#43: Jiang Beibei, Hurry Up and Change Your Address

Jiang Beibei lay on the sofa, holding her phone and playing a game with Tang Xizhou online.

“Did your mom just come to lecture you?”

“Mm. What else? Drag me to the Cai Market for public execution?”

“Did you tell your mom about us?”

“Not explicitly.” Tang Xizhou said, “But my mom knows. She mentioned it to my dad too. I don’t know what they talked about, but apparently, my dad thinks I’m sick, have issues, but can be cured. Beibei, follow up! Get in the car, get in the car!”

“Oh... Big Brother, let me drive!”

“What car are you driving? You haven’t even driven a real car, and you want to drive a fake one? If you crash, you won’t cry!” Tang Xizhou said, “Hurry up and move; someone is shooting. Pull your head back and don’t imitate Song Dami. Ouch, I got hit! Hit! Hit!”

“Big Brother, stop repeating yourself like a broken record!” Jiang Beibei said, “I’m really nervous!”

“Um...” The door opened, and a baby-faced young man in uniform poked his head in, “Captain Tang, may I come in?”

“Eh? Brother Lin!” Jiang Beibei sat up and pulled her leg off Tang Xizhou’s shoulder.

“Ho ho, you scamps finally thought of inviting me out?”

“Just visiting Captain Tang.” Deputy Lin pushed open the door and stood smiling at the entrance.

“If you’re coming, why bring flowers? So girly.” Tang Xizhou said while chewing on an ice cream stick.

Deputy Lin still smiled, “Captain Tang, these aren’t for you.”

At the sound, Jiang Beibei sat up. A sudden burst of confidence made her say, “Brother Lin, are these for me?”

Deputy Lin: “...Oh dear, what happened to Beibei’s leg?”

“This kid had a bad New Year. She doesn’t know how to walk properly anymore. She floated down the stairs and went ‘snap!’” Tang Xizhou fabricated a story and went out to greet the flowers.

Deputy Lin sidestepped and pushed away his hand, saying, “Captain Tang, we pooled money to buy these flowers. They’re expensive, more than a hundred yuan. How could they be for you...”

Tang Xizhou: “I knew you guys wouldn’t bring such arty stuff for me! More than a hundred yuan? Are they eating money? What are these flowers for? Who are you bringing them to see here? Do I have any sweethearts here?”

“Captain Tang, Unit Two has almost become a monk building. Besides Beibei, do you have any other young, beautiful girls worth mentioning in your unit? No, right...” Deputy Lin said, “In this situation, how could I have a sweetheart here?”

“That’s not necessarily true.” Tang Xizhou said, “There’s a handsome dog across the hall that matches your vibe well.”

“Captain Tang, just wait!” Deputy Lin said, “When you come back, I’ll definitely give you a good ‘welcome’ after half a month of rest. I need to loosen your bones for you!”

Tang Xizhou stopped bickering with him and nudged the flowers, saying, “They’re for Captain Yao, right?”

“Ah, yes.” Deputy Lin said, “The chief asked me to represent him and invite Captain Yao to guide us at the station.”

“What case came up?”

“Not exactly a case. It’s from the neighboring city.” Deputy Lin said, “They’ve been monitoring a drug den for almost a year and are preparing to close in. We are tasked with watching a major distributor who has several regular buyers, all selling within a neighborhood in our city, specifically around Kade Pedestrian Street. We’ve been tracking them for a long time.”

Jiang Beibei turned off her phone and hopped on one leg to the door, leaning against it and asking Deputy Lin, “How much do you estimate?”

“At least eight hundred grams.” Deputy Lin said, “If we handle this well, it will be our first big success of the New Year. That’s why the bureau sent me to invite Captain Yao.”

“So why are you still standing at my door?” Tang Xizhou shouted upstairs, “Captain Yao, Little Tang calling you!”

“Coming —” Mother Chu opened the door with a pink mask on, nearly causing Deputy Lin to drop the flowers in shock. Remembering their price, the thrifty young man held onto the bouquet tightly and thickly said, “Captain Yao… looking radiant.”

Jiang Beibei giggled by the door.

“You invited me out, didn’t you?” Mother Chu said the same thing as Tang Xizhou.

“Captain Yao, we can’t do without you. We warmly welcome you back to the station for guidance.”

“This sentence is grammatically incorrect. Think about it.” Mother Chu peeled off her mask, rolled it into a ball, squinted one eye, and threw it into the living room trash can, saying, “Nice throw! Three points!”

Father Chu, watching the fishing channel in the living room: “...Zero points, it hit my foot.”

