Xia Yuan couldn't wait to pull Mei Fang to watch these treasured memories of the past. Mei Fang fiddled with the DVD player for a long time before connecting it to the closed-circuit television in the ancestral home. The square-headed TV in the ancestral home displayed the brand name of the DVD player.
"It should be available now... do you guys want to watch the whole thing?"
"Of course... I'll see as many as I can."
So Mei Fang took the wiped CD from Lin Youxi and put the first CD in.
Sizzle. Sizzle.
There was a constant crackling sound while the CD was being read, and the TV screen was displaying garbled images.
"These discs have been stored for too long, and the sectors are probably bad..."
"Try them all, there must be one that can be broadcast!"
Xia Yuan said as she handed Mei Fang another disc. This time she wiped it more carefully. Mei Fang tried them one by one, and finally the TV showed 270P ultra-low-definition video images.
The living room of a house in Meifang Community appeared on the TV screen. On the coffee table was a cake with candles on it. A little boy was sitting right in front of the cake with a birthday hat on his head.
"It's Fang from elementary school! Is he celebrating his birthday? What's his age..."
"Six years old, you can tell by the number of candles."
As soon as Lin Youxi finished speaking, Mei Lijun's voice was heard in the video.
"Mei Fang, look here, camera, look here! Smile for daddy!"
Mei Fang, who was only six years old, looked towards the camera. When Xia Yuan saw Mei Fang's appearance when she was six years old, she immediately held her chin with her hand and made an infatuated expression.
"So, so cute! I really want to hug and kiss six-year-old Fang and lift him up high!"
Before Xia Yuan finished praising Mei Fang, Mei Fang on the screen suddenly looked stern and made an international friendly gesture to Mei Lijun.
Lin Youxi and Mei Fang couldn't help laughing when they saw this scene, only Xia Yuan was still screaming.
"Fang, you are so rude! How can you make such a gesture to your father?"
Halfway through Xia Yuan's complaints, a childish voice appeared in the video.
"Mei Fang, you are so rude. How can you make such a gesture to your father?"
As Meilijun's handheld camera shifted, a little girl with double buns appeared in the picture. She was patting Mei Fang on the shoulder and scolding him.
"It's me, it's me! Wow, I was so cute back then too."
"You are amazing if you say the same thing ten years ago and ten years later."
Xia Yuan was lecturing Mei Fang, and then raised his head to look at another place outside the camera: "Lin Youxi, don't suck your snot back. That would be like eating your snot and it would be so dirty. Use toilet paper and pay attention to hygiene!"
Xia Yuan trotted towards Lin Youxi, whose hair was disheveled. The six-year-old Lin Youxi looked like a wild child picked up from a garbage dump, looking extremely sloppy. Xia Yuan and Mei Fang couldn't help but hold back Lin Youxi, who was about to turn off the TV, when they saw her.
"What's so good about this thing? Hurry... turn it off..."
"No, no, no! I have to watch it! If I don't watch this, I will almost forget what Youxi looked like when she was a child!"
Mei Fang hugged Lin Youxi's waist from behind, while Xia Yuan grabbed Lin Youxi's arms. Everyone watched on the TV screen as Lin Youxi blew her nose under the guidance of Xia Yuan. Then, she was led by Xia Yuan to the coffee table, where she looked at the cake and sucked her fingers. Then her nose slowly flowed down again. The voice of Mei's father Mei Lijun was heard in the camera:
"Xia Yuan, Lin Youxi has a runny nose again, help her wipe it."
"Oh, okay."
Xiao Xia Yuan always takes the trouble to wipe Lin Youxi's nose.
“Puhahahahahahahahahaha!”
Xia Yuan and Mei Fang kept laughing as they watched Lin Youxi walking past like a wild child. Lin Youxi, who was always aloof in front of others, was extremely ashamed and angry at this moment. Taking advantage of the opportunity when Mei Fang hugged her from behind, she kept rubbing against Mei Fang from behind, trying to force him to surrender. At this time, the video also came to the end.
"Come on, Mei Fang, make a wish!"
