Additional Inheritance - Chap 36
Chapter 36
It had been a month since Luo Rui’s bakery opened. Business in the first month was especially prosperous and both him and his store assistants were so busy that they felt dizzy and dazed. Net profit totalled 30,000 yuan after balancing the books at the end of the month; he felt so ecstatic that he was nearly jumping for joy.
Wen Xiaohui supported his chin with his hand as he looked at Luo Rui. “Your accounts haven’t been fully reconciled yet. Also, don’t forget that you spent more than 700,000 yuan on shop fittings.”
“Don’t dampen my spirits, okay? Based on this trend, it won’t be long until I earn back the shopfitting funds.”
“Business for newly opened stores is generally better because of the novelty factor. It starts to cool down afterwards.”
“What the hell is wrong with you today? Why is everything you say so negative?” Luo Rui rolled his eyes at him. “You seem so down. Hasn’t it always been your goal to train abroad? I thought you’d be really excited about it.”
“I am really excited.” Wen Xiaohui hadn’t even moved and his expression resembled a dead fish.
“How could anyone tell that you’re excited?!” Luo Rui couldn’t bear it anymore and he rubbed Wen Xiaohui’s hair roughly. “What the hell is wrong with you?! You look tired every day. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that you were expecting.”
“What the fuck?! Do I even have that organ?” Wen Xiaohui stared at Luo Rui, wanting to pour his heart out. However, when he gave it some more consideration, he’d already made a promise to Sydney, so he dejectedly swallowed it back into his stomach.
Luo Rui stared at him as he crossed his arms. “Do you have something that you want to tell me?”
“Yeah, but I promised somebody that I’d keep it a secret.”
“Does it have something to do with Luo Yi?”
“How did you know?”
“Is there anyone else who could trouble you as much other than Luo Yi?”
Wen Xiaohui let out a hollow laugh, and he exclaimed, “When did Luo Yi become the source of my worries?”
“Oh, I’ve just remembered – you recently said that you’ll invite Sydney out for a chat. Based on my calculations, you should have already met. Could it be that…” Luo Rui immediately lowered his voice, “This is what’s troubling you?”
Wen Xiaohui widened his eyes. “Xiao Ma, I underestimated your IQ in the past, but you’re actually wise despite appearances1.”
Luo Rui smacked him across the head. “Who are you calling stupid?”
“I was complimenting you when I said you were wise despite appearances!”
Luo Rui sat in front of him. “It’s not like you told me. I was the one who figured it out, so you should be able to talk about it?”
Wen Xiaohui pondered, but he still ended up shaking his head.
“Then I’ll continue to guess?”
Wen Xiaohui nodded while hanging his head dejectedly.
“Sydney’s ex-husband’s death is related to Luo Yi?”
“It’s somewhat related.”
Luo Rui said with caution, “How much?”
“I can’t elaborate, but it wasn’t against the law. He played a role in adding fuel to the fire2.”
“What do you think then?”
“I can’t ask Luo Yi because I promised Sydney that I wouldn’t tell anyone.”
“It’s good that you didn’t ask.” Luo Rui twisted his fingers together. “Luo Yi is a little scary… He’s really nice to you, but he has such a paranoid personality when it comes to other people, especially those who don’t get along with you.”
Feeling annoyed, Wen Xiaohui replied, “What do you mean by paranoid personality? You shouldn’t say things carelessly if you don’t understand.”
Luo Rui retorted, “Why are you mean to me? You’ve been so vicious recently.”
Wen Xiaohui said, feeling a tinge of guilt, “I’m sorry. I’m feeling troubled and I didn’t do it on purpose.”
Luo Rui sighed. “It really is troubling.”
“I think that going abroad is a good opportunity for me to maintain some distance from Luo Yi and I’ll be able to cool down. Perhaps, he’ll be more mature by the time I return.”
“Yeah, it’ll be good to separate for a period of time. It’s such a pity that you and Li Shuo have just started to make some progress, but if you leave, you won’t know what you’ll come back to.”
“It’s up to fate. He said that he’d go to the US to visit me.”
“I’ll come to see you too if I’m free.” Luo Rui chuckled, “And take the opportunity to have some fun.”
“Having fun is the most important reason…” Wen Xiaohui hadn’t finished speaking when he looked out the window and saw two familiar people flitting past. He immediately stood up and ran to the window.
“What’s up?”
