I stayed in the park for more than two hours before leaving.
Because Ye Yifan had told Hua Qingyi on the phone that he would take them out for a nice dinner that night, they went back to the shop to wait for Ye Yifan when the time came.
Hua Kai also took a look at today's accounts. They've already started training someone to take over as store manager from Li Jing, but she hasn't managed the entire store on her own yet, so checking the accounts with Hua Kai made her feel more at ease.
Everything was ready, and Ye Yifan arrived. Then Hua Kai and her two siblings went to have dinner together.
Hua Kai sat in the passenger seat and looked at Ye Yifan: "How much money do you think our family saves on food this year?"
Ye Yifan smiled and said, "If you work hard, you can earn a year's worth of food money in just a few days, right? It's not a loss for me to treat you to a meal."
Hua Qingyang said to Ye Yifan from behind, "Brother Yifan, when I make money in the future, I'll treat you to a meal too."
Ye Yifan said, "I'll remember your words. I'll come back to you to make my money."
Hua Qingyang patted his chest and said, "That's a guarantee. I keep my word. I'll treat you to a meal every time I get paid."
Ye Yifan laughed: "You'll be so afraid you'll have to save up to get married by then."
Hua Qingyang shook his head: "I'm not in a hurry to get married. I also need to work hard, otherwise I'll fall too far behind my brother and sister, and people will laugh at me."
Hua Kai was quite satisfied with Hua Qingyang's words: "My younger brother does have some ideas, and I support that. But don't make any absolute statements. What if he brings a young girl home before he's even an adult? Should we accept him or not?"
Ye Yifan said to Hua Kai, "Don't tease him. This kid is smart; he'll know what's good for him in the future."
Hua Qingyang sat behind Ye Yifan, looking at him with great admiration, and said, "Brother Xiaofan is so good to me. I want to learn from Brother Xiaofan, be ambitious and hardworking, and establish my career before starting a family."
Ye Yifan smiled: "Fate is not something we can control."
Hua Qingyi said, "That's true, so it's too early to say anything now."
Hua Kai looked at them and laughed: "You all act like relationship experts. Let's think about what to eat instead."
Ye Yifan said, "Let's go eat stir-fry today. We'll take them out for Western food tomorrow and the day after. It'll broaden their horizons so they won't say they don't understand later."
Hua Kai had no objection: "Okay, I'll listen to you."
After dinner, Ye Yifan drove them around the city for a few minutes to see the city's night view before taking them home.
Over the next two days, Hua Kai took Hua Qingyang around the city, and Ye Yifan also treated them to Western food, where they learned a lot of new things.
After Li Jing returned home, Hua Kai and Hua Qingyi took Hua Qingyang back to the village. After sending Hua Qingyang back, Hua Kai also went home for a few days before heading to the provincial capital to open her business. She would stay in the provincial capital for a few days afterward, waiting for her business to stabilize before returning.
By the time she returns from the provincial capital, it will be time to prepare for the Chinese New Year, so Huakai plans to stay at home for a couple more days this time.
They went home in the afternoon, so both their parents were home. Gu Lanyan had just returned from grinding flour and was going to make sticky rice cakes and fried dough sticks.
There's not much work to do when the flowers bloom again, because things aren't busy at home in winter. Gu Lanyan is a diligent person, and there's not much to do. When the flowers bloom again, it's a real holiday for her to rest.
As dusk fell, the cries of a tofu vendor drifted in from outside. Gu Lanyan said to Hua Kai, "Kai Kai, go and get some tofu."
Hua Kai quickly agreed and went out to take a bowl of soybeans that Gu Lanyan had prepared. This was the first time she had ever bought tofu like this, but it felt really good.
The uncle who was exchanging tofu weighed the soybeans, then cut her a piece of tofu, packed it up, and said, "We just arrived in the village, and there's still some soy milk left. Go home and get a basin, I'll fill it up for you. After that, you'll have to call me your third uncle."
Although Hua Kai didn't recognize him, she still greeted him affectionately as "Third Uncle," then went back inside to get a basin, grabbed two oranges, filled it with soy milk, and placed the oranges on the tofu cart: "Third Uncle, take these back for the children to eat and play with."
The tofu seller said happily, "Your parents are honest people, and this child is honest too. Then, Uncle, you won't be polite."
Hua Kai felt that the relationships between people in the countryside at this time of year were really good.
After saying goodbye to the person who was exchanging tofu, Hua Kai went back inside.
Gu Lanyan added sugar to the soy milk, poured it into a bowl, and let the children drink it.
People were simple at that time. There weren't many delicious foods available, but a bowl of sweet soy milk was enough to make them happy.
That evening, the family stewed meat. Before dinner, Gu Lanyan asked Hua Kai and Hua Qingyang to send a bowl to both the east and west courtyards.
The flowers bloomed in the east courtyard, and after chatting for a while, they went home.
In my past life, my memories of Huakai were mostly filled with mobile phones. No matter who I was talking to, it was always via WeChat or phone. This face-to-face communication is truly different.
We replaced the lights in the house with incandescent bulbs, and the room is much brighter now. The white light is also less tiring on the eyes.
Gu Lanyan sat in front of the sewing machine, praising the patterns drawn by Zhao Huakai, and made clothes for the New Year, with Huakai helping her from the side.
The first one I made was for Ye Yifan, because I wanted it finished as soon as possible so I could take it to him. If it didn't fit, I could alter it. I also made a cotton-padded jacket for Ye Yifan's grandfather.
As Gu Lanyan made the clothes, she said, "Xiao Fan is really tall, she looks good in anything."
Hua Kai smiled and said, "My brother and my younger brother aren't short either, so they look good in anything."
Gu Lanyan smiled: "Look at your brother and your younger brother, they're both great."
Hua Kai said, "Of course."
As they were talking, the lights suddenly went out, plunging the room into complete darkness.
Hua Wanjiang said to Hua Qingyang, "Qingyang, the candles are on the windowsill. Light them quickly. Why have the power been going out so often these past two days?"
Hua Qingyang found a candle and lit it on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).
Gu Lanyan packed up her needlework: "I heard that a utility pole fell down, so the power supply probably won't be stable for the next couple of days."
Hua Kai said, "Then let's not work tonight. We can lie down and chat earlier, it'll be warmer."
Gu Lanyan said, "That's right. I'll tidy up, and we'll lie down on the kang (heated brick bed) and talk."
After washing up, they lay down on the kang (a heated brick bed) and started chatting. The power came back on after a while, but they didn't turn on the light. They continued talking while lying down and didn't know what time they finally went to sleep.
When Hua Kai woke up the next day, she was the only one who hadn't gotten out of bed.
But nothing happened when I got up, so I wasn't in a hurry.
There's no market today, so everyone in the family is here.
In the morning, Hua Kai and Hua Qingyang studied for a while, and then went to the yard to build a snowman.
A moment later, Hua Wanhe and his wife were seen sneaking over from the front, carrying bags in their hands.
Upon seeing Hua Kai, Hua Wanhe stood outside the wall and asked, "Hua Kai, your parents haven't come back yet, have they? Your second aunt's mother was sick, so we went over to take care of her for a few days and just got back. We were supposed to go to the city to take care of your grandfather, but your older brother and sister-in-law have had to go through so much trouble. Next time it's your family's turn, your second aunt and I will go."
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