Chapter 10

The final ruling was that the man who had unwittingly become a father did not have to pay child support.

As for the official approval to use "DNA fingerprint testing" for paternity tests in civil cases, that would not be issued until 1992. Preparing and establishing DNA databases nationwide and across provinces and cities was even further off.

The police officers suddenly understood. "You mean fingerprint identification! I know about that, but this technology can tell whether a child is biologically related to their parents too?"

"Of course it can." Huo Baichuan answered with a smile. But he had only mentioned it casually. Establishing a nationwide DNA database was no small task that could be accomplished overnight. It would require enormous financial resources, material resources, police manpower, and effort. It even placed exceptionally high demands on the stability and efficiency of internet base stations. It was not something that could be brought about on a whim.

The two chatted at the police station for a while, then returned to the orphanage carrying the cleaned pots, bowls, and utensils. To their surprise, the orphanage was packed with people.

The old director had brought the four children back from the special education school, and they were eating in the yard with bowls in hand. The neighbors they had run into on the street earlier had also brought little stools and were sitting in the courtyard, eating and chatting. Tao Yan and Huo Baichuan noticed that many people had neither Liangpi in their bowls nor Roujiamo in their hands. Instead, they had poured the leftover braised pork broth from the pork hock over rice, with several brightly colored chunks of tofu in their bowls.

After Tao Yan and Huo Baichuan left, the volunteer aunties had seen that the braised pork broth was still hot and tossed in the previously sliced brined tofu, boiling it for a few more minutes. Just then, the neighbors got word and came over to try it. Drawn by the fragrant, bubbling braised pork broth stewed tofu, many went home to fill a bowl with rice and brought their grandsons and granddaughters over to soak their rice in the broth.

Perhaps because of local eating habits, this Braised-Meat-Broth Tofu Over Rice was actually even more popular than Tao Yan's Roujiamo. A spoonful of reddish-brown braising sauce was poured over plump grains of rice. The broth was thick, filled with all the essence of the braised pork hock. After two and a half hours of simmering over high heat, the stock had become so fresh and rich it could make people swallow their tongues. Whenever someone found a few stray bits of shredded meat in their broth, they acted as though they had won the lottery, immediately cheering with delight.

Still, everyone also loved the sweet, sour, spicy, and fragrant Liangpi. It was so hot in summer that many people had no appetite, and this cool, springy, silky Liangpi was perfect for beating the heat and cutting through grease.

When Aunt Zhao saw Tao Yan and Huo Baichuan entering through the gate with their pots and bowls, she called out, "Why did you two take so long? The Roujiamo has gone cold."

After a pause, Aunt Zhao added, "I saved Liangpi and Roujiamo for you. They're in the dish cabinet. Go eat quickly."

Author's Note:

The information on DNA technology all came from Baidu_(:з"∠)_

Chapter 10

As the saying went, "Half-grown boys can eat their fathers poor." Sixteen- or seventeen-year-old boys were at the age when they could really eat. Worried that Tao Yan and Huo Baichuan would not get enough, Aunt Zhao had left them eight Roujiamo and more than half a large basin of Liangpi. The Liangpi was covered in a thick layer of shredded cucumber, shredded carrot, and mung bean sprouts, piled so high it overflowed.

"That's way too much!" Huo Baichuan clicked his tongue. "If we eat all this Liangpi and Roujiamo, we won't have room for Tiger-Tooth Potatoes."

Tao Yan took out a bowl and two pairs of chopsticks from the dish cabinet, rinsed them under the tap, then handed a pair of chopsticks to Huo Baichuan. He picked up two chopstickfuls of Liangpi and vegetables from the basin, put them into the bowl, added the sauce, and mixed it together. "I'll just have this bowl and two Roujiamo. The rest is yours."

"Why are you eating so little? Things aren't like they used to be now. If you keep being such a picky eater, be careful you don't grow any taller!" As Huo Baichuan spoke, he picked out two large chopstickfuls of Liangpi and added them to Tao Yan's bowl, even pressing them down with his chopsticks.

In his previous life, Tao Yan had been well fed, drank a glass of milk every day, and ran several kilometers every morning, yet had only barely grown to 180.1 centimeters. Looking at the bowl heaped full of Liangpi, he hesitated for a long time before finally leaving it alone.

Huo Baichuan was right. It concerned a man's dignity. If he could avoid being a picky eater, he should try his best not to be one.

Don't make trouble for your own height.

At that thought, Tao Yan frowned slightly. Looking at Huo Baichuan, who had clearly shrunk by more than half a size but was still around 178 centimeters tall, he could not help asking, "What did you eat growing up? You were already 178 centimeters at fifteen or sixteen." By comparison, Tao Yan had only just passed 172 centimeters at the same age.

"I ate at the school cafeteria, just like you!" Huo Baichuan said with a grin. "But I'm different from you in some ways. I'm not a picky eater, and I love sports—basketball, high jump, pull-ups. Even when I skipped class, I'd climb over the wall and jump out. Unlike you top students, who dared to skip class and walk right out the school gate to an internet café—"

Tao Yan took a deep breath. "I wasn't skipping class. I used study hall time to look up information at the internet café. I asked the teacher for leave."

Huo Baichuan snorted. "If you hadn't asked the teacher for leave, he wouldn't have followed you to the internet café every time to check up on you. What I don't get is why you had to go to the internet café right after me. Couldn't you have gone at another time?"

Because of that, every time Huo Baichuan and his friends skipped class to play games at the internet café, they got caught by the teacher. Every week, they had to write self-criticisms at the flag-raising ceremony.

Tao Yan sighed, explaining helplessly, "There was only so much time during study hall every day..." He also did not understand why Huo Baichuan and his friends could not play games at a different internet café. They always had to go to that one.

"Forget it! I won't hold it against you!" Huo Baichuan snorted and waved a hand. "Anyway, I grew to 190 centimeters because my family has good genes. My dad and grandpa are both tall. Even my mom is 170 centimeters!"

Compared with that, Tao Yan's father, who was only 175 centimeters tall, and his petite mother, who had barely reached 160 centimeters, had already created a scientific miracle by giving birth to Tao Yan, who was 180 centimeters tall.

"180.1!" Tao Yan emphasized. "Those of us in finance have to be rigorous in both speech and action. Often, the difference of one decimal point means gains or losses of hundreds of billions. Do you understand?"