Chapter 198

Chapter 198 The Iron Box of Memories (5000-word Chapter)

Xia Yuan impatiently pulled Mei Fang to look at these past cherished memories. Mei Fang fiddled with the DVD player for a long time before finally connecting it to the closed-circuit television in the ancestral house. The square-headed TV in the old house displayed the brand name of the DVD player.

“Now it should be able to play… Do you want to watch them all?”

“Of course! I’ll watch as many as there are.”

So, Mei Fang took the cleaned disc from Lin You Xi’s hand and inserted the first one.

Zizz, zizz, zizz.

The DVD kept making a series of noises while reading the disc, and the TV screen also showed scrambled images.

“These discs have been sitting too long; they must have bad sectors…”

“Let’s try them all out; there has to be something that works!”

Xia Yuan handed Mei Fang another disc, this time cleaning it more carefully. Mei Fang tried each one, and eventually, the TV showed a very low-definition video of 270P.

On the screen appeared the living room of Mei Fang’s apartment building, with a cake lit by candles on the coffee table. A little boy sat directly in front of the cake, wearing a birthday hat.

“It’s Fang when he was in elementary school! Is he having a birthday? What age is this?”

“Six years old. You can tell by the number of candles.”

Just as Lin You Xi spoke, the voice of Mei Lijun came from the video.

“Mei Fang, look here, look at the camera! Smile for Dad!”

The six-year-old Mei Fang looked at the camera. Xia Yuan immediately supported her chin and made a dazed expression.

“He’s so cute! I really want to kiss, hug, and lift up six-year-old Fang!”

Before Xia Yuan could finish praising Mei Fang, the image on the screen suddenly turned serious, and Mei Fang gave his father an international friendly gesture.

Lin You Xi and Mei Fang burst out laughing seeing this, but only Xia Yuan continued to scream.

“Fang, how can you be so rude to your dad like that?”

Midway through Xia Yuan’s criticism, a childish voice came from the video.

“Mei Fang, you’re too rude! How can you make such gestures to your dad?”

As Mei Lijun moved the handheld camera, a girl with two ponytails appeared on the screen. She was scolding Mei Fang while patting his shoulder.

“That’s me! Wow, I was so cute back then.”

“Ten years ago and ten years later, you still say the same thing. You’ve come a long way.”

While Xia Yuan was lecturing Mei Fang, she then raised her head and looked outside the camera: “Lin You Xi, don’t suck your snot back in, that’s disgusting! Use a tissue, keep clean!”

Xia Yuan ran toward Lin You Xi, whose hair was messy. Six-year-old Lin You Xi looked like a wild child picked up from a garbage heap, with a disheveled appearance. Xia Yuan and Mei Fang couldn’t hold back their laughter, and they hurriedly stopped Lin You Xi who was trying to turn off the TV.

“Why bother watching this, quickly… turn it off…”

“No, no, no! We have to watch! If we don’t, I’ll forget what You Xi looked like when she was young!”

Mei Fang hugged Lin You Xi from behind, while Xia Yuan grabbed both of Lin You Xi’s arms. Everyone watched as the young Lin You Xi wiped her nose under Xia Yuan’s guidance, then Xia Yuan led her to the coffee table, where she stared at the cake and sucked her fingers. The snot slowly dripped down again. In the video, Mei Dad’s voice came:

“Xia Yuan, Lin You Xi is sniffling again, help her wipe it.”

“Oh, okay.”

Xia Yuan always patiently wiped Lin You Xi’s nose.

“Hahaha!”

Xia Yuan and Mei Fang laughed uncontrollably at the wild-child past of Lin You Xi, who was usually cold in public. Feeling humiliated, Lin You Xi pushed against Mei Fang who was hugging her from behind, trying to force him to stop. At this moment, the video ended.

“Come on, Mei Fang, make a wish!”

Xia Yuan stretched out to put the birthday hat on young Mei Fang, “Remember, when making a wish, don’t say it out loud or it won’t come true. Now close your eyes, put your hands together, and start wishing…”

Young Mei Fang obediently followed Xia Yuan’s instructions, and Xia Yuan started clapping. Mei Lijun switched off the lights.

Under the bright candlelight, Xia Yuan began singing the birthday song.

“Happy birthday to you—happy birthday to you—”

Xia Yuan clapped and sang while Lin You Xi hummed along beside her, but she kept looking at Xia Yuan.

The recording video played to its end.

“This is Fang’s sixth birthday party, and also You Xi’s childhood black history of eating snot… I need to record it again.”

“There’s no need to record it again.”

Lin You Xi said coldly, “Don’t you think such things should be buried with memory?”

“I don’t want to, I absolutely don’t.”

Xia Yuan held onto the disc, refusing to give it to the stern Lin You Xi, “These are our most beautiful memories, I don’t want to ruin them!”

“Yuan Yuan, if you keep doing this, I’ll really get angry.”

“It won’t help! Fang… help me!”

Mei Fang took back the disc from Lin You Xi’s cold gaze.

“We won’t play them anymore; You Xi will get angry. But don’t destroy them, right? Once destroyed, we won’t find them again. You Xi, what do you think?”

