Chapter One Hundred and Seventeen [Call Me Dad]
The next day, Old Jiang's birthday banquet was set up at a three-star hotel not far from the school.
The level was modest, fitting the consumption standards of ordinary families.
A private room was reserved in the hotel's restaurant, accommodating at most a single table of guests.
In the afternoon, Chen Nuo first went to pick up Chen Xiaoye from kindergarten, then took his sister home to change into new clothes, dressing up Xiao Yezi to look nice and pretty.
This was not for the child to look good, but for Old Jiang's sake.
According to the traditions of Jinling, during an elder's birthday, their children are to receive guests and also offer tea and toasts to the elder.
As Old Jiang and his wife, Song Qiaoyun, had neither sons nor daughters, Xiao Yezi was their only 'daughter,' albeit an adopted one, not of their blood, but it still somewhat conveyed their sentiments and prevented Old Jiang's fiftieth birthday from appearing too lonely and desolate.
Xiao Yezi was dressed by her brother to look especially festive—as if she could be framed and hung up as a New Year's painting.
Upon arriving at the hotel, Chen Nuo, holding his sister's hand, entered the private room where Old Jiang and Song Qiaoyun were already present.
Old Sun's whole family had arrived. When Sun Keke initially saw Chen Nuo come in, her eyes lit up immediately, she jumped up from her chair, and was about to rush to the entrance to greet him, but Old Sun coughed forcefully, causing her to shrink down a bit.
Yang Xiaoyi was somewhat displeased; she grabbed her daughter's hand, pressed her back into her seat, and said in a low voice, "Act like a young lady! What must you look like! Are you trying to be unmarriageable or what!"
Sun Keke, probably having been scolded a good deal by Old Sun at home the night before, and also because she hadn't performed well on her final exams, felt a bit guilty and obediently sat down, only her gaze kept stealing glances towards Chen Nuo.
Chen Nuo shot her a reassuring look and then led Ye Zi over to pay birthday respects to Old Jiang.
Apart from a large round dining table in the private room, there was a smaller square table in the corner.
Old Sun, Old Jiang, Song Qiaoyun, and another math teacher from the school were sitting in a circle playing mahjong.
Seeing Chen Nuo arrive, Old Jiang put down a tile in his hand, glanced at the two bottles of Maotai brought by Chen Nuo, smacked his lips and sighed, with a complex look in his eyes, but ultimately didn't say much, merely murmured softly, "The child has gone to the trouble."
Chen Nuo chuckled heartily as if oblivious to Old Jiang's sentiment. His eyes drifted to the tiles in front of Old Jiang, and he smiled, "Teacher Jiang... What a fine hand of Pure Suit you've got there, oh, and that's going for a lone tile..."
"Hey! Don't say that!"
Old Jiang's face changed instantly. He quickly covered his hand of tiles, his brief touch of emotion vanishing like smoke, then glared and barked, "Go away! What are you looking at when the adults are playing mahjong!"
It was just past four o'clock; there was some time left before dinner started.
There were no classes by Old Jiang at the school that afternoon, nor were there any tutoring sessions... as the twelfth grade was having a collective science revision session.
As a Chinese teacher, Old Jiang was rarely at leisure, but with his birthday, it could be said he 'stole half a day of life's leisure.'
This phrase, if applied to Comrade Jiang Fusheng, was indeed quite fitting for the occasion.
Although Sun Keke was restrained by Yang Xiaoyi from approaching Chen Nuo, that... Chen Yanluo had no shame!
Chen Nuo nudged the corner of his mouth at Xiao Yezi, and the little girl instantly understood, scampering over, warmly calling out "Auntie Yang," then burrowing into Sun Keke's embrace.
Sun Keke, hugging Xiao Yezi, was like holding a large-sized doll, and then Chen Nuo, brazen as a little piglet, justifiably leaned in close.
Yang Xiaoyi clearly didn't have a particularly good impression of Chen Nuo—mainly for not liking him dating her daughter.
Although polite on the surface and not saying anything offensive, the courtesy and distance in her mannerisms were unmistakable.
However... Chen Nuo had no shame.
