The first day's exams were in politics and Chinese. Qin Hanshu even went home for lunch during the lunch break.
Zhou Weiguang is getting busier and busier, and he usually doesn't have time to cook lunch. The father and son get their meals from the cafeteria.
Zhou Weiguang and Zhou Chi were eating when they saw Qin Hanshu return and asked in surprise, "Didn't you say you weren't coming back to eat?"
Qin Hanshu said, "That was the original plan, but I found that I have a lot of time at noon, and I don't know where to go after having lunch at a restaurant."
Zhou Weiguang glanced at his and his son's nearly empty lunchboxes, stood up and said, "I'll go to the cafeteria and get you some more."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Liu Ercui's voice rang out from outside, "Little sister, come to my house for a meal."
After opening the door, Liu Ercui smiled and said, "I saw you coming back from the balcony and guessed that your family hadn't cooked, so I rushed down to call you."
Qin Hanshu turned to Zhou Weiguang and said, "No need to get food, I'll go to Sister Ercui's house to eat."
Liu Ercui pulled Qin Hanshu upstairs, "I made steamed buns today, pork and vermicelli, and also cooked millet porridge. Old Zhang has already finished eating and left, so you don't need to feel uncomfortable."
Qin Hanshu nodded with a smile.
Just as they arrived at Liu Ercui's house, they ran into Pei'er coming out.
"Where are you going? Have you finished eating?"
Pei'er called out "Aunt Qin" first, then said, "After I finish eating, I'm going to go play with little Chi."
Liu Ercui smiled and scolded, "You like playing with your little brother Xiaochi, but you haven't picked up even a fraction of his enthusiasm for learning."
Qin Hanshu told Pei'er to hurry up, then said to Liu Ercui, "The child is only in kindergarten, which is the time when he loves to play. My child is an oddball, so lifeless at such a young age. I hope Pei'er can help him become more lively."
Liu Ercui laughed twice, then went to get some steamed buns for Qin Hanshu.
Yue'er walked up to Qin Hanshu, greeted him obediently, and then hesitated.
Qin Hanshu took the initiative to ask, "Is there anything I can help you with?"
Then Yue'er said, "Auntie, I also want to go down and play with little Chi."
Qin Hanshu nodded, "Go ahead."
Yue'er remained motionless, biting her lip as if she wanted to say something but couldn't.
Yue'er was much taller than Pei'er, with a slender figure, long hair braided, and clean, tidy clothes.
If Pei'er was still a tomboy rolling around in the mud, then Yue'er was already showing signs of growing up.
"But..." Yue'er looked at Qin Hanshu pitifully, "I'm afraid Pei'er won't welcome me... Auntie, could you take me downstairs?"
Although Yue'er was making a request, she was very polite, and the pitiful look she exuded from the inside out would have made it impossible for anyone else to refuse her.
Qin Hanshu remained unmoved and said, "Yue'er, you haven't even gone yet, how do you know that Sister Pei'er doesn't welcome you?"
Yue'er paused for a moment, then said, "Auntie, you don't know, Pei'er... Pei'er doesn't really like playing with me..."
"What's wrong?" Liu Ercui poked her head out from the kitchen. "Yue'er, I think I just heard you asking Aunt Qin to take you somewhere to play? If you want to go somewhere, just go by yourself. Aunt Qin has to go to take an exam after dinner, so don't waste her time."
Yue'er stammered, "I...I know, Mom..."
Liu Ercui's tone wasn't harsh, but Yue'er still seemed frightened and shrank away.
Qin Hanshu frowned as she looked at it.
I don't know if Yue'er's personality is really like that, or if she's doing it on purpose.
What good would it do her to deliberately play the victim? Even if she didn't play the victim, Liu Ercui wouldn't mistreat her given her personality.
In short, having such a child at home must be exhausting for Liu Ercui.
"Here you go, you can eat now." Liu Ercui brought out the steamed buns. "I reheated them."
After putting down the steamed buns, Liu Ercui brought over a plate of cold dishes.
Qin Hanshu felt bad and said, "Steamed buns are enough."
Liu Ercui laughed and said, "It's alright, it's no trouble to make a cold dish."
Qin Hanshu sincerely thanked him.
"Tsk, you're so good-looking, even when you're eating, you look better than everyone else." Liu Ercui said, resting her chin on her hand as she looked at Qin Hanshu.
Her appearance reminded Qin Hanshu of how Pei'er watched Zhou Chi eat.
Qin Hanshu smiled and said, "Sister-in-law Ercui, you're not bad-looking either."
Liu Ercui blushed and waved her hand, "I'm an old woman now, I don't care about looking good or not anymore."
Qin Hanshu: "You're not old at all, you're thirty... thirty-three this year?"
Liu Ercui nodded and said, "Almost thirty-four."
However, Liu Ercui had a lot of housework and didn't pay much attention to skincare and dressing up, so she did look older than her age. When they first met, Qin Hanshu thought Liu Ercui was over thirty, but later learned that she was only twenty-nine when she gave birth to Pei'er.
“Being in your thirties is not old at all. On the contrary, at this age, you don’t need to worry too much about taking care of your children, so you can do what you like.”
"Something I like?" Liu Ercui was a little confused. "I don't know what I like. I just want to do a good job at home so that my husband and children can have a hot meal when they come home and clean clothes when they go out."
Qin Hanshu brought up the matter of work again.
Liu Ercui was clearly moved.
Since the twins were brought to the city, the money sent back to our hometown has been halved, making our living expenses much more manageable.
But as the children grow older, the expenses increase, and she wants to save more money for the family.
Liu Ercui thought for a long time, until Qin Hanshu had finished his meal, before she said, "I'll discuss it with Lao Zhang when he comes back."
The couple's relationship had become strained because of Yue'er's schooling. Liu Ercui wanted to ease the tension and decided to use the opportunity of discussing work as a way to smooth things over.
After finishing her meal, Qin Hanshu went home and rested for a while before heading to the exam hall.
After finishing her exam in the afternoon, she went outside and found Zhou Weiguang standing there waiting for her.
Qin Hanshu asked in surprise, "Why are you here?"
Zhou Weiguang said, "I had some business to attend to at the military region, and since the time was just right, I came to pick you up so we could go back together."
Qin Hanshu took his arm and deliberately sneered, "I thought you came all this way to pick me up!"
Zhou Weiguang glanced around in a panic and slowly pulled his arm away. "It's a public place, be mindful of your behavior."
He thought Qin Hanshu would get angry with him like before, but to his surprise, Qin Hanshu remained calm, as if nothing had happened.
Zhou Weiguang, on the contrary, started to feel awkward.
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