Luo Rui came closer. “Oh, isn’t that the person we met last time – Mr Cao? Maybe his office is nearby? I saw him walking past a few days ago.”
“Yeah, it’s Mr Cao.” Wen Xiaohui’s expression looked serious.
“Who is the lady beside him? She looks really beautiful.”
“That’s Sun Ying, my sister’s friend.” It was Sun Ying who personally delivered Luo Yaya’s suicide note to him. He hated her so much that he would have almost forgotten about her if he hadn’t seen her again today.
“Oh, it’s the woman that you mentioned before, the one who was someone’s mistress and used to run a beauty parlour.”
“Yeah, my sister worked at hers at the beginning. It was Sun Ying who led her astray.”
Mr Cao and Sun Ying were walking past the back of the bakery when Mr Cao received a phone call and he stopped at the side of the street. They couldn’t see Mr Cao’s expression, but Sun Ying was facing them and she looked serious. Mr Cao hung up after a while and he said something to Sun Ying. The mood seemed to be frosty.
“They look like they might be arguing.”
Wen Xiaohui frowned and asked, “Why are they together?” The only thing that they had in common was Yaya, but Yaya had been gone for over a year. The contract for the inheritance and the guardianship agreement were already signed, but they still appeared together. Why? Wen Xiaohui’s intuition told him that it was related to Yaya and Luo Yi. He hesitated momentarily before saying, “Luo Rui, can you pack two pieces of cake into a box for me? The cheapest and most stale ones will do – the type that you’ll have to throw away tomorrow if you can’t sell it today.”
“Oh?”
Wen Xiaohui already ran outside as soon as he finished speaking. He shouted out a greeting from afar. “Mr Cao.”
Both Cao Hai and Sun Ying turned their heads simultaneously and they looked shocked when they saw Wen Xiaohui. They didn’t have time to hide their expressions which seemed as though they’d seen a ghost; they looked alarmed and guilty.
Wen Xiaohui was also startled by their facial expressions.
“Mr… Mr Wen, how come you’re here?” Cao Hai suddenly recalled something, “Ah, your friend opened a…”
“Patisserie.” Wen Xiaohui pointed behind him. “Is your office nearby?”
“Yes, it’s at the top of the street.”
Sun Ying stared at Wen Xiaohui as she appeared very uneasy, not knowing whether to speak or not.
Wen Xiaohui couldn’t be bothered to deal with her. “Do you want to come inside?”
“It’s fine, we still have things to do.”
Wen Xiaohui’s eyes scanned their faces, and he said bluntly, “What’s up? Is it related to my sister? Or does it have something to do with Luo Yi?”
Neither of them expected Wen Xiaohui to be so direct in his questioning, which gave them a shock. Cao Hai replied with a forced smile, “No, I’ve always been friends with Mrs Luo and Sun-jie. We met up today to catch up.”
Wen Xiaohui responded with a single “oh” which seemed to suggest that he didn’t believe Cao Hai. Luo Yi had mentioned before that Cao Hai coveted the assets left behind by Yaya, so Wen Xiaohui was on his guard against him. Needless to say that Sun Ying was also a scheming kind of woman and he had the feeling that they were up to no good whenever they were together.
Luo Rui brought out two cakes.
Wen Xiaohui took the cake. “My friend made these cakes. You should try some.”
Cao Hai thanked him and accepted the cake courteously.
Sun Ying hesitated for a moment before she accepted the cake. She said quietly, “Thanks.” However, she seemed too anxious to look at Wen Xiaohui.
Wen Xiaohui waved. “You should get back to what you were doing. Mr Cao, if you’re free, please let the staff from your office come more often so that they can help out my friend’s business.”
“Of course.”
After both of them left, Wen Xiaohui asked, “Were they the cheapest and most stale?”
Luo Rui gestured ‘okay’ as he winked.
“Oh, that’s great. Hopefully they’ll have diarrhoea tomorrow after eating it today.”
“How could that be possible? Everything I make is very safe and hygienic. You’ll have to add the laxatives yourself if you want that effect.”
“I don’t have any to hand.”
“What the heck? Why do you hate them so much?”
“I shouldn’t have to say anything about that bitch – Sun Ying. My sister didn’t like studying, so she dropped out of school and started working. Maybe she wouldn’t have turned out this way if she didn’t end up at Sun Ying’s store. She disgusts me. Afterwards, Luo Yi told me that Mr Cao also had bad intentions. In any case, getting together with Sun Ying can’t result in anything good.”
