Chapter 12: Being Too Clever for One’s Own Good

The male passenger held the chicken foot, both amused and helpless.

Ye Fan asked her son, “Did your grandma and aunt really say that?”

“Yes,” Dabao, feeling confident since neither grandma nor aunt were there and his mom couldn’t confront them on the train, replied without fear. “Sister, being chubby doesn’t look good. Big brother will eat it for you. Big brother’s not afraid of getting fat.”

Erbao shook her head. “Big brother’s not afraid of getting fat, and Erbao’s not afraid either!”

Dabao immediately choked, unable to speak.

Ye Fan couldn’t help but smile, “Trying to be too clever.”

“Mom, give me!” Erbao stretched out both little hands. “I can eat two.”

The little one wasn’t shy at all. “You can have it after I’m done!”

“I can do it!” The little girl stared at her mother, as if to say, “You must give me two, no excuses!”

Ye Fan wasn’t used to this behavior. “You won’t eat?” She pretended to take the chicken leg for herself. The little girl quickly snatched it away. Ye Fan thought to herself, “I knew I couldn’t let you get away with it.”

There were still two duck legs left after dividing the chicken legs. Ye Fan noticed that the passenger opposite them was too embarrassed to eat the chicken feet, so she gave him two duck wings. The man hurriedly waved his hand. “No need, it’s enough.”

Geng Zhiye said, “There are also eggs and pancakes. If you don’t finish them, they’ll spoil by tomorrow.”

Still preparing so much even though it might not be finished. The man hesitated to say more.

Ye Fan handed him the duck wings. “The eggs and pancakes were prepared by my mom, and the roast duck and braised chicken were prepared by Dabao’s grandma.”

Dabao nodded, “Mom, give me a chicken wing. Eating chicken wings makes you run fast.”

Seeing that his chicken leg was almost finished, Ye Fan picked out a chicken wing for him. Erbao stretched out her little hand to take it, but Dabao snatched it away. “Can you finish it?”

Erbao didn’t say anything and bit his hand immediately. Ye Fan held her little face down. “Don’t make me hit you.”

“Fine, I won’t eat it!” Erbao glared at her brother, then moved to the farthest corner of the compartment, distancing herself from her parents and brother.

Geng Zhiye wanted to say something, but Ye Fan handed him a duck leg. He instantly understood—if there’s food, can’t it just keep you quiet? Geng Zhiye smiled and took it. “You eat too.”

Erbao ran up to her dad: “Is it delicious, Dad?”

Geng Zhiye nodded. “Yes, it’s delicious.”

Erbao asked curiously, “Can I try some?”

“Of course you can!” His daughter really knows manners. Geng Zhiye pulled her into his arms. “Bite here, there’s more meat here.”

Erbao looked up and smiled. “Dad, you’re the best.”

“Eat up,” Geng Zhiye said with a satisfied expression.

Erbao took a small bite, and Geng Zhiye asked, “Is it delicious?”

“It’s fragrant,” she replied.

Geng Zhiye: “Take a bigger bite.”

“Okay, Dad.”

Dàbǎo looked up, avoiding looking at the father and daughter. Ye Fan rolled her eyes. The passenger across from them slightly furrowed his brows. “What’s going on with this mother and child? Could they be a blended family, with the woman bringing her oldest and the man bringing his youngest? But the little one looks like this woman, doesn’t she?” The passenger looked at Erbao and was instantly stunned.

Erbao, holding her dad’s hand, tore off a big bite. Before the male passenger could say anything about not dropping it, Erbao quickly caught it with her small hand, slid down from her father’s lap, and moved swiftly to her mother’s side. Leaning against the bed, she happily took a bite of chicken leg and a bite of duck meat, squinting her eyes in contentment.

Geng Zhiye stared at the duck leg, which now only had a little bit of meat left, and couldn’t snap out of it for a long time.

Dàbǎo sighed dramatically, looking as if he had expected this to happen all along.

Ye Fan, her mouth full of meat, tried to hold in her laughter but almost choked, her face turning red from the effort.

Geng Zhiye finally snapped back to reality, his expression full of complexity as he looked at his daughter. He couldn’t bring himself to scold her, and sighing in resignation, he could only helplessly ask, “Are you a monkey that’s lost its fur?”

Erbao shook her head. “I’m not a monkey. I’m Erbao!”

Geng Zhiye choked slightly. “…Even meat can’t shut your mouth!”

Erbao wasn’t afraid, didn’t get angry, and didn’t talk back. She obediently nodded, savoring the half duck leg she had snatched from her father’s hand, as if making a sound would mean losing a bite of meat.

