Chapter 067
In the east and west wing rooms, the Han and Jiang families were also having breakfast.
The dining atmosphere between the two families was in sharp contrast. The Han family had a large population, with Han Ting's parents, Han Ting's older brother and sister-in-law, and two children from his brother and sister-in-law's families, a total of six people.
Every time someone spoke it became noisy, and with the two children yelling it became even more chaotic and noisy.
There are only four people in the Jiang family, and almost no sound can be heard at the dinner table.
When Jiang Shan reached out her chopsticks to pick up some pickles, her chopsticks accidentally touched the plate. Then she heard her mother Xu Lihua clear her throat and criticize her behavior.
Jiang Shan secretly pursed her lips and picked up the pickled vegetable shreds with her chopsticks.
After eating two bites of steamed buns with pickles, she spoke again: "Tang Chuxia is really back. I just saw her when I went out to wash up."
Xu Lihua said without any interest in her tone: "Did you just find out today that she's coming back?"
Although it was clear that Xu Lihua had no interest in Chu Xia, Jiang Shan continued, "I was surprised that she had been in the countryside for nearly two years, and not only had she not become more rustic or ugly, she had actually become more beautiful."
It has been almost two years since I last saw Chu Xia, and Xu Lihua can't even remember what Chu Xia looks like.
This child has had no sense of existence since he was a child, whether in the yard, the alley or the school. He has an ordinary appearance and no special personality, and he does not attract attention wherever he goes.
Xu Lihua said: "I was born like that, how beautiful can I become if I change."
Jiang Shan looked at Xu Lihua and said, "She has become extraordinarily beautiful. You will know when you see her."
Xu Lihua didn't believe her at all, and just told her: "Talk less while eating, learn more from your brother, and stop meddling in other people's business. Eat quickly and go to school after eating."
Seeing Xu Lihua say this, Jiang Shan shut up.
She wanted to finish her meal and leave quickly, so she took bigger bites of the steamed bun.
Xu Lihua saw her eating like this and stared at her and said, "I told you to eat quickly but I didn't tell you to eat like this. Do you think it's nice to eat like this?"
Jiang Shan: “…”
She swallowed the bun in her mouth and resumed her normal eating pace.
After dinner, the family of four stood up from the table. Jiang's father Jiang Jianping picked up his briefcase and went out to work, while Jiang Shan and her brother Jiang Guanjie carried their schoolbags and went to school together.
Xu Lihua packed up the dishes and went to the yard to wash them.
I was just turning on the tap to get some water when I heard someone say, "Auntie, you wash the dishes too."
Xu Lihua raised her head and saw a girl of about eighteen or nineteen standing opposite the stone trough. The girl had an extremely beautiful face, fair skin and bright eyes, and her whole body seemed to be covered with a layer of light.
Xu Lihua was subconsciously stunned.
Although it had been nearly two years and she could hardly remember what Chu Xia looked like, she had watched her grow up after all, so she could still recognize her when they met.
Because she recognized him, she was so surprised that she was stunned.
Just now Jiang Shan told her that Chu Xia had become extraordinarily beautiful, but she still didn't believe it.
Now that I've seen it with my own eyes, I feel that what Jiang Shan said was too conservative.
The water in the basin flowed out, and Chu Xia reminded Xu Lihua, "Auntie, your basin is full."
Xu Lihua came back to her senses after hearing this, said "oh", and quickly raised her hand to turn off the faucet.
After turning off the faucet, she looked at Chu Xia and said with a smile, "You are Chu Xia, right? You have changed a lot in the two years since you went to the countryside. If you were walking on the street, I wouldn't even recognize you."
I also came out to wash dishes in early summer.
She turned on the faucet in front of her and said with a smile: "After two years in the countryside, things have really changed a bit."
Chu Xia had just finished speaking when Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei came out of the house.
They also had to go to work, and when they saw Xu Lihua, they smiled and greeted each other.
After saying hello, Wu Xuemei said to Chu Xia, "Your dad and I won't ride bicycles to work today. Our bicycles are parked in the front yard. You can go out and ride later."
Chuxia responded with a "OK", and Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei left first.
Xu Lihua also had to rush to work, so she quickly washed the dishes, went back to the house, and went out.
