When Anding sent a message to Liu Wangxue last night, he had already told her the size and number of pieces of luggage. The space in Xu Qingsong's car is slightly larger than that of Liu Nanshan's. When he went to get the key in the morning, Xu Qingsong had already helped to fold up one of the back seats, so now several suitcases can fit in just the right amount.
Little Cha Cha had already gotten into the car and was being affectionate with the other three little ones. The three little ones obviously still remembered him and were surrounding him and rubbing against him.
Cha Cha touched and hugged each of them one by one, and finally held Gua Gua in her arms and said, "Gua Gua, did you miss me? I brought you a gift."
After he finished speaking, he touched Pengpeng and Xiaoci fairly and said, "Don't be sad, you two. I brought you gifts as well."
After the luggage was put away, the three adults also got on the car.
Anding wanted to take the main driver's seat, but Liu Wangxue didn't let him: "Let me drive. I'm familiar with the roads here." Then he asked Du Yunxiang: "You haven't had lunch yet? I've booked a restaurant. Shall we go eat first?"
"Okay, let's go eat first." Du Yunxiang said, "Cha Cha doesn't like airplane food. She didn't even eat two bites. She must be hungry now."
The restaurant Liu Wangxue booked was the same Anhui cuisine restaurant where she had eaten twice before with Du Yunkai and the others. It was on the way home, so there was no need to take a detour.
So Liu Wangxue drove the car, Anding sat in the passenger seat, Du Yunxiang sat in the back seat holding Cha Cha, Cha Cha held Gua Gua, Peng Peng squatted in the space between the front and back seats, Xiao Ci climbed onto the suitcase and lay down, and the four of them and the three pets went to the restaurant.
After dinner, we sat in the private room to rest for a while, then drove back to the courtyard. It was already past three in the afternoon.
The car stopped at the door. As soon as the door opened, Pengpeng jumped out first, rushed into the yard, and ran two laps - the space between the seats was too crowded, making it very uncomfortable. After running, it shook off its fur and felt relaxed.
Gu Xuelan was sitting at the dining table in the kitchen picking vegetables. When she looked up and saw Peng Peng, she knew that it was Liu Wangxue who had come back to pick someone up. She quickly washed her hands and went out to greet him.
At the gate of the courtyard, Liu Wangxue and Anding were unloading the suitcases together, Du Yunxiang followed to lend a hand, and Cha Cha was standing against the wall holding Gua Gua.
Xiaoci lay on the suitcase and refused to get down. After Liu Wangxue forcibly took it down, it jumped from her arms again, jumped onto a smaller suitcase, and used the momentum to climb onto the big box, lying on the top.
This time it jumped onto the suitcase that contained Cha Cha's clothes. Cha Cha came over and touched Xiao Ci's head when she saw it: "You like big suitcases? How about I give this to you?"
When the last box was taken down, Liu Wangxue smiled and asked Cha Cha, "If you give the box to it, what will happen to the things in the box? How will you take them home?"
Cha Cha said, "Then give it all."
The three adults laughed together.
As soon as Gu Xuelan came out, she heard them laughing: "What are you so happy about?"
Du Yunxiang and Anding greeted her together and said sorry for disturbing her a few times.
Cha Cha remembered Gu Xuelan, and without the need for Du Yunxiang or Liu Wangxue to introduce her, she took the initiative to greet him: "Hello, Grandma!"
Gu Xuelan just likes children, especially those as cute as Cha Cha and You You. She reached out and touched his face, smiling kindly: "Come on, follow grandma into the house. Grandpa made you some delicious soup. Let's go have a bowl first, okay?"
Cha Cha had never seen Liu Nanshan, nor had she heard adults mention him, so she couldn't help but ask, "Who is Grandpa?"
"Let's go in." Liu Wangxue said to Du Yunxiang and Anding, putting his hands on the suitcase and pretending to push it into the yard. Hearing this, he said, "Grandpa is Auntie's father, but Grandpa is at work now. Chacha will be able to see him in the evening."
Cha Cha nodded, holding Gu Gua with one hand and holding Gu Xuelan's hand with the other: "Thank you grandma, thank you grandpa."
Several people went in together, put the suitcases in the corner of the yard, and went to the kitchen to sit and drink a bowl of soup.
Gu Xuelan went to serve the soup, Liu Wangxue put the vegetables on the table to the other end, then washed his hands and helped Gu Xuelan carry the bowl, and Anding also washed his hands and came over to help.
