This matter has temporarily come to an end with He Wanrou suffering a loss in silence and sheepishly apologizing.
Seeing that it was getting late and the sky was already dark, Zhou Qiqi and Shen Huaichuan hurried out to Deng Cuixiang's house to pick up Zhouzhou.
When they arrived at the Deng family's house, Deng Cuixiang was busy in the yard wearing an apron. When she saw them arrive, she quickly wiped her hands and came out to greet them.
They said Zhouzhou wasn't home. A few little girls came to ask Zhouzhou to go to the playground to jump rope, and Jiang Xiangyang and his group of good buddies went along too.
As she spoke, she grabbed Zhou Qiqi's hand and asked with concern:
"Qiqi, you were just discharged from the hospital today. How are you feeling? Are you feeling alright? Do you have any discomfort?"
Zhou Qiqi felt a warmth in her heart and shook her head with a smile: "Sister Cuixiang, I'm fine, I'm perfectly alright."
Deng Cuixiang was delighted to hear this and warmly took her arm:
"That's great! Perfect timing, we've got nothing to do right now. Come on in, sit down for a bit, let's chat! The kids can play their games, we can talk about our own things! It's been so long since we've had a proper conversation!"
Zhou Qiqi smiled helplessly:
"Hey, Sister Cuixiang, I would definitely stay if it were any other time. We haven't had a proper chat in a long time, but it's really not possible today."
She glanced at Shen Huaichuan beside her and lowered her voice to say...
“Huaichuan’s parents are here. The old couple miss Zhouzhou. They’re sitting at home right now, just wanting to see Zhouzhou. We need to hurry up and take the child back.”
Deng Cuixiang had heard about it from Qiqi before.
Upon hearing this, she exclaimed in surprise, "Ah!" and immediately took Zhou Qiqi's hand with concern.
"His parents are here? Are you alright? Did they upset you? If anything's bothering you, come to me anytime. I'll even quit my stall and stick by you!"
As she spoke, her expression towards Shen Huaichuan changed; she started finding fault with everything he did.
Seeing her protective and eager expression, Zhou Qiqi felt both warm and amused, and quickly waved her hand:
"No, no! Sister Cuixiang, don't worry! We already talked it out at home. It was all a misunderstanding! My aunt and uncle are very reasonable. They even apologized to me for misunderstanding me because they believed the gossip!"
Deng Cuixiang finally breathed a long sigh of relief and patted her chest, saying:
"Oh my! That's good! That's good! You scared me to death!"
With her straightforward personality, once she felt relieved, she immediately regained her enthusiasm and turned to go inside.
"Have you finished your pickled vegetables? I just pickled a new jar of crisp cucumbers, they're so refreshing! I'll pack some for you to take home!"
Looking at the rows of large soy sauce vats in her backyard, Zhou Qiqi knew her business must be booming lately, and she was happy for her. She quickly stopped her:
"No, no! Sister Cuixiang, we haven't cooked at home for the past few days, where have we been eating? Once we've eaten, I definitely won't be polite and will come running to get it from you right away!"
The two exchanged a few more words with smiles, then Zhou Qiqi and Shen Huaichuan quickly said goodbye and headed towards the large playground behind the family compound.
Before we even arrived at our destination, we could hear the children's cheerful chatter.
From a distance, one could see a group of teenagers forming a circle, with two little girls standing on either side, swinging a large jump rope.
In the middle of the rubber band, a small figure wearing a bright pink sweater and blue jeans is nimbly jumping around with very smooth movements.
He stood out conspicuously among a group of children dressed in gray-blue and military green clothes.
Who else could it be but Zhouzhou?
Zhou Qiqi and Shen Huaichuan exchanged a smile and were about to walk over.
Before they even got close, they saw Jiang Xiangyang running towards them from afar.
The little boy's face flushed with excitement, and without saying a word, he blurted out:
"You're here to pick up Zhouzhou, right? Could you... wait just a little while? Just a little while!"
Just as Zhou Qiqi was about to ask him why, the little guy's eyes lit up, and he pointed excitedly to the center of the field, saying:
"The previous record for the highest number of jump ropes for a little girl in our military dependents' area was 89! Today, Zhouzhou is amazing, she has already broken the record! She has jumped 102 times now! And she's still jumping!"
Zhou Qiqi and Shen Huaichuan were both surprised. They never expected that Zhouzhou, who was usually quiet, would have such abilities.
The two nodded quickly, and without Zhouzhou noticing, they quietly went around to the back of the children and found an inconspicuous spot to watch.
Zhouzhou's little face was tense, her expression incredibly focused. Her toes moved lightly, her movements fluid and seamless, drawing gasps of amazement from the surrounding children who joined in counting for her.
"...107....108..."
Seeing how well Zhouzhou danced, Zhou Qiqi couldn't help but quietly hold Shen Huaichuan's hand. The two of them looked intently at Zhouzhou and cheered her on together.
Zhou Qiqi, in particular, became increasingly excited as she watched, and couldn't help but lean closer to Shen Huaichuan, whispering her admiration:
"Zhouzhou, this girl, used to be quiet and reserved, and didn't like to move around much. It was only after she started going for a run with me in the mornings that I realized how athletic she is! She's so good at jumping rope! Is this... inherited from your second brother or sister-in-law? Were they particularly good at this before?"
Shen Huaichuan was engrossed in watching when he heard this, and paused for a moment before blurting out, "No, they were tested before becoming police officers... their jumping ability isn't very good..."
As soon as he said it, he quickly added, "Oh, I mean, this kind of thing... isn't necessarily hereditary."
"Too..."
Zhou Qiqi had only asked casually and hadn't paid much attention to it, her attention returning to Zhouzhou.
The children's clear counting continued: "119! 120!"
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