Xiao Xiayuan reached out and put Xiao Meifang's birthday hat on her. "Remember, when you make a wish, don't speak it out loud, or it won't come true. Okay, now close your eyes, put your hands together, and start making a wish..."
At this time, Xiao Meifang always obeyed Xiao Xiayuan's arrangements obediently. Xiao Xiayuan also clapped his hands at this time, and Mei Lijun turned off the lights.
Under the bright candlelight, Xia Yuan began to sing a birthday song.
"Happy birthday to you—Happy birthday to you—"
Xia Yuan clapped her hands and sang at the same time, and Lin Youxi beside her also hummed along, but she kept her head held high and looked at Xia Yuan.
Then the video recording on the CD ended.
"This photo is of Ah Fang's 6th birthday party, and also shows Youxi's dark history of eating snot when she was a child... I want to record it again."
“There’s no need to record this again.”
Lin Youxi said coldly, "Don't you think this kind of thing should be buried along with the memory?"
"I don't want it. I don't want it."
Xia Yuan held the CD and refused to hand it to the stubborn Lin Youxi, "This is our best memory, I don't want to destroy it!"
"Yuanyuan, if you keep doing this, I'm really going to get angry."
"There's no point getting angry! Ah Fang... help me!"
Under Lin Youxi's cold gaze, Mei Fang took back the CD.
"If we don't release it in the future, Youxi will be angry. But don't destroy it, okay? If this thing is destroyed, we will never find it again. What do you think, Youxi?"
"… "
After a moment of silence, Lin Youxi nodded and said, "Let's continue watching."
"Why... Youxi, have you figured it out? I don't think there's anything to be ashamed of about the memories of the past. All children are like this. I was also like this when I was a child—"
As soon as Xia Yuan finished speaking, Lin Youxi went up and replaced the disc.
Unlike other CDs, this one clearly has the date 2004.6.1 written on it, so you can tell at a glance that it is a video recording of Children's Day.
A scene appeared on the TV screen that made Xia Yuan feel uneasy.
"Please enjoy the song and dance performance "Open Your Heart" brought to you by Xia Yuan from the Audiovisual Education Class 2!"
On the earthy stage, Xiao Xia Yuan walked onto the stage wearing a sewn magical girl costume, holding a magic wand in one hand.
There was no prelude when Xiao Xiayuan took the stage. She first struck a pose that only appeared in anime, and then said some extremely shameful lines:
"The key that hides the power of darkness, show me your true power! Now in the name of your master Sakura, I command you to lift the seal!"
"That's enough! Don't put it down anymore!"
This time, it was Xia Yuan who had the emotional breakdown. She shouted to turn off the TV screen, but Lin Youxi was prepared and stopped her. Mei Gou, who was watching the fun and serving water on the side, naturally would not let Yuanyuan go this time. He hugged Yuanyuan tightly as he hugged Youxi, and Youxi did not give her a chance to struggle.
"This dress is so beautiful. Was it made for you by Teacher Yu herself? I remember choreographing this dance myself. It's amazing. But the makeup is so tacky... Hahaha..."
Xia Yuan was wearing a COS costume, with blush on her face, a red heart on her head, green and gold eyeshadow on her eyelids, and her eyelashes stretched very long. Xia Yuan covered her face and broke down, crying loudly.
"I don't think there's anything to be ashamed of about the memories of the past. All children are like this. Don't be like this, Yuanyuan..."
Lin Youxi comforted Xia Yuan softly and used Yuanyuan's words to persuade her to face it calmly.
This is Youxi, killing people also requires destroying their hearts...
"Ah Fang... Uncle Mei, what's going on? Why is he still recording my show?"
"Ah... um, that's-"
After Xia Yuan's Tuchao performance ended, the camera turned and moved to Mei Fang who was standing aside.
"Are you done filming, Dad?"
"We've finished filming. You... you really like Xia Yuan, right? You even asked me to help you film her performance."
"All in all, it's pretty fun, isn't it?"
Xiao Meifang said with a smile, "Sooner or later, I will let the grown-up Xia Yuan see this. She will definitely be very happy to see it."
"You kid, you really have a bad heart..."
The video ends here.