“…”

After a moment of silence, Lin You Xi nodded and said, “Let’s continue watching.”

“How… did you change your mind, You Xi? I don’t think there’s anything shameful about past memories. Children are like this, I was also—”

Xia Yuan’s words were cut off as Lin You Xi replaced the disc.

Unlike the others, this disc clearly had the date 2004.6.1 written on it, indicating it was a video recording from Children’s Day.

On the screen, an unsettling scene appeared.

“Please enjoy the performance by Xia Yuan from Class 2B of the Electro-Teaching Department, ‘Open Your Heart!'”

In a kitschy stage, young Xia Yuan held a magic wand and wore a homemade magical girl costume, stepping onto the stage.

Without any prelude, Xia Yuan struck a pose from anime and delivered some extremely embarrassing lines:

“Key of darkness power, show your true strength before me! Now, by the name of your master Sakura, command you—seal release!”

“Enough! Don’t play it anymore!”

This time, Xia Yuan emotionally broke down, shouting to turn off the TV. Lin You Xi was prepared and stopped her, while Mei Dog, who was enjoying the embarrassment, naturally didn’t miss this opportunity. He tightly hugged Xia Yuan just as he had hugged You Xi, not giving her a chance to struggle.

“This outfit is really nice, was it personally sewn by Teacher Yu? This dance I remember was self-choreographed, quite impressive. But this makeup… really outdated… Haha…”

Xia Yuan, dressed in cosplay, her face painted with blush, a red heart on her forehead, greenish-gold eyeshadow on her eyelids, and her lashes extended, covered her face in despair and sobbed loudly.

“Past memories shouldn’t be shameful, children are like this. Don’t cry like this, Yuan Yuan…”

Lin You Xi comforted Xia Yuan gently, using Xia Yuan’s own words to encourage her to face it bravely.

This You Xi, she really knows how to hit where it hurts…

“Fang… Uncle Mei, why are you still recording my performance video?”

“Oh… that, that is—”

After Xia Yuan’s rustic performance, the camera shifted to Mei Fang standing beside.

“Are you done filming, Dad?”

“I’m done, I’m done. You really like Xia Yuan, huh? Asking me to film her performance.”

“In short, it was fun, wasn’t it?”

Young Mei Fang chuckled, “One day, I’ll show the grown-up Xia Yuan this, and she’ll definitely be happy.”

“You really have a wicked heart…”

The video abruptly ended here.

But the battle in reality hadn’t ended yet.

“Mei—Fang—”

Xia Yuan struggled free from Lin You Xi’s hold and turned red-faced to interrogate Mei Fang,

“Now you’ve seen it, you’ve seen me being embarrassed. You waited for this for seven or eight years, are you satisfied now?”

“I was young then… I didn’t understand!”

“Such a young age with so much mischief, no wonder you became even worse when you grew up!”

Xia Yuan rode on Mei Fang and beat him up before calming down slightly.

Lin You Xi enjoyed the embarrassing atmosphere and inserted a new disc.

“Now, I won’t be surprised by anything I see.”

Xia Yuan hugged her knees and squatted on the ground, while Mei Fang scratched his head and sat down.

“Don’t worry, maybe the next scene will be my embarrassing moment…”

“Yeah, you’re right… exactly.”

Just as Xia Yuan finished speaking, the TV screen changed again, but instead of a video recording, it showed a news program from Bai Mei County Television.

For the first few minutes, it played normal news, making Mei Fang and the others think they had taken the wrong disc.

“Should we switch discs?”

“Mm… wait a bit, wait a bit…”

Clearly, Mei Fang had already figured something out.

After a segment of the program, the host of Bai Mei County’s TV news began broadcasting a new story.

“June is the season of graduation, whether it’s kindergarteners or middle school students, they must all have complex feelings about graduation. Now let’s go to Class (2) of Liangyou Kindergarten and see how the kids feel about it!”

“Oh, that time—”

Xia Yuan finally remembered the purpose of this disc.

But this time, the three of them didn’t rush to turn off the TV. Maybe after once being embarrassed, they weren’t afraid anymore.

The TV screen showed Xia Yuan, the little angel, smiling politely but awkwardly at the host.

“Can you introduce yourself to the viewers at home?”

“Sure!”

Little Xia Yuan waved her hand towards the camera, completely missing her target.

“Hello everyone, my name is Xia Yuan. I am a student in Class 2 of Liangyou Kindergarten. I am five years old, but I will be six next month. My hobbies include playing the piano and playing house. And… I really love being a mommy!”

“Pffft—”

“I really loved being a mommy since I was six.”

Xia Yuan found it unbelievable.

In the live broadcast, the host asked Xia Yuan about friends she would miss, and Xia Yuan listed several friends from kindergarten days who she used to be close with but no longer kept in touch with.

Of course, Mei Fang and Lin You Xi were the most special.

“My favorite friend is Lin You Xi!”

“Why her?”

“Because… I think Lin You Xi is amazing! She does things I wouldn’t dare to do, and… she’s also very cute. Oh… most importantly… ” Xia Yuan smiled, “She must like me the most!”

