"Huh? You don't remember? It's the guy who used to sit at the village store entrance, waving his flower hand!"
Ah Qing wore a strange smile as she used a vivid adjective to describe Chen Nian.
Little Huhu had seen Chen Nian before, right when summer break started. When she took Little Huhu to the store to buy snacks, she saw Chen Nian several times. He was squatting at the entrance doing live streaming!
"Remember, of course I remember..." Ansheng looked at Ah Qing's phone with curiosity.
In the WeChat chat interface, Ah Qing had noted Chen Nian as [Chen Nian Little Brother].
The last chat was last year, during New Year, when Chen Nian asked if Ah Qing's house had some fish sauce to borrow in a pinch.
Now the message was: [Guys and gals, your Brother Chen is back! Come out tomorrow night for some Coke, a spin of mahjong, and partying for three days and nights.]
[I'll throw in some US dollars.]
From the looks of WeChat, Chen Nian probably sent a mass message and accidentally included Ah Qing in it.
"Hmm... speaking of which, now that Little Brother is back home, he shouldn't be tied up and beaten by his parents, right?"
Ah Qing chuckled as she talked to Ansheng about Chen Nian's outrageous past.
Even though Chen Nian attended high school, his heart wasn't in studying. He claimed studying was dull and even if he graduated from college, life would be predictable.
Going home to be a spoiled rich kid didn't interest him either, so Chen Nian chose to be a part-time blogger while studying.
At first, Chen Nian's parents didn't oppose, as the custom in Xia Dong was to study if possible, and if not, quickly learn a trade and become a boss.
But when Chen Nian's [Loitering Friends] video was uploaded online, it absolutely infuriated his parents.
Chen Nian wore a T-shirt, wide-legged jeans, paired with flip-flops, squatted by his street friends, and started his loitering life.
Pockets completely empty, what to do?
The gang played rock-paper-scissors and whoever lost had to use their charm on the street to borrow money from passersby.
After a video, the gang managed to beg fifty yuan on the street and bought some strong booze to pass out.
The moment the video was shared online, it angered Chen Nian's dad to chase him for two hours on an electric scooter.
The Chen family might not be billionaires, but having a history of managing tea gardens, with a mother working in hospital management, they still had some status.
Yet, their offspring turned out to be a public embarrassment online.
"Luckily, Little Brother ran fast, or he might have really revisited his baby days with a touch of tenderness."
Ah Qing's expression turned amused, imagining Chen Nian bruised and battered lying in a hospital bed, while his mother stood beside him, adjusting the medication with a darkened face.
"... You never fail to amaze, Chen Nian!" Ansheng gave a quirky look: "Indeed, only America's soil is fit for raising such a character..."
"Without a bit of heavy metal in the soil, it couldn't produce such resilient goods."
If Ansheng hadn't seen it with her own eyes, Chen Nian squatting at the store entrance live streaming PK battles with flower hand movements...
She wouldn't have believed someone who fought his way from the street to high society had such a shady past.
In California, mentioning Chen Nian, anyone aware of his exploits would be nothing short of frightened.
He perfectly executed the belief that humans are inherently evil, where in the jungle, only the one with the strongest fists could be the leader.
Even because of his extraordinary abilities, he pushed the local landlords to personally go down and eradicate a rebel.
"When we go back, I'll introduce you to him, but you better be careful of him borrowing money for Coke."
Ah Qing chuckled and patted Little Huhu's head.
Although Ah Qing knew that overseas, Chen Nian seemed to have made a fortune being favored by his boss.
But as the saying goes, what you buy for yourself isn't as tasty as what you can con someone to treat you to.
Chen Nian's actions usually leaned towards defiance and rebellion.
Borrowing money from Little Huhu, Ah Qing was convinced that Chen Nian could do it, regardless of the money issue.
"Sure, let's get to know him then..." Ansheng nodded in agreement, letting out a laugh.
"Hmm?"
With a puzzled look, Ah Qing glanced at the slyly smiling Little Huhu, feeling he was up to some mischief.
While gossiping, Ah Qing's second uncle also sent a WeChat message.
He said that there's no need to work tomorrow and asked Ah Qing to send a hotel location, he'd come and pick everyone up in the morning, acting as a temporary guide to take them around tourist spots.
Ah Qing thought for a moment, replied with "Okay," and prepared to take Little Huhu back to the room to sleep.
Back in the room,
she saw Momo, having showered, lying sideways on the bed, silly-smiling at her phone screen, while Lingren lay at the foot of the bed holding a phone, leisurely swinging her legs.
Tang You wasn't in this room; she had run next door to be a cyber-empress.
"Anything interesting to see?"
Ansheng flopped onto the bed, curiously poking her head over to Momo's side to look at the phone screen.
Momo was browsing a shopping platform, displaying a set of black leather clothing.
The style seemed quite normal, wearable outside, but the neckline on the modeled clothes appeared particularly low.
If the model started moving, Ansheng feared the "feeding tools" might pop out and surprise her.
"Of course, it's to look at beautiful clothes. What do you think? Should I get you a set too? Let's do a parent-child outfit." Momo saw Little Huhu peek over, and without any courtesy, she pulled her over to use her as a pillow.
"Your taste, forgive me, I can't agree..." Ansheng turned her head in disdain.
"Oh wow! You're questioning my taste? Do you understand what natural beauty is?" Momo said dismissively.
"The clothes might not look good on the model, but put them on me, it'd be a kill, outshining the online images!"
"Even if I wore a trash bag down the street, I'd still be the prettiest girl there."
"Yes, yes..."
"Why don't you go and tell that to the public safety regulations!"
Ansheng responded half-heartedly, crawled out, and ran to Lingren's side to peek at her screen.
But upon seeing a chat group filled with fursuits and same-sex dating, she immediately turned back to hide in Ah Qing's arms.
Ansheng stretched, preparing to tunnel back into the bed for a big sleep.
But before sleeping, Momo performed an action that piqued Ansheng's curiosity.
Just before sleep, Momo picked up Lingren and kicked her outside, completely ignoring Lingren's face full of grievance.
"Did you just kick her out the door?"
Ansheng looked at Momo, curious.
"Of course..." Momo nodded: "Leaving Lingren in the room means none of us would get sleep."
"I share a bed with Ah Qing; Lingren with Tang You is our dorm's golden arrangement."
"Hmm?" Ansheng looked puzzled at Ah Qing.
"Lingren sleeps very restlessly! Like a female ghost possessing her, with such unique sleep postures only Tang You can keep her in check..." Ah Qing, lying on the bed, strongly agreed with Momo's remarks.