For a moment, Qiu Mang felt out of place, as if she were an unnecessary presence.
Just as she was about to step into the living room, she suddenly heard Qiu Li's crisp voice behind her: "Big brother, when are you coming to my house to play? If you come, I'll have my sister cook for you. Her cooking is so delicious!"
Qiu Mang sighed and rubbed his forehead in exasperation. This little rascal had only chatted with them for a few minutes, and he was already eagerly inviting them into his home.
Sure enough, the next morning, as soon as Qiu Li got up, she started clamoring to see the older brother who had given her the gift.
Seeing her anxious look, Qiu Mang felt helpless and reached out to pat her head.
"Ali, do you know? That older brother is very busy. He has a lot of things to deal with every day, so he may not have time to spend with you. How about we make an appointment another day?" Qiu Mang tried her best to make her voice sound gentle and persuasive.
"Sister, you're lying!" Upon hearing this, Qiu Li pouted, her eyes instantly filling with tears, as if she had suffered a great injustice.
"Big brother clearly told me he had plenty of time, and even told me to chat with him if I was bored." The little girl stubbornly raised her head and stared straight at Qiu Mang.
“Ah Li…”
Qiu Mang was about to say something to scold her, but when she thought about how the little girl was still sick, her heart softened and she could only nod helplessly.
"Just this once, okay? Don't be so willful next time!" Qiu Mang frowned and held up one finger.
When Qiu Li saw that Qiu Mang agreed, a look of joy immediately appeared on her face.
Qiu Mang sighed softly, took out her phone from her pocket, swiped her finger across the screen to find Lu Yanting's number, hesitated for a moment, and then dialed it.
"What's up?"
On the other end of the phone, Lu Yanting's voice came through a cacophony of noise, sounding like a meeting was in progress, with a cacophony of voices, the rustling of documents, and the constant chatter.
Qiu Mang subconsciously pursed her lips, a blush rising to her cheeks, and asked softly with a hint of apology, "Did I disturb you?"
"It's alright, go ahead." Lu Yanting seemed to have moved to a relatively quiet place, and the background noise instantly diminished.
Qiu Mang glanced at Qiu Li, who was staring intently at her phone, and carefully said, "My sister is young and doesn't understand things. If she says anything she shouldn't, please don't take it to heart. Also, if you two have any agreements, don't take them too seriously. I'll help you explain things to her."
Lu Yanting walked to the balcony, gently stroked the leaves of the green plants, and a faint smile appeared on his lips: "Is this how you educate children? You don't take children's words to heart, and you don't have to keep your promises?"
Qiu Mang was taken aback by his sudden question and stammered, "I...I just didn't want to trouble you too much."
"No need to worry, I know what I'm doing."
After a two-second pause, Lu Yanting continued, "By the way, the little girl asked me to have dinner with her tonight. Get ready, I want sweet and sour pork ribs and steamed sea bass."
Upon hearing this, Qiu Mang's eyes widened in astonishment. She glanced at Qiu Li beside her and saw the little girl playfully sticking out her tongue at her before hopping away like a nimble little squirrel.
Qiu Mang was completely speechless. So the two of them had secretly made a pact with her behind her back? No, it was clearly a pact between the two of them, so why was she the one who had to prepare dinner? What kind of nonsense was this?!
Qiu Mang felt utterly helpless. She took a deep breath and practically spat out the words, "Okay, I understand!"
Around four or five o'clock in the afternoon, Qiu Mang took Qiu Li out to the supermarket to buy groceries.
As soon as I opened the door, I heard a commotion coming from the room across the hall.
Qiu Mang subconsciously peeked through the open door and saw her neighbor across the hall busily moving things around.
An elderly woman with a kind face and a full head of white hair saw Qiu Mang, smiled, and walked over with small, quick steps. The wrinkles on her face exuded kindness.
"Young lady, you must be our neighbors across the hall, right? Although we just moved here recently, as the saying goes, being neighbors for a day is a blessing."
Qiu Mang smiled and nodded gently: "Yes, grandma, we really are destined to meet. But, what's this all about?"
The old lady's smile grew even brighter, her eyes narrowed into slits, and she said with great interest, "This Qiushui Yaju is a school district property. The teaching quality of the nearby kindergartens and primary schools is top-notch. We bought this house because it would be convenient for our child to go to school."
The old lady paused, frowned slightly, and continued, "However, the only drawback is that there is no junior high school nearby. My grandson will be starting junior high school soon, and we've been looking at houses around for over a year, but we haven't found one that we're satisfied with."
Qiu Mang raised an eyebrow slightly, a hint of curiosity flashing in her eyes: "Judging from your move now, you must have found a suitable house?"
The old lady shook her head gently, a hint of doubt on her face: "Yes, but this matter is a bit strange."
Qiu Mang suddenly became interested, moved closer, and asked, "What's so strange about it?"
The old lady lowered her voice mysteriously: "Because the house we bought now was one we couldn't afford before. I don't know why, but the owner sold it to us for a third of the market price. I don't know what he was after."
Qiu Mang lowered her eyes and pondered for a moment, then looked up at the old lady and earnestly suggested, "Grandma, have you asked around about that house? Could there be something wrong with it?"
The old lady shook her head again, her tone firm: "No, that's not true."
After hearing this, Qiu Mang breathed a slight sigh of relief, and a smile of comfort appeared on her lips.
"Since there's no problem with the house, you don't need to worry about it anymore. It's such a rare opportunity to get a house at such a good price, you should be happy about it!"
Upon hearing this, the old lady's gloom vanished instantly, replaced by a radiant smile, with even the crow's feet at the corners of her eyes radiating joy.
"Young lady, you're right. This old woman is overthinking things."
As she spoke, the old lady turned her head to look at the cluttered room behind her, then turned back and asked with great enthusiasm, "Young lady, we're moving to a place that's quite far away, so we won't be taking some odds and ends with us. Come in and see if there's anything you can use that I can give you!"
Qiu Mang quickly waved her hand, a sincere smile on her face: "No need, Grandma, we have everything we need. You can keep it; it might come in handy later. Thank you for your kindness!"
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