"The original text isn't in pinyin, so what do you think, sister-in-law?" Zhou Xing continued with a grin.
"Read with your eyes, of course. But it's with my eyes, not yours. You can only look down on people!" Qin Xiaoyu's fluent English stunned everyone present.
She responded to Zhou Xing's words: "I'm using my eyes to see, not yours. You're just looking down on people!"
Zhou Xingka blinked and immediately shut up.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Qin Xiaoyu gracefully walked downstairs; she had probably become famous overnight.
Back at the barbershop, she gave Mr. Wang fifteen yuan, only saying that her ID card was no longer valid and that she was getting her deposit back. Mr. Wang believed her and didn't ask any further questions.
Qin Xiaoyu was right about him; her cousin was a man of action. When she got home that night, she saw an electric heating cap on the kang (a heated brick bed).
"The voltage has been tested, and the leakage protection is very thorough. I don't know if it's done well or not, but you can try it and see how it works," my cousin said modestly.
Qin Xiaoyu was impatient and couldn't wait until tomorrow, so she immediately grabbed her cousin-in-law to use as an experiment.
The wait was a bit long, so the three of them started chatting casually. They arranged everything from storing cabbages to buying scallions perfectly. When Tang Long came home from school and found no one in the house, he came over too. His tall frame of 1.8 meters made the small house even more cramped.
"Longlong, come up to the kang and sit with your little brother. It'll warm your feet up." Qin Xiaoyu called out, and Tang Long obediently stepped onto the kang.
My cousin was concerned about the heat from the electric heating cap, and would occasionally touch his wife's head with his hand. Even through the cap, the gesture was still somewhat affectionate. People in that era lived a rather rough life, especially those who had been married for over twenty years; they had become numb to it all.
My cousin's unintentional act made my cousin's wife feel incredibly happy; whether it was the heat or something else, her face flushed.
Tang Long played with his little sister while looking at his parents, his eyes full of smiles. Perhaps all children in the world hope for loving parents.
When she took off her hat, her cousin-in-law was already complaining of being hot. Qin Xiaoyu quickly washed her hair and styled it. Her cousin-in-law had a square face and very defined features, but her face shape was too angular, and she didn't usually groom herself. She was always in a rush and had lost all her femininity.
Qin Xiaoyu didn't perm her hair in a floral pattern, but instead made a few large curls. The natural curves gently framed her face, bringing out a softness she didn't usually possess. Coupled with the lingering blush on her face, her cousin was momentarily transported back to the time of his first love, and he couldn't help but stare in amazement.
"What? Don't you recognize my sister-in-law? You're staring at my brother like a madman." Qin Xiaoyu smiled, pursing her lips.
"Why are you looking at her? She's old and dull." My cousin was used to using a derogatory tone, but it was clearly inappropriate to use it today, so he mumbled the last four words. My cousin's wife glanced at him triumphantly, her eyes full of shyness.
"Bride!" Hanhan suddenly called out from the kang (a heated brick bed). The people in the room were first taken aback, then burst into laughter.
"The Tang family is really something else! The widow is laughing so hard in the middle of the night she could lift the roof off!" The old woman's voice suddenly burst in from outside the door, like an ice sword, freezing the air in the room.
The excitement was dampened, and the lively atmosphere could no longer be maintained. Qin Xiaoyu thanked her cousin's family profusely as they left.
"Brother, make me a few more. These are consumables; they'll be replaced after a while." Qin Xiaoyu was thoughtful, considering the safety of electricity. Heating the wires repeatedly would cause them to age faster, so it was better to be safe.
My cousin readily agreed, while my cousin's wife looked around in the yard, constantly adjusting her hair, as if she wanted to call everyone in the house out to see her new hairstyle.
Qin Xiaoyu looked at this woman who had been kept in captivity for most of her life and felt sorry for her.
She brought the electric heating cap to the barbershop, which surprised Mr. Wang.
"Hey Little Fish, are you a god? How can you be so powerful?"
"Master used a clever trick, it's not that I'm smart." Qin Xiaoyu didn't want to take credit.
"You're such a good girl, what kind of person could be good enough for you?" Master Wang sighed and shook his head.
"No one is good enough for me, so I won't get married." Qin Xiaoyu had already decided to raise her two children alone and had no intention of remarrying.
“Don’t make grand pronouncements upfront. I’ve been there, Master. Back then, so many suitors came to me, and they all told me to come back. Now look at me, do you regret it?” Master Wang’s eyes darkened, and he sighed, “Children are all debts. Finding a man isn’t for anything else, but to be a companion in old age. Look at me, what have I become? I can’t even go home.”
"Master, don't say that. If you've made money, wouldn't they come to curry favor with you?"
"Ha, before I even made any money, they came to collect debts. Guess who came last night?" Master Wang said with a wry smile.
When Qin Xiaoyu arrived in the morning, she saw orange peels in the trash outside. Master Wang was always frugal and wouldn't buy these to eat. Could it be...? She gestured to Master Wang with her large belly.
It's them.
"Coming to see you?"
"What are you looking at? I bought two pounds of oranges, ate them all here and left, and didn't leave me a single one." Mr. Wang was still angry when he thought about it.
"Honestly, how much can oranges cost? They don't even need to invest any money, yet they want to get something for nothing." Qin Xiaoyu wasn't trying to cause trouble; she genuinely felt sorry for Master Wang.
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