Transmigrated to Twenty Years Ago and Adopted Myself

The bighead carp ended up weighing more than forty catties. It was so big that the local fishermen were utterly stunned.

“It can be sold for thousands of yuan!”

Jiang Wang became curious and asked, “Fish can be so expensive now?”

“It’s not just the meat,” Grandpa Peng also felt happy for them, waving his hands with a smile. “You may not know this, but bighead carp can have small stones in their throats and mouths. It could be as bright as small jades. Just like dogs have dog treasures, fish have fish stones. It’s a good thing to give to children as a surprise.”

Ji Linqiu knew what he was probably talking about was just weird growths, so he smiled but didn’t take it seriously.

Suddenly, in the distance, Peng Xingwang howled: “It hurts!!!”

The child had forgotten to bring a net to catch the crabs. Seeing that one was about to escape, he stretched out his hands and grabbed it, just in time for his two fingers to be firmly pinched by the crab.

Jiang Wang remembered at this moment the same pain he felt when he was pinched like this when he was a child. He walked over quickly, put the child’s hand in the water and tapped the crab on the back.

Peng Xingwang, who was pinched and had red eyes, still cared about the crab, “It’s running away, it’s running away!”

“In the summer, you can’t even eat much of the meat when you catch a few pieces of crab.” Jiang Wang said with a wry smile, “Your hands were almost pinched off. Be more careful,”

“Just when I’ve finally managed to catch a big one…”

In the afternoon, they changed their clothes and came out again, and found that there were village children in the courtyard helping to split wood.

Jiang Wang suddenly became interested and told his grandmother if he could cook rice over the firewood with them. He rolled up his sleeves and went to chop wood like the others.

Ji Linqiu came over and looked stunned as he wiped his hair.

“Come on, let’s play together.”

Ji Linqiu sighed and followed along like a good student being called away by a school bully, helping to place the wooden blocks.

“Bang!”

“Crack!”

“It’s crooked, it’s crooked, do it again!”

“Bang!!”

As soon as Jiang Wang relaxed, he easily got carried away. He suddenly felt a sense of rhythm while doing farm work so he opened his mouth and sang, “Dingding[1] —”

Ji Linqiu naturally accepted the second half of the sentence: “Dixi[2].”

“La~la~”

“Po.”

The two of them sang together tacitly, “Teletubbies~ Teletubbies~”

“Say! Hello!”

Peng Xingwang, who came down to get things, stood at the entrance of the stairs with a complicated expression.

Jiang Wang came back to his senses and coughed with a straight face.

The child disrupted the performance without mercy, “I haven’t watched that for a long time, you guys are so childish.”

When Peng Xingwang left, Ji Linqiu asked Jiang Wang, “Why did you start singing that?”

“Well, you also sang along energetically.”

The bighead carp was chopped into pieces with a big knife and cooked in two ways. The belly and back were mixed with rice noodles and balsamic vinegar, then steamed in a pot. The fish head was simmered slowly over low heat with tofu. The aroma even attracted two yellow dogs raised in the farmhouse across the road.

The tofu was so tender that it broke when touched, and when it cooled down, it was smooth, tender, and soft in the mouth, like some kind of heavenly delicacy.

Jiang Wang didn’t catch much fish during the day and ended up releasing all the small fish in the basket. At this moment, he was so satisfied with drinking that he forgot to eat.

“Try this! Steamed spareribs, very fragrant!”

Grandpa Peng deliberately asked Peng Xingwang to hold the camera and took a picture with Teacher Ji. After the incident, the Grandpa and Grandson praised him while drinking soup together.

“Today, everyone in the east of the village found out to not simply look at the teacher’s literary style, his fishing is also amazing!”

The two of them unknowingly ate until they were stuffed, and they didn’t notice it at all as they ate. They slammed down their chopsticks wherever it was fragrant, and only when they turned their heads and put down the bowl did they realize that they couldn’t stand up anymore.

