Chapter 87

The three of them are obviously best brothers, so why is it that only Xie Jinxuan knows such an important thing?

This was something Xia Qingtang had been very confused about before, but he forgot to ask it at that time. Now that he remembered it, he asked it quickly.

"When Xiang Qian and I first met, I only knew that Leng Feng had broken up with his girlfriend, and I didn't know anything else. At that time, Xiang Qian was working in the countryside, and Leng Feng and I were in different units. We could only communicate through correspondence, and Leng Feng was a person who only reported good news and not bad news, so the letter only mentioned the breakup. It was later that I happened to take a home visit leave at about the same time as Leng Feng, and he told me when we were drinking at home. Xiang Qian is a man who can't keep secrets, and Leng Feng was afraid that Xiang Qian would often nag about it if he knew. Besides, they didn't meet after that, so he only mentioned it to me. But Xiang Qian knew that Leng Feng was in a bad mood after the breakup, so even if he didn't know the inside story, I didn't mention it in front of him, for fear of causing him sadness."

"Leng Feng is such a boring person. He even hid such an important matter from his brother. He is so heartless and ungrateful. I feel sorry for Lao Luo. Look, Lao Luo is so sentimental and reluctant to let Leng Feng leave. Leng Feng may not be thinking about you two in his heart." Xia Qingtang curled his lips.

Xie Jinxuan smiled helplessly and said, "Leng Feng still cares about us, but he is not good at expressing it."

Xia Qingtang didn't want Xie Jinxuan to blame her good brother, so he turned around and changed the subject: "I'm going to brush my teeth and wash my face, what should Lao Luo do? Can he call for help?"

"Don't worry, he can be woken up if he is called. He still has to go to work today. It is impossible for him to sleep here all the time." Xie Jinxuan said, and went to the kitchen to get cold water.

When Xia Qingtang came out after washing up, Luo Xiangqian was sitting on the sofa with a dazed look in his eyes, as if he didn't quite understand what was going on.

Xie Jinxuan brought out breakfast: "Qingtang, eat quickly, then go to work, don't worry about this."

"Well, I'm not worried. It's okay even if he asks for leave today. The company won't fire him for asking for leave." Xia Qingtang took a bite of the coarse flour bun and said, "I almost forgot. I have to go out with Wen Xiaoli after get off work today. I will be back a little later."

"Are you coming back for dinner?"

"It's not clear how long it will take, so you can eat dinner first and don't worry about me. If I come back late, you can cook noodles for me." Xia Qingtang said.

"Okay, I understand."

After breakfast, Xia Qingtang waved to the dazed Luo Xiangqian and said, "Old Luo, I'm going to work. Goodbye."

"Oh, bye..." Luo Xiangqian waved blankly, and waited until Xia Qingtang had left before saying, "Xiao Xia, why are you going to work without having breakfast?"

Xie Jinxuan handed him a large cup of strong tea with a smile: "Qingtang was sitting next to you eating steamed buns just now, didn't you see it? You must have been sleepy, wake up quickly, I'll take you to work later."

Xia Qingtang worked diligently all day, and after work she rode her bike to a busy street far away from the cotton mill. She turned in from a fork in the road, and rode along the tall and low houses until she stopped at the innermost bungalow.

This is the most ordinary residential area. The old houses here were built many years ago and the lighting is not very good. But Xia Qingtang remembered that this area of old houses was converted into a tourist area in the late 1990s. She also accompanied her cousin's family here for a trip. There were snacks and vendors along the street.

Looking at it again now, these houses are not much different from what they were later, except that they have become cleaner and tidier after the renovation, and the windows have also changed.

"Master He, are you home?" Xia Qingtang knocked on the door gently.

Unlike other houses around here, the door of this house was closed. I didn't know if there was anyone inside, so I could only ask.

After a long while, the door was finally opened and a man in his fifties walked out. He was not tall, looked very serious, and was dressed very simply. He was also wearing a thick apron with many patches that looked like it had been used for many years.

"Yes, you are here, come in." Master He said, and led the way inside.

Xia Qingtang locked the car and walked in.

