Chapter 25: Happy Birthday, Dongdong (Part 1)

Sure enough, Dongdong’s eyes lit up as if they were glowing.

Dongdong knew today was his birthday. Grandma had already mentioned it a few days ago. Every year on his birthday, Grandma would prepare a present for him, like a children’s tricycle. But this year, Dad was back and Dad said he also had a birthday present for him. That made Dongdong so happy he didn’t even want to go to school.

When Dongdong couldn’t help wanting to ask, Qin Zhan said, “Go to school. I’ll give it to you when you come back. It’s a secret right now.”

Little kids love secrets the most. Hearing the word “secret,” Dongdong immediately lost the desire to ask more, “Then Dad, I’m going to school with Brother.”

“Alright, go ahead.” Qin Zhan walked them to the door. Watching them laughing and chatting as they headed to school, he felt that days like this were especially relaxed and carefree.

Dongdong was only three years old, but he and Qin Jiadong went to school on their own without needing adults to accompany them. In the courtyard, there were many three-year-old kids, but most were taken to school by adults.

The two brothers arrived at the kindergarten. Other children were already there, but Ping’an and Lu Min hadn’t arrived yet. Not seeing them, Dongdong sat obediently in his seat with his brother. Don’t look down on their young age—when it came to playing, they had their own little groups.

Finally, Ping’an, who lived nearby, arrived. Dongdong shouted loudly, “Ping’an, come here.”

Ping’an, who was heading to his own seat, came over to Dongdong’s. “Dongdong, why did you call me?”

Dongdong grinned and said, “My Dad came back today.”

“I know, your Dad picked you up. We even talked to him,” Ping’an looked at Dongdong with confusion. Everyone already knew this.

Dongdong continued smiling, “My Dad said today is my birthday and he brought me a birthday present. Does your Dad give you a birthday present on your birthday?”

If Ping’an were a few years older, he would have known Dongdong was showing off. But now, Ping’an was also just a little kid who didn’t even know what showing off meant. He listened in confusion. Kids like them weren’t very familiar with the idea of gifts. Dongdong only knew because his Grandma gave him something every birthday.

But that didn’t stop Ping’an from saying, “On my birthday, my Grandma gives me two red eggs. They’re bright red eggs. Have you eaten red eggs before?”

Dongdong shook his head, “No, I’ve only eaten yellow eggs. Are red eggs tasty? Are they tastier than yellow eggs?”

Ping’an said, “Not really. Red eggs taste the same as yellow ones, but they look prettier.”

Qin Jiadong also agreed: “When I was at my previous home, I also saw people eating red eggs on their birthdays. At my grandmother’s house, when my cousin had his birthday, my grandmother would prepare a lot of delicious food and then ask my mother to go over to celebrate my cousin’s birthday. But my grandmother never prepared anything for us.” He didn’t know that his grandmother was reminding his mother in disguise to prepare something for his cousin.

Hearing his brother say this, Dongdong felt that his brother’s Grandma was mean. He generously said, “Brother, I’ll share half of my birthday with you. We’ll celebrate together. I’ll also give you half of my birthday present.”

“Really?” Hearing this, Qin Jiadong was extremely touched.

“Yes.” Dongdong nodded seriously, but then said a little shyly, “Brother, I can share other people’s presents with you, but not the one Dad gives me.” It was the first time he’d gotten a present from Dad, and he couldn’t bear to give it away, not even to Brother.

Qin Jiadong immediately patted his chest and promised, “I definitely won’t take the present your Dad gave you. Even the other presents, I don’t want them.” Dongdong sharing half his birthday was already enough. How could he take his present?

Qin Jiadong had been brainwashed by Li Yuelan since birth. Now, getting half of his younger brother’s birthday already made him feel content. He was very happy with the life he had now. Dad, Sister, Brother, Grandpa, Grandma, and Grandma Zhang were all together. At first, he was afraid he’d wake up and be back at the old house again, that his mom would appear again. But now, almost a year had passed, and he was finally at ease.

