"What about Huan Huan? She's finished her studies, hasn't she? What is she doing now?" Yi Anguo asked.
"Just playing at home every day, what else could she do? She wanted to teach, but a position like that isn't easy to come by," the eldest sister said helplessly.
Later, Fu Huanhuan did go to the village primary school to teach kindergarten, but she was always a substitute teacher with a pitifully low salary of just a few hundred yuan a month.
"Eldest Sister! I want Huan Huan to come over and help me take care of Xin Yi. What do you think?" Yi Anguo finally revealed his true purpose.
"You want Huan Huan to come over and look after the child? What about your wife? Can't Aiping take care of her? Is your fruit shop business doing that well?" his eldest sister fired off a series of questions.
"Eldest Sister, that woman ran off with another man. I don't have the fruit shop anymore. I'm in Shenzhen now, and it's difficult for me to take care of Xinyi alone. Besides, I have to focus on making money!" Yi Anguo explained. "Ask Huan Huan if she's willing to come. If she is, I'll pay her two thousand yuan a month, with food and housing included."
"How could Aiping be that kind of person? She got off easy, just leaving you to raise your daughter all by yourself. You have to earn money and take care of a child—how can you possibly manage? And how are you supposed to find another wife in the future?" the eldest sister said angrily.
"Eldest Sister, let it go. It's not worth getting angry over a woman like that. I'm not even angry," Yi Anguo reassured her.
"It's better that a woman like her left sooner rather than later. It would have been even more trouble if she'd left a few years from now."
"I told you a long time ago, once you had a child, you should have gotten a marriage certificate, but you just wouldn't listen. If you had one, do you think she could have walked away so easily? It's just not right," the eldest sister said, still indignant.
"Eldest Sister, even if we had a marriage certificate and she wanted a divorce, could I really have forced her to stay?" Yi Anguo said with a sigh of resignation. "You might be able to keep her here physically, but you can't keep her heart. It's actually a good thing we never got the certificate; otherwise, we'd have the extra hassle of getting a divorce."
...
After a moment of silence, his eldest sister asked again, "You're giving Huan Huan so much a month, so how much are you earning? What kind of work are you doing in Shenzhen?"
"I'm in the real estate business, and it pays quite well. So, you don't have to worry about me not being able to afford two thousand a month for Huan Huan," Yi Anguo replied.
As soon as Fu Huanhuan heard she could go to her uncle's place to help care for her little cousin for two thousand yuan a month, she agreed without a second thought.
Coincidentally, Yi Anguo's third sister and her husband had just returned from Fujian Province to visit her father-in-law, who had recently suffered a stroke but was now recovering well. When they heard that their brother's partner had run off, they decided to visit him in Shenzhen and offer to take Fu Huanhuan with them.
Fu Huanhuan had never left her home province, so her parents were worried about her traveling alone. With her third aunt and uncle accompanying her, they felt much more at ease.
Yi Anguo never expected that asking his niece to come over would also bring his third sister and brother-in-law. He was pleasantly surprised when he received their call.
The three of them arrived by train at three or four in the morning. It wasn't until they reached the gate of the Blue Coast Phase Two complex that Liu Guohui, his third sister's husband, gave Yi Anguo a call.
Yi Anguo hurried to the complex entrance to let the three of them in.
"Third Sister! Brother-in-law! Huan Huan!"
"Why did you all come without calling me first? I could have picked you up from the train station!" Yi Anguo said, a little put out.
"Uncle!" Fu Huanhuan said with a smile.
"Why stand on ceremony with family? Besides, you have a child. It's not convenient for you to come to the station to pick people up in the middle of the night. We just grabbed a taxi. It was simple and easy," his brother-in-law, Liu Guohui, said with a laugh.
"Looks like you're doing well for yourself, living in such a nice complex. These apartments look very expensive," his third sister commented with a smile.