Master He was not in the living room, and Xia Qingtang did not look around. Instead, he stood there obediently, waiting for Master He to come out.

"Is this what you want?" Master He took out a small cloth purse from a room inside and handed it to Xia Qingtang, "Check it out to see if it's correct."

"Okay, thank you Master He." Xia Qingtang was very happy and quickly opened the cloth purse to check.

After carefully examining it, she said, "It's really nice. Thank you, Master He. I'll give you the rest of the money."

Master He then revealed a barely noticeable smile: "As long as you are satisfied."

Xia Qingtang paid the money, carefully put the cloth purse into the inner pocket of her shirt, thanked him repeatedly, and then walked out.

Master He didn't say anything else. Instead, he watched her walk out the door, then walked over and closed the door gently, as if no one was home.

Xia Qingtang did not tell the truth to Xie Jinxuan this morning. She did not accompany Wen Xiaoli to do the work. She came alone to do her own thing.

Xie Jinxuan's birthday is on June 4th. Although his family says that his birthday is not an integer and he had plenty of birthdays when he was a child, so he doesn't need to celebrate it, Xia Qingtang still plans to give him a good birthday at home.

Moreover, she had received a particularly good birthday gift before, and now that Xie Jinxuan was about to have his birthday, she also prepared a birthday gift for him in advance.

This Master He was an old goldsmith introduced to her by Feng Xinhui. He was very skilled in making jewelry.

Although weddings have become more simple these days, there are still some people who do not follow simple principles and will secretly find old silversmiths or goldsmiths to make some jewelry for them. So Master He has actually been secretly taking on jobs over the years.

Because of this, the door of his house was kept closed all year round. The Revolutionary Committee had come to check before, but Master He's house was the ancestral home and had been inhabited by several generations. Things could be hidden in the corners and in the basement, and no one could find them. So even though it had been checked a few times, it was always safe.

This year, more and more people came to see Master He. The atmosphere was much better than before, so Feng Xinhui dared to introduce Master He to Xia Qingtang.

Xia Qingtang had money, so she paid Master He to make a gold ring for Xie Jinxuan. It was the simplest plain ring. It looked ordinary from the outside, but it had X&X engraved inside, meaning Xie and Xia.

Master He didn't know what this symbol meant. He had never learned pinyin or foreign languages when he was a child, but he had good skills and he carved the words drawn by Xia Qingtang into it.

The entire gold ring is smooth and round, and the engraved part is also polished very finely, so Xia Qingtang is particularly satisfied with it.

A gold ring is a very valuable item at this time. After all, most people don’t even have a silver ring. But Xia Qingtang feels that the most important part of this gift is actually the engraving. When Xie Jinxuan receives it, she will definitely understand her intention and appreciate this gift.

Master He's residence was quite far away, and it was almost seven o'clock when he walked from the cotton mill to the family compound.

Today is June 1st. All the children in the compound are playing outside. Many of them are wearing performance costumes with a red dot in the center of their foreheads. The girls are wearing flowers made of red paper on their heads, which makes them look particularly cute.

Xia Qingtang greeted many children on her way back. She smiled and rode back to the small courtyard, where she saw Xie Jinxuan sitting in the corridor reading a book.

He has broad shoulders, a thin waist and long legs. Today he is wearing a very ordinary light gray long-sleeved shirt and a pair of thin black trousers. The sleeves of the shirt are rolled up to the elbows, revealing a pair of strong and thin arms.

He didn't like to cross his legs like other people. His sitting posture was always straight and elegant. But because he was at home, his upper body was relaxed. Xia Qingtang looked at him through the yard door for a while and still felt that it was very similar to the scenes in a TV drama.

In her previous life, she didn’t know what was good-looking and what was not. Perhaps it was because she was too good-looking, so she could never tell whether other people’s appearance was good or bad.

It was not until later, after watching so many TV dramas and listening to people talking to her about which actor was good-looking, which actor had good temperament, and which actor was average-looking, that she began to have some impression of beauty and ugliness in appearance.

