Popsicles
Xu Nian couldn't just sit there and do nothing even if he didn't attend classes, otherwise people in the village would gossip about him.
So she was the one taking care of the children at home during this period, and the effect was very significant. When they saw her coming to pick them up, the three children at home staggered and ran towards Xu Nian. Xu Nian grabbed two of the little ones in each hand, let Tietou lead the way, and the four of them walked home in a mighty manner.
After noon, the family was sitting in the yard drinking water. Xu's mother deliberately and casually told her two daughters-in-law that Xu Nian had achieved good results and was awarded five yuan, which made the two daughters-in-law very envious.
Mother Xu thought that this didn't count as telling outsiders, so it was okay to just tell her family members about it. However, whether her two daughters-in-law told others about it was not something she could control.
Xu Nian didn't know what happened at home. She just sighed that everything good happened that day. Not only was today her best result ever, but even the regret of not being able to buy anything in the county town was gone.
She originally wanted to take advantage of her good mood today to ask Xu Fengkai if the exam was coming soon, as Xu Hongqi would be here soon. Secondly, she wanted to show off to Grandpa Xu to prevent him from "looking down" on girls.
As a result, when I walked to the front street and was almost at my uncle's house, I met the peddler. This was really a pleasant surprise. Who would have thought that there were peddlers at that time.
The peddler rode a 28-inch bicycle with a box in the front containing pillows, thread, and other things. Xu Nian was not very interested. The key point was that there were two foam cardboard boxes on the back seat, which were mostly filled with popsicles and a few scattered malt candies.
Not only Xu Nian couldn't walk, but the children around him couldn't walk either. I heard an old lady passing by said that these should be the first batch of popsicles this year.
There were many people watching around, and Xu Nian was worried that he wouldn't be able to buy anything, so he bought malt candy for each of the three children, two cents each. Then he asked the peddler, "Uncle, how much are the popsicles?"
The middle-aged peddler saw Xu Nian, a child, give him fifty cents to buy candy. He thought he was a law-abiding man and said kindly, "White sugar popsicles are three cents, green bean and red bean popsicles are five cents each, and milk popsicles are ten cents. What kind do you want?"
Xu Nian had never seen such cheap ice cream before. The main reason was that people nowadays were all ice cream assassins. If they could let you guess the real price of the ice cream, you would lose.
So it seems a bit irrational to prepare one for everyone in the family.
"I want eleven mung bean and red bean popsicles, mixed together." As soon as these words were spoken, many villagers nearby looked at Xu Nian in surprise. Only then did Xu Nian realize that she was a bit ostentatious and irrational.
Before she could figure out how to explain it, she said to a boy in Xu Nian's elementary school class, "If only I had gotten a high score in the final exam this time, the one dollar reward from the teacher would be mine, and I could buy a popsicle," she said with a look of regret on her face.
His words made the villagers understand a little. They had heard gossip recently that Xu Qinghua's little girl had been making rapid progress in her studies. They had never expected that her performance had gone so well that the school was even giving her money.
Xu Nian had a false alarm and she really didn't want to show off in public. Fortunately, someone accidentally explained it to her. She then looked at the boy with gratitude, which made the boy feel embarrassed.
Now that Xu Nian even had the steps, she thought that when Xu Hongqi went to her uncle's family's house, she would probably have to run there every day, so she simply added six more steps.
Patting her pocket, Xu Nian could clearly feel that her private money had shrunk seriously. She couldn't help but sigh that money really can be spent anywhere. She had spent a lot of it before it had even been in her pocket for a while.
After giving the money to the man, he realized that he couldn't carry so many popsicles, so he turned to Tietou and said, "Tietou, go to your aunt's house and ask your great grandfather to get you a basket."
After saying that, little Tietou obediently ran to his aunt's house. Before Xu Nian had to wait too long, she saw Grandpa Xu bringing Tietou with a basket to find her.
"What do you want a basket for?"
"I'm giving it to you as a gift." As he said this, he took a red bean popsicle from the peddler's foam box and handed it to Grandpa Xu.
"Oh, can I also enjoy the filial piety of my granddaughter?"
Xu Nian encouraged her grandfather, thinking that packing popsicles was more important, so she didn't interrupt Grandpa Xu.
Only then did Grandpa Xu realize that his granddaughter wasn't giving him a gift of filial piety. She was simply selling popsicles wholesale. The basket was already half full. He hurriedly stopped her, "What are you doing? Why are you selling so many?"
"Master, I'm selling this for everyone in the family. You can't just eat it while others don't."
After she finished speaking, several old men and women around her also joked, "Xu Xiuman, you've done a good job raising a child. Your granddaughter is filial and generous. Be happy!"
Mr. Xu didn't care what others said and just refused to buy so much.
"Grandpa, I've already paid you my money, but they won't return it. Let's go quickly, or it will all melt away."
Seeing that Xu Nian and the person selling popsicles were both unwilling to return the popsicles, Xu Xiuman asked, "Then tell me, how did you buy it?"
Xu Nian said naturally, "It's only five cents each, and I bought seventeen."
After understanding Xu Nian's words, Grandpa Xu was too lazy to say anything more to Xu Nian, and he turned directly to the peddler: "We bought so many, you have to give us at least two."
The peddler had a big client like Xu Nian, and his cart felt much lighter. He was entertaining other customers. After hearing what Mr. Xu said, he immediately said, "Old man, I'm a small business owner. If I give you two, I don't need to sell them. You sell and I buy."
