Chapter 066 Hu Meili moves in
It was already past four o'clock when Shi Yue and Zhao Hui returned to the compound. Everyone who had gone out had returned. Guo Pozi and the two little twins were washing clothes in the yard, Li Xiuying was sitting at the door picking vegetables, and Xiao Liu and his wife were distributing apricots from house to house with a bag.
Seeing Shi Yue and Zhao Ran coming back, Xiao Liu smiled and grabbed a handful for each of them. "Shi Yue, Zhao Hui, here, you two should try some too. My mom brought this from Jingxi. It's really delicious."
Shi Yue took it politely and immediately put one in his mouth to taste.
Well, it’s really delicious, mainly because the apricots are sweet, and even the part near the apricot kernel is not sour.
Xiao Liu: "How is it? Is it delicious?"
Shi Yue gave a thumbs-up and said, "Well, that's pretty good."
Xiao Liu smiled and said, "If you like it, I'll grab you another handful. Don't be polite. This stuff is not worth much. My mom got me a lot of it."
"Okay, then grab me another handful." Shi Yue didn't bother to be polite with her and took another handful of apricots from her pocket.
Shi Yue was carrying two handfuls of apricots as he walked home. When he reached the door, he realized something was wrong. The yard was bustling, but the door of Shi's house was closed. He could not hear the two children talking inside even from the door.
Shi Yue instantly became alert.
Isn’t there a saying that goes, if a child is quiet, he will definitely make trouble again?
The house is so quiet today, maybe it's just Shi Qiu Shui and Zhao Ran who are causing trouble.
He stopped and gestured to Zhao Hui behind him, pointing to the window next to the door, indicating that Zhao Hui should go with him to peek.
The two adults tiptoed in and carefully peeked inside through the glass window. Just after taking a look, they felt their blood pressure rise.
Inside the room, Shi Qiu Shui and Zhao Ran were sitting on the sofa, with a radio that had been dismantled into pieces in front of them.
Shi Yue's breathing became a little faster. He wondered how these two kids could be so brave. They even dared to dismantle the radio when the adults were not at home?
It’s a good thing they came back, otherwise if they were a little later, the two kids would have even dismantled the TV.
Zhao Hui blushed and said, "This, this, this must have been started by my brat!"
He was so angry: "My brat, during the winter vacation, secretly dismantled his grandfather's radio at home. I scolded him once, but he didn't learn his lesson. He's tinkering with your radio again!"
Although he was angry, he certainly couldn't just ignore the fact that his child had taken apart other people's things.
Zhao Hui quickly said, "Don't worry, Shi Yue. I will definitely find someone to install your radio. If it doesn't work, I'll buy you an identical one!"
Shi Yue waved his hand: "Oh, no need, my radio at home is already broken, you don't need to buy me a new one."
He stroked his chin and said, "Besides, I think Zhao Ran is quite capable. Maybe he can install my radio in no time."
He could see through the glass that Zhao Ran's hand movements did not seem random.
Zhao Hui: "What do you mean by 'skilled'? 'Skilled'? The guy was lucky to put his grandfather's radio back together. He definitely can't put yours back together."
As he spoke, Zhao Hui became angry again. It was fine for the brat to dismantle his own family's things. After all, it was his family's. If it was broken, it was broken. As long as it could be repaired and still be used, his family wouldn't mind it. But he also went to someone else's house to dismantle things. This damaged their things. Not only did he have to pay money and replace the things, he also had to go to their house to apologize.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He strode forward, opened the door, and rushed into the house.
The two little ones in the room were startled by the sound of the door opening suddenly. They looked up at the same time and saw Zhao Hui and Shi Yue walking in.
Shi Qiushui didn't know that the two parents were peeking outside the window. When he saw them coming back, he went to greet them with a smile and said sweetly to Shi Yue, "Dad, you're back?"
Shi Yue: "Well, I'm back. I have to come back. If I don't come back, you might tear my house down."
Shi Qiushui reacted belatedly. She pointed her fingers and said guiltily, "Dad? What are you talking about?"
