Jin He could tell that her uncle and aunt had really put a lot of thought into their visit. The table of dishes her aunt had prepared was of the standard for entertaining relatives during the Chinese New Year, including sweet and sour pork ribs, braised pork belly, braised beef, and a variety of other meat dishes, along with a few appetizers to cleanse the palate.
The moment Jin He entered the room, she swallowed a mouthful of sour water.
"This is such a feast!" Shen Duoyuan exclaimed joyfully. "Thank you, Auntie!"
"Don't be so polite!" Auntie helped them sit down and served them rice. "Auntie treats you like her own children, so lovingly. Xiaohe, don't stand there, sit down and eat. Look how thin you are, you're all skin and bones."
An Yi sat down next to Jin He and quietly put a piece of Shanghai bok choy on his plate.
Jin He smiled and said, "Thank you, Aunt."
Qian Ruyue is a typical housewife with exceptional cooking skills; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to raise her son to have such a rosy complexion. However, for some reason, Jin He just can't get used to her cooking.
My aunt is so generous!
Hahaha, I love my aunt's personality!
Aunt: There's such a big table of meat, stuff it all in!
"Xiao He, have some meat." Qian Ruyue nudged Jin He. "Your aunt made braised pork especially for you. Didn't you love it when you were little? Come and see if your aunt's cooking has gotten any worse."
Seeing Jin He's troubled expression, Lin Nian smiled and said, "Jin He is a very picky eater in the troupe; she won't eat a single bite of meat."
"Oh, really? Sigh, Xiao He has always been a picky eater and has a sensitive stomach. We've put a lot of effort into raising her, but unfortunately, we haven't been able to get her to eat well." Qian Ruyue used serving chopsticks to put a piece of meat into Jin He's bowl. "Try it, Xiao He. Your aunt remembers liking to eat this when she was little."
Just as Jin He was holding her breath, about to vomit, a pair of chopsticks suddenly appeared in the bowl. An Yi picked up the meat, put it in his mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and ate it.
"Is it delicious?" Qian Ruyue asked him.
"It doesn't taste good."
As soon as An Yi finished speaking, Lin Nian stepped on his foot. This unlucky kid, he was live-streaming and he just blurted out whatever came to mind.
Qian Ruyue looked embarrassed upon hearing this and said dryly, "Ah, ah, is that so?"
“An Yi just doesn’t like braised pork, please forgive him, Aunt, that’s just how he talks.”
"It really is..." It doesn't taste good, it tastes like shit.
Before An Yi could finish speaking, Lin Nian stuffed a piece of bok choy into his mouth with her chopsticks, silencing him. He looked unconvinced. Jin He sat next to him, holding a rice bowl, her eyes darting around. Seeing Qian Ruyue's discomfiture, she couldn't help but smile.
Jin He only had a few mouthfuls of rice left in his bowl. After finishing the rice, he ate two bites of vegetables and prepared to leave the table. An Yi, seeing that he really had no appetite, didn't say anything more. Assuming that Jin He had returned to his room, the director assigned a cameraman to follow him.
On the way, the photographer struck up a conversation with him: "Is this where you grew up?"
“Yes.” Jin He said casually, kicking pebbles as she walked, and swayed on the swing under the grape trellis in the yard. “When I was little, I lived in that house with my sister and grandma.”
"Can you take us to see it?"
"It's okay to look, but my sister lives at school and my grandmother is hospitalized, so that room probably hasn't been cleaned in a long time."
Jin He tiptoed to get the key from the top of the door, aimed it at the lock, and opened the door. However, the interior was not as dusty as she had imagined; instead, it was very clean and tidy, with bright windows and spotless furniture. The room was sparsely furnished, with only a long earthen bed and a cabinet. The standing wardrobe looked quite old, with peeling paint on the doors, but still had a few photos pasted on them.
That photo was probably taken when Jin He was five years old. At that time, he was a happy child, chubby like a little steamed bun. His mother was holding a little girl with big eyes in her arms, who was two years old, Jin Miao.
Jin He's gaze lingered on that photo for a moment before moving on. The people in the remaining photos changed; there were his uncle and aunt, his cousin, his mother, and a photo of his grandmother and Jin He together. At that time, Jin He was already a tall and thin young boy, with no trace of the baby fat he had as a child. He was carrying his younger sister, who was still in elementary school, on his back and smiling brightly. His grandmother's hunched figure stood next to Jin He, reaching out to support the little seedling.
Above the heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove) were densely covered with certificates of merit: "Excellent Student," "Model Student," "First Prize in the Haicheng Middle School Mathematical Olympiad," and so on. Jin He, who hadn't even graduated high school yet, had no interest in playing the victim or cultivating a "genius student" persona in front of the camera. He didn't even explain the certificates to the photographer; he simply led them around the room, his gaze suddenly falling on the table on the kang.
There was half a piece of dry food on it. Jin He reached out and squeezed it; it was fresh.
Xiao Miao came back? Jin He wondered, but didn't think much of it. Just as she was about to lead the photographer out, An Yi came in. His large frame made the door look small. He looked around and asked, "Is this your room?"
Jin He nodded.
An Yi's gaze was instantly drawn to the densely packed certificates on the wall. Jin He's name was written on them all, and the signature was Haicheng Experimental School, a key high school in Haicheng, which was impossible to get into if you didn't have good grades.
Although An Yi was sharp-tongued and lacked emotional intelligence, he wasn't stupid. Jin He clearly didn't want to bring up the fact that he hadn't even graduated from high school, so he wisely learned to keep quiet about it.
"Have you eaten?"
"Hmm." An Yi only glanced around the room and didn't delve into the unknown details of Jin He's room. He then hurriedly pulled Jin He and the photographer out and said, "Auntie cut up a watermelon and told us to take it to the field to eat."
Jin He hummed in agreement and was about to follow the group to the strawberry field when he heard someone call out from behind, "Brother!"
Jin He turned around and saw Yang Jiahui behind them. Qian Ruyue and Yang Guoli's beloved son had dreamed of becoming a star since he was a child, so he insisted on taking the art exam when he was in high school. However, he was spoiled since childhood and could not endure the hardship of academic and professional courses. Now, a tutoring class costs several hundred yuan, and Qian Ruyue has to grit her teeth to support him.
Jin He knew perfectly well what his purpose was in being here. If that were the case, he would have wasted all these years. He was only grateful to this family for providing a place for him and Xiao Miao to stay, but as for paving the way for their son in the entertainment industry, he, Jin He, could not do that.
He asked knowingly, "Xiao Hui, is there something you need?"
“You don’t know the way, I’ll take you!” Yang Jiahui walked up to them, flashing An Yi a standard smile. “Brother An Yi, I’ll take you with me!”
“Jin He knows the way, you don’t need to lead the way.” An Yi glanced down at him and said expressionlessly, “Besides, we’re not familiar with each other, you don’t need to call me brother.”
Yang Jiahui: "..."
Jin He: "..."
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