Hearing that Brother wouldn’t take Dad’s birthday present, Dongdong also let out a relieved smile.

“Dongdong, what’s your Dad’s birthday present for you? Is it eggs or longevity noodles?” a voice came—it was Xu Mingyang.

Although Dongdong and Xu Mingyang had had an unpleasant experience before, among little kids, a single “I’m sorry” was enough to fix things. So Dongdong no longer held a grudge against Xu Mingyang. On the contrary, because of that unpleasantness, Xu Mingyang had started paying more attention to Dongdong. He came to play with Dongdong every day.

“I don’t know.” Dongdong said, “My Dad said he’ll tell me after I get back from school. It’s a secret now.”

“Wow…” Xu Mingyang exclaimed in admiration, looking envious, “Your Dad is so nice. My Dad never gave me a secret birthday present.” He decided that when he got home, he’d ask his Dad for a secret birthday present, even if he had to roll on the floor to get one.

The Xu family didn’t know yet that after the formula incident, they were in for another headache.

“Yes, my Dad is the best.” Before even seeing him, Dongdong always defended his Dad. Now that they had met, Dongdong was full of praise. His Dad was the best Dad in the whole courtyard.

“Will your Dad come home every day now?” Xu Mingyang asked.

In the past, when asked this, Dongdong would be sad. But not anymore. “My Dad still has to go catch bad guys. But he said he can stay with me for three times twenty days.” In Dongdong’s mind, three times twenty days meant a very long time—long enough that he no longer worried about Dad leaving to catch bad guys.

“How many days is three times twenty days?” Sure enough, Xu Mingyang didn’t understand either.

Kids from this era were different from modern ones. Most families didn’t focus on early education. Even someone like Mother Qin, who is from a scholarly background, didn’t arrange early lessons for Dongdong. She only taught him to count and told stories to teach him values. She didn’t want to pressure them while they were still full of innocence.

Dongdong stretched out both of his chubby hands, then kicked out both of his chubby feet, “It’s two hands and two feet. One, two, three…” Dongdong started counting for him, “My two hands make ten, then…” he took off his shoes and socks, sat on the bench, and pointed to his feet, “… this makes twenty. Three times twenty is sixty.”

But how to count from twenty to sixty, he still didn’t know.

Xu Mingyang listened in a daze, “I still don’t get it.”

Dongdong’s eyes turned, and he came up with a new way to explain: “It’s you, me, and Brother. The hands and feet of the three of us added together make sixty. One person’s hands and feet make twenty.”

Three times twenty equals sixty was something Xu Mingyang couldn’t understand. But the idea that three people’s hands and feet added up to sixty made sense to him.

He looked at Dongdong’s hands and feet, then at Qin Jiadong’s, and finally at his own. Then he said, “That’s a lot. So sixty is that much.”

“Mm-hmm…” Dongdong nodded with satisfaction. “Sixty is this many, so Dad can stay with me for many days.”

“Dongdong, you’re amazing. You can count numbers now,” Ping’an said. “I can’t count at all.”

Dongdong said proudly, “My grandma taught me. When I was a little kid, I could already count to ten. Now I’m a big kid and can count to twenty.”

Ping’an asked, “Is there anything after twenty?”

Dongdong thought about it in confusion. “There definitely isn’t. If there were, my grandma would have taught me.”

Xu Mingyang snorted through his nose. “What’s so great about that? When I get home from school, I’ll ask my grandma to teach me too. Tomorrow I’ll know how to count to twenty as well.”

At home, Grandma Xu sneezed. As an illiterate woman, she had no idea her grandson was about to give her a daunting task.

“Then I’ll ask my grandma to teach me how to count too,” Ping’an said, seizing the opportunity.

Xu Mingyang thought of a fun game. “Let’s compete tomorrow. If anyone can’t count, they have to accept a punishment.”

Dongdong asked, “What punishment?”

