Volume 0 / Chapter 5: Worries

"Mom... what kind of weird joke are you making all of a sudden..."

"Hm? Nothing." Yang Xiaoyu shook her head. "Just looking at you... your skin is so fair and smooth, you're so petite... I sometimes wonder if we made a mistake when you were born. Maybe you should have been a girl."

"Being short is my*fault? Blame the lack of nutrition at home! And you're pretty short yourself, Mom!" Mo Xueyao complained. "As for the pale skin? Easy! After the military training in senior high, I'll have a nice, manly tan! Haha~"

Maybe I'll even grow taller then! Mo Xueyao thought happily to himself, already picturing a tanned, sun-kissed young man in his mind. He didn't need to be too tall, maybe 1.72 meters – he wasn't a greedy person.

His mom smiled faintly but said nothing.

The bus, devoid of air conditioning, trundled along. Thankfully, the night breeze blowing through the open windows was cool, and Mo Xueyao loved this kind of wind.

He dreamed of the day he could buy a motorcycle and cruise around when he started working.

Best of all, have a pretty girl riding behind him, holding on tight... that way his back could feel those soft curves...

Ah, just thinking about it felt wonderful!

Clueless about what was really happening, Mo Xueyao and his mom, Yang Xiaoyu, arrived home.

Dad was already back, watching the evening news while sitting in front of the air conditioner fan.

It was the kind of news broadcast in local dialect, filled with a lot more sarcastic commentary compared to the national news – or, as a popular term years later would describe it, it was full of 'snark'.

"Sleeping in the living room tonight?" Dad greeted Mo Xueyao.

"Nah, I'd rather sleep in my own room with my own fan. At least it's near the window, a bit cooler..." Mo Xueyao rolled his eyes, took a quick cool shower, and retreated to his room.

The day had been so full that he was asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. Hazily, he heard his mom and dad talking. The voices grew louder, turning into what sounded like an argument, then gradually softened again until they faded away completely.

"Whew!" That night, Mo Xueyao slept fairly well, waking naturally at five in the morning.

5 a.m. in summer was neither cold nor hot. The crisp morning breeze on his face felt like what people called 'happiness' in life.

"Mom's probably still asleep, right?" Mo Xueyao mumbled to himself as he pushed his door open, only to hear a rhythmic scrub-scrub sound.

Early as it was, Mom was already washing clothes. On the kitchen stove, water was boiling in a kettle, the lid rattling as steam pushed it up.

Hearing the kettle's sharp whistle, Mom quickly put down the clothes, turned off the gas stove, rinsed the soap suds from her hands, and poured the hot water into a thermos flask.

She lifted the lid of a pot – the vegetable congee inside was cooked but needed to simmer a bit longer, so she turned the heat down low.

Immediately after, she ducked back into the bathroom.

Scrub-scrub. The sound started up again.

"She's so busy..." Mo Xueyao whispered. He felt he should help, but an instinctive laziness held him back.

He slipped on the sandals by the door and stepped outside, standing by the corridor window, taking a deep breath.

"Ahh— What a refreshing, perfect morning. Hmm... so leisurely... well... seems like I'm the only one feeling leisurely..." He muttered to himself, watching a bicycle stop at the building entrance downstairs. The rider pulled several glass bottles of milk from a wooden crate on the back and placed them into the milk delivery box downstairs.

The whole task took barely half a minute, with a good ten seconds spent double-checking he hadn't made a mistake.

Then, he swung his leg over the bicycle seat, wiped the sweat already beading on his forehead, and pedaled hard towards the next building.

"Up so early today?" Dad's voice came from behind Mo Xueyao. He turned to see his dad approaching, dark circles under his eyes. Dad patted his shoulder lightly. "What's up? Too hot?"

"Nah, slept great last night." Mo Xueyao stretched hugely, pointing downstairs. "Dad, when can we start having milk delivered?"

"Well... that day will come," Dad answered vaguely. Though he smiled, he looked exhausted.

"What's up, Dad? You look wrecked."

"Hm? Nothing, nothing."

"But you're off work today, right?"

"Mm... yeah, I am."

"So go back to sleep! Why waste a chance to sleep in?"

"What about you? Aren't you up?" Dad smiled, ruffling Mo Xueyao's hair. "Xiaoyao , what are your dreams?"

"My dreams..." Mo Xueyao pinched his chin, hesitating before answering. "Become... a scientist?"

"Brat, don't just spout nonsense." Dad flicked Mo Xueyao's forehead lightly, a bit annoyed. "Just tell the truth. Your old man might even give you some advice."

"Oh... dreams? I have too many. Do you mean what job I want? Or what things I want? Or things I want to do?"

"Any of them."

"Hmm... I think, when I grow up and have money, I want to travel the world!"

"Oh, good dream. Anything else?"

"Well... things I want... recently... ahem." Mo Xueyao looked at his dad, slightly embarrassed. "I want... a cell phone?"

"Dream on. Way too expensive."

"Pfft, figured..." Mo Xueyao shrugged. "Ah well, I'll definitely be able to afford one later."

"We'll talk about that later."

"As for a job... I... I want to be a professional basketball player!"

"Cough..."

"I know I probably can't make it!" Mo Xueyao cut him off before Dad could speak, pursing his lips. "But hey, it's a dream. What's wrong with dreaming?"

"Do you even play basketball?" Dad looked him up and down.

"Haven't I mentioned? Yeah, I play at school! My three-pointers are killer!"

"Oh, three-pointers take a lot of strength."

"Yeah, that's why I'm only accurate for the first few shots. Once I get tired later, I can't hit anything." Mo Xueyao gestured between his height and his dad's. "Dad, how tall are you again?"

"One seventy."

"Hmm... I might grow that tall too." Mo Xueyao's tone wasn't exactly brimming with confidence.

"Haha... maybe. Anyway, back to it. If you really can't be a basketball player, what else? Another job you could do?"

"Something else... how about a novelist?"

"No way! Writing novels makes you poor for three generations. Do anything else, just don't be a writer."

Mo Xueyao gave his dad a deadpan stare. "Says who? Maybe writing novels will be super profitable in the future."

"Every industry has people who make money, but they're only a small minority. Can you be sure you'll be one of them?"

"Fine... then how about painting? I like that too."

"Oh... painting's good. If you paint a picture, unless it's some giant masterpiece, you will make money pretty quickly. And definitely make a living than writing novels." Dad nodded, seeming more satisfied with this choice. "If you're really interested, work hard to become a painter!"

"Hmm... but being a painter sounds like a lot of work. Maybe I'll be a photographer instead!"

"Always looking for the easy way out." Dad shot him a knowing 'I knew it' look.

"Who says being a photographer is easy? It's probably tiring too!"

"Alright, alright. Standing around bored outside? Why not go home and do some chores? Help your mom out a bit."

Mo Xueyao scratched his cheek. "Oh, right. She has to go work at someone else's house today too."

"Yeah. Being a maid... there aren't many days off."

Dad's voice grew low again, heavy with a sadness that seemed impossible to shake. "Sigh... Life... it's hard."

"Dad, you're doing that melancholy brooding thing again. Is that a leftover habit from your failed novelist days when you were young?"

"You little brat!"

"Hehehe~!" Mo Xueyao stuck out his tongue in a big raspberry and scampered back into the house

"Delivering milk..." Dad stood alone, looking down at the street below, seemingly lost in thought over various complicated matters.