After I heard the shoe repair Uncle’s shouts, I suddenly thought: Xiao Qin’s biological father, Huo ZhenBang, the spy he left in Dong Shan city is the shoe repair uncle!

I clearly remember, Xiao Qin once said the shoe repair uncle was at the end of his ropes and came to rely on “us”. Auntie Ren doesn’t know about the shoe repair uncle and Xiao Qin covers up her close relationship with the shoe repair uncle the same way she covered up her own secret communication with Huo ZhenBang.

So after the shoe repair Uncle left the National Security Bureau, he went to work for the triads! Or at least he worked for the triads for a period of time before he started his shoe repair business. What did Huo ZhenBang make you do, did he tell you to eavesdrop on the annual meetings of other triad groups?

Whether or not the shoe repair Uncle is a true part of the triads or not, he definitely had some sort of connection with Huo ZhenBang. He could have been instructed to stay in Dong Shan city to act as a spy and monitor whether or not Xiao Qin had been bullied by me.

The shoe repair uncle, who once stole information from foreign embassies, now played the role of a minor snitch character, which is like putting a talented person in an insignificant position. No wonder the shoe repair uncle is always depressed and curses the Chinese men’s soccer team to vent his feelings.

I decided not to let the shoe repair Uncle see me and my dad’s face.

Although Huo ZhenBang contracted AIDS and temporarily severed the idea of remarriage with Auntie Ren, but there’s no guarantee that he will support Auntie Ren getting remarried.

As a father, you would always have complex feelings when your daughter gets a boyfriend and eventually gets married.

So as for Xiao Qin choosing me, although Huo ZhenBang was not strongly opposed to it, but his attitude towards me has always been a bit strange as if he’s always been testing me.

Huo ZhenBang was already feeling helpless because his daughter would sooner or later become someone else’s, but if he found out through the shoe repair uncle that his ex-wife was also going to become someone else’s wife, wouldn’t he be super depressed.

He would absolutely have the idea that the two most important women in his life was taken by me and my father.

Although Huo ZhenBang lost Auntie Ren because of an affair and he’s not worthy of any sympathy, but he feels quite miserable right now.

I didn’t want the shoe repair uncle to install any listening devices on me and I didn’t want Huo ZhenBang to hear the latest developments here after his condition worsened, so I didn’t give an opportunity for my dad to meet him. Although my dad also hurls abuses at the Chinese men’s soccer team, if I did not stop him, he might have joined in on the cursing.

“Xiao Lin, if your grandfather had watched less of men’s soccer, he might still be alive right now.”

That’s still better than the shoe repair uncle’s father. I remember his father immediately died of a heart attack after he watched a World Cup qualifiers match. You could even say that the shoe repair uncle has a hatred for the Chinese men’s soccer team since they killed his father.

Speaking of heart attacks, my heart isn’t too healthy now either. Fortunately, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t do drugs, and I don’t watch the Chinese men’s soccer team, so I shouldn’t suffer the same fate as the shoe repair uncle’s father.

I remember before my grandfather died, he grabbed onto my dad’s hand and told him his two last wishes. One was hopefully my dad would get remarried quickly, and the other was to see the men’s soccer team reach the last 16 of the World Cup one day, and for us to burn a copy of the recording for him when it happens.

Grandpa, your grandson can now proudly inform you: there has been some progress with my dad getting remarried. We’re currently buying food is to make dinner for my dad’s potential wedding partner.

As for the Chinese men’s soccer team reaching the final sixteen in the World Cup… grandpa, why don’t I tell you more about dad’s marriage partner. Auntie Ren is different from Ai ShuQiao, although her temper is a bit explosive, but she’s definitely a good person…

After my dad and I went upstairs with our bags of food, it was Xiao Qin who opened the door for us.

“Uncle Ye, you… you’re back.” Xiao Qin was still quite unaccustomed to speaking with honorifics, but her eyes lit up when she saw me behind my dad.

I think Xiao Qin wanted to jump into my arms and hug me, but she desperately controlled her impulses, and finally just said:

“Ye Lin classmate has finally came to our home again…”

I suddenly realized that it’s been a long time since I came to Xiao Qin’s house, I seemed to have never come back again after the incident last time.

“Don’t worry, I’ll come more often in the future.” I said.

Not only will I be here more in the future, the two of us may have to live together as siblings and we may soon be legally living together.

When my dad and I carried the food to the kitchen, Auntie Ren flashed out from inside the room.

“I heard you’ve been under observation by the doctor for a long time.” Auntie Ren looked at me and said, “Can you carry the food? If you can’t, go rest on the sofa with Xiao Qin and let your father prepare dinner alone.”

“Auntie Ren, don’t worry, I’m in good health.” I flexed one arm to show Auntie Ren my bulging biceps to show that I was in excellent shape.

In addition, I dropped the honorific to Auntie Ren. If there was a high probability that we will live in the same house in the future, what’s the point of using polite speech?

To prevent Dad from being alone, I of course cooked dinner with him (Xiao Qin wanted to help but Auntie Ren wouldn’t let her).

