DBTHDCAR Chapter 35

“Xiao Bei, wake up? Don’t sleep anymore. Your favorite Grandma Zhao Lirong’s skit is on, come watch!”

Ning Jianguo gently nudged Ning Xiaobei’s shoulder, whispering in his ear.

“Wait until after midnight to sleep, you still have to stay up for New Year’s Eve.”

Ning Xiaobei’s cheeks were flushed; he hiccupped lightly from the lingering alcohol and groggily opened his eyes, giving Ning Jianguo a silly, dopey smile.

“Dad… I’m back…”

“Back from where? You’re talking nonsense again,”

Ning Jianguo said, half-laughing, half-exasperated.

Ning Xiaobei lifted his head and stared wide-eyed, only to see a blur of bright, colorful chaos before him. Laughter burst from the TV not far away, though he had no idea what was playing. In front of the television, someone was jumping around like a monkey, unable to stay still for even a second.

That monkey was none other than Fan Xia, who had secretly drunk some alcohol and was now completely drunk, throwing a wild fit.

He was already the type to get hyper whenever there were people around, and now, with a cup of fruit wine in him, he was even worse; moving along with the music from the TV, throwing punches and kicks into the air nonstop.

“I lie like a bow, I stand like a pine… hey-ha! Watch this move— [ Hidden Dragon Emerges from the Sea ], and this one is [ Monkey Reaches the Moon]!”

Fan Xia unleashed a flurry of drunken, nonsense martial arts, shouting as he moved, making Wang Yihong and Chang Leyun laugh so hard they nearly doubled over. This monkey putting on a show was far funnier than the skit by Zhao Lirong and Gong Hanlin on TV.

“This is Chinese kung fu! Wah-ya-ya!”

As he spoke, Fan Xia copied a pose from the TV, striking a stick of incense pointing to the sky stance.

But he had no real martial arts foundation at all, his foot slipped, and he stumbled toward the ground.

If Zhao Jingwen hadn’t reacted quickly and grabbed him with an arm at the last moment, his head would have slammed straight into the chest of drawers.

“Fan Xia! You idiot!”

Seeing this, Ning Xiaobei pointed at him and burst into laughter, clapping his hands.

Although his soul had returned to this dream world, his body was now fully under the control of alcohol, so Ning Xiaobei also entered drunken chaos mode.

“Dad…”

After laughing at Fan Xia, Ning Xiaobei walked over to Ning Jianguo, who was tidying the table, and suddenly hugged him tightly from behind.

“Dad, I missed you so much… sob… did you miss me?”

I don’t want the next time I return to the real world to be greeted by that black-and-white memorial photo. I want to see my dad alive. No matter the cost, I want to bring him back.

“I did, I did. Oh my, Xiaobei even learned how to act spoiled after drinking. Later, Dad will give you a big red envelope.”

Ning Jianguo laughed as he turned around and patted Ning Xiaobei’s head.

“Jingwen, go to the kitchen and bring the trash bin. Dump everything straight in there. Once we’re done cleaning up, we’ll make tangyuan together.”

“Got it, coming.”

Zhao Jingwen had long been used to being ordered around by Ning Jianguo. He set down Fan Xia, who was still fidgeting restlessly in his arms, and turned toward the kitchen.

“Uncle Zhao!”

Ning Xiaobei let go of Ning Jianguo and threw himself straight into Zhao Jingwen’s arms.

“Uncle Zhao…”

Ning Xiaobei lifted his head. The corners of his eyes were slightly pink, with a hint of tears, as he looked at Zhao Jingwen pitifully.

“Uncle Zhao, you’re my dad’s good friend. A very good friend, right?”

“Of course.”

Now it was Zhao Jingwen’s turn to not know whether to laugh or cry.

“Then you can’t… you can’t do that kind of thing to my dad…”

As the old saying goes: you must not covet your friend’s wife.

Ning Xiaobei swayed as he spoke, a silly grin on his face. “Got it?”

“I—I… got what?”

Zhao Jingwen felt extremely guilty, forcing an awkward smile as he glanced sideways at Ning Jianguo.

“I mean, you can’t like… her… her…”

Ning Xiaobei turned his head, trying to point at Wang Yihong.

But by now, the alcohol had fully taken over, he was so drunk he couldn’t even tell directions apart.

After spinning in a circle, Ning Xiaobei ended up pointing straight at a completely bewildered Ning Jianguo.

Zhao Jingwen felt his throat tighten; he could barely even swallow.

“You can’t…”

Mumbling the last words, Ning Xiaobei plopped down onto the floor and promptly fell asleep again.

Beside him lay Fan Xia, who had already passed out earlier.

One dark and one fair, the two young men lay side by side on the floor, heads touching, fast asleep, even letting out soft snores.

“Oh dear, what should we do? They’ll catch a cold sleeping on the floor.”

Wang Yihong said worriedly.

“It’s fine, just carry them both to Xiaobei’s bed and let them sleep.”

Ning Jianguo stepped forward and picked up his son, while Zhao Jingwen bent down and gathered Fan Xia into his arms.

“In a bit, we’ll make tangyuan ourselves. Looks like these two little drunk troublemakers won’t get to enjoy any. Lele is still the good one, girls are just less worry.”

Ning Jianguo took off the boys’ wool sweaters and pants, tucked them into the quilt, and covered them with a small blanket.

Chang Leyun leaned against the doorframe, watching everything inside, giggling nonstop.

“Mom, boys are really interesting.”

She had thought everyone in Class One were all top students, serious and stiff bookworms. Who would’ve thought these two older boys were nothing like that? Each one was more amusing than the other. Especially Fan Xia, he could practically apply to the Shanghai Comedy Troupe, a real comedic talent.

