Aunt Feng answered the phone and asked, "Hello? Who is this?"
Qin Lin said, "Aunt Feng, it's me."
Although Aunt Feng is Feng Juan's cousin, Qin Lin and Feng Juan are quite different in age, so Aunt Feng is actually about the same age as Qin Lin. But since Qin Lin married Feng Juan, he has to address her according to her generational level.
Aunt Feng asked, "Xiao Lin, are you coming back for dinner tonight?"
"It's not certain yet. Let's see what happens. I'll try to get back tomorrow." Qin Lin said, "Where's Xiaojuan? Is she home? I have something to tell her. Please call her over."
"Okay, Xiaojuan is upstairs. Wait half a minute, I'll call her down."
Aunt Feng quickly went upstairs and called Feng Juan down. Feng Juan answered the phone and asked with a smile, "Lao Qin, you never call home. Why are you calling back out of the blue? What's the matter?"
"I have...something good to tell you." When the words came to his lips, Qin Lin suddenly hesitated.
"What good news?" Feng Juan asked cheerfully. Qin Lin could tell through the phone that she was in a very good mood.
Feng Juan rarely feels so good.
She was gloomy for at least ten months out of the year, and even the most cheerful and optimistic people would feel the world was gloomy when they were around her.
Qin Lin certainly didn't like getting along with her like this, and since he had been busy with work since he was a kid, he went home even less often.
At this moment, hearing Feng Juan's cheerful voice, Qin Lin thought about it and decided not to provoke her for the time being. If she got angry again, Aunt Feng would not be able to control her alone, and he would not be able to rush home through the phone.
Qin Lin said, "It's a really, really good thing. Keep it a secret for now. I'll tell you when I get home tonight."
Feng Juan: "So secretive? You can't tell me over the phone?"
"Well, it's hard to talk over the phone." Qin Lin said, "Ask Aunt Feng to make two more dishes tonight, and I'll go home for dinner."
"Okay, Yuanyuan and I will wait for you to come home."
After hanging up the phone, Qin Lin quickened his pace to finish the important work at hand, leaving some less important ones to do the next day. He rushed and finally returned home before eight o'clock in the evening.
The two-story red brick building was dimly lit. Qin Lin pushed open the door and saw his wife Feng Juan and adopted daughter Yuanyuan sitting barefoot on the floor, fiddling with some sweaters.
He took off his coat and hung it on the hanger behind the door, then casually asked, "Why are you sitting on the floor?"
"We have heating at home, so the floor isn't cold." Feng Juan held up a pink sweater, her almond-shaped eyes sparkling as she said with a smile, "Dangdangdang, look, this is the sweater Yuanyuan knitted for me. Isn't it pretty?"
Qin Lin glanced at it casually, nodded, and said perfunctorily: "It looks good."
Feng Juan held up another gray-blue one and said, "This one is for you. Try it on to see if it fits you."
"It's not convenient right now. Let's try again after dinner," Qin Lin replied casually. He then began to lecture her, "When you have time, try to teach Yuanyuan to read more. Don't always let her learn these useless things. She's not smart to begin with. If she doesn't study hard, she might not even graduate from junior high school."
"Another spoiler!" Feng Juan put down her sweater and said unhappily, "Yuanyuan is so filial to you, you should at least praise her a little."
Qin Lin said helplessly: "She's not smart since she was born, and you won't let me talk? I haven't called her a fool like the people outside."
"People outside are outsiders, and you are you! You are her father, how can you follow outsiders to talk about her?" Feng Juan glared at him angrily.
Qin Lin: "Look at you. I just said one sentence, and you spouted off like a machine gun."
Feng Juan was angry: "You are the one who is being disrespectful! How can a father say that to his own daughter?"
"Okay, okay, I was wrong just now. I won't say anything more, okay?" Qin Lin had something important to say to Feng Juan and didn't want to annoy her at this time, so he quickly admitted his mistake.
Aunt Feng also came out from the kitchen to smooth things over: "The meal is ready, you can eat now."
Qin Lin felt as if he had been pardoned and quickly said, "Then let's eat first."
After dinner, Aunt Feng washed the dishes and took Yuanyuan back to her room to rest.
Feng Juan poured a cup of tea for Qin Lin, who was sitting on a chair. Then she pulled a chair over and sat opposite him. She asked him, "Tell me, what good news do you want to tell me tomorrow?"
Qin Lin gave her a heads-up: "This is a great thing. I told you, don't get excited."
"What good news could possibly be so great that you're so worried about it?" Feng Juan laughed. "Could it be that our daughter has been found?"
She said this jokingly, but in her heart she had no hope for it.
Over the years, repeated expectations and disappointments had already tortured her broken heart until it became as calm as water.
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