Good Baby C08

Chapter 8

An’an, with a soft and childish voice, gently pushed away, his little gloved hand swaying back and forth. Yet, his eyes never left the red envelope, staring at it with longing.

Li Datao and Fan Chunxiang exchanged a glance and, in unison, stuffed the red envelope into An’an’s coat pocket.

An’an lightly patted his coat pocket with his hand, feeling a small satisfaction, though he tried hard to hide it.

Outside, someone set off firecrackers, followed by fireworks.

Having never seen such a lively scene, An’an hurriedly ran out with his short little legs, standing still, tilting his head up to watch the fireworks.

At this moment, Li Datao went to the room where they stored the miscellaneous items and pulled out a bundle of fireworks.

These fireworks were commonly seen around here, costing five yuan for a small bundle. They didn’t last long, just enough to buy before the New Year to let the children have some fun.

Li Datao pulled out a lighter, lit the fireworks, and handed them to An’an.

He gestured with his hands to show An’an to be careful and not point it towards her eyes. An’an listened seriously, nodding obediently to signal she understood.

It didn’t snow on New Year’s Eve, but there was still some snow accumulated in the yard. After playing for a while, An’an sat down and began making snowballs.

The snowballs were round and neatly stacked in a line, perfectly arranged.

Fan Chunxiang made sure An’an wouldn’t catch a cold, so she didn’t stop him and allowed him to play for a while. When she finished what she was doing and turned around, she couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of all the round snowballs.

According to tradition, staying up late for the New Year was a must, but An’an was too young. At first, he could manage when he was caught up in playing, but later, he couldn’t keep his eyes open and, little by little, leaned against his mother’s arms and fell asleep.

Li Datao brought a thin blanket over, intending to cover An’an to keep him warm, but Fan Chunxiang gently shook her head, picked up An’an, and took him back to the bedroom, letting him lie on the bed to sleep.

Once the New Year passed, on the fifth day of the first month, Li Datao had to return to his job as a sanitation worker. Fortunately, the pay was a bit higher than usual at this time.

That day, when An’an woke up, he couldn’t find his dad like he usually did. He searched both inside and outside the house, his eyes reddening from worry.

At this moment, Fan Chunxiang placed the boiled egg she had prepared for breakfast in front of him and gestured with her hands, asking him what was wrong.

An’an sniffed, and with a crying tone, he answered:

“Daddy, where’s Daddy?”

Having grown accustomed to having his dad around during the holiday break, An’an suddenly felt anxious when he couldn’t find him.

Just then, An’an’s stomach began to rumble. He pressed his hand against his belly while taking the boiled egg from his mother.

The egg shell had already been peeled off. An’an tore the egg into small pieces and put them into his mouth, repeating over and over that Daddy was gone.

Fan Chunxiang gestured with her hands, explaining that Daddy hadn’t disappeared but had to return to work after the holiday to earn money for the family.

An’an finished the egg, wiped his mouth, and hugged the milk bottle to drink some water. His eyelashes were wet, making him look pitiful.

As he drank, he thought of how his dad’s hands had been cracked from the cold, and tears started to well up in his eyes.

The system, seeing An’an’s pitiful appearance, couldn’t help but speak up again.

“Host, when you grow a little older, you’ll be able to change the situation of this family.”

Fate could be altered. In ancient times, Xie Shian’s destiny was to become an emperor, and even in this world, he wouldn’t be ordinary.

This time, An’an ignored the system, sitting on a small stool, continuing to feel wronged.

He didn’t want his dad to work so hard, but he knew that without hard work, they wouldn’t have food. He could go hungry, but his mom and dad couldn’t.

Confused and unable to find a way out, An’an lay there, feeling weak and tired.

In the evening, when Li Datao returned, he heard that An’an had cried all day missing him. He hugged An’an and played with him for a long time.

An’an wrapped both hands around Li Datao’s neck, resting there, his small face full of dependence.

Li Datao reached out and pinched An’an’s small, delicate nose. His hands were rough and calloused, and this action made An’an feel a little ticklish. He frowned and moved slightly away.

As the weather changed, it gradually warmed up day by day. The willow tree at the entrance of their alley had sprouted fresh buds.

The flowers planted along the green belts on both sides of the road began to bloom, and An’an finally took off his heavy cotton jacket and could start hopping around again.

The salary of a sanitation worker wasn’t high, and now they also had another child to care for.

As the weather warmed, more recyclables could be found on the road. Every time, Li Datao would pick some up on his way home and, after collecting them for two or three days, would take them to sell.

An’an looked forward to his dad’s return in the evening, always bringing little surprises for him. Sometimes it was a lollipop, sometimes it was a small toy.

After spring began, An’an’s walking became more stable, and he no longer fell as often. He could also eat more different foods.

Whenever he saw the dishes in front of Fan Chunxiang, he couldn’t help but want to try a bite.

An’an was very smart. Through the small TV, he learned many things. Using his fingers, he figured out how to learn numbers on his own.

After watching foreign language cartoons, he even picked up a few muddled English words.

Neither Li Datao nor Fan Chunxiang had ever raised a child before, so they didn’t know if this was normal. All they knew was that if their child wanted to learn, they would try their best to provide a learning environment for him.

Another autumn came, and An’an, only two years old, could do addition and subtraction within twenty, and sometimes went with his dad to sell recyclables.

