The Obligations of the Elderly - Chapter 9

“May I ask, is your family’s… financial situation okay?” With his hands in his pockets, Xi Liu suddenly blurted out.

Gong Si’s left eye narrowed, and the tail of his right eyebrow arched high as he glanced at Xi Liu: “If you really think it’s presumptuous, then don’t ask~”

Xi Liu tilted his head, smiling as he continued to look at him.

“Alright, it’s not really a presumptuous question, at least not to me.” In the end, Gong Si continued, “My parents may lack some common sense and be a bit irresponsible, but at least they still send us money.”

“Though they often send a lot one month, then suddenly forget for several months.” Gong Si pursed his lips.

“If we’re frugal and plan well, the money they send is actually quite a lot, enough for us to live on.”

“I see you’re very thrifty-just now, and also at school,” Xi Liu said.

“Of course I have to be. For example, this month they didn’t send any money, and with the previous two months, it’s been three months now.” Gong Si frowned as he spoke, “I wonder if they’ve run into some trouble…”

“But what trouble could you possibly have with just a kitchen knife? Their jobs aren’t exactly free, but they don’t seem particularly dangerous…”

Listening to Gong Si’s unconscious muttering, Xi Liu kept smiling beside him: Although Gong Si always seems to complain about his parents, the fact that he worries about them means he still cares about them, right?

“Speaking of kitchen knives, you kind of inherited that trait too.” Xi Liu said with a smile.

“Huh?” Gong Si’s eyes habitually slanted upward again.

“Yes, that’s it.” Xi Liu formed a rectangle with his thumbs and index fingers, framing Gong Si’s eyes.

“Kitchen Knife Eyes~” Xi Liu said.

Gong Si… Gong Si bumped his head against Xi Liu’s, giving him a playful knock.

Just like that, they bickered and teased each other all the way to the household registration office.

There were quite a few people there. Upon arrival, Gong Si immediately found a seat, while Xi Liu went to get a number ticket.

Their ticket was number 44, with thirteen people ahead of them in line. For the residents of Lengshui Town, that was considered a crowd.

As the name suggests, the household registration office is where you register your household.

Any changes in household members must be reported here. Sitting on a chair in the office with Ah Ji in his arms, Gong Si unconsciously became very quiet.

The last time he came here was to cancel Grandpa Rongge’s household registration…

For Gong Si, that wasn’t a particularly good memory.

But aside from that one time, almost all his memories of Grandpa Rongge were good ones.

Gong Si quickly pulled himself together. When he came back to his senses, Ah Ji was giggling, being entertained by Xi Liu sitting next to him.

Strangely enough, Xi Liu wasn’t making faces or funny noises-he was just sitting quietly, looking at Ah Ji, and yet Ah Ji laughed like a fool.

Could he really be a bit slow? Thinking this, Gong Si hurriedly looked his little brother over again. The little guy, perhaps annoyed that Gong Si was blocking his interaction with Xi Liu, kicked his legs forcefully and pushed with his little arms, trying to get closer to Xi Liu.

With such determination, he really didn’t seem like a fool. Sorry, Ah Ji-Gong Si apologized in his heart for having doubted his brother’s intelligence for a moment. Seeing how much Ah Ji liked Xi Liu, Gong Si simply handed Ah Ji over to Xi Liu.

The moment Xi Liu was forced to hold Ah Ji, Gong Si saw him stiffen up completely. Not exposing this, Gong Si just gestured, showing Xi Liu how to hold Ah Ji more comfortably. He hadn’t been instructing for long before their number was called.

“Name.” There was only one clerk behind the desk, an old man with white hair and beard, his face full of wrinkles, looking very aged.

He didn’t look like a clerk, more like one of those fortune-tellers in period dramas.

Holding Ah Ji, Xi Liu thought to himself.

“Gong Siji.” While Xi Liu was distracted, Gong Si had already answered the question.