“Why did you still give them cake?”
“So that I could speak to them. It was also an opportunity to promote your bakery. Cao Hai’s law firm is on the same street. That’s around a hundred people.”
“Baby’s so smart.”
“Of course. I have to tell Luo Yi about this. Who knows what they were talking about?” He took his mobile phone out and sent Luo Yi a text message asking him to come to Luo Rui’s bakery after his classes finished.”
Luo Rui said, “Should we have hotpot here?”
“Sure.”
Luo Rui clapped his hands happily, bouncing away as he went to prepare the hotpot.
After Wen Xiaohui finished recounting what had happened during the day, he watched Luo Yi’s expression while he was eating.
Luo Yi didn’t really react and he only said, “Oh.”
“You don’t really seem to care.” Wen Xiaohui reminded him by saying, “Did you forget that Cao Hai was unhappy with the distribution of my sister’s estate?”
“That’s right, but I can’t see how his meeting with Sun Ying has anything to do with this. He has known Sun Ying for a few years, so maybe they are just catching up?”
Although Wen Xiaohui thought it was a little odd, he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was odd about it. He pondered, “Sun Ying gave my sister’s suicide note to me.”
“Yeah, Mr Cao asked her to meet you. He thought that it would be best to have someone you know approach you. It would be too cruel for you to hear the news from a lawyer.”
“Oh.” Wen Xiaohui thought to himself that perhaps he really was being oversensitive. “In any case, you should take care because I’m going to the US and leaving you on your own.”
“Don’t worry, I’m capable of looking after myself.”
In reality, Wen Xiaohui knew that Luo Yi could look after himself despite what he said. Luo Yi was even capable of taking care of others, such as Wen Xiaohui. However, Wen Xiaohui found it hard to accept Luo Yi’s methods.
As Wen Xiaohui was eating, his mobile phone rang and he picked it up to see who was calling. The call was from Li Shuo. He wasn’t sure why he was hesitant to answer in front of Luo Yi.
Luo Yi, who was sitting next to him, glanced over. “Is it Li Shuo? Why aren’t you answering?”
Wen Xiaohui cleared his throat and answered the call. “Hi, Li-dage.”
“Xiaohui, I’m on XX Street on some work business. I remember Luo Rui said that his bakery was nearby. Has it closed yet? I have a sudden urge to try his cakes.”
“Erm, not yet.”
“Please text me the address.”
Wen Xiaohui thought about how Li Shuo was coming over, but when he realised that he might run into Luo Yi, he no longer wanted him to come. However, he couldn’t lie in front of Luo Rui and Luo Yi, and he could only say, “Sure… Luo Rui and I are at the bakery.”
“What a coincidence! How about I take you both to dinner?”
“Oh, there’s no need. We’ve already finished eating, but I still have to help him perform some reconciliations tonight.”
“Do you need me to help?”
“It’s fine, we’re nearly done. I’ll send you the address.”
“Let him come and eat with us,” said Luo Yi suddenly.
Wen Xiaohui was surprised.
Luo Yi slowly, but firmly grabbed Wen Xiaohui’s mobile phone and placed it against his ear. He said warmly, “Hi Li-shushu3, I’m Wen Xiaohui’s nephew. We’re eating hotpot with Luo Rui-ge in the kitchen at the back. Do you want to come and join us?”
Li Shuo smiled and replied, “Oh, hi. Hotpot sounds great. I like it a lot.”
Luo Yi told Li Shuo the address. He returned the phone to Wen Xiaohui and smiled.
Both Wen Xiaohui and Luo Rui were dumbstruck and it took them a while before they could react. Wen Xiaohui responded robotically to Li Shuo, “See you in a bit.” He hung up the call and glared at Luo Yi.
Luo Yi smiled and said, “Didn’t you want to see him? It’s a chance for you to become even closer.”
Wen Xiaohui felt a tingling in his scalp; he couldn’t explain why he was so reluctant for Li Shuo and Luo Yi to meet each other. “It’s too shabby to have dinner like this. I’m embarrassed to invite him over.”
“I don’t think he’ll mind.”
Wen Xiaohui took a deep breath and he responded rudely, “Also, I haven’t styled my hair today and I’m wearing an old t-shirt from last year plus flip flops. How could you decide on my behalf?”
Luo Yi froze and said quietly, “I’m sorry, I didn’t think it through.”
