Chapter 204 Sweet Apple
Pretending to sleep has risks, especially for children with insomnia.
Xu Jiqing drove very steadily. Su Xia's long hair was cool and smooth, and the warm wind in the car brought a light fragrance of comfort. Xu Jiaojiao leaned against him for a while and actually fell asleep.
Su Xia had no experience in taking care of children. She carefully lifted the little girl's face and straightened the hood of her messy down jacket. Then she didn't know what to do. She sat there like a tree stump, not daring to move.
"Don't worry about her."
Xu Jiqing said, "There's a pillow in the back seat, let her lie down by herself."
Su Xia lowered her voice and asked, "What if Jiaojiao wakes up?"
"I can't wake up."
Xu Jiqing paused, then added, "Give her the black one."
There were two pillows in Xu Jiqing's car. The black one with the car logo was given by the 4S store, and the pink plush pillow was a Christmas gift from her.
The oversized Chef Kirby symbolizes eating well in the new year and attracting good fortune and wealth. It was originally in Xixin's office space, but was moved after the car was delivered, creating a stark contrast to the car's minimalist interior.
Even if the things she gave him had nothing to do with him, Xu Jiqing still had an inexplicable liking for them.
Several times when she came to pick her up from her internship, as long as she waited a little too long, Su Xia could always see Xu Jiqing holding her Kirby in the driver's seat, with a cool face that was free from all emotions. He was flipping through work emails on his tablet with one hand, and holding Kirby's spatula with the other, squeezing it.
After Su Xia moved the little yellow chicken to the nest, she found it more and more funny. She sat up straight and looked at him in the rearview mirror, muttering, "Why are you so stingy? You don't even want to share your toys with your sister."
Xu Jiqing raised his eyelids slightly, met her gaze, and moved forward on the road without saying a word, showing no desire to discuss the matter at all.
"By default?" she asked.
He actually said "hmm".
Su Xia smiled and got a pair of dimples.
Thinking of something else, she moved her butt forward and said, "Jiaojiao called me that today. Did you threaten the child?"
Xu Jiqing followed her and asked, "What's the call?"
How else can I call it?
Su Xia was quite embarrassed and said in a whisper, "Just...sister-in-law."
"She has her own manners."
Xu Jiqing said, "Then I'll ask her to change it back."
"Hey—" Su Xia protested with a long tone, her big watery eyes glaring at him lively, "You're so annoying, I didn't say I don't like it."
He whispered, "Like?"
This is obviously intentional.
But Su Xia didn't argue with him, "I like it."
The first time is strange, the second time is familiar, and the same goes for being someone's sister-in-law.
But this time, she personally protected the little girl who was not fluent in sign language and helped her grow up. They were no longer strangers who were forced together by a name.
When meeting them at the station, Xu Jiaojiao called out to her brother and sister-in-law, jogging towards her. Her voice was so crisp that her chest felt sore and hot. For a moment, she was a little at a loss. It took her a long time to respond. She didn't know how to respond to her with such pure feelings.
The brother relies on his sister's status to be better to Xu Jiqing.
"I really like it," she said sweetly, her words like chanting a mantra. "I like it very, very much, and I like you very, very much too. I like you the most."
The sun came out at noon, and the sky outside the car window turned from gray to clear, but the snow did not stop.
Warm golden sunlight wrapped in snowflakes fell down, stretching to the asphalt road in the distance, their way home.
Su Xia heard Xu Jiqing laugh softly.
She leaned closer, admiring his expression for a while, then said, "Jiaojiao just said that Auntie is alone in Jiangcheng looking after the shop. When did you open the fried noodle shop?"
“My first year in college.”
Xu Jiqing said, "After Xu Jiaojiao's surgery, I had some money left from my savings. I added some of the signing bonus from National Tsing Hua University and bought a shop near the elementary school."
Su Xia listened attentively, "If it's just Auntie alone, it will be tiring if there are too many people, right?"