The scrap collector was a middle-aged man, looking thin, with small eyes that sparkled with sharpness.

Every time, he would first mention the price, then weigh the items, and finally calculate how much money they would get.

Li Datao wasn’t good at arguing with people. Every time after receiving the money, he would realize something didn’t seem right, but he couldn’t say anything and had no way to do anything about it.

This time, he carried the recyclables, and An’an obediently followed beside him, tugging at his sleeve. When they arrived, the boss was the same as before, stating a price and placing the items on the electronic scale.

“Thirty-two yuan fifty, I’ll give you thirty.”

The boss counted the money and handed it to Li Datao. At this moment, An’an, standing nearby, was so angry that he put his hands on his hips, his small voice splitting in two as he yelled:

“Thirty-five! Thirty-five! You’re short two and a half yuan!!”

The voice of the little child attracted the attention of many people, and the boss’s face darkened.

He had just calculated it himself and indeed it was thirty-five. He then handed over a five-yuan note and waved his hand with a friendly smile, saying,

“I made a mistake because I was too tired today. Thank you to the little one for the reminder.”

An’an took the five yuan and casually stuffed it into his pocket, holding his father’s hand as they walked out.

He didn’t believe the boss was too tired to make a mistake. He thought the boss had deliberately given his father less money, probably because he knew his father wouldn’t say anything. Even if the money was short, there was no way to argue.

His father worked so hard collecting these things, yet that heartless boss still did this. An’an stopped and stomped his feet angrily.

“Dad, let’s not sell to him anymore.”

Seeing his son stand up for him made Li Datao’s heart soften, but after roughly guessing what An’an meant, he still waved his hand.

There was only one shop nearby that accepted these items. If they didn’t sell to this boss, they would have to walk a long way.

Although Li Datao never had formal schooling, he was good at arithmetic. He could always tell when the boss gave him a few yuan less. But even with that loss, it was still more worthwhile than walking several miles.

In the past, Li Datao would have walked even further for the few yuan, enduring the exhaustion without a second thought.

But now, he wasn’t willing to. The round trip to a far place would take at least over an hour, and he preferred to go home and spend time with his son.

From Li Datao’s expression, An’an could tell his father felt conflicted. On the way home, his little mind was turning, and by the time they reached home, he had come up with an idea.

“Dad, let’s not sell. Let’s collect it ourselves!”

His father didn’t want to sell to others, either because he had a good relationship with this boss or because other places were too far away.

That boss clearly seemed bad. If it wasn’t because of a relationship, it must be because selling elsewhere was inconvenient.

An’an thought his father was definitely the best person in the world. If his dad were the one collecting scrap, he wouldn’t be like that boss, and others would be more willing to sell scrap to his dad.

Originally, the salted fish lying in the Spatial Ring, 250, suddenly sat up when it heard this. After being bored for so long, it finally had a purpose.

It had told An’an many times before that collecting scrap was still in the early stages. Many things weren’t worth much.

But in two years, when the country began focusing on environmental recycling, this industry would definitely be in demand.

Li Datao looked into his son’s clear and innocent eyes. Unlike ordinary parents who might disregard their children’s words, he seriously thought about it.

He had thought about collecting scrap before, but gave it up because it was too complicated. Later, he felt the risks were too high. Who knew if he would end up investing all the money they had worked hard to save?

That evening, Li Datao mentioned it to his wife, and when he gestured about how An’an could calculate things so clearly, he wore a proud expression.

A well-behaved, smart child gave him endless motivation.

A long time ago, Li Datao had mentioned collecting scrap to Fan Chunxiang. Her thoughts were more conservative.

She thought their life was already good. They just needed to save a bit more to send An’an to kindergarten.

It was better for the family to stay together and live a stable life than for Li Datao to run around everywhere.

Li Datao saw her concerns and patiently explained to her. He believed the times wouldn’t stay stagnant forever.

Ten years ago, one yuan could buy quite a bit, but now it could only buy An’an some candy.

With the country developing so quickly, if they didn’t work hard, they would definitely be left behind.

Moreover, An’an was already spending quite a bit now, and once he started school, if they were to miss opportunities because their family couldn’t keep up, that would be a huge regret.

Fan Chunxiang thought about that scenario. If it really happened, she would definitely feel guilty for holding back their child.

She gestured carefully, then turned and found the passbook from the cupboard, telling Li Datao to go to the bank the next day to withdraw the money for their capital.

At first, it was definitely hard. Li Datao worked as a sanitation worker while starting to collect scrap.

People living in their small alley didn’t have good financial conditions, and many would collect scrap to supplement their household income.

When they heard Li Datao was starting to collect, they all brought things to him.

The previous scrap collector wasn’t just like that with Li Datao. As long as people seemed easy to bully, they would hardly get a fair price from him.

Li Datao wasn’t good at speaking, and he was still new to collecting, but fortunately, he paid what he owed.

Fan Chunxiang helped weigh the scrap brought to their home, and An’an would sit on a small stool beside her, helping to check the calculations. Li Datao usually rode his electric tricycle to collect items outside.

Their small yard was filled with scrap, but fortunately, Li Datao was diligent and would send things off every now and then.

During the first month after they decided to collect scrap, Li Datao checked the ledger at the end of the month and calculated the money he had earned. After finishing, he was stunned when he saw the number.