A leisurely life starting in a bar after being reborn

Fu Xiaoxin walked around the car with curiosity, then opened the car door, climbed into the passenger seat, plopped down, and started touching things—the seat, the instrument panel, the center console screen, and the steering wheel.

"Wow! It's so beautiful! The seats can even be heated?!"

"Stop touching things, buckle up your seatbelt now."

Fu Yan lowered the car window a little to let the sea breeze in. He hadn't fully adjusted to the car's visibility yet—it was a bit higher than an A8, but a little lower than a Land Rover, just the height he wanted.

"Don't even think about slacking off today, come with me to deliver New Year's gifts," Fu Yan said.

"I know, Mom told me last night." Fu Xiao fastened her seatbelt and took out a list from her bag. "My eldest aunt's house, my youngest aunt's house, and my eldest aunt's house, just three houses. Mom has prepared everything I asked me to bring, and she even specifically told me what to give to each house."

Fu Yan took the list and glanced at it.

Liu Meilan's handwriting was neat and tidy:

My aunt's family: two boxes of seafood gift sets, two cartons of Zhonghua cigarettes, and two bottles of Moutai.

My aunt's family: two boxes of seafood gift sets, two cartons of Zhonghua cigarettes, and two bottles of Moutai.

My aunt's family: two boxes of seafood gift sets, a carton of Zhonghua cigarettes, a carton of Yuxi cigarettes, and two bottles of Wuliangye liquor.

Fu Yan noticed that her aunt's house was missing a pack of good cigarettes, which had been replaced with cheaper ones, and the liquor had also been changed from Moutai to Wuliangye.

It wasn't because Liu Meilan was biased, but because she understood her older sister—her aunt Liu Meijuan—who was used to being frugal. Giving her expensive gifts would make her feel uneasy, as she would feel indebted and unable to repay the favor. In the past, whenever she gave her something too expensive, she would try to return it, causing a lot of trouble between the two families.

"Is everything packed in the trunk?" Fu Yan asked.

"It's in the backyard, let's go move it together."

……

The two spent over ten minutes moving things in the backyard, stuffing six boxes of seafood gift sets, five cartons of Zhonghua cigarettes, and six bottles of baijiu (Chinese liquor) into the trunk. The XC60's trunk space is truly enormous; even after loading all this stuff, there was still more than half empty.

Fu Yan drove out of the old town and headed east along the coastal road.

In January, the sea in Bincheng is a grayish-blue color. The distant horizon merges with the sky, making it impossible to distinguish where the water ends and the sky begins. Occasionally, a few pine trees stand by the roadside, braving the cold wind, their green color almost black.

Fu Xiao sat in the passenger seat, turned the seat heater to the maximum, and curled up in her down jacket like a pink hamster.

"Brother, do you know where Aunt's house is?"

"I know, Haiyun Residential Area, I've been there before."

"Do you know the way? Bincheng has changed a lot in the past few years."

"I used to run around this area every day; I could find it with my eyes closed."

Fu Xiao said "Oh" and didn't say anything more. She leaned back in her seat and started playing with her phone—her phone was a Nokia she had bought two years ago, with a screen as small as a postage stamp, and she typed using a nine-key keypad.

Fu Yan glanced at it, thinking that he would get her a better one later. He wondered how many iPhones there were now; if possible, he would buy a few to give to relatives and friends.

……

My aunt Fu Mingxiu's family lives in Haiyun Community, a long-established state-owned enterprise residential compound in Bincheng. It's a six-story building with white tiles on the exterior walls and little GG stickers all over the stairwell.

Fu Yan parked the car downstairs, and Fu Xiao carried the things upstairs.

On the third floor, the door was unlocked, and Fu Mingxiu was already waiting with the door open.

"Xiaoyan's here?! Come in, come in quickly! Oh dear, Xiaoxiao's here too!"

Fu Mingxiu is fifty-five years old and retired. She is slightly plump, with curly hair, wearing a floral cotton-padded jacket, and her eyes squint into slits when she smiles. She looks a lot like Fu Jianguo, both with square faces and thick lips, and they look very honest.

