Chapter 115 - Around the Table

The old army commander stood in the kitchen, hands still on the handles of the pot and spoon as he leaned back to glance into the living room.

“I’ve got a few more dishes to finish up,” he said. “You guys go ahead and chat for a while. Relax and don’t be shy.”

For a grandfather to see his granddaughter invite a group of friends over probably seemed trivial to others. For Shen Fengting, however, it was like a dream come true.

The two of them had depended on each other for so many years. Naturally, Shen Fengting could tell whether his own granddaughter was truly happy or just putting on a show, and at this moment, he could tell her joy was genuine.

My granddaughter is giggling again! This child really loves laughing, doesn’t she? I really shouldn’t have kept her cooped up at home all this time, he thought ruefully to himself.

Even the constant calls of “Iron Maiden” and “Rust Girl” coming from outside the kitchen no longer grated on the old man’s ears. Although he knew they were calling her “Rust Girl,” he chose to hear it as “Little Sister Xiu.”[1]

These kids are all only a year or two older than my precious Xiuxiu, but they’re still treating her like a younger sister.

The old man shifted his attention back to his cooking.

Even the potatoes and red chillies in the pot seemed endearing.

***

The group in the living room laughed and joked for a while.

At one point, Han Qingyu brought up his worries about the hundred thousand yuan.

“There’s an easy fix,” He Tangtang said. “Just ask Platoon Leader Lao to find two people, have them dress well, and tell them to wait for an opportunity to ‘accidentally’ drop a briefcase full of money right in front of your parents. They can spy on your parents to make sure they pick it up.”

It was a crudely simple idea, but it made sense on the surface.

Han Qingyu and Wen Jifei exchanged glances.

“That won’t work. Little Qing’s parents will definitely chase after them. Even if they can’t catch up, they’ll probably just turn it in to the police station,” Wen Jifei said confidently.

Liu Shiheng seemed perplexed. “Isn’t a hundred thousand a lot where you’re from?! How come Little Qing’s parents are so, so... na?ve and simple?”

He struggled to find the right adjectives, gaze unwittingly drifting to Han Qingyu as he did. There’s no way he would hand over a briefcase of cash like that.

“I wouldn’t exactly say that they’re na?ve and simple.” Han Qingyu chuckled. “I just know that they’ll probably be too scared to take it. Besides, they aren’t the greedy type. They already have over ten thousand at home. All they want is to live a quiet life. They would never dare take more than their keep.”

“I see,” He Tangtang said after a moment’s thought. “If it were my parents, they’d probably have moved out that very night.”

Everyone burst into laughter.

In the end, they never came up with a solution.

Wen Jifei turned to glance at Shen Yixiu. She sat with her chin propped up as she listened to the conversation.

“Hey, Iron Maiden, what are you sitting around for?” he asked her. “Go get the photo album!”

“Oh, okay.” Shen Yixiu stood up and went to her room to fetch the photo album.

When it came time to hand it over, though, she found herself hesitant to do so. Despite curating it in advance, she still felt both excited and anxious about sharing photos of herself, afraid of receiving harsh comments. She was just like any other girl in this regard.

“Don’t worry, I’ll compliment you no matter what, even if it means lying through my teeth,” Wen Jifei assured her, snatching the album right out of her hands.

The group had privately speculated about Rust Girl’s appearance for a while now. Their curiosity was through the roof.

Wen Jifei flipped the album open to see the first picture. “Whoa!”

Shen Yixiu felt a sudden pang of nervousness.

Shen Fengting set a plate of stir-fried shredded potatoes on the table. Rubbing his hands together, he sat down to the side and offhandedly explained, “The mutton soup is simmering.”

In truth, he had joined them out of concern, to keep things under control if necessary. He also wanted to see who dared to say his granddaughter wasn’t pretty.

“You’re so cute!” at least three people exclaimed in unison.

The chubby little girl in the picture appeared to be around five or six. She wore a small, long-sleeved shirt with a knitted vest over it and was pushing a red children’s tricycle in front of a bamboo grove filled with sprouting bamboo shoots.

