Chapter 134 Little Baby?

Seeing her bewildered expression, Liu Mingcui gently nudged her.

"What are you spacing out for? Don't you know about this?"

Li Banxia shook her head, "I've been busy with my third brother's scheme to make money off bargains lately. He's been following us around the whole time. We've all been holed up in Shanghai, haven't even gone back to Beijing, and he..."

Li Banxia pondered to herself that this had never happened in her past life. The second and third sons got married one after the other, and her job was bought by Cui Yuxia for two hundred yuan and given to her younger brother. She then borrowed some money from others to help the third son marry Fang Erniu.

She was unemployed, broke, and burdened with debt; it was the most painful and difficult year of her life.

It wasn't until I saved up some money selling plain congee and rented a shop to sell medicinal congee that I slowly recovered.

If she remembered correctly, Fang Erniu got pregnant more than a month after marrying Lao San.

But she couldn't say whether it was true or not.

What if...?

Liu Mingcui frowned and said, "Your third son isn't being extorted, is he?"

He shook his head and clicked his tongue as soon as he uttered the word "ba".

"Besides his good looks, what else does your third son have that makes him easy to extort?"

After saying that, remembering that her own mother was right in front of her, she gave Li Banxia a dry smile.

Li Banxia, ​​"..."

"You can say whatever you want. Others may not know what kind of person he is, but you do, right? Don't say I don't believe you either. The third brother is so bad that he can barely support himself. If he really causes someone's death, I'll break all three of his legs first!"

"Hey hey."

Liu Mingcui quickly spoke up to stop him, "Boys mature later, and the third one just has a bad habit of being playful, plus he's lazy and doesn't do anything productive..."

He couldn't continue speaking, and when he looked at Li Banxia, ​​he gave her a polite but awkward smile.

Li Banxia, ​​"...Anything else?"

Liu Mingcui chuckled and nudged Li Banxia's arm, asking her, "What do you think that girl saw in him? It can't be like how you saw in Su Youfu, that she saw in Lao San's face, right?"

Upon hearing Su Youfu's name, Li Banxia frowned in response, her anger rising within her.

Her voice was tinged with hostility. "Don't mention him. I'm divorced from him. My third brother got the divorce certificate before his accident. I've already moved out of the auto parts factory's residential area these past two days."

"What?"

Liu Mingcui was taken aback, then noticed that Li Banxia's mood was off, so she quickly changed the subject, "Where did you move to? I'll come over and cook you some hot pot this weekend."

Li Banxia told Liu Mingcui the address.

Liu Mingcui smiled and said, "I will definitely go, don't worry. By the way, what are you going to do about the third brother's matter?"

"I'll ask the third brother what exactly happened when I get home from get off work..."

Li Banxia paused, then asked Liu Mingcui, "Did Fang Erniu leave her contact information?"

“No, I told them to call again tomorrow. I figured you’d be coming to work today, so I wanted to let you know in advance so you have some time to think about how to handle this,” Liu Mingcui said.

Li Banxia smiled and thanked her, "You're so thoughtful."

Liu Mingcui glared at her with a smile.

"Let's go, it's been so long since we've been here, a lot of medicinal herbs have been stored away. I'll take you to check the quality..."

After returning to the courtyard from get off work, Li Banxia asked Su Laosan, "I heard you and Fang Erniu have a baby?"

"nonsense!"

Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, Su Laosan jumped up from the rocking chair, his face flushed red. "Mom, who's spouting nonsense in front of you? I'll tear their mouth apart!"

“Your girlfriend, Fang Erniu.” Li Banxia walked over, sat on the rocking chair, one foot on the ground, creaking and swaying.

Su Laosan was stunned for a moment, then exclaimed, "Ah!"

"That's impossible. Erniu and I have only kissed, hugged, and held hands. We've never even sat on the bed together, nor... taken our clothes off. Where did this little baby come from? Mom, you must be mistaken."

“Your boyfriend called my workplace and spoke to your Aunt Liu in person,” Li Banxia said.

Su Laosan refused to believe it and asked Li Banxia in a daze, "Why would she lie?"

"You'll have to ask her that."

Before Li Banxia could finish speaking, Su Laosan turned to run out, saying, "No, I have to go ask her."

"stop!"

Li Banxia said, "She made an appointment with your Aunt Liu to call the herbal medicine warehouse again tomorrow. Think carefully about whether you did anything you shouldn't have done to that young girl. You two should arrange a place and time tomorrow to talk things out."

Old Su scratched his head and gave a listless "oh".

Seeing his expression, Li Banxia glanced at the Xinhua Dictionary on the table and coughed lightly, "How's your memorization?"

Su Laosan looked up and became even more dejected.

He said, "I did memorize it, but... I memorized it a little bit poorly."

Li Banxia nodded and opened the Xinhua Dictionary for him to memorize.

Su Laosan opened his mouth and said to Li Banxia, ​​"Mom, do I really have to memorize it? Can I just memorize it in my head? I really will..."

"What's there to be afraid of if you memorize it? Let's begin."

Su Laosan said, "...I feel ashamed if I don't open my mouth, like I've been stripped naked. I...I can't recite it."

Li Banxia's lips twitched.

He glanced at Su Laosan and said, "How about I take out the fire poker to wake you up?"

Su Laosan's eyes widened instantly.

"No, no, no..."

He waved his large hand back and forth like a fan, saying, "No need, no need."

After patting his chest repeatedly, he assured her, "I can do it, I really can, Mom, you believe me."

"I believe in you, let's begin."

Li Banxia's gaze swept across the first page, her eyes slightly closed as she listened to Su Laosan's halting recitation of the last word followed by the next, unable to recall how to form words or sentences.

However, with a little guidance from Li Banxia, ​​he was still able to memorize it, albeit intermittently.

It's clear that some effort was put into it.

After finally finishing reciting it, Su Laosan felt his clothes were soaked with cold sweat from the fright, and he went back to his room to change his clothes, looking dejected.

I thought I could finally have some peace and quiet.

As soon as I came out after changing my clothes, I heard Li Banxia say, "Go scoop out three large ladles of flour, add some salt, add lukewarm water, and knead it into some dough. We'll make hand-pulled noodles later."

"What?"

This is what it means to go from heaven to hell in a second!

Su Laosan thought he had misheard, so he opened his eyes wide and asked, "Mom, you said you want me to knead the dough?"

“Yes, you heard me right. Until you find a job, you’ll be cooking at home,” Li Banxia said.

Su Laosan was on the verge of tears, "But... I can't cook."

"If you don't know how, you'll learn. Nobody is born knowing how to cook."

Li Banxia raised her chin and said, "Just follow my steps. It's very simple. You're so smart, you'll definitely learn it in no time."

"……Yeah?"

Su Laosan thought his mother was fooling him, but looking at her serious face, he wondered if it was true.

"Then I'll give it a try."

Su Laosan was somewhat tempted. He rubbed his bare arm, took out the basin and put it on the table, scooped out some flour, added water, and followed Li Banxia's instructions step by step to knead the dough.

As a result, the dough was kneaded too hard, and it became as hard as a brick. When it was slammed into the basin, the basin made a loud 'crack' sound.

Li Banxia, ​​"..."