Peng Xingwang volunteered to take them for a walk near the embankment.

The scenery there was very good. Although it was night, you could see little fireflies flying in the woods, and you could also feel the cool river breeze.

They walked slowly on the dim embankment, occasionally passing by were long shadows of small tricycles or motorcycles, fluttering past like bats with shining wings.

Jiang Wang was very familiar with this road that he had walked many times as a child. Even now he remembered which stone he stepped on to play in the water, and where he rowed a boat with his second uncle nearby.

He watched Peng Xingwang lead the way, bouncing in front of him with a flashlight. He felt as if his soul was covering him at some moments, but always pulled away at the next.

It was difficult for people to distinguish this feeling clearly as they grew older.

“By the way,” he looked at Ji Linqiu beside him: “What are your thoughts about moving in together?”

Ji Linqiu was relaxing and listening to the insects and didn’t expect Jiang Wang to mention this again so suddenly. He couldn’t help laughing: “What are you trying to do pushing such a good deal to me.”

“I can’t help it, I’m too charming.” The man said without changing his expression. “I think it will make you feel a lot better if you see me every day.”

And I feel the same way too.[3]

Ji Linqiu was momentarily stunned again, Peng Xingwang heard everything from the tip of his ears, and then raised his hand: “Me!! I am also charming!!”

“Okay, okay.” Ji Linqiu sighed, “Let’s make one thing clear first. The rent can’t be too little. Whatever has to be paid should be paid.”

“Sure, and by the way, can you help the child with his English?” Jiang Wang said frankly, “A person like me who’s good at doing business must take advantage of every opportunity. So Teacher Ji, please take care of it.”

Ji Linqiu didn’t mind this, “That’s easy.”

“In the future, when he gets home and finishes his English homework, he can give it to me directly. It will help lessen your homework mistakes when you get to school.”

Peng Xingwang was still elated just now, but now he had realized what the consequences of living with the teacher would be.

“Really… really?”

Ji Linqiu and Jiang Wang smiled and nodded together.

The child whined for a bit.

It’s over. I will be stared at by the teacher when I do my homework in the future, and I won’t even be able to read comics secretly.

They stayed at the Peng family’s home for a few days, and before leaving, they quietly settled their meals and lodging fees. They left the money pressed under the remote control of the guest room and asked the little girl at the front desk to help keep it safe.

When they returned to the city, school time was about to start, so they had to move together in a hurry.

The hard furnishings of the house in Hehua Gaoyuan had always been very good, and after changing the soft furnishings, the new house smell disappeared within half a month.

Jiang Wang’s landlady in the apartment was particularly reluctant for them to leave. When she heard that he had bought a house, she could only nod her head regretfully and especially gave him a bacon sausage to express her blessing.

As soon as Peng Xingwang heard about the move, he inquired if he could raise birds and dogs in the future.

“It’s okay to raise birds,” Jiang Wang thought for a while: “I may also go to other provinces for business trips in the future, so your father and I will take turns taking care of you.”

“It will be sad for the dog to be alone at home. We will raise it when our lives are more stable.”

Peng Xingwang thought it made sense, and agreed calmly.

Although there were no dogs, there was a game hall in the basement, a slide coming down from the second floor to the living room, and one of the balconies had been converted into an observational greenhouse for children to grow snails and plants, which is quite good.

Jiang Wang’s house was clean and simple. Things like children’s clothes, sundries, etc. were all sorted and packed into storage boxes and could be cleaned up in one day.

He was busy with the company’s affairs and didn’t have much time to help Ji Linqiu, so he couldn’t meet him again until the day of the move.

Ji Linqiu also packed up seven or eight big boxes and was instructing the workers who helped with the move to handle it carefully.

“There’s a lot of things.” Jiang Wang picked up the broom at the door to help clear the dust and swept a few steps.

Then caught a glimpse of the guitar in the corner: “Are you not taking this guitar with you?”

