The Obligations of the Elderly - Chapter 8

After breakfast, the whole family set out together in an orderly fashion.

Gong Si and Dong Chun were in charge of carrying the trash, Qiu Xia held Ah Ji in his arms, and they didn’t bother locking the door. They headed straight to the intersection to wait for the bus.

There was only one bus in all of Lengshui Town-the same one Gong Si had previously told Xi Liu to take. Although the driver was often late due to frequent stops on request, there was still a general arrival time. Today, they happened to be lucky; as they walked over, the bus was already parked at the stop-arriving early for once.

“Gong Si~ Dong Chun~ Oh, Qiu Xia is back too? Hey? Is this little one your new younger brother?” As the town’s veteran driver, he was clearly very familiar with the Gong Family’s situation.

“Yes, this is Ah Ji. He’ll be our fourth from now on. Today we’re taking him to register his household, and we’ll buy some things while we’re at it.” Gong Si replied, then found a seat.

The town bus was free to ride-no fare required.

The bus was already half full, all locals, everyone knew each other. As soon as Gong Si got on, he busied himself greeting people, introducing Ah Ji to everyone as he did so. This way, news of an addition to his family would spread even faster.

Lengshui Town had few people, and they lived scattered apart. The few shared spaces were good places for spreading news, and the bus was one of them.

“If you’re buying things and registering, Gong Si, your destination is also the Threshing Ground at the town center, right?” The driver started the engine slowly, smiling at Gong Si.

“That’s right!”

“Alright then~ Everyone sit tight, we’re off~” With a shout, the bus started moving again.

After a brief round of greetings, the bus returned to its usual quiet.

This was another feature of Lengshui Town-

The residents of Lengshui Town were actually quite quiet. You could tell from how Gong Si and the others behaved after school: there were plenty of students walking home alone, and hardly any houses were built right next to each other. Everyone was used to this slightly distanced way of life, no matter the occasion.

Just like now, everyone on the bus sat spread out. Except for families sitting together, most people took up a whole row by themselves. There was hardly any loud conversation; it wasn’t that no one spoke, but everyone kept their voices low.

“Ah Ji, you need to stay quiet, understand? Don’t disturb everyone.” Gong Si whispered to Ah Ji, who was in Qiu Xia’s arms.

Afraid the little brother wouldn’t understand, Dong Chun made a “quiet” gesture to him. It seemed Ah Ji understood his third brother’s sign; his previously babbling voice grew softer and softer. Qiu Xia handed him a pacifier, and he fell completely silent.

Though still very young, Ah Ji was already learning the self-restraint of a Lengshui Town resident.

The bus stopped two more times, but no one else got on. With no more stops needed, the old bus sped toward the town center as fast as it could.

It was no wonder no one else got on-the further they went, the fewer people there were by the roadside, and the more rice fields appeared. Eventually, they were traveling through nothing but farmland.

Here, it’s worth explaining the concept of the “town center.”

The “town center” the driver mentioned was actually just a stop name. Geographically, it wasn’t the center of Lengshui Town at all; in fact, it was the most remote edge of the town.

The real center of Lengshui Town should be where Gong Si’s school was located, and his home was also within the town center area.

But the bus stop called “town center” referred to a broader concept-it was the center for several nearby towns, including Lengshui Town.

Uh… Geographically, it was the border area where several towns met.

Lengshui Town was too small, with too few people. Honestly, there was no profit in running businesses in such a small town; any attempt to expand usually ended in closure. There was simply too limited an audience!

This situation wasn’t unique to Lengshui Town; the surrounding towns faced the same problem. Eventually, the towns agreed to hold a market at the border area at the end of each month. Unexpectedly, the market was a huge success. It went from once a month, to every two weeks, then every week, and finally became a permanent fixture. A thriving commercial district formed here, with cinemas, large shopping malls, amusement parks… all kinds of businesses set up shop, and eventually many administrative offices moved here too.

And so, this place-once the most remote, barren spot in all the towns-became the area with the highest land prices!

Many people said the owner of this land had struck it rich~

But no one really envied or resented it: the land where the market first started was originally a Threshing Ground, surrounded by farmland. The owner was unwilling to flatten the fields for the market, so only this patch-where nothing was planted-was used. The reason for not planting wasn’t anything special; the land was just poor. The owner didn’t charge rent, instead leaving it open as a public Threshing Ground, and later lent it out for the market free of charge.

People said this was a case of good deeds being rewarded.

It’s said the land still hasn’t been sold; now, everyone doing business here is simply a tenant of the owner.
Moreover, since this land was originally the Threshing Ground, the elderly from the nearby town all call this place the “Threshing Ground.”

