"Toolbox?" questioned Yi Qin in confusion. "Why?"
"So, I can try to fix your fridge," answered Liu Xinyu nonchalantly as if it was no big deal.
Yi Qin stared wide-eyed at her, "You can fix it?"
"I won't know until I check it but I can at least try, no?"
Yi Qin nodded his head but then he deflated like a balloon as he told her, "But I don't have a toolbox here."
With how many things were lacking in this house, Liu Xinyu was truly not even surprised by that answer. She immediately racked her brain to think of a solution and told him, "Then go and borrow it from your neighbors."
Yi Qin brightened up and nodded his head as he rushed to get it done. But within a minute came running back to rummage through the plastic bags that he had brought which carried a lot of snacks. Taking a packet of red dates, he ran out again.
Liu Xinyu was speechless by his actions. He was the perfect example of a nice guy to the end. To borrow something from a neighbor, he knew not to go empty-handed. These manners... She had no words for it.
Yi Qin finally brought back the toolbox with a grin on his face that was difficult to hide. He offered it to Liu Xinyu like a treasure and said, "The grandma upstairs is really sweet. And she was so happy to help too."
Liu Xinyu did not say anything to him regarding this topic. She came from an era where knowing your next-door neighbor might take you years. Happy to help? Who had so much time for others?
She took the toolbox from his hands and told him to move the fridge. Liu Xinyu started inspecting the exterior of the fridge. Kneeling before the refrigerator, her fingers deftly probed the surface for any signs of damage.
Taking the right tools from the toolbox, she unscrewed the back panel which revealed the tangle of wires and circuits that were telling the tale of a bygone era. Yes, in Liu Xinyu's eyes, this was a vintage material not even worthy of a scrap station!
Undeterred by the complexity before her eyes, she set to work with all her attention completely forgetting about her sprained foot that was still recovering or any other injuries. Her hands moved with precision as she diagnosed the source of the problem with the refrigerator.
At first, Yi Qin looked attentive and excited to see how she fixed the fridge. But soon, his mental and physical exhaustion caught up with him as it became harder and harder for him to keep his eyes open. He propped his elbow on the surface of the dining table and perched his face on his hand for support. Slowly, he fell asleep in that position.
Only after he fell asleep did Yiyi speak again, "Is your father as unguarded in the future as he is now?"
Liu Xinyu didn't move her eyes away from the circuit in front of her eyes but still answered her question, "It's hard to say that. I have seen him getting easily swayed by people's emotional words. But then Mama is always there to knock some sense into his easily swayed brain."
Yiyi nodded her head in understanding, "That explains it. I was thinking how someone like me didn't get eaten up by this society and managed to even have a daughter like you. It makes a lot more sense if he has his personal savior right by his side."
Liu Xinyu didn't comment on that since she couldn't find anything wrong with it either. In a way, her mother was her father's savior but it also reminded her of the words her mother once told her...
'Xiao Yu, since I'm his wife, it's my job to protect him. That's also part of loving someone. When you love someone, you want to protect them from all the bad things. You'd rather get hurt yourself than let them get hurt.'
Young Liu Xinyu's eyes looked confused because she really understood the real meaning of those words but she was suddenly enlightened as she said, 'Just like Mama and Baba love me and always feel distressed when I get hurt? Is it because you'd rather get hurt than see me get hurt?'
'Of course!' answered her mother lovingly. 'Which parent would want to see their child in pain? I wish all your pain comes to me so that you can grow healthy and safe.'
'But I don't want that,' Liu Xinyu replied catching her mother off guard. 'I'm fine with the pain. But it'd hurt more if you were in pain because of me.'
Thinking about it again, Liu Xinyu realized why her mother was so speechless and helpless in front of her innocent words. None of them wanted to see the other hurt. But how could life be so simple and without pain? Someone had to take on this pain. And Liu Xinyu still insisted on her words. She was fine with her luck tripping her at every corner of life but she would absolutely not want to see her parents getting hurt because of that.
