Chapter 29.1

◎ You’ve gained weight. ◎

Fan Qi was witnessing Rong Yuan’s influence firsthand. He had only invested a small amount in Chen Zhiqian’s angel round.

To her surprise, the concept stock for television gaming consoles had really caught on. Relevant stocks were soaring. Despite the fact that Ailai Electronics didn’t see the same dramatic fluctuations as before, from Wednesday to Friday, it rose by 41%. Sister Xiang was already happy with this.

However, Fan Qi believed that such big investors wouldn’t settle for just a small return; they would definitely aim for a higher profit. That’s why she hadn’t sold her 4,000 shares. Of course, with the remaining money, she chased after the leading stock, buying at a high price, but she didn’t make much from it.

Forget it. She decided to rest properly over the weekend. Fan Qi stared at the jumping panda on the TV, the annoying electronic sound blaring through the speakers. She groaned, “Ahhh! I died again!”

She dropped the game controller. “Chen Zhiqian, why can’t you give me easy, hard, or hell modes? Come over and look at how many times I’ve died here!”

Chen Zhiqian stirred the batter, “I just told you to save more lives earlier.”

“This river’s impossible, and the monkeys ahead will definitely take one of my lives!”

Chen Zhiqian set the batter down, took the controller from her, and said, “Let me teach you.”

He skillfully played, crossing the cliff and killing the monkeys that tried to rob him, gaining two lives. Then, it was time to cross the river. Fan Qi knew she would die here, but he said, “There’s a slight delay when you press.”

He cleared the level and asked, “See? It’s that easy, isn’t it?”

Fan Qi, still holding the batter, replied, “My eyes got it, but my hands are useless.”

She handed the batter to Chen Zhiqian and picked up the controller to try again, but still couldn’t manage it. “Forget it, I’m not playing anymore.”

Fan Qi threw down the game controller and walked over to watch Chen Zhiqian make pancakes.

Rong Yuan had said it would take three days, and sure enough, within that time, Chen Zhiqian had gathered a full set of tools to make pancakes. Just earlier, someone had delivered everything.

Fan Qi looked at the ruined pancakes in the bowl and the one on the pan—lumpy and uneven. She couldn’t take it anymore. “Dude, step aside, let me do it!”

Fan Qi added some flour to the batter, mixed it, wiped some fatty meat on the pan, then poured a spoonful of batter onto the pan and spun it with a bamboo scraper until the entire surface was covered. She extended her hand, “Egg.”

Chen Zhiqian handed her an egg. She cracked it in and spread the batter some more, flipping it with a spatula. Sweet soy sauce, chili paste, pickled vegetables, scallions, and some wonton wrappers Chen Zhiqian had specially gone out to buy and fried until crispy. She rolled it up, cut it in half, and placed it on a plate in one smooth motion.

She handed the finished pancake to him, “See? Wasn’t that easy?”

Chen Zhiqian chuckled, “Mm, my eyes got it, but my hands are still no good.”

“Little parrot, copying everything I say!” Fan Qi scolded, then turned to make an egg pancake. With the remaining batter, she said, “I’ll make a few more pancakes. We won’t stir-fry the rice noodles. Let’s stir-fry the beef instead, and also make some vinegar-flavored potatoes. You’ll wrap them in the pancake.”

“Okay, I’ll go slice the potatoes.”

Chen Zhiqian sliced the potatoes, put them on the stove, then took out the beef, sliced onions, and chilies.

“I’ll stir-fry it,” Fan Qi said.

“Sure,” Chen Zhiqian said, picking up the game controller. “You’re right, I’ll make a simple version of the game.”

“For me, the one who’s bad at it but loves to play,” Fan Qi replied. “By the way, Chen Zhiqian, why is your panda called Cui Cui? So tacky.”

The game’s main character was a silly panda named Cui Cui. Video games from this era weren’t very detailed, but the panda’s bold black-and-white design made it easy to remember.

The storyline was simple—tigers had invaded Panda Village, slaughtering the pandas, and taking the village chief, demanding the treasure of Chi You.

The only panda to survive was Cui Cui, and now she had to go through many levels to rescue the village chief.

“Actually, the name is Cui Xi, like the English name Tracy. It’s for when we expand into international markets,” Chen Zhiqian explained.

“Cui Cui? You might as well call her Cui Hua!” Fan Qi teased.

“How about Qi Qi, the English name Gigi?” Chen Zhiqian asked.

Fan Qi, holding the spatula, replied, “I don’t mind, but I’m worried your future partner will have a problem with it. Imagine, you tell them you had a loveless marriage, and they ask, ‘If it’s loveless, why did you name the game character after your ex-wife?’ Now, how would you explain that? Doesn’t matter, though. It only proves my irresistible charm. You were once completely infatuated with me.”

Chen Zhiqian froze, his hand shaking, causing the panda to lose a life.

“Ha, now you have nothing to say, huh?” Fan Qi smirked as she swayed her hips, returning to stir-fry the dishes.

There was a knock at the door, and Chen Zhiqian put down the game controller to answer it. He opened the door and saw his parents standing outside, followed by a camera crew.

Liu Xiangnian’s old tricks were being used again, making Chen Zhiqian feel strangely familiar with the situation.

Fan Qi quickly turned off the stove, grabbed the spatula, and looked toward the door, recognizing Chen Zhiqian’s parents from his memories.

Chen Zhiqian resembled his father, although his dad had spent over a decade herding livestock in the northwest, his hair had turned mostly white, and wrinkles had appeared at the corners of his eyes and mouth. His mother, on the other hand, looked much younger. Though life in Yunnan had been hard, she had worked as a doctor, avoiding the harsh conditions of outdoor life. In reality, the two were only two years apart in age, but they looked like there was a significant gap of over a decade between them.

