Qi Chang walked into the yard and saw that Xu Keke had just finished washing the sheets. Standing in front of her was a handsome young man of medium height.
Xu Keke and the young man each held one end of the bedsheet, like in ancient wedding ceremonies where each person held one end of the red ribbon. They were talking about something, and Xu Keke's eyes were filled with laughter as she smiled at the young man, looking incredibly happy.
The little girl was completely different from before; her confidence had made her radiant and captivating.
Her smile was unrestrained; aside from in his dreams, he had never seen her smile like that in this life. As Qi Chang watched, a strange feeling welled up inside him. It seemed she had never been this happy with him before.
Qi Chang had just coughed twice, and before the two people opposite him could even look over, two little ones darted out of the house, one on each leg, making it impossible for him to move.
"Brother Qi!"
"Uncle Qi! Where have you been lately?"
Yes, we all miss you so much.
Qi Chang looked down at Meng Jia and Gao Jiaqing, still holding his bag, and could only smile helplessly, "Let go of me first, I brought you some delicious food."
Nothing was more important than good food, so the two obediently withdrew their hands quickly. When Qi Chang looked up again, the young man and Xu Keke had already wrung out the sheets and were about to hang them on the rope in the yard. From beginning to end, Xu Keke's gaze never fell on him. It was as if she hadn't seen him at all.
With new people around, they no longer need him, the old hand. Qi Chang stared intently at Xu Keke, refusing to believe that someone as grown up as him could be so blind.
Xu Keke acted as if she hadn't seen it at all, staring intently at the bed sheet in her hand. It was as if, in the blink of an eye, the bed sheet in her hand would fall to the ground.
"Qi Gong? You're back! They said the other day that you wouldn't be back for a few more days," the young man standing next to Xu Keke suddenly said.
Qi Chang then took a closer look at the young man. He looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn't remember who he was. Judging from his expression, he should be someone from the factory.
Seeing Qi Chang's confusion, the young man laughed heartily, "Engineer Qi, I'm Wei Jie from Workshop Three. Last time our workshop's machine broke down, you were the one who came to take a look."
There were too many people in the factory; how could he possibly remember them all? Qi Chang smiled awkwardly. "Really? What are you doing here? Is something the matter?"
"Sigh, I was tricked into coming here by my uncle." Wei Jie was straightforward, with a look of both amusement and exasperation. He was about to continue when Xu Keke tugged at the bed sheet in his hand. He then realized that the young lady was waiting for him to hang up the sheets. He quickly said to Qi Chang, "Engineer Qi, wait a minute, I'll tell you later. I'll help Xiaodong hang up the sheets first."
They call her so affectionately, "Little Dong, little sister," without even feeling a pang of jealousy, considering they're all grown up. "You're much older than Meng Dong, why are you still calling her 'little sister'? She should be calling you 'uncle'."
Wei Jie hadn't expected Qi Gong to be so particular about rules. After thinking for a moment, he said somewhat awkwardly, "I... I don't know how this is done. She calls my uncle 'Uncle' and me 'Uncle,' so this is..."
Qi Chang was about to argue with him again when Xiao Jiaqing tugged at his sleeve.
"Uncle Qi, where's the food?" Gao Jiaqing felt he had been very 'polite' waiting for quite a while. He couldn't hold back any longer and could only take the initiative to remind Qi Chang.
The floral bed sheet, now hanging out to dry, completely covered Xu Keke. Qi Chang suppressed his awkwardness and led the two little ones into his room.
He took out a large bag of candy and a bag of pastries from his bag. "Why is your sister washing the bed sheets in the yard today? She usually takes them to Grandma Jiaqing's house to wash them."
Qi Chang peeled a piece of candy for Meng Jia and placed it in her hand. The little girl didn't wait and immediately put it in her mouth. Listening to Qi Chang's question, she swallowed the sweet juice while thinking about how to answer.
The candy was wrapped a little too tightly, and Xiao Jiaqing hadn't even finished unwrapping his. Head down, he answered for Meng Jia, "We were supposed to go to my grandma's house, but then Brother Xiao Jie came. So we can't go. My dad went to fix Uncle Lin's roof. My mom called my aunt."
With so many people appearing all at once, Qi Chang was completely bewildered.
Xiao Mengjia paused to speak and continued, "My dad won't let us live here. He wants to kick us out. He threw my and my sister's sheets and blankets on the ground by the door. That Xiao Jie is Uncle Lin's son, and he calls Uncle Lin 'uncle.' Uncle Lin said that as long as my sister marries him and continues to work at the stationery store, he'll let us live here again."
Jiaqing, who had finally finished peeling the skin, nodded heavily. "Yes, Uncle Xiaojie is handsome. Even my sister says he's handsome. My sister said she would agree to be introduced to him if he were introduced to her."
How could this be expressed so clearly? Qi Chang really wanted to stuff another piece of candy into his mouth.
"Engineer Qi!" Before Qi Chang could find out what was going on, Wei Jie had already entered.
“Meng Dong said he doesn’t need me anymore.” Afraid of being scolded by Qi Chang again, Wei Jie stopped adding any suffixes and simply called Meng Dong by his name.
"I'd like to ask you some questions. You're too busy at the factory, and I'm sorry to bother you. I have some questions about machine repair and maintenance that I'd like to ask you."
Qi Chang really wanted to say no. But when he thought that Wei Jie was also going out to find Xu Keke, he simply agreed. He took out another paper package from his bag and took out a piece of milk candy from it.
Wei Jie instinctively wanted to say he wouldn't eat it. Luckily, he was slow to speak, because he immediately heard Qi Chang say to Meng Jia, "Meng Jia, put this candy in your sister's mouth."
The two little ones, even with candy in their mouths, still stared longingly at the milk candy, swallowing hard. While the candy was delicious, the milk candy was definitely better.
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