Chapter 439 Let her be my daughter-in-law

Shen Luojia never imagined that there was such delicious Zhajiangmian (noodles with soybean paste) in the world. When she lived in the countryside, she lived with her grandmother. She had to work to earn work points, and only with work points could she get food.

The work points she and her grandmother earned were far from enough to fill their stomachs, but her grandmother loved her dearly and would save up her wheat flour to make noodles and dumplings for her during festivals.

She thought the noodles were just plain boiled noodles with some greens and salt, and they tasted delicious.

Grandma would always be reluctant to eat, and would watch her eat while smiling happily, saying, "Our Luoluo should eat more so she can grow strong and no one will bully her."

After arriving at the Shen family's house, Liu Li always fed her leftovers, and sometimes she would even deliberately forget to leave her any food.

As Shen Luojia ate, her eyes welled up with tears. She wanted to pack the noodles away and save them for her grandmother.

Li Simin looked up and saw Shen Luojia with reddened eyes, and was taken aback: "Why are you crying? Is it not delicious?"

Shen Luojia sniffed and looked up at Li Simin: "Can I take this noodle back to my grandma?"

Her eyes were red, her nose was red, and there was a lot of fried sauce on her lips. She looked kind of cute and pitiful.

Li Simin felt a pang of pity once again, and unconsciously took out a handkerchief, reaching across the table to wipe the fried sauce from the corner of her mouth, just like he had done for his younger brothers when they were little, and also for Jiang Zhizhi when they were young.

Therefore, the wiping motion was very skillful.

Shen Luojia not only didn't flinch, but moved even closer, her eyes filled with hope: "Can I not eat this and take it back for Grandma instead?"

Li Simin smiled gently: "The noodles won't taste good if you take them back with you. You can bring Grandma over to eat them sometime."

Shen Luojia's eyes drooped, and she became even more upset: "But my dad won't let me see my grandma, and I don't know where she is."

Li Simin had also heard about this, and after thinking for a moment, she comforted him, "Let's eat first. After we eat, I'll find someone to help you find your grandma, okay?"

Shen Luojia raised an eyebrow and perked up again: "Really?"

Li Simin nodded with a smile: "Okay, you should eat first."

Relieved, Shen Luojia lowered her head and happily resumed her meal.

Song Man sat not far away, taking in the entire interaction between the two. She was quite surprised by Li Simin's attitude towards the girl. Even if they were dating, given Li Simin's personality, he wouldn't be this intimate.

A sense of gloom, unlike anything I'd ever felt before, rose in my heart.

Li Simin and Shen Luojia didn't look back even once before leaving, so they didn't notice Song Man's presence.

...

Li Simin decided to take Shen Luojia home first and asked Li Chengzhang to find someone to investigate the whereabouts of Shen Luojia's grandmother.

As long as the old lady is still alive, she will be easy to find.

Li Simin brought Shen Luojia in, where Shang Shiying and Bian Suxi were coaxing Xiao Zhouji and Shang Shang to eat steamed egg custard.

Seeing Shen Luojia behind Li Simin, he was somewhat surprised: "Why did you two come back together? Luojia, have you eaten?"

Shen Luojia nodded: "I ate it, I had zha jiang mian (noodles with soybean paste), it was delicious."

As she spoke, Shangshang and Xiaozhou slid off their stools and happily ran to her, each hugging one of her legs.

Shang Shang happily exclaimed, "Let's play together!"

Little Zhou was also happy. Since his sister had said so, he used all his strength to swing back and forth vigorously.

Shen Luojia was surprised for a moment, then looked down at the two children's faces and grinned as well: "Okay, let's play."

Then, under the shocked gazes of Shang Shiying, Bian Suxi, and Li Simin, they took one child in each hand and went to play in the yard.

The three of them quickly followed and saw that Shen Luojia and the two children had rushed into the vegetable garden in the yard. Xiao Zhouji even handed his beloved shovel to Shen Luojia, and the three of them squatted on the edge of the field and started digging.

Shang Shiying was somewhat amused and exasperated: "How... how did you and Xiao Zhouji Shangshang become so close all of a sudden?"

Bian Suxi also knew Shen Luojia, and seeing her childlike actions, she laughed: "She has a good personality. Actually, it's quite good to keep things simple like this."

At least you won't have the rights and wrongs of the adult world; simplicity brings more happiness.

Shang Shiying nodded: "Yes, sometimes fools are just lucky."

Then he turned to Li Simin and asked, "How did you end up running into Luo Jia?"

Li Simin was still carrying the Moutai that Shen Luojia had given him. He handed it to Shang Shang Shiying and recounted what had happened.

Shang Shiying was somewhat surprised, but couldn't help laughing: "I could tell that this child, even though she's usually slow to react, is quite smart sometimes."

Bian Suxi was also surprised: "Yes, I didn't realize she was such a smart kid when it mattered. It's good that she won't be taken advantage of by bad people."

The three of them stood by the ground chatting while watching three children, one big and two small, digging in the soil.

Suddenly, I saw that Shangshang had caught another big toad from somewhere. It was probably already hibernating, curled up in a ball and motionless.

Shang Shang smiled happily and asked Shen Luojia, "Pretty, isn't it pretty?"

Shen Luojia exclaimed "Eh!", leaned closer, and nodded earnestly, "Beautiful."

Then he reached out and took it: "It's fun."

Shang Shiying exclaimed "Oh my god!" and rushed over: "Shang Shang, Luo Jia, you can't play with this! It's poisonous and will hurt your skin."

As I got closer, I couldn't help but feel a pang of unease. I coaxed Shangshang, "Shangshang, let's not play this, okay? Let's go back and wash our hands, then we can eat cake, okay?"

Upon hearing that she wanted to eat cake, Shangshang clapped her hands and stood up, saying, "Eat! Shangshang wants to eat cake! Sister, let's go eat cake!"

Upon hearing about eating cake, Shen Luojia stood up with some confusion, letting the fat toad clumsily crawl away.

Shang Shiying had seen it many times, but she still felt a chill run down her spine. She called for Li Simin to take the two of them to wash their hands.

Then I got out some honey cake and gave it to the three of us.

Shen Luojia took one and gave it to Shang Shang first, then took another and handed it to Xiao Zhouji, and finally picked one up for herself. The three of them ate while looking at each other and giggling.

For a moment, it felt like the three of them were the same age.

Li Simin sat next to them, wiping the corners of their mouths and their sticky hands.

Always smiling, with gentle movements and boundless patience.

Bian Suxi watched from the side and said, "Look, if Si Min becomes a father in the future, he will definitely be a gentle and patient father."

Shang Shiying laughed along, "That's true, I wonder when Si Min will find a partner."

Then she said in a very low voice, "I'm worried that he and Song Man will get together. I'm on edge. I heard the other day that Chen Limin is not feeling well and Song Man may move back."

"I'm so scared I haven't been able to sleep well these past few days, and I don't dare mention it in front of Si Min."

Bian Suxi smiled and comforted her, "Sister, you're just too nervous. It definitely won't happen."

Shang Shiying sighed: "You don't know, I know my son. He has a good personality and won't hurt others. But if he sees Song Man is having a hard time and his sympathy kicks in, who knows what he might do?"

After saying that, he watched Li Simin smiling as he wiped the honey off Shen Luojia's hands, and then sighed, "If all else fails, he can marry Luojia."