"Not really! It's just over 6,000 yuan per square meter. A three-bedroom, two-living-room apartment costs around six or seven hundred thousand," Yi Anguo said nonchalantly.
"Six or seven thousand yuan per square meter, and you say that's not expensive? Back in our county, you can buy a whole house for sixty or seventy thousand. The prices here are ten times higher!"
His third sister felt an urge to smack him. His casual way of talking was infuriating.
"Can our county even compare to Shenzhen's city center? They're worlds apart; there's just no comparison!" Yi Anguo laughed. "It's like when you two go to work in Foshan, you can make five or six thousand a month. If you stayed home farming, you'd be doing well to make that much in an entire year."
"But our eldest brother-in-law makes two thousand a month just harvesting peanuts at home, doesn't he?" his third sister retorted, unconvinced.
"That's different. Our eldest brother-in-law was just lucky. He's an honest man, and someone wanted to give him a leg up, so they took him on as a partner. Most people who farm back home aren't lucky enough to make two thousand yuan a month," Yi Anguo said with a helpless sigh. "For people working out of town, in a place like Dongguan, making a thousand a month is already considered pretty good."
Before long, they arrived at his apartment, laughing and chatting along the way.
"Wow! This apartment is nice! It's well-decorated and spacious. It must be over a hundred square meters, right?" his brother-in-law said, his eyes lighting up as he surveyed the place.
"Just about. It's 111 square meters in total: three bedrooms, two living rooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and two balconies," Yi Anguo explained.
"The rent for this place must be steep. How much is it a month?" his brother-in-law asked again.
"Three thousand three hundred a month. This is a high-end complex and the apartments are large, so the rent is a bit higher. But if you calculate it by square meter, it's actually similar to other places," Yi Anguo said.
"Huan Huan! From now on, this will be your room," Yi Anguo said, pointing to one of the bedrooms and helping her get settled.
"Third Sister, Brother-in-law, I've arranged for you to stay in the apartment across the hall."
"Come on, I'll take you over. It's late, so you should get some sleep first. We can talk more tomorrow."
"You rented another apartment? You have rooms here, why do we need to stay across the hall?" his third sister asked.
"There are no more rooms. I have one, my daughter has one, and now Huan Huan has one," Yi Anguo clarified. "It's the same if you stay across the hall. That apartment is mine too, so make yourselves at home!"
Yi Anguo was tempted to boast that he owned the entire building, but on second thought, he decided against it to avoid giving them a heart attack.
The apartment across the hall also had three bedrooms and two living rooms. It was the same size and, of course, had the same decor.
The next morning, his third sister and brother-in-law came over at eight o'clock. His sister offered to make breakfast, but Yi Anguo said, "Don't trouble yourself. I'll take you out for an authentic Shenzhen breakfast."
When Yi Xinyi woke up and saw three new faces—her cousin Huan Huan, her third aunt, and her third uncle—she was overjoyed. She was especially excited to see Fu Huanhuan, who asked her, "Xinyi, do you remember your Sister Huan Huan?"
"I remember! Sister Huan Huan, why are you here? Are you here to play with me?" Yi Xinyi said with a bright smile.
"That's right! From now on, I'll play with you every day."
The "authentic Shenzhen breakfast" Yi Anguo took them for was, in fact, steamed rice rolls.
"How is it? Is it good?" Yi Anguo asked after they had started eating.
"It's okay, but the portions are a little small," his brother-in-law commented.
"If one serving isn't enough, just order two. Or we can get something else. How about a bowl of roast goose rice noodles?" Yi Anguo suggested.
"Don't listen to him. He never thinks it's enough food. We're going to have lunch in a bit anyway. It's almost nine o'clock," his third sister said quickly.
Naturally, his brother-in-law was too embarrassed to ask for another serving.
After breakfast, Yi Anguo led everyone to his shop.
Su Meili and Wang Bing were already there, waiting for their boss to arrive and open up for the day.
"What do you sell in this shop? Why is it so empty?" his third sister inquired.