The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 266: Chapter 266: Becoming the Coolest Kid in Kindergarten

Pingping and An’an stared wide-eyed, as if they had just seen a toy from outer space. ’Can bottle caps from around the house really be made into something so cool?’

”Daddy, give it to me,” Pingping said, holding out her hand.

An’an held out her hand too. ”Daddy, I want one too!”

Seeing that Pingping and An’an both loved it, Ye Feng smiled. ”Alright, just a minute. I’ll make a second one so you can each have one.”

So, Ye Feng began hammering another bottle cap. After a flurry of taps and bangs, he had made another pull-string spinner.

Ye Feng taught Pingping and An’an how to use the spinners. At first, they couldn’t quite get the rhythm down.

Ye Feng taught them patiently, and after about ten minutes, they actually got the hang of it.

Han Xiaorui stood nearby, watching Ye Feng make the toys for them.

Although the materials were crude, the way Ye Feng patiently made the toys and explained what he was doing completely captivated Pingping and An’an.

The entire time, Pingping and An’an listened intently to Ye Feng, their attention never wavering.

It was a rare and precious thing to see.

Standing nearby, Han Xiaorui broke into a gentle smile.

Men and women raise children so differently. It’s not just the methods they use, but even the games they play.

Han Xiaoqing taught Pingping and An’an how to fold paper cranes and draw, while Wu Jiao and Wu Yao taught them how to play with beanbags.

But none of them would ever have thought to teach Pingping and An’an how to make pull-string spinners out of bottle caps.

Ye Feng’s methods and tools were more rugged, and he was influencing Pingping and An’an as a male role model.

This would help shape their characters, making Pingping and An’an more cheerful and resilient.

Pingping thought of Cai Wenjun. ”Daddy, Junjun needs one too.”

Ye Feng smiled and nodded. ”Alright, I’ll make one more for Wenjun, and you can give it to him tomorrow!”

Pingping nodded. ”Okay!”

Han Xiaorui went inside to start dinner, leaving Ye Feng to look after the children.

From the kitchen window, she could see into the courtyard.

Wu Yao whispered, ”Sister Xiao Rui, Brother Ye really is a great guy. Look how good he is to Pingping and An’an. And look at them—now that they have a father, they have such a sense of security.”

Han Xiaorui had felt it too. She never expected Pingping and An’an to accept Ye Feng as their father so easily.

”That’s right. When you’re looking for a partner, of course you pick a good one!” Han Xiaorui chuckled. ”It’s not like you’d go looking for a bad one, right?”

Wu Jiao smiled. ”It’s not that people look for bad ones, it’s just that sometimes you get unlucky.”

”That’s true,” Han Xiaorui said with a smile. ”In my last marriage, my luck was bad. I met a scoundrel and was completely taken in.”

Wu Jiao sighed. ”You’re right. If even someone like you can misjudge a person, Sister Xiao Rui, then Wu Yao and I, who aren’t that clever, need to be extra cautious.”

”I’ll work for a few more years, and then I’ll ask Granny Cai to find me a match. I trust her judgment.”

Han Xiaorui’s eyes showed her approval. ”Sister Cai might not be able to guarantee what a person will be like in the future, but she can guarantee that they have a spotless past. She investigates everything thoroughly.”

Wu Yao nodded. ”Mhm. Speaking of which, Hu Yaowu from the breeding farm just arrived with his mother and child. They happened to rent a house from Sister Cai.”

”His little girl is four, so she can go to kindergarten. But coming to a new place, the child is a little shy around strangers. It’s only been a day, but Sister Cai is already on good terms with Aunt Hu. In a few more days, she’ll have figured out Aunt Hu’s whole personality. She’s incredibly fast.”

Usually, after Wu Jiao and Wu Yao take Pingping and An’an to kindergarten, Wu Jiao stays at the school to watch over them, while Wu Yao goes home to do chores and look after the house.

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”Sounds like Sister Cai is making good progress.”

”That Aunt Hu seems like an honest woman. She gives off a good vibe,” Wu Jiao commented. ”But you can know a person’s face without knowing their heart. You have to spend more time with someone to really know what they’re like.”

Ye Feng played with Pingping and An’an and their spinners right up until dinner.

The girls carefully tucked the spinners into their pockets. They were their new favorite toys.

When Ye Feng got ready to leave, Pingping and An’an couldn’t bear to see him go. ”Daddy, don’t go.”

An’an nodded, trying to make him stay. ”Daddy, stay with us.”

The smile on Ye Feng’s face was uncontrollable, and he burst out laughing. ”My sweet girls, you’re so young and you already know how to dote on your daddy. But your mommy is cruel and won’t let me stay.”

Pingping and An’an understood. They turned and started tugging on Han Xiaorui’s arm. ”Mommy, we want Daddy.”

Han Xiaorui didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She shot Ye Feng a glare. ”Look at you, always stirring up trouble.”

Ye Feng let out a hearty laugh. ”Pingping, An’an, Daddy’s busy with work. Once I’m done, I’ll come see you again. And next time, I’ll show you how to make another kind of fun toy, okay?”

The moment they heard ”fun toy,” Pingping and An’an immediately felt for the bottle cap spinners in their pockets and nodded eagerly. ”Okay! Goodbye, Daddy.”

They waved their little hands, watching their father leave.

Ye Feng started the car and waved out the window. ”Goodbye! Sleep well, eat well, and listen to your mommy.”

”Mhm!” The two little ones nodded nonstop, being especially well-behaved and not mischievous at all.

Han Xiaorui waved, watching Ye Feng drive away.

Ye Feng watched Han Xiaorui shrink in the rearview mirror, a wave of warmth spreading through his heart.

From the moment Pingping and An’an called him ”Daddy,” Ye Feng knew he had two more precious family ties in this world.

It was a responsibility, but it was also a source of happiness.

That night in bed, Han Xiaorui read stories to her two daughters.

After they fell asleep, they were still tightly clutching the toys their daddy had made, treating them like precious treasures.

The edges of the bottle caps were a bit sharp, so Han Xiaorui told Pingping and An’an not to take them to kindergarten.

But even though Pingping and An’an promised not to, they snuck them out when Han Xiaorui wasn’t looking to show off at school.

Of course, they didn’t forget to give one to Cai Wenjun.

A simple bottle cap became a child’s prized possession, making them the coolest kid in kindergarten.

”My daddy made it.”

”My daddy’s the best.”

...

As a result, when school let out that evening, all the children went home demanding their fathers make them bottle cap spinners too.

But while some fathers drank beer, they had no idea how to make the toys. Some didn’t even understand what a ”spinner” was!

When the children wouldn’t stop crying and fussing, their parents came over to Han Xiaorui’s house to see just what kind of amazing toy Pingping and An’an had.

The toy required no technical skill; one look and you knew how to make it.

Soon, every child in the kindergarten had a bottle cap spinner.

The children didn’t end up hurting themselves, but they did use the spinning toys to damage the kindergarten’s tables and chairs, so the spinners were banned from school.

Even so, the bottle cap spinner became a popular little toy that many children could easily make for themselves.

The older boys, in particular, had already figured out how to ”battle” with the spinners.

They would get their spinners going and crash them into each other. The one still spinning at the end was the winner, and the one that stopped lost.

In the materially scarce 1980s, children could still find ways to have a happy childhood.

From that day on, Pingping and An’an were always asking their mother, ”When is Daddy coming home?”

The connections between people are a wondrous thing.

Ye Feng found a moment to ask his grandma and grandpa, ”Pingping and An’an have started calling me Daddy. I want to get them a gift to celebrate. Do you have any good suggestions?”