In the end, we failed.

I should have known that we would have cooked noodles, but we hastily challenged ourselves to make shrimp and bok choy, stir-fry julienne vegetables, but it ended up being out of place and ended up being roasted by Auntie Ren at the dinner table.

“So this is your level of cooking, you usually eat this kind of food?”

But despite her tone of voice, she had a hidden implied meaning like “since you guys cook so badly, there should be someone to help you cook”.

“Ye Lin and Uncle Ye’s cooking is already very good.” Xiao Qin spoke up for us, and she desperately tried to eat the half-cooked vegetarian stir-fry.

“Don’t eat that.” I was full of remorse and took a bite of food from the green bean and meat stew, “This dish is not bad, at least it’s cooked, eat some of this.”

When she looked at the beans and meat I put in her bowl, Xiao Qin froze for a moment, then ate them humbly.

Ah, this scene is so cozy, like a warm family dinner scene.

Since my dad and I are poor cooks, Auntie Ren was only half-full, and finally filled up with the soy products in the fridge.

“Go work on your cooking skills.”

When my dad got up to wash the dishes, Auntie Ren said as she brushed past him.

“Huh, will you accept if I work on my cooking skills?” Dad asked in a whisper, but I knew that by “accept” he meant the marriage proposal.

“Hmph.” Auntie Ren had an indifferent attitude, “Anyway, I’m often busy due to work, so I don’t have time to cook. If you don’t get good at cooking, are you waiting for Xiao Qin to cook for you?”

Dad was overjoyed: “Then Hong Li, you’re accepting…”

Auntie Ren waved her hand: “I’m not agreeing to anything. I just said that if you practice your cooking skills, it won’t stop me from getting you to cook a few more times. Sometimes, I’m too busy and can’t come back from work, so I can also let Xiao Qin go to your house for dinner. Your house is closer to 28 Middle anyway.”

Xiao Qin also wanted to clean up the dishes, but I stopped her, then she heard the last half of Auntie Ren’s sentence.

“Eh, mom, why are you telling me go to Ye Lin’s classmate’s house for dinner.” Xiao Qin was delighted but also puzzled, “When we used to be a neighbors, I have never eaten dinner at Uncle Ye’s house before, so it would be embarrassing to suddenly do it now…”

She lowered her eyes and pointed her toes together, but she was really happy inside.

“Tsk, what’s embarrassing about it.” Auntie Ren said with disdain, “Go ahead, anyway, I already paid for the meals.”

Then she glared at my dad and asked, “Have I paid for the meal?”

Dad repeatedly nodded, “Yes, you already paid for it. Enough for Xiao Qin to eat at my house for a lifetime.”

Xiao Qin’s face turned red and she looked up at my dad and her mom in disbelief.

“You, you guys agreed, agreed for Ye Lin classmate and I to be together?”

My dad and Auntie Ren were at a loss for words as they were not discussing me and her being together, but the two of them being together.

Xiao Qin’s joy only lasted a few seconds, then she quickly lowered her head and murmured, “But I’m not… anymore.”

She forced herself to hold back her tears and she quietly went into her bedroom to do who knows what.

“What’s wrong with Xiao Qin?” My dad scratched his head, “Is my cooking so bad that Xiao Qin is in a bad mood when she heard she has to come over for dinner.”

The two of them never knew that I had upgraded Xiao Qin to girlfriend status, so naturally they would not know that I had demoted Xiao Qin back to a childhood friend.

Even if Auntie Ren wasn’t staring at me, I still felt like it was my duty to comfort her.

So I left my dad alone to wash the dishes (with Auntie Ren watching), then I knocked gently on Xiao Qin’s bedroom door.

“Xiao qin, can I come in?”

“Yes.” Xiao Qin’s voice was slightly hoarse.

I gently pushed the door open and I found that Xiao Qin’s bedroom was still the same as I remembered: various furniture in a fairy tale style, star stickers all over the wall, a picture of me on the dresser, and a balloon floating on the ceiling, which had shrunk even smaller, but it was the one I had bought for Xiao Qin at the movies.

She was wearing a sweater and skinny jeans, lying on the bed with her back to me. The reason she wasn’t wearing a skirt was probably because her period was coming and she was worried about getting cold.

I closed the door, then carefully walked over and finally found that Xiao Qin was lying down reading a manga.

Unsurprisingly, it was another shoujo manga, and I frowned slightly because of it.

“Xiao Qin, why are you reading…?” I stopped just as I spoke, because I noticed that Xiao Qin, who had raised her face from behind the manga, had tears all over her face.

“I, I was just too moved by the manga.” Xiao Qin wiped her tears and explained, “It has anything to do with the fact that Ye Lin demoted me to a childhood friend.”

“Now, as a childhood friend, I can go to Ye Lin classmate’s house for dinner. It’s a privilege I can have as a childhood friend, right?” Xiao Qin tried to force herself to smile, but her tears kept on flowing “Anyway, I’m not crying because I’m sad, these must be tears of happiness. Ye Lin classmate, don’t think too much of it.”