This theater directly reveals which two cities, C City and L City, are being referred to in this article.
Dialect Theater: The Three Treasures of Jincheng (Please sing to the tune of "The Auspicious Three Treasures"~)
Xiangxiang: Second Dad.
Lexi: Pinch?
Xiangxiang: What's going on in the house tonight?
Lexi: Ask your eldest father.
Xiangxiang: It seems like Daddy hasn't gotten home from get off work yet.
Lexi: On the way.
Xiangxiang: I'm so hungry I can't even carry a bag.
Lexi: Then why put up with it!
Xiangxiang: The tailor dozes off while reading, that's his second dad... Sigh, he has three hobbies!
Xiangxiang: Daddy.
Qi Hui: Buddhist sayings.
Xiangxiang: What's set up in the room tonight?
Qi Hui: Pulled noodles.
Xiangxiang: Is there any leftover noodles after you've finished eating them?
Qi Hui: Ask your second uncle what he wants to eat?
Xiangxiang: What else is left after Daddy eats what he likes to eat?
Qi Hui: Your mother-in-law is so annoying!
Xiangxiang: My second dad and I are the eldest dad... Sigh, the eldest dad's three treasures!
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Dialect Theater: Night Talks in the Foggy City
Chen Song: Silly kid.
Zijie: Who are you calling?
Chen Song: My bean is calling you.
Zijie: You want claws?
Chen Song: No claws, just teasing you.
Zijie: Do you want to die?
Chen Song: Beans, you come and sprinkle them!
Zijie: You kid, stand still! Don't run!
Chen Song: Haha! Confess and you'll be lenient; resist and you'll be imprisoned. Resist and you'll be sent home for the New Year. You think I'm some kind of police station just waiting for you to arrest me?
Zijie: Fine! You just wait! Hmph! Watch my dynamic light wave! PIU~PIU~~
Chen Song: Oh my god! You kid are serious?! You're going to kill me, you bastard!
Zijie: Hahahaha~~~ What the hell are you doing?! Who told you to do anything?! This is what happens when you do something wrong!
Definitions:
"爪" is a quick way of saying "what are you doing?". This pronunciation exists in both Lanzhou and Chongqing dialects.
Group: to do.
"Beibuhu" means "I can't take it anymore".
That place: His.
Buddhist saying: Speaking.
"Guawa" means "idiot" or "fool." It's a common insult in Chongqing and Chengdu dialects, and it often includes the "er" sound.
Bean: then.
Hadi: Are you stupid?
干操: smug, arrogant.
Side Story - Father and Son (Part 1)
When Qi Hui went to work in the morning, he saw the old man lingering at the entrance of the company building again. The man was thin, wearing old clothes, and slightly hunched over. Whenever someone passed by, he would look up eagerly, but always lower his head in disappointment, his eyes filled with the sorrow of having endured many hardships.
Qi Hui called the security supervisor to his office and asked about the old man. The supervisor said that the man would stand at the gate for a while every morning during work hours and then leave, only to return in the afternoon. The security guards on duty had questioned him; although the man's behavior was a bit strange, his speech and thinking were normal. For the sake of the company's image, they couldn't directly ask him to leave, so they only hinted at it indirectly. However, the man was very polite, saying he had heard his son had been seen there and just wanted to confirm if he worked there, just to catch a glimpse of him.
"His son? Have you asked him what his son's name is?" Qi Hui frowned.
“I asked him, but he wouldn’t say. He only said he did something wrong to his son and wife, and he was afraid his son wouldn’t want to see him, and he was also afraid that if it came to his workplace, it would have a bad impact on his son, so he just wanted to see him from afar,” the supervisor said, standing ramrod straight. The man in his forties showed genuine respect for the young Qi Hui, because this young man possessed not only wealth, but also wisdom and refinement. “Mr. Qi, should we send him away?”
"No need. Since he's not affecting the company's normal operations, let him continue to wait." Qi Hui habitually fiddled with the lighter in his hand, looked out the window at the overcast sky, which was gloomy and looked like it was about to rain.
"If it rains, let him wait in the security guard's office," Qi Hui instructed the supervisor before leaving.
Qi Hui had only met Le Xi's father once, on the day Le Xi's mother passed away. That day was also a cloudy day, just like today, with rain clouds filling the sky and the wind blowing incessantly, whipping up fallen leaves that danced in the air.
At that time, Lexi was just a little child and didn't really understand what death meant. Lexi stood in the middle of a large group of adults, staring in terror with her big, dark eyes at the people walking around her. The noisy crowd whispered among themselves. Someone said, "Look, that child is so pitiful. His mother just died of a heart attack while riding the Ferris wheel at the amusement park."
Some people say, "Look at this mother, I don't know what she was thinking. She has a heart condition and she still takes her child to an amusement park. Isn't that just courting death?"
Some people say...
Some people also said...
Among the diverse crowd, Le Xi spotted Qi Hui and his mother. Her terrified eyes slowly returned to their usual state, her lips slightly pouting, filled with grievance.
