Chapter 487 I'm really good at this
Liu Wangxue carried Youyou to the living room. Youyou didn't forget the pomelo he had carried all the way and had just put it on the ground. She twisted her body and pointed back: "Sister, pomelo, pomelo! I brought it for you, it's very sweet!"
Liu Wangxue turned around and saw that the pomelo had been picked up by Xu Qingsong. She started to play with the pomelo, put her cheek close to his, and pretended to bite it. She said with a smile, "I think the little pomelo in my arms is sweeter. I want to eat this one. Ahwu, take a bite, hahahaha..."
Youyou laughed out loud and hid from her, shouting, "Ah—I can't eat it, I can't eat it, I'm not sweet at all, hahahaha..."
Youyou doesn’t look fat, but she has a solid texture. Xu Qingsong also held her in his arms during the summer, but he was worried that he wouldn’t be able to hold her because Liu Wangxue was making such a fuss, so he stretched out an arm to protect her.
Jinghe carried the gift box and followed with the three others.
After entering the living room, Liu Wangxue put Youyou on the sofa and teased him for a while. Seeing that his forehead was sweating slightly from laughing, she quickly stopped and took a tissue to wipe it for him.
Xu Qingsong was talking to Jinghe next to him, asking him when he came back.
A few days ago, the primary schools in the village were on holiday, so Liu Wangxue sent a message to Gu Qingyue, asking them when they planned to come back. Gu Qingyue said that Youyou and Jinghe were also on holiday, but she and Shen Nian'an still had some work to do at school, so it would probably take two days. Liu Wangxue was worried that it would be inconvenient for the family of four to take a taxi because they had so much luggage, so she asked Gu Qingyue to let her know before she came back, and she and Xu Qingsong would drive to pick them up.
Gu Qingyue promised it well, but she didn't expect that they would come back like this, and Liu Wangxue didn't receive any news.
Jinghe said: "Youyou didn't allow us to tell him. He wanted to create a surprise."
Liu Wangxue pinched Youyou's face and said, "Oh, little Youzi, you even know about the surprise."
Youyou dragged Xiaoci, who was lying on the side, over to hug her, with the words "I'm awesome" written all over her expression: "Yes! I'm good at giving surprises!"
Seeing this, Liu Wangxue couldn't help but hug him again.
Jing He said: "It was the foreign teacher in their class who taught them the word 'surprise' before New Year's Day and assigned them a holiday homework, asking each of them to prepare a surprise for their family."
Youyou didn’t understand what a “surprise” meant. The teacher explained that it meant preparing something or doing something for him when others didn’t know, and this thing or thing would surprise him and make him happy.
Youyou didn’t understand what “surprise” meant, but he knew what “happiness” meant. The happiest moment for him in kindergarten was getting a beautiful sticker representing a reward from the teacher.
However, when the teacher gave out stickers, he would stick them directly on the children's clothes. After returning home, Youyou would carefully tear off the stickers and stick them in the small notebook prepared for him by Shen Nian'an. Now many pages of the notebook are filled with stickers.
Youyou doesn't have the stickers that the teacher has, what should he do? After thinking about it, he can only ask his brother for help. But in this way, his brother will know the "surprise" in advance. Alas, little Youyou sighed, his brother's "surprise" is gone, and he has to ask his brother to keep it a secret for him. His brother is so pitiful. But it doesn't matter, he will put one sticker on his father, mother, grandma and grandpa, and two stickers on his brother!
So, after school that day, Youyou waited for Jinghe to come home and then went to his room to "plot". The next day, Jinghe took Youyou to several stationery stores and boutiques, and Youyou picked out a lot of beautiful stickers.
The whole family spent New Year's Day together, and Youyou's "surprises" lasted from morning to bedtime.
When his grandpa's flowers bloomed, he posted a picture for his grandpa: "Grandpa, your flowers are blooming so beautifully, you are awesome!"
Grandma is wearing new clothes, so I posted a picture for her: "Wow, grandma is the most beautiful grandma in the world!"