"The store also hired other people to help, so my mother didn't have to do heavy work and only went to the kitchen occasionally."
Xu Jiqing pursed her lips slightly, "It was just her old habit."
"After he was cremated, no one came to claim him. Later, I accompanied her to sign the waiver."
"At that time, Officer Wu helped her contact a psychological support group. The counselor suggested that she should keep herself busy so that she could have something to do after picking up Xu Jiaojiao. This would make it easier for her to get over the situation."
Su Xia held her face with her hands and said "oh", as if she was thinking about something.
She was very quiet all of a sudden, leaning against the passenger seat for a long time without saying a word. Xu Jiqing glanced at her and asked, "What are you thinking about?"
"It's nice to think about my brother."
"But my brother has worked so hard," she sighed and whispered, "Has the only good brother in the world, Xu Jiqing, come out of this by himself?"
Xu Jiqing: "I didn't leave."
Su Xia exclaimed, and was about to frown.
She has a pair of big, endearing eyes, round like almonds. When she is sad for him, the corners of her eyes droop slightly, as if even the smallest thing becomes a huge grievance, making her unable to help but seek justice for him.
Who would be willing to make her really sad?
"By boat."
Xu Jiqing's eyelashes moved. Even when he was coaxing people, he had a cold face, but his eyes were gentle. "Because the captain was lucky, the ship didn't capsize."
There was a dense flow of traffic on the overpass, and the small pieces of car windows formed a vast ocean, sparkling in the sunlight.
He repeated her words on that winter night, "We are already on the glorious sea."
-
On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, Xu Jiaojiao went back to Jiangcheng with them to celebrate the New Year and stayed in Beijing for a week.
The little girl went to the bookstore and bought a paper tourist map. She started researching the itinerary two months in advance. She circled the places she wanted to go, copied them carefully in a notebook with a pen, and took pictures to send to Princess Xia Xia on the other end of the phone for review and discussion.
Finally, we made the arrangements and went straight to the Summer Palace Ice Rink in the afternoon of our arrival, Universal Studios the next day, and then the Forbidden City, the Great Wall and Tiananmen Square. The schedule was packed every day.
Getting up early and wearing the three-piece suit is too demanding for anyone to bear, and ice skating and visiting the amusement park are a popular activity.
Su Xia was in a good mood, so she simply invited He Miao, Lin Lang and others to join in the fun. She waved her hand and bought all the tickets. She stayed in a suite in the Universal Studios park a day in advance and entered the park early.
Four more people were able to take the kids out for a walk, and it was also the first small-scale team building for Xixin’s partners, so we could accomplish great things with little money.
After returning home and putting away our luggage, both adults and children wrapped themselves in scarves and hats, feeling refreshed.
When I stepped onto the Summer Palace ice rink from Jingqiao, the snow had just stopped in the morning.
The sun shines on the Buddha Fragrance Pavilion in the distance, with its red walls, green pines and glazed tiles. There is a clean smell in the air, unique to after the snow, which is cold and dry, and one breath can reach the top of your head.
Su Xia hugged Xu Jiaojiao and tried to move two steps on the ice. She held up her phone and took pictures horizontally and vertically. She couldn't suppress her surging emotions and took several deep breaths.
"Congratulations," He Miao was amused by her excitement and imitated the tone of a TV commercial, "You know the taste of ice."
Open-air ice rinks are common, but the Royal Back Garden Ice Rink, covering an area of 700,000 square meters, is the only one of its kind.
Gangzai made a video call directly with his family, speaking Cantonese mixed with English, and his reaction was even more exaggerated than Su Xia's.
Lin Lang followed her example and sniffed around, "Does it smell?"
There were many tourists, and a group of people took the opportunity to go to the ice equipment rental place.
There were six adults and one child. Xu Jiqing rented three bicycles and three manual sleds, and added a dog sled under Xu Jiaojiao's eager eyes.
