Chapter 182: The Free Babysitter Part 1
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Shania, whom he had once lived with for over ten days, who had ran over to Spain from England, whom he had secretly considered taking in, was currently standing in front of him and smiling with both hands behind her back. She was very happy that she had been able to shock Tang En.
It was as though all of his memories from last summer had been blown past his eyes; he almost did not dare to believe what he was seeing.
"What's going on? Did we go back in time?" He furrowed his brows and muttered, before immediately nodding his head. "That's right, I know... Of course I know how to get to Branford Garden Street 13. Are you looking for your aunt?
Shania giggled and said, "No, I'm looking for Uncle Tony. Is he not in?"
Tang En rolled his eyes, before opening the door at a lightning fast speed, rushing into the house, and closing the door. Afterwards, he immediately opened the door again and snuck his head out to take a peak. That was when Tang En saw Shania and said to her, "I heard that a young girl was looking for me? Ah! Look who's here!" He opened the door and walked out of the house with his arms spread wide. "Shania! Why did you come here?"
Tang En's exaggerated body language and expressions made it seem as though he was acting in a play. The sight caused Shania to giggle uncontrollably.
"You didn't run away from home again, did you? You're a bad kid…"
Shania pouted. "I didn't. They approved my visit to England this time. And I didn't come here just for a vacation. I might be staying in England for a long time this time.
"Hm?" Tang En felt slight bewildered, and sought further clarification.
"Because they're both very busy with their work, they feel that they don't have the time and energy to take care of me. Hence, they decided to send me to my aunt's house in England, and I'll be attending school here…"
"You're planning to quit modelling?"
"I'm still continuing. There are models in both England and Brazil… It's the same everywhere." Shania shrugged. The moment they talked about models, her excitement level dropped drastically. She quickly changed to another conversation topic. "I went to my aunt's house at Newcastle first, before coming here. Because of my good performance, I have an entire summer to plan! This time, I want to stay at your place for free, and then we can go to Spain to play. But I don't want to go to some football field this time…"
The moment she mentioned playing, Shania's excitement level rose back up again.
However, Tang En became anxious instead after hearing about it. With Shania by his side, his plan to have a one-night stand at Spain's nude beach would have to be called off. He couldn't possibly flirt with a half-naked girl in front of a child, right? That was simply unimaginable.
"Um… Come on in first. Of course I won't collect money from you. You can stay for as long as you want. After all, the house is pretty empty with me being the only person living here." After welcoming Shania in, Tang En took the bag from her hand. The bag was not as heavy as he had thought it would be. It most likely had clothes and toys inside.
Upon entering the room, Shania abandoned Tang En and ran upstairs. The thumping of her footsteps resounded over Tang En's head. Afterwards, he heard Shania shout loudly, "Totoro!"
Tang En, who was downstairs, started to smile. He had kept that toy all the while, leaving it in the room that Shania had once stayed in. The furniture and decoration of that room remained untouched. Aside from the weekly cleaning by the cleaners that he had hired, even Tang En himself rarely entered the room.
The thumping footsteps resounded again. This time, Shania came running down the stairs while hugging Totoro. She said happily to Tang En, "I thought you'd have thrown it away, Uncle Tony!"
Tang En scratched his head and replied, "Why would I do that… It doesn't even take up much space. Plus, I personally don't have a habit of throwing things away. But I do have a bad habit of picking up things that I see on the street, such as you…" Tang En said with a frown on his face, as he pointed at Shania.
Shania hid behind Totoro, leaving only her eyes exposed as she looked at Tang En timidly.
He did not know why, but whenever Shania looked at him like that, Tang En's heart would suddenly tighten its grip, and an inexplicable feeling would come over him.
Seeing Tang En suddenly staring at her dazedly, Shania slowly shifted Totoro upwards until it completely covered her face. Afterwards, she started to imitate the sound which Totoro made in the cartoon. "Uwaaa Uwaaa..."
After he had snapped out of it, Tang En saw Shania and laughed embarrassedly. "How long will you be staying in England for?"
"I don't know, maybe two years, or maybe I'll just stay here forever!" Shania said as she hid behind Totoro.
After hearing her reply, Tang En muttered, "That would be really good…" What was so good about it? He could not put it into words.
A short moment of silence suddenly enveloped the room; neither of them uttered a word.
"Um, are you tired?" Tang En was slightly at a loss for what to say. Shania's arrival had surprised him. After his initial excitement, it was apparent that he was somewhat unprepared for it.
