Feng Xiuying had just finished cooking when Ruan Qiuyue appeared at the kitchen door, smelling the aroma. She has the best nose in the family. Whenever it’s mealtime or there’s something delicious, she’ll usually show up for the first time.
But the first one to show up is not the first to eat, but to run errands.
Feng Xiuying called her: "Go find your third brother, fifth brother and Hong Bing and come back for dinner."
Just now, Ruan Hongbing didn't find Ye Fan and Ruan Hongjun when he got home, so he ran out again. He must have stayed somewhere to play, and no one knew he had come back yet. Boys are more naughty. They like to go out and have fun when they have time. They never stay at home.
Ruan Qiuyue was used to running errands for others, so she went when she heard the words.
Ye Fan, Ruan Hongjun and Ruan Hongbing did not leave the compound and were soon found and called back by Ruan Qiuyue.
When Ruan Qiuyue followed Ye Fan, Ruan Hongjun and Ruan Hongbing home, Ruan Xi and Ruan Jie just came down from upstairs. A few people met outside the restaurant, and Ye Fan, Ruan Hongjun, Ruan Xi and Ruan Jie looked at each other.
Ruan Xi had never seen Ye Fan and Ruan Hongjun, but he could tell them by their ages.
Ye Fan is now fourteen years old and looks like a teenager. He is wearing a clean white shirt. Whether it is his appearance, temperament or the way he dresses, there are only two words to describe him - clean.
Ruan Hongjun was only eleven years old and still looked like a child, but he was not much shorter than Ye Fan.
He was wearing an old military uniform that was too big for him, and his sleeves and trouser legs were rolled up. He didn't button his clothes properly, and his military cap was tilted on his head. No matter how straight the clothes were, they looked messed up on him.
He also had a wooden pistol in his hand, and he would fire a few shots wherever he went.
When he saw Ruan Xi and Ruan Jie, he let out an "eh" sound, like an idiot, and said, "Don't tell anyone. Let me guess. These two must be my second sister and cousin!"
Ruan Qiuyue said beside him: "Then guess again, who is the second sister and who is the cousin."
Ruan Hongjun held the wooden pistol and walked around Ruan Xi and Ruan Jie, looking them up and down. Then he stopped and pointed the pistol at Ruan Xi, "You are my second sister! Right?"
Ruan Xi was just about to say hello to him when Ruan Changfu suddenly came out of the restaurant. He saw Ruan Hongjun, without saying anything, went up to him, grabbed his ear and dragged him into the house, "You stole my clothes again, didn't you?!"
Ruan Hongjun's face was twisted by the pulling, and he kept muttering, "Daddy, daddy, daddy... it hurts, it hurts, it hurts... be gentle, be gentle... oh oh oh oh oh..."
Ruan Jie couldn't help but smiled with her eyebrows lowered.
Ruan Qiuyue came up and said to Ruan Xi and Ruan Jie: "Don't bother with him, he is just a fool."
Ruan Xi and Ruan Jie still hadn't spoken yet, and Ye Fan came up to greet them again: "Hello, I'm Ye Fan."
Ruan Xi replied simply and politely: "Hello, Ruan Xi."
Ruan Jie followed up, "I am Ruan Jie."
Ye Fan said politely, "Let's go in and have dinner together."
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard Ye Qiuwen's voice again, "Come and eat quickly."
Ruan Xi and Ruan Jie followed Ye Fan and Ruan Qiuyue to the restaurant, where they saw Ruan Hongjun had taken off his military cap and uniform jacket, and was only wearing a white vest.
Ruan Changfu glanced at everyone in the room and asked, "Do you know everyone? Do you want me to introduce you to them?"
No one else said anything, Ruan Hongjun said: "Please introduce him, I don't know him yet."
He spoke like a leader. Ruan Changfu's face darkened when he heard that. "Speak nicely to me!"
Ruan Hongjun was frightened again and decisively hid behind Ye Fan.
Ruan Changfu glared at him, "Come out! Introduce yourself!"
Ruan Hongjun then jumped out decisively and said to Ruan Xi and Ruan Jie: "I am Ruan Hongjun, the most powerful man in the family!"
Ruan Changfu glared at him again, and he immediately put away the smile on his face.
Ruan Xi still looked calm and composed, and said politely, "I am Ruan Xi."
Ruan Hongjun was very pleased with himself, "You are indeed my second sister!"
Then he looked at Ruan Jie again, "Then you are my cousin."
Ruan Jie nodded, "I am Ruan Jie."
Now that everyone knows each other, the family naturally sits down to eat.
