“Where did you say you’re going?”
“The scrap yard.” As if afraid her uncle wouldn’t understand, Qi Youyu gave a vivid example: “It’s where they recycle cooking machines and washing machines.”
Yan Xingli didn’t want the child to get the wrong idea: “I didn’t sell the cooking machine to the scrap yard, I returned it to the store.” ”
“I know what a scrap yard does. I’m asking, what are you going to the scrap yard for?”
Yuyu: “To buy stuff.”
Yan Xingli looked completely baffled: “You’re just a little… kid. What are you going to buy at a scrap yard? Cardboard boxes? Pots, pans, and dishes?”
“Uncle, it’s a secret. I can’t tell you right now.”
Yan Xingli had never sold scrap before. He didn’t like cluttering up the house, so he cleared out the delivery boxes every day.
Since he had nothing better to do anyway, Yan Xingli opened the map app to search for the nearest scrap yard and found one eighteen kilometers away.
After confirming it was open, Yan Xingli grabbed his car keys and took Qi Youyu downstairs.
It was Yan Xingli’s first time appearing on a lifestyle variety show. With his usual smooth-talking mind, he hadn’t thought to switch to a low-key car, so he brazenly drove out in his only vehicle.
The Cullinan made a grand entrance, and the live chat immediately went wild.
There are plenty of celebrities who drive luxury cars in private, but they’re all top-tier stars who’ve been in the game for years. Their status in the industry speaks for itself, so no one questions it.
But when a rising star like Yan Xingli drives a luxury car, people just wonder, “What gives?”
“Holy crap, a Cullinan! Why do you have my dream car?!”
“Let’s see who dares to feel sorry for Yan Xingli now.”
“Money really is easy to make in the entertainment industry. No wonder everyone’s scrambling to get in.”
Just then, Yan Xingli gazed at the blue emotional crystal disguised as a pendant and flashed a meaningful smile.
This only made the snarky comments in the live chat even more vicious, and the fans trying to defend him were shut down so thoroughly that they didn’t dare speak up.
Thousands of miles away in City A, Li Zhi, watching the livestream, pressed her hand to her throbbing temple, utterly exhausted.
What was Yan Xingli thinking? Didn’t the plan explicitly state to keep a low profile? Flaunting wealth is a major no-no. How could he have forgotten such a simple principle?
The car drove along the bustling street. No matter how the scenery changed, a clear, innocent light continued to shine in the child’s eyes.
Qi Youyu turned her head toward the window, offering the camera a round profile. Her full attention was focused on the taxi slowly catching up to them.
“Uncle, that car with the hat is so pretty. What’s it called?”
Yan Xingli glanced at the rearview mirror: “It’s called a taxi.”
“You’ve never seen one before?”
“No, I haven’t.” Qi Youyu was practically pressed up against the window. “Uncle, they all have different hats, some are blue, some are yellow.”
Yan Xingli: “Right, and there are green ones too.”
Qi Youyu shot her hand up and, following her uncle’s lead, suggested, “Uncle, let’s put a little green hat on your car too.”
The child clapped her little hands with delight, thinking this was a brilliant idea: “When spring comes, I’ll say, ‘Oh, Uncle, your car has sprouted leaves.’”
The child’s ideas came one after another, and Yan Xingli choked on his drink at her suggestion.
He closed his eyes to compose himself, then snorted, “I don’t want that.”
While waiting for the light to turn green, Yan Xingli turned to look at the little one sitting in the backseat and had a sudden idea:
“Yuyu, say ‘taxi’ once.”
Qi Youyu blinked and obediently repeated, “Taxi.”
“Is that right, Uncle?”
Yan Xingli: “Yes, try saying it faster.”
Qi Youyu didn’t understand why her uncle’s eyes were crinkling with laughter; he couldn’t hide his joy, but if her uncle was happy, she was happy too.
The little girl followed her uncle’s instructions and spoke faster and faster.