Why else had she been trying so hard in life? Wasn't it all because she didn't want to see them in pain because of her?
Shaking all these depressing thoughts out of her mind, Liu Xinyu concentrated on tinkering and adjusting the wires with unwavering determination. It took her an hour or so to get this finally done and plugged in the refrigerator which hummed to life, its once-silent mechanism springing into action with a newfound vigor.
A satisfied and triumphant smile graced her lips. She heard the sound of clapping and looked at Yiyi who was clapping her hands and even gave her a thumbs up. "You have impressed me once again. I didn't think you had this talent."
Liu Xinyu didn't take her compliment seriously and neither did she let it get to her head. She didn't think she did something worthy of such praise. Besides, she was used to both praise and criticism. So, she didn't let either get to her. If she did, she wouldn't be who she was.
Liu Xinyu put the fridge back in its place and started putting the leftovers in the fridge. Looking at Yi Qin sleeping there in such an uncomfortable posture, she wanted to wake him up. She was still struggling with what to call him. Baba would not be good since he was the same age as her right now. Calling him Gege would be weirder. And if she called him by name, she would feel uncomfortable.
But all the options were uncomfortable, she had to pick one up or she couldn't just skip around without calling him by a proper title.
Coming to a decision, she patted his shoulder and called him, "Mr. Yi! You should sleep in the room."
Yi Qin woke up and looked at her with blurry eyes. There was sleep in his eyes and his lips were pouting, he looked adorably handsome. Did that even make sense? It didn't matter right now.
"Sorry! I fell asleep," said Yi Qin as he covered his mouth before yawning. His brain started working again and he asked, "Did you fix it? Is it difficult? How about we forget about it?"
"It's fixed," answered Liu Xinyu not letting him continue.
"It is?" asked Yi Qin in surprise as he really didn't hold on to much hope right now. He checked the fridge and saw it working with his own eyes, he was so pleasantly surprised that he didn't know what to say for a minute. "You really fixed it." He smiled so wide, with his eyes sparkling as if they captured all the stars from the sky within. And the excitement that radiated out of his body was indescribable.
Facing that heartfelt smile on his face, Liu Xinyu forgot about her exhaustion and the effort she put into it. Just now, she thought about how useless it was for her to fix something so old rather than just replace it with something new. But now, with this smiling face in front of her, Liu Xinyu realized the joy of fixing old things.
"Oh, so that's the happiness Baba spoke of when he taught me how to fix all the home appliances." She thought to herself as a smile also appeared on her face.
"You are so amazing!" said Yi Qin sincerely.
"It's nothing special."
"But it is," he insisted. "Thank you so much for this!" He was still marveling at her skills and the smile on his face didn't drop even for a minute. "It's getting late now. I'm gonna leave the toolbox here, I'll return it tomorrow. I'm leaving now."
"It's late, you should stay," said Liu Xinyu which froze Yi Qin.
"Wh-What?" he asked with a strange expression on his face.
"This is your place, staying here isn't a big deal. Even if you're renting it to me, it's still your place. Besides, I haven't given you the rent now. For now, I'm just a freeloader. I won't ask you anything but it's obvious that you didn't have a pleasant time over the family dinner. You wouldn't wanna go back there. So, just sleep here tonight."
Listening to everything she said, Yi Qin was actually persuaded. Indeed, he didn't want to go back home right now.
"But you and I... I mean, it doesn't good for a man and woman to live together in the same house like this."
"What's so strange about it? It's like living with roommates. Now, I can be called a housemate of yours. And my gender should not be an issue here."
"There isn't a second bed here," he still tried to reason.
"I can put a mattress on the floor," she replied.
"No!" he held up his hand to stop her. "I'll do it. I'll sleep on the floor in the other room."
Finally, it was decided and Liu Xinyu breathed a sigh of relief. Why was he so stubborn and difficult to persuade?