Ye Fan handed him a chicken wing. Geng Zhiye took it and complained, “Why didn’t you remind me?”

“Isn’t she your daughter?” Ye Fan asked.

Dàbǎo said, “Mom says you believe everything Dad says?”

Geng Zhiye didn’t believe it because his daughter was only two years old, still a baby.

“If you didn’t say it, how would you know I don’t believe it?” Geng Zhiye stubbornly argued.

Dàbǎo responded, “Before, Second Uncle and Second Aunt didn’t believe it either.”

“I’m not like them,” Geng Zhiye glared at his son. “How dare you compare me to them?”

Dàbǎo rolled his eyes. “Impossible to reason with!”

Geng Zhiye’s breath stopped. “Geng Dàbǎo—”

Ye Fan interrupted. “Dàbǎo’s dad—”

“I wouldn’t dare to be his dad,” Geng Zhiye said irritably.

Ye Fan nodded in understanding. “Let me ask you a question. Where is the hardest part of a roast duck?” She then handed him the duck head.

Geng Zhiye, without thinking, took it and answered, “The beak, of course.” What else is there to ask?

The man across from them burst out laughing, and the chicken bones he hadn’t discarded yet scattered across the floor. Geng Zhiye suddenly understood something, and while he was angry, he also wanted to laugh.

He glared at Ye Fan. “I think you’re well-fed.”

Erbao, being small, didn’t quite understand.

“Uncle, why are you laughing?”

The male passenger suppressed his laughter and said, “Your mom said your dad is stubborn.”

Erbao tilted her head and examined her dad. Is his mouth really that hard? She didn’t see it; he seemed no different from mom, brother, or her.

Geng Zhiye’s face turned red. “Geng Erbao, give me back my duck meat.”

“Dad told me to eat it,” Erbao immediately stopped staring at her dad, moved to the far end, and stayed away from him.

Geng Zhiye didn’t want to drag the child back and scold her. He sighed in exasperation. “Ye Fan, you just like to make me angry.”

“You’re Ye Fan?” the male passenger was shocked.

Is the world really this small?

Ye Fan was surprised. “Do you know me?”

“From the west side of the city, the accounting office of the Haidian Supply and Marketing Cooperative?”

Ye Fan coughed. “Oh, you really do know me. But I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” the man said. Seeing that Geng Zhiye was looking at him, he quickly explained, “My name is Duan Rulin. My family lives south of the Haidian Supply and Marketing Cooperative. I’ve heard from my parents and neighbors. They said ever since you became the accountant, the agricultural products at the cooperative have increased. Like when there was a vegetable shortage recently, you could still buy a bunch of spinach for one cent. A little later, one cent could get you two pounds of amaranth. The aralia and black locust flowers around Qingming—those weren’t available before. I don’t know where you’re sourcing them from, but it must be hard work, right?”

Ye Fan initially thought that Duan Rulin must be familiar with the Yè family and had learned that she wasn’t Yè family’s biological daughter. She said, “It’s not hard. Those things are all from the mountains. There weren’t any before because the supply and marketing cooperative didn’t have any vehicles, so they couldn’t go to the countryside to collect them.”

“I see,” Duan Rulin nodded in understanding.

Geng Zhiye thought to himself, You actually believe that?

Duan Rulin had no reason not to believe. His subconscious told him that Ye Fan had no reason to lie to him. He then asked, “Where are you going?”

“To the place where my husband works.”

“What about the supply and marketing cooperative?” Duan Rulin asked anxiously, sitting up straight.

Dabao chimed in, “The supply and marketing cooperative has Auntie.”

Duan Rulin asked, “You have sisters?”

They were just strangers meeting by chance, so there was no need to explain much. Ye Fan nodded and said that she and her sister had both gone to high school. Chen Xiaohui had even stayed in the countryside for a few years and was better at dealing with the farmers than she was.

Duan Rulin wanted to say that just knowing how to deal with people wasn’t enough.

But one also needed to be able to drive. Ye Fan had even driven to the countryside herself many times, as her parents and neighbors had said. But since this was their first time meeting, Duan Rulin didn’t want to question her about her sister.

“Will you return to Beijing?” he asked.

“My in-laws and my family are both from the capital,” Ye Fan replied, not waiting for him to ask again. “Are you on a business trip?”

Duan Rulin followed her gaze to his briefcase. “The machines at a factory in Hangzhou are broken. The higher-ups…”

“It’s in foreign language, and the repairmen can’t understand it. Those who know foreign languages don’t recognize the technical terms. It’s too slow. The telegram can’t explain it clearly, so the leaders asked me to make a trip. Where are you going?”

