The time they spent together was short, and Ruan Ruan was no longer the ignorant little girl who was deceived and left Haicheng. She didn't know when they would be together next time, so she could only cherish every minute and every second of their time together.
Because Xue Ning did not expect Ruan Yuanjiang to bring Huo Wu and Jiang Yiluo home, he did not prepare too many dishes to entertain the guests. It was almost time for lunch, and it was obviously unrealistic to ask his aunt to go to the market to buy vegetables.
"Family reunion is the best dish to go with a meal, so please don't bother me, sister-in-law." Ruan Yuanjiang saw that Xue Ning was embarrassed and quickly stopped her.
It was also his fault for coming uninvited, but he also saw through his second brother's thoughts. He clearly knew that he would arrive today, but he deliberately did not inform his second sister-in-law and the others of the specific time of his arrival, nor did he pick Ruan Ruan up early. Wasn't it just to take the opportunity of accompanying him to pick up Ruan Ruan to meet his second sister-in-law?
But the second sister-in-law was also a smart one. She had been on guard against this move of his. These days, she assigned the task of picking up and dropping off Ruan Ruan to Kenan. Even if the second brother shamelessly came to her, the second sister-in-law would still have him kicked out.
What a mess! Ruan Yuanjiang shook his head and felt sorry for his second brother.
"That's right, grandma. I queued up specially to buy Song Ji's roast meat. I just went to the kitchen and took a look. Aunt Yu prepared beef bone soup today, and there are also a few dishes that are enough. Let's have this for lunch first. After the meal, I will ask someone to reserve a table at Xiankeju, and then take Third Grandpa and the others to have a good meal tonight." Ruan Congzhao suggested from the side.
"We are all family, no need to be so polite." Ruan Yuanjiang is now content with having his granddaughter, and it makes no difference to him what they eat.
Xue Ning was not the type to indulge in extravagance. Usually, when she was at home, she and Ruan Ruan would just eat the ordinary five dishes and one soup. Ruan Kenan was not a person who would settle for nothing. Although he lived with the old lady, he was often not at home. Occasionally, when she was at home, the old lady would ask the cook to add one or two more dishes. The same was true for her son and grandson. Compared to the extravagant meals in the old Ruan family house, their meals were extremely simple.
Fortunately, Ruan Yuanjiang and his companions were not picky eaters, so they ordered a pot of beef bone soup, a plate of garlic scallops, a plate of confit duck, a plate of stir-fried choy sum, a plate of stir-fried mushrooms, and a plate of steamed shad, all of which were light in taste and healthy in diet. There was also a plate of roast meat platter on the table, which Ruan Congzhao had queued up to buy at Song Ji.
The dining table in the restaurant was oval-shaped. Xue Ning was the host and the elder, so he naturally sat at the top. Ruan Yuanjiang sat at the bottom of Xue Ning's seat. Ruan Ruan hadn't seen her grandfather for many years, so she sat next to Ruan Yuanjiang.
"Third brother, go sit over there."
Ruan Congzhao didn't even think about it and was about to sit down next to his sister when Ruan Ruan ruthlessly pushed him away, pointed to the seat opposite Xue Ning, and pushed him over there.
Ruan Congzhao was so furious, this pretty boy had just arrived and Ruan Ruan already had no place for him in her heart. No, he had to teach that pretty boy a lesson.
Ruan Ruan seemed to realize that what she did was wrong. She looked at Jiang Yiliu with a red face and patted the seat next to her to Huo Wu: "Uncle Da Wu, come and sit here."
Huo Wu smiled and sighed, "Girls grow up and Ruan Ruan is already fifteen years old and has her own little thoughts. But he did not refuse and sat down next to Ruan Ruan."
In this way, Jiang Yilu followed Ruan Kenan and sat on the right side of the old lady. Ruan Congzhao felt a little better after seeing this. He hummed and sat down in the seat prepared for him by Ruan Ruan, and rolled his eyes at Jiang Yilu.
He didn't understand the thoughts of rich people. Jiang Yilu was inexplicably treated hostile by Ruan Congzhao. He had no idea that the other party had imagined so many things. He just wondered in his heart where he had offended this third-generation rich man.
"Ruan Ruan, this is your favorite roasted pigeon. There were only two left when I got in line today, so your third brother bought them all for you." Ruan Congzhao picked up a piece of roast meat and said affectionately to Ruan Ruan. His corny look didn't seem like he was coaxing a junior, but rather coaxing an ancestor.
Ruan Congzhao also had his own little thoughts. He wanted to outdo the guy called first-rate or second-rate in front of Ruan Ruan and let her know that brother is better. As for boyfriend, he would wait for more than ten years before talking about him.
"This is the beef bone soup that Yu Ma started stewing last night. It also contains fish maw and sea cucumber. It is the most nutritious to eat now." Ruan Congzhao also diligently served a bowl of soup to grandma, third grandfather and Ruan Ruan. His overly enthusiastic appearance aroused everyone's suspicion.
"Have you gotten into trouble again, kid? I'm telling you, I won't help you in front of your dad this time." Ruan Kenan held his soup bowl tightly and said to his nephew warily.
"Aunt." Ruan Congzhao looked at his aunt angrily and glanced at Jiang Yiliu out of the corner of his eye, fearing that he would be laughed at by the other party. Fortunately, Jiang Yiliu had been picking the shad bones in the bowl with an expressionless face and seemed not to notice what his aunt said.
"Hmph, my dad said that he hasn't come to settle with you yet for secretly driving away his Porsche last time." Ruan Congzhao was not afraid of this aunt at all. When it came to the ability to get into trouble and be scolded by his dad, the difference between the two of them was only half a catty and eight taels.