Shi Yue glanced at Shi Qiu Shui with a smile in his eyes, then nodded his chin in the direction of the coffee table, indicating that she should look at the radio that had been disassembled into a pile of parts in front of the coffee table, and Zhao Ran who was responsible for disassembling the radio into a pile of parts.
Shi Qiushui stiffly didn't turn around, but hugged Shi Yue's arm like a dog, and said flatteringly: "Dad, you don't know, I did a good deed today."
Shi Yue: “Hmm?”
Shi Qiushui: "Zhao Ran said he could repair radios, so I gave him our broken radio. I saved our family some repair costs, so isn't that a good deed?"
Zhao Ran: ...
He just knew it!
The fundamental reason why the little girl Shi Qiu Shui asked him to repair the radio was to save money!
Shi Yue was also speechless. He rubbed the little girl's head and thought to himself: My girl, it's not good to tell this in front of Zhao Hui and Zhao Ran, right?
Shi Qiushui rolled his eyes mischievously and said, "Dad, you see, I'm doing this for the good of our family, so you shouldn't blame me for not consulting you before giving the radio away, right?"
Shi Yue shook his head and was about to speak when he was interrupted by Zhao Hui.
Zhao Hui said in a loud voice: "No, Xiaoqiu, this is not your fault. It's all my bad boy's fault. He led you astray."
Hearing this, Zhao Ran, who was concentrating on repairing something, stopped. He raised his head with a stern face and a look of dissatisfaction in his eyes.
Zhao Hui's eyes fell on him and he said, "Alright, brat, stop fiddling with it. Put the stuff in a pile. I'll find someone else to put this thing back."
Zhao Ran: "No, I'm almost done!"
Zhao Hui glanced at the mess of parts and said, "What are you assembling? Aren't they still lying outside?"
"This is the outer shell, and I have installed the wires inside..." Zhao Ran tried to explain, but Zhao Hui didn't hear a word he said. In his mind, Zhao Ran didn't know how to repair radios at all, and he was just lucky before. So no matter what Zhao Ran said now, he didn't believe it.
Zhao Ran saw what Zhao Hui was thinking and shut up as he spoke.
His lips were tightly closed, his face was tense, and his eyes were staring straight at Zhao Hui, looking very unconvinced.
Zhao Hui looked at his stubborn boy and felt very angry.
The atmosphere between the father and son became tense.
At this time, Shi Qiu Shui jumped out and spoke. She looked at Zhao Hui with her big black and white eyes and said.
"Uncle Zhao, if you don't understand, don't talk nonsense. Zhao Ran is obviously almost done with the installation. He has already arranged all the wires inside!"
Upon hearing this, Shi Yue quickly tugged at his daughter's hand and said, "Hiss—you little kid, what nonsense are you talking about? If you don't understand, don't talk nonsense. Who are you talking to, huh? Uncle Zhao is so much older than you. How can you talk to him like that? Apologize, apologize to your Uncle Zhao quickly."
Shi Qiushui pouted and apologized to Zhao Hui aggrievedly: "I'm sorry, Uncle Zhao, I shouldn't have been so disrespectful to you."
Shi Yue pointed at Shi Qiushui and said to Zhao Hui, "This child is ignorant. Wait a minute and see what I say to her."
Zhao Hui understood what Shi Yue meant, that children are ignorant and asked him not to argue with them.
He smiled, but didn't mean to argue with Shi Qiushui. He just said, "It's okay, I'm not angry."
Shi Qiushui blinked his eyes: "Uncle Zhao, if you are not angry, I will continue to talk."
Shi Yue: ...
Oh, my daughter, you really opened your mouth and insisted on saying something, right?
Zhao Hui was also stunned.
Shi Qiushui didn't care what the two adults were thinking and started talking: "Uncle Zhao, I think you shouldn't be so disrespectful to children. You shouldn't take their words to heart and look down on them."
Zhao Hui: "Ah?"
He opened his mouth with a questioning look on his face.
Are you talking about him?
When did he stop respecting children and doing that?
Shi Qiushui argued confidently, "Zhao Ran clearly learned how to repair radios from a book, and he's even fixed the one at home before, but you didn't take his words to heart at all. You just assumed he got it fixed by accident. You're doing this because you think he's a child, you look down on him and you don't respect him!"