“Heh, how sweet.”

Mei Fang teased, which made Xia Yuan and Lin You Xi hit him together.

Then, the host asked Lin You Xi a question, and in the video, Lin You Xi whispered something in Mei Fang’s ear.

“She was so cute back then! I can’t take it!”

“I really love this action…”

Lin You Xi leaned over, pressing herself against Mei Fang’s back, imitating her younger self whispering in his ear, “Do you feel excited hearing this?”

“Yes, of course I do… so don’t tease me anymore.”

“I won’t.”

Lin You Xi, while Xia Yuan was engrossed in the video, pressed against Mei Fang and reached into his collar.

At this moment, the host asked Xia Yuan another question.

“In your class, which boy is closest to you?”

The camera followed Xia Yuan’s pointing finger to Mei Fang.

At this moment, Lin You Xi stood behind Mei Fang, looking nervous.

“It’s… Mei Fang!”

“Do you like Mei Fang?”

Xia Yuan answered simply and purely, “Yes.”

Seeing this, Xia Yuan no longer dwelled on her own embarrassment but felt a strange sense of emotion.

How could such simple feelings exist back then…

When asked for the reason, Xia Yuan openly explained in the TV program.

“Because, because, because Mom said that girls should be devoted to their feelings. Once you like a boy, you can’t like other boys at the same time. You can only marry this boy and have babies with him.”

The camera specifically showed young Mei Fang’s shocked expression and young Lin You Xi’s silent expression.

“Oh, I understand. You are very devoted to your feelings… Do you want to have babies with little Mei Fang?”

Xia Yuan seemed a bit embarrassed, “Yes… yes! I like girls more, it would be better to have baby girls…”

The TV program was cut off here, and the video froze on Xia Yuan’s smiling face as she said she wanted to have a daughter.

The three of them didn’t die of embarrassment on the spot but lowered their heads, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

“I forgot all these things… It’s almost ten years now, hehe…”

“I still remember a bit.”

Lin You Xi said with a smile, “I remember Yuan Yuan telling me back then that you were very angry, saying Fang didn’t want to shake hands with you or have babies back then.”

“Is… that true?” Mei Fang scratched his head, “I forgot.”

“Really?”

Actually, Mei Fang hadn’t forgotten.

“Childish feelings of liking someone are just innocent childhood whims.”

This was Mei Fang’s original reason for refusing to shake hands with Xia Yuan.

He didn’t want to deceive a 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 can’t accept Xia Yuan’s feelings.

Because he can’t become the kind of boy who is devoted to his feelings like Xia Yuan wants.

Once you like a girl, you can’t like other girls at the same time. You can only marry her and have babies with her.

These are things Mei Fang can’t do now.

As for what I can do now…

At this moment, Lin You Xi suddenly clapped and suggested, “We’ve seen enough of this stuff. I think we can take this disc away. There are some books we can pack in boxes, but I think we don’t need to—”

“Hold on… there should be some things, I remember putting them in a box.”

Thus, Xia Yuan and Lin You Xi followed Mei Fang to search in the room, and finally, Mei Fang found an iron box.

“What’s inside?”

“It should be… the best memories of our childhood.”

Mei Fang gently turned the combination lock of the iron box and opened it, taking everything out.

What was inside the iron box instantly plunged Xia Yuan and Lin You Xi into endless memories.

There was a handmade orange tiger plushie Xia Yuan had given, a small wallet Lin You Xi had given, a hairpin Xia Yuan and Lin You Xi had given Mei Fang as a memento when they thought he was leaving, a yellowed group photo of the three of them as kids, and even a promissory note from Mei Fang when he borrowed 10 yuan from Xia Yuan and never paid it back.

However, Xia Yuan and Lin You Xi both picked up a seemingly insignificant object.

Two origami cranes.

Xia Yuan held a delicate pink origami crane, while Lin You Xi held a wrinkled light blue one.

“I remember… I remember…”

Xia Yuan covered her face, lost in endless thoughts. Soon after, they heard Xia Yuan’s choked sobs.

Lin You Xi gently stroked Xia Yuan’s back, her voice filled with tenderness.

“So I told you before, Yuan Yuan, Fang—”

From a very young age, he planned to be with us forever…

Not just for the pure friendship of childhood, but for the eternal promise of a lifetime.

Xia Yuan pursed her lips and extended her little finger to Mei Fang and Lin You Xi.

“Do you remember our childhood promise?”

“Up until now, we three have kept it very well.”

Except for me and You Xi…

Of course, we reconciled later.

“But even so… I still want to update our promise. After all, circumstances are different now. What do you think? Can we?”

Mei Fang and Lin You Xi nodded with a smile, extending their little fingers in unison.

The three little fingers intertwined.

“From now on, the three of us can’t fight anymore, we still have to stay together… forever and ever. Cross your fingers—”

Mei Fang and Lin You Xi echoed with Xia Yuan.

“Cross your fingers, tie them up, a hundred years… no changing!”

I’m sorry everyone, I was late again.

But this chapter is really important. I can’t feel comfortable unless it’s 5000 words.