Xu Mingyang said, “Imitate a dog barking twice.”

Dongdong and Ping’an said, “Okay.”

Dongdong wasn’t afraid since he already knew how. Ping’an, brave like a newborn calf unafraid of tigers, wasn’t scared either. Xu Mingyang, who suggested the punishment, definitely wasn’t afraid. They were all confident little kids.

Qin Jiadong listened to their conversation but didn’t join in. He hadn’t learned to count either and was afraid he might lose and have to bark like a dog. That would be too embarrassing, so he didn’t want to join.

But Qin Jiadong didn’t realize that just because he didn’t speak up didn’t mean he wasn’t included.

At the family compound.

Once Aunt Zhang finished her chores,

Qin Zhan asked about his older brother Qin Shun. “Aunt Zhang, I heard from Dongdong that Big Brother is back?” He usually didn’t keep much contact with the family. The only recent contact with his mother was from last time, and even then, she didn’t mention Qin Shun. As for his father, he was never the kind to take the initiative to call about trivial matters. So Qin Zhan had no idea about Qin Shun’s situation.

Aunt Zhang knew a bit about it and said, “He came back in late September last year, only brought Wenjing and Jiadong with him. I heard from your mom that he divorced Li Yuelan. I don’t know the details.”

Qin Zhan didn’t have much of a reaction. His only impression of Li Yuelan was from the time he saw her at his wedding. He hadn’t seen her since.

But he did know that his marriage had made their mother very unhappy. Most likely because she didn’t like Li Yuelan. Still, he wasn’t concerned about his brother’s private affairs. Big Brother wasn’t a child and should have known what he was doing.

An adult must be responsible for their own actions.

In terms of personality, Qin Zhan took after their mother.

Qin Zhan stayed at home until it was almost time for the kindergarten to finish for the day, then went to pick up Dongdong. Since he went at noon because Aunt Zhang asked him to, he went again in the afternoon on his own.

As soon as Dongdong heard the teacher say it was time to go home, he urged Qin Jiadong to hurry out of the classroom. Sure enough, he saw his father waiting at the kindergarten gate.

“Dad…” Dongdong joyfully jumped into Qin Zhan’s arms.

Qin Zhan caught him. He was still a bit helpless in the face of Dongdong’s enthusiastic personality. He had always been a calm person, and suddenly having a little ball of sunshine around was a strange feeling.

“Dad, Dad…” Dongdong hugged Qin Zhan’s leg, tilting his head up to look at him. His eyes, mouth, and face were all full of smiles. He was such a happy, happy little boy.

Qin Zhan picked him up.

Dongdong wrapped his arms around Qin Zhan’s neck. “Dad, today I told Xu Mingyang you could stay with me for sixty days. Xu Mingyang didn’t know how many sixty days were. I told him it’s three sets of twenty days. He still didn’t understand. He’s so dumb.”

Xu Mingyang, walking behind them, stumbled when he heard this and loudly retorted, “I know now. It’s three people’s hands and feet put together.” He remembered clearly.

Caught gossiping behind someone’s back, Dongdong was a little embarrassed but still said confidently, “I was the one who told you that.”

Xu Mingyang wouldn’t back down. “Anyway, I know it now. Tomorrow I’ll compete with you in counting. I’ll definitely win.”

Dongdong wasn’t about to lose. “I won’t lose either.”

Qin Zhan watched the two kids arguing and felt a bit of a headache. Thinking back, he didn’t recall ever arguing with anyone when he was a kid.

If Mother Qin heard that, she would definitely say something fair. Dongdong is what a normal little kid should be like.

“Hmph.” Xu Mingyang snorted through his nose again and ran off angrily.

Qin Zhan carried Dongdong home. Since Qin Jiadong was also there, he deliberately slowed his pace. But no matter how slow he walked, his strides were still much bigger than Jiadong’s.

Qin Zhan stopped and asked, “Jiadong, want Uncle to carry you too?” Carrying Dongdong and not Jiadong didn’t feel right. Jiadong was also a child.