Dad made his favorite chicken wings with rice, and posted a picture for his dad: "Thank you, Dad. Youyou loves you!"
Mom prepared afternoon tea with delicious drinks and food. I posted a picture for her: "Thank you, Mom. You are awesome. Youyou loves you too!"
His elder brother helped him finish the painting he hadn’t finished, and he posted two pictures to his elder brother: “Brother, you are such a genius, you are Youyou’s favorite elder brother!”
Youyou always finds various reasons to send stickers to his family members, and every time he sends stickers, he asks them, "Are you happy?" They will always say they are happy, and Youyou will shake his head happily. Including himself, if he does something that makes him very satisfied, he will also send stickers to himself, and then ask himself, "Youyou, are you happy? I am so happy."
After a whole day, the chests of the six members of the family were covered with stickers, and they took a family selfie as a souvenir. After the holiday, Youyou took this photo to the kindergarten as a homework and handed it in. She received a lot of praise from the teacher, and Youyou was very happy.
As soon as the winter vacation started and they were about to return to Taojia Village, Youyou thought of the "surprise" again, so she told Shen Nian'an and Gu Qingyue not to tell Liu Wangxue yet. She would definitely be very happy if he suddenly appeared in front of her.
At this moment, Youyou asked Liu Wangxue: "Sister, are you happy?"
"I'm so happy!" Liu Wangxue said in an exaggerated tone, raising her hand and drawing a big circle in the air, "I'm so happy that I can't even count it all!"
Youyou giggled: "Am I really good at giving surprises?"
Liu Wangxue nodded heavily to agree with him: "Really, you are really good at it!"
Youyou kicked her legs happily and shook her body, then asked Xu Qingsong: "Uncle, are you happy?"
Xu Qingsong was also very cooperative.
Youyou asked the three little ones one by one. The two of them that couldn't talk naturally couldn't answer him, so he asked and answered them himself. When the one that could talk said "I've read it and replied randomly", he forced himself to understand it as "happy".
Liu Wangxue asked Jinghe again: "When did you arrive?"
She and Xu Qingsong had been in the sun room upstairs, where the view was great and they could see the road at the entrance to the village directly. They didn't notice any cars entering the village.
Jinghe replied: "About an hour ago, around three o'clock."
No wonder, at three o'clock Liu Wangxue and Xu Qingsong were still napping on the sofa chairs in the sunroom.
Liu Wangxue and Xu Qingsong asked Jinghe a few more questions. When they found out that he had a lot of luggage, they said they should have called to let him know in advance. They didn't have anything to do today, so they could just go pick him up. They just pretended it was an "accidental encounter" and it didn't conflict with the "surprise" that Youyou wanted to create.
The main reason was that Shen Nian'an didn't want to trouble them. This time, not only the four of them came back, but the two elderly people also came back with them. There were six people and seven or eight suitcases, and their car couldn't fit them all.
Shen Nian'an contacted the car rental company in advance and rented two cars, one for luggage and one for passengers. The passenger car was rented for one month for his family's travel convenience.
When Liu Wangxue heard this, she said, “Your grandma and grandpa are here too?” Then this Spring Festival should be a very lively one.
Jinghe nodded, but before he could speak, Youyou spoke first.
Youyou said: "Because grandma and grandpa want to eat fried lotus root boxes and barbecue."
These words were said jokingly by the two elders when they first returned to Beijing and were telling them about their daily life here. They said that they would come to Taojia Village again if they had the chance and try the food that the two children had eaten.
The two elders had been to Taojia Village before. The first time was the wedding of Shen Nian'an and Gu Qingyue. Their wedding was first held in Beijing City and then in Taojia Village. However, it was just a simple meal for relatives and friends, simplifying the cumbersome procedures.
