Chapter 83 Chapter 83 Lychee

Xia Qinqin held up the flower in her hand. The light yellow color was very pretty. She asked curiously, "Grandma Liu, what kind of flower is this?"

"This is the Yaohuang peony." Aunt Liu explained in a gentle voice.

Xia Qinqin pointed to the pink flowers blooming on the branches in front and asked, "What about that flower?"

Yueyue spoke first, "That's also a peony." She pointed to the branches in front of her that were full of flowers of various colors and said, "These are all peonies. Grandma likes peonies the most."

Xia Qinqin opened her mouth in shock and said, "Wow, they are all peonies."

Although she didn't know what a peony was, she felt inexplicably that Sister Yueyue's expression was very powerful.

"Grandma Liu, why do you like peonies so much?" Xia Qinqin turned around and asked.

Yueyue rushed to answer again: "Because it looks good, right, grandma?"

Aunt Liu touched her granddaughter's hair lovingly and said with a smile, "Yes, it looks very beautiful."

As she spoke, she looked towards the row of brilliant flowers in front of her and couldn't help but sigh, "So all the colorful flowers are blooming..."

She didn't say the next line. After a few seconds of silence, she lowered her head and smiled and asked, "Do you know any poems about peonies?"

Yueyue immediately said, "I know. Who doesn't love peonies? They dominate all the beautiful things in the city. Grandma, I've heard you recite this poem several times, right?"

"Yeah, Yueyue has a really good memory." Aunt Liu nodded with a smile.

Lele touched his head and said, "Hmm... I can't remember."

Lu Yannan said: "Only the peony is the true beauty of the country, and the capital is moved when the flowers bloom."

Aunt Liu nodded and praised, "Yannan also has a good memory."

Xia Qinqin squinted her big round eyes and said, "The poems the teacher taught us are not good at writing."

Aunt Liu said, "You'll be able to learn it when you grow up."

Xia Qinqin smiled and said, "Grandma Liu, when I learn it, I will recite the poem to you."

"Okay, grandma'll wait." Aunt Liu touched her ponytail with a smile.

After looking at the flowers for a while, Aunt Liu took the children back into the house to practice writing. She wrote down the poems that Yueyue and Lu Yannan had just recited.

"These two poems are the homework I assign to you. You should copy these two poems by yourselves in the next few days, and bring your calligraphy to me next weekend." Aunt Liu instructed.

Yueyue said crisply: "Yeah, okay."

Lele and Lu Yannan nodded.

Little Xia Qinqin looked at the words on the paper in distress and said in embarrassment: "Grandma Liu, I don't recognize many of the words on it."

Aunt Liu pointed at the word "peony" and asked, "Do you know what these two words mean?"

"I know, it's peony." Xia Qinqin answered confidently.

When Aunt Liu finished writing just now, she pointed to the two poems and read them to them. Xia Qinqin especially remembered the two words "peony".

Aunt Liu smiled and nodded, "Yes, it's peony. Qinqin, when you go back, practice writing these two characters and write them beautifully. Bring them to me next time you come, okay?"

"Okay, I will definitely write it well." Xia Qinqin nodded in assurance.

…

At Deputy Head Chen's home, Qi Huiying looked at the smiling man in front of her in shock.

This, this turned out to be Qi Huiying’s childhood sweetheart!

Moreover, the two of them liked each other and had made a lifelong promise to be together!

What should I do? Now someone has come to my door?

Then, Qi Huiying thought again, it wasn't her who liked her before, it was what the original body did in the past, what does it have to do with her now!

But, others don’t know.

Countless thoughts flashed through her mind as she just stood there.

Deputy Head Chen saw her standing there without saying a word for a long time, with her brows furrowed and a very unhappy look on her face, and he thought that she did not welcome this relative.

He thought unhappily in his heart: They have come from afar, so they are guests when they come to our home. No matter what, we cannot treat them like this. If others find out, they will just say that we are impolite.

During this period, Deputy Head Chen and Qi Huiying actually got along well. After the last quarrel, Deputy Head Chen had been cold to Qi Huiying for a few days, but he found that Qi Huiying turned around and tried to please him.

Over the years, he has commanded many soldiers and knows some tricks to tame people. He didn't use them on Qi Huiying before because he treated her as his wife and a family member.

But now he understood that Qi Huiying was the type who would take advantage of others. If he wanted her to be obedient, he had to show her his displeasure at the right time.