“No, no,” Qin Jiadong quickly shook his head. He was a kid who liked to walk on his own and didn’t like being carried. As he spoke, he ran ahead of Qin Zhan to show he really didn’t want to be carried.

Seeing this, Qin Zhan didn’t insist.

When Mother Qin got home from work and saw her youngest son in the courtyard, she was shocked. Although she knew he would come back, she didn’t expect him to arrive today since he hadn’t told them a specific time.

“Grandma…” Dongdong, who was playing with Qin Jiadong, shouted and ran over.

“Grandma…” Qin Jiadong also called out and followed. He wasn’t as close to Mother Qin as Dongdong was. That was a distance caused by time and needed time to mend.

“Mom…” Qin Zhan also greeted her.

“Hey.” Mother Qin smiled at both grandsons and then scolded Qin Zhan. “You really know how to pick your day. Today is Dongdong’s birthday. We bought a chicken and you just happened to come back.”

Qin Zhan was speechless. Aunt Zhang said the same thing this morning. Now his mom was saying it too. Did they really think he would pick this day just for a chicken?

Mother Qin didn’t bother with him. After parking her bike, she picked up Dongdong who had run over, then patted Jiadong’s head. She knew that since Jiadong didn’t grow up in the Qin household, he wasn’t as close to them as Dongdong was. But that was okay. That could change with time.

“Grandma, Dad said he brought me a birthday present. So can Dad eat chicken with us tonight?” Dongdong was worried his dad had upset Grandma by coming home today.

Mother Qin got a little jealous. “You really care about your dad.” She said it without much kindness.

Dongdong thought it was praise and said proudly, “I care about Dad the most.”

Qin Zhan curled his lips. Being protected by his son felt surprisingly nice.

“You…” Mother Qin tapped his forehead. “Then, since he brought you a gift, I’ll let him eat chicken with us tonight.” As if she thought of something, she turned to Qin Zhan. “Go to the Public Security Bureau and call your eldest brother. He hasn’t been home for days.”

Qin Zhan said, “Okay.” Luckily, his mom’s bicycle didn’t need to be put away. He could use it.

“Dad, I want to go too,” Dongdong said quickly.

Mother Qin said, “You and your brother wait at home. Oh, Grandma Zhang’s chicken is ready. Go and taste it with your brother. If it’s not good, tell her to cook it again.”

Dongdong hesitated. He wanted to go with Dad, but he also wanted to eat chicken. What should he do?

Qin Zhan said, “Go eat the chicken. I’ll be back soon.”

When Dongdong heard “soon”, he had an idea. “Then I’ll go with Dad. I’ll be back soon to eat chicken.”

Qin Zhan: “…”

Mother Qin: “…”

Aunt Zhang: “…”

This little rascal knows how to think.

So, Qin Zhan had no choice. “Alright, I’ll take you.”

Mother Qin said, “I’ll go get his seat.”

Kids sitting on the back of bikes might move their feet around, which could get caught in the wheel. Mother Qin’s bike was a women’s model with no crossbar in the front. For Dongdong to sit in the back, a seat had to be installed.

She often took Dongdong to the research institute. Sometimes by bus, sometimes by bike. So they had a child seat at home. She brought it out and skillfully attached it to the back, tying it tightly with rope. “Done.”

Dongdong spread his arms and Qin Zhan picked him up and placed him on the seat. His legs spread apart, and because the seat had panels on both sides, his feet wouldn’t slip into the wheel.

Soon, father and son rode off together on the bike.

Mother Qin watched their backs as they left. Her eyes were full of laughter. She didn’t expect that her usually cold son would get along so well with the warm and lively Dongdong.

Then she took Qin Jiadong’s hand. “Jiadong, your dad will be back today. Are you happy?”

Not really.

But not unhappy either.

Still, he instinctively felt he shouldn’t say that. So he replied, “Happy.”