.jpg)
Chapter 39: Pansi Cave
Engineer Qin, how are you getting more and more good-looking?
The group of young girls seemed to have no more questions, yet it felt like they had a thousand more.
These girls were used to hearing things like: Girls should know how to cook and do housework. Only then can they marry into a good family and be liked by their in-laws. A girl doing well in life is less important than marrying well.
Qin Feng's words were far too bold and progressive for these girls, completely overturning their worldview. Yet, what he said made a lot of sense. For example, when he mentioned eating soft rice, he pointed out that there were more men in the Northern Railway Factory because most jobs there were technical, like welders, fitters, and electricians. In contrast, there were fewer men working in garment factories because those jobs involved tasks like sewing, which were considered women’s work. Even with so many men in technical jobs, those who actually lived off soft rice were still rare.
Seeing that the girls looked hesitant to speak, Qin Feng said, “If you have questions, just ask.”
The middle school girl, knowing more than the younger ones, asked first: “Wouldn’t eating soft rice make people look down on you?”
Qin Feng didn’t answer directly but instead asked: “In your family, who is more capable — your dad or your mom?”
The middle school girl was taken aback by the question but still answered: “My dad, of course.”
Qin Feng nodded, then said firmly: “Your dad looks down on your mom.”
The middle school girl blurted out: “He wouldn’t dare!” After saying it, she froze, wondering why she felt so confident about that.
Qin Feng explained: “That’s because your mom is also very capable. When two excellent people marry, people will say, ‘Wow, look at how amazing her partner is.’ But if someone who has nothing to offer happens to marry well, people will say, ‘Oh, she’s just lucky.’ And that kind of luck doesn’t guarantee a happy life. Her in-laws might look down on her. Do you understand now?”
One of the younger girls couldn’t help but ask: “But what you’re saying doesn’t sound like eating soft rice at all!”
Qin Feng smiled: “‘Eating soft rice’ is the label you gave me. You’re the ones asking if I’d feel embarrassed by it.”
The group of girls thought about it and realized that he was right.
Qin Feng stood up and said: “Go watch TV. I’m going to check if the water on the stove is boiling. If it is, I need to pour it into the thermos.”
The middle school girl offered: “Do you need help?”
Qin Feng waved his hand dismissively: “No need.”
“Engineer Qin, you’re so knowledgeable, you can do housework, and you can even bake bread. Why would you still want to find someone better than you? I think you’re already the best in our factory.”
Qin Feng carried the thermos into the kitchen and said, “Thank you for the compliment. But if I find someone who earns more than me, I can hire a housekeeper. Whether it’s boiling water or baking bread, the housekeeper can handle it. Wouldn’t it be more enjoyable for me to relax and watch TV instead?”
The middle school girl was convinced but couldn’t help asking, “Even if such a capable woman likes you, she might not want to be a mom to your five kids, right?”
As Qin Feng poured hot water, he replied, “You’re thinking too narrow. If I can think of hiring a housekeeper, don’t you think she would too? Besides, by the time I find her, my eldest and second will be in high school, and the third and fourth will be in junior high. Only the youngest, Miaomiao, will be at home. It won’t be any different from having just one child around.”
He continued, “There’s another thing you might not realize. Because I already have so many kids, if she marries me, she won’t need to give birth herself. A career woman who earns hundreds a day would lose a lot of money if she had to take time off to have kids.”
The middle school girl’s mouth fell open in shock. It seemed she really had been thinking too narrow.
But one of the younger girls couldn’t help but ask, “Then why would she want to get married at all?”
Qin Feng put the stopper on the thermos and smiled slightly. “Because she likes me.”
The girl was at a loss for words.
She couldn’t help it — she really liked Engineer Qin too.
Qin Feng refilled the pot with cold water, carried the thermos back, and asked, “Thirsty?”
The group of girls instinctively shook their heads, then froze in place.
Under the dim, golden light, Qin Feng, dressed in white with blue trousers, his dark hair and fair complexion glowing softly, seemed as if he was outlined in gold.
The golden halo shimmered for a moment before vanishing as he moved, snapping the girls back to reality.