Ji Linqiu thought for a while: “This is a practice guitar. The screws are rusty and it’s a little out of tune. I will buy another one later.”

Jiang Wang swept the dust and saw that there was nothing else to do. He took advantage of the time when the movers were coming in and out to play the guitar. The sound was as muffled as playing with cotton. Anyway, it didn’t sound right.

Ji Linqiu wanted to laugh when he saw this: “Where is it played like this?”

He hugged the guitar in front of him, plucked and strummed the strings with his hands. Even with the guitar out of tune, the song of Guns N’ Roses titled ‘Don’t Cry’ could be discerned.

Jiang Wang was a little dissatisfied, so he followed Ji Linqiu’s guidance to learn how to use his left and right hands, and where to press the strings to produce different sounds.

Unexpectedly, playing guitar was very painful.

It wasn’t the kind of pain like the fleeting youth, but the kind of pain where the hard steel strings were pressed into the flesh one by one, and he had to endure it while pressing and strumming.

It’s just that playing the guitar requires all four fingers to press the chord position, and even playing a simple song like “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” made both hands ache.

He suddenly gained a brand new understanding of playing guitar, it was a sophisticated and artistic pursuit.

Along with that, he felt that Ji Linqiu’s image had a few more points of perseverance and respect.

“Wow,” Jiang Wang returned the guitar: “You really have to press hard to play this thing? I always thought it was just plucking with a small triangular pick.”

Ji Linqiu spread his four fingers with a smile and touched the thin calluses of Jiang Wang’s fingertips.

“Everyone who plays guitar has this, you can’t avoid it.”

Jiang Wang touched the thin calluses with surprise on his face, but then accidentally brushed against the soft feather-like fingers outside the callus, and his heart jumped inexplicably.

He suppressed this strange feeling to the bottom of his heart, and pretended to be curious, “Do girls who play guitar also have calluses like yours?”

“No difference,” Ji Linqiu retracted his hand and pulled out a wooden box from the cloth basket beside him.

“You seem to be afraid of pain, then try this?”

“No need,” the man said, spreading out his hands. “In fact, I tried this and a clarinet issued by the school when I was in elementary school.”

“The music came out not very good, and my saliva went all over the place.”

“Why is it the same as Xingwang,” Ji Linqiu smiled helplessly. “Forget it, I will teach him more when I have time.”

All the big and small items were loaded into the truck and driven to the new house. The two dilapidated and dark houses closed their doors as if they could finally be forgotten.

Jiang Wang drove and followed the truck. When he got to the place, he didn’t get out of the car immediately. Instead, he took out a key from his pocket.

“The courtyard door key and the main entrance key,” He separated the four keys and first handed a set to Ji Linqiu in the passenger seat. “One set for Teacher Ji and one set for me.”

Then he turned around and handed another set to Peng Xingwang with solemnity and equality.

“You too.”

“From now on, this will be our permanent home.”

“Even if you grow up to be an adult and go to a faraway place in the future, you can come back to live here at any time, cry happily and laugh carelessly at home.”

“Even if you’re tired from work and no longer want to deal with the boss and over time, you can come back at any time.”

“Xingxing, you can always be a child in this home.”

Ji Linqiu listened to his instructions and it was as if something touched his heart. He nodded slowly with his head down.

Peng Xingwang took the key, seeming to understand but not really, and strung it onto his Ultraman pendant in front of the adults.

“I’ll protect it! I won’t lose it!”

“Well, brother believes in you,” Jiang Wang looked at Ji Linqiu, who had already been accepted as a part of the family at this moment. “Teacher Ji is the same.”

Ji Linqiu looked at the two of them and didn’t say anything more. He just opened his arms and hugged them hard.

TL NOTE:
Ah, this is sweet!! Everyone should have a forever home be it with family, friends, pets, or just by yourself! A place where you can cry happily and laugh carelessly sounds amazing!

References↑1Tinky-Winky in the English version.↑2Dipsy in the English version.↑3TL/N: I’m dead don’t touch me