But now it is different. She can deeply realize that Xie Jinxuan is a very good-looking person. Not only does he have good facial features, but he also has a good temperament. Although he is still very young, he is a bit like Grandpa Xie. He always has a little calmness and elegance. In addition, he treats people kindly and always smiles at everyone, so outsiders praise him for being gentle and elegant.

Xia Qingtang knew that he was gentle and elegant at heart, and was kind to both his own people and outsiders. However, he also had a bottom line. Once he crossed that bottom line, he would become different.

"You're back?" Xie Jinxuan suddenly raised her head and when she looked outside, she found Xia Qingtang sitting on the bicycle with his right foot on the ground, looking at her stupidly.

"Yes, I'm back."

"Why is there no sound?" Xie Jinxuan closed the book and stood up. "And you didn't even come in after you came back. What are you doing standing there?"

"I saw that you were too engrossed in reading, and I didn't want to disturb you. I also wanted to see when you would notice that I was back." Xia Qingtang smiled mischievously, "Have you had dinner?"

"I've eaten. I went there to eat. Aunt Six asked me to bring back a vegetable box. She cooked a lot. It shouldn't be cold yet. I'll make some soup and you can have dinner." Xie Jinxuan helped her park the car in the yard and asked, "Did you eat outside?"

"I haven't eaten yet. I saw that it was still early, so I wanted to come back and cook some noodles. It would be better with some vegetable boxes. I really like the vegetable boxes made by Aunt Liu." Xia Qingtang jumped up with a smile, hanging his arms around Xie Jinxuan's neck.

Xie Jinxuan lowered her head and kissed her, then whispered, "I've noticed that you've become more and more fond of acting like a spoiled child recently."

"Really?"

"real."

"So you don't like me being coquettish?"

"Of course I like it. I like it very much. I just want to tell you that you should act like this more often in the future."

Xia Qingtang smiled wickedly: "That depends on my mood."

After saying that, she let go of Xie Jinxuan and ran into the house: "I want to eat!"

She made a big bowl of seaweed and shrimp soup herself, added a drop of soy sauce and served it out.

Aunt Liu’s vegetable boxes are particularly large, with very thin skins. They are filled with many kinds of vegetables, including cabbage, leeks, zucchini and chopped mushrooms. Such vegetable boxes can save food and are particularly filling.

Xia Qingtang ate four in one go and sighed with satisfaction: "Spring and summer are great. You can be full just by eating vegetables."

Xie Jinxuan said, "Our green peppers are ready to eat. Let's cook them tomorrow night. I'll go get two eggplants."

"Okay, I will be home on time tomorrow, wait for me to make you something delicious."

In order to prevent the gold ring from being discovered in advance, Xia Qingtang waited until Xie Jinxuan went to the bathroom to take a shower before secretly taking out the gold ring and putting it into her small drawer, hiding it at the bottom.

This small drawer contains some of her small things, such as hair ties, hairpins, headbands, hair flowers, etc. Xie Jinxuan has never opened it, so she feels at ease putting the gold ring here.

June 4th soon arrived. Xia Qingtang set the alarm for five in the morning and got out of bed in high spirits under Xie Jinxuan's surprised look.

"Five o'clock? Why do you get up so early?" Xie Jinxuan was very puzzled.

"I'm going to buy some vegetables and meat." Xia Qingtang said, "You can continue to sleep. I'll ride my bike back and forth quickly. You don't have to go to the cafeteria to get breakfast. We'll all have noodles this morning."

Xie Jinxuan finally reacted: "Ah, today is the fourth."

"Yes, today is your birthday, you must eat egg noodles in the morning." After saying that, Xia Qingtang ran out.

She quickly brushed her teeth and washed her face, then rode out on her bike with her vegetable basket.

Seeing that she was in high spirits, Xie Jinxuan did not call her to stop, but went out to exercise as usual and chatted with her grandfather for a while.

Grandpa Xie is a person with very good living habits. Even if he comes home very late from get off work at night, he will still get up on time every morning and insist on exercising, basically without missing a day except in extremely bad weather.