One of them gasped, “Engineer Qin, how are you getting more and more good-looking?”
Qin Feng was momentarily stunned but soon understood and couldn’t help laughing.
“How do I compare to Jia Baoyu?”
The middle school girl glanced at the TV, then stared at Qin Feng. “You’re like Jia Baoyu — your eyes seem to hold water, making you look at everyone with affection. But you’re better-looking than him. He has too much flesh on his face, covering his bone structure. He doesn’t have any masculinity.”
Qin Feng raised his eyebrows in surprise. “You even know about masculinity?”
“Of course,” the girl said proudly. Then, under the scrutiny of her friends, she faltered and added sheepishly, “My dad said that.”
Qin Feng chuckled. “Then remember this — when you’re looking for a partner in the future, never choose someone like Jia Baoyu.”
The middle school girl blurted out, “I’d want someone like you.”
Qin Feng paused for a moment, his breath catching.
The girls all gasped.
Qin Feng smiled and said, “I’m fine with that, but you’ll have to accept that I’m not as rich as you.”
“But you’re good-looking!” the middle school girl couldn’t help but say.
Qin Feng replied, “Then you’d better take care of yourself then."
The middle school girl nodded in agreement, “I should be better-looking than you. Otherwise, you could just look at yourself in the mirror every day.”
“Good, you understand.” Qin Feng said. The kitchen was a bit warm, so he grabbed a fan. “Is it hot? I can turn on the fan.”
It was a cool night in early May, and the girls shook their heads in unison.
Qin Feng noticed the TV showing a caption, “One more episode.” He said, “You can keep watching. I’ll go find Miaomiao and the others to brush their teeth and wash their faces.”
“Should we be heading home?” one of the younger girls asked shyly.
Qin Feng smiled, “It’s fine. I have so many kids, even if the episode ends, they probably won’t be done washing up yet.” He then went to call the children.
Gu Wuyi and the other three immediately abandoned their play and rushed over to Qin Feng.
Seeing this, Miaomiao thought his brothers were intentionally leaving him behind and hurriedly followed them.
He pushed through his brothers and rushed straight to Qin Feng.
Qin Feng instinctively caught him, noticing he was sweating under the moonlight. “Are you the little mouse?” He touched his forehead and asked.
“How did you know, Daddy?”
Qin Feng replied, “The cat waits by the hole, but the mouse has to run around looking for a chance to escape. If you were a mouse hole, you wouldn’t even turn red in the face, like your older brother, third brother, and fourth brother.”
Miaomiao nodded, “They’re lazy.”
Gu Wuyi raised his fist.
The child immediately ran behind Qin Feng for protection.
Qin Feng stumbled as he was pulled, “Why are you running around like that? Hurry up and go home. You need to go to class tomorrow.”
“We don’t have class tomorrow.” Gu Wuyi replied.
Qin Feng was puzzled.
“You’ve definitely got confused again. Today is May 1st, Labor Day, and it’s Sunday. When we said we’d have a day off, we meant tomorrow, treating it like Sunday. Haven’t you noticed how crowded it is outside today?”
“Isn’t it because everyone has the day off?” Qin Feng instinctively asked.
Gu Wuyi confirmed that his dad had gotten muddled after sleeping in for several days, “Of course, it’s because it’s the weekend!”
Qin Feng couldn’t help but glance over at his house. No wonder those girls hadn’t mentioned going home to sleep and preparing for class the next day. “So where do you want to go tomorrow?”
Since Qin Feng was busy with work, Fu Qingyun and Fu Lingyun didn’t talk much to him and didn’t dare to speak up. One, because they were afraid of accidentally saying something wrong that Qin Feng might catch, and two, because they didn’t know how to interact with their elders, so they turned to Gu Wuyi.
Gu Wuyi wasn’t sure what kids his age liked, so he said, “Anywhere is fine.”
Qin Feng asked, “So I’ll arrange it, then?”
The four brothers nodded in unison.
Miaomiao wasn’t happy, “Aren’t you going to ask me?”