Luo Rui looked at Luo Yi’s somewhat pitiful appearance and he immediately tried to smooth things over. “Baby, I have some clothes here that I just bought. How about I lend them to you?”
Wen Xiaohui replied grumpily, “We’re different sizes.”
Luo Rui exclaimed, “Aren’t you only two or three centimetres taller than me? Stop pretending.”
“Two or three centimetres still means that I’m taller than you.”
They started arguing for a little while, which diffused the situation.
Li Shuo was coming around and there wasn’t quite enough food, so Luo Rui went to the local convenience store to buy some more. Luo Yi stared at Wen Xiaohui as he carefully said, “Don’t be angry with me, Xiaohui-ge.”
Wen Xiaohui sighed, “You can’t be like this again.”
“Sure.”
Wen Xiaohui felt as though he was unable to ask and Luo Yi would only provide a cursory response. Luo Yi was the kind of person who would pay lip service – he seemed obedient on the surface, but the things that he did behind people’s back would make your scalp tingle.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing Li Shuo,” said Luo Yi with a smile.
Wen Xiaohui asked, “Why?”
“I’m very curious about the man who managed to captivate you. I’m interested to see how charming he is.”
Wen Xiaohui frowned. “Didn’t you investigate him already?”
“It wasn’t a direct observation; I’ve only seen photos.”
“What’s there to be curious about?”
Luo Yi smiled and said, “We agreed beforehand that I’d give you a second opinion if you were to find a boyfriend. You can’t have forgotten?”
“I haven’t forgotten.”
Luo Rui came back after a while, and Li Shuo arrived soon afterwards.
Both Wen Xiaohui and Luo Rui stood up. “You’re here, Li-dage.”
Li Shuo wore a freshly pressed suit with his jacket draped over his arm. His hair was styled using hair gel and there wasn’t a single hair that was out of place. He appeared mature, refined and dashingly handsome.
Luo Yi narrowed his eyes slightly in the split second that he saw Li Shuo.
“Hi everyone, sorry to sponge off you.”
Luo Rui laughed, “You’re very welcome. Our kitchen is too small, I’m worried about being a poor host.”
“Not at all. I think it’s very homely like this.” Li Shuo’s line of vision landed on Luo Yi, and he stretched out his hand. “Hi, you must be Xiaohui’s nephew.”
Luo Yi reached out to shake his hand, showing the kind of sunny smile that was only befitting of young people. “Hi, Li-shushu.”
Wen Xiaohui watched both of them as his heart started pounding.
“I didn’t know that you had a nephew who is so old already. He’s very handsome. How old are you? You must be really popular at school.”
Wen Xiaohui smiled. “He’s 16.”
“I’m 17 according to the traditional Chinese way of measurement4,” added Luo Yi.
Li Shuo laughed, “I used to tell people I was a few years older when I was your age. I think once I reach 30, I’ll try to say as small a number as possible.”
Luo Yi had a slight smile on his face, but he remained silent.
“Come quick, I’m going to add the tripe.” Luo Rui said to Li Shuo, “Do you eat tripe, Li-dage?”
“I do”
“A lot of foreigners don’t eat offal.”
“Growing up in a country where people primarily eat bread and hamburgers, I think that everything here tastes great and I’m not picky with food.”
Everyone broke out into laughter.
Li Shuo was a well-learned and witty man, and they had a great time chatting. Luo Yi seemed to be very interested in Li Shuo’s field of work and he asked many questions while Li Shuo answered them patiently.
Luo Rui and a shop assistant cleared the table after dinner. Luo Yi said as he smiled, “Li-shushu, my uncle’s going to the US soon for further training. Will you visit him frequently?”
Li Shuo replied, “I’ll go back to the US when I have spare time, but I’ll ask a friend to look after him when I’m not around.”
Wen Xiaohui said, “Thanks.”
“You’re asking a friend to look after him. Would you be able to relax?”
Li Shuo didn’t react for a little while. “Huh?”
Luo Yi curled his lips into a smile. “My uncle’s beautiful and cute. Aren’t you worried that someone will snatch him away?”
Wen Xiaohui immediately felt awkward and he gave Luo Yi a push. He said as he pretended to be angry, “What are you talking about?”
Li Shuo was a bit surprised and he raised his eyebrow. “Oh, you’re aware that Xiaohui’s…”
Luo Yi smiled and said, “There isn’t anything that we can’t talk about.”