The second time the two elders came was for the funeral of Shen Nian'an's mother. Before Shen Nian'an and Gu Qingyue got married, his mother had already had some health problems. The old people didn't want to cause trouble for the child, so they endured it and didn't say anything. Later, Gu Qingyue became pregnant, and Shen Nian'an's mother suddenly called him and said that she wanted to go to Beijing to see her daughter-in-law. Shen Nian'an took his parents over and found out the clues, but it was too late. Shen Nian'an and Gu Qingyue forced people to stay in Beijing for treatment. They stayed in the hospital for the last few months until Jinghe was born. He looked at the photo and left. The funeral was held in Taojia Village.
The third time was also a funeral. Seven years after Shen Nian'an's mother passed away, his father also passed away. After his mother's funeral, Gu Qingyue suggested taking the old man to live in Beijing, where everything would be convenient. If anything happened, they would be able to take care of him in time. But his father disagreed and said he didn't want to go no matter what, saying he couldn't get used to it and felt more comfortable at home.
Shen Nian'an was also busy at work at that time, writing papers, evaluating professional titles, teaching, and sometimes going on exchanges and learning. Gu Qingyue was not as busy as Shen Nian'an, but her winter and summer vacations were occupied, either taking domestic students abroad, or taking a group of international students to study in various parts of China, summer camps, winter camps, etc. Throughout the year, only Shen Nian'an could squeeze out a few days to bring Jinghe back.
Jinghe didn't have many memories of his grandfather. He remembered that he didn't speak Mandarin very well. If Shen Nian'an was not there to translate, the communication between the grandfather and grandson would be a bit confusing. What impressed him most was naturally the kind smile on his grandfather's face every time he saw him, and the various snacks that would appear from time to time like magic.
When Jinghe thought of his grandfather, he naturally recalled that winter afternoon. He remembered that he should be a little older than Youyou at that time. Not long after lunch, his grandfather took his hand and walked to the kitchen, saying that he would take him to "hunt for treasure", and then used tongs to dig out three roasted sweet potatoes from the stove hole. They were put in when they were cooking at noon. Maybe the fire was a little big and the roasting time was a little long, one of them had completely turned into charcoal, and the remaining two were also half burnt.
The grandfather and grandson sat on a wooden stool at the gate of the courtyard, eating one half-burnt sweet potato each. Grandpa's hands were covered with black ash, while little Jinghe's hands and face were covered with black stuff. The grandfather and grandson's teeth were still covered with black stuff to varying degrees. They looked at each other and laughed happily. Jinghe can still remember the taste of the sweet potato, the charcoal aroma mixed with the burnt aroma and the sweet aroma of the sweet potato itself.
When Youyou was born, grandpa was already gone. Just as Jinghe's impression of grandma was orally narrated by Shen Nian'an and Gu Qingyue, Youyou's impression of grandpa was also orally narrated by Jinghe.
Grandpa passed away in late autumn. Shen Nian'an felt uneasy for no reason that day. During the break, he took out his mobile phone and called his family one by one. When he called his hometown, no one answered. He was panicking and called his neighbor. It happened that the neighbor had just picked some vegetables and fruits from the vegetable garden to send to the old man. After receiving the call, he went over with the basket. He shouted a few times through the courtyard gate but no one answered. He pushed open the half-closed door and saw the old man sleeping on the recliner in the main room.
On the day of the funeral, people from the village came to help and comfort Shen Nian'an, saying that the old lady was fine and died peacefully. "After your mother passed away, your father has lived alone for so many years. I guess he missed her, or she missed your father, so the two of them reunited."
Shen Nian'an thought of the day before his father passed away. He suddenly received a call from his father, and the father and son chatted about family matters for a long time. When Jinghe came home from school in the evening, his father called again and talked to Jinghe for a long time.
There is a landline at home, and Shen Nian'an even bought a mobile phone for his father, but his father rarely uses it. He only calls Shen Nian'an near holidays or during winter and summer vacations to ask him when he will bring Jinghe back. The time of the call was neither during holidays nor before winter and summer vacations, so Shen Nian'an felt a little strange. However, his father has always been in good health. Since his mother passed away, he has taken his father for regular physical examinations every year, and there are no problems at all. He thought that the old man probably missed his grandson, and said that he would take Jinghe back as soon as the winter vacation started, and spend the New Year at home before leaving.