As she spoke, she started to feel aggrieved: "Uncle Zhao, I misjudged you. I always thought you were a very good parent to children, but I didn't expect you to be so mean!"
Zhao Hui: "Ah? I'm bad?"
Shi Qiushui: "Yes, you are bad! So bad, you are a bad parent, a bad father!"
She pouted and said, "From now on, I will cut off all ties with you, a bad parent, and I won't talk to you anymore!" After saying that, she looked up at Zhao Hui's expression and added, "Unless you apologize to Zhao Ran, I will ignore you."
Zhao Hui: “……?”
He looked at Shi Qiu Shui, who was angrily breaking off ties with him, and then looked at Zhao Ran, who had a tense face, and felt a little amused.
Shi Yue covered his mouth to suppress his smile, not knowing what to say. He turned to look at Zhao Hui and said the same thing: "Uh, Brother Zhao, this... the child is young and doesn't understand. Don't bother with the child."
Zhao Hui waved his hand. He really wouldn't bother with a child over such a small matter.
He looked at Zhao Ran. Although Shi Qiu Shui's words made him feel a little funny, they also made him reflect on himself.
He seemed to look down on Zhao Ran and disrespect Zhao Ran?
He suddenly thought of the scene where Zhao Ran had seriously told him that he had learned how to repair the radio before he dismantled his grandfather's radio.
Zhao Hui felt a little guilty. He had worked with Shi Yue for such a long time and had seen how Shi Yue got along with his daughter. Thinking of how Shi Yue apologized every time he made a mistake, he also decisively apologized to Zhao Ran.
"Well, son, I'm sorry, I may have misunderstood you before."
Zhao Hui spoke this short sentence haltingly, as if he found it very difficult to open his mouth.
But even so, it was enough to surprise Zhao Ran.
A hint of surprise appeared on his usually expressionless face, and he looked at Zhao Hui with eyes full of surprise.
Zhao Hui was a little embarrassed. He said, "Well, didn't you say you were almost done repairing this radio? Hurry up and fix it, and let me take a look."
Zhao Ran knew that his father was deliberately changing the subject, but after hearing his father apologize to him, he was no longer angry. He obediently sat down and started to assemble the radio.
Just as Shi Qiu Shui said, the wiring inside has been installed, and all that remains is to put the various parts back in place. Zhao Ran used a small screwdriver to install everything bit by bit.
Zhao Hui looked at Zhao Ran's familiar movements and had to admit again that he had indeed wronged Zhao Ran before.
A sudden sense of guilt filled Zhao Hui's heart. He wanted to say something awkwardly when he suddenly heard a commotion outside, as if something had happened.
Shi Qiu Shui, the gossipy little guy, was the first to rush to the door, wanting to see what was happening outside.
As soon as she opened the door, she saw Yang Zhiqiang leading in the strange female comrade who had supported Old Lady Yang at noon.
Shi Qiushui turned to look at Shi Yue and asked, "Dad, why did this aunt come back with Uncle Yang?"
Shi Yue was also surprised when he saw Hu Meili. Obviously, he had not expected this scene.
People like Shi Yue, who knew Hu Meili, were surprised, and others in the hospital who had never seen Hu Meili were even more surprised. They surrounded Yang Zhiqiang and asked him questions.
"Hey, Zhiqiang, why did you bring a girl back? Who is this girl? Is she your girlfriend?"
"Oh, Zhiqiang has a girlfriend? Great news, this is great news! Where's Lao Yang? Lao Yang, come out quickly, your son has brought his girlfriend home!"
"Zhiqiang, you've brought your partner home, why don't you introduce him/her to everyone? What's your partner's name..."
"Yes, Yang Zhiqiang, can you please introduce him to everyone..."
Just now, Shi Qiu Shui heard a noisy sound in the room. It was the sound of them surrounding Yang Zhiqiang and asking questions at the same time. They asked questions non-stop and didn't even give Yang Zhiqiang a chance to speak.