Today, Liu Nanshan cooked bamboo shoots and old duck soup. It has been simmering in the electric casserole since morning. The aroma is overflowing as soon as the lid is opened. Each person has a small bowl, and some bamboo shoots and duck meat are scooped into the bottom of the bowl. There are a few drops of oil floating on the creamy yellow soup. The soup is mellow and not greasy, with a hint of sweetness. The duck meat is tender and the bamboo shoots are a little crunchy when chewed. A bowl of this in winter is really soothing and satisfying.
Liu Nanshan's cooking skills are impeccable. Just one dish of soup captured the taste buds of two adult guests and one child.
Gu Xuelan asked Cha Cha: "Is it delicious?"
Cha Cha held the small spoon in her hand, chewing a bamboo shoot she had just eaten. She nodded when she heard the words, "It tastes good!"
Du Yunxiang touched his head and said to Liu Wangxue and Gu Xuelan, "He never ate bamboo shoots before. Whether they were fresh or processed, he said they had a strange taste."
Aunt Du didn't know what kind of "strange taste" Cha Cha was talking about. She was a little kid and couldn't describe it clearly. Aunt Du boasted that her cooking skills were not inferior to those of other chefs. She also had certificates of various levels. She tried many methods but couldn't find the answer. She regretfully called it "the Waterloo of her career in this life."
Cha Cha nodded: "It just tastes very strange, I don't like it."
It is normal to have a preference for food or smell, and it is not a rare thing. Liu Wangxue deliberately asked him at this time: "So how do you eat now?"
Cha Cha's lips were already covered with oil. He took out another bamboo shoot and said, "Because this one doesn't have a weird taste. It's delicious."
The three adults at the table, except Du Yunxiang, were curious and asked Cha Cha what kind of taste was the “strange taste”?
Cha Cha said, "It tastes like grass." She ate the bamboo shoots on the spoon in one gulp.
Du Yunxiang laughed: "Last time you said it was the smell of leaves."
“That’s why it’s so strange,” Cha Cha nodded, “Mom, it will change.”
The four adults all laughed.
Liu Wangxue guessed that it was probably the unique fragrance of bamboo. After finishing a bowl of soup, Gu Xuelan wanted to add some more for everyone, but Du Yunxiang and Anding refused, saying that they were full from lunch and had not yet digested it.
Cha Cha, on the other hand, held up her small bowl and said, "Grandma, I want to drink another half bowl, is that ok?"
"Of course!" Gu Xuelan took Cha Cha's bowl and helped him serve.
Liu Wangxue threw the remaining duck bones in the bowl to Pengpeng, then turned to Gu Xuelan and said, "Mom, get more bamboo shoots and duck meat. Chacha didn't eat much for lunch."
Cha Cha is a picky eater. The last time we had dinner together in Hai City, the restaurant we went to was one he had "inspected" before. And the time at Du's house, the food on the table was all made by the aunt according to the family's taste, so no one could tell.
This time they were suddenly in a new place, and the taste of Anhui cuisine and Shanghai cuisine was quite different. Even though the three adults tried their best to take care of the children when ordering and asked the restaurant to prepare children's meals, Cha Cha still didn't eat many bites.
Gu Xuelan felt distressed when she heard this. It was not good for such a young child not to eat well. She probably thought that the child was not used to the taste here, so she put shredded bamboo shoots and duck meat in the small bowl for Cha Cha, without even giving her much soup.
"Thank you grandma~" Cha Cha was so happy. While the adults next to him were chatting, he just focused on eating.
Seeing him enjoying the meal, Du Yunxiang couldn't help but ask about the recipe of this soup. The aunt at home also made dried bamboo shoots and old duck soup, but Cha Cha shook her head when she saw the bamboo shoots in it. Du Yunxiang felt that the taste of both sides was almost the same. If you look closely, it's just that the one made by the aunt is slightly sweeter. She wanted to ask and then go home to talk to the aunt to see if the aunt could make this flavor, which can also be regarded as crossing the items on Cha Cha's picky menu.
Gu Xuelan said: "I really don't know about this. It was all done by Xuxu's father. When he comes back in the evening, why don't you ask him?"
"Okay." Du Yunxiang nodded, "Then I have to ask my uncle for advice."
After Chacha finished eating, Du Yunxiang took a tissue to wipe his mouth, and Liu Wangxue and Gu Xuelan took them to see the guest rooms.
Du Yunxiang had only seen the appearance of the small building after it was renovated from the photos and videos Liu Wangxue shared with her. So when she came this time, she naturally wanted to tour the upstairs and downstairs.
When entering the living room on the first floor, the first thing that draws your eye is Gu Xuelan’s cross-stitch - it’s hard not to be attracted by it, as it is the largest and most eye-catching.
