Da*n! Why is that little girl's smile so frightening?
The driver frowned and turned the steering wheel in a hurry, causing the taxi to speed toward the city center.
An Qi was thrown to the side, almost pressing against An Yufei, who was sitting beside her. She then shouted, "Driver, how mind your driving! Can't you slow down? There is a child in the car!"
An Qi normally had a carefree personality, but when it concerned An Yufei's safety, she was firm and stringent.
"It's obvious that you're not sitting properly, so don't blame me when you collide with each other in the back!" The driver looked back and was relieved to see that no one was injured. He then muttered, "A single woman, returning home with a child from abroad… Shameful…"
"You!" An Qi did not expect him to say such an offensive thing about her. What era are we living in, anyway? Does it take three people to make a perfect family these days?
"Ignore him, Mom. We will be at Aunt Manman's house soon." Just when An Qi was about to argue with the driver, An Yufei,who had been quietly sitting in the back seat, suddenly spoke up and pointed at a sign marker by the road.
"Huh? Baby, what did you say?" An Qi held back her anger, while she leaned over to An Yufei and spoke in a gentle voice. Then, she looked in the direction of where her daughter's finger was pointing.
The words on the sign were "Jinxiu Huating." That was the name of Manman's neighborhood. She was surprised that AnYufei had recognized the words.
As the car came to a stop at the entrance of the community, the driver did not even look back, but glanced at the meter, reached out his hand, and said, "That'll be 280!"
What… 280? Are you kidding me?
Before An Qi could react to the number, An Yufei suddenly clapped her hands and said, "Yes! I guessed it right!"
"Oh, so it was just a guess..." An Qi said. She had thought that she had a gifted child.
"Well, Mom, didn't you teach me the word 'Hua,' as you said, every Chinese child should know that word?" An Yufei nodded as she reminded An Qi.
"Hmm... Did I really teach you that?" An Qi tried to search through her memories, but could not recall such an incident. Maybe it was time to eat some walnuts to strengthen her brain!
As An Yufei looked at the way her mother swallowed hard as she was thinking, she knew that she must have thought of eating again. An Yufei remembered the last time they had met Aunt Manman. At that time, Aunt Manman had said that, since having a baby, An Qi had become a foodie.
Aunt Manman had even added, "Da*n! You are even the type of foodie who does not grow fat at all!"
Although the driver left his hand outstretched for a long time, no money was handed over. Thus, he became quite impatient and yelled, "Hey, I said 280! Pay up!"
"Ah, I'm sorry." An Qi was distracted, as she was recalling all of the walnut recipes she knew, including the one for walnut dew, crispy walnuts, walnut kernels…
Meanwhile, An Yufei quietly stepped out of the car, slamming the door behind her loudly, as if to remind the driver to pay close attention to her as she walked around the front of the car.
After An Qi heard An Yufei slam the door shut, she looked up and said, "An Yufei, be careful! Don't wander in front of the car!"
An Yufei ignored An Qi, who continued to look for her wallet, as she took brisk little steps and came up to the driver's window. As her height was around the same as the car window's, the driver had to pop his head out in order to see her whole face.
This child is really beautiful! For a moment, the driver suspected that what he had just seen in the rear-view mirror was an illusion… Or an angel!
Not only did the little girl inherit her mother's sweetness, but she also had her mother's elegance. At a glance, you could tell that this little girl was different from all of the other girls of her same age.
However, just as the driver was about to reach out and touch An Yufei's hair, that same strange smile appeared on her face once again. The smile looked pretentious.
"87204239, traffic hotline... 84508835, Longjie Taxi Company. Uncle, did I remember correctly?" she asked.
The driver almost instantly understood her meaning and deliberately lowered his voice and asked, "Are you threatening me?"
"Nah…" An Yufei said, while she blinked her eyes and turned to An Qi with a smile and said, "Mom, listen to what I learned on the radio! 8720..."
The driver found the little girl to really be quite cunning! All taxis were installed with journey recorders, and he had dared to make several detours during their journey because he knew that they had just returned from abroad. He figured that they wouldn't know the roads and would never notice.
"Ah, what is this?" After An Qi could not find her wallet and was getting ready to ask the driver to wait for them to go in and get some funds to pay him, the driver suddenly pinched a ticket in his hand, turned back, and waved the ticket at An Qi.
"Well… It appears that you have won the Grand Prize! It is our company's anniversary, and we wish to reward our passengers. So, congratulations, you are our 30,000th passenger!" the driver said, quickly making up some excuse to weasel his way out of this jam.
Huh? An Qi was startled, as just as she was about to reveal that she lost her wallet, she had won a grand prize! God seemed to be treating her well today! If it were not for the presence of An Yufei, An Qi might even have made a pious gesture of folding her hands and looking up at the sky to thank God at that moment!
"Aren't you happy that you won a prize?" When the driver saw that An Qi was silent and in a daze, he reminded her of the great happiness that should accompany such a prize.
Although he was annoyed that he would have to foot the bill for the time spent for the ride and for the petrol costs, he was relieved to not have been caught in his dishonesty by An Qi. Hence, he called it even in his mind.
"Check carefully, you two. Make sure that you don't leave anything behind!" The driver changed his facial expression from one of annoyance to smiling brightly in an instant.
"Ah, great! Thank you." An Qi said as she jumped out of the car and unloaded her belongings. She did not notice at all how insincere An Yufei's smile was as her daughter continued to stare at the driver.
I can't believe my mother even thanked him! If I were not present, she would have really been bamboozled by this driver! An Yufei secretly thought to herself.