The next day, after breakfast, Xing Zhaozhao prepared to deliver the goods to the door. Everyone in the family, except for Xiao Hongling who was still sleeping, came to the cellar to see her off.
Two days ago, after being scolded by Grandma Qin, Hongfei and Hongyu, the two little ones, clung to Xing Zhaozhao and began to feel reluctant to part.
"Mom, remember to come back early," Hongfei said.
"Mom, don't forget, there are still gifts for cousins Jiashu and Jiaping. Ask me to pay for them, don't ask my brother," Hongyu instructed.
"Okay." Xing Zhaozhao replied with a smile, then looked at Fu Lan and asked, "Is there anything Xiao Lan wants? I'll bring it back for you."
"Me?" Fu Lan looked terrified and quickly shook her head. "I don't want anything."
However, after she finished speaking, her eyes flickered, as if she was indeed somewhat tempted.
"It's okay." Xing Zhaozhao picked up the bag of clothes in her hand. "Once all these clothes are sold, you can buy whatever you want."
Fu Lan bit her lip lightly, hesitated for a moment, and said, "How about you buy me two books that introduce the clothes they wear now? I want to take a look at their current preferences."
"It's just a book, no problem." Xing Zhaozhao readily agreed, quickly waved to them, and went through the door.
Seeing such a miraculous thing happen before her eyes for the first time, Fu Lan's eyes widened and she didn't blink for a long time.
"How amazing." She murmured to herself, unable to resist reaching out to touch the spot where Xing Zhaozhao had just disappeared. It was clearly a solid wall, yet someone could actually pass through it and vanish.
Xing Zhaozhao walked through the door and, while descending the mountain, immediately called Gao Mingcheng: "Hello? Mingcheng?"
Hearing Xing Zhaozhao's cheerful voice on the other end of the phone, Gao Mingcheng felt relieved and his mood improved. He asked, "Are you alright?"
Xing Zhaozhao responded with an "Mmm" and began to badmouth Chen Hao to him: "That Chen Hao is really awful, you know?"
She told Gao Mingcheng everything about Chen Hao coming to see her.
Gao Mingcheng raised an eyebrow slightly: "He told you he would go to your brother and ask me for a favor?"
"Yes, he threatened me," Xing Zhaozhao said bitterly.
Gao Mingcheng laughed and said, "That's good. Now we're all in the same boat, and no one can escape. Let him ask Zhaoming and me for favors. It's not easy to collect favors from us."
Xing Zhaozhao felt much more at ease immediately.
"What are you here for this time?" Gao Mingcheng asked.
Xing Zhaozhao then explained the arrangements for this trip to him in detail: "First, we'll deliver goods to Xiao Xu, a street vendor, then buy a batch of goods to take back. We also need to meet with Qin Shi. The old principal has replied to the letter he asked me to deliver last time. Then we'll go to the bookstore to buy books for Fu Lan. Oh, and we also need to buy gifts for Jia Shu and Jia Ping."
"A gift for Jia Shu and Jia Ping?" Gao Mingcheng asked in surprise.
“When Chen Hao came this time, he delivered gifts for Dafei and Xiaoyu on behalf of Jiashu and Jiaping. Xiaoyu kept saying that he wanted to give his cousins a return gift, but he couldn’t find a suitable one at home, so he asked me to buy one here. He also said that he didn’t want his brother to spend money, and that he wanted to spend the money himself. He doesn’t know yet…” Xing Zhaozhao’s voice lowered involuntarily.
Gao Mingcheng's heart tightened upon hearing this. After a moment of silence, he said, "Don't tell him. I'll prepare the things."
"Okay," Xing Zhaozhao said softly.
"Where did you arrange to meet Qin Shi?" Gao Mingcheng asked.
“I haven’t contacted him yet; he should still be at Xunlan Tea House,” Xing Zhaozhao said.
“Okay, I’ll come find you at Xunlan Tea House later,” Gao Mingcheng said.
"Okay," Xing Zhaozhao replied.
Gao Mingcheng hung up the phone and was about to leave when he came out of the room and came across two faces that looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn't quite place where he had seen them before. Judging from their age, they were probably a mother and daughter. However, it didn't matter if he couldn't remember them; it meant they weren't important and he could just ignore them.
"We have guests?" Gao Mingcheng asked, looking at Ying Rongrong, who was sitting in the living room with the guests.
Ying Rongrong stood up, called out "Dad," and nodded.
The mother and daughter stood up and greeted him with a smile, "Old General."
The young girl looked at Gao Mingcheng with a shy expression.
Gao Mingcheng frowned slightly, but didn't pay much attention, assuming that she had come to see Ying Rongrong, and prepared to leave directly.
The older mother immediately asked with a smile, "Where is the old general going so early in the morning?"
Ying Rongrong's expression darkened slightly, and before she could say anything, Gao Mingcheng coldly said, "Who are you? Do I need to tell you where I'm going?"
The mother's face turned pale and then red; she was incredibly embarrassed.
The young woman lowered her head shyly.
"Don't you recognize me, General? I'm Ling Shuang's aunt. We met in the capital just last month," Aunt Ling said with a shameless chuckle.
"Oh, it was you." Gao Mingcheng suddenly remembered. No wonder you were so shameless.
"It's good that the old general remembers." Aunt Ling's smile became even brighter.
"By the way, where is Lianzhou's great-grandmother?" Aunt Ling looked around and asked.
Ying Rongrong was stunned for a moment before she realized who the great-grandmother Lianzhou that Aunt Ling was talking about was, and she looked at Gao Mingcheng thoughtfully.
Although Gao Mingcheng didn't like Aunt Ling, he was quite pleased to hear the title "Lianzhou's Great-Grandma," and his expression softened slightly.
“She doesn’t live here,” Gao Mingcheng said.
"If she doesn't live here, where would she live?" Aunt Ling asked curiously. "You didn't go out so early this morning just to see her, did you?"
Gao Mingcheng's eyebrows twitched; he neither admitted nor denied it.
Aunt Ling took this as a tacit agreement and her eyes lit up. She said, "You really are going to see her, right? That's wonderful! We agreed before that I would come to see her when I arrived in Lanyuan. Since you're going to see her, we can go with you."
Gao Mingcheng's expression, which had just improved slightly, instantly darkened.
Zhao Zhao rarely comes over, and Hong Fei doesn't know about it yet, so he won't come and interfere. Why is there suddenly another third wheel here out of nowhere?
No, there's more than one extra light bulb.
Aunt Ling brought her daughter, Ling Xue, who had come with her.
Ying Rongrong, recalling Gao Hongfei's previous delirious state, also wanted to see Xing Zhaozhao again, so she went along with her.
There were three large, gleaming light bulbs in total.
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