Chapter 013 Zhao Family
After meeting these people in the yard, Shi Qiu Shui realized that these neighbors were a little different from what her father had said before.
Take Old Lady Yang for example. Her father only said that Old Lady Yang was a good person, but her father didn’t say that Old Lady Yang was a good person who liked to smooth things over.
Gao Cuifen maliciously spread rumors that Li Xiuying was hugging another man, but when it came to Old Lady Yang, it became Gao Cuifen saying a few unpleasant words. It was only because Aunt Ma and Yao Dazui were there to persuade her that otherwise Li Xiuying would not have been able to calm down so easily today.
Speaking of Gao Cuifen, Shi Yue had only said before that Gao Cuifen and Li Xiuying did not get along well, but Shi Qiu Shui saw today that Gao Cuifen was not well-liked by other people in the courtyard. When they were trying to separate them just now, Aunt Ma and Yao Dazui were clearly on Li Xiuying's side.
As for the two families who rented the house, according to what Shi Yue said before, neither the young couple of the Liu family nor the four members of the Guo family had a strong presence in the courtyard, and they seemed to be isolated from the people in the courtyard.
But seeing how these two families were watching the fun with such great interest, how could they seem to be distracted at all?
However, Shi Qiu Shui was not too surprised. After all, Shi Yue's impression of these neighbors all came from his original memory, and the original Shi Yue had left the compound for more than ten years. Even if he had come back during the holidays, he did not deal with these people every day. It was not surprising that there were discrepancies between his memory and reality.
Shi Qiu Shui noticed that his neighbors were different, and Shi Yue certainly realized it as well. His eyes darkened a bit. It seemed that the original body's memory was not completely reliable. Then, when he dealt with the people in the courtyard in the future, he could not act entirely based on the original body's memory.
"Lao Shi? Lao Shi?" Zhao Hui patted Shi Yue's shoulder. "Everyone has left, why are you still standing there in a daze?"
Shi Yue came back to his senses: "No, it's okay."
Zhao Hui had just asked casually, and when he didn't hear Shi Yue's answer, he didn't delve into it. "It's okay, let's go to my house."
Shi Yue nodded, took Shi Qiu Shui's hand and followed Zhao Hui into the backyard. Zhao Hui's family lived in the main house in the backyard. To be honest, Zhao Hui's family was the most spacious among the two courtyards. Although the Zhao family had four rooms like the Niu family in the front yard, there were fewer people in the Zhao family. There were only five people living in the four rooms, which was quite spacious.
Zhao Hui opened the door curtain and called out, "Dad, Mom, I'm back."
Then he turned around and pulled Shi Yue and Shi Qiu Shui, saying, "Mom and Dad, look who's here?"
"Hey! Isn't this Shi Yue?" The first person to speak was Zhao Hui's mother, Aunt Lu. The Zhao and Shi families had lived in the front and back yards for so many years, so she naturally knew Shi Yue.
Shi Yue stepped forward and called out, "Hello, Aunt Lu."
Shi Qiushui followed suit and called out, "Hello, Grandma Lu."
"Okay, okay." Aunt Lu smiled and nodded repeatedly.
Zhao Hui: "Mom, well, today is my father-in-law's first day at work, so I thought I'd invite him over to our house so I can have a few drinks with him, as a way of welcoming him back to the big family of the machinery factory."
Although Aunt Lu does not work in the machinery factory, her son and husband do. She naturally knows that Shi Yue was assigned to the security department of the machinery factory and became the deputy section chief under her son.
As Shi Yue's old neighbor and superior, it was normal for Zhao Hui to invite Shi Yue to dinner, but today was Shi Yue's first day at work in the security department. Normally, shouldn't the security department go out to dinner together? Why did Zhao Hui only bring Shi Yue and his daughter to his house?
Aunt Lu didn't show it on her face, but in fact she was already going through a lot of twists and turns in her mind. She knew that there must be something wrong, and she thought about waiting until the evening when her father-in-law left and then asking her son about it.
At this moment, no matter how much she felt something was wrong, she could only pretend not to know. "Okay, I just bought two kilograms of fresh small yellow croaker today. I'll clean it up and fry it for you later. You can enjoy it with wine."
Zhao Hui waved his hand: "No, Mom, don't bother. Shi Yue just bought several kilograms of cooked food at the market, enough for us to eat today."
Shi Yue nodded and raised the bag in his hand: "Yes, Aunt Lu, there's no need to trouble you. I bought a lot of vegetables here."
"Hey!" Aunt Lu gave Shi Yue a shoulder pat. "What's the matter with you, kid? You came to my house for dinner and brought your own food. Do you think my cooking isn't tasty?"
Shi Yue quickly waved his hands: "No, no, no, Aunt Lu, I don't mean that."
Aunt Lu: "If you don't mean that, just take the things you are holding back home. It's not like I can't afford to treat you to a meal, and you brought food to my door..."
Shi Yue knew that Aunt Lu was not really angry, so he smiled and said, "That won't do. Look how much I bought. If I take it home, my daughter and I won't be able to finish it in two or three days."
"You know you can't finish it, but why did you buy so much?" Although Aunt Lu said this, her expression was clearly compromised. She took the bag of cooked food and said, "Forget it today. Just take it with you. We'll eat this today. But I'm telling you, this is just the first time. There won't be a next time. Next time you come, don't bring anything else, or I won't even welcome you."
