To My First Life,

1.3 The Qu Family

The birthday boy quietly blinked at the other boy, before he moved to look at the elderly couple in front of them, both of whom barely had a single strand of grey hair. No one would've guessed they were both sixty-five.

Grandpa Qu looked just like Qu Ye, his aura mellow and amicable as he wore that trademark smile that Qu Ye was known for.

Meanwhile, Granny Murong stared back at him, her gaze neither cold nor warm, like she didn't know what to make of the two children before her.

Qu Mei held his breath, waiting for anything that could happen.

"You're Qu Mei? You're Qu Guo?" Grandpa Qu's tone was well-meaning, but he had incorrectly associated the wrong name with the wrong child.

Qu Mei who was now 'Qu Guo' and Qu Guo who was now 'Qu Mei', dropped their pleasant expressions, their faces turning ugly.

Qu Ye laughed awkwardly while Zhou Zhiling tapped her foot impatiently. "Pa, the birthday boy is Qu Mei, the eldest daughter is Qu Guo."

"Aiyo!" Grandpa Qu reciprocated his awkward laughter, except he was much worse than his son. "I'm so old now, I don't have good eyesight."

"You can see fine." Granny Murong deadpanned. "Xiao Ling, who named them?"

Zhou Zhiling pursed her lips but stopped "I named the girl."

She didn't have to say anything else, everyone understood.

"Qu Ye, you shouldn't have kids anymore." Granny Murong remained as expressionless as she'd arrived.

"You named me." Qu Ye frowned.

"I didn't. Jieshi did." She pointed at her husband nonchalantly. "Like father like son."

While Qu Ye wanted to wilt like a dead plant or grow mushrooms in a corner, Qu Mei was enlightened.

Qu Mei: Qu Jieshi? (Jieshi means both strong/sturdy and to bear fruit) What was with this family and their love for plants?

Qu Guo and Qu Mei squirmed under the woman's unreadable gaze as if they'd so much as uttered the smallest sound, they would immediately run and cry. Of course, Qu Mei inwardly didn't feel as terrified as his sister, but he was certainly unnerved.

"Alright Tianmei, stop making the kids uncomfortable." Grandpa Qu chided.

It was only when Granny Murong finally looked away that the two children were able to relax.

"Happy birthday, Xiao Mei." Grandpa Qu said. "We apologize, it's the first time you've met us."

Granny Murong moved to speak, but Grandpa Qu was quicker. "Anyway, this is Mr. Yu and his son, we brought them along because they were already coming to City A."

He spoke mostly to Zhou Zhiling and Qu Ye, so the two siblings snuck away back to Wang Li'an.

"A'Mei, don't you think that boy is smelly?" Qu Guo muttered.

"No?" Qu Mei looked at her weirdly, "Big sister that's mean."

"Is it? Sorry..."

"I'm not smelly." A new voice startled the two.

Qu Mei furrowed his brows, "She didn't mean it."

Yu Cishan was frowning. An upset child, Qu Mei was afraid of them.

"Are you saying I smell fishy? Fish is delicious! Papa says that seafood is the most expensive when sold in the city." Yu Cishan said.

"It was fish? I don't like fish." Qu Guo responded unwittingly.