to be someone else.”
“Mmm, Xiao Jing is Xiao Jing.”
“ABA…?”
An Jing looked bewildered, not understanding what they were thinking.
Honestly, at this moment, he really wanted to use telepathy to listen in…
But after hesitating for a moment, she chose to give up.
“Is it mine last?”
“Ah, Zhu Ying bought something too?”
“But I don’t know if you’ll like it.”
“What is it?”
An Jing immediately became expectant.
With her rosy little face, she shyly reached her soft little hand into her chest…
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It’s really interesting how that stone is changing everything to fit the changes that’s happening to her. Lowkey those are some pretty good retcons.