Chapter 82: Family
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Because Fang Ping had decided to leave for Magic City early, his celebratory banquet was set early too, on the 6th.
July 5th.
Sun City taxi stand.
“Auntie, Uncle!”
Fang Ping frantically waved at Li Yuqin and her family who had just gotten out of the car.
The Fang family tree was very simple. Fang Ping’s father was an only child, although he had not always been.
Fang Ping heard that his father had an older sister, but she passed due to an illness when she was little, and Fang Ping’s paternal grandparents did not want any more kids after that.
On his mother’s side, there were just two sisters. Li Yuying was the older one, and Li Yuqin was the younger one.
The Li family was also born in Sun City, but Fang Ping’s aunt moved to a neighboring city after marriage.
Uncle’s family was average. All of them were busy with their lives. Even though the public transport systems were advanced, they did not see each other more than a few times a year.
The reason Auntie and her family came over this time was because her nephew got into a martial arts university, and it was Magic City Martial Arts University.
This was an even greater cause for celebration than marriage. Li Yuqin had specially applied for three days’ leave and came a day earlier to help out.
At Fang Ping’s waving, before Li Yuqin could reply, two kids around the age of ten shouted, “Brother Pingping, Sister Yuanyuan!”
The moment he heard this name, Fang Ping felt a little uncomfortable.
He could accept “Brother Ping” or “Brother Fang”. “Cousin” was alright too.
They just had to call him “Brother Pingping”. Hearing that made Fang Ping’s heart shrivel.
The people who called him “Brother Pingping” were Auntie’s two children.
Her daughter was named Liu Wen. She was 13 this year, a year younger than Fang Yuan, and had just finished her first year of junior high.
Her son was named Liu Wu. He was 12 and would start junior high in the latter half of the year.
Although they did not meet often, Fang Ping was the oldest of his generation in the family and was not stingy with his money. He would buy snacks for the kids whenever they came over in spite of not having much money in the past.
He had few relatives, so their relationship was close. Whenever the brother and sister duo came over, they liked to cling to Fang Ping.
Of course, what they liked, Fang Yuan did not.
These two brats always fought to steal her brother whenever they came. The three of them were about the same age, so fighting was a common occurrence.
The two kids smiled wide as they ran over. Fang Ping moved forth quickly, but Fang Yuan was not very enthusiastic as she followed behind him unhurriedly.
When they were standing in front of each other, Liu Wen and Liu Wu started chattering immediately.
Fang Ping smiled and nodded and said a few sentences, then turned to Fang Yuan. “You, play with Wen Wen and Little Wu. I’ll go talk to Auntie and Uncle for a little while.”
Fang Yuan pouted. Although she was not very willing, Auntie and her family were guests, so she still had to be polite.
The girl reluctantly came to her cousins’ side. She did not wait for them to say anything before saying, “You’re not allowed to call me Sister Yuanyuan!”
Liu Wu was puzzled. “Why? Aren’t you Sister Yuanyuan?”
“You just can’t call me that. Just call me Sister.”
“But that’s what I call my sister. If I call you that too, won’t it be confusing?”
Liu Wu looked like the burly, thick-headed type, but his reasoning was clear. If he called them both “Sister”, would it not be a mess?
Fang Yuan did not know what to say and responded bitterly, “Forget it. Call me whatever you want.”
“Uh-huh, so like I said, Sister Yuanyuan, your face seems to have become rounder…”
Before Liu Wu could finish speaking, Fang Yuan covered his mouth and spat angrily, “Don’t you dare say it!”
“Really…”
Off to the side, Liu Wen had already started junior high, and girls matured faster anyway, so she knew what Fang Yuan meant.
Nevertheless, she giggled and said, “Your face has become rounder, Sister Yuanyuan. Should we call you ‘Round Sister Yuanyuan’ next time?”
“Liu Wen! I’ll pummel you!”
Fang Yuan started chasing Liu Wen around.
…
Seeing the three kids making noise, Fang Ping’s uncle, Liu Anhua, smiled broadly. “Yuanyuan, Wenwen and Little Wu’s relationship is still as good as ever. They hadn’t met in a while, yet they’re so excited the moment they see each other.”
Clearly, in an adult’s eyes, these kids being rowdy together meant they had a close relationship.
Fortunately, Fang Yuan did not hear this, or she would have felt extremely wronged.
Who had a good relationship with these rotten kids!
Especially Liu Wen. Fang Yuan had long desired to thrash her till her face swelled up.
Fang Ping could guess the direction of Fang Yuan’s thoughts and wanted to laugh but nodded instead. “It is quite good. They’re of similar ages after all.”
As he said this, he took the bag his uncle was holding. “Uncle, Auntie, we already said there was no need to buy anything for us. Why have you still brought so many things?
“My father has quit smoking already, so it’s a waste buying it…”
“You’re a kid, what do you know…”
Li Yuqin interrupted without care. “Your mother is quite capable!
“She bought a house and didn’t say anything about it to me. She only told me when I was about to come over!
“What’s the matter?
“I can’t afford to give a gift?
“These are horses of different colors. Buying a house is buying a house. Getting into university is getting into university.
“I only have this one sister. Had I know she bought a house, I would’ve come earlier…”
Li Yuqin was not yet forty this year, but her manner of speaking was sharp.
Fang Ping did not mind it. Auntie had always been like this. He smiled. “How could we not tell you, Auntie, about any joyous occasions?
“This just so happened to be grouped together with me getting into a martial arts university…”
“I just knew you would succeed, Ping Ping!”
Li Yuqin was full of confidence. She had previously said Fang Ping would be a success and have a bigshot’s life.