"Auntie!" Fu Xiao called out sweetly.

"Oh! Xiaoxiao is getting prettier and prettier!" Fu Mingxiu touched Fu Xiao's face, then pulled Fu Yan into the house. "Xiao Yan, you're finally back! Your uncle has been talking about you every day, wondering if you're eating well in America..."

"Old Liu! Xiao Yan is here!" she called into the inner room.

My uncle, Liu Chuanyou, came out of the study, holding a calligraphy brush in his hand, his fingers stained with ink. He was fifty-eight years old, thin, with slightly graying hair, and wore gold-rimmed glasses; he looked every bit the cultured man.

"Xiao Yan's back." Liu Chuanyou looked him over with a smile. "You've grown taller and stronger. The food in America must be good."

"Hello, Uncle."

"Alright, alright, sit down."

Fu Mingxiu busied herself pouring tea and cutting fruit, while Fu Yan brought in the New Year's gifts and placed them in the corner of the living room.

When Fu Mingxiu saw the two boxes of seafood gift sets, two cartons of Zhonghua cigarettes, and two bottles of Moutai, she frowned: "Your mother is too kind. Why buy so much stuff? We don't need any of this."

"It's Chinese New Year, it's only right."

"You're just like your father, getting things done quietly." Fu Mingxiu gave him a reproachful look, but the corners of her mouth were upturned.

Fu Yan sat on the sofa and glanced around the living room—on the wall hung Liu Siqi's wedding photo, next to which was a picture of a little boy, presumably Liu Siqi's son.

"Where's Sister Siqi?"

"She was very busy before the New Year. School was on holiday, so she took her child to her mother-in-law's house and didn't come back until after the New Year. That child is in first grade this year, and he's very naughty, like a little monkey." Fu Mingxiu's face was full of smiles when she talked about her grandson.

"Xiao Yan," Liu Chuanyou said, sitting down with his teacup in hand, "what did you do in America? Your dad said you worked in the internet industry?"

"Yes, they built a website and then sold it to a big company."

"Can it make money?"

"good."

Liu Chuanyou nodded and didn't press the matter. Having served as a primary school principal for over thirty years, he was used to meeting all sorts of students' parents and knew that some people were better off not asking about things they couldn't talk about.

Fu Mingxiu wasn't as reserved as him: "Xiao Yan, how old are you? Thirty-one, right? Do you have a boyfriend?"

Fu Xiao burst out laughing from the side.

"Auntie, my brother just returned to China—"

"You need to get moving now that you're back in the country! Look at your sister Siqi, her child is already seven! And look at you, thirty-one and still single, isn't your mother worried?"

Fu Yan could only force a smile.

……

When Fu Yan came out of his aunt's house, his forehead was covered in sweat.

Fu Xiao laughed so hard she couldn't stand up straight: "Brother, Auntie's ability to pressure us to get married is even better than Mom's!"

"Shut up."

"She said you should find someone quickly, or she'll introduce you to someone..."

I told you to shut up.

Fu Xiao stuck out her tongue and obediently shut up.

Our second stop was my aunt Fu Mingxiang's house.

My aunt's family lives in Jinxiu Garden in the east of the city. It's a relatively new residential community in Bincheng, and the environment is much better than my other aunt's family's state-owned enterprise compound—it has elevators, underground parking, and green spaces.

Fu Yan drove the car into the residential area, and Fu Xiao pointed to a high-rise building and said, "That's the one, the eighth floor."

My aunt, Fu Mingxiang, is forty-three years old this year, about ten years younger than Fu Jianguo, and is the youngest child in the Fu family. She doesn't look like Fu Jianguo and Fu Mingxiu. She is not tall but very energetic, with short, neat hair, a brisk walk, and a loud voice. She looks like the kind of person who has the final say at work.

As soon as Fu Yan and Fu Xiao stepped out of the elevator, the door to their aunt's house opened...