Xie Jinxuan has been following her grandfather since she was a child, and has developed very good work and rest and living habits.

After the exercise and chat, Grandpa Xie said, "Today is your birthday. Your grandma asked if you want to go home and have some egg noodles?"

Xie Jinxuan said: "Qingtang got up at five o'clock to go out and buy groceries. He will probably cook for me in the evening for my birthday. He also said that we should have noodles in the morning, so I won't go back to eat. Grandpa, please say thank you to Grandma and Aunt Six for me."

"Okay, this is for you. I'm going back." Grandpa Xie nodded, handed Xie Jinxuan a small paper bag, and strode home.

Xie Jinxuan opened the small paper bag and took a look. She found that there was a hundred yuan in it and couldn't help laughing.

He packed the money and ran back home, only to find that Xia Qingtang had already returned. There was a vegetable basket on the ground, containing a piece of pork and some vegetables. Next to it was a basin with a live fish in it.

They had given their meat coupons for the past two months to the female comrade at the packaging factory. The fact that Xia Qingtang was still able to buy meat today was probably due to him getting it from his grandmother.

She was cooking egg noodles in the kitchen. When she saw Xie Jinxuan coming in, she said, "The egg noodles will be ready soon. Go wash your face and come out for breakfast."

"Okay." Xie Jinxuan said as she walked into the kitchen, kissed Xia Qingtang on the forehead, and then went to the bathroom.

When I came out, Xia Qingtang had already placed two bowls of egg noodles on the table.

The egg noodles she made today were very particular. The eggs were not simply boiled in water, but fried in oil.

After frying the eggs, I also stir-fried loofah and edamame with oil and poured them on the noodles as a topping, so there was a layer of oil floating on the noodles, which smelled fragrant.

"Today is your birthday. Eat this bowl of egg noodles and wish you a happy birthday. I hope you can get into your ideal university in the college entrance examination." Xia Qingtang said with a smile.

The college entrance examination is only one month away, and Xie Jinxuan has already completed her examination. Now she is just doing the final review every day.

Xie Jinxuan was very happy: "Thank you, I am so happy."

Xia Qingtang said, "Eat quickly. I still need to cook the meat after you finish eating."

The weather in early June is not that hot, but if raw meat is left like this for a day, there is a high probability that it will go bad. However, if you cook it, add salt, and soak it in cold water in a large bowl, there will be no problem when you come back in the evening.

This is a last resort as they can only buy vegetables in the morning.

Thinking of this, Xia Qingtang began to miss the vegetable market in the 1990s. At that time, one could go to buy vegetables in the morning and afternoon. Those who didn’t have time in the morning could ride a bike there after work in the afternoon and start cooking when they got home.

Moreover, at that time most households in the city had refrigerators. Although there would be occasional power outages, as long as there was ice in the freezer, it would not have much impact. Meat and fish could be bought in advance and placed in the refrigerator, which was really convenient.

Xie Jinxuan also thought about the problem that the pork could not be kept for a day, so she said, "The canteen in the compound and the state-owned restaurant under our unit have refrigerators. Otherwise, I can send the pork over to put it on ice and bring it back after get off work in the evening?"

Xia Qingtang immediately said, "Is it really possible?"

It would definitely be better if it could be frozen in a public refrigerator.

"Of course, every summer, Aunt Six goes over to borrow the refrigerator." Xie Jinxuan said, "What do you think, should we buy a refrigerator for our own use?"

"The power goes out every few days, and we don't know when it will be back on. It's not cost-effective to buy a refrigerator at home. Besides, we don't eat meat very often a month, so forget it. With that money, we might as well buy a washing machine for Aunt Liu. There are many people and clothes there, and if we buy one and send it to her, Aunt Liu will be much more relaxed. Didn't a new washing machine appear on the market last year? It was not easy to buy it before, but it should be available now," said Xia Qingtang.

With their family savings, they can afford to buy not only a refrigerator but also all the current domestic televisions and washing machines. But they also have to consider the cost-effectiveness. For example, if there are not many TV programs to watch on the TV and it is just there for decoration, then it is better not to buy it.