“Why do you look so pouty?”

“She’s probably upset. Look at her eyelashes; they look wet, like she just cried.”

Shen Yixiu didn’t know what to say.

“Really?!” Shen Fengting leaned in to take a look. “Oh, this one. You’re right, she was playing at the time and didn’t want her picture taken. When her parents picked her up against her will, she started crying... Xiuxiu was such a pampered thing back then.”

This pattern continued as they flipped through the album. Whenever they came across an interesting photo, he would chime in with some comments, recalling those memories.

Shen Yixiu felt as though she were reliving her wonderful childhood through her grandfather’s stories.

As they continued, she would occasionally join in with a few words of her own, perhaps because she had clearer memories of when she was older. Sometimes, the grandfather’s and granddaughter’s recollections differed, and the two would debate the details with each other.

They flipped to the last page.

It was a colored photo, though the colors had since faded and the image itself was a little blurry.

The girl in the photo stood sideways, her hair in a ponytail with stray strands around her temples fluttering in the wind. She wore the combat uniform of the Only Witness Legion and had a maneuvering device on her back.

Her source energy combat case and black blade were slung diagonally across the same shoulder, nestled against the ends of her ponytail. The metal connecting straps were smooth and neat. Not a strap was out of place.

The side view meant only her profile was visible. Only the tip of her nose, her neck, and her lips could be seen; the rest of her features were indistinct. Still, there was an air of heroism to the image.

“Wait, I thought you never took the source energy integration test? Why are you already in a combat uniform? How old were you when this photo was taken?” one of the boys asked.

“Eleven,” Shen Yixiu said. “Almost twelve.”

“The uniform’s a fake. Her mom cut the outfit out of ordinary fabric and just imitated the metal straps. Her dad made the combat case and straight blade out of bamboo and painted them,” Shen Fengting explained. “She was very spoiled back then. We were actually planning to have her integration level tested so she could join the army later on, but Xiuxiu was impatient. When she saw how nice the uniform looked, she threw a tantrum, wanting to wear it, so we had no choice but to make this for her so she could take a photo.”

It seemed the girl had indeed been coddled and spoiled in the past.

Everyone knew what happened after that, though. Shen Yixiu never got to take the integration test, nor did she ever actually get to wear the uniform.

The mood turned somber.

Then, Wen Jifei said slowly, “Barrel Girl—”

Shen Yixiu yanked him into the air.

“Whoa, whoa, what’s wrong?!” Wen Jifei yelped. “Help! I’m sorry, I was just about to compliment you, talk about how pretty you are, and... and how fair you must be!”

This girl was something else. Being called a hunk of metal or being prone to rust didn’t faze her, but she snapped at the slightest implication that she was fat.

“Of course she’s fair! I’ve said it before,” He Tangtang exclaimed. “She probably has the most beautiful kind of fair skin, the type with a hint of pink. You know the kind where it looks like even a slight pinch would cause her to bleed—”

Shen Yixiu picked him up with her other hand.

“Hey, hey, hey, why—why am I in trouble too?!”

Shen Yixiu had switched to S-19 mode, tormenting one rascal in each hand.

Shen Fengting watched from the sidelines with his mouth agape, brows raised in stunned amusement. Han Qingyu and Liu Shiheng, meanwhile, were in absolute stitches.

When Shen Yixiu finally set them down, even she couldn’t help but join in on the laughter.

***

Later, when dinner was set out on the table, Shen Yixiu pulled up her stool and sat down to join them. She first glanced at her grandfather, then swept her gaze over the others at the table.

“I’ll just sit here listening to you guys. You can smack your lips and make exaggerated sighs all you want,” she said with a small laugh. “Really eat with gusto.”

1. 锈 (xiù) from 锈妹/Rust Girl and 秀 (xiù) from 沈宜秀/Shen Yixiu are homophones. The 妹 (mèi) in Rust Girl is used to refer to younger women or girls, but is technically a familial term for younger sisters. ☜