This was Haizhou’s first rain since the arrival of autumn.
Raindrops fell from the leaves of the street trees, keeping the sanitation workers busy.
The rain also washed away the persistent heatwave that had been gripping Haizhou— just two days ago, the temperature peaked at thirty-six degrees Celsius, but today it was only in the twenties.
The autumn chill was gradually setting in. Jeans were fine for the lower half, but wearing just a short-sleeve shirt on top felt a little off, so Zi Yan put on a jacket before heading out.
The jacket was black, made of softshell material. The fabric was a three-in-one composite press produced by a Swiss company.
Earlier this year, back in Antwerp, Zi Yan had designed the pattern, cut the fabric, sewn it himself, and made it with his own hands.
Because there was a fine layer of fleece inside, even wearing just a short-sleeve base layer underneath, it didn’t irritate the skin at all. Instead, it felt warm and comfortable.
It was Saturday, and Zi Yan was thrilled not to have to wear his school uniform anymore.
Plus, after days of continuous cloudy and rainy weather in Haizhou, although it wasn’t raining today, the sky was still heavily overcast, blocking out the sunlight and not disturbing Zi Yan’s good mood.
In fact, for Zi Yan and others like him, cloudy days were a blessing.
Zheng Quan was wearing a tracksuit, smiling as he took a morning walk with Zi Yan.
“Dad, you look like a full-fledged middle-aged uncle,” Zi Yan teased.
Having returned to Sunflower Country and spent nearly a month with Zheng Quan, the unfamiliar feeling Zi Yan once had toward his father had faded somewhat with time. At least their interactions were no longer so awkward.
“Ha ha.” Zheng Quan laughed heartily. “I’ve always been a middle-aged uncle.”
Haizhou had seven million residents. These people needed development, jobs, livelihoods, and food, and Zheng Quan was the primary person responsible for these matters.
But weekends were national holidays, and it was only six in the morning now. Zheng Quan accompanying his child for a walk in the park and grabbing some breakfast together was perfectly reasonable.
No one or nothing would interrupt them. At least, it shouldn’t.
Haizhou Park wasn’t far from the Cadre Dormitory.
When Zheng Quan had lived in Haizhou alone before, sometimes on a whim in the morning, he would stroll to Haizhou Park for some fresh air and then grab a bowl of Ba Mian from a noodle stall beside the park.
That stall served delicious Ba Mian and was cheap. Seven yuan a big bowl, plus a braised egg carefully placed inside the noodles.
“Let’s walk first, then I’ll take you to that place for Ba Mian,” Zheng Quan thought.
“Dad, I wasn’t talking about your age. I meant your fashion sense,” Zi Yan complained.
Fashion sense?
Zheng Quan looked down at his tracksuit and didn’t think anything was wrong with it.
He asked Zi Yan, “What’s wrong with my style?”
Then he added, “This tracksuit was made by your mom when I was in university. The design can’t be wrong, right? Our little fashion designer~?”
Made by mom back in university…
Zi Yan felt a wave of exasperation.
“The design is fine, of course,” Zi Yan said, “But you’ve been wearing that outfit for… what, seventeen years?”
“The white part around the collar has yellowed beyond cleaning, it looks too old-fashioned. It’d be better to wear something new.”
“Hmm.” Zheng Quan didn’t care much. He ruffled Zi Yan’s hair and said, “The quality of this jacket is good. It’s not damaged, so there’s no need to replace it.”
“But it really hurts your image…” Zi Yan mumbled.
“Image?” Zheng Quan chuckled. “Right now, I’m just a father taking a morning walk with my kid. As long as my face isn’t dirty and my clothes are neat and not sloppy, that’s enough.”
“You know, the original purpose of clothes was to protect humans from wind, rain, and cold. Everything else came later.”
“……”
Zi Yan’s view on clothing was completely different from his dad’s.
But honestly, his father’s point wasn’t exactly wrong, so Zi Yan was at a loss for how to argue back and fell silent.
“Dad.” After a long silence, Zi Yan suddenly asked, “Did you ever say things like that to Mom?”
“Mom?”
Zheng Quan was momentarily stunned, then seemed to recall something and grew a bit embarrassed.
“Ah ha ha ha, yes, I said something like that. Back when I was in university and just started dating your mom.”
“How did Mom react?”
“Almost meant you wouldn’t exist.”
Holy cow.
Zi Yan felt a shock.
“Your mom was really mad. I had to work hard to make up with her.”
Phew, luckily they made up.
Zi Yan calmed his racing heart and rolled his eyes with a deadpan stare. “Dad, you were really asking for it back then.”
“Talking like that to someone studying fashion design, it’s a miracle you weren’t beaten up.”
Countless designers agonize over even the smallest wrinkle or fold on a garment to make it look perfect.
Suddenly hearing something like Zheng Quan’s words, an outburst would be totally understandable.
“Ah ha ha ha…” Zheng Quan laughed awkwardly. “Your mom really did throw a sewing box at me out of anger and kicked me out of her studio…”
That year, Zheng Quan, who was studying for his PhD in Economics in Germany, was about to defend his thesis.
His girlfriend, Katalina Zweigert, wanted to gift him a stylish suit she had made herself.
But the more she cared, the more time and effort Lina put into perfecting the design, going sleepless for several nights without achieving satisfaction.
Out of concern for his girlfriend, Zheng Quan made that comment, intending to tell Lina not to overwork herself, but instead, it ignited the powder keg.
Lina was so angry she threw a sewing kit at Zheng Quan’s face. Luckily, she missed.
Otherwise, Zheng Quan’s handsome face would have been ruined seventeen years ago.
“…Ugh.”
Zi Yan rubbed his forehead.
“Um, Dad—” Zi Yan quietly said, looking at Zheng Quan lost in his memories, “There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you to do ever since I came back to Sunflower Country…”
“Hm? What is it?” Zheng Quan came back to the present and asked.
This was the first time since his child arrived in Sunflower Country that Zi Yan had asked him for a favor.
“If possible, could you buy me a sewing machine?” Zi Yan made his small request. “I haven’t given you any gifts since coming back.”
“So how about I make you a tracksuit? Look, this jacket I’m wearing was made by myself,” Zi Yan said proudly, showing off the jacket to Zheng Quan like a treasure.
“…” Zheng Quan said nothing but gave his son a meaningful look and said, “Then why didn’t you make it for me back in Antwerp?”
“Uh…”
Zi Yan was speechless.
Back then, when he suddenly found out he was being taken back to Sunflower Country, he was still sulking at Zheng Quan— how could he have thought about making clothes?
“So you just wanted to buy a sewing machine for yourself and used ‘gift for Dad’ as an excuse?” Zheng Quan teased, laughing.
Ah, he’d been found out.
That phrase was Wei Lai’s catchphrase, but Zi Yan figured it was okay to use it now.
Seeing his little scheme exposed, Zi Yan grinned.
His dad was still laughing, so this plan had a shot!
“But if you get a sewing machine, you’re definitely going to spend tons of time on it,” Zheng Quan rubbed Zi Yan’s head again and asked, “What if it distracts you from studying?”
“Dad, don’t worry. I won’t fall behind in school.”
“Alright, then. If your grades make it into the Top 100 Ranking in this month’s Yuekao, I’ll buy it for you. Deal?”
“Deal! No problem at all!”