There is also a cross-stitch hanging in the living room of Anding's house, but it is not as big as this one. It was also embroidered by his mother. It is a traditional pattern of butterflies and peonies, with four big characters in the blank space, "Flowers bloom and wealth comes."
One is festive and the other is elegant, and they each have their own style.
When Anding went home during the holidays, he helped his mother embroider a few stitches. He also had some knowledge of cross-stitch and knew that it must have taken a lot of effort to embroider this one. Anding talked to Gu Xuelan about this for a long time, and he praised her a lot, which made Gu Xuelan laugh so hard that she couldn't stop.
When we visited the second floor, we first went to see the guest room that Du Yunxiang and Cha Cha were going to stay in. It was spacious and clean, and the furniture inside was also complete. Like Liu Wangxue's bedroom, it had French windows and a balcony. There was a set of rattan chairs and a coffee table in the window. If you want to sit on the balcony when the weather is good, you can move this set of things out.
"My room is next door," Liu Wangxue said. "The space here is not that big, so we didn't design an indoor bathroom. Just like down there, the bathroom is at the end of the corridor, but it might be a little troublesome to get up at night."
It's nothing. Du Yunxiang never minds these things. When she goes out, she always considers the situation and never picks and chooses under the existing conditions. Besides, she is a guest at someone's house. Who would be picky?
Liu Wangxue then showed them her room and the bathroom next door, and finally went to the sun room.
As soon as they came in, the view became particularly wide. The three little ones thought they were going to sit down and drink tea, so they immediately went to their fixed positions, Pengpeng and Xiaoci occupied the swing chairs, and Guagua flew onto its perch.
When moving things last night, Liu Wangxue also brought over the lanterns that she and Xu Qingsong had made at the hot spring resort and hung them among the decorative vines. She also placed the ornaments she bought at the pottery shop halfway up the mountain on the display cabinet.
Cha Cha started talking from the living room on the first floor: "Aunt Liu's house is so beautiful!"
He would praise every room he went to and everything he saw, and they were all different. Liu Wangxue was amazed at his vocabulary. He was only four years old. She really thought Cha Cha was a little genius.
Du Yunxiang explained that Cha Cha usually likes to read picture books and listen to stories, and he has already learned pinyin, so he can read those children's picture books by himself. He reads and listens more, and he remembers some words.
It’s just that sometimes he would make some mistakes when using the language, and his family would correct them in time when they heard it, so his vocabulary was accumulated in this way.
At this moment in the sun room, Cha Cha's eyes were immediately attracted by the two lanterns: "Aunt Liu, can I take a look?"
Liu Wangxue had hung the flowers there by standing on a chair, so he moved the chair over and tried to stand on it again to pick them.
When Anding saw it, he said, "Let me do it." He thought it was a dangerous action and how could he let a lady do it?
Liu Wangxue didn't argue with him, but moved aside to help him hold the chair.
One moon lantern had a simple sketch of a rabbit chasing a carrot painted on it and was made by Liu Wangxue; the other fan-shaped lantern had a bunch of ripe loquats with a cute ladybug on one side and a bunch of lychees on the other side. The blank spaces on both sides had a line of poetry written in small calligraphy.
Without pinyin, Cha Cha could not recognize many words. She could only read a few here and there and asked Du Yunxiang what they meant.
After Du Yunxiang finished explaining, Cha Cha reminded her, "Mom, you haven't bought the materials for making lanterns for me yet. This is my winter vacation homework. Mom, please don't forget it, otherwise I will be sad."
Du Yunxiang almost forgot about it. Fortunately, Liu Wangxue hung two lamps here, so Cha Cha saw them and reminded her again. She touched Cha Cha's head and said, "Okay, Mom will definitely not forget. I'll buy them for you when I get home."
Anding has taken out his mobile phone and made a note of it in his memo, and will remind the president when necessary.
Gu Xuelan said: "Xu Xu, I remember..."
"Yes." Liu Wangxue knew what she was going to say, and she was about to bend down to open the cabinet door of the tea table.
That is to say, Gu Xuelan saw it when she was packing up in the morning.
On New Year's Eve at the resort, she bought a lot of handmade bags when she left the lantern shop, thinking that after Youyou and Jinghe came back, she would call the kids in the village who got along well with him over and give each of them one to make and play with together.
"They are all here." Liu Wangxue took out a bag from the tea table cabinet. It was full of handmade lantern bags. She showed them to Cha Cha, "Is there anything you like?"