Ye Qiuwen and Ruan Qiuyang sat together, both of them still had red eyes that had not completely gone away.
Ruan Hongjun paid attention to details. He looked at Ye Qiuwen and Ruan Qiuyang and said, "Sister, what happened to you two? Your eyes are red. Did you have a fight at home? Did you pull your hair? Did you scratch your face?"
Ruan Changfu thought Ruan Hongjun was talking too much and too noisy, so he looked at him again.
Ruan Hongjun calmed down a little and muttered, "Why can't I even speak..."
The other children at the table were tactful and no one responded to this question. Ruan Changfu and Feng Xiuying did not mention it either.
Ruan Changfu looked at Ruan Xi while eating and said, "You just arrived here and are not familiar with everything yet, so get familiar with the environment first. You can walk around the compound first, but don't run around. I'm afraid you'll get lost. When we have time on Sunday, ask Qiu Wen and Qiu Yang... or Xiao Fan Hong Jun to take you out to play."
Ruan Xi was not interested in these and just asked, "When can we go to school?"
Before Ruan Changfu could say anything after hearing this, Ruan Hongjun said, "Why do you want to go to school as soon as you get here? Going to school is so boring and useless. I have a headache listening to the teachers humming in the classroom all day long."
Ruan Changfu no longer frowned at Ruan Hongjun, and his tone was not harsh, "Shut up."
Ruan Hongjun pursed his lips and stopped talking.
Ruan Changfu then looked at Ruan Xi and said, "Wait for me to arrange it. There are still many things to be done, such as household registration and school registration. It's not that simple. You have studied in elementary school for a few years, so why not start from the first grade of junior high school directly?"
Ruan Xi nodded, "Okay."
Ruan Qiuyang suddenly said, "It's better not to go to school if it's so troublesome. You haven't even finished elementary school, so what's the point of going to junior high school? You'll just be staring at me and not understanding me. In my opinion, it's best for you to stay at home and help your mother raise chickens and grow vegetables. People from the countryside should be best at these things. Going to school is a complete waste..."
While Ruan Qiuyang was talking, Ye Qiuwen kept nudging her arm gently, but she didn't stop talking. She even shook Ye Qiuwen off, then looked at Ruan Xi and said, “Am I wrong?”
The atmosphere at the dinner table suddenly became tense and everyone else was stunned.
Ruan Xi looked at Ruan Qiuyang without blinking and said, "Your parents are also from the countryside. Do you look down on them so much? The poor peasants have embarrassed you, right? Are you a capitalist lady from somewhere?"
Hearing the words "Miss Capitalist", Ruan Qiuyang's eyes widened instantly, "Who do you say is a capitalist?"
Before Ruan Xi could say anything else, Ruan Changfu slammed his chopsticks on the table.
He held his anger for a long time, then looked at Ruan Qiuyang, "Get up there."
Ruan Qiuyang was so angry that his face turned red. He stood up and said, "Why do you tell me to get out? I haven't eaten yet! Why don't you tell her to get out? She said you are a capitalist, didn't you hear it?!"
Seeing that Ruan Changfu was about to have a fit, Ye Qiuwen hurriedly grabbed Ruan Qiuyang and pulled her away.
As soon as he was pulled upstairs, Ruan Qiuyang squatted on the ground with a wronged look on his face and started crying again.
She cried and said, "Why do you always scold me?!"
Ye Qiuwen whispered, "Qiuyang, you should talk less in the future, otherwise you will be the one who suffers."
Ruan Qiuyang didn't understand, sniffing and saying, "What's wrong with what I said? It's a waste of time and money for them to go to school. What's the point? They might as well help their mother with some work at home. I don't think there's any problem with that."
Ye Qiuwen took a deep breath. "Whether it's useful or not is their own business. If they want to study, then go ahead. If they can't go to school in the countryside, they definitely want to go to school when they come to the city. Why do you care so much?"
Ruan Qiuyang: "I just don't like them!"
Ye Qiuwen asked again: "How many times do you want to cry in a day? Today is already the second time. If we don't provoke her, it will be over. If she takes the initiative to provoke us, Dad will definitely teach her a lesson."
Ruan Qiuyang sniffed, "She provoked you and made you cry, but dad didn't say anything!"
Ye Qiuwen said: "Because she just came, mom and dad will definitely be more tolerant of her. If time goes on for a long time, everyone will lose patience. If she bullies us again, mom and dad will definitely protect us."
Ruan Qiuyang's nose turned red. He thought for a while and said, "Okay, then I will just ignore them from now on."