But the real-world struggle is not over yet.
"Mei-Fang-"
Xia Yuan broke free from Lin Youxi's restraints, turned around and questioned Mei Fang with a red face:
"Now you've seen it, you've seen the scene of my social death. You've waited for seven or eight years for this. Are you satisfied now? Hmm?"
"I, I was still young at that time... I didn't know anything!"
"You have so many bad thoughts at such a young age. No wonder you become even worse when you grow up!"
Xia Yuan rode on Mei Fang and beat him up before he let out some vent.
While enjoying the joyful social atmosphere, Lin Youxi changed a new disc and went in.
“Now I’m not surprised by anything.”
Xia Yuan squatted on the ground with his knees hugged, and Mei Fang scratched his head and sat down with him.
"Think positively, the next scene might be the scene of my social demise..."
"Yeah, that's right... That's right."
As soon as Xia Yuan finished speaking, the TV screen jumped again, but this time it was not the video recording screen that appeared, but the news program of Baimei County TV Station.
The first few minutes of broadcast were all normal news, so much so that Mei Fang and his team thought they had picked up the wrong news.
"Would you like to change the plate?"
"Hmm... wait a little longer, wait a little longer..."
Obviously, Mei Fang has thought of something now.
After a set of programs, the TV news anchor in Baimei County began to broadcast new news words.
"Ah, that time—"
Xia Yuan finally remembered the purpose of burning this CD.
But this time, none of the three of them were in a hurry to turn off the TV. Perhaps after experiencing social failure once, they had nothing to be afraid of.
The figure of the little angel Xia Yuan appeared on the TV screen again. She was giving the host a polite but awkward fake smile.
"Little boy, can you introduce yourself to the audience in front of the TV?"
"OK!"
Xiao Xia Yuan waved in the air at the camera, her eyes were completely looking in the wrong place.
"Hello everyone, my name is Xia Yuan, and I'm a student in the second grade of Grain Kindergarten. I'm five years old this year, but I'll be six in a month. My hobby is playing the piano, and my favorite game is playing house! And... I especially like being a mother!"
"puff-"
"I've loved being a mother since I was 6 years old."
Xia Yuan felt a little unbelievable.
In the broadcast of this recorded video, the host asked Xiao Xiayuan about the friends she was reluctant to leave. Xiao Xiayuan listed many friends with whom she had a good relationship in kindergarten but now has no contact at all.
Of course, Mei Fang and Lin Youxi are obviously the most special among them.
"My favorite child is Lin Youxi!"
"Why her?"
"Because... I think Lin Youxi is amazing! She can do a lot of things that I dare not do, and... she is also very cute. Ah... the most important thing is..." Xiao Xiayuan said with a smile, "She must like me the most!"
"Hoohoo... So sweet."
Mei Fang was acting sarcastic, which made Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi hit him together.
Then in the video, the TV host asked Lin Youxi, and then there was a scene where Lin Youxi whispered in Mei Fang's ear and told her the answer.
"Youxi was so cute even then! I can't stand it!"
“I really like this action…”
As Lin Youxi spoke, she pressed her entire body onto Mei Fang's back, imitating her younger self in the video, and whispered in Mei Fang's ear, "Do you feel excited when you hear this kind of voice now?"
"Excited, of course I am excited... So stop teasing me."
"I won't."
While Xia Yuan was concentrating on watching the video, Lin Youxi forced herself to get close to Mei Fang, even putting her hand into her collar.
At this moment, the host in the video asked Xia Yuan another question.
"So, which boy in the class do you have the best relationship with?"
The camera followed the direction Xiao Xiayuan pointed and fell on Mei Fang.
At this time, Lin Youxi put his hands on Mei Fang's shoulders, looking terrified.
"It's... Mei Fang!"
"So do you like Mei Fang?"
Xiao Xiayuan's answer was straightforward and innocent, "I like it."
After seeing this scene, Xia Yuan no longer worried about his social death, but felt an inexplicable emotion.
How could the love at that time be so simple...
When the reporter asked the reason, Xia Yuan gave it openly on the TV show.