“Piggy car.”
“Piggy car.”
“Uncle, there are so many piggy cars on the road.”
Yan Xingli’s shoulders shook uncontrollably in the driver’s seat: “Hmm, there really are a lot.”
Seeing Yan Xingli laughing, Yu Yu grinned from ear to ear and giggled傻乐, filling the car with the laughter of a big and a little one.
“Uncle, what are piggy trucks for?”
“They haul pigs.”
“? I’m dying of laughter, hahaha.”
“Turns out, entertaining kids really is addictive hahaha.”
Yan Xingli stopped laughing, cleared his throat, and asked, “Don’t you have those where you live?”
Yuyu thought about it seriously, then shook her head. “We don’t have trucks that haul pigs.”
The child’s urge to share kicked in. He braced his hands on the armrests, leaned forward, and asked, “Uncle, have you ever seen a flying car?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Then wait until I get home. I’ll let you ride in a flying car.”
“Okay, okay. We’re almost there. Hold on tight.”
“
The scrap yard was run by a middle-aged couple.
They didn’t watch TV, so when they first saw Yan Xingli, they didn’t recognize him as a celebrity. They simply thought he was quite handsome, and seeing him accompanied by a little girl with thick eyebrows and big eyes, looking like a lucky charm, they couldn’t help but feel a natural fondness for him. They treated the grandfather and granddaughter with exceptional warmth and kindness.
Yan Xingli didn’t know what kind of scrap Qi Youyu wanted, so when they arrived, he let her look around on her own.
Qi Youyu looked as though she’d stumbled upon a buffet; she jumped up and cheered, then, led by the female owner, darted into the back room like a happy little puppy to pick out items.
Between the two of them, the photographer decided to film Yan Xingli first, followed by a short clip of the child selecting scrap.
Qi Youyu had a clear goal in mind. After circling the room once, she emerged with a burlap sack in her hands, dragging it along the floor with a clinking sound.
Yan Xingli, who had been chatting with the male owner, looked over and paused in surprise: “Is she done already?”
The female owner laughed: “This child works quickly, not a moment’s hesitation. She’s a well-organized kid.”
Knowing the aunt was praising her, Yu Yu played along by standing tall and straight, replying sincerely, “Thank you, Auntie. You’re great too.”
Yan Xingli said, “Open the bag and let’s see what you’ve packed inside.”
The finished products are a secret, but the materials don’t have to be.
Yuyu waved her little hand. “Don’t blink, take a look.”
The fertilizer sack, bulging like a giant stomach, was pulled open. Inside were stuffed with plastic water bottles, some ragged children’s toys, and a nondescript piece of tin.
Yan Xingli was genuinely at a loss for a moment.
What could all these things be used to make?
He picked up one of the grubby toy excavators and said gently,
“Yuyu, do you like this one? Uncle will buy you a new one. Put this one back.”
As soon as Qi Youyu heard this, she snatched the toy back and clutched it nervously to her chest: “Uncle, I want this one.”
“Yuyu’s reaction is so strange. It’s completely against the norm for kids to prefer old toys over new ones. Does her family never buy her toys? Is that why she’s so attached to the old ones??”
“Oh my god, what a poor kid.”
“Are Yuyu’s parents reincarnated cheapskates? How much could a toy possibly cost? Look how much she wants it!”
Yan Xingli couldn’t fathom a child’s whimsical imagination.
Seeing that Yu Yu was determined to take those broken toys, he stopped trying to dissuade her. He glanced at the time on his phone; it was still early.
“Do you want to pick out anything else?”
“No, no.” Qi Youyu wasn’t greedy. “These are enough.”
“Alright then.”
The sackful of junk Qi Youyu had picked out cost less than fifty yuan. Yan Xingli helped her stuff it into the trunk and set the GPS for the nearest mall.
That pile of ragged toys was an eyesore to him; he had to take the kid to buy some new toys to bring home.
