Xiao Hui thought for a moment and said, "I only have one bicycle here, and it's definitely not enough for the four of you. I'll go and borrow another one for you."
"Thank you so much," Xia Qingqing said sincerely.
"Don't mention it, just wait here for me for 10 minutes," Xiao Hui said without further ado and went out.
Xia Qingqing sat alone in the main room of Xiao Hui's house, lost in thought. Not long after, Xiao Hui returned on his bicycle.
Xiao Hui parked the car at the entrance of the yard and asked, "Where are your aunts and the others? Do you want me to take the car over for you?"
"No need, I can manage on my own. Do you need the car urgently? If so, I'll return it to you tomorrow."
Xiao Hui waved his hand: "No rush, you can pay it back whenever you want."
"Thanks, I'm off now."
Xia Qing rode the bicycle with one hand while pushing the empty bike with the other, a maneuver that looked quite technically demanding.
Xiao Hui stood there watching, giving a thumbs up: "Awesome!"
Xia Qingqing rode all the way to the entrance of the state-run restaurant, where Zhang Hongyan and the others were already waiting. They frowned when they saw Xia Qingqing riding one bike and pushing the other.
"If I had known you could borrow two bikes, I would have had your dad go with you. What if you fell off your bike?" Zhang Hongyan looked at her daughter angrily, angry that she didn't take her safety seriously.
Xia Qingqing smiled ingratiatingly and said, "It's nothing, I'm quite confident in my cycling skills."
Zhang Hongyan knew that lecturing was pointless now, so she sighed and said, "I'll let it go this time, but don't ride like that next time. You can tie this bike to the back seat if you want."
"Okay, Mom, let's go back first. I've arranged with Xiao Hui to return the car tomorrow," Xia Qingqing said.
Four people in two cars: Xia Heping was driving Zhang Hongyan, and Xia Qingqing was driving Gou Dan.
They got off the train at a little after 7 a.m., but after having breakfast and borrowing bicycles, it was already 9 a.m.
Xia Qingqing glanced at the somewhat dazzling sunlight and called out to Xia Heping, who was following behind, "Dad, I'm leaving first, hurry up."
After saying that, she pedaled her bike hard and soon left Xia Heping far behind.
"This kid, I don't know why he's in such a hurry," Xia Heping said, looking at the bicycle speeding ahead.
Sitting on the back seat, Zhang Hongyan grabbed the man's clothes and urged him, "You should ride faster. We still need to cook when we get back. The house hasn't been lived in for so long, and we need to clean everything up."
"Alright, honey, hold on tight, I'm about to push!" Xia Heping shouted, and started to push off with his feet.
Dog Egg excitedly hugged his sister's waist tightly: "Wow, sis, you're riding so fast! It feels like we're about to fly!"
He hadn't ridden a bicycle this fast in a long time. There were many people and many bicycles in the city, and no one dared to ride so fast on the road.
"Haha, isn't it great?" Xia Qingqing asked.
Dog Egg nodded vigorously, but quickly realized his sister couldn't see him: "Super awesome."
"Sister, can you teach me to ride a bicycle? I want to learn too," she said, her voice tinged with a pleading tone.
Gou Dan had mentioned this before, but he was short, and Zhang Hongyan wouldn't allow him to ruin the family's bicycle. Bicycles are such precious things; how could they be given to a child to play with?
It's not a big deal if someone falls and gets hurt, but it would be a real shame if the bicycle gets damaged.
Later, when they went to Beijing, Gou Dan never had the chance to use a bicycle on his own. He would either ride on his dad's bicycle or his sister's bicycle when he went out, and he forgot that he could learn to ride on his own.
"Of course, I'll teach you when it's cooler at night," Xia Qingqing said casually.
"Hehe, thanks sis," Gou Dan cheered happily.
He knew his older sister was the best. If he told his mother, she would definitely accuse him of having wicked ideas.
Xia Qingqing rode her bicycle at a fast pace and arrived at the village entrance in less than an hour.
It was time to go to work, and I didn't run into anyone I knew on the way. I only saw a few children wandering around the village.
The children stared at them curiously as someone rode a bicycle by. Soon, one of the children recognized Xia Qingqing: "This is Sister Qingqing. Sister Qingqing is back."
"Erniu, where's your brother?" Gou Dan recognized the child who spoke; it was Erniu, Da Niu's younger brother.
"My brother is at home. Are you Brother Gou Dan?" Er Niu tilted his head and looked Gou Dan up and down.
Don't blame him for not recognizing him at first glance; Gou Dan has changed a lot since a year ago. He's grown taller and his skin is fairer. At first glance, you might mistake him for a city kid.
Gou Dan jumped off the car and handed all the candies in his pocket to Er Niu: "Yeah, go home and tell your brother that I'm back."
Erniu happily took the candy: "Okay, I'll go tell my brother right now."
The other children glanced enviously at Erniu's retreating figure, then stared longingly at Gou Dan; they wanted candy too.
"Brother Gou Dan, I want some candy too, can I have one?" a child asked, mustering up his courage.
Dog Egg was stunned for a moment before recognizing the other person as Shunzi's younger cousin. He touched his empty pockets with some embarrassment and said, "I'm out of candy too."
Xia Qingqing smiled and called him over, handing him a handful of hard candies: "Lele, share these candies with them."
Now, his family only calls him by his nickname "Dog Egg" when they are at home. When they are outside, they will give him face and call him Xia Jiale or Lele.
The reason why Xia Qingqing insisted on continuing to call him Gou Dan at home was because Xia Qingqing and her parents all thought that the nickname Gou Dan was cute and they had to keep this cute name for him.
Gou Dan didn't care either. He'd been called that for over ten years anyway, and even if he objected, it wouldn't make a difference, so he might as well not bother.
"Two for each person, don't fight over them," Gou Dan said, distributing candy to the children like a little adult.
Xia Qingqing grabbed a handful of candy, which contained more than a dozen pieces. After distributing them, Gou Dan put the remaining candy in his pocket.
At this moment, Xia Heping also caught up on his bicycle. He didn't expect his daughter to have such good stamina. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't catch up with her.
For a moment, Xia Heping even wondered if he was getting old, but he quickly dismissed the thought.
It must be because he hasn't worked in the fields for too long. It looks like he should pay more attention to exercising in the future.
When Xia Qingqing saw her parents coming, she immediately called to Gou Dan to get in the car: "Lele, hurry up, let's go home."
After arriving home, Zhang Hongyan took out her key and unlocked the door. Seeing the familiar surroundings, her eyes suddenly welled up with tears. It had been a year. She was finally back.
The sadness was fleeting; Zhang Hongyan quickly composed herself and looked at her two children, saying, "Qingqing, Gou Dan, you'll tidy up your own rooms, okay?"
"No problem," Xia Qingqing and Gou Dan said in unison, carrying their luggage and heading towards their room.
Zhang Hongyan then said to Xia Heping, "I'm going back to my room to put my things away. You go and fetch a few buckets of water. The house hasn't been lived in for so long, it's covered in dust. We need to clean it properly."
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