In addition, a family like theirs still has to consider the views of outsiders. If they are not handled properly, it will also affect Grandpa Xie's reputation.

Xie Jinxuan thought for a moment and said, "You make a lot of sense. There are so many people living over there, and Aunt Liu has been doing the laundry all by herself, busy from morning till night. It would be much easier if we bought a washing machine and sent it over. Okay, I'll ask someone to see if I can buy that new washing machine."

"Well, go ask."

Seeing Xia Qingtang smiling and looking very happy, Xie Jinxuan said, "Qingtang, how can you be so nice? You didn't consider buying a washing machine yourself, but thought of that place first."

Xia Qingtang said, "Since there are only two of us in our family, it's not too much trouble for you and I to take turns washing clothes. It's summer now, so we don't need a washing machine. If they buy a washing machine over there, we can go there and use it. When winter comes, when we need to wash sheets and thick clothes, I'll take them over there to wash them."

She felt that she had been very thoughtful, and after she finished speaking she gave Xie Jinxuan a smug wink.

Xie Jinxuan smiled warmly and heartwarmingly, and he whispered, "I am really a lucky man."

"Yes, you are. Look at you. You are tall and handsome, have a good family background, a good family atmosphere, good friends, nice colleagues, and you married a good wife like me. You really fell into a blessed nest. Even I envy you a little." Xia Qingtang said half-jokingly: "But eat quickly now. After dinner, send the pork over and put it in the freezer."

After breakfast, Xie Jinxuan wanted to clean up and wash the dishes as usual, but was stopped by Xia Qingtang.

She said, "You usually wash them, but today you are the birthday boy, so don't do the heavy work, just let me do it."

Xie Jinxuan said, "Okay, then I'll deliver the pork to the cafeteria."

After saying that, he took a blue-rimmed bowl, put the piece of pork in it and went out.

Xia Qingtang was washing dishes when she saw Sixth Aunt and Grandma walking towards her arm in arm.

Xia Qingtang quickly opened the window and said, "Grandma, Sixth Aunt, are you here to look for Jinxuan?"

"No, we came here to look for you." Grandma pushed open the courtyard door and walked in. "Are you going to have dinner in the small courtyard tonight, or over there?"

"I want to have dinner here with Jinxuan. I bought pork and fish in the morning, and I want to celebrate for him in the evening." Xia Qingtang said.

Aunt Liu said, "Then you can eat here. I didn't go shopping for vegetables this morning, and recently I've been eating food grown in the vegetable garden."

Grandma nodded, walked up the steps, and then stood in the corridor, handing over a small paper bag through the window: "For Jinxuan, we didn't buy him a gift. He's already grown up, and we don't know what he needs. Just go buy it yourself."

"Thank you, grandma." Xia Qingtang quickly took the small paper bag with her wet hands and placed it on the windowsill to dry.

"You're welcome. Let's go home." After saying that, grandma took Aunt Six back home.

When Xie Jinxuan came back, Xia Qingtang handed him the small paper bag: "Grandma gave it to you. Let you go buy things by yourself."

Xie Jinxuan didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "After the morning exercise, grandpa gave me a hundred yuan. I'm not a child anymore, how can I get so much money for my birthday?"

"It's okay. We're going to buy a washing machine anyway, so having more money is a good thing." Xia Qingtang looked at the clock and saw that it was still early, so he sat with Xie Jinxuan and read a book for a while before riding his bike to work.

There were some troubles at work today. Xia Qingtang accompanied Feng Xinhui to the workshop to resolve a dispute between co-workers and almost couldn't get off work on time.

Fortunately, she locked the drawer and left the office at the last minute, then rode her bike back home as fast as she could.

Xie Jinxuan had already picked and washed all the vegetables from the morning, and had also brought back the pork, and was waiting for Xia Qingtang to show off his cooking skills.

"What do you want me to do?" Xie Jinxuan said, "Shall I cut the vegetables?"

His vegetable-cutting skills have improved significantly recently, which made Xia Qingtang realize once again that as long as people are willing to learn, there is no way they cannot learn to cook.