Everyone else in the room got busy, but Zhao Jingwen lingered at the bedroom door for a long time.

“Xiaobei… what did he mean just now?”

He frowned, muttering softly to himself.

………………

With this sleep, Ning Xiaobei didn’t just miss the midnight countdown, he slept straight through to eight in the morning on the first day of the New Year.

When he opened his eyes, sporting a bird’s-nest hairstyle, the first thing he saw was Fan Xia, also with a bird’s-nest head, eyes swollen from sleep.

“Boss… ha…”

Fan Xia had just woken up too. He stretched both hands out from under the blanket and let out a huge yawn.

“How did you end up sleeping at my place again?”

Still half-asleep, Fan Xia thought he was in his own home.

Ning Xiaobei sat there blankly for a few seconds, trying to recall what had happened the night before. He only remembered that after returning from the real world, he seemed to have gone on quite a drunken rampage, but what exactly he said or did, he had no idea.

In the living room, Ning Jianguo had just placed a bowl of freshly cooked tangyuan on the table when he turned and saw Ning Xiaobei, barefoot, sprinting out of the small bedroom.

“You ran out in just your thermal underwear? What if you catch a cold?”

Ning Jianguo quickly picked him up, set him on the sofa, and pulled over a small blanket to wrap around him. “So early in the morning, what are you in such a rush for?”

“Dad, I have a New Year’s wish.”

Ning Xiaobei grabbed Ning Jianguo’s hand impatiently, looking at him with an intensely eager gaze.

He had finally figured it out—dropping hints and beating around the bush³ was completely useless on Comrade Ning Jianguo. If he didn’t want to end up making things convenient for someone else⁴, if he wanted a bright future for his dad, then he had to just say it straight.

“This year, I want a new mom.”

“What?”

Ning Jianguo froze.

“I want a new mom, someone like Auntie Wang.”

Ning Xiaobei said it loudly.

Well? Clear enough now, right?

“I also want a little sister.”

I’ve made it this obvious, Dad. How can you still not get it?

“Xiaobei, you… go put on your clothes first. Aren’t you cold?”

Ning Jianguo stammered, picking Ning Xiaobei up and carrying him toward the bedroom.

“Dad, just agree to it, okay? Please? Please?”

For the sake of getting his dad to marry Wang Yihong, Ning Xiaobei had completely thrown away his dignity. He pressed his head against Ning Jianguo’s chin and wrapped himself around him with both hands and feet, clinging like an octopus, constantly acting spoiled.

“Okay, okay, just put on your clothes first, and your shoes.”

Ning Jianguo felt completely overwhelmed. Afraid Xiaobei would catch a cold, he could only give a vague, perfunctory agreement.

Once he got that promise, Ning Xiaobei no longer needed any help. He ran back into the bedroom, opened the wardrobe, and took out the new clothes he had already prepared to wear on the first day of the New Year.

“Boss…”

Fan Xia had heard everything clearly from inside just now. Watching Ning Xiaobei pull a sweater over his head, he licked his lips.

“Don’t you dare tell anyone about what just happened.”

Ning Xiaobei said, slipping his arms into the sleeves, shooting him a sideways glance.

“Huh?”

“And especially, you’re not allowed to tell your uncle, got it?”

No matter how many precautions you take, it’s the thief inside the house that’s hardest to guard against.

He never would have thought that Uncle Zhao was actually his dad’s romantic rival.

It was all because, back in the real world, Fan Xia had said his uncle had never married in his life, stayed single forever. That gave him a fixed, mistaken assumption. He hadn’t considered that if he could change Fan Xia’s life path, then naturally he could also change Zhao Jingwen’s.

Maybe it was because of something he had done unintentionally that Uncle Zhao realized his feelings for Auntie Wang, and then got ahead of his dad and successfully confessed first.

Even though Ning Xiaobei didn’t want to admit it, when it came to winning women over, Zhao Jingwen was on a completely different level compared to the somewhat clumsy and shy Ning Jianguo, it wasn’t even close. If his dad had to compete with him for Auntie Wang, it would be quite difficult.

“Why can’t I tell my uncle?”

Fan Xia didn’t understand.

“Just don’t, okay? You can’t betray me, got it?”

“Oh… okay…”

Fan Xia nodded and made a zipping motion across his mouth with his hand.

After getting dressed, Fan Xia followed Ning Xiaobei outside. Ning Jianguo took out two red envelopes he had prepared earlier and gave them to the boys, wishing them progress in the new year.

Not long after breakfast, Fan Xia went downstairs together with him to pay New Year visits to Zhao Jingwen and Wang Yihong. The kids received more red envelopes, all of them smiling from ear to ear.

But the happiest one among them was actually Fan Xia.

Of course, as someone who wasn’t short on money, he wouldn’t be moved by a few red envelopes.

“So Boss has actually been secretly jealous of me all along… I even used to be jealous of him. I really shouldn’t have.”

Back in his room, Fan Xia stuffed the three big red envelopes into his drawer, sighing with emotion.

“A new mom, a little sister… I’ve had those for a long time already. Sigh, so even Boss, who always ranks first, has things he wants but can’t get.”

At the thought of this, Fan Xia felt his emotions surge.

In his mind, Boss Ning Xiaobei had always been like Shaka, the Virgo Gold Saint from 《Saint Seiya》— the man closest to a god. Lofty, untouchable, and capable of anything.

But after what just happened, although that divine glow around Ning Xiaobei had dimmed a little, it only made Fan Xia want to get closer to him, and protect him even more.

Boss, I’ll treat you even better from now on!

……………… 

Author’s Note:

Zhao Jingwen: Almost scared to death on New Year’s Eve…

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