Ye Qiuwen nodded: "That's right."
After Ruan Qiuyang and Ye Qiuwen went upstairs, no one spoke at the table anymore. Even the talkative Ruan Hongjun, with a lot of gossip and curiosity in his mind, just buried his head in eating and didn't say a word.
Ruan Changfu had a gloomy face the whole time, while Feng Xiuying had no expression on her face as she just ate.
Ruan Jie was not as calm as Ruan Xi. She kept her head down while eating and was very nervous.
Ruan Xi just pretended that nothing had happened. He finished his meal peacefully, put down his chopsticks, said a simple hello, and then got up and left with Ruan Jie. Instead of going back upstairs, they went outside the house to get some fresh air, but they didn't go far.
Ruan Jie looked at Ruan Xi and whispered, "Does Ruan Qiuyang really look down on us from the bottom of his heart?"
Ruan Xi snorted, "Who is she? Do we need her to look up to us? If she doesn't know what's good for her next time, I'll just slap her. I'm her elder sister, so it's my duty to teach her a lesson."
Then she said to Ruan Jie, "It is precisely because they all look down on us and think that we country folks can only feed chickens, grow vegetables and do housework that we have to study harder, do you understand?"
Ruan Jie still didn't quite understand. She asked, "If we study well, will uncle find us a job in the city? If we transfer our household registration here, we should be able to find a job, right?"
After all, this has something to do with studying, but the relationship is not very large. The most important thing is to look at Ruan Changfu.
As long as Ruan Changfu arranged jobs for them or let them join the army, they would be like Ruan Hongjun and others, and it wouldn't matter whether their academic performance was good or not. That’s why Ruan Hongjun just said that studying is useless.
If the family cannot arrange it, even if one is from the city and has good academic performance, one has to go to the countryside as an educated youth.
Ruan Xi knew the doubts in her heart, and she couldn't explain this problem to her at the moment, so she just said: "Don't count on him. Even if he arranges a job for us, I don't want to go. Let's study hard first."
Ruan Jie looked at Ruan Xi and blinked, "Oh."
As the two were talking, they suddenly heard a voice coming from the door of their house: "Big sister!"
Ruan Xi and Ruan Jie turned around and saw Ruan Qiuyue coming out after dinner and waving at them.
After waving her hand, she ran to Ruan Xi and Ruan Jie and took a deep breath.
Among so many children in the Ruan family, Ruan Xi has the best impression of Ruan Qiuyue. Now that she calls her eldest sister, her impression of her is even better. So she smiled at Ruan Qiuyue, looked at her and asked, "Aren't you afraid that Ye Qiuwen will be angry?"
Ruan Qiuyue said: "She won't be angry, she will just cry, woo woo woo ..."
Ruan Xi and Ruan Jie couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Even though Ruan Qiuyue is only nine years old, Ruan Xi feels that it is not an exaggeration to say that she is an adult mentally. He looks careless and silly, and is the least noticeable one in the family, but he understands everything in his heart and is probably open-minded.
If you can't let it go, seeing that your parents are so good to Ye Qiuwen and Ruan Qiuyang bullies her, you will be depressed to death.
She looked at Ruan Xi and said, "Your temper suits my taste. From now on, you will be my elder sister!"
Ruan Xi looked at her and smiled, "Then I will reluctantly accept you."
Ruan Qiuyue said: "Don't force yourself. You will definitely not lose out by having me as your sister."
Ruan Xi couldn't help laughing, "Okay, then I can't wait to accept you."
Ruan Qiuyue turned around and looked, "Do you want me to take you for a walk now, and stay in the courtyard?"
It's getting dark now, but there's still time to walk around and digest the food. Ruan Xi didn't want to go upstairs to see Ruan Qiuyang for the time being, so she nodded and said, "Okay, let's take a walk first."
Ruan Qiuyue then took Ruan Xi and Ruan Jie somewhere else.
This compound is the military district’s family compound. It is actually similar to a residential community, but with more complete supporting facilities. There are shops, barber shops, kindergartens, vegetable markets and auditoriums. It can be said that life is very convenient.
The three of them chatted while walking around, and Ruan Jie talked more after she relaxed. She still cared about Ye Qiuwen, so she asked Ruan Qiuyue: "In your family, is Ye Qiuwen the one who has the final say?"
Ruan Qiuyue looked at Ruan Jie and said, "No, it's my dad who has the final say."
But she added after a moment: "But Ye Qiuwen is the sun of our family, and everyone has to revolve around her."
Ruan Jie didn't understand, "Why?"
