Cranky Lily

Although the flight to Las Vegas was quite short, traveling with children always made time slow down. Lily was being so difficult during the security checks that Mr. Wu had to apologetically inform people that she was not a morning person.

"I am not a morning person either," Yu Zan declared with a yawn as they waited in line to board the plane.

"We couldn't tell." Sun Mei teased her while pointing to the small pillow she was holding tight.

When they finally got on the plane and found their seats, Mr. Wu was relieved to hear a baby crying somewhere in the aircraft.

"Finally, people will stop staring at us and start complaining about the baby."

As soon as he said this, Lily started kicking the back of the seat in front of her with her tiny feet.

"Lily, stop that! You're being rude to the gentleman sitting in front of you."

Lily glared at Mr. Wu and crossed her arms over her chest. "You are mean, daddy."

"I can be even meaner," Mr. Wu said seriously. "If you don't start behaving soon, we are going to disembark and go home so Sun Mei and Yu Zan can have a quiet, fun trip by themselves."

"I like that idea," Yu Zan whispered in Sun Mei's ear.

Sun Mei shook her head at Yu Zan and then solemnly addressed Lily. "Lily, please be nice. I want you to come with us on my birthday trip. You don't want to miss it, right? Remember how much fun we had yesterday?"

"You mean when she almost poisoned us all?" Yu Zan asked her in a low voice.

Sun Mei elbowed her discreetly. "What do you think, Lily? Can you listen to your daddy?"

Lily nodded with a pout. "Okay. Can I go potty, daddy?"

"Sure." Mr. Wu got up reluctantly and unfastened Lily's seatbelt. "And so it begins…" he said with a sigh before leading Lily away,

"What does he mean?" asked Yu Zan.

"Lily likes airplane bathrooms way too much for some weird reason. Going potty is her favorite activity when they travel by plane."

"But those things are tiny!" said Yu Zan.

"I know." Sun Mei nodded. "Do you want to hear the punchline?"

"What?"

"Mr. Wu is claustrophobic!"

"No!"

"Yes, he hates every minute of it."

Yu Zan leaned back against her seat and adjusted the small pillow behind her neck. "As long as it keeps Lily quiet, I don't care if they spend the whole flight there."

"You are such a selfless person. How did you end up taking care of children for a living?" Sun Mei asked her jokingly.

"I watched my younger cousins for years for free. I thought I would use my experience to actually earn some money at last!"

"Sounds just like you."

By the time Mr. Wu and Lily returned from the bathroom, Yu Zan was already asleep.

"How did it go?" Sun Mei asked them.

"There was a long line ahead of us. We created an even bigger line behind us," said Mr. Wu.

As soon as they sat down, Lily yelled, "I want to go again, daddy!"

And so it began...