"I still say the same thing this morning. You are the birthday boy today, so just sit down. Besides, the exam is coming soon, so you should read more." Xia Qingtang put on his apron and rolled up his shirt sleeves, looking very proud and confident.

Xie Jinxuan took a book and sat in the corridor to read. He could hear all the sounds coming from the kitchen and smell all kinds of smells wafting over. He had been familiar with the smell of dinner at home for a long time, but now when it was made by Xia Qingtang, he felt a different kind of warmth.

Xia Qingtang showed off his cooking skills and made a Sichuan-style twice-cooked pork with peppers grown in his own home. He fried the fish on both sides until golden brown, then poured in cold water and cooked it into a milky white fish soup. There were also three vegetable dishes: three fresh vegetables, hot and sour cucumber with black fungus, and red amaranth with garlic.

The two of them had two meat dishes and three vegetable dishes, which were dishes that could only be seen during the Chinese New Year. Xia Qingtang felt that he was being a bit extravagant when he was cooking.

However, this was her first time celebrating Xie Jinxuan's birthday, so the extravagance was worth it.

Xie Jinxuan looked at the greasy twice-cooked pork and three fresh vegetables and said, "You can cook so many dishes. Can you cook dishes from different regions?"

"Not really. I know some things and some don't. They were all taught to me verbally by my colleagues." Xia Qingtang said, and took out a bottle of white wine and two small wine glasses. "I'll have a drink with you today."

Xie Jinxuan was very surprised: "Can you drink?"

"You can drink a little, but I don't really like the taste of drinking, so except on days like this, I don't want to drink." Xia Qingtang said as he opened the bottle cap of the liquor and poured two small glasses of liquor.

Xie Jinxuan sat down opposite her, watched her raise her glass and said to herself: "Xie Jinxuan, this is the first birthday I celebrate with you. Although it is your birthday, I also want to make a wish. You are twenty-three years old this year. If God gives me a chance, I hope to celebrate your sixtieth or seventieth birthday. What do you say?"

"Of course." Xie Jinxuan said in a deep voice: "Then my birthday wish is the same as yours, I hope it can come true."

Xia Qingtang raised his glass and clinked it with his, then raised his hand and drank the liquor in the glass.

"Ah... it really doesn't taste good..." Xia Qingtang stuck out her tongue, "Okay, you drink it yourself from now on, I just want to eat well."

Xie Jinxuan observed her reaction with a smile, and only felt relieved when she saw that her face didn't turn red, her heart didn't beat fast, and her eyes were clear.

"It seems that your alcohol tolerance is much better than Xiang Qian."

Xia Qingtang waved his hand proudly: "Of course, what can Lao Luo do with his alcohol tolerance? And you, your alcohol tolerance is just average, just better than Lao Luo's."

Xie Jinxuan looked at her delicate little face carefully. Although it was not red at all, it was obvious that she was much more excited than when she hadn't drunk alcohol, and she talked more.

But Xia Qingtang looked even cuter in this way, and after dinner, she even invited him to go to the bathroom to take a shower together. Then, when she returned to the bedroom, she was more enthusiastic than usual, so enthusiastic that Xie Jinxuan almost couldn't resist.

It was not until Xia Qingtang fell into a deep sleep that he had time to come out and clean up the mess on the table.

The next day was Sunday. Xia Qingtang opened her eyes and it was already nine o'clock. She sat up in confusion: "My waist... is so sore... What happened last night?"

Xie Jinxuan, who was sitting on the bed reading a book, looked at her with a smile: "Guess what happened last night?"

"I can't guess... I... feel top-heavy." Xia Qingtang did look confused.

"Do you really not remember anything? You said you can drink a lot, but it seems that's just so-so. You got drunk last night, did this and that to me, and forced me to do things I normally wouldn't do." Xie Jinxuan sighed, "Don't you remember any of this?"

"Ah... did I... really do such a shameless thing?" Xia Qingtang widened his eyes, obviously frightened.

Would she turn into a beast after drinking? But she could drink quite well, so she wouldn't lose her memory after just one glass of wine.

