0146: A Conversation with Father Xu

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A little after six in the evening, Xu Lin finally saw the two girls off.

Having the two of them there had put him under considerable pressure, especially with the discs sitting right on the table.

For a moment, he felt that bringing those things home had been a terrible decision. He was not interested in them anymore anyway; he had already watched them all.

Making money was much more enjoyable. After importing the footage into his laptop, he began editing.

He had never studied the craft professionally, so all he could do was perform some basic editing. Fortunately, the filming itself had gone quite smoothly. There were hardly any unnecessary shots. Who would have thought that Class Monitor Ji Yun possessed such a minor talent?

The only problem was that he had become nervous as soon as filming began, ruining his original plan to sing while cooking.

He could only add music afterward. He could record himself singing a song and use it as the video’s background music.

After more than an hour of work, he had managed to produce a rough cut. It was a little long—fifteen minutes.

Fortunately, this was not yet the age of short videos. Most video websites still focused on long-form content, so a video of more than ten minutes was perfectly normal.

“Xu Lin, dinner’s ready! I bought your favorite food today!”

“What?”

Hearing his father call him, Xu Lin put down the computer and went outside. He saw his father carrying a large bag inside while his mother changed her shoes by the door.

“You two came home together today?”

“We ran into each other downstairs. It’s your father’s birthday, so I thought we’d get something good to eat.”

“Oh, right! I completely forgot. It’s your birthday!”

Xu Lin slapped his forehead. He could hardly believe he had forgotten.

“What can you ever remember?” His father rolled his eyes at him and handed over the bag.

Xu Lin took it and looked inside. It was full of dark, lumpy things. After focusing his eyes, he realized they were cicada larvae, known locally as mud crickets.

Whether stir-fried or deep-fried, they were delicious, and they were also rich in protein. Of course, some people simply could not bring themselves to eat them.

“Where did you get these? It isn’t even summer anymore.”

“A colleague’s family raises them. They produce the most in summer, but there were still twenty kilos left in their freezer that they hadn’t sold, so several of us bought some.”

“Oh, so after all that, you actually paid for them. They weren’t a gift?”

“Sounds like you’re asking for a beating! I haven’t hit you in half a year, and you must be getting itchy.”

“Haha, Dad, Dad, how about I make you some stir-fried cicada larvae as an apology?”

“I was going to have you cook them anyway, so your mother could take a break.”

“Got it! What else needs to be made?”

“I also bought some prawns and bean sprouts.”

“All right. I’ll stir-fry the sprouts and boil the prawns. Keep it simple, okay?”

Xu Lin glanced at his mother, and Mrs. Li nodded.

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“Call those several little girlfriends of yours over for dinner.”

He had not even reached the kitchen with the groceries when he heard Mrs. Li say this. Before he could answer, his father spoke up.

“Let the three of us eat together. We can invite them next time, when it’s your birthday.”

“Old Xu, just invite Qingchan and the other two. It isn’t as though we can’t fill a table.”

“Hey, Mom, Dad, it’s not that excessive. This table can seat fourteen or fifteen people.”

“All right, you’d better behave yourself. Wife, wouldn’t it be nice for the three of us to sit together and have a chat?”

Old Xu added this last sentence, and Xu Lin could tell that his father had something he wanted to discuss.

“All right, we’ll do as you say.” Seeing her husband’s expression, Mrs. Li nodded as well.

“Then I’ll start cooking.”

“Since it’s only the three of us, don’t make too much.”

“Okay.”

Half an hour later, the family sat down together and began enjoying dinner.

“Shall we have a couple of drinks, father and son?”

“You know I don’t like drinking, don’t you?” Xu Lin glanced at his father, but with a pop, the bottle cap had already been removed.

“Look, I’ve already opened it.” His father gave a sly grin, took Xu Lin’s glass, and filled it to the brim.

“By the way, Dad, is there something you wanted to talk to me about? You look as though you’ve been holding a whole stomachful of words in.”

“Eat first. We’ll talk while we eat.”

As he spoke, he picked up a glistening golden cicada larva.

