Translator: dounai
Editor: mantou
76
Chen Zhuo had someone to buy some Jin Jun Mei1 for him. There were three boxes and it cost over three thousand yuan2. On the first day, he could not bear to open the boxes but on the second day, he noticed that they had been opened and one was even missing.
“Chen Zhuo! I braised some tea eggs3 today!” Ji Xiaobei said as he came running in.
Chen Zhuo’s eyes darkened, “You braised what?”
The boy even held one in his hands, bringing it right in front of him, “Tea eggs! Take a whiff! Doesn’t it smell fragrant!”
Chen Zhuo could only smell the scent of money, “… Yes!”
That night, Chen Zhuo ate nothing else but five tea eggs.
Hearing the crackling sounds of peeling eggs, Ji Xiaobei asked, “Chen Zhuo, why are you just eating eggs without talking?”
“It tastes so good, I want to savour every bit of it,” Chen Zhuo said as he held back his tears.
He did not dare to admit: Dear wife, this tea eggs you made costs a hundred for one! How could I bear to talk while having these…
Elated, Ji Xiaobei thought, I think they taste good too! Such success on my first try on making tea eggs, I am indeed super talented! Shall braise more tomorrow too!
On the third day, Chen Zhuo lost the two remaining boxes of tea leaves, and gained two big claypots of special grade tea eggs. Ji Xiaobei was packing the tea eggs into lunchboxes.
Ji Xiaobei, “Ten eggs for my aunt, ten eggs for my little sister, ten eggs for Aunty Xu, and another ten for the security uncle… Chen Zhuo, why have you turned silent again?”
Chen Zhuo, “Laopo, my heart feels heavy…”
77
That night, Chen Zhuo accidentally spilled the truth about the golden tea eggs.
Upon learning the truth, Ji Xiaobei instantly froze, “Ah?! That… Should I still give my tea eggs away?”
Chen Zhuo had already come to terms with himself, “Sure, it has already been braised, and we can’t finish everything ourselves anyway.”
Burying himself under the blankets, Ji Xiaobei mumbled, “Shall we leave more for ourselves then? Let me think… but, but I want to give ten eggs to my aunt!”
Chen Zhuo, “Mm, sure.”
“And ten for my little sister too, no less,” Ji Xiaobei said as he counted with his fingers.
Chen Zhuo, “Mm.”
Ji Xiaobei, “Jiejie has accompanied me to watch horror films. She’s a good person, I want to give some to her too.”
Chen Zhuo, “Mm.”
Ji Xiaobei, “Aunty Xu is nice too, she would help me carry bags of groceries from the supermarket on rainy days. She wanted you to be her son-in-law but you couldn’t because you have me, let me repay her by giving her ten eggs too.”
Chen Zhuo, “Okay.”
Ji Xiaobei, “The security uncle is a good person too. Whenever you had to work overtime, he would take me in and watch crosstalk shows together! That’s not it… whenever you work overtime, I would be home alone waiting for your return. Pretend you heard nothing just now.”
Chen Zhuo, “… You little rascal.”
The couple then cuddled to sleep, but Ji Xiaobei was still awake at 2AM.
Chen Zhuo lightly slapped Ji Xiaobei’s butt, “What are you doing, tossing and turning around!”
The boy sighed, “Nothing. Chen Zhuo, I can’t sleep. Do we have to eat only porridge and pickles from tomorrow onwards? I’m hungry just thinking about it.”
Chen Zhuo, “There’s another way, think about it yourself.”
Ji Xiaobei gave it a thought. Three thousand yuan, how many kisses and papas would he have to give to repay the debt? Chen Zhuo would not be only using his hands to slap his butt by then, he thought as he touched his own butt.
Ji Xiaobei, “I’ll just stick to porridge and pickles then…”
In the early morning the next day, Ji Xiaobei headed downstairs to deliver tea eggs to Aunty Xu. She held onto the lunchbox, but Ji Xiaobei refused to let go.
“Is Xiao Ji reluctant to give it to me?” Aunty Xu jokingly asked.
There were tears in his eyes as Ji Xiaobei laughed, “Aunty Xu, you have you eat them well! These tea eggs are really really really hard to come by!”
One egg is worth one papa, you know??
78
The couple walked around the mall that night, and there was a new row of claw machines on the second level, its exciting music echoing along the path was especially enticing.
As they were passing by, Ji Xiaobei heard its callings, “What’s that sound?”
Chen Zhuo turned his head, “Claw machines, they weren’t there before.”
“I wanna play!” Ji Xiaobei exclaimed and dragged the man back.
Chen Zhuo exchanged for ten tokens, which earned them five plays.
Ji Xiaobei grabbed onto the joystick while Chen Zhuo held his hands, helping him to steer the claw. Quickly, five plays were over and nothing was caught.
Chen Zhuo exchanged twenty tokens in a go on the second round, but they still reaped no rewards. Even the last play looked hopeless already. As his desire to win got stronger, Chen Zhuo rushed to exchange for more tokens.
On his own, Ji Xiaobei grabbed the joystick and moved it about, just in time for the countdown to end. The claw descended, and a doll was caught. After a few beats, joyous music resounded through the area.
Ji Xiaobei, “???”
Chen Zhuo, “???”
Ji Xiaobei, “Aye, after such a long time, turns out it was you who can’t do it!”
Chen Zhuo, “…”
Ji Xiaobei bent down and felt for the panel, pushing the flap open to retrieve his doll from the machine.
Ji Xiaobei, “Is it nice?”
Chen Zhuo, “Nope, not at all!”
Ji Xiaobei, “Liar, I know it’s a Pikachu just by touching it!”
