Today is Xia Minmin's first day going to and from school alone. Xia Jianguo and Li Chunmei stood at the supermarket entrance early, waiting for Xia Minmin to come home.
Xia Jianguo and Li Chunmei were restless all day, fearing that something might happen to Xia Minmin.
The shop owner next door joked, "Jianguo, I've only ever heard of the Waiting-for-Husband Stone, this is the first time I've seen the Waiting-for-Woman Stone."
Xia Jianguo retorted directly, "Go to hell, you're no different. Your daughter is in high school, and you still pick her up and drop her off."
From this perspective, there's no difference between them, so neither of them should laugh at the other.
"This is the first time I've seen Jianguo and his wife so nervous. What will you two do if Xiaomin goes to study in another city?"
"What can we do? Of course we'll go with them! It's not like Jian Guo and the others are short of money; they can just buy an apartment near the school."
Li Chunmei was also tempted by her friend's words. It seemed that Xiaomin wanted to study in Beijing, and buying a house now while the property prices were cheap would be a good deal for renting out the property.
"What about marriage?"
"I'll definitely go for the wedding."
The sharp-eyed shop owner had already spotted Xia Minmin; it seemed she had brought a new friend, which was quite rare.
"Xiaomin, you're back! Did you bring a friend home today?"
"Xiaomin, if you don't come back soon, your parents will come to the school to look for you."
When Xia Jianguo saw his daughter return, he immediately dispersed the friends who had gathered around and were making fun of the couple.
"Let's call it a day! This daughter is different now that she's back; she doesn't care about her friends anymore."
Before leaving, he left behind a sarcastic remark.
Xia Jianguo took Xia Minmin's schoolbag and asked, "Xiaomin, is this your classmate?"
"Dad, this is my deskmate, her name is Tang Meng, and she's having dinner at our house today!"
When Xia Jianguo and Li Chunmei heard about Tang Meng, they remembered the bullied girl that Xia Minmin had mentioned yesterday.
Li Chunmei bent over, her face smiling, and her voice much gentler, "Tang Meng, do you have any dietary restrictions?"
Tang Meng was shy when faced with the unfamiliar auntie, "No, Auntie. I'm fine with anything."
"Mom, has our Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) gym coach called? Is class starting today? Tang Meng wants to go to the Sanda gym for class too."
"Your coach called this morning to say that classes will officially start tomorrow. Today you can take Tang Meng to watch their Sanda performance."
"Hmm, are you going with Dad?" Xia Minmin asked, looking at Li Chunmei and Xia Jianguo.
"I'm definitely going. There are a lot of people watching the performance today." Xia Jianguo's attitude was very firm.
Xia Minmin took Tang Meng's schoolbag off the table and handed her the telephone from the counter.
Tang Meng skillfully pressed the number.
Beep beep... beep...
"Hello, is this Dad? It's Mengmeng! I'll be home a little late tonight. I'm having dinner at my classmate's house, and afterwards I'll go to the Sanda class with her family to watch a performance."
"Uncle, does my dad want to talk to you?"
Tang Meng handed the receiver to Xia Jianguo.
"You're welcome, Mr. Tang. The kids are all friends, and we're just picking Tang Meng up because it's on our way. You can pick Tang Meng up at the Sanda gym later. Please write down the address. We'll finish around 7 pm. No trouble at all!"
After Xia Jianguo finished speaking with Tang's father, he handed the receiver to Tang Meng.
"Okay, then please tell Mom for me. I'm hanging up now. Goodbye, Dad!"
Xia Minmin had already tidied up the table and was ready to read for a while, while Tang Meng still had homework to finish.
Li Chunmei checked the time; it was almost five o'clock. She needed to go to the Sanda boxing gym to watch a performance at six o'clock in the evening, so time was a bit tight.
"Xiaomin, is it okay if we eat at 5:30? We can order from the porridge shop next door and bring it back to eat."
"Okay, I want to eat shrimp cakes! Tang Meng, do you like pork ribs? Their pork ribs are delicious too!"
"I'm fine with anything!"
Li Chunmei liked the gentle and kind Tang Meng, but she preferred her own daughter to Tang Meng. Although her daughter was not gentle enough and was even a bit carefree, she had a good personality and would tell her parents directly about anything that happened to her so that they could solve the problem in time. In comparison, Tang Meng was too weak.
Xia Jianguo was also very busy. He would put two bottles of milk on the table one minute, and then cut a plate of fruit and put it on the table the next.
"Xiaomin, Tangmeng, drink some milk and eat some fruit."
Xia Minmin smiled gently, "Thank you, Dad!"
"Thank you, Uncle!"
Xia Jianguo patted Xia Minmin's head and smiled knowingly, "You guys do your homework, we won't disturb you."
As darkness fell, Xia Minmin turned on the lights in the room.
"Tang Meng, have you finished your homework?" Xia Minmin stood next to Tang Meng and watched her do her homework.
"Almost there, just one math problem left, and I can't seem to solve it no matter how I try."
Xia Minmin pointed to the question Tang Meng hadn't finished writing, "You still have one condition you haven't used. Take another look at it yourself."
Tang Meng held her pen and calculated for a while longer before finally beaming with joy, "Finally finished! I'm so tired! Math is so hard!"
Xia Jianguo and Li Chunmei brought in the ordered dishes.
Xia Minmin and Tang Meng quickly packed the books into their schoolbags.
"Mom, is there any more food? I'll go help you!"
Xia Jianguo and his group refused, saying that there were many people in the restaurant and it was easy to slip and fall. Losing food was a minor issue, but getting injured would be a much bigger problem.
Li Chunmei served everyone a bowl of porridge to cool.
"Tang Meng, this shrimp cake is especially delicious, you must try it!" Xia Minmin picked up a piece of shrimp cake and kept recommending delicious dishes to Tang Meng.
"Tang Meng, have you had any allergic reactions to any of the dishes on the table? If you have, don't try them."
"Understood, Aunt Xia."
After finishing our meal, we returned the bowls and chopsticks to the owner, closed the supermarket, and walked to the Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) class.
When Xia Minmin and her group arrived, there were already many students and parents at the venue.
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