Heavenly Cripple and Earthly Deficiency, First and Second Under Heaven

It was six o'clock in the evening when I returned to the restaurant. Jason, the black kid, sat obediently on a chair to the right of the main entrance, not daring to move a muscle.

Looking at the terrified expression in his eyes as he stared at Thor, who was lying lazily on the ground, I suspected the kid had suffered quite a bit. Hadn't you noticed that JJ wasn't even looking at him anymore?

Across the street, a few gang youths whose attire made one wish they were buried in the dirt were peeking and peering about. Seeing Alvin drive back, they wanted to cross the road to strike up a conversation.

But before their feet could even touch the asphalt, they were scared back by Dom, who had stood up with a cruel look in his eyes. I ignored them; they were just a bunch of small-time thugs, and I had more important things to do.

My girl was hungry. I had to feed her first before I could chat with these punks.

Carrying Ginny in one arm with Jessica following behind, I pushed open the restaurant door. All the lights in the restaurant were on, and acquaintances from the nearby blocks had all rushed over; the brightly lit scene looked like some kind of celebration. As I walked in with Ginny, several "bang, bang, bang" explosions rang out, and countless ribbons rained down from above.

Led by Old Kent, everyone shouted in unison, "Welcome our princess, the princess of Hell's Kitchen!"

Ginny was a bit shy and buried her head in my neck, not daring to meet so many people's gazes. I laughed out loud and shouted, "Thank you all for coming today! To celebrate me having a daughter, all the beer is on the house!"

I turned to Jessica and yelled, "No steaks today, girl. Put on some music and let everyone have a good time."

Excited and laughing, Jessica rushed over to an antique jukebox. She turned on the machine, which I usually didn't allow anyone to touch. Many of the album covers inside were too faded to see clearly, but Jessica picked one at random and started it up.

I loved old things, and this record player was one of my prized possessions. What was precious wasn't the machine, but the records inside; many were already out of print. Whatever Jessica picked was bound to be a classic.

The magnetic voice of the Spaniard Julio Iglesias drifted out from the machine.

Hey

It's wonderful to see you once again

To see your smile and

Hear you call my name

There is so much to say

Hey

It isn't accidental that we met

Your love is something

That I can't forget

So I wander your way

Although the song didn't quite match the atmosphere of the scene, who cared? It sounded really good.

I carried Ginny to the bar, sat her on the counter, and poured her a glass of lemonade.

Nick, that naughty little rascal, hopped over on one leg and found me. Grinning with a mouth missing two front teeth, he shouted, "Alvin, the attic belongs to me starting today, right?"

I smiled and ruffled his black curly hair. "Yes, Mr. Cast. The entire attic belongs to you now. Hey, come meet our new member, my daughter, Ginny Ye."

I looked at Ginny and said, "Ginny, meet my good buddy, Nick Cast. He's a real tough guy. You should call him brother or Nick."

The two little ones sized each other up for a while. Ginny was particularly curious about why Nick only had one leg.

The outgoing Nick happily said to Ginny, "You're my little sister! Wow, I have a little sister now! Ginny, you're so pretty, prettier than any of the girls in my class."

Ginny covered her face, feeling a bit shy, but peeked through the wide gaps between her fingers at Nick, who was hopping around on one leg, trying to make her laugh.

Ginny asked curiously, "Nick, leg, different?" This innocent girl thought everyone who was different from the crowd was just like her.

Nick laughed triumphantly and said, "Alvin said that in China, there was a great hero who cut off his own arm to master a peerless sword technique, becoming the world's number one expert with the nickname 'Heavenly Cripple'."

"I'm missing a leg. When I grow up and master peerless martial arts, I'll work hard to become the world's number two. My nickname will be 'Earthly Defect'."

"Hahaha, when that time comes, I'll beat up everyone who ever bullied me and let them know the power of 'Earthly Defect'."

Ginny looked at this future world's number two with admiration and said, "Nick, so cool."

It was the first time Nick had been complimented so straightforwardly, and he said a bit bashfully, "I'm not cool yet, but I will be in the future."

Seeing the two little ones getting along well made me happy, but as a parent from my past life in China, I couldn't help but ask the buzzkill question: "World's number two expert, Mr. Cast, have you finished your homework?"

Whether homework was done or not was always an issue for a rascal.

Nick clutched his head and complained painfully, "Alvin, why don't you fire our math teacher? The homework she assigns every day is just too much and too hard. I don't think I can finish it even by tomorrow."

I checked my watch, tapped the face, and said, "It's six o'clock now. Go have some fun, eat some pizza, and go upstairs to do your homework at 7:30. If you can finish by 9 o'clock, I reckon you can still come down and watch some excitement."

Nick punched the air excitedly and yelled, "Wow, Alvin, you're going to teach those idiots outside a lesson, right? Are you going to beat them up hard? Wow, I have to finish my homework quickly!"

With that, Nick shouted to Jessica, who was being pulled into a conversation by several women, "Jess, I'm going to do my homework! Can you help me bring up a few slices of pizza? I'm in a hurry."

Jessica, deep in conversation, waved her hand impatiently to show she understood. Nick hopped upstairs, but before leaving, he reminded me, "Wait for me to finish my homework before you teach them a lesson! You have to wait for me!"

Watching Nick, who was about her age, leave, Ginny looked at me with a hint of disappointment.

I smiled and flicked her pert little nose. "Look at my little princess, what do you want to eat? I'll make you my signature pasta with my special meat sauce, okay?"

Ginny nodded expectantly, cupped her chin in her hands, and said a bit shyly, "Ginny, eat lots."

I pressed my forehead against Ginny's, bumped our noses affectionately, and smiled. "Alvin can make lots, Ginny can eat lots."

When Ginny wolfed down a triple portion of meat sauce pasta, I was a bit surprised and gently poked her slightly protruding little belly with my finger.

Ginny giggled, ticklish, and waved her hands to fend off my touch.

I looked at Ginny with a smile and said, "Ginny is the best, you can eat so much. Even Daddy isn't as good as you. But you can't eat too much, or your tummy will hurt."

Ginny covered her belly with both hands, giggled triumphantly, and said, "Ginny eat, three days no hunger, Ginny strong. Daddy, yummy!"

I felt as if my nose had been struck by a sledgehammer. The intense bitterness made me, a self-proclaimed tough guy, well up with tears.

One meal lasting three days—what kind of life was that? My fat son in my past life had to eat six meals a day and was still a picky eater.

I desperately held back the tears, a bitter taste rising in my throat.

"Ginny, you won't be hungry anymore. Daddy has lots of good food. If you eat too much, your little tummy will burst." I ruffled Ginny's hair. "Tomorrow, Daddy will make sweet and sour pork ribs and beef stewed with tomatoes for you. Ginny, save some room in your tummy to eat even better food tomorrow."

Ginny opened her big eyes, looked at me expectantly, and opened her arms. "Daddy, hug. Ginny, like, Daddy."