Zhao Hui, who came out a step later, saw the situation in the courtyard, frowned, and asked, "Zhiqiang, why did you bring Comrade Hu back?"
When everyone heard this, they all turned around and looked at Zhao Hui.
"Huizi is here? Hey, Huizi, do you know this girl?"
"Hey, Huizi, since you know Zhiqiang's girlfriend, why don't you introduce her to everyone?"
"That's right, Zhiqiang finally found a girlfriend, but why is he still hiding it..."
It's no wonder that everyone is curious. After all, Yang Zhiqiang has been single for so many years and finally brought home a girl, so everyone wants to gossip about her.
Zhao Hui: "Ah? A date? When did Zhiqiang start dating Comrade Hu?"
The gossipy guy's expression froze instantly.
What? Isn't the girl Yang Zhiqiang brought home his girlfriend?
Yang Zhiqiang finally found an opportunity to explain, and quickly said, "No, this Comrade Hu is not my girlfriend. She is the caregiver I hired for my mother. My mother fell and was hospitalized, and she needs someone to take care of her. This Comrade Hu was hired by me to take care of my mother."
oh!
It turned out to be a caregiver!
Everyone was instantly disappointed.
They said that Old Lady Yang was anxiously trying to arrange a blind date for Yang Zhiqiang yesterday, so how could he have a partner?
Although they were disappointed, everyone still cared about Mrs. Yang's situation.
"Zhiqiang, how did your mother get hurt? When she left home this morning, I saw she was fine."
"Where did Lao Yang fall? Is he seriously injured? Which hospital is he in? Let me go with you to see Lao Yang."
"Yes, how about we all go to the hospital to see Old Yang?"
Yang Zhiqiang quickly said, "No, no, no need to bother everyone to go to the hospital to see my mom. My mom is fine. She just got pushed and fell and has a broken bone. The doctor said she'll be hospitalized for a few days for observation. If it's nothing serious, she can go home to recuperate in two days. Then you can all see my mom."
Everyone felt a little relieved after hearing this, but Ma Yulan suddenly asked, "Did Lao Yang fall because someone pushed him? Who pushed him?"
Yang Zhiqiang: "Well, just a little scoundrel. But the problem is that my mom didn't know that little scoundrel. She was just walking down the street and just as she turned into a small alley, that little scoundrel snatched her bag and pushed her to the ground. I'm still talking. After I finish packing my things, I have to go to the police station to report the case."
Ma Yulan nodded: "Yes, we have to report it to the police. This situation is too bad. Robbery is bad enough, but he also hurt people. If the police don't arrest him, he will become lawless!"
Ma Yulan was a very responsible school administrator. When she thought about a robber roaming around nearby, her heart started pounding. She thought about it for a moment and stood up to speak.
"You guys talk first. I have to go to the street office. While they're still working, I need to report this issue to them."
After she finished speaking, she hurried away. While everyone was still in a daze, Yang Zhiqiang said, "Well, I'll go back to the house first. I have to quickly pack up my things with Comrade Hu. My mother is waiting in the hospital alone. We came back this time just to pack some daily necessities for her."
After he finished speaking, he pulled Hu Meili through the gossiping crowd, opened the door and entered the Yang family's house. After entering the house, he pointed in the direction of the kitchen and said, "That's the kitchen. The pots and pans are all in the cupboards, as well as rice and flour. Take a look at what other dishes you have, make some simple ones, and then find a lunch box to put them in. You can take them to my mother later. I'll go to my mother's room and pack two clothes for her."
Hu Meili nodded timidly, went into the kitchen and started working quickly.
Yang Zhiqiang went into the house, found a cloth bag, quickly stuffed a few sets of clothes into it, and then came out of Old Lady Yang's bedroom. In addition to clothes, he also had to pack some toiletries for Old Lady Yang.
He was just about to take the washbasin from the washbasin rack at the door when he saw Zhao Hui and Shi Yue standing outside the door, looking into the house.
Yang Zhiqiang guessed that these two people must have something to say to him, so he strode out and asked directly: "Shi Yue, Zhao Hui, what do you want to talk to me about?"
Zhao Hui: "Uh... I can't say there's anything wrong, it's just, it's just, uh..."
