Fan Xue sniffled, and her stomach let out an embarrassing growl. Her fair face instantly flushed bright red, and her first instinct was to glance at Zhou Bingyan.
Zhou Bingyan’s eyes held a smile, along with a hint of tenderness. He reached into his trench coat pocket and pulled out a bag of shrimp crackers, handing them to Fan Xue.
Fan Xue didn’t stand on ceremony. She grabbed it, tore it open, and started munching away.
“Good?”
Fan Xue’s eyes sparkled as she nodded. “Yeah, it’s delicious!”
“Can you buy me a couple more bags? I want to give some to people when I get back.”
Fan Xue handed the bag to Ye Zhiqiu and Han Siyang. “You two try some. This is seriously amazing.”
“Zhiqiu, take some back for Yaya.”
As she spoke, Fan Xue grabbed a few more sticks and tossed them into her mouth. “I love this stuff, so the kids are definitely going to love it even more.”
Ye Zhiqiu nodded and turned to Zhou Bingyan. “Mr. Zhou, if you don’t mind my asking, where did you buy these? I’d like to get more to take home to my daughter.”
Her little Yaya absolutely loved shrimp, so she was bound to love these shrimp crackers too.
What Ye Zhiqiu didn’t know was that Huo Jiusi had already bought Yaya a mountain of snacks—some from Jiangning and Hong Kong, others air-freighted straight from overseas.
Every time, he’d have his people buy a small batch first. And if Yaya liked them, he’d place a bulk order without hesitation.
At home, there were chocolates, all kinds of candies and cookies, jams, and drink mixes—so much of it.
Still, Yaya was disciplined about her snacking. She never let treats get in the way of her meals.
She’d have a little bit every day, and whenever Yue Youxin, Yue Youhui, and Qin Feng came over, she’d bring everything out to share with them.
Those three rascals were all at that age where they were growing like weeds and could eat just about anything and enjoy it.
But even they would only have a little, and they always brought Yaya plenty of goodies in return.
Yue Youxin had never forgotten what Yaya once told him—that he was cut out for sports, and who knew, maybe he could even become a world champion one day.
At Huadenghutong Elementary School, they offered some extracurricular interest classes after hours, and Yue Youxin had signed up for table tennis.
In just one semester, he’d gotten really good. A few days ago, he’d represented the school in the district’s primary and secondary school table tennis competition, and he performed so well that Coach Wang Tao from the city team took notice and wanted him to join their training program.
Coach Wang personally went to talk to Yue Mingde about it. After asking Yue Youxin for his thoughts, Yue Mingde gave his consent.
Starting next semester, he’d no longer be attending regular school—he’d be training with the city table tennis team.
That meant he’d have to board at the facility, and there was a good chance he wouldn’t be able to come home for long stretches at a time.
As for Yue Youhui, his grades were so outstanding that he qualified to skip a grade. When the new semester started, he’d go straight to a sixth-grade class.
If he kept up the good work, he could even get into No. 4 Middle School’s top-tier honors program.
Over the past six months, Li Yan had periodically shown up at Yue Mingde’s place, kicking up a fuss. She’d go on about the kids, accuse Yue Mingde of having an affair with Ye Zhiqiu, or demand that he help her brothers, Li Zhigang and Li Zhiqiang.
Li Zhigang had lost all his money gambling, gotten into a drunken brawl, and ended up with a bottle smashed over his head. Now he was both mentally impaired and physically disabled.
Li Zhiqiang, on the other hand, had gotten into a fight at a dance hall over a girl. He’d kicked another man square in the groin, leaving him crippled. Terrified of being arrested, he’d fled town overnight.
Li Yan’s mother, already worn down by Li Zhigang’s constant torment, would take out her frustrations on Li Yan whenever she came home.
And Li Yan, in turn, would take her anger out on her students.
These days, every family’s child was precious—they were all only children. But she just had to pick a fight with someone who wasn’t going to take it lying down.
She’d assumed the girl came from a family with no money or influence, and that she was just a quiet, meek little thing. She figured a few slaps wouldn’t cause any trouble.
But when the parents came home and saw the injuries on their child, they were furious. After taking her to the hospital for a check-up, they filed a police report.
When they learned the family had connections with the education bureau, Li Yan showed up at their door with gifts to apologize. They wouldn’t accept it, though, and they refused to settle privately. They insisted the school fire her, saying she didn’t deserve to be a teacher.
Without her job, Li Yan’s standing at home plummeted even further.
Just a few months after her divorce from Yue Mingde, she’d lost all the polish she once had. She looked like she’d aged ten years—so much so that Yue Mingde, Yue Youxin, and Yue Youhui barely recognized her.
Li Yan was consumed with regret. She softened her attitude and tried to get Yue Mingde to remarry her, even going so far as to strip down and try to seduce him.
But after everything that had happened, Yue Mingde felt nothing for her anymore.
And he knew all too well: a leopard doesn’t change its spots. Li Yan was who she was. If he took her back, she’d go right back to being the same person—caring only about her birth family, with no room for him or their sons.
His rejection sent Li Yan into a rage. She hurled insults at him and cursed his entire family.
Not long after, word got around that she’d remarried. Her mother had married her off to an old widower from a nearby village—a man in his sixties, more than twenty years older than Li Yan.
As for Yue Mingde, plenty of people had tried to set him up with someone new, but he turned them all down. He’d made up his mind not to marry again until both his sons were grown. He didn’t want to make another mistake and end up with someone who’d treat Yue Youxin and Yue Youhui poorly.
The weather was nice today, with the sun shining bright. Yue Youxin, Yue Youhui, Qin Feng, and Huo Jiusi were all out in the courtyard with Yaya.
Winter break had started, and the courtyard was packed with kids playing every single day.
Whether it was scorching summer heat or bitter winter cold, the children didn’t care.
Thanks to Tan Nan and Tan Bei, Yaya and Huo Jiusi had gotten to know the other kids well too, and they often played together.
“Yaya, you’re so pretty!”
Yaya didn’t come out to play often, but whenever she did, she always turned heads.
She was just so adorable and beautiful—with her chubby, fair little face and big, bright eyes, she looked just like a porcelain doll.
And her outfits were always so stylish, making the other little girls green with envy.
“Beibei-jiejie is pretty too!”
Yaya noticed the sparkly hair clip Tan Bei was wearing and thought it was really cute. She stood on her tiptoes, reaching out to touch it.
Tan Bei crouched down and leaned her head toward Yaya. “Here.”
“Hehe.”
Yaya touched it and beamed, her eyes curving into little crescent moons. Then she took off her own hat to show Tan Bei her little clip. “Beibei-jiejie, I have one too.”
“Yours is even prettier!”
“Then let’s trade, okay?” Yaya took off her clip and handed it to Tan Bei, who gave hers to Yaya in return.
They swapped hair clips all the time like this, and then swapped them back later.
“Yaya, here’s a banana for you.”
Tan Nan pulled a blackened banana out of his pocket and handed it to Yaya. “Don’t mind the skin—it’s black on the outside, but inside it’s super white and sweet. It’s delicious!”
Bananas were a rare treat back then, and in the winter cold, the peel would naturally turn dark.
Tan Jianping had only managed to get a small bunch—five bananas in total. His family had one each, and the extra one, Tan Nan insisted on giving to Yaya.
To Tan Nan, Yaya was like another little sister.
Every time they went to play with her, they’d bring her all kinds of snacks, and she’d always share plenty of goodies with them in return.
