Thinking of the suffering he had endured over the years, he felt resentful again. Standing outside the large iron gate, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Li Zhanyang, when are you free to treat me to a meal?"
"I want to introduce my daughter to you!"
Li Zhanyang, who was sitting inside sulking, was so angry when he heard Xie Yan's words that he almost jumped up.
He's the type to start swearing the moment he opens his mouth.
Is this even human language?
How can someone be so shameless, asking others to treat them to dinner and speaking so confidently? Well, Xie Yan is shameless too, doing something like this is quite something.
I wanted to refuse outright, but I was really curious and wanted to see what kind of brave soul could put up with Xie Yan and what his daughter, whom he praised as an angel, actually looked like.
After hesitating for a moment, he couldn't resist the temptation and replied loudly and irritably, "The day after tomorrow, five o'clock in the afternoon, the usual place, you bring your daughter and wife."
Upon hearing this, Xie Yan immediately beamed, "Alright, remember to prepare a big red envelope! The New Year is just around the corner." As soon as he finished speaking, a muffled thud came from inside the house, as if something had hit the iron door.
Xie Yan was extremely pleased to hear this voice, hahaha!
You used to love showing off, and now look what happened! You've got what you deserved for showing off back in school!
Just thinking about Li Zhanyang's face, which was as black as the bottom of a pot, made Xie Yan feel refreshed and invigorated.
He hummed a little tune as he thought to himself: When I get back, I'll write a letter to Zhou Siyuan and tell him all about what happened today, so he can have a good laugh too.
Two weeks later, on a still somewhat gray morning, a cold wind blew in through the cracks in the window like needles. Zhou Siyuan, wrapped in a thick quilt, shivered as he opened the letter Xie Yan had sent.
After reading only a few lines, he couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. He sighed softly and thought to himself: "These two must be living too comfortably and have too much free time to do something so pointless."
Unlike me, who now only longs for a warm kang (heated brick bed) to keep him warm. Sigh! The winters in the south are really unbearable, as if every breath of air carries a biting damp cold.
He was wearing a thick winter coat, but it still didn't help at all.
Another half month passed, and Xie Yan and Li Zhanyang received a letter from Zhou Siyuan filled with bitterness.
Xie Yan unfolded the letter and looked at the lines of words. In some places, the handwriting was a little shaky. Through these words, he seemed to see Zhou Siyuan, pitiful and huddled in the quilt, shivering from the cold, writing furiously as he told them about the "cruelty" of the southern winter.
Thinking about it, Xie Yan felt a pang of pity. Alas, he was a pitiful person too! He turned around and went to find Li Zhanyang. The two of them discussed sending some winter clothes to Zhou Siyuan.
Xie Yan sent a second-hand military overcoat, while Li Zhanyang sent a pair of thick cotton shoes, which were also good items.
Of course, that's a story for another time.
That day, the sky over Beijing, which had been overcast for many days, finally cleared up. Sunlight streamed through the windows into the room, where Xie Yan sat on a bench, urging Yu Yuehui and Chaochao to get ready.
Today is the day they had arranged to have dinner with Li Zhanyang.
Xie Yan had only one request for today: his family had to completely and utterly crush Li Zhanyang. This "completely and utterly crushing" meant truly comprehensive; everything from clothing to makeup had to be perfect. He wanted a thorough, overwhelming victory.
Yu Yuehui and Chaochao both knew that today's gathering was of great significance to Xie Yan, so they obediently followed Xie Yan's instructions.
Chaochao looked at Xie Yan with a bright, obedient expression and said very sweetly, "Daddy, you can rest assured. Today I will definitely be your most sweet little cotton-padded jacket. Uncle Li will be so envious that his eyes will pop out."
Hearing this, Xie Yan felt extremely pleased and nodded repeatedly with satisfaction. "Not bad, not bad. If you behave well today, Daddy will reward you with a big meat bun when he gets back." Although Chaochao often gets to eat meat, he is a child who is growing and has a lot of physical activity every day, so his craving for meat is always particularly strong.
Upon hearing that there would be big meat buns, Chaochao instantly perked up and became even more attentive to today's meal.
Like a cheerful little rabbit, she hopped and skipped to her wardrobe and found two newly made clothes.
One is red, and it's a new outfit to wear for Chinese New Year this year. This one was made by Yu Yuehui herself. There's one for Chaochao and one for Tongtong.
The other one is black, made by Zhang Linghui, and is mainly for everyday wear.
Even the most sensible child can't control themselves when playing, and even the best clothes will be completely ruined in two days.
Washing clothes in the dead of winter is a real chore. If you don't wash them, it's unbearable to look at them. Besides, the villagers are always gossiping, and you can always hear things like, "Look at so-and-so's family, the adults are dressed so nicely, and then look at their kids, oh my, poor kids! Their clothes are so dirty you can't even tell their original color anymore, they're so filthy."
This adult is really something. All she does is dress herself up and doesn't even wash her child's clothes. She calls herself a mother, but I think she's not even as good as a stepmother.
Yes, yes, yes!
Look at Sanlengzi's wife. Even though she's a stepmother, she keeps her children clean and tidy.
Look at this child, how pitiful…
In rural areas, you'll hear this all the time unless you're as unkempt as the child, so changing the child's clothes becomes an unavoidable task.
Zhang Linghui learned from her mistakes and now, when making clothes for her children in winter, she no longer only focuses on making them look good. She has only one requirement: they should be dirt-resistant and ideally, the dirt should not be noticeable.
It was actually the pink cotton-padded coat I made last year that caused her so much suffering.
So, I looked for it carefully today.
Hey, she actually found it! This black work cloth perfectly meets the requirements; it's not only high-quality and thick, but also very dirt-resistant.
Xie Yan looked at the black cotton coat. The workmanship and design were impeccable, and it was clear that Zhang Linghui was her mother. The waist-cinching design was just right, and Chaochao would definitely look good in it. So Xie Yan nodded and decided, "This is the one!"
After Chaochao changed her clothes, he carefully tied two cute little butterfly buns in her hair and firmly clipped two pink hair clips onto them. With her adorable bangs, Chaochao instantly looked like a little princess who had stepped out of a fairy tale.
Xie Yan's heart melted at the sight of his adorable daughter, and he couldn't help but reach out and gently pinch Chaochao's chubby little face.
"Our Chaochao is so beautiful. Even just dressed up like this, she could outshine a whole bunch of kids."
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