Chuxia stood by the stone trough and continued to wash the dishes slowly.
But after washing another bowl, five more people came out from the east wing. They were Han Ting's father Han Qingtian, Han Ting's elder brother Han Lei, sister-in-law Li Lan, and two children.
Five people came out of the east wing one after another while talking, and it seemed a bit noisy.
Chuxia saw them first, so she naturally called out politely, smiling and calling them "Uncle", "Brother", and "Sister-in-law".
When the five people from the Han family heard the voice, they all looked at Chu Xia.
The five people showed surprise on their faces at the same time, and then Han Lei, the eldest brother of the Han family, said first: "Hey, Chuxia is back. How late did you get home last night?"
Chu Xia smiled and politely replied, "It was quite late when we got home, almost eleven o'clock."
Han Lei added: "Yes, we all fell asleep, I don't know when you came back."
Han Lei and Chu Xia exchanged a few words of greeting.
Sister-in-law Li Lan could no longer hold back, and said with surprise on her face: "Other people who go to the countryside look like they've suffered a disaster, but Chu Xia, how come you come back as if you've taken a divine elixir?"
Hearing this, Chu Xia couldn't help laughing and said, "Girls change a lot when they grow up."
Li Lan continued, "It's true. Girls change a lot when they grow up. They become more and more beautiful."
After a few pleasantries, the Han family was still more concerned about Han Ting.
Han Qingtian, Han's father, asked Chuxia again, "How is Han Ting doing in the countryside? Every time he writes back, he either says everything is fine or asks for money. There are so many people in the family who need to eat, and Yuanyuan and Pengpeng still have to go to school, so how can we have the spare money to send him?"
Chu Xia naturally didn't want to tell the truth, so as not to be associated with Han Ting again.
She smiled and said, "He is a man who can get along well wherever he goes. With Chaozi and Guogai following him, he will not have a bad time wherever he goes. I don't work with him, so I don't know for sure."
Naturally, his family members know Han Ting's character better.
Knowing that Han Ting was capable and would not starve to death anywhere, they were not that worried about him.
But after hearing what Chu Xia said, sister-in-law Li Lan asked curiously, "Chu Xia, are you having a quarrel with our Han Ting?"
When she learned that Chu Xia was going back to the city, she discussed this matter with Han Lei, the eldest brother of the Han family.
According to Chu Xia's personality and her feelings for Han Ting, even if she got the chance to return to the city, she should not have left Han Ting in the countryside and should have returned to the city alone first.
Now, she couldn't even explain how Han Ting was doing in the countryside, which was even more strange.
Chu Xia naturally knew what Li Lan meant by this question.
It's ironic that her feelings for Han Ting are not noticed or understood by Han Ting, who benefits the most from her, but everyone else around him knows it all.
In order to avoid getting entangled in this matter any further.
Chu Xia smiled and said directly: "He is dating a girl in the countryside, and he is very busy every day."
She pushed the question directly onto Han Ting, and Li Lan really stopped asking further questions.
It was getting late, so Han Qingtian and Han Lei stopped standing. They said hello to Chu Xia and left in a hurry. Li Lan and the two children followed them out.
After they left, Chuxia continued to wash the dishes.
When she finished washing all the dishes, Han's mother Wang Cuiying came out of the house again.
She was holding a basin full of dishes and chopsticks, so she was naturally here to wash the dishes.
It is basic courtesy for neighbors to greet each other when they meet, not to mention that Chu Xia had just returned from the countryside, so she naturally smiled and called Wang Cuiying "Auntie."
Wang Cuiying smiled and responded, "Chuxia is back."
He went to the stone trough, put down the basin in his hand, and said, "You have really grown into a beautiful girl."
Hearing this, Chu Xia couldn't help but exchange a few words with her.
But Chu Xia didn't plan to stand there any longer, and she didn't want to be dragged by her to talk more about Han Ting, so she held the basin and said, "Auntie, I have to go to handle the settlement procedures. I've washed the dishes, so I'll leave first."
Wang Cuiying was just about to ask about Han Ting when she heard Chu Xia say this.
She couldn't delay him since he had something important to do, so she swallowed the words she wanted to ask and said with a smile, "You have something important to do, go do it first."