It was Li Shuo’s turn to feel a little awkward since he still viewed Luo Yi as a child, but he calmed down quickly. “Distance and the passage of time aren’t an issue if Xiaohui and I have fate. But it’s a good reminder and I’ll try my best to find a straight friend to look after him.” He smiled and winked as he finished speaking.
Wen Xiaohui said in embarrassment, “The kid’s only joking. Don’t pay him any attention, Li-dage.”
“It’s fine – he’s really amusing.”
“A girl would be best because my uncle likes the handsome ones.”
Wen Xiaohui felt a little humiliated. He yelled, “Luo Yi, stop spouting rubbish.”
Luo Yi shrugged, as he put on a look of innocence.
Li Shuo replied charmingly, “Sure.”
After Luo Rui finished clearing everything away, Li Shuo asked, “Did you mention that you’re doing account reconciliations?”
“Yeah. The bakery’s been open for a month, so I’m planning to reconcile the accounts.” Luo Rui scratched his head. “It’s so annoying that there’s still 3,000 entries that I can’t match. How about we just leave it?”
“How can you just leave it? How could anyone do such a half-assed job like you?” Wen Xiaohui said, “I’ll help you take another look.”
“You’re not precise enough in your calculations. You’re just the same as me5.”
“That’s why I called Luo Yi over. He frequently gets full marks in maths.”
Li Shuo laughed, “Why don’t you let me try? I perform reconciliations for a living.”
Luo Rui waved his hands in the air repeatedly. “It’s fine. I can’t ask you to perform the reconciliations for such a small store. It’s a waste of talent.”
Li Shuo replied warmly, “It’s not a problem. It should be pretty easy to reconcile the accounts for one month. Besides, I don’t have any plans tonight. Just treat it as payment for dinner.”
Luo Rui felt a little embarrassed and he glanced at Wen Xiaohui. “Sorry to trouble you then.”
He placed the messy pile of account ledgers and debit cards in front of Li Shuo.
Li Shuo rolled up his sleeves and he gently tugged on his tie. It was clearly an offhand gesture, but it still appeared extremely sexy, and the two young, gay men nearly drooled.
Li Shuo flipped through the pile of papers, taking a fountain pen out of his suit jacket and said with a smile, “It’s been a few years since I last performed calculations on paper. Your accounting system is too primitive.”
Luo Rui scratched his head. “I actually have a system that integrates the payment system with the accounts, but I don’t have a clue how to use it. It’s expensive to hire an accountant…”
“There’ll be a training session on Saturday for entrepreneurs of small and medium sized companies. A friend of mine organised it to promote their accountancy software. It’s completely free of charge. You should go on the course and try out his software if you think it’s suitable. The free edition should be sufficient for a simple business like yours.”
“Okay, that sounds great.”
When Li Shuo finished talking, he started to classify all the accounting entries and sorted the receipts. Finally, he concentrated on performing the reconciliations.
The three of them watched from the side.
The accounting ledgers, receipts, glue, thumbtacks and elastic bands were normally such insignificant items of office stationery, but in Li Shuo’s hands, they exuded a certain glamour that made it difficult for people to look away. Anything that Li Shuo’s slender and well-kempt fingers touched was instantly transformed. Within half an hour, Li Shuo had sorted the hideously messy pile of papers.
Wen Xiaohui and Luo Rui were stunned.
Li Shuo’s head was lowered as he prepared the accounts, and he said, “Lots of people think that numbers are really boring, but I love numbers. Numbers can’t lie and they’re bound by rules. Being able to sort through the chaos gives you a sense of accomplishment. When I was choosing my specialism at university, I hesitated between accountancy and programming. In the end, I followed my father’s advice and chose accountancy.” He lifted his head up and smiled. “Numbers have the power to create miracles.”
His smile was unrestrained and handsome, delivering a blow to Wen Xiaohui’s heart. It shocked him such much that his whole body seemed to shake. He exclaimed in admiration, “You’re so amazing. I want to die when it comes to maths.”
Luo Yi remained silent to the side; his expression becoming increasingly unfathomable.
Li Shuo worked diligently for two hours until he finally rectified the accounts with a final reconciling difference of merely 12 yuan. It was most likely caused by Luo Rui forgetting that he’d spent the money.
Luo Rui was so excited that he gave Li Shuo a round of applause, and he stared at Li Shuo with a look of worship. “Li-dage, you’re so awesome. It’s a pity I can’t afford to hire you. Wait for me to expand my business and I’ll hire your accountancy firm to help me prepare the accounts.”