As soon as the car pulled up, Qi Youyu hurriedly jumped out and rushed to the trunk to check if her precious junk had fallen apart.
Yan Xingli really didn’t want to parade his prized ride around town with a sack of fertilizer in the back.
He stopped the little girl and reassured her, “Your treasures are fine. Let’s go inside quickly. We’ll take you to KFC later.”
The child, who had been pouting and looking unhappy just a second ago, lit up the moment she heard the word “KFC.” She grabbed her uncle’s hand and chirped excitedly:
“Okay, okay, Uncle. Let’s go!”
But in a corner where the grandfather and granddaughter weren’t looking, a fashionably dressed foreigner with brown skin was slowly approaching them.
“Excuse me.”
Before the figure even came into view, a peculiar scent wafted over.
Yan Xingli instinctively shielded Yu Yu and took a step back, a hint of coldness in his eyes.
The foreign man blocking their path had deep-set eyes and a broad brow, a high, straight nose, and a mouth full of pearly white teeth. He launched into a rapid-fire string of English.
“Here we go, the classic foreigner asking for directions. Haha, I can practically feel Yan Xingli’s panic through the screen.”
“Yan Xingli’s evasive, shifty gaze is exactly like mine when I bump into my teacher on the street, so guilty and panicked it’s killing me.”
The garbled, curry-accented English left Yan Xingli completely flustered.
English is annoying enough as it is, but curry-accented English is hellishly difficult.
Yan Xingli smiled: “I don’t understand, Simida.”
Indian guy: “?”
“Korea?”
The Indian guy asked uncertainly again: “Foot basin?”
Yan Xingli’s expression immediately changed.
“How dare you insult me, and with such vulgar language!” Yan Xingli snapped, his face darkening. “NO, bye-bye!”
The live chat was nearly laughing itself to death.
“Haha, the moment the Indian guy said “foot basin,” Yan Xingli clenched his fists, hahahaha!!”
As an international metropolis, S City has a foreigner practically every five steps, and five out of ten foreigners can speak fluent Chinese.
Yan Xingli has lived in this city for years and has never encountered a foreigner asking for directions. With today’s advanced technology, there are plenty of translation apps, and navigation apps even have English versions, so it’s much more convenient to use an app than to ask someone.
He rarely encounters foreigners asking for directions, but today they’ve appeared in droves. He’d just sent off an Indian guy, and now an American shows up; it’s really starting to look suspicious.
With cameras rolling, Yan Xingli can’t exactly ignore the foreigners asking for directions. So he decides to just play it cool and pretend to be disabled, pointing to his ear and waving his hands.
“This guy is so cool.”
“Waaah, as someone who’s terrible at English, I’m giving this a huge thumbs-up. I mean, how did the foreigner manage to pick out the worst student in the crowd to ask for directions?”
Qi Youyu was still half-asleep and didn’t quite grasp what was going on. She tugged at Yan Xingli’s sleeve and whispered:
“Uncle, is something wrong with your ear?”
“Do you want me to fix it for you?”
Yan Xingli’s eyes flickered slightly. “No, thanks.”
“You’re fine again.” The child’s dark eyes widened. “Were you just faking it?”
“Of course not.”
How could an adult’s business be called “faking it”?
Yan Xingli corrected her sternly: “That’s called a polite refusal.”
He held up a finger and spoke with conviction, his expression mirroring Qi Youyu’s in every way.
“When you encounter words you don’t want to hear, or people you don’t want to see, and you’re too lazy to respond, pretending to be deaf and mute is the most dignified way to handle it.”
“Yuyu, this is the wisdom of adults.”
Listening to Yan Xingli’s profound words, the child’s little face grew serious, and he nodded vigorously: “I understand, Uncle. I’ll remember that.”
At that moment, Yan Xingli didn’t realize the gravity of the situation. Seeing how receptive Yuyu was to his teachings, he patted the child on the head with satisfaction.