"That's how it is during the honeymoon phase; once you're married, you don't care anymore," Xia Yingying said with a knowing smile.
"What do you mean? Are you pointing at me?" Chen Feng casually put his arm around Xia Yingying and pointed at her waist.
"Ouch, it tickles!" Xia Yingying laughed, patting Chen Feng as she tried to run away.
But how could Chen Feng let her off so easily? He used a bit of force, leaving her nowhere to run, and then kept tickling her.
"Who are you talking about? Who are you talking about? Who are you talking about?"
Hahahaha~
Xia Yingying couldn't stop laughing and was forced to sit on the ground, begging for mercy repeatedly.
"Brother, brother, I was wrong, I was wrong!"
"Little brat, watch your mouth next time, you know?" Chen Feng pinched her cheek and said, pretending to be serious.
"Okay~" Xia Yingying tilted her head back and acted coquettishly, which earned her a kiss from Chen Feng.
That evening, Lin Nian, carrying a small bowl covered with a plastic bag, arrived at Xiao Ma's door and called him out via WeChat.
"What's wrong?" Xiao Ma came out of the house and looked at him curiously.
Why did you call her out so late? Is there something important?
"Here you go." Lin Nian smiled shyly and handed over the small bowl.
Xiao Ma took it without thinking, and when he saw that there were still three sea cucumbers inside, his face immediately turned red.
"Oh dear, I told you not to do it, why did you still go and ask for it?" Xiao Ma said, pursing her lips.
"It's okay, take it and eat it if you like. It's just that I learned how to make it online this time, so it might not taste as good as last time." Lin Nian scratched the back of his head and grinned foolishly.
"Don't ask for it again next time, or I'll really get angry," Xiao Ma said earnestly, looking at him.
"Okay, I don't want it." Lin Nian nodded, a smile on his lips.
"Hmm... wait a moment, I'll be right back." Xiao Ma said as he ran back into the shop, and came out in less than a minute, the small bowl in his hand replaced with three lollipops.
"Here, have some." Little Ma stuffed it into his hands, his hands behind his back.
"Thank you." Lin Nian took the candy, feeling very happy.
"Okay, then drive carefully on your way back, it's getting dark," Xiao Ma reminded him.
"Okay, I've got the flashlight, it's fine." Lin Nian even took it out of his pocket and showed it to her.
"Okay, bye-bye." Little Horse waved to him before going back into the house.
Lin Nian had some candy in his pocket, tore one open and put it in his mouth. How come he never realized before that this lollipop was so delicious?
Apart from the three sea cucumbers given to Xiao Ma, the rest were given to his grandfather and father.
He wasn't the kind of person who would forget his mother after getting a wife, although he genuinely didn't remember what his mother looked like.
When Xiao Ma returned to the shop, he found his mother looking at what the small bowl was.
She went inside and got a pair of chopsticks, which she handed to her mother.
"Mom, have a piece. This is sea cucumber, it's very expensive."
"Did Lin Nian give it to you?" the mother said with a smile in her eyes.
"Mmm." Little Ma answered a little shyly, her face flushed.
"It doesn't matter what you give, it's the thought that counts." Her mother picked up her chopsticks and tasted one; it was indeed the first time she had ever eaten this.
"It's quite delicious, very satisfying." Her mother smacked her lips.
“Send one to your father,” her mother said.
Before Xiao Ma could even pick up the bowl, his father came back from outside and heard what the mother and son had said.
"One lollipop for one sea cucumber?"
"We still have several boxes of lollipops at home. Why don't you send them all to him tomorrow?" Xiao Ma's father joked.
"Hey, what are you saying?" Little Ma glared at him.
"Just kidding, you two eat, the child is doing well," her father said with a smile.
"Hurry up and try one, I ate three yesterday." Xiao Ma held the bowl to his father's mouth, and his father finally ate one.
“Sea cucumbers don’t seem to have much flavor, they’re just crunchy, but the texture is quite good,” her father said.
"It's all thanks to your daughter; otherwise, who would get to eat this stuff? It's ridiculously expensive," her mother joked.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Ma blushed even more, said nothing, and ate the last one.
Although the taste was indeed a little worse than yesterday's, it was fresh out of the pot and had a special flavor, so she felt it was even better than yesterday's.
As a result, she and Lin Nian had more and more frequent contact, and their relationship became increasingly ambiguous.
Every day after finishing his work, Lin Nian would run to play with Xiao Ma. When Chen Feng saw this, he gave him an easier job, one with not much work to do each day.
There was no other way; my brother finally found a girlfriend, and I couldn't hold him back.
Actually, Chen Feng was thinking that he should just let him focus on finding a partner first, and he could come back to the mine whenever he was in a relationship.
Anyway, there are already so many people at the mine, one more won't make a difference, but Lin Nian disagreed. He felt that it wouldn't be good if he didn't do any work at all, as if he were losing his mind because of lust.
Seeing his resolute attitude, Chen Feng let him have his way.
About a month later, while Lin Nian was still dating Xiao Ma, Lin Nian's father, Lin Tiegang, received a phone call.
"Hello...is this Tie Gang?" A woman's voice came from the other end of the phone. Her voice sounded hesitant and desperate.
Lin Tiegang would never forget that voice. He remained silent for a few seconds before speaking with mixed feelings: "Shufen?"
"It's me..." The woman's voice on the other end was also unusually low.
"Why... why are you calling all of a sudden?" Lin Tiegang asked, pursing his lips.
"I heard that Lin Nian has a girlfriend and his career is also thriving?" Shufen asked, taking a deep breath.
"Yes, he followed Chen Feng from the same village to pan for gold and made a lot of money. He used it to build a new house for his family. Recently, he got a new girlfriend and is always running around. He's never home," Lin Tiegang said.
"Time flies, he's getting married soon. Do you have a picture of him? Let's add each other on WeChat, and you can send it to me," Shufen replied.
"Okay, is this the phone number?" Lin Tiegang asked.
"This is it."
The two hung up the phone and added each other on WeChat. Lin Tiegang sent Lin Nian a lot of photos to him.
Shufen looked at the boy on her phone, her eyes gradually reddening. She tapped the photo, zoomed in with two fingers, and carefully looked at Lin Nian's face.
She no longer recognized the child, but she could still vaguely make out the image of Lin Nian when he was a little over one year old.
Do you have a photo of that girl?
Shufen sent a WeChat message with a slightly choked voice.
Upon hearing the message, Lin Tiegang sent her a few more photos of the pony.
"The young lady is quite pretty, Lin Nian is very lucky. I'm so sorry for Lin Nian... I haven't seen him even once in all these years..."
Lin Tiegang fell silent upon hearing her words, holding his phone in his left hand and covering his face with his right, looking somewhat pained.
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