Qin Feng raised an eyebrow, “Is it useful to ask you? You want to go to the city center park but we don’t want to; you won’t be able to go either.”
“Why?” the child instinctively asked.
Qin Feng replied, “Minority obey the majority!”
The child was speechless and, unwilling to give up, silently walked with him to the door, “I can go find Grandpa and Grandma.”
Qin Feng reminded him, “If you count Grandpa and Grandma, that’s only three votes, and we have five votes.”
The child did the math and realized it was true.
“How can you do this?”
Qin Feng patted his little head and said, “So you need to behave and stop bothering your brothers. If you get along with them, they might help you.”
The child glanced at his brothers and suddenly had an idea. “If my brothers help me, can I go anywhere I want?”
Qin Feng thought for a moment. Although Gu Wuyi dotes on Miaomiao, sometimes he has even more principles than him. Fu Qingyun and Fu Lingyun seemed to listen to him very well. “You can try.”
The child immediately ran inside, “Big brother, I’ll squeeze the toothpaste for you.”
He paused at the door, then turned around.
Qin Feng stopped him, “What’s wrong?”
"We came to the wrong place. This is not our house."
Qin Feng instinctively looked around. Behind him were rows of cylindrical buildings—staff dormitories, and on both sides and in front were houses with tiles, but the materials couldn’t compare to his home. The Gu family used to be wealthy, and their small building had a very Western style, making it unique in the entire staff residence.
“If it’s not our house, whose house is it?” Qin Feng asked, puzzled. “What are you trying to do?”
Gu Wuyi looked inside the house and turned back.
Fu Qingyun, also confused by what they were doing, asked, “Did we really take the wrong turn?”
Gu Wuyi hesitated, “I think so.”
Gu Xiao'er looked up at the building. “If it’s not our house, whose house is it?”
Gu Wuyi answered, “It’s a monster’s house.”
Qin Feng couldn’t help but give him a look. What was this child talking about?
He then pulled Miaomiao inside.
The group of girls turned around, their faces full of confusion.
— What were those brothers doing?
Qin Feng turned to his sons, “What’s wrong?”
Gu Wuyi pointed at the girls sitting on the couch. “Is this our house?”
Qin Feng understood, feeling both speechless and amused. His silly son must have thought this place was the Pansi Cave. “They’re here to watch Dream of the Red Chamber.”
Gu Wuyi opened his mouth, suddenly at a loss for words.
Fu Qingyun burst out laughing.
Gu Wuyi shot him a glare.
— Shut up!
Miaomiao looked confused. “Don’t they have a TV at their house?”
The middle school girl replied, “My dad doesn’t like to watch TV.” When she saw Qin Feng and the others by the door, she added, “My parents should be going to bed now. We should head home too.”
One of the girls hesitated, reluctant to leave Lin Daiyu. “Engineer Qin, can we come to your house again tomorrow?”
Qin Feng nodded.
The little girls filed out one by one.
Fu Qingyun couldn’t help but keep staring at them.
Qin Feng, curious, asked, “Is there a girl you like?”
“What?” Fu Qingyun realized Qin Feng had misunderstood, and suddenly decided to tease him. “If she’s the same age as me and still calls you ‘uncle,’ doesn’t that show she has a bit of a wild side?”
Qin Feng paused for a moment, then lightly patted him on the head and laughed. “Stop spouting nonsense. Hurry up and wash your face and brush your teeth. Xiao'er, you and Miaomiao go wash up in the bathroom.”
Gu Xiao'er instinctively asked, “Both of us?”
“You two sweat the most. If you don’t wash up, you’ll feel uncomfortable sleeping tonight.” Qin Feng turned to Gu Wuyi. “Be careful when pouring hot water.”
Gu Wuyi nodded, flicked his head toward his younger brothers, and headed for the kitchen.
Qin Feng handed them over to Gu Wuyi with peace of mind and went to his study.
It wasn’t even 9 p.m. yet. For the kids, it was bedtime, but for him, it was too early.
He had gotten enough sleep the previous days, so seven hours of sleep was enough going forward. It wouldn’t be too late if he went to sleep at 10.