“Town center of the Threshing Ground has arrived! Passengers, please get off! The last return bus is at six in the evening, don’t miss it~” As soon as they reached their destination, the driver stopped the vehicle, then turned around and called out to the passengers behind him.

“Thank you, Ah Cui.”

“See you later.”

“Thank you.”

…

The passengers lined up to get off the bus, each thanking the driver as they disembarked, and the driver accepted their thanks graciously.

Although people here value personal space, the town is still full of warmth and human kindness~

The Gong Family brothers also got off the bus.

Watching Qiu Xia holding Ah Ji, Gong Si thought to himself: I still need to buy a baby carrier.

As he was thinking this, he suddenly heard someone calling out ahead.

“Gong Si!” Following the voice, he immediately saw Xi Liu, who was smiling brightly.

As if afraid he wouldn’t be seen, Xi Liu’s long arms waved energetically in the air.

Gong Si glanced beside him: a group of girls, not just from their class, but also from other classes and even other grades.

A large group of girls had surrounded Xi Liu.

Gong Si watched coldly as Xi Liu lowered his head to talk to the girls. Who knows what he said, but eventually the girls made way, and Xi Liu jogged over lightly in his direction.

Along with him came countless daggers from the girls’ eyes.

Gong Si: “What did you say to them this time?”

“I said we had plans, that I’d been waiting for you, and you…” Xi Liu gestured at the distance between them and smiled, “You finally showed up, didn’t you?”

Gong Si: …

“Did we have plans?” he said, not amused.

Xi Liu blinked, then lowered his head and said to Dong Chun, who was beside Gong Si:

“Dong Chun, didn’t you say yesterday you wanted to try the milk tea cake from the new milk tea shop in the town center? Let me treat you, okay?”

“Okay, okay!” Dong Chun was so excited he raised both his skinny arms.

Xi Liu then said to Gong Si, “Now we do.”

“I made plans with Dong Chun to have milk tea cake together.”

Gong Si: “…”

Xi Liu waved at the girls again, then smiled as he let Dong Chun pull him forward.

Thanks to Xi Liu’s forceful intervention, the Gong Family brothers’ itinerary was forced to start at the milk tea shop.

“What was that all about?” Gong Si asked Xi Liu as he drank his milk tea, recalling the earlier scene.

Xi Liu carefully cut a piece of cake, stuffed it into his mouth, closed his eyes, and savored it-

“Emmmm… a bit too sweet, but overall not bad.”

After commenting on the food, he finally answered Gong Si’s question: “I went out to play arcade games and happened to run into some girls from school. I couldn’t just ignore them, so I greeted them, and then I got surrounded.”

“I was just worrying about how to get away, and then I saw you.”

“You really came at the perfect time!” Xi Liu gave Gong Si a thumbs up.

“Apparently, they’re going to sing karaoke next. Karaoke… actually sounds pretty fun…” Xi Liu took a sip of milk tea and glanced back in their direction. “There are quite a few of us here too. How about we all go sing karaoke later?”

Resting his chin in both hands and sipping milk tea from a glass with a straw, Gong Si said expressionlessly, “No. Karaoke totally exposes your age. The songs I know aren’t the ones you guys usually pick-I’ll get laughed at.”

“Oh~ is that so?” Xi Liu raised his eyebrows and focused on his milk tea.

“We’ll have to split up later. Qiu Xia and Dong Chun will go shopping, and I’ll take Ah Ji to register.” Gong Si started assigning tasks again.

“Eh? Big brother, can you handle Ah Ji by yourself? What if you have to wait in line and Ah Ji needs a diaper change…” Qiu Xia pointed at Dong Chun. “Let Dong Chun go with you.”

“No need. Dong Chun needs to buy a new sports uniform, let him pick it himself. Don’t worry about me, I’ve got him.” Gong Si said, pointing at Xi Liu beside him.

“Eh?!” Xi Liu was stunned at being named.

“Don’t think you’re always the one pulling me in as backup. Sometimes you have to be my backup too.” Gong Si shot him a look.

Xi Liu just smiled indifferently. When everyone finished their milk tea and was about to split up, he took a card out of his pocket and handed it to Gong Si: “Take this card. You can get a 40% discount at any shop here.”

“Huh?” Gong Si was stunned, and even Qiu Xia glanced at him.

Xi Liu winked at him: “Didn’t I tell you? This land, the original Threshing Ground, belongs to my family.”

Gong Si: …

Xi Liu waved the card in Gong Si’s direction again.

Snatching the card and stuffing it into Qiu Xia’s hand, Gong Si said to Xi Liu, annoyed, “You should have said so earlier~”

“Buy double of everything on the list.” This was directed at Qiu Xia.

With that, he pulled Xi Liu away.