Chapter 91 Chapter 91 "Eat more if you like, don't be restrained..."
"Girlfriend?" Xiaoman was very curious. The face leaning against the door frame turned to look outside. "Is she like my cousin?"
Last year, my cousin also brought his girlfriend home for the New Year. This year, he attended their wedding and got his cousin's wife.
Xiaoman's mother subconsciously wanted to say yes, but then she came to her senses and felt that it was not her turn to say it, otherwise it would be like talking too much.
She pulled Xiaoman in and patted his head. "Have you finished your homework? The teacher just sent a message in the group chat saying it must be submitted before 8 pm, otherwise it will be considered incomplete."
Xiaoman suddenly looked frustrated, "Not even close."
Xiaoman's mother walked home, muttering, "You'll be entering the third year of junior high next year. When will you really start taking your studies seriously? I don't want to say much, but think about how you did on this final exam."
Xiaoman hung her head and followed her obediently, "You've been talking the whole time, and you still say you didn't say much."
"Hey." Xiaoman's mother stopped and looked around for the broom in her yard.
Xiaoman had a feeling something was wrong, so she quickly ran into the house and blocked the door.
He turned around, took in the mess in the room, put his hands on his waist, and said angrily, "Yu Guyu, get off this bed right now."
After saying that, he took two steps at a time and walked forward, picking up the man. "You stole candy again."
Yu Guyu is now in the teething period and is very greedy. She has to hide all the candies in the house, but there is no place where she can't find them.
Yu Guyu climbed down from the bed and said confidently, "Brother, you made Mom angry again."
"I didn't," Yu Xiaoman said as she straightened her clothes with a look of disgust. "Mom always just pretends and never really does anything. I'm not afraid of her. But you, wait until Mom finds out about your crime and see how you explain it."
Yu Guyu covered the candy in his pocket and said, "As long as my brother doesn't tell anyone, Mom will never find out."
"Yeah, if you find out, you'll say I ate it."
"What else?"
Yu Xiaoman zipped up her coat, opened the door and asked her to go out. She shook her head to indicate no. He frowned, and then heard her shout loudly: "Mom, my brother just said he is not afraid of you."
“…” The door of the room was suddenly closed.
Two angry voices rang out simultaneously in the Yu family courtyard. One came from Xiaoman's mother, "Yu Xiaoman!" The other came from Xiaoman himself, "Yu Guyu!"
The light at the door of the house swayed slowly, and the winter wind blew, knocking off the fine snow deposited between the leaves, and then it slowly fell.
Pei Dejun looked up and heard the familiar howling coming from next door. He lowered his head to look at the thin snow in the distance, and for no reason thought of his own Lan Qing, who was like this when she was a child. She always lied to him that she had not finished her homework after she had finished it, and she would only feel better after being beaten.
In the blink of an eye, time has arrived here.
From childhood to adulthood, he had never hidden anything from himself except the matter of starting a family.
Pei Dejun remembered what he had explained, coughed, and the white air he exhaled instantly filled his eyes. He wrapped his coat tightly, put his hands in his pockets, and continued to sit in front of the door.
There is an area for sports and cultural activities in the village, where there are trees of Camellia japonica growing one after another. This is a kind of camellia with outstanding cold resistance. It blooms in the cold winter and its pink color can be seen in the snow.
Lin Qianyuan glanced back, then casually brushed off the snow on the bench, sat down in front of the flowers, and said in a depressed tone, "Wait for me a moment, I'm not ready yet."
This was the third time Pei Lanqing had heard her say this since getting off the bus. At least this time he had a place to sit instead of just squatting down after saying hello.
It was a rare sight to see snow in the south of the Yangtze River this year, and the weather was even colder. Pei Lanqing took her hand and motioned her to stand up first. Then he took off his scarf, folded it several times, and tried to spread it on the wet bench.
Lin Qianyuan grabbed his wrist in time, "No." She didn't intend to sit down, and instead let go and nodded, as if to encourage herself, "I'm fine."
Pei Lanqing looked at her slowly for a few seconds and said with a smile, "Really?"
Lin Qianyuan looked at him, then immediately with a dejected expression, threw herself into his arms, raised her head and said, "No, but I don't understand why I'm so nervous."
"Do you think it's weird that I'm like this now?"
"No." Pei Lanqing hugged her back, lowered his head, and saw her appearance clearly in the light of the street lamp beside him.
He rarely saw her wearing clothes with such soft tones, no longer all kinds of dark colors or extremely bright colors that he occasionally saw. The collar of the light gray thick-knit turtleneck sweater underneath the white down jacket could be seen, and she was wearing a plaid long skirt of the same color.
He leaned down slightly, pecked her on the lips, and said gently, "It's not strange at all."
After saying that, he kissed her again and couldn't help laughing. His eyes seemed to be filled with the lights on the roadside, and they were exceptionally bright. "Lin Qianyuan, are you so nervous because you like me?"