You keep to your coolness, and I have no expectation of your warmth.
Chen Nuo cheekily chatted away with Sun Keke, and watching her daughter exchange knowing looks with this boy made Yang Xiaoyi's heart ache.
Intending to have Old Sun intervene, after she coughed a few times, Old Sun finally glanced over.
But seeing that Chen Nuo was only speaking with Sun Keke and that there was no physical contact, Old Sun stopped worrying, turned his attention back to his mahjong tiles, and continued playing.
Old Sun's thoughts were actually quite straightforward: *Dating? Can't stop that. So let them date! But they better not get too intimate—some lines can't be crossed.*
*As the saying goes, let emotions arise but be restrained by reason...*
*Well, at least muddle through until graduation. Once she goes to college, out of sight, out of mind.*
Feeling helpless, Yang Xiaoyi, distressed by the sight, simply went over to tap Old Sun and took his place at the table.
Old Sun stood up to let his wife take his seat, then watched for a while, until the urge to smoke kicked in and he reached for his cigarette pack. Suddenly remembering there were children in the room, he refrained, thinking of stepping out for a smoke.
Chen Nuo had noticed for some time and directly took Xiao Yezi's hand, "Come on, it's a bit stuffy in the room. I'll take you out for a walk."
As soon as Sun Keke heard, she immediately got the hint, "I'm coming too!"
Old Sun glanced over and frowned, but eventually let out a sigh and waved his hand, "Don't go too far!"
So be it. His dear little treasure... he figured he wouldn't have her for many more years before she no longer belonged to the family.
Just let her be.
There really wasn't much to do in the hotel, so Chen Nuo led the two girls, one older and one younger, straight out of the hotel lobby and along the street towards the east end, where there was an old street.
He remembered that there were some snack stalls in the alleyways behind the old street—nothing particularly rare, just fried skewers, grilled skewers, squids on hotplates, and the like.
Walking on the street, Sun Keke was all smiles. The three of them walked side by side, with Chen Xiaoye in the middle, holding her brother's hand with her left and Sun Keke's with her right.
Sun Keke felt sweet inside, and her face was even flushed with shyness.
She remembered how her family of three used to walk when she was little.
She would be in the middle, holding her father's hand with her left and her mother's with her right.
This way of walking had always been, in her heart, the sweetest and happiest "family of three" image she could imagine.
A decade later... she and Chen Xiaoguo would probably walk like this, right...
The girl was already thinking about things ten years in the future, while Chen Nuo was completely oblivious.
A fried skewer stand at the entrance of the alley caught Chen Yanluo's eye.
Fried tofu, fried rice cakes, fried quails, fried ham sausages.
The sizzling sound in the frying pot was so tempting to hear.
In front of the stand, some students who had just finished school were already gathered around. Chen Nuo made his way through the crowd with the two girls, ordering a fried quail for himself, a fried rice cake for his sister, and also grabbed two skewers of tofu. He then turned back to look at Sun Keke.
"A ham sausage, please."
"Yo, aren't you afraid of getting fat? You're actually willing to eat meat?" Chen Nuo teased with a laugh.
Lately, Sun Keke had been on a diet. Who knows where she got such a strange and misguided idea from!
What's so good about being thin!
It's better to be a bit chubby!
Sun Keke's face turned a bit red, and she said softly, "It's okay, my mom said that ham sausages are all starch, there's no meat in them."
Well, that makes sense!
When pork was ten yuan a pound, ham sausages were two yuan apiece.
When pork went up to thirty yuan a pound, ham sausages were still two yuan each.
It was evident that ham sausages really had nothing to do with meat.
The boss peeled off the wrapping, adeptly made several swirls of cuts with a knife on a ham sausage, and tossed it into the fryer.
Sun Keke wasn't really hungry, just craving for something, swallowing her saliva and then waiting for the boss to finish frying it and skewer it on a bamboo stick before happily taking it with a wide smile.
The first bite was for Chen Xiaoye... the girl was still very fond of Xiao Yezi.
In some sense, these three also made up a "family of three."
After strolling through the alley, there wasn't really anything to check out. However, in one of the nut shops in the alley, Xiao Yezi was treated to two yuan's worth of sunflower seeds.