"Wow!" Cha Cha exclaimed, "Aunt Liu, can you do magic?"
Du Yunxiang smiled and said, "Of course she will. Your uncle Xu said that Aunt Liu is a fairy."
"Wow!" Cha Cha exclaimed again, and there seemed to be little stars in her eyes when she looked at Liu Wangxue.
Liu Wangxue laughed several times in a row: "Adults are not allowed to lie to children." She touched Cha Cha's little face and said: "Of course not, Auntie is not a real fairy. I bought this when I went out to play, and I brought it back to give to the children. You can pick whichever one you like, okay?"
When Cha Cha heard her say that she didn't know magic and wasn't a fairy, he felt a little disappointed. But this disappointment didn't stay in his heart for even a second before it dissipated - the lanterns.
Cha Cha raised her head and looked at Du Yunxiang: "Mom, can I choose?"
Du Yunxiang said: "Aunt Liu gave it to you, of course it was your own decision."
Make your own decision, that means he can choose. Cha Cha was so happy. After thanking Liu Wangxue, she chose according to the pattern on the instruction manual in the handmade bag and chose a parrot-shaped one: "I want this one!"
The animal-shaped lanterns that Liu Wangxue picked are all simple versions, and children can make them smoothly under the guidance of adults.
Liu Wangxue thought of Youyou, so she said to Chacha, "Auntie will introduce you to a friend tomorrow. Can we invite him to come here and make lanterns together?"
"Who is it?" Cha Cha asked.
Liu Wangxue said: "His name is Xiao Youzi, he is one year younger than you, and he is a very lively and cute little brother."
"Okay!" Cha Cha put the lantern handmade bag back and said, "When my brother comes tomorrow, we'll make it together."
"By the way," Gu Xuelan said to Liu Wangxue, "before you came back, Youyou and Jinghe came over to play, but when they saw you were not at home, they went back."
Ah, Liu Wangxue felt a little guilty. She forgot to send a message to Shen Nian'an to tell him.
After looking at the small building, Liu Wangxue and Gu Xuelan took them downstairs to the bungalow.
Cha Cha was very curious about Youyou's brother and kept asking her about him while going downstairs. Liu Wangxue introduced him to him first while talking as they walked.
The two bedrooms on this side of the bungalow will be used as guest rooms in the future, and I will sleep in the master bedroom for the next few days.
The conditions here are definitely not as good as the newly built small building. Gu Xuelan felt a little embarrassed and said to Anding, "I have replaced the quilts and other things with new ones, but this side is not as spacious as the other side. Xiao An, I'm sorry to have to put up with you for the time being."
"You're too polite, Auntie," Anding comforted Gu Xuelan, "You don't know, my hometown is a small county town, my grandmother's house is also a bungalow like this, and the layout is similar to yours. I was wondering why I felt a sense of familiarity as soon as I came in."
Following this topic, Gu Xuelan asked him a few questions about the health of the elderly at home. Anding said, "They are all fine, but I haven't been back to see them for a long time. I usually just call them or something."
"Isn't that a disguised way of saying you're busy with work?" Du Yunxiang leaned against the closet. "Okay, then I'll give you a holiday this year so you can go back and spend time with your family."
Anding immediately expressed his loyalty: "That's not what I meant, Mr. Du, that's absolutely not what I meant. I love my job very much!"
Several people laughed when they heard this. Liu Wangxue joked, "Sad workers—"
Du Yunxiang also smiled and asked him, "Do you want to take a vacation?" Although it wouldn't be long, three to five days would still be fine.
"Yes, yes, yes!" Anding nodded quickly and said with a smile, "Thank you, Mr. Du."
After checking all the rooms, several people moved the suitcases in the corner of the yard into the room.
Cha Cha missed her uncle, so she asked Du Yunxiang: "Mom, can we go see my uncle? I want to suddenly appear in front of my uncle and scare him."
Du Yunxiang asked Liu Wangxue: "Is it convenient for you to take us there now?"
"Okay, let's go." Liu Wangxue said.
"Then you guys go ahead," Gu Xuelan said, "I'll take care of the dishes at home. Your dad should be back soon."
Then she said to Du Yunxiang and Anding, "Come back for dinner later. I've bought the dishes and Xuxu's dad will cook." She touched Chacha's little face lovingly and said, "Grandpa's cooking is delicious. I'll make sure we, Chacha, have enough to eat."
Cha Cha really thought that bamboo shoots and duck soup was delicious, so she asked, "Grandpa, can you make bamboo shoots?"
"Yes!" Gu Xuelan assured, "Definitely." (End of this chapter)
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