When Chen’s mother saw Fan Qi wearing an apron and cooking, her first words were, “Ah Qian, why is the girl cooking? What are you doing?”

Upon entering and seeing the television screen with the game controller on the floor, she looked up and down at Chen Zhiqian. Her expression was such that if there hadn’t been anyone else coming in behind her, Fan Qi could almost picture a feather duster appearing.

Their house was very small, and with the camera and a few crew members squeezing in, there was no space left. The houses were all in close quarters, and they couldn’t block the hallway at the door.

Chen’s father turned to the two people accompanying them and said, “Why don’t you go downstairs and find somewhere to eat? We’ll talk for a bit with our son and daughter-in-law.”

“Professor Chen, we’re here on a mission,” one of them said.

“Whatever mission you have, we’ll take our son and daughter-in-law to the hotel, and you can continue filming there, alright?” Chen’s father’s face showed clear displeasure.

“Alright then.”

Once they left, Chen’s mother couldn’t hold back any longer. “Ah Qian, what’s going on? The girl is cooking, and you’re playing a game?”

“It was me playing at first, but he was making pancakes and couldn’t get them right, so I took over,” Fan Qi explained, defending Chen Zhiqian.

Hearing Fan Qi stand up for her son, Chen’s mother’s expression softened.

She put her purse on the chair and lowered her head. “Ah Xun heard we were coming to Hong Kong, so he pushed his bicycle to the first food store. He waited for two hours under the sun to buy smoked fish and butterfly pastries. The smoked fish was hard to bring, so he only brought the butterfly pastries.”

Aside from the butterfly pastries, there were also moss strips and Suzhou-style preserved plums, small snacks. Chen’s mother said, “We were in a rush and didn’t know what else to buy.”

When Fan Qi was young, her parents lived separate lives. The people who appeared most often in her world were the nanny, the dormitory supervisor, and the cafeteria auntie, as well as her father’s girlfriends, whom she also called “auntie.”

Her father could remember the preferences of every girlfriend but never paid attention to her own likes.

After her mother divorced, she married a white man. It wasn’t until Fan Qi had been studying in the U.S. for almost a year that her mother realized she had only left home to study 40 miles away. Her mother and stepfather came to visit her, saying they had organized a family gathering to introduce her to her new family. The family members, with their blonde hair and blue eyes, were all friendly, but the entire meal was western cuisine. Her mother said, “Chinese food uses too much oil, too salty, and it’s unhealthy. You should change your eating habits.”

Her mother said a lot, and at the time, Fan Qi countered, “The life expectancy in the U.S. is among the lowest in developed countries, and the obesity rate is one of the highest in the world.”

After Fan Qi graduated and returned to China, her father married a woman who was just a year older than her and had a son. Perhaps because he was getting older and wanted to settle down, he became a better man and urged her to eat with them. He also advised her to take care of her younger brother.

She looked at her young stepmother and said, “Your wife is about the same age as me. Why are you so worried? If you die when you’re old, she’ll still be young. What do you want me to do?”

Because of this remark, her father kicked her out of the house.

Fan Qi didn’t mind. After all, she had never felt like she had a real family.

Now, when Chen’s mother spoke of her brother waiting in line for two hours in such weather just to bring her things she liked, it hit her in a way she hadn’t expected.

Though the butterfly pastries in Hong Kong might be made with better ingredients, they were a gesture of love from her family.

Fan Qi looked at the items handed to her, “I’m going to eat this. The last time Ah Qian brought it, I hid it to eat slowly!”

“Good girl,” Chen’s mother said warmly.

No one had ever spoken to her with such affectionate tones, and something inside Fan Qi stirred.

Though the original person had been spoiled by Chen’s parents, she never bothered to show any gratitude. She always felt that their kindness was just something they owed her family, and no matter how they treated her, it was deserved. So even though her marriage had been for the original person’s dream of coming to Hong Kong, she never once called them “Mom” or “Dad.”

How should she balance her relationship with Chen’s parents now? She had already called them “Dad” and “Mom” on the phone, so there was no need to be pretentious. She pulled out a chair, “Dad, Mom, sit down!”

When Chen’s mother heard her say “Dad, Mom,” her smile grew even wider.

However, there were only two chairs in the house. Chen’s mother looked at them, “You two go ahead and eat.”

Chen Zhiqian retrieved a folding stool from the corner. “Dad, Mom, have you eaten yet?”

He hadn’t gotten it out when Liu Xiangnian came last time.

Fan Qi nudged Chen Zhiqian. “Why are you asking if they’ve eaten? Go fry some radish with eggs. We’ll all eat together, you silly!”

“I’ll go fry it,” Chen Zhiqian replied, turning to the stove.

Fan Qi put the items away in the cabinet and turned back to him. “Ah Qian’s friend helped him get this iron pan from the mainland. We’re trying to make pancakes today. Dad, Mom, want to try?”

They had already made two pancakes, but now there were four of them, so half a pancake per person would be enough. “Dad, Mom, you try the egg pancake.”

“I’ll wash my hands,” Chen’s mother said.

The elderly couple went to wash their hands. After washing, Chen’s mother took half an egg pancake, took a bite, and her eyes lit up. “Old Chen, come try this. This egg pancake is really good.”

Chen Zhiqian was cracking an egg. “This was made by Qi Qi.”

Chen’s father, who had been eating the egg pancake, was surprised. “Qi Qi made it?”