She covered her face and rubbed it again and again. After a while, the memory of yesterday's meal gradually came back to her.

"You're lying..." Xia Qingtang squinted at him, "I remember what happened last night."

"How did I lie to you? Did you tie my hands with a belt last night and climb on top of me and do whatever you wanted?" Xie Jinxuan lowered her voice with a teasing look in her eyes.

Xia Qingtang continued to squint at him, feeling that this man was becoming more and more outrageous. How could he describe a mere female superior in this way?

But to be honest, he didn't seem to be wrong. She was indeed very proactive last night.

I didn't expect that drinking a glass of white wine could bring such an effect. It seems that if I want some different stimulation in the future, I can drink a glass.

Xia Qingtang sniffed, put on her clothes slowly, and was about to go wash up when she suddenly remembered that because of drinking white wine, she actually forgot to give her birthday present to Xie Jinxuan!

"Oh my god, what kind of pig brain do I have?" Xia Qingtang was about to cry. How could someone drink so much that he made such a mistake? She even boasted that she had a good alcohol tolerance. Where did she get such a good alcohol tolerance?

"What's wrong? Why are you slapping your head?" Seeing that her expression was not right, Xie Jinxuan quickly dropped her book and jumped off the bed.

Xia Qingtang took a deep breath and said, "I'm really stupid."

"Why do you say that?"

"I... forget it, I won't say anything more, I..." Xia Qingtang walked to the table, opened his small drawer, took out the cloth purse containing the plain gold ring, and handed it to Xie Jinxuan with an unwilling look, "This is for you, a birthday present. I drank white wine last night and forgot such an important thing."

Xie Jinxuan was stunned at first, then she revealed an ecstatic smile: "Last night's gift wasn't considered a birthday present? You actually prepared other gifts for me?"

"Last night?" Xia Qingtang reacted and realized that he was talking about his enthusiasm and initiative last night.

She said unhappily, "How can something like that be considered a gift? You are such a hypocrite. You look so serious, but in fact you are such a mess inside."

Xie Jinxuan quickly reached out and rubbed her head, then hugged her in her arms: "I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the breakfast and dinner you prepared for me. You went to buy groceries for me at five in the morning, made such delicious egg noodles in the morning, and made dishes I've never eaten for dinner. I was very, very happy. Because I didn't have anything to buy myself, you see, grandpa and grandma always gave me money directly, so I thought you gave me breakfast and dinner as a gift."

Xia Qingtang sniffed: "Okay, you've got your words back."

"Are you still angry then?"

"I wasn't angry at first, I just felt like you were making fun of me." Xia Qingtang's ears turned slightly red. She was so passionate last night, and now when she thinks back on it, she still feels a little embarrassed.

Xie Jinxuan said, "How could I make fun of you? I like you so much, and I think everything you do to me is so cute. Even if I make fun of myself, I can never make fun of you. Besides, I was really happy last night. Why would I make fun of such a happy thing? What's the reason?"

"You're such a pervert." Xia Qingtang hit him on the chest.

"I'm not old yet." Xie Jinxuan said with a smile: "Besides, if I'm too serious, you'll find me boring."

"Okay, okay, you're still talking about those things so early in the morning. Do you still want to see your birthday present?" Xia Qingtang said pretending to be angry.

Xie Jinxuan quickly said, "Of course I have to see it. This is the first birthday gift you gave me. It is so precious to me."

He loosened his arms, walked to the bright window, and then opened the cloth purse under the window.

"Gold ring?" Xie Jinxuan looked at it in surprise, then carefully examined it several times before saying, "You specially asked someone to make this ring, and even engraved words on it. X&X, it's you and me."

"Yes, this is a ring that belongs to you. It is engraved with words and is unique. You gave me a gold ring and I gave you one, so that we can make a pair." Xia Qingtang said with a smile: "Didn't grandma say that wedding rings are a pair? Men have to wear them too."

In fact, people in the 1990s also had to buy a pair of rings when they got married. Many wealthy gay men would wear huge gold rings when going out, and they would also wear gold watches and mobile phones to match them. It didn't look very good at the time, but Xia Qingtang always guessed that it would look good if Xie Jinxuan wore it.