Miaomiao, wrapped in a bath towel, went upstairs. When he found his daddy’s bedroom empty, he made his way to his brothers’ room.
He wandered around the rooms of his older brothers, as though inspecting his territory. After confirming that his eldest and second brothers' bed was a little warmer than the third and fourth, he climbed into the bed of his third and fourth brothers.
Fu Qingyun was puzzled. The little one, who usually preferred sleeping with his eldest brother, suddenly changed his behavior. "Aren’t you sleeping with your big brother or dad?"
The child threw his bath towel onto the chair, lazily lying sideways on the bed, propping his head up with his hand. "Their room faces south, so it's warm. Your window faces east, and it’s cooler in here than their bed."
"Then you should go to the north room," said Fu Lingyun, holding the bath towel and heading toward the balcony in the living room. He returned and went to Qin Feng’s room to fetch him a towel and blanket.
The child sat up wrapped in the towel blanket. "The north room is cold. Grandma says it has too much yin energy and isn’t suitable for a good-looking child like me."
Gu Wuyi, seeing the child not asleep, stopped and said, "You’re so full of yourself."
The child didn’t really understand whether he was good-looking, but since everyone said he looked like his dad and praised Qin Feng’s appearance, he assumed he was extremely handsome too.
Upon hearing this, the child stood up and wrapped the blanket around him like a little red boy. "I’m not full of myself! I’m just speaking the truth!"
At this time, the child would usually be starting to feel sleepy, but Gu Wuyi didn’t want to argue anymore. "Do you want me to call dad to come?"
The child glared at him fiercely, then threw himself onto the bed and pulled the towel blanket over his head.
Fu Qingyun, watching the child sleep in the middle of the bed, looked troubled and whispered, "Are you really going to let him sleep like this?"
Gu Wuyi placed a chair on each side of the bed. "He won’t fall off."
Fu Qingyun wasn’t used to it.
Then, after a second thought, he figured he’d have to get used to it and signaled Fu Lingyun with his eyes—"Sleep!"
Gu Wuyi added, "Miaomiao likes to burrow into people’s arms when he sleeps, so don’t sleep too deeply and accidentally throw him off."
The child, who had been playing dead in bed, suddenly sat up. "I don’t!"
Gu Wuyi jumped in surprise. "Alright, alright, you don’t."
The child puffed up his little face, unconvinced. "Really?"
"Qin Jingzhe!" Qin Feng suddenly opened the door and came out from the study.
The child quickly waved at his third and fourth brothers, lowering his voice like a thief. "Close the door quickly, close the door."
Gu Wuyi went out and closed the door. "Dad, Miaomiao’s asleep."
Qin Feng glanced at the opposite bedroom. Hearing no sounds from the child, he guessed that she had quieted down. "You go sleep too. I’m not tired yet."
"Then you should rest early. We’re going out to play tomorrow."
Qin Feng nodded.
In fact, he went to rest at a quarter past ten.
He had excellent sleep quality, and once his head hit the pillow, he was out.
The next day, he woke up at 5:30 as usual. After washing up, Qin Feng went to prepare breakfast. This time, he didn’t cook porridge, fearing they might get too much acid in their stomachs.
Qin Feng’s Chinese cooking skills were limited, so he made noodles. He fried the eggs, then placed them in cold water, and while waiting for the water to boil, he went to the yard to pick a handful of amaranth.
The yard, which used to be filled with flowers and plants, was now partly cultivated by his mother. She had cleared a small plot of land and planted cucumbers, tomatoes, some scallions, garlic, and other vegetables. The vines of morning glories that once covered the fences were now replaced by beans, but it still looked much the same as before.
Speaking of the amaranth, Qin Feng didn’t pull it up by the roots. The tops were clean, so he just washed it once and it was ready for the pot. But the water on the stove hadn’t heated up yet, so he didn’t rush to cook the noodles. Instead, he went upstairs to wake up a few of the kids.
After a long day of play yesterday, the five brothers were all tired, even Gu Wuyi wanted to sleep a little longer.
Qin Feng saw that although Gu Wuyi agreed to get up, his body remained motionless. He smiled and asked, "Do you want to sleep a little longer? I’ll turn off the stove and wait until you wake up to cook the noodles."
