"Bro, you're back."
As soon as Hu Fan pushed the door open, he saw his younger brother sitting on the living-room floor hugging a football and watching a game.
A bit skinny and looking rather like a little monkey, the kid was Ye Fan's—or rather, Hu Fan's—full younger brother by two years, Liu Xing.
Tossing his schoolbag onto the coffee table, Hu Fan plopped down next to Liu Xing, picked up an orange, and began peeling it as he asked, "Where's Dad?"
Without shifting his eyes from the TV or even raising his head, Liu Xing replied, "Who knows? Mom's been working overtime lately, so Grandma has been coming over to cook."
Leaning back against the sofa, Hu Fan leisurely ate his orange without dwelling on it. Everyone knew what kind of man their dad was—he was never home all day long, and you never saw him bring any money back.
Back when he watched *Home with Kids* in his past life, he had known Hu Yitong was unreliable; now that he had actually become his son, he realized just how thoroughly unreliable the man was. It was a miracle their mother, Liu Mei, had managed to bear two children and put up with him until now.
Still, a son had to learn to be content. While Hu Yitong was pretty incompetent as a husband and father, he wasn't too bad to them overall—at least he didn't hit or scold them, and the three father and sons got along well enough.
Hu Fan leaned against the sofa, lost in thought, and before long the game was over.
Liu Xing rubbed his eyes, tossed the football aside, turned sideways, and threw his arms around his older brother's leg. "Bro, do you think Mom is really going to divorce Dad?"
Looking down at Liu Xing's youthful, slightly anxious little face, Hu Fan asked, "What? You don't want Mom and Dad to get a divorce?"
"It's not that, it's just..." Liu Xing stammered, at a loss for what to say.
Hu Fan raised a hand to stroke the boy's head, soothing him as he said, "Mom is definitely going to divorce Dad. She's so exhausted every day, and we all know what Dad is like on a daily basis."
Hearing his older brother's certain tone, Liu Xing lowered his head, feeling somewhat downcast and lost. He was still young; if his parents divorced, it would naturally hurt for a while, and he felt rather helpless.
Hu Fan could only continue to comfort him. "Don't worry, Mom would never be comfortable leaving us with Dad. We'll definitely live with Mom, and besides, you've got your big brother here."
"Yeah, I know."
Knowing that his big brother would be living with him made Liu Xing feel mostly at ease, and the confusion on his little face largely vanished. Besides, he barely saw his dad from one day to the next anyway, so a divorce wouldn't make much difference.
Their mother had to support the family, and the hospital was busy, so she was frequently away from home. Their father was an idle good-for-nothing who was never around, so it was usually his big brother who looked after him. Consequently, the two brothers were very close, and Liu Xing had great faith in his older brother.
Having figured it out, Liu Xing transformed back into that lively, cheerful big boy. He fished a bag of potato chips out from under the coffee table, tore it open, and started munching. "Oh right, Bro, Mom called just now to say she'll be home a bit early today."
"Hmm," Hu Fan acknowledged offhandedly. Their mom had been working overtime for half a month; if she didn't come back soon, Liu Xing was going to run wild.
Glancing around the room several times, he looked at Liu Xing in puzzlement and asked, "Where's Grandma? I've been back quite a while, how come I don't see her?"
"Oh, Grandma had something to come up and went home. Since Mom is coming back today, the timing worked out. Before she left, she nagged me for ages about not doing this and not doing that," Liu Xing said with a muffled tone of grievance. Small as he was, his temper wasn't small at all. Seeing his rebellious look, Hu Fan gave him a couple of slaps on the shoulder, turned to stare at him, and demanded, "What? You're not even going to listen to Grandma now?"
Catching his brother's smiling expression, Liu Xing put on a sweet smile. "As if! I am the most obedient kid ever," looking every bit like a little flatterer.
Don't let his brother's constant smiling fool you—that was just because nobody had provoked him yet. When he was little, Liu Xing had been a handful and got thoroughly disciplined by his big brother a few times, which finally taught him to behave.
Hu Fan glanced at the family refrigerator. There was only some milk, beverages, and the like left, with virtually no vegetables. Checking his watch, he saw it was a little past five; there should still be time for a trip to the supermarket.