Deputy Lin: “...What grammatical error?”

“Redundancy in meaning?” Jiang Beibei guessed.

Mother Chu rotated her neck, came down to collect the flowers, and said, “Is it urgent? If so, I’ll go with you now.”

“It’s urgent.” Deputy Lin hinted, “I’m hungry and want to hurry back to the station to eat instant noodles.”

“Hmph, what instant noodles!” Mother Chu turned around and called, “Old Chu! Add rice! Put on some more!”

Seeing his purpose achieved, Deputy Lin rubbed his hands together and asked, “Uh... Captain Yao, do you mind if I ask what’s for lunch?”

“Two vegetarian dishes and two meat dishes, come on in.” Mother Chu said, “My son will also be home for lunch. Let’s eat together.”

“Thank you, Captain Yao!”

Tang Xizhou said, “Captain Yao, what about me?”

“Come on in, just one more pair of chopsticks.”

At noon, Chu Yao took a break and came home. He picked up Jiang Beibei from the first floor and brought her home for lunch. Upon entering, he saw Deputy Lin sitting obediently on the sofa, dazedly watching the midday news.

“Brother Chu Yao.” Seeing Chu Yao carrying Jiang Beibei in, and the girl seemingly hugging and kissing him, Deputy Lin suspected he was hallucinating.

“Mm, I’m here.” Chu Yao remained calm, placing Jiang Beibei on the sofa and changing his clothes to wash his hands.

Tang Xizhou came up with two buckets of discounted juice.

“Why are you all eating at my place?”

“Captain Yao is returning to work tomorrow, so she invited us for a meal.”

“Give me a break.” Mother Chu brought out the dishes, “It’s because they pity you guys, who have nothing to eat or drink.”

The two meat and two vegetable dishes were laid on the table. Father Chu carried over a casserole pot, the aroma of meat wafting from it. Deputy Lin’s appetite surged, and he spoke with saliva dripping, “Oh, there’s also meat soup! Thank you, Director Chu.”

Father Chu placed the casserole on the table. The pig trotter, kelp, and soybean stew had tender meat, and the broth was a rich milky white.

Several young men eyed the pot hungrily. Father Chu said, “Had your fill of sightseeing?”

Deputy Lin held his chopsticks, ready to go: “Yes, yes! Can we start eating?”

Father Chu nodded: “Good, that means you’re satisfied.” He pushed the pig trotter soup towards Jiang Beibei.

Mother Chu explained, “Eat what you need to replenish. It has been stewing since noon. As soon as Chu Yao left, I started cooking it. Eat quickly; look how greedy he is.”

Jiang Beibei looked up. Chu Yao had already averted his gaze, reluctantly turning his chopsticks toward the tofu, and even straightened Deputy Lin’s chopstick tips along the way.

Deputy Lin: “That’s right, that’s right. Eat what you need to replenish... Little Sister Beibei, eat!”

Tang Xizhou smiled faintly: “You two are still so young. Like me, I knew this wasn’t prepared for me when I smelled the pig trotters this morning. Even their biological son doesn’t get a share, let alone me, the adopted son. This greedy little girl gets all the benefits.”

Seeing the pig trotters, Jiang Beibei went wild, hugging the casserole: “I’m injured! Auntie is right. If my foot is hurt, I should eat it. Thank you, Auntie and Uncle!”

Mother Chu pressed down on the casserole: “Wait a moment, change your address first.”

“Eh?” Jiang Beibei blinked, “What?”

“Change your address. You can’t call me Auntie if you want to eat.”

“...” Jiang Beibei blushed, hesitating between the pig trotters and changing her address.

Chu Yao: “Changing your address requires an address-change fee. Do you think we’re fools to let you change your address for just a bowl of pig feet?”

Deputy Lin: “Change what? What? What?”

Mother Chu: “Easy!”

She turned back into the room and took out a stack of cash, “I exchanged this during the New Year; it’s all new. Beibei, if you change your address, all this money is yours.”

This thin-skinned Jiang Beibei, lacking confidence, said: “I... I am not the kind of person who sees money and opens wide eyes!”

Deputy Lin’s eyeballs almost fell out: “Captain Yao, you’re so wealthy, I... I witnessed history?!”

Tang Xizhou assisted: “Greedy cat, hurry up. We are all waiting to eat. Once you call, we can start.”

Jiang Beibei: “Give me some time to build up courage!”

Chu Yao turned aside and laughed secretly.

“Dad! Mom!” Deputy Lin shouted loudly, “I’m dying of impatience. Hey, is calling them this considered changing the address? Captain Yao, I called them. What about this money...”