They were roasted in a big pot, the pure kind without synthetic flavorings—just some coarse salt was added while roasting.
Holding a plump seed between your fingers and gently cracking it between your teeth allowed you to savor the mild nutty essence that filled your mouth.
Unlike the seeds that would come a decade later, like Qia Qia, eat too much and your mouth is full of spices, which can be upsetting to the stomach.
They only charged two yuan for the sunflower seeds... Xiao Yezi was still young, so he didn't let her eat too much, as it wasn't good for her teeth.
Chen Nuo, sneakily eyeing Sun Keke's craving looks, had the shopkeeper wrap up a bag of freshly roasted, steaming hot chestnuts.
Back in 2001, roasted chestnuts were actually quite pricey. Sun Keke liked them but didn't get to eat them often. Chen Nuo promptly had the shopkeeper weigh out fifty yuan worth, which were packed into several large paper bags and tucked into Sun Keke's arms.
"Why buy so much? It won't taste good once it gets cold, and it'll be a waste," Sun Keke said, feeling a bit bad about Chen Nuo's spending.
"No worries, we have your mom back in the room, and a few teachers too. We can share it with them," Chen Nuo said with a smile, pinching Sun Keke's face...
The girl's hands were full with chestnuts, leaving her unable to push away Chen Yanluo's hand. Although she twisted her neck forcefully, he managed to pinch her face twice.
Chen Nuo was in a good mood too.
A fact many women don't know is this: when a man is with the woman he likes, he's very willing to exert effort to pamper her.
In pampering his woman, a man also receives a type of great pleasure psychologically.
The somewhat unconventional family of three lingered in the alleyways of the old street for over half an hour. Once they returned to the intersection, they were suddenly stopped by someone.
A man stood before them, looking to be in his thirties, with a face that was ordinarily average-looking, even somewhat handsome.
Unfortunately, a tuft of stark black hair stuck out just above his left eyebrow, giving this otherwise ordinary face a somewhat sly appearance.
He was dressed in a grey robe and wore a pair of cloth shoes rarely seen on others. His hair was a bit long and messy, and on top of his head, he had carelessly tied a small bun, sticking up just a bit.
He tucked his hands into his sleeves and gave a cupped fist greeting.
"Blessings to the three of you!"
Sun Keke and Xiao Yezi were a bit stunned, while Chen Nuo stopped, laughing curiously at the man.
The man's gaze swept across all three faces, landing on Sun Keke's. He seemed to furrow his brow, ponder for a moment, and then said, "This lady... you have an ominous sign about you!"
"..." Chen Nuo sighed.
Is that all?
I thought it might be something serious...
These street hustler tricks are boring.
Ominous sign? Whether my little Keke is wearing a bra or not is none of your business.
That's a joke from 2007, and people are still saying it...
Oops, my mistake; it's only 2001.
Chen Nuo sighed, looked at the man, and, smiling, fished out ten yuan from his pocket and waved it, "Got any 'Tathagata's Palm' manual? I'll take one."
"...Ah?" The man was startled.
"No? Never mind then." Chen Nuo pocketed the money and walked away with the two girls.
"Hey, wait up! Don't go!"
The man followed quickly and blocked their way again, facing Sun Keke and even clasping his fists together, "Lady, have you been experiencing misfortunes lately?"
"Hm?" Chen Nuo's eyebrows suddenly raised.
"Lady, there is a dark cloud over your imperial court and palace of life. If you do not resolve it soon, once this dark energy takes form, becoming an overwhelming dark cloud, I fear disaster will be upon you!"
Sun Keke listened, confused but realizing the words were not good. She was about to say something but was pulled back by Chen Nuo.
Chen Nuo wasn't angry or panicked, just smiling amiably at the man, "Are you from Taoism?"
The man smiled and gave a one-handed salute, "This humble Taoist goes by the name Wu Daozi!"
PFFT!
Did the revered painter give you permission to pirate his name?
I might've been curious, but hearing that name makes me think he's no true master—what real master would choose such a name?
"Forget it, we believe in the Buddha," Chen Nuo said, shaking his head and motioning for the girls to leave.
