Love Affairs in Melbourne-Chapter 163 - 160: The Wind Follows Brother

The bonds between people can sometimes be quite strange; Yan Dabang and his new friends hit it off so well that they even turned out to be neighbors.

The two families’ homes in Melbourne were within walking distance of each other, which made visiting back and forth much more convenient.

Yan Yan was very happy to see such a scene, especially since she herself would be leaving Melbourne soon.

It was a wonderful thing for her parents to find like-minded companions.

So it didn’t surprise Yan Yan at all that her parents would invite their new friends to go on an outing together.

But then again, the housekeeping couple weren’t exactly new to Melbourne, and places like the Great Ocean Road should have been destinations they were tired of visiting.

Yan Yan didn’t understand why that family would be interested in joining the hubbub at her own home today.

"Right, Brother Wei’s family is about to come over," Yan Dabang already started addressing them with friendly familiarity.

Yan Dabang especially emphasized the word "about to" at this moment, which was also his way of telling Yan Yan to be on her best behavior when it was necessary.

It was one thing for family to see such behavior and let it slide, but it would be utterly inappropriate to continue such antics in front of guests.

Qi Yi was still feeling awkward, Yan Yan continued to change the subject, and Yan Dabang kept admonishing Yan Yan, when the doorbell rang pleasantly at just the right moment.

"It’s definitely Uncle Wei and the others who have arrived; I’ll go open the door," Yan Yan volunteered to play the role of doorkeeper.

As she spoke, she took the opportunity to pull Qi Yi along to her family’s entrance.

Thankfully, the timely arrival of the guests finally put an end to the excruciatingly embarrassing situation for both Qi Yi and Yan Yan’s family.

Yan Yan didn’t want her parents to see how overly enthusiastic she was about Qi Yi, and Yan Dabang and his wife certainly didn’t want to see their daughter behave indecorously in front of them.

For Yan Yan’s parents, some things, if they couldn’t be prevented from happening, were better off unseen.

"Hello Uncle Wei, hello Aunt Lei, why didn’t brother Fengsui come along?" Yan Yan asked as she opened the door to receive the guests, who should have been three including Wei Fengsui, but she only saw two.(note 1)

Uncle Wei had a son named Wei Fengsui, a man of few words, but very responsible and reliable.

Whenever he had the time and his parents were coming to play at Yan Yan’s house, he would drive them to her doorstep before heading back.

The two families, who had just met at the beginning of the month, visited each other so frequently that it was almost a daily occurrence.

At first, since Wei Fengsui never got out of the car when dropping off his parents, Yan Yan didn’t know what he looked like.

But soon enough, Yan Yan saw Wei Fengsui at her house twice in a row.

The Wei couple and Yan Yan’s parents would get drunk and then call their son to drive over and pick them up.

Yan Dabang and his "Brother Wei" were so wobbly from drinking that Yan Yan didn’t know how to drive them back either.

Even though the distance between the two houses, if measured by foot, was at most a fifteen-minute walk, Wei Fengsui was always prompt to the call.

Today was Yan Yan’s first time seeing the Wei couple walking over.

If it were any other day, this might be considered normal, but today, Yan Yan’s family’s car was clearly not big enough to fit everyone.

Even if the Wei Family, who had walked over, tried to squeeze in, it would still be impossible to fit them all.

Since the Wei Fengsui family runs a domestic service company, which often needs to clear out large villa areas and dispatch many workers at once, they have those 15-seater and 19-seater vans.

With so many people today, it definitely makes more sense for Brother Fengsui to be in charge of driving the larger vehicle for everyone to go out and have fun.

"Fengsui has gone to pick up his brother, and we were worried that if we waited for him to pick up his brother and then make a trip home before coming over to your place, it would delay our departure. We thought it over, and decided to just wait at your house. Let your parents get ready too, and once everyone arrives, we can all leave together," Fengsui’s mother answered Yan Yan’s question.

"Brother Fengsui has another brother? How come I’ve never heard you or Uncle Wei mention him before?" Yan Yan felt a little surprised.

But at the end of the day, the two families had only known each other for two weeks, so it was only natural for Yan Yan to be unaware of the Wei family’s situation.

"My youngest son has always been in China and has never been to Melbourne. He’s here on a business trip and only has two days.

But since he’s here, my wife and I thought we might as well do something special. We just called your father and found out you all plan to go to the Great Ocean Road today, so we decided to join the fun and take the opportunity to see Melbourne while it’s not easy for our youngest to travel abroad," Uncle Wei explained the reason for coming over to join in the fun at Yan Yan’s house.

"I see. Well, why don’t you come in and have some tea first?" Yan Yan invited the Wei family into the house.

In Melbourne, Chinese families tend to favor making Gongfu tea. Back in China, Yan Dabang and his wife would drink Longjing as it’s Zhejiang’s number one tea, but once they came here, they followed the local customs, setting up Gongfu tea trays in both the living room and study.

"Dad, Uncle Wei and his wife are here. They said once Brother Fengsui arrives, we’re leaving straight away? I’m going upstairs to change my clothes, call me when it’s time to leave," Yan Yan shouted from the entrance, standing by the staircase that led upstairs, to summon her father to greet the guests.

Yan Yan planned to escape from the scene of her recent "crime" as quickly as possible.

"Qi Yi, do you want to go up with me?" Yan Yan asked for Qi Yi’s opinion.

"No, I’ll just wait for you to come down here," Qi Yi decided it was best for him to reclaim some of the points he had almost lost earlier while still being well-behaved.

Qi Yi knew starting to make amends now wouldn’t have much of an immediate impact, but every little bit recovered was still something.

If Qi Yi eagerly followed Yan Yan upstairs to change clothes right away, it would be hard for Yan Dabang and his wife not to think too much about it.

.........

It took Yan Yan ten minutes to tidy up and finally come downstairs.

After she had let the Wei family into the house, she hadn’t bothered to close the front gate.

When Yan Yan was halfway down the stairs, she saw Wei Fengsui’s vehicle, which had just nicely driven through the open gate and parked next to the lawn in the front yard.

.........

Note 1:

When Wenzhou people call their elder brothers, regardless of whether there is a blood relation or not, they often add "brother" after the name. "A" is pronounced in the first tone, using the regular pronunciation, which is different from the "brothers" in the Qing Dynasty.