“Mmm, delicious. Your cooking has improved tremendously, son!”

Mrs. Li did not usually like eating meat other than pork, beef, and lamb, but seeing her husband’s reaction, she cautiously picked up one with her chopsticks and tried it.

“How is it?”

“Not bad. It doesn’t taste strange at all…”

“They don’t really have much flavor to begin with. When I was little, I used to go out at night with the other children in the village. Four or five of us would share one flashlight and wander around for more than three hours.”

“We could catch dozens in one night. Then we’d take them to one of our houses and fry them all together. Once they were cooked, we’d sprinkle on some salt and eat them straight away. They were incredibly fragrant!”

“But by the time we reached middle school, hardly anyone caught them in the wild anymore. Farmed ones had become the majority.”

“That’s a kind of fun you youngsters never got to experience. Back when we were in middle school, some of the girls were even willing to come along after class. Whenever they heard a noise, they’d dive straight into the boys’ arms…”

After a couple of drinks, Xu’s father had become rather excited and was warming to his subject. But before he could finish, he felt his wife’s stare and hurriedly stopped.

“That was when you were young. I wasn’t stopping you from telling that part.”

“No, no, I won’t. Let’s talk about serious matters. Xu Lin, your mother may not interfere with you, but as your father, I have to give you some proper advice!”

Xu Lin straightened in his seat. He had already guessed what this was about: his numerous female friends.

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“Go ahead.”

“Your mother thinks having a lot of girls around you is a good thing. She’s spoken with them all and feels that their personalities are quite good. Naturally, she also thinks they’re beautiful.”

That last point was probably the real reason. His grandmother, maternal grandmother, and mother were all devoted to appearances. Being good-looking earned a person quite a few extra points.

“And since you said you wouldn’t date anyone before the college entrance examination, your mother wants them to spend more time with you. That way, you’ll have more choices in the future.”

“But your father thinks you’re still young. With so many beautiful girls around you, you may not be able to handle the situation. A man can lose himself very easily.”

“Once you fall for one girl, you’ll start thinking they’re all wonderful and wanting them all! Even someone who has lived through every kind of hardship might not be able to control himself, let alone a young man like you.”

Xu Lin nodded repeatedly as he listened. What else could he say? His father was not wrong.

Still, he had already embarked on his grand quest to gather all twelve zodiac signs. He could not simply give up halfway, so all he could do was placate his father and pretend he understood.

“I’m not telling you to suddenly distance yourself from Miss Chu and the others. I’m only saying that you should keep things on a more superficial level instead of becoming deeply involved emotionally.”

“I understand. Besides, you two are really something. They haven’t even said they like me, and you’re already flattering yourselves.”

“Don’t play dumb. Whether or not there’s anyone else, surely you can tell that Qingchan and Ji Yun have feelings for you.”

“Yes.”

“So take this seriously. Don’t treat it like a game. Your decisions and your words affect them too.”

“Yes.”

“And don’t be so frivolous. If you truly like one of them, choose her. Don’t listen to your mother and keep picking and choosing. What kind of behavior is that?”

“Once you have one girl, you need to know when to let another go and give her the freedom to choose. Of course, you should remain on friendly terms. Don’t let things become awkward or hostile.”

“Yes.”

“Also, personally, I support a girl like Ji Yun. That doesn’t mean I think Qingchan is bad. It’s just that the difference between our two families is too great, and I’m afraid it would put too much pressure on you.”

“Yes, Dad. I know you’re only thinking of me.”

“It wouldn’t matter if you married into her family. But you’ve been lazy since childhood, and you’re not good at dealing with people. If you went over there and had to handle this and that all day, I’m afraid you wouldn’t be able to stand it.”

“Heh, you really do understand me, Dad.”

“All right, keep eating. There are still some things I’ll talk to you about gradually.”

“Yes.”

Xu Lin nodded. Just then, his phone rang. He picked it up and saw a message from his mother.

He opened it and could not help laughing helplessly. Those two really were something.

“Don’t listen to your father. I’ll have a chat with you tonight!”