"Because, because, because my mom said that girls must be loyal in their relationships. If you like this boy, you can't like other boys at the same time. You can only marry this boy and have children with him."
The camera also specifically captured Xiaomei's surprised expression and Xiaolin Youxi's silent expression.
"Oh, I see. You are very loyal in relationships... Then you must want to have a baby with Mei Fang?"
Xiao Xia Yuan seemed a little embarrassed at this moment, "Okay... Okay! I like girls more, I want a girl to be the best..."
The TV program was cut off at this point, and the video playback froze on the scene where Xia Yuan smiled brightly and said that she wanted to have a daughter.
The three people did not die on the spot, but lowered their heads, feeling a little embarrassed.
"I, I have forgotten all these things... It's been almost ten years, hehe..."
"I remember a little."
Lin Youxi laughed and said, "I remember Yuanyuan, you told me at that time that you were very angry and said that Ah Fang didn't want to make a pinky promise with you at that time and didn't want to have sex with you."
"Is there... such a thing?" Mei Fang scratched his head, "I forgot about it."
"Is that so..."
Mei Fang actually didn't forget.
"Children's love for playing house is nothing more than the innocent nature of children."
This was the original reason why Mei Fang refused to make a pinky promise with Xia Yuan.
He didn't want to deceive the child's feelings.
But now ten years have passed.
He and Xia Yuan are still together.
After all this, Xia Yuan still likes her.
They even kissed yesterday.
But he still couldn't accept Xia Yuan's relationship.
Because he couldn't be a boy who was loyal in love like the girl Xia Yuan wanted to be.
If you like this girl, you cannot like other girls at the same time. You can only marry this girl and have children with her.
Mei Fang can't do any of these now.
As for what I can do now...
At this time, Lin Youxi suddenly clapped his hands and suggested, "We have almost finished reading the things here. I think this CD can be taken away. There are also some books that can be packed and taken away. As for the others, I think we don't need to take them—"
"Wait a minute... there should be something else. I remember putting it in a box."
So, Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi followed Mei Fang to search the room, and finally Mei Fang found an iron box.
"What's in this?"
"It should be... the best memory of my childhood."
Mei Fang gently unscrewed the combination lock of the iron box, opened the iron box, and took out everything.
The things in the iron box made Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi suddenly fall into endless memories of the past.
There is a handmade orange tiger doll given by Xia Yuan, a small wallet given by Lin Youxi, a hairpin given to Mei Fang as a commemoration by Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi as they thought Mei Fang was really leaving, a yellowed childhood photo of the three little ones, and even an IOU for 10 yuan that Mei Fang borrowed from Xia Yuan and has never paid back.
However, Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi both picked up an object that seemed insignificant.
Two paper cranes.
The one Xia Yuan was holding was an exquisite pink paper crane, while the light blue paper crane Lin Youxi was holding looked wrinkled.
"I remember... I remember..."
Xia Yuan covered her face and fell into endless emotion. Soon after, the two heard Xia Yuan's choked sobs.
Lin Youxi gently stroked Xia Yuan's back, her voice full of tenderness.
"So, I told you, Yuanyuan, a long time ago that Alfang—"
Since we were very young, we planned to be together forever...
It's not just about the innocent friendship in childhood, but also about the lifelong promise that will be remembered forever.
Xia Yuan pursed her lips and stretched out her little fingers towards Mei Fang and Lin Youxi.
"Do you remember the agreement we made when we were little?"
"So far, the three of us have implemented it very well."
Except for Youxi and I...
Of course we reconciled later.
"But having said that... we still want to renew our promise. After all, the situation is different now. What do you think? Is it okay?"
Mei Fang and Lin Youxi smiled and nodded, and pointed their fingers over tacitly.
The three people's fingers were intertwined.
"From now on, the three of us must not quarrel. We must continue to be together... We must be together forever and ever. Pinky promise—"
Mei Fang and Lin Youxi responded along with Xia Yuan's voice.
"Pin ~ Hang ~ For a hundred years... No change!"
Sorry everyone, I've been late again.
But this chapter is really important. I won’t feel comfortable if it’s not updated to 5,000 words. That’s all.
(End of this chapter)