"Wait!"
The so-called Wu Daozi widened his eyes, quickly stepped back two paces, and his face contorted with hesitation, "Wait... just give me a moment."
The man sighed, opened his grey robe on the spot, took it off, flipped it inside out, and wore it reversed...
Well, I'll be!
He's got a reversible robe!
On this side, with the clasp wire embroidery, there's actually a Buddhist robe!
The man quickly wiped something over his head, and a messy wig came off, revealing a short buzz cut.
What's a short buzz cut?
You might call it bald, but it's not totally bald; there's a thin layer on top, cut so short you can see the scalp clearly.
Let's put it this way, it's like the hairstyle that Mr. Guo from the early days of De Yun Society had before he started growing a peach heart.
With a flick of his robe's sleeve, the man brought his hands together in prayer.
"Amitabha, this humble monk has attained enlightenment! Dear benefactors, Buddhism and Taoism are of the same kin. This humble monk also serves the Buddha."
WOW!
I've seen shameless, but this is next-level shameless!
He plainly knows he's conning you, and he's outright treating you like an idiot!
Chen Nuo was so exasperated he actually found it funny.
He sized up the man, squinting, "Alright, so the Taoist finished playing and now you're pretending to be a monk, huh? I'll skip the chit-chat. If you can recite a bit of the Diamond Sutra... I'll give you twenty bucks!"
As he spoke, he fished out a twenty-dollar bill from his pocket and waved it.
The fake monk blinked...
"Thus have I heard. At one time, the Buddha was in the Jetavana Grove in the kingdom of Shravasti, with a gathering of twelve hundred and fifty great bhikkhus. At that time, when the Buddha was about to eat, he put on his robes, took his bowl, and entered the great city of Shravasti to beg for food. After begging sequentially through the city, he returned to his place. After his meal, he put away his robes and bowl, washed his feet, and sat down..."
With a quick recitation up to this point, the fake monk looked at Chen Nuo, "That's all for the first chapter... do you want me to continue with the second one?"
Chen Nuo genuinely laughed.
This con artist, he's actually got some skills!
Happily, Chen Nuo directly stuffed the twenty bucks into the man's hand, "You really put some effort into memorizing that! You deserve a reward!"
Having said this, he walked away, pulling Sun Keke and Xiao Yezi with him.
"Wait!!"
The fake monk stopped them again.
After pocketing the money, he looked at Chen Nuo and then at Sun Keke, "This humble monk wasn't deceiving you. This lady truly has bad luck haunting her!"
"Oh?"
"Has this lady been experiencing constant misfortunes and unexpected mishaps lately?"
"Yeah, there has been," nodded Chen Nuo.
"The matters, I assume, are not major in isolation, but big and small, they keep occurring frequently, right?"
"Exactly," Chen Nuo nodded, while Sun Keke on the side became a bit curious and stared at the fake monk.
"You must have endured some physical hardships, and probably faced some reprimands in your relationships, fearing as well some ups and downs in your career or studies, right?"
"Wow?" Chen Nuo chuckled, his young eyes narrowing to slits!
The fake monk sighed deeply and slowly said, "It seems this humble monk has spoken true. Our meeting today must be fate. I actually have a method that can help you, benefactor, to ward off this misfortune... EH? EH? EH? EH?"
Before he could finish, Chen Nuo grabbed the man's wrist, gently flicking his own wrist to twist the other's arm behind his back, forcing him to bend over.
"Speak up, how long have you been eyeing my girlfriend? What did you do at the stairwell, and how did you sneak into the school to steal and change the exam paper answers, huh?" Chen Nuo's face was still smiling, but his eyes had turned cold.
"Ah? What? Ouch! Misunderstanding! Brother, let go, let go! Ouch, it's breaking, it's going to break..."
Chen Nuo released his grip but simultaneously used a hidden force to send the man to the ground. The fake monk immediately sat down, rubbing his shoulder and groaning, "Young man, you're too rough! You've wronged me."
"Don't call me 'young man'," Chen Nuo spoke indifferently, "If you don't come clean, you'll be kneeling down and calling me 'Dad' soon."