Ruan Qiuyue said, "I don't know, it has always been like this. My dad is very busy at work and is not at home most of the time, so he doesn't care much about small things. My mom always asks Ye Qiuwen for her opinion before anything else, and Ruan Qiuyang listens to her. Ye Fan is her brother, so he naturally listens to her. Ruan Hongjun, that idiot, only knows how to steal dad's clothes to go out and play, and fights with others for no reason. He doesn't care about family matters, so there's nothing to say."
Ruan Jie asked again: "But your parents gave her all the best things in the house, do you have any objections?"
Ruan Qiuyue said: "Ruan Qiuyang thinks that Ye Qiuwen deserves it. She is the one who supports Ye Qiuwen the most. It is not an exaggeration to say that she is Ye Qiuwen's believer. Ye Fan and Ruan Hongjun are good boys in every way. They don't care about things or fight. I am the only one left. I dare not have any opinions. It's good enough that Ruan Qiuyang doesn't bully me. I am bullied by Ruan Qiuyang every day, and no one helps me. There are too many children in the family, and I am not the youngest. I am almost invisible."
Ruan Xi smiled after hearing this, and then asked, "Then do you wear Ye Qiuwen's old clothes?"
Ruan Qiuyue said, "Of course they have to be worn. When she was done wearing them, she gave them to Ruan Qiuyang, and when Ruan Qiuyang was done wearing them, he gave them to me. The clothes are not damaged, we can't just throw them away, they have to be worn. Didn't I send them to you? Ruan Qiuyang and I only make new clothes during the Chinese New Year, and we don't make new clothes at other times because old clothes can't be worn out. She's the eldest, so there's nothing we can do about it."
As she spoke, she looked at Ruan Xi. "Oh, I remember now. When our family was not well off, my mother told us that Ye Qiuwen and Ye Fan would receive several hundred yuan in pensions, so she had to be nicer to them and told us not to be jealous or fight. Later, we got used to it. In fact, Ye Fan is similar to us, except that Ye Qiuwen lives a good life. She is very squeamish. She can't sleep in the same room with others, otherwise she can't sleep. She can't wear a piece of clothing for a long time, otherwise her body will itch. She can't even use a bad vanishing cream, otherwise her face will itch. God, too many..."
Ruan Xi just laughed when she heard it, but Ruan Jie's eyes widened. She grew up in the countryside and had very limited experience, so she could not imagine that someone lived such a life. Was she an ancient princess?
It was hard to imagine. She was stunned for a moment and said, "Is this true?"
Ruan Qiuyue turned her head and looked at her. "Everything is true, but if you want to ask me whether Ye Qiuwen's problems are real or fake, then I don't know, and I dare not say anything. Anyway, she has many problems."
Ruan Jie blinked and looked at Ruan Xi.
Ruan Xi said slowly, "The crying child gets the milk, and Ruan Changfu and Feng Xiuying have spent a lot of energy and thought on her. The more they put in, the deeper their feelings are, and they will definitely not let her suffer any grievances. The other children in the family have no objections, and none of them argue with her, so it will become natural and taken for granted."
Ruan Qiuyue nodded after listening to it, "Sister, I think you are right."
Ruan Xi couldn't help laughing when she heard her calling him "big sister" and asked her, "What's your attitude toward your parents?"
Ruan Qiuyue was indeed open-minded. "I don't have any attitude. They don't like me anyway, so what attitude can I have towards them? I'll say something to hurt your feelings. I'm much better than you. You should hate them, right?"
Ruan Xi sighed, "I'm the same as you. I don't care. They have so many children, it doesn't matter if I'm one more or one less. Besides, they definitely don't expect anything from me, so why should I bother hating them?"
Ruan Qiuyue looked at Ruan Xi and smiled, "That's right, no wonder you and I get along so well, it turns out we share the same suffering!"
The three of them chatted, walked around the yard and then went home.
When they got home, they washed up one after another, then went back to their respective rooms and lay down to sleep.
Locking the door and lying on the bed, Ruan Xi said to Ruan Jie, "You see, even if you keep them by your side, they won't necessarily live happily. They will still be ignored. Think about it, they can't take care of the others around them, how can they spare any attention for me who is in the countryside? I think Ruan Qiuyue is not as good as me. At least I have my grandparents who love me, my fifth uncle who protects me, and you as my sister. What does Ruan Qiuyue have?"
Being ignored would be bad enough, but he was also bullied by Ruan Qiuyang.
Ruan Jie sighed, "That seems to be the case."
Ruan Xi: "Be content with what you have."
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