Tang Xizhou elbowed him: “You idiot!”

Taking advantage of their commotion, Jiang Beibei closed her eyes and said resolutely: “Happy New Year, Mom and Dad!”

Her voice was loud and clear, like a pig slaughterer’s cry.

Chu Yao put down his chopsticks and burst out laughing on the table.

“Great! She’s my daughter! So loud!” Mother Chu slapped the money into Jiang Beibei’s hand, “Spend freely! It’s your man’s money anyway! If you don’t spend it, it will suffocate in the card! Go ahead and spend it!”

After giving the money, she turned to scold Chu Yao: “Give Beibei some pocket money. I see you earn money but never get a chance to spend it. Your money is like a mummy, once it enters your card, it’s buried alive, never to see the light of day again. That won’t do.”

Chu Yao nodded and said, “I gave her a card. Don’t worry about it.”

“You can’t. Beibei has thin skin. If you give her the card and she spends it, it would be a miracle.”

Beibei tore off a piece of pork skin. Hearing this, she paused, biting the pork skin and pathetically said, “Auntie, I’m still here. How can you say I have thin skin...”

Mother Chu: “Auntie?”

“...Mommy.” Jiang Beibei whispered like a mosquito hum.

Mother Chu: “Xiaolin, study this. How can we transfer some of your thick skin to this girl?”

Deputy Lin and Tang Xizhou were competing to wolf down food, their mouths full, murmuring, “I finally understand. Little Yao and Little North are together now, right? When did this happen? Last time I came, Little North was avoiding Little Yao.”

Jiang Beibei didn’t stop eating her pig trotters while speaking, puffing her cheeks and glaring, “Brother Lin, don’t talk nonsense! When did I ever avoid Brother Yao?”

“It was like a rabbit avoiding a wolf, oh my…” Deputy Lin said, “She hid behind Brother Tang. Isn’t that avoiding?”

“That’s called being shy! Hmph, you steel-straight people don’t understand women’s hearts!”

Tang Xizhou: “Brother Lin didn’t lie. Last year when you saw Little Yao, you walked around sticking close to the edge.”

Chu Yao: “She was afraid of me.”

Jiang Beibei was speechless. This was true.

At that time, she was afraid that Chu Yao would see through her ulterior motives, dared not meet his gaze, and dared not provoke his tenderness. Therefore, every time, she needed to place a barrier between herself and Chu Yao to dare to speak to him and think of him.

Jiang Beibei softly said, “Brother Yao, don’t misunderstand… I was shy.”

Tang Xizhou: “There’s nothing shameful about liking someone. Luckily, heaven is impatient, otherwise, you two would drag this out forever.”

Jiang Beibei blushed: “Don’t talk about this in front of the parents…”

Mother Chu: “I’m not a parent; I’m the captain now.”

Father Chu: “I’m a colleague.”

Mother Chu squinted happily: “It’s fine, keep talking, boldly speak. Once you finish speaking, I’ll consider how many times I need to beat this procrastinating child to make it worthwhile.”

Chu Yao: “I’m not procrastinating. Feelings can’t be rushed. If you rush them, they’ll have the opposite effect.”

Tang Xizhou: “Bullshit, you’re procrastinating.”

Taking advantage of their diverted attention, Deputy Lin hastily shoveled food into his mouth.

Perhaps influenced by Deputy Lin’s thick skin, Jiang Beibei put down her chopsticks solemnly and announced, “I have something to declare.”

Mother Chu immediately held her breath, her mind racing: “Could she be pregnant?! Is she going to announce the good news?! Which hotel should we book for the banquet?! I need to reserve early. Where did I put the manager’s business card? Damn, I’ll ask Old Chu later!”

Mother Chu winked at Father Chu.

Father Chu understood without words, stopped his hand, and waited for Jiang Beibei to speak.

Jiang Beibei said, “I’ve always felt uneasy inside, unsure how to interact with Brother Yao. After a simple chat with Second Brother, I found his advice very reasonable. I should clarify our roles, starting with changing the way I address him.”

Jiang Beibei looked at Chu Yao and said, “Chu Yao.”

“Mm.”

“Chu Yao.”

Chu Yao nodded: “Mm, Beibei, I know.”

“In the future, I won’t call you Brother Yao anymore.”

“Alright.”

Mother Chu had been building up anticipation, waiting to jump up and cheer. After hearing Jiang Beibei’s words, she supported herself on the table and sighed deeply.

“You rascal, we’re only at the stage of changing the address!”