Gu Wuyi nodded.
Gu Xiao'er, feeling hungry, asked, "What noodles?"
"Egg noodles. With runny yolk eggs."
Gu Xiao'er sat up.
Gu Wuyi opened his eyes.
Qin Feng found it funny and a bit odd. "Isn’t yesterday’s meal enough to satisfy you?"
Gu Wuyi made an excuse for himself. "It was too greasy. I want something lighter." He said this and got out of bed to find his shoes.
Qin Feng didn’t go into the next room, just leaned against the doorframe and asked, "Miaomiao, do you want egg noodles?"
The child struggled to get up.
Qin Feng covered half of the stove when he went downstairs, as boiling the noodles was very quick, but the kids still needed to use the bathroom and brush their teeth. Otherwise, by the time they were ready, the noodles would be overcooked.
─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───
Gu Wuyi finished the last sip of soup and let out a satisfied sigh.
Fu Qingyun curiously asked, "Can our chickens lay several eggs a day?"
"Worried there won’t be enough? Don’t worry. Your grandma raises over a dozen egg-laying chickens. In this weather, with bugs and vegetable leaves to eat, some of the chickens can lay two eggs a day." Qin Feng put away the bowls and chopsticks.
Fu Lingyun stretched out his hand, "I can help."
Qin Feng handed him the bowl. "Let your older brothers scrub the pots and wash the dishes. You and Qin Miaomiao take turns fetching water."
The child suddenly looked at his dad.
Qin Feng smiled. "Aren’t you part of this family?" When the child nodded, "Then you should help with the chores. That way, you won’t feel out of place."
"I don’t feel out of place." The child seemed confused. Was his daddy getting old and losing his sight?
Qin Feng raised an eyebrow. "I said you feel out of place. Is there a problem?"
The child didn’t dare to argue but muttered under his breath, "You’re the daddy, you’re the boss!"
"Good. Glad you understand." Qin Feng ruffled his hair and went to find the kettle to fill it with boiled water.
When the child saw his daddy had something to do, he immediately stopped trying to slack off.
The brothers worked together, and soon enough, they had cleaned up the pots and dishes.
Qin Feng found their hats.
Miaomiao put his on and casually asked, "Where are we going?"
Qin Feng replied, "I heard from our neighbor this morning that the acacia flowers are blooming at the factory. They’re probably blooming in the village too. Your grandma used to steam acacia flowers every year. Back then, it was because there wasn’t much to eat, but after steaming them and mixing them with garlic and sesame oil, it really was fragrant."
Miaomiao asked curiously, "Is our activity today going to be picking acacia flowers?"
Qin Feng nodded. "I’m taking you to experience it."
The child couldn't help but wrinkle his nose. His daddy was really something—experiencing farm work.
Qin Feng raised an eyebrow.
The little one didn’t dare to express any objections, afraid of being scolded. He hurried ahead and went to the village.
The elderly couple was worried that their son might be too spoiled and would refuse to eat the acacia flowers if they were made. Last year, they didn’t dare to make them.
This year, the elderly couple couldn’t resist the temptation and secretly wanted to prepare some behind Qin Feng’s back to try. When they heard that Qin Feng was going to eat them, they were shocked.
Qin Feng’s second aunt, acting like she didn’t know him, looked him up and down, "You, a PhD graduate, are eating acacia flowers?"
Qin Feng was annoyed by her, having been irritated by her since he was little. "I still have to eat, sleep, shit, and fart."
His second aunt was speechless.
His paternal second uncle couldn’t hold back, "Does that sound like something a PhD graduate would say?"
Qin Feng retorted, "Does it sound like something an elder would say?"
His second uncle was stumped.
Qin Feng smiled and said, "If you want to make trouble, I will accompany you to the end. It’s also a good chance for you to see how I deal with those foreign devils who used to bully me."
His second uncle was furious, "Who are you calling a devil?"
Qin Feng remained calm and smiling, "I say who I mean. Do you want to take offense?"
Comments
Post a Comment