My Youth Began With Him

Translator: Noodletown Translations Editor: Noodletown Translations

“The chicken wanted to know what happiness was. Therefore, he asked the tiger. The tiger said that happiness was being with family. Then, he asked the lion. The lion said having multiple wives was happiness, but the chicken wasn’t happy with his answer. So, he went to ask the jaguar, who said that happiness was having a healthy body. At the end of the day, the chicken went home and told his mom everything that happened. Then, his mother rubbed his head and sighed, ‘My child, the truth is, you’re the happiest one today.’ Confused, the chicken asked why, and his mother said, ‘Look at the ones you went to ask your stupid question, I can’t believe you made it back alive! You should be happy for that!’”

As soon as Wei Liao finished his joke, Jiang Xiaowei burst out in laughter and coyishly pinched Wei Liao’s arm. “You’ve never told me anything this funny!”

“I just thought of it, Honey, stop pinching me. I’m going to bruise…”

Then, Wei Liao glanced around the group. Everyone was laughing except for Zhu Lingling, whose face was as calm as could be.

“You’re determined to win money today, aren’t you?” Wei Liao laughed. So did Jiang Xiaowei, as she said, “Keep holding back. Let’s see when you give in, haha.”

Then, Wei Liao took 1,000 yuan out of his wallet and placed it in the basket as well.

He was the second one to lose today; it seemed like things were off to a rough start…

At that moment, Huo Mian pulled on Qin Chu’s sleeve. “Honey, you should tell a joke. The two other men on the table did already, so it’s your turn now.”

“Okay.” Mr. Qin then sank into deep thought.

He was usually a cold and arrogant man, and he rarely turned himself into laughing stock…

Therefore, asking him to tell the others a joke was like asking Huo Mian to give up really tasty food.

But his wife made a request, and he didn’t want to disappoint her.

So, feeling uncomfortable, Qin Chu got up and said in all seriousness, “I’ll tell a joke then. It might not be funny, and there might be awkward silence at the end…”

“Don’t worry, your joke doesn’t have to be funny. Actually, you might as well just take out a 1,000 yuan right now,” Gao Ran interjected.

Huo Mian clapped and cheered her husband on with her tiny fists, “You can do it, Honey.”

Qin Chu nodded. Then, he said, “An old farmer had a pig. He raised it for many years and it grew up to be fat and strong, but he didn’t want to kill it. One day, the Animal Protection Association came to his house for an inspection. They asked, ‘What does your pig eat every day?’ He answered, ‘Wild vegetables.’ Unhappy with what they heard, the association accused him of mistreating animals and fined him 500 yuan. Although the old farmer was pissed, he still paid the fine. The next day, a charity came and asked him, ‘What does your pig eat every day?’ The farmer answered, “It eats fish and meat every day. He eats whatever I eat.’ However, the charity was angry and said, ‘That’s considered wasting food, do you know that children in the mountains can’t even afford to eat bread?’ Then, they fined the farmer 500 yuan, which the latter gloomily paid. On the day after that, county officials stopped by his house. They asked, ‘What does your pig eat every day?’ After thinking about it long and hard, the farmer finally answered carefully, ‘I give it 10 yuan a day for it to buy whatever it wants to eat.’”

Everyone burst out in laughter as soon as Qin Chu finished his joke…

Huo Mian gave her husband a thumbs-up. “I find it funnier that you’re able to tell a joke with such a serious expression on your face.”

“Qin Chu, I didn’t know you were capable of humor, haha!” Jiang Xiaowei almost fell onto the floor laughing.

Wei Liao and Gao Ran were also chuckling…

Then, everyone glanced over at Zhu Lingling, whose face was calm and emotionless.

“Lingling didn’t laugh again?” Gao Ran raised an eyebrow, and Qin Chu immediately took out 1,000 yuan and placed it into the basket…

The three men on the table all lost gloriously…

“Xiaowei, you go. Break through Zhu Lingling’s zombie face!” Huo Mian looked at Jiang Xiaowei, who rolled up her sleeves and got up with some difficulty, “Sounds good. Don’t worry, trust me, I’ll tell a super funny joke. I swear that this joke has never failed me…”

Wei Liao held her carefully, afraid she might hurt herself.

“Honey, calm down, don’t move too much, take it easy.”

“Are you ready?” Jiang Xiaowei asked confidently; she had a PhD in psychology, so making others laugh would be easy, right? Therefore, everyone placed their hopes on her…