Shi Yue nodded repeatedly: "Okay, okay, I will definitely not bring it next time."
"Well, that's more like it." Aunt Lu pointed at the sofa and said, "We have dishes here, but we can't have rice without them. Please sit down for a while. I'll go to the kitchen and make you two pancakes as a staple food."
After she finished speaking, without waiting for anyone to react, she turned around and went into the kitchen to get busy.
Aunt Lu entered the kitchen, and it was Zhao Hui's father, Old Zhao, who greeted Shi Yue and his daughter. He said, "Come, Shi Yue, you and your daughter, sit down."
"Okay." Shi Yue led Shi Qiu Shui to sit on the sofa.
To be honest, Old Zhao and Shi Yue felt somewhat unfamiliar with each other. After all, Shi Yue had been away in the army for more than ten years. Even when he came back over the years, he would only stay in the yard for two or three days. It was impossible for them not to be unfamiliar with each other.
He awkwardly tried to find a topic to talk about: "Hey, Shi Yue, you are almost thirty this year, right?"
Shi Yue: "Yeah, 28 will soon be 29."
Old Zhao: "Time flies by so fast... Well, your daughter is..."
Shi Yue: "Xiao Qiu is six years old this year, but she hasn't had her birthday yet. Her birthday is on a young age, in the twelfth month of the lunar calendar."
"Oh." Old Zhao said, "Then she is also in kindergarten now..."
Shi Yue: "I'm in the senior class, senior (2) class, the same class as Zhao Ran."
Old Zhao: "Huh? Really? That's quite a coincidence!"
Shi Yue chatted with Old Zhao for a few words, feeling the atmosphere was a little awkward. Just as he was trying to find a topic, his eyes suddenly caught sight of the chess pieces on the coffee table. He said, "Eh," and asked, "Uncle Zhao, do you like playing chess too?"
Old Zhao: "Hiss, from what you said, you can play too?"
Shi Yue: "Yes, come on, Uncle Zhao, let's play a game."
"Come on, kill a plate."
Old Zhao rolled up his sleeves, took out the chess pieces, and set up the chessboard with great interest. However, within three minutes, his brows furrowed.
Looking at the chess game where his side was only one move away from being a checkmate, Shi Yue twitched his eyes.
This old man was so imposing, and he thought he was a master, but who knew he was just a terrible chess player!
It took him less than two minutes to eat up half of Old Zhao's chess pieces. He was able to allow Old Zhao to hold out until the third minute because he was afraid of embarrassing Old Zhao and was deliberately giving in.
Old Zhao was still staring at the chessboard and muttering, "Hiss—this is not a good move. If I'm not careful, I'll lose. Let me think, let me think..."
Shi Yue:......
For a moment he couldn't tell whether Old Zhao was serious or just trying to save face.
Old Zhao talked to himself in front of the chessboard for half an hour. Even when Zhao Hui's wife came home from get off work, he still hadn't figured out where to make his next move.
At this time, Shi Yue finally understood why Zhao Hui and Zhao Ran had such strange expressions when he said he wanted to play chess. It turned out that they both knew that Old Zhao was a terrible chess player!
I regret it so much!
Shi Yue just wanted to go back half an hour and punch himself for suggesting playing chess. He would rather continue chatting awkwardly with Old Zhao than endure such torture!
Fortunately, Aunt Lu's call for dinner saved Shi Yue. He immediately stood up when he heard the voice and said, "It's time to eat. Uncle Zhao, let's not get off yet and eat!"
Old Zhao: "Hey, are you hungry? Why are you in such a hurry to eat?"
Shi Yue: "Oh yes, I'm hungry. To be honest, I've been hungry for a long time."
Old Zhao: "Okay, then let's eat. Let's eat. After we finish eating, we'll go downstairs."
Shi Yue:......
Still going down after dinner?!
Can he refuse!
Old Zhao was unaware of Shi Yue's inner collapse. He took him and Shi Qiushui to the dinner table. As soon as they sat down, he stuffed a corner of pancake into Shi Yue's mouth and said, "Come on, Shi Yue, you're hungry, right? Eat if you're hungry. You're welcome here!"
Shi Yue: "Hahaha, okay, I'll eat it, I'll eat it."
It must be said that Aunt Lu’s skill in making pancakes is really good. The pancakes are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside with distinct layers. The strong aroma of lard makes Shi Qiu Shui dizzy as soon as they are served on the table.
Aunt Lu picked up a corner of the pancake, turned it over, stuffed it with braised beef, pig ears and the salad, then rolled it into a roll and handed it to Shi Qiushui: "Here, Xiaoqiu, come and try Grandma Lu's cooking."
This piece of pancake was rolled quite solidly by Aunt Lu. Shi Qiu Shui had to hold it firmly with both hands. She opened her mouth wide and took a big bite.
"Great! Great!" Shi Qiu Shui murmured, then let out another howl.
It may be because Shi Qiu Shui has a delicate appearance, so even though she eats so boldly, it does not make people feel rude. On the contrary, because she eats so deliciously, the people at the table unconsciously have a big appetite and eat more.
In the end, all five members of the Zhao family were full, even Zhao Ran, whose face was always serious. He slumped on the stool with his round belly in his hands, thinking seriously in his mind, does this girl Shi Qiu Shui have special abilities? Why did he eat so much without realizing it?
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