"I'm not tired." Shania turned around and ran up the stairs again. It was highly likely that she had returned to her room to unpack her bag. Tang En seized that opportunity to sit in the living room as he wondered about how he was going to spend the holiday. It was apparent that Shania would definitely be with him during the holiday, so Spain was out of the question. The plan of going to Italy or other countries to visit their football fields was impossible too. Last summer, upon returning from Spain, Tang En had only had the chance to reflect on his actions after Shania left. He realized that he only cared about himself at that moment, and had completely overlooked Shania's feelings. She had originally wanted to play with Tang En, and it was not her intentions to become someone to be compared against.
But he really did not have any experience dealing with kids… What was he supposed to do with a young teenage girl beside him?
While Tang En was still deep in thought and had not had any ideas at all, Shania walked down the stairs with a phone in her hand.
"My dad wants to speak with you."
Tang En received the phone, and the sound of a man's polite voice came from the other end. "Hello, Mr Twain? This is Shania's father. I'm so sorry that she's troubling you again."
What ensued was just some idle chatter. In short, her father was saying that his daughter was rather mischievous, and that he hoped she wouldn't cause Tang En too much trouble.
After hanging up, Tang En looked at Shania and said, "I feel like I've become your free babysitter."
Shania smiled. "You mean sugar daddy!"
Tang En raised his hands and made a knocking gesture towards her head. "I'm not one of those old men who curry favor with girls by buying expensive gifts."
Shania raised the Totoro soft toy high in the air, until it completely blocked her face. Afterwards, she shouted excitedly, "This is the proof!"
Tang En shrugged his shoulders. "But it is not valuable."
"No!" Shania shouted. "This is very valuable to me!"
This girl… Tang En did not continue to debate with her on the matter. "Hmm, Shania… I don't think we can go to Spain anymore."
"Why?" She replied dejectedly.
Even Tang En could not quite explain the specific reason for it. Perhaps it was because going to the same place for two consecutive trips would bore him. However, he could not say that to Shania. His eyes suddenly lit up, and he thought of a rather ingenious idea. "Because I thought of an even better place than Spain."
"And where is that?"
"China!" Tang En had decided to secretly pay a visit to his parents from his past life, and at the same time show Shania around to appreciate China's scenery. Sichuan Province had beautiful scenery, and was definitely a good place for them to spend their holidays touring.
Shania's reaction was beyond Tang En's expectations; she was very happy, and she exclaimed excitedly, "Awesome! I've been wanting to go since forever!"
"Ah?"
"Because I'm of a Chinese descent! People say that I look like an Easterner all the time!"
"Resembling one doesn't necessarily mean that you're of Chinese descent…"
It would have to be such a distant Chinese descent that by the time it reached Shania's generation, there would be nothing much left to speak of. Aside from her facial features and her eyes still retaining some semblance of it, no matter which direction one looked from, they would not be able relate her to China.
However, this additional connection instantly made Tang En feel much closer to Shania. Even though he was currently British, that did not prevent him from taking a liking to everything related to China. After all, he was still Chinese through and through.
"That's right. I was worried that you wouldn't be willing to travel to somewhere that far." Tang En started to call the airline company, making reservations for flights flying from London to Hong Kong in two days.
Shania laughed from the side as she watched Tang En make the call. It seemed like she was looking forward to the trip. Tang En stole a glance at her and thought, "What a small kid..." She was just like Tang En when he was young. Whenever he heard that they were going to the city market, Tang En would become elated. As long as he could leave his house and go to an unfamiliar environment, he would be thrilled.
Although Shania had the height of an adult female, she was still a fourteen year-old girl. She still liked things that girls her age liked, and hated things that they hated.
Tang En had not expected that his soft-heartedness in the heat of the moment would have caused him to become a free baby sitter. But Tang En liked taking care of kids like her. That's right, he liked it a lot!
That night, the two of them went to the Chinese restaurant where the team had gone the other day to celebrate their promotion to the Premier League. Tang En told Shania that it was called a "welcoming dinner" in China, a formal dinner hosted to welcome guests that had come from afar. At the dining table, Tang En took the opportunity to explain some China-related things to Shania: China's food and drink, China's local customs, the etiquette and taboos in China…Tang En regarded this as a cultural lesson that would be her tuition before they went China.
It was evident that Tang En, who had drank some red wine, had gotten a little too excited; he spoke much more than he usually did. He even started talking about the gimmicks he employed in the Cardiff Millennium stadium, causing Shania to laugh uncontrollably.
Tang En was surprised to find that the sight of Shania chuckling at the table had caused him to be a great sense of accomplishment. The feeling was actually comparable to the feeling of leading the team and winning a match!
Tang En scratched his head, thinking that he perhaps had had a drink too many.