"Come on, child, let's go home." The mother couldn't hold back her tears and hugged Lexi tightly. Lexi shook her head and said earnestly, "Auntie, wait a minute, my mom just fell asleep. Let's go home together after she wakes up!"
Lexi pointed with her little finger to the hypothermic corpse covered by a white sheet not far away.
"Lele, Mommy..." the mother sobbed, her voice breaking, "Mommy wants to sleep a little longer. Shall we go home first?"
"Oh!" Le Xi nodded, still clutching the small plush toy her mother had won for her in a ring toss game. Qi Hui found that tacky, cheap toy an eyesore.
Qi Hui picked up the tiny child. The child was very thin due to malnutrition and smaller than other children his age. He felt so light in his arms, as if a gust of wind could blow him away. For no reason, Qi Hui felt nervous. He tightened his grip slightly, pressing the child's head against his shoulder and holding him tightly.
"Brother," Xiao Lexi asked softly, "they said my mother is dead. What does 'dead' mean?"
Qi Hui is mute; how can he explain death to a child? This is a far too heavy topic.
"Brother, does dying mean falling asleep and never waking up again?" Little Lexi looked up at Qi Hui with her big, dark eyes, her eyes misty and her lips twitching slightly. "I call for Mom, but she doesn't answer me. Does that mean Mom will never talk to me again?"
"Baby, be good, everything will be alright. Your brother will always be with you," Qi Hui whispered.
"Daddy, Daddy!" Little Lexi suddenly cried out, squirming restlessly in Qi Hui's arms. Qi Hui looked in the direction he was looking and saw a handsome young man walking towards them. After hearing Lexi call him, the man glanced at him, then lowered his head and walked towards the police.
The man impatiently lifted the white sheet, glanced at the object, and nodded. Then he said something to the police officer. The officer asked, "Is that your son?"
The man nodded, walked over to Le Xi, looked at Le Xi, looked at Qi Hui, and then his gaze fell on Qi Hui's mother.
“Ms. Lan,” he said directly, “you know, I’m just a migrant worker now, I’m very poor, and it’s hard for me to support myself. I can’t afford to support Lexi, he needs to see a doctor and take medicine, and I don’t have the money. So please take care of him for me, okay? I’ll come and pick him up when I’ve earned some money.”
Qi Hui glanced at him disdainfully and snorted. He had heard from Le Xi's neighbors that this man had used his good looks to hook up with a rich woman; he was a gigolo.
"You don't need to worry about it." His mother didn't even look at him, and said coldly, "I'm a mother too. I just hope you can have some basic conscience and come to see Xiao Le more often. Don't forget, you're his father!"
“I know. But I have my own difficulties,” the man explained. “Besides, his surname isn’t Zhang; it’s Yao, the surname he took from his mother, isn’t it?”
"Dad." Le Xi nestled in Qi Hui's arms, looking timidly at the man she called her father. She pursed her lips, wanting to reach out for a hug but fearfully grabbing Qi Hui's sleeve.
"Lexi, be good. Daddy has to go to work. I'll come pick you up when I've earned some money." The man said almost as he walked away, leaving in a hurry. This was Qi Hui's only impression of Lexi's father. A very bad impression, so much so that even years later, Lexi would be very reluctant to talk about her father.
The old man, his brows etched with deep weariness, had lost the youthful handsomeness of his former self. Though only fifty years old, his face was excessively aged, sallow and covered in wrinkles. Yet, even so, one could still vaguely discern a resemblance between him and Le Xi. Qi Hui was torn. Should he acknowledge her? Would Le Xi want to see him again? She had finally achieved a peaceful life, and she didn't want it disrupted! But he was Le Xi's only blood relative in the world. The weight of those words—only, blood relative—was even more important than that of his brother.
What should we do?
Slowly, the car approached the man without him even realizing it. Qi Hui leaned back in his seat and sighed. Perhaps this was fate. His heart was inclined to ignore this man, but subconsciously, he was drawn closer to him. Qi Hui parked the car next to him, rolled down the window, and whispered, "Mr. Zhang."
The man seemed startled, turning his head sharply. He stared at Qi Hui for a long while before slowly asking, "Who are you?"
"My name is Qi Hui, and my mother's surname is Lan."
Side Story - Father and Son (Part 2)
He seemed uneasy, glancing nervously around in the elegant coffee shop, his attire completely out of place in this upscale establishment. Qi Hui took a sip of his coffee, looked at him again, and slowly asked, "Mr. Zhang, are you here to see Le Xi?"
“I… just… want to see him.”
“Le Xi is studying in the United States now.” Qi Hui tapped the marble tabletop with his fingertips, carefully choosing his words. “He is living a good life now. He earned his study abroad opportunity through his own efforts and now runs his own fashion design studio.”
"Really?" The other person smiled, even the wrinkles at the corners of their mouth looked joyful. "Le Xi is very outstanding now."
“Yes. He is excellent and optimistic. He is as strong as his mother.” Qi Hui lowered his head and gently stirred the glass in front of him, pausing deliberately and avoiding looking at him, so that he could have space to think.