Li Shuo laughed, “Great. Don’t forget to go on the course.”
“Okay.”
Wen Xiaohui said, “You’ve worked hard today, Li-dage. How much do you charge for two hours of work?”
Li Shuo smiled and replied, “You can’t put a price on friendship. Just give me a cake free of charge.”
“No problem, I’ll get one for you now!” Luo Rui turned and left to grab the cake.
Li Shuo stretched his arms in the air to loosen his muscles. “It’s nearly time for me to head home. Let me take you all home.”
“It’s fine – Luo Yi cycled here, so we’ll go back together. Luo Rui can walk back because his house is nearby.”
“Okay then.”
Luo Rui packaged up a big box of cakes for Li Shuo. Li Shuo grinned as he accepted it, and then he left.
Watching Li Shuo’s departing back view, Luo Rui said with infatuation, “He’s the perfect male god.”
Luo Yi replied with a faint smile, “No wonder Xiaohui-ge likes more mature men. He’s very charming indeed.”
Wen Xiaohui said gloomily, “Why the heck did you say those things to him? Do you know how embarrassing it was?”
“What do you mean? I said a lot of things today, so I can’t quite remember.”
“You… Oh, forget it!”
“Let’s go home.”
They left the bakery after saying goodbye to Luo Rui. They ate too much that evening, so Luo Yi didn’t cycle and he walked alongside Wen Xiaohui as he pushed his bicycle.
Even though Wen Xiaohui felt that Luo Yi’s words today were a little strange, he didn’t go too overboard, and he was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.
Luo Yi remained silent for a while before saying, “Xiaohui-ge, it looks like Li Shuo likes you.”
“Really? I’m not sure.”
“His firm is so large that it only does the accounting for companies with over 100 million yuan. He spent two hours sorting the accounts of a small bakery today. It’s an understatement to use the phrase a waste of talent to describe it. It’s practically using a sledgehammer to crack a nut6. Of course, he did all of this to get in your good books.”
Wen Xiaohui felt both ashamed and delighted at the same time, and he didn’t know how to react.
“Of course, there’s still another possibility.” Luo Yi smiled.
“Oh, what is it?”
“Erm, forget I said anything.”
“How could I forget it?”
Luo Yi smiled as he shook his head. “It’s fine, just forget it.”
“How could you be like this? You only told me half and left me hanging.”
Feeling helpless, Luo Yi replied, “I told you not to think too much about it.”
“Tell me.”
“There’s another possibility – he might be interested in Luo Rui.”
Wen Xiaohui was shocked. “Really? How can you tell?”
“He went to Luo Rui’s on purpose for cake and he helped Luo Rui prepare the accounts. It’s not too much of a stretch to say that he’s interested in Luo Rui.” Luo Yi’s bright and shiny eyes blinked. “Xiaohui-ge, you need to pay close attention to this.”
Footnotes:
大智若愚 means someone who is truly smart may seem foolish on the surface (idiom). It may refer to the fact that those who are wise don’t need to show off.
推波助澜, to push the waves and add to billows means that someone is instigating or encouraging something from the sidelines (idiom). It has a negative connotation. The closest English equivalent is adding fuel to the fire. The idiom originates from the Sui dynasty (581-617AD).
叔叔/shushu means uncle (specifically younger paternal uncle) and in this context, it is used by a young person to address a man who is one generation older. I’m keeping Li-shushu since the term is commonly used to describe Li Shuo, especially in Winner Takes All. The Chinese word for uncle that Luo Yi uses to address Wen Xiaohui (舅舅) is different because it refers to a maternal uncle. I will keep this in English to avoid confusion.
虚岁 is a traditional Chinese way of calculating someone’s age where you age at the start of the Chinese lunar calendar instead of your birth month. In alternative Chinese measurements of age, a baby is born when they’re one because it counts the time that they spend in the womb. In any case, Luo Yi is trying to make himself feel better by adding on a year.
半斤八两 refers to two people having similar strengths (idiom). The literal translation means that half a jin (a traditional unit of weight, consisting of 16 liang) is the same as eight liang. The idiom originates from the Song Dynasty 960–1279 AD and was popularised as the title of a Cantonese song in the 1970s by Sam Hui, where he laments the tough lives of working people.
打大象的枪打蚂蚁, the raws uses the term shooting ants with the same gun that’s used for shooting elephants.