"You have no respect for your elders." Ruan Kenan glared at him and served himself a bowl of soup.
"Here." Jiang Yilu carefully selected a plate of shad, making sure there was not a single bone in the fish meat, and handed it to Ruan Ruan.
"Ruan Ruan doesn't like eating shad." Ruan Congzhao stopped Jiang Yilu's action with a gloating look. Ruan Ruan had not eaten shad since he came to Gangcheng. The reason why this dish was on the table today was because his grandmother liked it.
"Who said that? I like it." Ruan Ruan looked at Brother Xiaobao's puzzled eyes and answered without thinking.
The shad is plump and tender. When she was in Qingshan Village, this was Ruan Ruan's favorite and most hated dish. She liked the taste of shad, but hated the small bones. After being choked by fish bones several times, she never picked up her chopsticks again. It was Jiang Yilu who discovered this. From then on, whenever the family ate shad, he would pick out the fish bones for Ruan Ruan, just like he took care of Meiling in his previous life. It was an action that Jiang Yilu was used to and it became instinctive.
After coming to Gangcheng, Ruan Ruan felt embarrassed to trouble others and simply never ate shad again. This was also the main reason for Ruan Congzhao's misunderstanding.
Ruan Congzhao bit his chopsticks tightly, watching his beloved sister eating with such sweetness on her face. Her whole body seemed to be covered with pink bubbles, which made him nauseous. What kind of magic potion did that boy feed Ruan Ruan that she even ate shad, which she never touched, with gusto.
After the meal, everyone was enjoying it, except Ruan Congzhao, who hardly ate anything and was just full of anger.
"Congzhao, take Yiliu and Ruanruan out for a walk and show them some fun things." After finishing his meal and taking a while to digest the food, Xue Ning spoke to his little grandson.
"Take him?" Ruan Congzhao was about to say that he didn't want to. Taking the pretty boy and Ruan Ruan out to play would give them more opportunities, but then he thought, staying at home would give them more time to interact. Ruan Congzhao used his brain and thought of something. He smiled mischievously, glanced at Jiang Yiliu, and quickly agreed.
Jiang Yilu naturally would not miss the other person's expression. He frowned, but when he saw Ruan Ruan's happy expression, he felt relieved again. He was just a child. How could he have any bad ideas? At most, he could just do what he could.
Ruan Yuanjiang had just reunited with his granddaughter and didn't want to be separated from her at all, but looking at his second sister-in-law's expression, it seemed that she had something important to say to him. Fortunately, there were still fifteen days left, so Ruan Yuanjiang nodded to Jiang Yiliu, indicating that they should have fun in the port city.
******
"Third brother, where are you taking us?" Ruan Ruan asked curiously while sitting in the back seat of the car and leaning on the back of the front chair.
"I'll take you to a good place. Ruan Ruan, please sit still. It's not safe like this." Ruan Congzhao showed a meaningful smile, but after seeing Ruan Ruan's little movement, he retracted his smile and said nervously.
"Oh." Ruan Ruan sat back in her seat obediently, not daring to move.
"My eldest sister and the others asked me to bring you a lot of things when I came to Hong Kong this time." Jiang Yilu looked at the little girl sitting quietly beside him and said with his head tilted, "My eldest sister has learned embroidery and made a dress for you. It was made according to the figure of the fourth sister. Now it seems to fit you perfectly. And the second sister..."
Jiang Yilu's voice was very soft, and she repeated without any embellishment how much her sisters missed her. Ruan Ruan clenched her fists and placed them on her legs. She lowered her head and bit her lower lip lightly.
"By the way, my eldest sister got married and gave birth to a big fat girl a few years ago. My second, third and fourth sisters and I were all admitted to university and are now studying in the capital." Jiang Yiliu also told Ruan Ruan about some of the things that happened at home in the years after she left. Ruan Ruan's sitting posture became more and more relaxed as he spoke. Listening to Jiang Yiliu's story, even though she missed those years, it seemed as if those scenes appeared before her eyes as she was told.
"How have you been these years?" After Jiang Yiluo finished talking about his own story, he couldn't help but want to know about Ruan Ruan's life these years.
"I!"
Just as Ruan Ruan was about to say something, the car braked suddenly and the two people sitting in the back seat fell forward.
"It's too boring for me to sit in the front seat alone. You should sit in the front passenger seat." Ruan Congzhao said with a grim face, looking at Jiang Yilu through the rearview mirror.
"Third brother!" Ruan Ruan frowned, not understanding what he meant.
"Forget it." Jiang Yilu raised his eyebrows, patted Ruan Ruan's shoulder, got out of the car, opened the passenger door, and sat in.
Ruan Congzhao's brows relaxed, and he gave Jiang Yiliu a look that said "you are very smart", and finally he drove the car again comfortably. He almost died of nausea after hearing the other party's sticky words just now. He couldn't let this pretty boy sit in the back seat of the car and seduce his sister's pure heart.
The car drove for another ten minutes and finally arrived at the destination.
The Sha Tin Racecourse, located in the northern part of Kowloon, was built in the 1970s and officially opened in 1978. It is the second racecourse in Hong Kong. However, due to its superior geographical location, it became the top horse racing venue in the minds of all horse racing enthusiasts in Hong Kong shortly after its opening.
When Ruan Congzhao brought them in, the stadium was already full of people and there was a long queue at the betting station at the entrance. Ruan Ruan had never been to such a place before, and when she saw the lively scene, she didn't know where to look.
Jiang Yilu guessed something, and looked at Ruan Congzhao with a hint of inquiry in his eyes.
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