My Mister Ostrich

Chapter 16

“That’s good.” When Pang Qian thought about that evening’s events, she still felt a bit of lingering fear. She’d never seen anything like it before. Gu Mingxi and Li Han were both covered in blood. Their bathroom was also heavily stained with it. There were traces of Gu Mingxi’s footprints in their living room, all the way out their door to Pang Qian’s front door.

He had slammed his body into the door and he’d kicked it with his feet. Jin Ai’hua had washed scrubbed at the floor for a long time with detergent before she was able to clean off the blood.

There was something that Pang Qian still didn’t quite understand. She didn’t like to keep things from Gu Mingxi, so she asked him, “Gu Mingxi, why did your dad say that about you the other day? What did he mean?”

Gu Mingxi was silent and then said, “My mom lost the baby.”

“I know.” Pang Qian still didn’t understand. “My mom said that it was an accident, not your fault. So why did you dad say that about you?”

“You know, my dad has always wanted to have another kid,” Gu Mingxi said evenly. “Now the baby is gone, so he must be very disappointed. Also, I’m not completely without fault. If I didn’t bring up going to the market, my mom wouldn’t have bought the rice. If she didn’t buy the rice, nothing would have happened to her. And… If I had arms, I would have been able to help her carry things. Then nothing would have gone wrong.”

Pang Qian didn’t understand. “What does this have to do with buying rice? Wh-what does it have to do with whether you have arms or not?”

Gu Mingxi glanced at her, and with a click of his tongue, “You’re still a kid. You wouldn’t understand.”

Pang Qian cried unhappily, “I’m not a kid!”

Seeing her bare her fangs, Gu Mingxi couldn’t stop himself from laughing. He patiently explained, “My grandma said that when a woman gets pregnant, they can’t carry heavy things for the first three months. They have to be especially careful when they do things, otherwise the chances of a miscarriage increase. It was like that in a TV show too. Moreover, my mom’s already 40 years old. Getting pregnant is already a very risky thing for her, so she can’t be neglectful. How could she carry something as heavy as that, and all the way back home too.”

Pang Qian listened and then pouted, saying, “But that’s not your fault. How can your dad say something like that to you?”

Gu Mingxi could only smile. “My dad was just worried about my mom, so he got angry about it.”

Pang Qian suddenly thought of something. She was a bit worried about Gu Mingxi, and said, “If your parents really do have a baby in the future, then it will be a lot younger than you. When you’re 20, your little brother or sister will just be starting school. So then what?”

Gu Mingxi thought for a moment, then said with a smile, “What about it? That seems pretty good.”

“How is that good?”

“I’ll already be working by then, and I’ll be making money. I can bring them to eat, buy them toys and clothes.” Gu Mingxi looked at Pang Qian, “My dad will definitely like him or her. And they’ll be a very cute kid. Is that a bad thing?”

Pang Qian really couldn’t see how that was bad. She couldn’t imagine her parents giving her a baby sister or brother right now. She wouldn’t be able to accept it. What’s more, Gu Mingxi didn’t have arms. Wasn’t he afraid that after his parents had another baby, they would stop caring about him?

Although it wasn’t really her business, Pang Qian couldn’t help but feel worried. She always thought that Gu Mingxi’s parents shouldn’t have another baby. She felt that she should get rid of Gu Mingxi’s idea of having a younger sibling. She said to him, “Don’t forget, your house only has three rooms. Your mom and dad use one, you use one and the third one is a study. If your parents have another baby, where will it live? Will it live with you in one room? Who knows if you’ll be kicked out onto the balcony to sleep!”

Gu Mingxi was so amused by her thoughts that he had a great big laugh. He shook his head and said, “No.”

“What do you mean ‘No’?”

He looked at her and said softly, “Did you forget? I already told you that the company already started building a new housing unit west of the city. It has an elevator. The smallest place will be 90 sqm and the biggest will be 120 sqm. My dad said that he’s already received the papers for changing houses. In about two or three years, we’ll move there.”

—

Pang Qian kept working at Pang Shuisheng for a long time because of this. She found out a bunch of important information from Gu Mingxi. All current employees of the metals company, old or new, could apply to live in the new housing building. Seniority, job title and position, along with contributions to the company would be used to determine who could live there. Those who didn’t already have housing were held to more demanding conditions. Older employees who already lived in company housing could still apply for the new place, but they would have to give up the old place, and they could have to pay some ten thousands dollars (RMB) as compensation for moving to a bigger house.

Pang Qian actually didn’t want to live in a big house. She didn’t quite know why, but knowing that Gu Mingxi was going to move away made her heart feel a bit uncomfortable, as if she couldn’t bear it. She pestered Pang Shuisheng to turn in their current house, but he felt that it wasn’t necessary. The Golden Compound was already sufficiently large and it was located at the heart of the city. Exchanging that to live in a place where even birds don’t shit (a remote, desolate place), and having to pay extra money on top of that, really felt like a poor decision.

In the end, Pang Shuisheng was pestered so much by Pang Qian that he decided to discuss the conditions.

“I can put in an application, but you have to promise me that you’ll test into Excellence High.”

Pang Qian, “!”

Pang Shuisheng pulled out a cigarette. “The high school entrance exam is in two years. If you can get into Excellence High, and the construction on the house is complete, then we’ll move. If you don’t get in, then I’ll ask for the application back and we’ll treat it as if none of this happened. Do you agree?”

“…” Pang Qian clenched her teeth. “Dad, you’re not lying to me, are you?”

Pang Shuisheng knocked her on the head, “When have I ever lied to you? What, you don’t have the confidence?”

Pang Qian carefully thought it over for half an house. Then she clenched her hand and promised, “Who doesn’t have confidence?! It’s a deal!”

A few days later, Pang Shuisheng put in an application to the company for a change of residence. Carrying her backpack, Pang Qian knocked on Gu Mingxi’s front door.

When she went into Gu Mingxi’s room, the boy was extremely surprised. Pang Qian sat down in front of him and noisily pulled out her notebook from her backpack. As she was pulling things out, she said, “Gu Mingxi, I’ll come over every day to do homework from now on. When I don’t understand, you’ll explain it to me.”

“Oh…” Gu Mingxi nodded, but couldn’t help asking, “Pang Pang, what’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Pang Qian shook her head. With a calm expression, she asked, “Gu Mingxi, can you get me into Excellence High?”

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