The Zhuo family's residence is located in one of these buildings, with white walls and red tiles, exuding a low-key elegance.
Upon entering the bright and spacious living room, Zhuo's mother invited Zhou Qiqi and Zhouzhou to sit down before preparing tea.
Zhou Qiqi discreetly surveyed the room's furnishings:
Exquisite mahogany furniture, several charming landscape paintings hanging on the wall, and antique shelves displaying porcelain as well as several ornaments with distinctly exotic flair.
This is clearly not the kind of taste and financial means that ordinary working-class families can afford.
"Qiqi, please sit down first. I'll go and call Guangming down to take your measurements."
Zhuo's mother came out carrying a tea tray.
As soon as he got home, Zhuo Guangming rushed upstairs.
Zhuo's mother called out a few times from downstairs, and he came running down carrying a tin box. He held it up to Zhouzhou like a treasure and carefully opened it.
The box was full of colorful snacks printed with foreign words. They didn't look like things you could buy locally; they were all imported goods that were hard to find on the market.
"Zhouzhou, here!"
Zhuo Guangming picked up a cookie shaped like a bear and coated with chocolate, and enthusiastically handed it to Zhouzhou, his eyes sparkling with anticipation.
Zhouzhou raised her clear, big eyes, looked at Zhuo Guangming's sincere smile, and then at the novel snacks in his hand.
Unlike other children who would reach out and take it immediately, or make a big fuss about being excited, she tilted her head slightly, her long eyelashes fluttering, and looked at Zhou Qiqi.
The meaning couldn't be clearer: they were asking if she could eat it.
Zhou Qiqi's heart softened immediately, and she quickly nodded.
Zhouzhou stretched out her little hand and very politely took only the smallest bear-shaped biscuit. She nodded gently to Zhuo Guangming, a polite smile curving her lips to express her gratitude.
Zhuo Guangming seemed to have long been used to Zhouzhou's quietness and did not feel neglected at all.
He was overjoyed to see Zhouzhou accept the cookies and smile at him, and pushed the whole box toward Zhouzhou like a precious treasure.
"There's still so much! You can have it all! Zhouzhou, look at this wafer stick, it has a filling inside, it's sweet..."
He picked up a stick, took a bite himself, and exaggeratedly pretended to enjoy the delicious taste, trying to make Zhouzhou happy.
Looking at him, Zhou Qiqi couldn't help but praise, "Guangming is so young, yet he's like a little gentleman."
Zhuo's mother smiled and replied, "That's right. We have a younger sister at home, and we've always known how to dote on girls."
Looking at her son's expression, she added...
"But he's very polite to all the other girls, but he's different with Zhouzhou. Qiqi, you must bring Zhouzhou to our house to play more often in the future."
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