Chapter 142: Daddy, Watch Me Dance

“Uncle Hua, you should come over to our place sometime. I bought some good liquor for my dad a while back, and he said he’s been waiting for you to come drink it with him,” Cao Shujie said with a smile.

Even though he knew it wasn’t true, Cao Jianhua appreciated the gesture. It made him feel respected, and he was genuinely pleased.

He did want to sit down and chat with Cao Shujie. It didn’t matter whose house they met at. Worst case, he’d just bring the food and drinks himself. “Anywhere’s fine. How about the day after tomorrow in the evening? You free then?”

“Sure, Uncle Hua, let’s set it for the day after tomorrow evening. Anything you feel like eating? I’ll take care of it,” Cao Shujie offered.

Cao Jianhua shook his head and pointed toward the supermarket. “No need to prepare anything. Our own supermarket has everything. I’ll bring two pig’s feet, some pork head meat, and a bit of spiced beef. You just stir-fry some peanuts and smash a cucumber.”

Once he started talking about food, he couldn’t stop. And to be fair, Cao Shujie liked that kind of food too.

Still, he said, “Uncle Hua, I’m the one inviting you for drinks. How can I let you bring the food?”

He was about to say more, but Cao Jianhua wasn’t having it. He turned around and started pushing his motorcycle home. “Brother Jianguo, Shujie, it’s settled then. Get the liquor ready for the day after tomorrow. I’ll bring the food.”

As he spoke, he held the motorcycle with one hand, and with two fingers of the other hand, he pinched the collar of his shirt. “I just got back from the pig farm. I stink to high heaven. Gotta go home and wash up. Let’s talk another time.”

Cao Shujie and his father, Cao Jianguo, watched as Cao Jianhua quickly pushed his motorcycle away. The father and son exchanged a glance but didn’t say anything more.

Then Cao Shujie turned to Cao Shuchao. “Brother Chao, come have a drink with us the day after tomorrow.”

“I’m terrible at talking. Maybe I’ll skip it.”

Hearing that, Cao Shujie shook his head right away. “Brother Chao, what are you saying? We’re just getting together for a drink. Nothing formal.”

“Alright, I’ll come then!” Cao Shuchao agreed.

The three of them continued walking south until they reached Cao Shujie’s house. There, they split up. Cao Shuchao walked west for about thirty meters, turned north at the end of the alley, and the squeak of a gate opening echoed from that direction.

Cao Shujie and his father entered their house one after the other. As soon as they sat down, Cao Jianguo asked his son, “Shujie, was what you said earlier true?”

Cao Shujie was a bit confused by the out-of-the-blue question. “Which part are you talking about, Dad?”

Realizing he hadn’t been clear, Cao Jianguo clarified, “The thing your Uncle Hua asked you about. Do you really think pork prices will go up by the end of the year?”

“That’s pretty normal, isn’t it? Demand spikes around the New Year, so prices usually go up a bit,” Cao Shujie replied.

But he added, “I’m not too worried about the holiday season. What concerns me is the market trend leading up to it. That might not look so good.”

Hearing that, Cao Jianguo fell silent.

After dinner, Cao Shujie carried his daughter into the bedroom to tell her a bedtime story.

It was already late October, and the nights were getting chilly. Lying sideways on the bed, Cao Shujie could feel the cold creeping in from outside. He pulled the blanket over himself for warmth.

But Mengmeng was still bouncing around on the bed, full of energy. One moment she was on one side, the next she was tumbling to the other. Cao Shujie called her into the blanket to warm up, but Mengmeng covered her ears and pretended not to hear.

After calling her several more times, Mengmeng suddenly decided to act silly and insisted on dancing for her dad.

She started moving to the rhythm of the music, but her clumsy little dance moves had nothing to do with grace or coordination. Even so, she was completely immersed in her performance.

When she finished, Cao Shujie forced himself to praise her. “Mengmeng, that was beautiful.”

Hearing her dad say that, Mengmeng was overjoyed. She pressed her hands on his legs and bounced up and down on the bed. After the excitement wore off, she shouted, “Daddy, Daddy, I’ll do another one!”

Before Cao Shujie could even respond, she was already fiddling with her singing toy puppy to change the music.

Soon, a soft instrumental version of “Where Is Spring” began to play. Mengmeng stretched her arms and kicked her legs, then opened her arms wide to attempt a full 360-degree spin. But she forgot she was on the bed. As soon as she turned halfway, her foot got tangled in the blanket. She lost her balance and toppled over.

The sudden fall startled Cao Shujie. He quickly threw off the blanket and propped himself up on his elbow to check if she was hurt.

But before he could say anything, Mengmeng flipped over smoothly and got right back up without a single tear.

She stared at the bed with wide eyes, clearly intrigued.

Before Cao Shujie could figure out what was going on, Mengmeng flopped sideways onto the bed again, then got up and fell again…

Watching her, Cao Shujie was completely dumbfounded.

Just then, Cheng Xiaolin walked in carrying a thermos. Seeing her daughter acting so strangely, she was just as confused. “Honey, is your daughter being dumb?”

“She really is. She’s throwing herself around on purpose. I’m starting to wonder if she hit her head or something,” Cao Shujie said, too exasperated to even joke.

Cheng Xiaolin called out to Mengmeng and asked what she was doing. When she heard Mengmeng cheerfully say that falling on the bed didn’t hurt, she finally understood what was going on.

“Mengmeng, if you keep this up, I’m throwing you out,” Cheng Xiaolin said sternly.

Seeing her mom like that, Mengmeng immediately drooped her little head and became very obedient.

