129 sweet grapes
However, before going to the martial arts gym, Li Wei noticed a problem. During lunch, she asked Luo Da, "Why aren't you driving anymore? I haven't seen your car lately."
Luo Da's car is usually parked outside the school, near a high wall. Li Wei has noticed that she hasn't seen Luo Da's taxi for the past few days, which she finds a bit strange.
Luo Da grunted in response but kept his head down and ate. Li Wei was a little annoyed: "Hey, I'm asking you a question, what do you mean by 'grunt'?" This attitude is too perfunctory.
Luo Da then looked up and said, "Oh no, it can't be driven."
Really? That's possible. Li Wei didn't pay much attention to it, since that car probably hadn't had a peaceful day since it started following Luo Da, always running around aimlessly.
Li Wei originally planned to go to the martial arts school with Li Lianhui and Li Lin over the weekend, but her mother called and said that it was her grandmother's birthday this weekend, and asked all the children to come back to celebrate with her.
When Li Lin made a fuss, Luo Da heard it too and felt that he should go as well. After thinking for a moment, he said, "How about I drive home after school and pick you up so we can go together? I haven't visited Grandpa in a long time, so we can go together."
Li Wei then asked Li Lin to call her mother and tell her not to let her father pick them up. They should go back together in Luo Jianhua's car, so that her father could save some effort.
After school that evening, the three siblings packed their things, and soon Luo Da arrived. Li Wei went downstairs with her bag and exclaimed, "Huh? He's changed cars! It's a Japanese car, and judging from the paint, it's obviously much more upscale than the old one." She then asked Luo Da, "Is this your new car?" Luo Da's third uncle was quite generous, actually getting Luo Da an imported car.
Luo Da shook his head: "My dad. Can I borrow it?" Not only did he borrow the car, but he also prepared a lot of gifts for Grandpa Cheng and Li Wei's parents in the trunk. According to Luo Sanjiu's usual style, as his eldest son grew up, he naturally had to pay attention to face, although Luo Da didn't care much about this.
This car is significantly better than Luo Da's old car. Its sealing and shock absorption are excellent, and even the interior decoration looks much more luxurious than the old car. The three siblings kept looking at and touching it.
Luo Da said, "I heard from my dad that your family is also planning to buy a car. My dad is asking someone to arrange it. It should be ready to drive back in about half a month."
Really? Li Wei felt this was out of character for her father's consistently low-key style. But if her father bought one, she could get one for her aunt too. The old car really didn't look very good now. So she asked Luo Da, "Does Uncle have connections? If it's possible, could you get one for my aunt too?" It seems the regulations for imported vehicles are quite strict now. They all come from coastal open cities, especially Hainan and Guangdong.
Luo Da nodded, "Sure. I'll talk to my dad. You want a brand like that too?" Luo Da wasn't surprised. He vaguely knew that Li Wei and her aunt ran a company together. Li Wei was also a woman of her word.
Li Wei thought for a moment and said, "We don't want a Japanese car. Let's see if my third uncle can get us a German car. Mercedes or BMW are fine. We'll go for it right away." Li Wei didn't have a good impression of the Japanese.
Luo Da nodded: "I'll talk to my dad. He knows those people. Let's see if they have the car you mentioned. But it'll probably take a while. There are a lot of people wanting to buy cars right now, so it's not easy to get one."
"No rush. Let Third Uncle handle it. If it involves money, let me know in advance. Don't let my Auntie know." If my Auntie finds out, she'll definitely be upset about the money. Then things will be uncertain. By the time she gets the goods, she won't be able to do anything about it.
Upon arriving at Li Wei's house, Luo Da unloaded the gifts his father had given to Li Wei's parents. Cheng Min politely accepted them after a few words; there was no need to be overly formal about their relationship with the Luo family. Although the Luo family had moved away in recent years, their relationship had grown increasingly close, not only because of Grandpa Cheng, but also because Li Zhaoxing had helped Luo's third uncle with cash flow several times, ensuring smooth financial transactions for his major businesses.
Each time it wasn't just a matter of ten or twenty thousand. Although they used to be neighbors, how could Uncle Luo not be moved by Li Zhaoxing's great help when he was in dire need? He was also a man of principle who believed in reciprocating kindness tenfold, so naturally he became very close to the Li family.
Especially since Uncle Luo San saw that Luo Da and Li Wei had a good relationship, and that Li Wei was an obedient, smart and good student, he also had other ideas.
Luo Da delivered the things to Grandpa Cheng's old house and also picked up Grandma Cheng to come over to Li Wei's house for dinner. The whole family was very lively. Aunt Cheng Fei and Ding Anni were coming over with their child tomorrow, but Ding Anping couldn't come today because he had to work overtime.
The whole family was chatting and watching TV in the living room that evening. Li Wei had already eaten a full meal, but while talking to everyone, she ate a few extra pieces of a new, delicious-tasting mini cake that had just come out, along with some fruit, and ended up feeling stuffed.
Looking at the slightly dimmed streetlights outside, with insects occasionally flitting about in the light, he suddenly felt a surge of interest and called out to Li Lin, "Xiao Lin, let's go for a walk. It's quite cool outside."
Li Lin glanced outside and then called to Li Lianhui, "Little brother, you come too. Oh, by the way, Brother Hua, shall we go for a drive together?"