From then now, Chen Zhuo always hid the doll in the cupboard, but Ji Xiaobei pulled it out each time, enthusiastically showing it off to their kith and kin whenever they visited their house, “Look! This is the Pikachu that Chen Zhuo spent twenty-eight yuan on but failed to get, while I only spent two yuan for it!”
79
When Chen Zhuo got home after work, he spotted Ji Xiaobei sitting at the entrance of the neighbourhood, propping his chin and wearing a serious expression on his face.
“What are you doing here?” Chen Zhuo asked as he walked over.
Just after he spoke, a deafening explosion sounded off, giving Chen Zhuo a scare. Without a thought, he squatted and took Ji Xiaobei into his embrace.
Ji Xiaobei struggled to squeeze his head out of his man’s arms, “Ai yah, you are disrupting my work!”
Chen Zhuo was baffled, “What work…”
Ji Xiaobei pointed towards the direction of a puffed rice stall, not far from where they were, “I’m here to remind everyone when it’s going to explode!4”
Feeling bored alone, Ji Xiaobei headed to the security booth in the neighbourhood and gossipped with the security uncle. As they were chatting, a loud clap sounded off from outside, scaring Ji Xiaobei. He asked the security uncle what happened, and the latter explained that there’s someone outside puffing rice.
Hence, Ji Xiaobei brought a stool to the entrance of the neighbourhood and sat there, making plans with the stall owner to inform him whenever the pressure’s ready to be released, to prepare himself to warn the others.
After this batch of explosion, Ji Xiaobei asked the stall owner if there’s any left, and the owner said there’s another stove remaining. Chen Zhuo squatted beside Ji Xiaobei, accompanying him with his silly game.
Chen Zhuo, “Were you busy with this the entire afternoon?”
Ji Xiaobei, “Mm!”
Chen Zhuo, “How do you warn other people about it?”
Ji Xiaobei, “I’ll just… I’ll just say that the puffed rice is going to explode! Everyone, don’t be afraid!”
Chen Zhuo, “How do you know if there are people around here then?”
Ji Xiaobei, “I’ll shout even when there’s no one anyway, and if someone hears it, they won’t be surprised.”
After chatting for a while, the last stove of rice puff was ready. Using not very proficient Mandarin, the stall owner spoke, “It’s ready, it’s ready!”
Ji Xiaobei turned around and covered Chen Zhuo’s ears with his hands, “It’s going to explode! Don’t be afraid! I’m here to protect you!”
Chen Zhuo always knew that his boy had the gentlest heart in the whole world.
80
It has been half a month without sun, and Ji Xiaobei ran out of underwear. He had seven pairs – red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue and purple, and they were all labelled from 1 to 7 respectively. They were all still wet.
He was wearing pair number 7, while pairs 1 to 6 were basking in the sun at the balcony. Arranged in a row, they formed a rainbow, creating a beautiful landscape. Anyone who walked past would want to raise their head for a peek.
In the day, Ji Xiaobei phoned Chen Zhuo to have the latter buy some underwear for him after work. Chen Zhuo went, but the items were all sold out in the supermarket…
Who would believe this? Definitely not Ji Xiaobei.
After Ji Xiaobei took his shower at night, he wore his last purple underwear, feeling bitter about the lack of underwear to wear.
After Chen Zhuo washed the dishes, he headed downstairs to clear the trash, and met Aunty Xu. The neighbours had a little chat, before he returned home to see Ji Xiaobei walking a caged bird5.
The boy wore a high cut bathrobe, sitting on a bench right in front of a little sun, his two thighs covered with three pairs of underwear each – red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, and blue. It was an unsightly scene.
Chen Zhuo, “… What are you doing?”
Ji Xiaobei, “Drying my underwear! Since you won’t buy me a new one!”
Chen Zhuo, “They are really out of stock in the supermarket. Why not let me find one, I seem to have a new one right inside the cupboard. How about wearing mine first?”
Ji Xiaobei, “I can’t even wear it, yours are too big!”
After saying what he said, Ji Xiaobei realised that he was actually praising Chen Zhuo?!
Realizing it too, Chen Zhuo chuckled slyly.
Ji Xiaobei, “Stop laughing! You’re so annoying!”
Chen Zhuo, “I’m going to take a bath first. You had better take your time to roast, otherwise, I’ll be greeted by the scent of a roasted little bird when I come back.
Ji Xiaobei, “Ahhhhh you’re the little bird6, your whole family’s small!!!!”
1Jin Jun Mei: 金骏眉, a black tea from China.
2Three thousand yuan: Approximately ~447USD.
3Tea eggs:
4This method of producing puffed rice is called “gun puffing”, which uses high heat and pressure to create the puffed and spongy texture of the puffed rice. Releasing the accumulated pressure inside the chamber causes a loud explosion. This video uses the machine to make popcorn, but the same one can be used to make puffed rice (as seen in the same video when she packs the popcorn beside the puffed rice).
5Walking a caged bird: 遛鸟(liù niǎo), walking a bird in a quiet place, is an activity popular with the older generation where they gather and hang their caged birds. You can imagine it as something like this.
To further explain, bird is a euphemism for dick, and as Ji Xiaobei was airing his underwear, he could be imagined as sitting with his legs open, exposing the underwear he was wearing to air it too. Hence, it could be implied that the boy was chillin’ with his “bird”.
6Bird: As mentioned above, bird is a euphemism for dick, so you can keep this in mind while reading the last convo between our beloved couple hehe.
T/N:
Sorry for the late update again, WE’LL TRY OUR BEST TO GET BACK ON TRACK.
icedlattenoice 
Thanks for the chapter!
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