He was such a good talker that Lin Qianyuan couldn't defeat him. His eyes moved slightly, and he suddenly raised the corners of his mouth and nodded heavily.
Pei Lanqing let her go and stood here with her.
The temperature this winter was so low that Uncle Li lit a charcoal fire in the house. When he pushed the door to ventilate, he blinked and looked not far away. He felt that the person standing there looked familiar.
Uncle Li approached with doubts in his heart, and the first person he saw clearly was Lin Qianyuan. He unexpectedly looked into her eyes. He was stunned for a moment, then followed her gaze to the other side, and it was just as he thought.
A smile appeared on his face automatically. "Lan Qing, why don't you go home?"
Pei Lanqing greeted him with a smile, "It's almost there." He turned his head to take a look and took Lin Qianyuan's hand, "Uncle Li, this is Lin Qianyuan."
Uncle Li looked down and accidentally caught a glimpse of the bracelet on her wrist, and then he caught a glimpse of the ring. What else could he not understand?
In the past few years, many people have asked Pei Dejun about Pei Lanqing's relationship status, just wanting to arrange a marriage. Pei Dejun has politely declined them all on behalf of Pei Lanqing. At the beginning, he also agreed with him, but later, as time went by, he couldn't help but ask him, is Lanqing really still thinking about the girl who sent him flowers after all these years?
Pei Dejun was silent for a long time at that time. He couldn't help but want to laugh, "Look, you're not sure yourself, why don't you ask first? What if he has let it go? If we do this now, won't it delay the child from meeting his true destiny?"
"I can't let it go," Pei Dejun raised his eyes and said in a low voice, "I'm afraid it's more than that."
"More than what?"
"Flowers."
Lin Qianyuan followed Pei Lanqing and called out, "Hello, uncle."
Uncle Li looked at her carefully. She was good-looking and had a good temperament. Thinking about it, it was indeed more than that. She must be the student who studied abroad.
Uncle Li's nose suddenly felt sore. He turned his head away, blinked rapidly, and then turned back as if nothing had happened. He kindly agreed and said, "Qianyuan, right? What a nice name."
After saying that, he looked at Pei Lanqing and pointed in the direction of Pei's house. "Go back quickly, don't make your father wait anxiously."
"Well," Pei Lanqing said without delay, "You should also go back early and rest early."
Uncle Li couldn't help but laugh, "I know."
Pei Lanqing took Lin Qianyuan away, and Uncle Li kept staring at their backs until they completely disappeared, then he turned back.
Pei Dejun was still sitting in the yard. The half-open door was slowly pushed open by someone from the outside. Halfway through, the person outside stopped and knocked lightly on the door with his fingers.
Pei Dejun's eyes shifted slightly, and he stood up and went to open the door.
"Dad." Pei Lanqing stood outside the door.
Lin Qianyuan raised his head. Unlike Lin Fusheng, the person in front of him clearly showed signs of aging, but his hair was not very white, and he was dressed neatly and cleanly, looking very respectable.
Maybe it was because his temperament was too easygoing, but Lin Qianyuan always felt that Pei Lanqing looked a bit like him, with some resemblance to him.
She couldn't call him "Dad" like she did to Lin Fusheng, because that was a mockery. So even in her peaceful state at this moment, she couldn't call him that because she had never called him that before.
Lin Qianyuan lowered his head slightly, "Hello Uncle Pei, I am Lin Qianyuan."
Pei Dejun nodded. "Hello," he pushed the door open and smiled. "Is it cold outside? Come in and talk to Lan Qing."
Pei Lanqing put down the bags she was carrying, arranged for Lin Qianyuan to sit at the dining table, and followed Pei Dejun into the kitchen.
Pei Dejun was serving dishes. He glanced at him, said nothing, and put down the plate.
Pei Lanqing stepped forward and said, "Dad."
He only confessed the marriage two days ago when Lin Qianyuan agreed to go home with him for the New Year. Just like what he told Qin Shouan, he blurred the timeline and concealed all the inside stories.
He lowered his head and waited silently for criticism.
"Pei Lanqing," Pei Dejun turned sideways to face him, "Dad is indeed a little angry, but not because of whether you are married or not, but because you lied. When did I ever teach you to lie? Can you tell me exactly, did you get married this year? It has nothing to do with my illness?"
Pei Dejun's body was shaking so much that even his voice was trembling. His eyes were slightly red and he turned his head away. After a few seconds, his tone softened, "Lan Qing, Dad doesn't mean to blame you. Dad has no right to blame you."
In the final analysis, he felt sorry for him. He had endured so much because of him, how could he not feel sorry for him? He was also angry that he didn't say anything and always carried it all alone behind his back.
Pei Dejun wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and returned to normal. "Have you paid off all the money?"