Chuxia said "ah" and went back to the house with the basin.
Wang Cuiying watched Chuxia enter the house, then she looked away and turned on the faucet to wash the dishes.
After washing the dishes, he carried the basin back to his room.
When she put down the basin and put away the dishes, she just saw Chuxia coming out of the main room with the study on her back, crossing the yard and going out the second door.
Chuxia disappeared and Wang Cuiying withdrew her gaze.
She wiped the handle with her apron, then went to sit in the middle room of the west wing and took out the soles to mend.
After sewing the soles for about half an hour, her eldest daughter-in-law Li Lan came back.
Li Lan was carrying a snakeskin bag in her hand. After entering the house, she put the bag on the table, opened the bag and took out a few handfuls of cardboard. She said to Wang Cuiying: "This time, we took matchboxes."
Among so many people in the Han family, only the eldest brother Han Lei has a proper job and earns a regular salary.
Han's father, Han Qingtian, is a tricycle driver who transports goods for others and earns money by selling his labor. Han's mother, Wang Cuiying, and elder sister-in-law, Li Lan, both have no jobs, so they earn some pocket money by bringing some manual work home.
The only long-term side job in the city nowadays is making paper boxes.
There are all kinds of packaging boxes, including medicine boxes, lock boxes, match boxes, snack boxes, etc.
Han's mother, Wang Cuiying, was not in good health and could not make many paper boxes, so most of them were made by Li Lan.
Of course, even if Wang Cuiying was in good health, she wouldn't make much money from this side job.
Li Lan brought back the paper box and Wang Cuiying put the soles away.
She sat down at the table and pasted paper boxes with Li Lan. She couldn't hold back what was in her mind anymore, so she said to Li Lan, "Chu Xia was deliberately avoiding me just now. I guess she didn't want to tell me about San Er."
Li Lan said while covering the paper box: "San'er started dating someone after he went to the countryside. I guess he hurt her feelings."
Wang Cuiying said angrily, "This little bastard, when he went to the countryside, I told him to take good care of Chu Xia and be nice to her, but he messed around again in the countryside. Chu Xia is such a good girl, whoever marries her will be blessed, but he just doesn't understand!"
Li Lan agreed, "Isn't it? This girl is really good-tempered and kind-hearted. She is good at cooking and doing housework. Where can you find a better wife than her? And she is an only child. Whoever marries her will get all her family property."
Wang Cuiying's speed in pasting paper boxes is not fast, but she doesn't stop.
She continued Li Lan's words, "Before she went to the countryside, this girl looked ordinary, but now she has grown up and become so beautiful. When I saw her in the yard just now, my God, I thought she was a fairy from heaven, she is so beautiful."
Li Lan: "Isn't it? It's like someone walked out of a painting."
Wang Cuiying sighed and shook her head again, "San'er, this little bastard is so unlucky. He's so pissed that I'm dying. Chuxia is such a good girl. She has been with him since she was a child. Anyone with a discerning eye can see what's going on. But he just can't see it. He just treats her as his sister."
Li Lan thought for a moment, then changed her tone and said, "Mom, don't worry about this. San'er is still young and doesn't know what kind of woman is a good woman. When he grows up, he will understand. If you want to get married and live your life, you have to find a girl like Chu Xia who is down-to-earth, honest and capable. He is still a child now, and dating is just nonsense, how can it be serious? Didn't he seem to have a relationship before he went to the countryside?"
Wang Cuiying glanced at Li Lan. "He's fooling around with others and wasting time here. Can Chu Xia wait for him forever? Even if Chu Xia is not very good-looking, there are still many people who want to marry her. Now that she has grown up and become beautiful, won't there be even more opportunities?"
Li Lan also looked at Wang Cuiying, "If someone wants to marry her, then Chuxia has to be willing to marry. We have all seen how Chuxia has treated Saner since she was a child. We women are all stubborn. Once we fall in love with a man, we want to be faithful to him for the rest of our lives. She is sad because Saner can't see her good side. When Saner comes to her senses and looks for her, she will be happy."
Wang Cuiying thought about it and felt that this made sense.
She added, "I hope this little bastard can behave well and get a place back soon. What kind of relationship is it in the countryside? Once we return to the city, it's just nonsense to break up."
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