Shen Nian'an remembered his father also said: "I dreamed of your mother, she still looks like she was when she was young."
Shen Nian'an didn't sleep all night and stayed in the mourning hall all night.
After that, Shen Nian'an suddenly slowed down his pace. He continued to do his work as planned, but he was not so anxious mentally. After careful consideration, he discussed with Gu Qingyue about having a second child.
They had never planned to have a second child at first. They only wanted Jing and one child, no matter if it was a boy or a girl. But after his parents passed away, his mind changed. He was an only child, and he felt that after his parents passed away, his connection with this "family" seemed to be broken. He thought, if he had a brother or sister, would it be better? He and Gu Qingyue would also leave one day, and he didn't want Jinghe to have the same feeling as him in the future.
Gu Qingyue understood him very well, so after getting Jinghe's consent, she became pregnant with Youyou, and from then on they became a family of four.
The summer vacation that Liu Wangxue came to Taojia Village was also the first time that Shen Nian'an brought his two children back to live for a long time.
That morning, several children from the neighborhood gathered together and said they were going to pick lotus pods. An older child was leading the group. When they were about to set off, they saw Youyou sitting on the threshold of the yard drinking milk, so they asked him if he wanted to go with them.
Youyou asked them to wait a moment, he wanted to go back to the house to call his brother, then he ran out again: "My brother is in the bathroom, can we wait for him for a moment?"
The children in the village all run and play in groups. They are all familiar with the area. They usually greet each other and tell the place, and those who cannot go together for the time being can go there on their own.
A little fat boy told Youyou the location and asked him to tell his brother: "You can go with us first."
Youyou thought it made sense, so she turned around and ran back to the house and told Jinghe what she had said through the bathroom door.
Unfortunately, Jinghe probably caught a cold at night and had diarrhea, which made him very painful. There was a door between them, so he didn't hear what Youyou said clearly and just responded vaguely.
Youyou ran out of the door and went to pick lotus pods with everyone. She shared the half box of hot milk in her hand with the kids.
When he fell and went back, covered in mud, he just reached the intersection of the road home and met Shen Nian'an who came to look for someone. Shen Nian'an was originally making breakfast in the kitchen. After taking care of Jinghe, he found that Youyou was missing. He also heard Jinghe say that someone seemed to be looking for him to go out and pick lotus pods. Shen Nian'an was almost worried, fearing that something might happen without adults watching.
Shen Nian'an hurried to ask his neighbors and headed to the lotus field. He saw several children holding lotus pods and his own son who looked like a mud monkey. He grabbed Youyou by the back of his collar, carried the little boy who was half covered in mud back home, and gave him a stern reprimand.
Youyou was carried by Shen Nian'an to the bathroom to take a shower. She said she didn't just run away casually: "Xiaopang and the others came to call me, and I told my brother, and my brother said 'OK'."
Jing He had already taken the medicine and was lying on the bed. After Shen Nian'an heard this, he really didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It turned out that there was a misunderstanding between the two brothers: "Then you can't just tell your brother that he can't accompany you because of something. You have to come to dad. You can only go out after dad allows you to, understand?"
"Okay." Youyou said he understood and obeyed. While taking a bath, he shared with Shen Nian'an that he met a sister on the road. The sister had a beautiful cat. He asked Shen Nian'an, "Dad, my sister said I can go find a cat to play with. Can I go?"
Shen Nian'an had heard from the neighbors that the house of Master Xu Qingsong was sold to a girl from another place. The girl settled here with her parents. It was said that the family was pretty nice. "Then wait until brother recovers and let him take you over to play."
Youyou was so happy to see that her father agreed. She grabbed the lotus pod beside the bathtub and pried it open with all her strength: "Dad, I'll help you peel it. Yaya taught me. I can peel it. It's delicious!"
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
