Jiang Xiaoli told him about the new courtyard house she had just acquired, which made Xiao Jincheng shout incessantly.
"I'm so angry! How could I miss out on a courtyard house like this! No, no, Little Pear, tell Little Huang to find me another one!"
She smiled and agreed, "Okay, I'll call him in a bit."
The group called back to the restaurant, and Li Guizhi asked with concern, "What did Jincheng say?"
Xu Feng shook her head. "This foreign-sale house isn't suitable. Lao Xiao said he'd like to look at a courtyard house. We'll see if there are any suitable houses nearby when Xiao Li comes to school next year, or when Xiao Yu starts school."
Li Guizhi nodded, "Indeed, that house is several times more expensive than the one Xiaoli and the others booked today."
Jiang Xiaoli hugged Xiao Muyu with a grin, "Xiaoyu, why don't you change your target and apply to the same school as us?"
Xiao Muyu poked at the rice in her bowl with her chopsticks. "Whether I buy a house or not doesn't matter. My target university will not change."
Xu Feng laughed and said, "It's okay, there's still plenty of time. We can buy it again when Xiaoyu starts school. I don't believe that the house price will be so high that we can't afford it in two years!"
"Haha." Jiang Xiaoli nodded. "Auntie is right. Why are we worrying about this now? If there's a suitable one, we'll buy it; if not, we'll wait. Houses are being built everywhere. Let Zong Jia keep an eye out. If there's a suitable one, we can fly to Kyoto, buy it, and then go back. It won't take much time!"
After thinking about it, the group realized that it was indeed the case, and the atmosphere at the table instantly became much more relaxed.
On Sunday, the group finally got to visit the Forbidden City.
After buying the ticket, Xiao Muyu said, "I remember there was a report that Puyi also had to buy a ticket when he visited the Forbidden City."
Xu Feng's mouth dropped open in surprise. "Really? It's like needing a ticket to go home?"
Jiang Xiaoli said with a smile, "You can't calculate it like that. Dynasties have changed. If you calculate it that way, then the Forbidden City should belong to the descendants of the Zhu family."
They were all amused by her statement.
Zong Jia and his companions specially hired a Palace Museum guide to lead them on a tour.
The guide was witty and humorous, telling many interesting stories about the Forbidden City.
Hearing so many unofficial histories and palace gossip made them feel as if they had opened the door to a new world.
Even Li Guizhi, who initially thought visiting the Forbidden City was just about seeing old buildings, was full of praise.
"Wow, after hearing their story, I feel like I should visit the Forbidden City more often. The story is really interesting!"
Jiang Xiaoli leaned closer to her, "When I come to school again, you can come with me. You can come every day and just stroll around!"
"Then I'll be able to apply for a tour guide position soon," Li Guizhi said with a smile.
"Haha, that's awesome! That's so cool!"
The group spent the entire day wandering around outside.
Around 6 o'clock, Jiang Xiaoli led a few people to Tiananmen Square.
"If you can't get up early to watch the flag-raising ceremony, then watch the flag-lowering ceremony!"
Although the flag-lowering ceremony doesn't evoke the same emotional surge as the flag-raising ceremony with the national anthem playing, watching the orderly guard of honor lower the national flag still stirs a sense of pride in being born in China.
Xiao Muyu was unhappy about this. "No, no, let's get up early tomorrow to watch the flag-raising ceremony. I think it will be spectacular!"
Both mothers nodded in agreement, "Yes, we'll come and see tomorrow."
Jiang Xiaoli slumped against Li Guizhi, "Do we really have to get up early to watch the flag-raising ceremony?"
Zong Jiayu, standing nearby, advised, "It's our godmother's first time visiting Kyoto, so let's agree. We don't live far from here."
Okay, four to one, she's very sensible.
At four o'clock in the morning, Jiang Xiaoli was dragged out of bed by Li Guizhi.
She glanced at her watch. "Oh no, Mom! It's only four o'clock!"
Li Guizhi threw the clothes at her, "Xiao Zong asked around, it's summer now and the sun rises early, the flag-raising ceremony starts at 5:30, let's get there early to get a good spot, you better get up!"
She sat up, shook her head, and after getting up and washing up, she was dragged to the restaurant for breakfast.
When they arrived at the best viewing spot on Chang'an Avenue, there were already quite a few people ahead of them.
Zong Jia and the two mothers were left to accompany each other, while Jiang Xiaoli pulled Xiao Muyu to squeeze into the front row.
She proudly gestured with her chin towards the flagpole, looking at Xiao Muyu, "How about that?"
Xiao Muyu nodded in satisfaction, "Impressive, impressive!"
At 5:32 a.m., the neatly dressed flag guards escorted the five-star red flag from Tiananmen Gate Tower to the south side of Jinshui Bridge, and after correcting their pace by 96 steps, they arrived at the flag-raising and lowering area.
Xiao Muyu excitedly grabbed Jiang Xiaoli's arm as soon as the national flag guards came out.
As the national anthem played, everyone sang it together and watched the five-star red flag slowly rise.
After watching the entire flag-raising ceremony, Jiang Xiaoli had tears in her eyes, and there were many others around her who were in the same boat.
She's not someone who cries easily, but she still can't help but cry whenever she sees scenes like this.
After everyone calmed down, Zong Jia and others, having prepared in advance, took them to try the traditional Kyoto breakfast, douzhi (fermented mung bean juice).
There were five people in total, and four of them threw up from drinking. Only Xiao Muyu seemed to enjoy it.
She looked at the others with a puzzled expression. "I think it tastes pretty good."
Jiang Xiaoli was the first to push her bowl of soy milk towards her, saying, "If you like it, drink more."
Zong Jia and his companions went to the breakfast shop next door and bought soy milk and fried dough sticks again. After eating and drinking their fill, they began to stroll through the hutongs of Kyoto.
Around 8 o'clock, the group took a taxi to meet Huang Richeng.
They completed the entire process of transferring funds and transferring ownership in just one morning.
In the following days, Huang Richeng found them another courtyard house, not far from the two houses that Jiang Xiaoli and her family lived in.
This courtyard house is a two-courtyard house, covering an area of over 400 square meters, and the house is very well maintained. It cost a total of 1.3 million yuan to acquire.
Over the next few days, the group visited various tourist attractions and shopping centers in Kyoto.
Before leaving, Jiang Xiaoli bought gifts and followed them to the faculty and staff residential compound of Peking University High School.
When Shang Run opened the door and saw her, he was pleasantly surprised and welcomed her in, "You're here in Kyoto for your vacation?"
She placed the gifts on the coffee table with a smile, "Well, I've been playing, running errands, sending someone to school, and also just coming to see you."
Shang Run asked with a smile, "Your and Xu Xing's preliminary results were quite good."
She smiled modestly, "Teacher Shang, as you know, the preliminary round questions were easy."
“That’s true.” Shang Run didn’t exchange any pleasantries with her. He got up and went to the study to get a test paper.
The questions on the test paper were handwritten, and it was clear that he had just prepared them and they had only been out for a short time.
Jiang Xiaoli took the test paper and pen and started working on it immediately.
The test paper didn't have a large number of questions, but its strength lay in its novel question types. She finished it in 40 minutes.
Shang Run took the papers and began grading them, his expression growing more and more satisfied with each reading.
After grading the papers, he put down his pen and said, "I can tell you haven't slacked off on your studies even when you're out, that's great. The provincial leagues are starting soon, see you at winter camp."
Jiang Xiaoli nodded in agreement, "Yes, definitely!"
Before leaving, Shang Run handed her a stack of newly published problem sets, saying, "Go back and work through them with Xu Xing."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