Cao Shujie shook his head helplessly. “Mengmeng, we tried talking nicely, but you only listen when your mom scolds you. Aren’t you just asking for it?”

After coaxing Mengmeng to sleep, Cao Shujie took his laptop to the small room outside to check the current market prices for live pigs and piglets. He came across a post analyzing the recent trends in pig and piglet prices. The analysis was detailed and convincing. It also mentioned that the prices of corn and soybean meal—the main components of pig feed—had gone up as well.

After reading the report, Cao Shujie realized that at the beginning of last month, piglet prices had hit a recent high of 46.9 yuan. But after that peak, the momentum didn’t hold. Since then, prices had been falling steadily, now down to just over 30 yuan per kilogram.

With prices threatening to dip below 30, Cao Shujie finally understood why Cao Jianhua looked so worried. At this rate, he must have lost a lot of money.

“Shujie, why the long sigh? What’s going on?” Cheng Xiaolin came over and sat down beside him.

As she did, a faint scent of osmanthus wafted over.

“You smell amazing. What is that?” Cao Shujie asked, a bit puzzled.

Then he heard his wife say, “I just bought some body oil to keep my skin from drying out. Doesn’t it smell nice?”

“I’ll give it a proper sniff once I’m done with everything.” Cao Shujie leaned in and took a deep whiff. “Smells amazing!”

But Cheng Xiaolin caught the hidden meaning in her husband’s words. She raised her hand and gave him a firm smack on the back. “Get lost. I’m going to bed. Go sleep somewhere else.”

Cao Shujie chuckled and shouted, “I’ll remember that slap!”

That night, he prepared a big box of little umbrellas, ready to fight the good fight until dawn.

Meanwhile, after dinner, Cao Jianhua stayed up past ten without feeling the slightest bit sleepy.

He carried a small stool out into the courtyard and sat down alone, looking up at the sky. Tonight, the sky was pitch-black, not a single star in sight.

His heart was far from calm. In fact, he felt a bit relieved. Thank goodness he hadn’t used all the loan money to buy piglets. If he had, the losses would have been even worse.

Inside the house, Gao Hong looked at her husband’s back through the window. She didn’t know when it had started, but his once-straight spine now seemed slightly hunched.

She thought about going out to say a few words, to tell him not to worry, to take things slowly. But when the words reached her lips, she didn’t know how to say them.

Standing in front of him, Gao Hong couldn’t hold back the fire in her chest. Instead of comforting him, she just wanted to pick a fight.

Their son, Cao Shuming, was about to graduate and start working. Soon, he’d be dating, thinking about marriage. In a few years, they’d have to buy him a house and a car.

Her son might be naive, but she wasn’t. She saw things clearly. She knew just how hard it would be to make all that happen.

And now, her husband had taken over 300,000 yuan of their savings and poured it all into one venture. It was like cutting off half their family’s lifeline.

She didn’t even dare think about what might happen next.

The more she thought about it, the more frustrated she became. In the end, she decided to just go to bed and avoid looking at him.

But not long after, her husband came in too. He lay down on the outer side of the bed and said to her, “The night after tomorrow, I’m going to Brother Jianguo’s place to talk with Shujie and hear his advice.”

“Go ahead,” Gao Hong replied crisply in the dark. Then she reminded him, “Don’t go empty-handed. Bring something with you.”

“I know,” Cao Jianhua said, a little impatiently.

Gao Hong didn’t mind. She added, “When you’re there, ask properly. Don’t think being older means you know everything. Truth is, you’re just a half-baked amateur.”

“I get it!” Cao Jianhua answered again.

But Gao Hong snapped, “Get it, my ass. If you really understood, you wouldn’t have lost so much money!”

That ended the conversation. Cao Jianhua said nothing more and just lay down to sleep.

Two days passed quickly in a blur of activity. That evening, Cao Shujie remembered that Cao Jianhua would be coming over, so he came down from the mountain early to prepare the meal.

When he got home, his mother, Wang Yuelan, asked, “Shujie, how are the strawberries up on the mountain doing?”

Her son had invested over a hundred thousand yuan. She couldn’t help but worry.

“Don’t worry, Mom. The strawberries are doing great,” Cao Shujie replied.

“I just stewed a chicken. When they get here, just serve it up,” Wang Yuelan said.

“Got it!” Cao Shujie nodded and went to prepare a few more side dishes.

Before he finished, Cao Jianhua arrived, dressed in clean clothes.

In his right hand, he carried a large bag filled with various items. In his left, a box of milk and a big bag of sandwich cookies.

“Uncle Hua, come on in and have a seat,” Cao Shujie called out to him.

In the other room, Cheng Xiaolin was helping their daughter with her studies. Hearing the commotion, she came out to greet Cao Jianhua.

She also had their daughter Mengmeng call out, “Grandfather.”

Cao Jianhua was so delighted that he immediately pulled out the cookies from the bag and gave them to Mengmeng.

At first, Mengmeng just looked at her mom and dad, remembering what they had told her about not accepting food from others so easily.

That little gesture earned her praise from Cao Jianhua for being such a well-behaved child.

Not long after Cao Jianhua arrived, Cao Jianguo and Cao Shuchao came back together.

Seeing him, Cao Jianguo called out, “Jianhua, I went by your place earlier and you weren’t home. So you came over early, huh?”

“Nothing to do at home. I came back from the pig farm, took a shower, and headed over,” Cao Jianhua replied.

Everyone understood without needing to ask further. Some things were better left unspoken.

(End of this chapter)