"Um."
"You didn't hide it from me?"
"No."
Pei Dejun paused while serving the dishes. Since he was discharged from the hospital, he no longer accepted a penny from his family.
Although the family was a bit tight at the time, they weren't completely broke for living expenses, especially since he was planning to sell his house in the city and send him all the money. He refused to take it, saying it could be used for medicine. So he didn't sell it, and left it to him. After he got a job, he would often send money home, making it a relief.
Pei Dejun then brought out several plates of food that had been cooked long ago and kept warm, and said, "Go out."
Pei Lanqing didn't move, but slowly raised his head. "Dad, you... don't want me anymore?"
Pei Dejun glanced at him. He looked just as anxious as he did when he was a child, afraid that he would be abandoned.
He glared at him angrily, and this time he really scolded him, "I asked you to serve the food, how dare you let people wait there for so long."
Pei Lanqing immediately picked up the dish embarrassedly and retorted softly, "No."
He turned and walked out.
Pei Dejun looked over there for a while and smiled.
Lin Qianyuan sat alone at the dining table, looking around. The house was two stories high, and there weren't many utensils to be seen, all neatly arranged in their usual style. Suddenly, she caught a whiff of the fragrant aroma of food, and the next second, her eyes lit up as she looked straight towards the source of the scent.
Pei Lanqing brought the dishes to the table. Seeing her like this, he smiled and asked, "Are you hungry?"
Lin Qianyuan nodded, staring at the plate of spareribs with great greed. She finally managed to look away and was about to look at Pei Lanqing, but when she looked up, she realized that the dish had been served at some point. She accidentally exchanged glances with Pei Dejun.
Lin Qianyuan felt his face getting hot. Although his expression was normal, he was extremely nervous and almost collapsed. He didn't want to think about what he had just done.
Pei Lanqing reached out and held her hand from under the table, then looked up and said to Pei Dejun, "Dad?"
Pei Dejun's eyes moved slightly, and after a while, he couldn't help but smile, "You like eating spare ribs?"
Lin Qianyuan looked at the smile on his face and gradually relaxed, "Yeah."
Pei Dejun moved the dishes around and said, "Eat more if you like. Don't be restrained."
Lin Qianyuan nodded and picked up his chopsticks to eat.
She didn't say anything, just buried her head in her food. Pei Dejun was afraid that she would feel uncomfortable, so he didn't pay any special attention to her, nor did he speak. She finished the dinner quietly. He stopped the person who was putting the dishes in the sink and asked, "How are you staying tonight?"
Before he could even open his mouth, he made a request, "It's a bit abrupt that we can't live at home together."
Pei Lanqing had indeed neglected this question. "It's so late, are there any vehicles going to the city?"
Pei Dejun looked at him, sighed, turned around, picked at the vegetables that had been cleaned at home, filled a bag, and handed it to him, "Go, ask Xiaoman's mother next door. She has a girl at home too, so it will be more convenient this way."
Pei Lanqing did as she was told and walked over with the bag of vegetables.
Xiaoman's mother held the dozing Yu Guyu in her arms and opened the door without objection. She said generously, "Just bring her in later. Guyu's room is on the far left of the second floor. She'll sleep with me tonight. I'll go upstairs and clean up first."
Pei Lanqing thanked her.
Xiaoman's mother smiled widely and said, "You're welcome."
Lin Qianyuan was standing in the Pei family yard and heard their conversation. She felt a little unhappy and pulled Pei Lanqing aside. She was silent for a few minutes and didn't say anything, but just hugged his waist.
They stood in the shade. Pei Lanqing took advantage of the situation and bent down to kiss her, coaxing her softly, "Can I call you?"
"Okay." Lin Qianyuan responded sullenly.
That was her response, but when the time really came, she still didn't feel safe. After hanging up the phone, she sat alone in the room for a long time. Everything felt unfamiliar, and she instinctively sat stiffly in front of the window, motionless.
Pei Lan finished her shower and sent a message, [Are you asleep?]
Lin Qianyuan: [Not yet.]
Pei Lanqing opened the window. Without looking outside, the light from her room was cast onto the camellia tree behind her, along with its shadow.
He put on his coat, opened the door and went downstairs.
Pei Dejun was still awake. Seeing him, he asked, "Where are you going?"
Pei Lanqing didn't dare to lie in front of him, "Next door."
Pei Dejun glanced at the clock, not knowing what to say to him. He hesitated, wanting to say something, and then asked, "Can't we meet tomorrow?"
"I can't," Pei Lanqing lowered his eyes, his eyelashes fluttered, and a faint redness appeared at the base of his ears. "I can't sleep without seeing her before going to bed."
-----------------------
The author has something to say: Pei Dejun: Whose child is this? I don’t know him.
PS: Does this sound familiar to you? Someone has said this before.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
