Stay Home Daddy: I Was Reborn After My Daughter Passed Away
Chapter 393 Xiao Fang_1

Chapter 393: 393 Xiao Fang_1

"Right, you don’t need to be so nervous, from now on you can stay here with Cui Hua.

Um... in other words, you’ve been accepted."

Gu Chen looked at the two anxious girls in front of him and couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

As soon as he said this, the two girls standing opposite him immediately let out a sigh of relief.

Even their faces broke into a smile.

"However..."

With that one sentence from Gu Chen, their hearts were instantly lifted again.

"In our shop, we’ve always had a rule that everyone who comes here doesn’t go by their real name.

You have to use a nickname, like Cui Hua... You see, I always call her that, don’t I?

I think from now on you should stop being called Zhao Di, and instead go by... Xiao Fang, how about that name?

Or if you have any preferred name, you can also speak up."

Standing opposite Gu Chen, Liu Zhaodi shook her head; she never had any particular attachment to what she was called.

What mattered more to her was being able to work and earn money together with her fellow villagers.

That was all she nodded to say.

"Then let’s go with that name, I’ll listen to the boss," she replied.

Wang Cuihua scratched her head, feeling that this rule of the shop was really strange.

But thinking about it more carefully, it seemed to be the case ever since she applied for the job.

Gu Chen, the boss, had never once got her name right from the beginning to end.

At first, she thought it was a difference in accent, but she never expected there to be such a strange reason.

If Gu Chen knew what the girl was thinking right now, he probably couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

His calling out for Cui Hua was actually just a teasing remark.

Yet the TV series "The Dongbei Family," which would become a national sensation, wasn’t going to premiere for over a year.

And so, that very classic line at the end of each episode,

"Cui Hua, serve the pickles~"

naturally hadn’t appeared yet, otherwise, Wang Cuihua wouldn’t be puzzled why Gu Chen called her that.

But unlike the joke with Cui Hua, Gu Chen really disliked the name Zhao Di.

To him, everyone was born a unique individual.

Every person has a soul, thoughts, can cry and laugh, feel joy and frustration.

No one is born to be another’s appendage.

Although he was a man himself, he always believed

that the existence of a name like Zhao Di, was a deeply hidden insult.

So even if he had to invent such a non-existent rule,

he hoped that at least temporarily the other party could forget that name.

Compared to the reborn characters he had seen in novels or TV shows,

Gu Chen’s own abilities were not great, and he couldn’t change others’ perspectives.

Nor could he change the era, but at least he could try to change the people around him as much as possible.

Fortunately, seeing that the other party did not raise any objections to his actions,

Gu Chen’s heart also relaxed slightly, and a knowing smile appeared on his face.

"Boss, can I ask why her nickname is Xiao Fang?"

Cui Hua felt like the boss always seemed to be smiling whenever he called for her.

But when it came to her fellow villager, things suddenly turned so normal.

Hearing this question, the smile on Gu Chen’s face grew even thicker.

"The reason for that name is naturally because..."

Looking at the two girls in front of him with their nervous yet curious expressions,

Gu Chen suddenly picked up the broom lying next to him and placed it in front of his chest.

He pretended to play the guitar, and in front of the two of them, he belted out loudly.

"There was a girl in the village named Xiao Fang/Beautiful and kind.

A pair of beautiful big eyes/Her braids thick and long..."

This was a song released by Li Chunbo in ’93 called "Xiao Fang".

Gu Chen was an excellent cook with fine handwriting, a sharp mind, and a gift for conversation.

But when it came to singing, he was not only tone-deaf but he truly had a voice like a beaten gong.

From start to finish, not a single word was sung in tune.

What’s more, with a broom in hand, the exaggerated nodding and shaking of his head was added to his performance.

It was even more comedic than the jesters on TV.

The two girls in front of him, Shu Jian, couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

The tension, disquiet, and unease that lingered around them vanished in an instant.

Cui Hua, in particular, laughed even more extravagantly, bending over backward in fits, unable to even stand straight.

However, Gu Chen didn’t mind at all and instead kept on bellowing with his raucous voice.

The singing became even more lively.

After all, there were no strangers in the shop besides the three of them.

Even if there were, it wouldn’t have mattered, as for someone like Gu Chen with skin thicker than the city wall.

Embarrassment and such were simply non-existent to him.

And although his singing was terrible, towards the end, it became exceptionally immersed and emotional.

His bright eyes were now full of deep affection.

Standing across from him, Liu Zhaodi’s eyes slowly filled with moved tears.

This was the first time in her life someone had complimented her and sung a song just for her.

No longer was she the inconspicuous ’weed’ by the roadside.

She was not the financial liability loathed by her family from the moment she was born.

In her heart, there sprouted an indescribable feeling.

Could it be... the feeling of being respected?

She just stared at Gu Chen, who was only an arm’s length away.

The tears in her eyes could no longer be held back and they streamed down her face.

...

Gu Chen drove out of Qiwei Vegetarian feeling a bit awkward.

He was certainly aware of how terrible his singing was.

But he never imagined that he would actually make someone cry today.

And Xiao Fang’s tears kept flowing more and more sorrowfully, as if there were no end to them, unrestrained.

Gu Chen felt somewhat at a loss and eventually had no choice but to drive away first.

This made him feel a bit regretful; had he known, he would have acted more seriously.

As he sang on, he couldn’t help getting carried away.

His memory even drifted back to his school days.

He had climbed over the school wall to go out and get utterly drunk with Da Chun and several other classmates.

When they returned to the school, powered by the alcohol, they all ran to the girls’ dormitory and started to sing out loud.

And the song he sang was "Xiao Fang".

Even now, he could vaguely recall the endless laughter and joy echoing from the girls’ dormitory.

And the girls who dared to stand by the window and sing back to him.

And the disciplinarian with a broom, chasing him all over the school grounds.

Xiao Fang, Xiao Fang... Gu Chen’s singing was also a reflection of his own youth, wasn’t it?