Geng Zhiye replied, “Yǒngchéng.”

“That’s not close.”

Geng Zhiye shook his head, “Not far either. If we’re lucky, we can leave after breakfast and still make it to Hángzhōu for lunch.”

“Dad, I’m done eating.” Dabao moved to sit across from his father.

Geng Zhiye noticed his hands and face were covered in oil. “Fán fán—”

Ye Fan handed him a wet towel. Geng Zhiye took it and was startled, “Why is it hot?”

“It’s dampened with water from the kettle,” Ye Fan explained, picking up the sleepy Erbao. “A dry towel won’t clean it properly. Quickly wipe Dabao’s hands, or it’ll start to scab.”

Geng Zhiye cleaned his son, and the towel was so dirty it was hard to look at. “Should we throw it away?”

Ye Fan smiled, understanding him.

“Throw it away?” Duan Rulin couldn’t help but ask.

Ye Fan replied, “I’ll wash it thoroughly. A few days ago, he wanted to use it to wipe his feet, but I didn’t let him.”

Geng Zhiye spread the newspaper from the lunch box, placed the towel and the leftover bones on it, rolled it up, and went to find the conductor to throw it away. Ye Fan asked the two children if they needed to go to the bathroom. Erbao grabbed her mom’s clothes, wanting to sleep, while Dabao took off his shoes and climbed into bed.

Duan Rulin asked, “Are they tired from eating?”

Ye Fan glanced at her watch. “It’s a little past one, time for a nap.” She placed Erbao at the other end of the bed, covering both children with the coats she and Geng Zhiye had worn in the morning.

Duan Rulin remarked, “They are pretty well-behaved when they fall asleep.”

Ye Fan nodded, “He just likes to chatter.”

Geng Zhiye came in, “You should stop chattering too. Take a break while you can. There’s no rest tomorrow.”

The thought of catching a train, taking a bus, and even needing to take a boat made Ye Fan’s head spin. “Is there no direct bus?”

Geng Zhiye nodded, “There’s one in the morning and one in the afternoon, but the morning bus won’t make it in time, and the afternoon bus has a one- to two-hour wait at the station. It’s better to take the train. You don’t even need to leave the station, and you can buy a ticket once you’re on the train.”

Ye Fan said, “That’s pretty convenient.”

Carrying two children and two big cloth bags taller than Dabao, Duan Rulin thought about mentioning that it wasn’t convenient, but then something crossed his mind, and he swallowed his words. He went to the upper bunk to rest.

The next day, Duan Rulin woke up and felt the train slow down. He saw Geng Zhiye packing his things and quickly got up to put on his shoes and find his bag. “Are we there?”

“About ten more minutes. Fánfán, watch the luggage, I’ll take Dabao to the bathroom.” Geng Zhiye then asked Duan Rulin if he wanted to go.

Duan Rulin wasn’t sure if anyone would be there to meet him. It was his first time in Hángchéng, and he was worried about getting lost, so he decided to wait and look around.

“Not to the bathroom?” Geng Zhiye asked. “Go ahead. Ask Erbao if she wants to go.”

Ye Fan was speechless but wanted to laugh. “I’ll take her.”

“Look at me, I was still half-asleep. I forgot Erbao is a girl.” Duan Rulin was embarrassed and hurried out.

Geng Zhiye muttered, “Bookworm!”

If the boss trusted a bookworm to go on a business trip alone, he clearly wasn’t that much of a bookworm. When they got off the train, he had his bag and briefcase in one hand and was holding Dabao in the other. After they got off, he held Dabao’s hand and saw Geng Zhiye’s family off to the car. Once Geng Zhiye put the luggage in place, he and Ye Fan each held one child and sat down. Only then did Duan Rulin exit the station.

Ye Fan said, “People say the world is chaotic now, but there are still a lot of good people.”

Geng Zhiye replied, “Most people will help if you ask. When I came, I took a fishing boat.”

“Are there still fishermen on the island?”

Geng Zhiye: “There is a Héngshān Commune on the island, with a population of about ten thousand, seventy percent of whom are fishermen. But in recent years, seafood hasn’t been selling well, so the fishermen have started learning to plant rice, cotton, and all kinds of fruits and vegetables. The fishing boat I was on last time was delivering tea. Right now, loquats are in season, and in a few days, there will be bayberries. No need to buy, they grow on the mountain.”

“Isn’t that more convenient than in the capital?”

Geng Zhiye felt a chill in his heart upon hearing this, and he nervously avoided making eye contact with Ye Fan.