“Hey! I’m not asking for the name of the person being registered, but the name of the head of household.” The old man pushed up his reading glasses, glaring sharply at Gong Si.
Still so fierce! Muttering inwardly, Gong Si answered again, “Gong Si.”

Yes, he was the head of his household, and had been since he was eight. No problem there.

“Gong Si, let me check… Found it. There are three people in your family now, and you’re adding one more, right?” The old man slowly pulled up the records on the computer, adjusting his glasses.

“That’s right,” Gong Si replied crisply.

“Name?”

“…Gong Siji,” Gong Si said.

“Alright, Gong Siji.” The old man typed slowly.

Noticing something off in the old man’s tone, Gong Si immediately said, “It’s Gong Siji, not Gong Siji, it’s ‘Siji’ as in ‘four seasons’!”

“Got it, Siji as in ‘fortunate event’,” the old man replied, pressing the key with a “click.”

“Ah!!!!” Gong Si instantly leaned toward the computer screen, and when he saw the name “Gong Siji” on the form, he felt utterly defeated.

“Hey! I said ‘Siji’, as in the four seasons, not ‘Siji’ as in lucky!”

Ignoring Gong Si’s shouting right beside him, the old man remained unmoved. After Gong Si finished, he said slowly, “But I’ve already pressed enter.”

“Huh?”

“Can’t change it now,” the old man said decisively.

“Why does this keep happening…” Gong Si’s face twisted a little.

Pushing him back into his seat, the old man picked up his hot tea and took a sip. “If you ask me, Siji is a better name than Siji. The strokes are better. Gong Siji’s strokes aren’t auspicious; people with that name are usually clever as children, but violent and friendless in middle age, and who knows about old age.”

“Siji is different. Combined with the Gong surname, it’s a rare, symmetrical name-easy to write, easy to remember, and even easier to say.”

“Most importantly, the strokes are auspicious. People with this name are well-behaved as children, prosperous in middle age, and blessed with longevity, fortune, and thriving descendants in old age.”

“Just call him Siji.”

Staring at the old man’s calm face, Gong Si was stunned.

The people behind him, hearing the commotion, all started speaking to Gong Si-

“Listen to the old man. My kid’s name was changed by him when we registered the household, and he was sickly at birth, but now he’s strong!”

“Me too. When I moved my household registration, the old man misheard the character and changed my name. I was angry at first, but the day after the change, I won the lottery! Now I don’t even bother picking names, I just bring my kid straight to the old man for registration, waiting for him to bestow a name~”

“Silly child~ Before the old man took a public job, he was famous as an Iron Mouth Divine Fortune Teller! Back then, ordinary folks like us couldn’t even ask him to name our kids!”

…

…

…

Listening with interest to the others persuading Gong Si, Xi Liu watched as Gong Si finally resigned himself and sat up straight again, continuing with the information collection.

It looked like he had accepted his little brother’s new name.

“Date of birth.”

“Parents’ names.”

“Place of birth.”

…

Listlessly answering the old man’s questions, Gong Si was especially careful when it came to the gender question.

“Um, this is my little brother, not my little sister! Even though he’s dressed all pink and cute, he’s a boy with a little Ah Ji!” Afraid the old man’s poor eyesight would accidentally change his brother’s gender, Gong Si even lifted his brother’s diaper to show the old man his little treasure.

“Got it, I won’t get it wrong.” The old man finished filling in the gender, glanced at Siji’s little treasure, then said to Gong Si, “You two are done here. Hurry and take the child to the restroom, I think he needs to pee.”

“Eh?” Gong Si was still stunned, but Xi Liu, holding Ah Ji, already sensed something was wrong.

Watching as Ah Ji’s little treasure pointed upward, a stream of water shot out, landing right on Xi Liu’s head, and then…

“The restroom is right over there,” the old man kindly pointed them in the right direction, then adjusted his glasses: “Next, number 45.”