Big customers are treated preferentially wherever they go. The old man in the military coat smiled brightly as he untied the rope on the ice sled and enthusiastically instructed the two girls on how to use the slide bar to save energy and make it take off with one push.
Lin Lang continued to sniff intently, and after a few seconds he locked onto the sled. "What do you smell? It's dog."
He lamented, "Hasn't it been a long time since we've advocated for banning horse and donkey riding in scenic spots? A puppy's life is a life too. It's not good for the capital to take advantage of this kind of rubbish. Are there any animal protection organizations taking care of this?"
As the girls and the old man turned around, Chen Zhiheng covered Lin Lang's mouth and said, "Silly, stop talking."
"What's that dog smell?" Xu Jiqing also asked.
Lin Lang was unwilling to give up even though he was covered up, and pointed his hand forward like a knight of justice.
Xu Jiqing's expression was calm. He pinched the Husky's face, shook it, and nodded, as if teaching a child to read. "New breed, environmentally friendly electric dog. Are you relieved?"
Su Xia almost died of laughter.
She had been looking forward to this winter since she turned eighteen, and she came prepared, having collected over a dozen guides and tutorials. She had originally planned to learn it herself so she could play with her children, but athletic talent was too mysterious to deny.
A quarter of an hour later, Xu Jiaojiao was already running around the field laughing, and even started racing with Lin Lang's electric dog sled, while she was still moving forward at a snail's pace.
He Miao paddled two meters away, occasionally taking pictures of the scenery with the camera, but most of the time he turned around and took pictures of his friends.
Su Xia was struggling with the slider, completely unaware that when she looked up to look for someone, the shutter was pressed more than ten times. She cried out in despair, "Please spare me, I feel so embarrassed and ugly now."
"No, no, the point of "Stupid Beauty" is not the stupidity, but the beauty."
"The more afraid you are, the harder it will be to skate. I suggest you just let go and fall once. After that, you won't be afraid of anything anymore and can go straight on stage to compete with your athletic genius sister-in-law."
"Your Majesty, trust me," He Miao said, holding up the lens in his hand. "I'm a professional photographer and I ranked first in my photography class. Even if you fall, I can still take beautiful photos."
"don't want."
Su Xia shook her head firmly, raised her legs and started the cricket pupa again, "Do you think I feel better now?"
He Miao looked around and sighed, "Is this the boss lady's idol burden? Thank you for your hard work."
Su Xia narrowed her eyes and said, "Do you think it's better to walk faster? Do you want to persuade me to give up the throne and take the electric dog car instead?"
"Your Majesty, calm down."
He Miao bowed, "The country is more important than anything else. How dare I do that?"
Youth is dazzling, and the two girls' playfulness is lively and cute. The moment they look at each other and laugh is as fresh as splashing sweet oranges.
The ice rink is always busy every year when it opens, attracting many street photography veterans to stay there.
Su Xia didn't wear any makeup today. She simply wore a pair of round pearl earrings. The color of her lipstick and blush were purely from being frozen. Her red scarf and red cheeks made her look like a sweet apple.
She didn't notice who was taking pictures of her, but she first saw Xu Jiqing standing far away, negotiating with a middle-aged man with a telephoto lens with a cold face for a few minutes before walking over.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"nothing."
Su Xia pulled his hand and deliberately changed his topic, "Yeah, it's okay to take some photos. They probably have elderly parents and children to take care of. Don't scare them."
Xu Jiqing pursed his lips slightly and said, "If you get tired of skiing, can I ride my bike to pull you over?"
Hey, why are you still pretending not to hear?
For a moment, Su Xia forgot that there was someone next to her. Her mind was full of coaxing the man first. She pulled down the hem of his jacket, tilted her head back and kissed him.
He Miao's actions precede his consciousness.
After the loud shutter sound, he was so scared that he immediately raised his hands in surrender.
"I really have elderly parents and a young child, and my cat is only two months old," she said. "They're a perfect match, so it's okay for me to take some pictures."
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