Because he has long fingers, he is naturally suitable for wearing rings.

Xie Jinxuan stretched out her hand towards her, eyes full of happiness: "Then you can wear it for me too?"

"Okay." Xia Qingtang picked up the ring and gently put it on the ring finger of his left hand. Sure enough, the slender fingers matched with the simple plain ring not only did not look rustic, but rather very elegant.

She had secretly measured the thickness of Xie Jinxuan's fingers in advance, so this plain ring would fit her perfectly. If it didn't fit, it didn't matter, she could wrap a little thread around the ring so it would fit properly when worn.

"Just right." Xie Jinxuan looked at the gold ring on her hand with a happy expression, "Qingtang, thank you, thank you so much, I am so worthy of being able to become a family with you."

"No, I don't deserve to marry you." Xia Qingtang held his hand tightly and said seriously, "Although I forgot to give you this ring last night, don't worry, I will remember every birthday of yours and celebrate it for you in the future."

"Then let's make a deal. When we are both too old to walk, you will stay with me." Xie Jinxuan stretched out her hands and hugged her in her arms, hugging her so tightly that Xia Qingtang could hardly breathe.

But at this moment, she felt that such a hug was very happy, so she hugged back tightly.

The two of them hugged each other in front of the bedroom window for a long time until they came to their senses when they heard Luo Xiangqian's call from outside.

"Okay, go out and take a look. I'm going to wash my face and brush my teeth." Xia Qingtang smiled and kissed him, then walked out of the bedroom.

Xie Jinxuan wore the gold ring, walked out with a happy face and opened the yard door.

Luo Xiangqian stood at the gate of the yard and said, "Are you two still not up? What time is it? Your door is not open, and the gate to the yard is still locked."

"Yes, Qingtang just got up. What do you want to talk to me about?" Xie Jinxuan took Luo Xiangqian to the corridor and asked him to sit down in the corridor.

"I've made an appointment to play basketball with someone, and we're still short of one person to score a goal. How about you come over and help us?" Luo Xiangqian said.

Before Xie Jinxuan could say anything, Luo Xiangqian shouted again: "Wow, wow, wow, what is that in your hand?"

He widened his eyes and stared at the golden ring on Xie Jinxuan's left hand, his eyes full of surprise and confusion.

"What else could it be? A gold ring? You can't even recognize this?" Xie Jinxuan deliberately said in a nonchalant manner.

Luo Xiangqian said: "I'm not stupid or blind, of course I can see that you are wearing a gold ring... No, you are a grown man, why are you wearing a ring?"

"What do you know? This is a wedding ring. It's a pair. The man and the woman each wear one."

Luo Xiangqian frowned: "Is this true? Then why are you wearing your wedding ring at home for no reason?"

"Oh, because Qingtang just gave this to me. Yesterday was my birthday, and she gave me this as a gift to make up for the wedding ring." Xie Jinxuan's tone was very light, but her eyes were full of pride.

Luo Xiangqian was really a little jealous. He said, "You had a mediocre birthday, but Xiaoxia specially gave you a gift? And it's a gold ring, it's very valuable."

"Yes, Qingtang is very good to me. He got up at five in the morning yesterday to buy groceries. He cooked egg noodles for me in the morning, and made me twice-cooked pork, three fresh vegetables, and crucian carp soup in the evening... Anyway, they were delicious."

Luo Xiangqian's mouth was watering: "Three Fresh Vegetables? This is not a dish we have here. How is it prepared? How delicious is it?"

"I can't describe it. You'll know after you eat it."

Luo Xiangqian immediately grabbed his sleeve and said, "When are you going to treat me to a meal? Let Xiaoxia cook it for me to try. I've had twice-cooked pork in a restaurant in the provincial capital before. It was delicious."

"It's not possible recently. Our family refuses visitors." Xie Jinxuan refused.

"Why?" Luo Xiangqian didn't understand. Has Xie Jinxuan become stingy?