Call Me Daddy

When the power outage first happened, the villagers of Tuanjie Village didn’t think much of it.

Deng Caihua had a habit of watching TV dramas. She not only loved watching them but also liked to watch them with the volume turned up. During the time she stayed in the hospital to take care of a patient in the same ward, she felt embarrassed to play the TV too loudly. As a result, those intense, dramatic scenes always seemed a bit bland to her.

Now that she was back home, she had to let herself go a little.

After dinner, she took a bath. Deng Caihua couldn’t wait to sit on the fabric sofa that her eldest son and daughter-in-law had bought her and turn on the 50-inch TV her younger son had bought her last year.

She was currently hooked on a 120-episode family drama. The plot was about a poor but kind-hearted girl marrying into a wealthy family, going through a series of tragic events; abused by her mother-in-law, miscarrying, her husband cheating with her best friend. In the end, the husband went bankrupt, and the mistress abandoned the bankrupt scumbag. The heroine chose not to give up on her husband, returned to him, supported and encouraged him, and eventually gained the approval of her once-evil mother-in-law, while winning back her husband’s love.

“Foolish!”

Deng Caihua cursed as she watched.

Were there really such foolish women in the world? That worthless man was already thrown away, yet she picked him up again and licked his wounds? And that evil mother-in-law who helped the mistress cause her miscarriage; just because she later had a change of heart after the bankruptcy, the heroine could forgive and respect her like her own mother?

The old lady cursed the heroine, cursed the scumbag husband, the evil mother-in-law, and the mistress. She even cursed the scriptwriter and the director for being brainless. Yet, on the other hand, she watched with great enthusiasm.

“Su Su, you mustn’t learn from her, understand?”

The old lady split the peeled orange in half, handing one half to her granddaughter Su Su and the other to her grandson Yuan Yuan.

“Mm-hmm.”

Su Su, with her chubby and fair face, nodded earnestly, just like her brother Yuan Yuan. Perhaps because the old lady had raised her, even though Su Su was only 3 and a half years old, she was already a devoted fan of prime-time TV dramas. It was unclear whether she understood the complex plots.

“Don’t learn from her, I’ll listen to Grandma.”

Her small mouth was stuffed full of orange as she spoke, her words a little unclear. Occasionally, orange juice would slide down the corner of her mouth, which she promptly licked back with her tongue.

“Good girl!” The old lady adored how obedient she was.

“If anyone bullies you in the future, do you know what to do?”

Deng Caihua seized every opportunity to educate her grandchildren. She won’t let anyone bully her little granddaughter. She had to teach her how to protect herself.

“Mm…” The little girl tilted her head, thought for a moment, and glanced at the TV, where the heroine was being bullied by her evil mother-in-law, kneeling on the floor and scrubbing.

“Tell Grandma!”

Her tiny fist clenched tightly, her nose scrunched up, and she tried hard to put on a fierce expression. But because she was so adorable, it only made her seem even more endearing.

Tell Grandma, and Grandma would beat up the bad guy who bullied me.

In Su Su’s mind, Grandma was the most powerful person in the world. Even her father listened to Grandma, and everyone else in the village feared her too.

“Oh my, my sweet Su Su is so smart! That’s right, if anyone bullies you, tell Grandma, and Grandma will bully them back for you.”

The old lady hugged her obedient granddaughter, thinking there couldn’t possibly be another little girl as lovable as Su Su. Her Su Su wasn’t just adorable; she was smart too. She knew that if she ever ran into trouble, she could come to Grandma for help and let her handle it.

Not steaming those dumb eggs tonight was the right decision. Until it was confirmed whether those dumb chickens, ducks, and geese laid eggs just as stupid as their mothers, it was better not to feed them to the children.

But how could I prove whether the eggs were a problem or not?

The old lady’s mind flashed over her two sons. No, no, they’re my dear boys too.

Maybe I should give some to Ma Aifang? Deng Caihua’s mind flickered to an image of a long face.

Anyway, that woman was already dumb enough, so a little more stupidity wouldn’t hurt.

***

Over 100 meters away in a fancy little villa, a woman sat on a leather sofa, watching the same TV drama on a 70-inch screen. The orange in her hand had been squeezed to mush because of the infuriating plot.

The more Ma Aifang watched, the angrier she became. The heroine’s mother-in-law in the drama was simply unbearable. Her face was as annoying as Deng Caihua’s.

She should have been discharged and gone home by now, right?

At this moment, the TV drama had just reached the scene where the heroine, harshly criticized by her mother-in-law, was about to have a miscarriage.

Ma Aifang was too caught up in the tension to think about her old rival. Her heart clenched tight. Although the last episode’s preview had already revealed that the heroine’s child wouldn’t survive, she still hoped for a miracle.

Just as the operating room doors opened and the doctor walked out to announce the result, with a click, the power cut out. The TV screen went black.

Not only that, but the small lamp in the living room also turned off.

Thankfully, she wasn’t watching a horror or detective show, or else she might have been scared to death in the middle of the night.

Ma Aifang patted her chest and, by the moonlight coming through the living room window, fumbled to retrieve a flashlight from the cabinet under the coffee table.

The electrical circuit in Tuanjie Village wasn’t very stable, and power outages often occurred. Additionally, most villagers still farmed, so during harvest seasons, they had to check their fields at night to prevent anyone from stealing the ripe fruits and vegetables. Because of that, nearly every household owned a flashlight.

Ma Aifang turned on the flashlight, and the room immediately lit up. She got up and walked outside, wanting to see if it was a power outage for the whole village or if just her house had tripped the breaker.

At the same time, Deng Caihua and Su Su were also staring at the TV, watching helplessly as the plot stopped at the most exciting moment.

On the side, Yuan Yuan, who was eating an orange, breathed a sigh of relief. It’s finally over!

He wanted to watch ‘Ultraman’ or ‘Journey to the West’. He didn’t want to watch the weird drama called ‘Love Returns Home’ at all.

Hopefully, the power won’t come back!

***

“Ma Er, do you have power at your place?”

When Deng Caihua walked out into the courtyard with her flashlight, an old man in the neighboring courtyard was already standing there, also trying to figure out what was going on.

“No, the TV cut off halfway through.”

The old man was wearing a yellowed undershirt, with a light jacket draped over his shoulders. He was standing on a pile of stones by his courtyard wall, trying to get a higher view to see if any of the neighboring houses had lights on.

All around them was pitch black. The few street lamps that usually lit up at night were now completely off.

“It looks like the whole village lost power,” Ma Er said confidently.

“Why did the power go out? There was no notice!” Deng Caihua was a bit annoyed. It was her first day back, and she hadn’t even gotten to watch her TV drama.

“Maybe there’s a problem with one of the circuits. Don’t worry, the village chief will probably call the power company soon. Everyone should just go to bed, and when we wake up tomorrow morning, it’ll be fixed.”

Tuanjie Village’s power grid was faulty, and power outages happened often, so the villagers were used to it. Since it was late anyway, they figured they might as well go to sleep.

The older generation could tolerate it, but the younger ones, who were glued to their phones, quickly realized that not only was the power out, but there was no internet either. They couldn’t get a signal at all, and it drove them crazy.

But with no signal and no way to make calls, what could they do?

Just sleep. By morning, everything would be back to normal. That became the consensus throughout the village.

That night, Su Su chose to sleep with her grandmother, while Su Aobai stayed in his room alone. He looked out from the second-floor bedroom, gazing at the pitch-black village, deep in thought.

Wait, what was there for me to worry about?