"Then I won't let you not earn any. You have to at least give me one to make it an even number."
The peddler knew that he had made a small profit today, and in order to gain popularity among the people around him, he thought about it and handed one to Xu Xiuman, "Old man, since this little girl opened the door for me, I will take it as a good start. Please come again next time."
Xu Xiuman nodded: "That's right, I'll buy from yours next time."
Seeing this wave of operations, Xu Nian just wanted to say: "Six! Six! Six!"
When Xu Xiuman walked ahead with his hands behind his back, Xu Nian not only greeted his three happy nephews, but also flattered Xu Xiuman from behind, "Grandpa, you are the one who knows whether it is good or not once Old Ma makes a move."
Xu Nian continued to talk, not noticing Grandpa Xu's disdainful look. "If you don't know how to use idioms, don't use them. Who are you calling Lao Ma?"
Xu Nian was also very resentful in her heart. What did she gain from buying things? She didn't get anything in return. She was willing to flatter others. She only liked people flattering her.
“…”
Xu Nian followed behind with a bit of depression. When he saw Li Jinhua, he quickly pulled her aside to tell her about his grievances. He glanced at his grandfather who was eating a popsicle and said, "Grandma, look at him."
Li Jinhua noticed that her husband had been arguing with his granddaughter recently. He ate popsicles bought by other children and complained about the waste of money.
Li Jinhua said jokingly, "Niannian, don't buy anything for your grandfather next time. Just keep coveting him and see what he says about you."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Nian and his wife calmed down.
Aunt Xu and Xu Mai, who were cooking in the kitchen, curled their lips. "Xu Nian is always good at talking and coaxing people. You should learn from her."
Xu Maicai didn't care about this. He ate his popsicle silently and put some firewood into the stove.
Seeing that it was getting late, Xu Nian quickly split the popsicle and was about to leave. Uncle Xu said, "Nian Nian has grown up and knows to buy food for the family." Auntie also said, "You are sensible."
When Xu Fengkai was given the popsicle, he was being played by three little kids. Only when Xu Nian came to rescue him, "Brother, I bought you a popsicle."
After that, he pretended to ask casually: "When will your classmates come to our house? I want to study with you and feel the atmosphere of studying among the top students."
Xu Fengkai ate a popsicle, his teeth gnashing with cold. "It's the day after tomorrow. We have to take the exam right away. We'll stay at our house for two days. After the exam, we'll come back to sleep and go home the next day. Don't bother us."
"Brother, I find you to be a very bad person. He's obviously a top student that we invited together, but you only care about absorbing his domineering aura and ignore me, your sister."
"I don't care. I'll come when the time comes." After saying that, he didn't give Xu Fengkai a chance to speak, and immediately pulled his third nephew home.
So when Xu Nian brought the children home, the house was peaceful, especially the sisters-in-law. Seeing the children still holding malt sugar in their mouths, and Xu Nian distributing popsicles in his hand, everyone didn't even rush to eat, but ate the popsicles with great enjoyment.
Mother Xu felt a little bad about the money she had spent on so many popsicles, but she had just boasted about them and was too embarrassed to say anything in front of so many people.
Xu Nian felt that this was better than the dozens or even hundreds of ice creams she had bought before. It was really delicious, or maybe it was because of her different mood. Anyway, it tasted delicious in her mouth.
***
Xu Nian's summer vacation officially began, and her family discussed whether she should go to the fields to earn work points or take care of the children. Xu Nian was extremely reluctant to go to the fields, and suddenly she understood Xu Sange's thoughts and ideas.
She actually didn't really want to take care of the child, but it was not possible for her to do nothing. In the end, Xu's father, the head of the family, decided to take care of the child at home.
But Xu Nian is worried now. She is thinking about how to approach Xu Hongqi after he finishes the exam. Even if she wants Xu Hongqi to become a "good person", she has to get familiar with him first.
After thinking about it for a long time, I couldn't come up with a good solution, and ended up slapping my two little nephews and nieces' faces until they were red.
Now the three children listen to Xu Nian very much. The power of the popsicle is like that day, which is simply "amazing" in their little world.
Xu Nian is still very carefree when she doesn't think about these annoying things occasionally. She is the youngest in the family and her parents still treat her like a half-grown child.
The children of her sisters-in-law are all in her care, so she can't say any gossip. Her brothers are all "good brothers" and don't interfere in other people's affairs.
As for the dolls, sometimes they can play for half a day by themselves, and even "play for a long time" and "serve her tea and water". Occasionally, her good sisters and neighbors also come to help.
Xu Nian's good days lasted for two days. Early in the morning of this day, she got up and began to wash, dress and prepare for "business". She rummaged through the boxes and found a red gauze dress, washed her hair and tied a playful fishbone braid to create the effect of her head covering her face.
After tidying myself up and looking in the mirror, I narcissistically sighed in my heart that beautiful women are really beautiful no matter what!
Then he ran to Xu's mother hesitantly and said, "Mom, that classmate of Kaikai's who's super good at studying that I told you about a few days ago is coming. Can I not take the child with me today? I want to go study."
How could Xu's mother say no? Among all her children, she was the only one who had just started to learn. She had tasted the benefits of being a good student, so she didn't even take a nap. "Go ahead, learn from them. Mom is counting on you to pass the high school entrance exam!"
Xu's mother spoke with great righteousness, but Xu Nian felt guilty and had a headache.
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