Zhao Hui stammered, unable to articulate a clear answer. Shi Yue, however, asked bluntly, "Yang Zhiqiang, why did you bring Hu Meili back home? And you even let her work as Aunt Yang's caregiver?"
He wasn't afraid that Yang Zhiqiang would think he was being mean, so he spoke directly to him, "We don't know each other well. We just met today, and you dare let her be Aunt Yang's caregiver? Aren't you afraid that she won't take good care of Aunt Yang?"
What he said was still quite euphemistic. If Hu Meili really had bad intentions and didn't take good care of Old Lady Yang, it wouldn't be a big deal. He was just afraid that she would do something bad, and losing money would be considered a good thing.
Yang Zhiqiang gave a bitter laugh and said, "Well, I didn't intend to hire her as a caregiver in the first place. It's just that our old lady wanted to do it herself."
He said, "You left early, so I didn't know. After you left, my old lady asked Comrade Hu about her family situation. Comrade Hu said she ran away from home. Her family wanted to marry her off to an older man who was married twice in exchange for a dowry, but she didn't want to, so she ran away."
Zhao Hui: "What? Escaped from home?"
Yang Zhiqiang nodded and continued, "Yeah, she sounded pretty miserable. She said she had just escaped yesterday and only had enough money to stay in a guesthouse for one night. She didn't know where she would go today. Oh, when our old lady heard this, she couldn't stand it anymore. She immediately asked her to stay at our house. She didn't want to eat for free and not work, so she said she wanted to be our old lady's nurse and serve her, and that would be her food fee."
Shi Yue frowned: "How could this be such a coincidence?"
Hu Meili just happened to have nowhere to go today, and she just happened to save Old Lady Yang, so Old Lady Yang just happened to be able to take her in?
With this series of coincidences happening all at once, it was hard for Shi Yue not to be suspicious.
Yang Zhiqiang: "Well, no matter if it's a coincidence or not, my old lady has chosen her as her caregiver, and I can't say no."
He shrugged and spread his hands in frustration, saying, "It's actually okay. After all, my old lady just needs to stay in bed and rest, she's not speechless or unable to move. If Comrade Hu really treats my mother badly, she can tell me."
This is also the reason why he was worried about Hu Meili but did not drive her away.
Shi Yue nodded: "That's right. At worst, you can just go to the hospital more often to keep an eye on her. Even if she has bad intentions, she can't do anything about it."
Yang Zhiqiang: "Well, I plan not to go to the store these few days. I will stay at the hospital to watch over my mother during the day. There is no place to rest at the hospital at night, so I will come back later."
Shi Yue and Zhao Hui both nodded.
Just let Hu Meili accompany me at night. After all, there won’t be much to do at night.
Yang Zhiqiang: "Okay, now you two can rest assured. I'll go back and continue to put my things away."
Shi Yue: "Well, go ahead."
When he and Zhao Hui were leaving Yang Zhiqiang's house, they happened to pass by Yang Zhiqiang's kitchen window. Through the glass, they could see Hu Meili concentrating on cooking for Old Mrs. Yang in the kitchen.
Seeing her working with her head lowered and her face submissively looking, she seems to be quite honest.
Zhao Hui turned around and whispered to Shi Yue, "Maybe you're overthinking it. Comrade Hu doesn't seem like a bad person."
Shi Yue shook his head and whispered, "Bad guys don't write the word 'bad guy' on their faces."
Although Hu Meili has not done anything bad so far, he still retains his suspicion of Hu Meili.
After returning home, Shi Yue told Shi Qiu Shui about what happened next door.
The focus is on Hu Meili next door.
He told Shi Qiushui about his suspicions about Hu Meili and said, "Comrade Hu will be living in our courtyard from now on. You'd better be careful. Until I clear my suspicions about her, stay as far away from her as possible. If you can avoid dealing with her, don't do anything with her."
Shi Qiu Shui nodded seriously.
Although what her father said was just his suspicion about Hu Meili.
But she believed in her father.
Her father said Hu Meili might be a bad person, and then Hu Meili is.
She shouldn't have anything to do with Hu Meili.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