Luo Da was talking to Li Zhaoxing. He looked outside and then at Li's father. Li Zhaoxing smiled and said, "Go ahead if you want to go out, but be careful." The eldest son of the Luo family is already as grown-up as he used to be. He wondered when his own son would grow up.
Li Wei had originally planned to take a walk to digest her food, but now that Li Lin wanted to go for a drive, her digestion plan was ruined.
Li Wei and Li Lin sat in the back, while Li Lianhui sat in the front. The two groups each talked about their own things, making it quite lively.
The four of them didn't have any particular destination, so they just drove along the road in front of their house. Soon, Li Wei suddenly realized that they were about to reach the intersection near the junior high school, and hurriedly patted Luo Da's seat from behind: "Hey, Luo Jianhua, let's go to the junior high school for a look around?"
The two younger children agreed; this was a place they had lived in for three years, and although they had only been away for a little over two months, it felt like a long time.
The main gate of the junior high school was locked from the inside, but the side gate was unlocked. It was just normally closed, as it always was. Anyway, there wasn't anything valuable at the school that would attract thieves, and it had been like this for many years. Li Wei and the others knew about it.
As for the old man on duty, he lived in a guard room above the office, which was some distance from the main gate.
The four of them got out of the car at the main gate. Luo Da turned off the engine, intending for them to go inside the school for a stroll.
But once inside, it was still the same. Luo Da had left earlier, and his memory of him was somewhat hazy. Li Lin and her two siblings felt as if he hadn't left at all, while secretly comparing it to their current school. There was really no comparison. This junior high school was noticeably much shabby, but Li Wei and the others still felt a strong connection to it.
When the four of them quietly wandered to the east side of the school wall, Li Wei suddenly remembered something and asked Li Lianhui, "Xiaohui, isn't that vineyard just outside the wall? I remember we weeded the vineyard when we were in the second year of junior high."
Before Li Lianhui could speak, Li Lin complained, "You guys are doing a good job just by weeding, but our class was fertilizing! It stinks!"
Li Lianhui and Luo Da both burst out laughing. Li Lianhui also had a complaint: "You two are doing alright, do you even know what our class does?"
Li Lin didn't believe there was any labor worse than shoveling manure, and couldn't help but ask curiously, "What do you do in class?"
Li Lianhui said, "Our class catches bugs for grapes. Each person gets a jar, and the bugs we catch have to be fed to the chickens raised by Old Jiang's wife, who is the night watchman."
Li Lin scoffed, "What's so special about this? It's neither smelly nor tiring. How dare you bring it up?"
Li Wei shared the same sentiment; aside from some female classmates possibly being afraid of insects, she couldn't see anything particularly unusual about it.
Li Lianhui gave Li Lin and Li Wei a strange look and gestured, "Do you know how big those bugs are? Let me put it this way, they're thicker than my thumb, more than ten centimeters long, plump and green. They have two rows of tiny claws under their bellies. You can't see them at all when they're lying on the grape leaves."
Li Wei and Li Lin both felt a chill run down their spines; it was indeed much more difficult than the work they did. They guessed that most girls wouldn't even have the courage to try and grab it.
Li Wei suddenly asked, "Are those insects still on those grape leaves?"
Li Lianhui thought for a moment and said, "I guess there probably aren't any left. The weather's getting cooler. They should have spun cocoons by now. We caught them in the summer, and according to our teacher, they were already adults."
Li Wei was quite happy to hear this. It seemed that grapes had been on the market for a while, but many vineyards still had some left. So she discussed it with everyone, mainly Li Lianhui and Luo Da: "Why don't we go to the vineyards and see if there are any grapes left? We worked so hard back then, and if Xiao Hui hadn't stolen some twice, I would never have tasted the fruits of my labor." Li Wei couldn't forget those big, purple, and sweet grapes.
It seems she has a particularly stubborn memory of food.
Li Lianhui immediately agreed. He always felt that grapes that were stolen were not sweet, and the grapes from their junior high school were the best. He remembered that there seemed to be a small iron gate to the north from this location. In the end, he did find the small iron gate, but it was locked.
Li Lianhui glanced at the wall above him, reached out and grabbed the top with one hand, then with the other, he scrambled up and sprawled on it. He easily sat down on the top. Back in his childhood, he'd climbed walls countless times and never thought much of this one.
Li Lin was taller than Li Lianhui. With Li Lianhui pulling her up and her own long legs, she climbed up without much effort, giggling with pride.
Luo Da was undoubtedly fine, leaving only Li Wei. She tried to imitate Li Lin, but slipped and fell several times. Once, she almost pulled Li Lianhui down. She couldn't climb up at all! How can this wall be so slippery!
She turned back and looked at Luo Da with a troubled expression: "What are you looking at? Hurry up and help me." Seriously, what's so funny? Luckily, she was wearing jeans and sneakers, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to get up there at all.
Luo Da suppressed a laugh, came over and put his hands on Li Wei's waist. With a little effort, he lifted Li Wei up and put her on the top of the wall. It was extremely easy. Li Wei was furious. If she had known it would be like this, why did she bother to work so hard and make herself a laughing stock for the three of them?
The most hateful one was Li Lin, who was so happy she almost fell off the wall, making Li Wei feel very embarrassed.
It seems I really need to exercise more and lose weight, even though Li Wei doesn't think she's fat.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