Fang Ping did not know whether to laugh or cry. He did not want to shock his aunt. She had said the same thing in his previous life.
In the end, he had messed around till he was thirty and had not made anything of himself.
Liu Anhua smiled too and said, “Ping Ping has had promise since he was little. I know you got into a martial arts university—the best one too.
“The moment your aunt announced it at home, our entire neighborhood was shocked!
“Now, whenever your aunt walks out the door, she lifts her head higher…”
“What nonsense are you spouting?” Li Yuqin was not amused. “Is the pot calling the kettle black?
“I walked past your factory before. Your manager saw me and asked very attentively if my nephew got into a martial arts university.
“If it wasn’t you who spread it, how could your manager know?”
Liu Anhua was slightly embarrassed. He chuckled once and did not answer.
Fang Ping stopped smiling and hastily changed the subject. “Auntie, Uncle, let’s go home first and continue catching up there.”
“Alright. Wenwen, stop clinging to your Sister Yuanyuan! We’re leaving!”
Not far away, Liu Wen nearly cried. Who was clinging to Round Face!
It was Round Face who would not give it a rest and kept chasing her around. What eyes did her mom have!
…
The kids’ grievances were ignored. The taxi stand was not far from Scenic Lake Gardens.
They talked as they walked and reached Scenic Lake Gardens in about ten minutes.
Fang Mingrong was not on leave today, so he was not home. Li Yuying was home attending to lunch.
When she saw her little sister and brother-in-law walk through the door, she immediately greeted them and brought out all the junk food she had confiscated from Fang Yuan, giving them to the two kids with relish.
Fang Yuan’s face turned green.
‘Those are mine!
‘It wasn’t easy to sell Fang Ping’s autographs and get some money. Now all of it was taken by these brats!’
Their mother accompanied Auntie and the others as they admired the house while Fang Ping sat downstairs enjoying the show.
Fang Yuan’s current expression was delicious!
Her heart ached, but she thought about how these brats were younger than her, so she let them eat if they wanted. After all, she had no idea why, but she suddenly had no appetite after last night.
Still, when she thought about how she toiled away to get the money, she felt it was a difficult pill to swallow.
Seeing Liu Wen and Liu Wu eat so happily, she felt like eating some too, yet when she popped a potato chip into her mouth, she could only keep chewing and could not bring herself to swallow it.
Fang Yuan’s eyes welled with tears. Why was this happening?
‘These are my favorite snacks!’
Fang Ping took in his little sister’s expression and could not suppress the urge to laugh, so he hurriedly went upstairs to find his mom.
…
Upstairs.
Li Yuqin was just expressing her awe when she spotted Fang Ping coming up the stairs. She smiled brightly and said, “Pingping has really become successful!
“You’ve managed to get your family such a big house at only 18 years old.
“I heard that once you graduate from this Magic City Martial Arts University you’re going to and enter the government, you would be at least a bureau director…”
Liu Anping quickly chimed in, “That’s for a normal martial science university. Magic City Martial Arts University is the best university, so it would be at least a deputy commander!”
“Really?”
Li Yuqin was not mad her husband had contradicted her and was instead pleasantly surprised.
“I… I heard our manager say that…”
Liu Anhua did not know if it was true or false and said it without much conviction.
Li Yuying was exuberant. “Anything is fine. Let Pingping teach Little Wu in the future, so he can get into a martial arts university too. Little Wu looks very sturdy—there should be no problem for him to get into a martial arts university.”
“Sister, you said it!” Li Yuqin said happily. “If Pingping trains Little Wu, he would worship Pingping.”
The sisters started talking, so Fang Ping was left chatting with his uncle.
…
When they were eating lunch, Fang Ping could not resist and laughed so hard his stomach hurt.
Fang Yuan stared at the dishes spread around the table, but she had no appetite.
Her mother had been upstairs and did not know what happened below, so she scolded her. “You shouldn’t have eaten junk food. I only brought it out because Wen Wen and Little Wu are here.
“You should let them eat more and eat less yourself.”
Fang Yuan was wronged!
‘I only ate a single potato chip. Mom shouldn’t bully me so much!’
After Fang Ping laughed so much he could not hold his bowl steadily, Fang Yuan realized something was up and asked, “Fang Ping, is it something you’ve done?
“Mom, Fang Ping’s bullying me! I told you, he must’ve triggered my ‘anti-hunger point’, and you didn’t believe me!”
The few adults there naturally did not believe such words, but Liu Wu did notice his cousin did not eat any junk food earlier.
His eyes lit up and he swiftly asked, “Sister Yuanyuan, what is the anti-hunger point?
“Is it something that can stop you from eating if it’s triggered?
“Trigger it for my sister, will you? She’s always stealing my food…”
“Liu Wu, shut up!” Liu Wen huffed. She looked at Fang Ping fearfully, afraid he really would trigger her ‘anti-hunger point’.
She knew the moment she looked at Fang Yuan. She did not steal their junk food this time; it was like she had changed completely.
If she had her pressure point triggered by her cousin and became like Fang Yuan, it would be too tragic.
The kids all believed it, but Li Yuying clearly did not.
Li Yuqin half-believed it and half-doubted it, but upon seeing her nephew shake his head, she did not believe it either.
Everybody else determined Fang Yuan must have eaten too much junk food and lost her appetite.
Fang Yuan herself could only look hopelessly at the table loaded with food and glared daggers at Fang Ping.
‘Once was bad enough, but twice!’
She was not a fool. ‘This is definitely Fang Ping’s doing. This bastard is such a bully!’