The phone in his pocket had been bought for him by his mother, Liu Mei, when he entered junior high school so they could stay in touch. Mostly, it was because Hu Fan had been smart and sensible since he was little, never needing Liu Mei to worry about anything, which gave her the peace of mind to buy it for him.
Liu Xing looked at his older brother's phone with a trace of envy. He had previously begged their mom to buy him one too, but that attempt had been suppressed by force, leaving him no choice but to behave.
After all, his big brother was a model student who was constantly praised by his teachers, whereas he was his brother's textbook negative example. He still had some self-awareness.
"Let's go, let's head to the supermarket to buy some groceries. There's hardly anything left at home, and we won't even know what to feed Mom when she gets back," Hu Fan said, taking his wallet out of his schoolbag, tucking it into his pants pocket, and speaking to his younger brother who was still eating potato chips.
Liu Xing bounded up instantly, finished off the last few chips in two shakes, tossed the bag into the trash can, and casually wiped the crumbs from the corners of his mouth. "I want to buy snacks!" he pleaded with his brother like he was praying to the gods.
Hu Fan was left speechless. "Didn't you buy plenty when Grandma was here? You finished all of those already?"
Seeing Liu Xing nod firmly, Hu Fan didn't scold him. "Fine, but you can only buy one pack," he said as he grabbed the keys and went to change his shoes, not even waiting for an acknowledgment.
Liu Xing had no choice but to resign himself to changing his shoes and following along. Something was better than nothing. "Bro, wait for me!"
Hu Fan chose the supermarket closest to their home; it was quite large, and they usually did their shopping there.
Ignoring Liu Xing's urging from the side, Hu Fan pushed a shopping cart and picked up some pork ribs and grass prawns, along with some tomatoes and eggs. He figured three dishes would be plenty for the three of them.
Seeing that the grapes looked exceptionally fresh and knowing that their mother, Liu Mei, loved eating them, he picked out a large bunch.
Watching Liu Xing—who was itching with impatience and kept reaching out to touch everything nearby—Hu Fan felt a mixture of amusement and exasperation. Seeing that they had bought just about enough, he said, "All right, go get your snacks, but just one pack," and prepared to push the shopping cart to the checkout.
"Yahoo!" Liu Xing bolted away in excitement, his destination being the snack aisle.
After paying, Hu Fan carried the bags and led Liu Xing back home.
Pushing the door open, the apartment was empty—it seemed Mom wasn't back yet. Putting the groceries in the kitchen, Hu Fan prepared to start cooking so that Mom would have a hot meal ready the moment she walked in.
Seeing his older brother busy cooking, Liu Xing didn't bother him. Instead, he obediently cuddled a throw pillow and sat on the living room sofa watching Ultraman.
Liu Mei pushed the door open, kicked off her shoes, and was just about to hang up her bag when she caught sight of her eldest son wearing an apron and carrying a plate of stir-fried tomatoes and eggs out to the dining table. A look of pleasant surprise crossed her face, and she walked in quickly.
Seeing that their mother was back, Hu Fan unfastened his apron on the fly and said, "Mom, you're back. Dinner's just in time."
"My, look at that! My son's cooking skills are quite something. Mom's definitely going to have a good taste today," Liu Mei said, feeling a warmth well up in her chest as she looked at the prepared dishes on the table.
Seeing that their mother was back as well, Liu Xing consciously trotted off to the bathroom to wash his hands; he had better be smart about it, or he'd catch an earful again.
"Mom, try this big shrimp. I just bought them live," Hu Fan said, picking up a large prawn and placing it in Liu Mei's bowl.
"All right, Mom's trying it," Liu Mei said with a beaming smile. Looking at her sensible, obedient, and considerate eldest son, she felt a sudden surge of gratitude toward Hu Yitong.
"Delicious! My son's cooking really is wonderful, Mom loves it."
Yet, glancing sideways at her younger son who was wolfing down his food, she became all the more convinced that her eldest took after her, while the younger one was just like that father of theirs.
As Liu Mei ate the meal in her bowl, a warmth spread through her heart. She was definitely going to divorce Hu Yitong, but both of her sons had to come with her.
"Bro, so... good! This braised... pork rib is delicious!" Liu Xing muttered with his mouth full, giving his older brother an enthusiastic thumbs-up while remembering to toss in a compliment.
Seeing that they both enjoyed the food made Hu Fan happy as well. After all, anyone who cooked appreciated a bit of praise.