Qi Huiying has been trying to win over Deputy Head Chen since she figured it out last time. She doesn't know if she succeeded or not, but she has been convinced by his hot-and-cold attitude. Now she not only reads his expression, but she actually likes him a little.

Now, facing 'her' former boyfriend, she subconsciously looked towards Deputy Head Chen, but saw that he looked unhappy.

Did he find out?

Qi Huiying's heart sank, and her brows furrowed even deeper as she thought about it.

Seeing Qi Huiying's expression, Deputy Head Chen had no choice but to greet the guest himself: "Cousin Gu, please sit down first." Then he led him to the sofa in the living room.

His eyes fell on the scattered lychee shells on the tea table. Deputy Head Chen looked a little embarrassed and said, "I didn't know you were coming. I haven't had time to clean the house today, so it's a bit messy. Please don't mind it."

Gu Jingwei smiled and said, "No, I came here uninvited. I am sorry to bother you."

Deputy Head Chen smiled and said, "Oh, you are right. We are all relatives. Come, please take a seat."

Gu Jingwei smiled and nodded, his eyes passing over the lychee shells on the coffee table, and saw the book that Qi Huiying had just put down on the sofa, which was a picture book.

Behind the lens, his lowered eyes moved slightly, then returned to calm.

Deputy Head Chen said to Qi Huiying who was still stunned: "Huiying, please tidy up the things on the tea table and make two more cups of tea."

Qi Huiying nodded: "Oh, okay."

She walked behind the door, came over with a dustpan, and was about to put the lychee shells in it.

Gu Jingwei saw Qi Huiying take direct action and push the lychee shells into the winnowing basket. The sweet juice on the shells stained her hands, but she seemed not to care.

Gu Jingwei frowned, stood up and said, "Let me help."

Deputy Head Chen quickly pulled him to sit down: "No, no, you are a guest, how can I let you do that?"

So far, Deputy Head Chen feels that this cousin Gu is a nice person and is easy to get along with. He also doesn't know what grudge Qi Huiying has with this cousin.

After Qi Huiying had cleaned up the tea table, she made tea for the two of them. Deputy Head Chen said, "Go to the supply and marketing cooperative and buy some fruit."

I just bought a pound of lychees this morning and gave them all to Qi Huiying.

Gu Jingwei said hurriedly: "Don't bother, I don't like eating fruit."

Deputy Head Chen said, "It's okay. The supply and marketing cooperative is not far from our family compound. It's just two steps away from the door."

Qi Huiying didn't know how to face this cousin. When she heard what Deputy Head Chen said, she nodded quickly and said, "Okay, I'll go right away."

After saying that, he took the money and hurried out of the house.

Inside the house, Deputy Head Chen chatted with the guests, "Cousin Gu, how are you related to Huiying's family?"

Gu Jingwei said: "My third aunt is her aunt. When we were young, our two families had a good relationship and visited each other frequently. The children of the two families often played together."

"Oh, this is also a real relative. So what are you doing on the island this time?"

Gu Jingwei explained his work to him, and Deputy Head Chen was surprised: "Cousin Gu turned out to be a newspaper reporter. He is truly a cultured person and a writer. He is amazing."

Gu Jingwei smiled and said, "You flatter me. How can we compare with you soldiers who defend our country?"

Deputy Head Chen patted him on the shoulder and said, "We are all serving the people and building our motherland."

Gu Jingwei lowered his head slightly, the lens covering the emotions in his eyes, and he agreed: "Yes, it's all for the purpose of building the country."

Deputy Head Chen continued to ask: "How long will you stay on the island this time?"

"Three days."

"Then stay at my house. We have an empty room there," Deputy Head Chen invited warmly.

Gu Jingwei shook his head: "No need, my company has arranged a guest house for me, I can just stay there."

Deputy Head Chen glared and said, "You are already at home, why are you staying in a guesthouse? Why spend that money? If this gets out, people will think that we don't treat guests well. Listen to me, don't leave tonight."

When he got excited, he started speaking in his hometown dialect. If Qi Huiying heard him, she would be unhappy again.

Deputy Head Chen insisted that the cousin stay. In his opinion, if there were guests at home, they should stay even if they had to sleep on the floor.

Gu Jingwei couldn't refuse, so he agreed.

—————

It was almost eleven o'clock when Meng Yufei prepared to pick up the children and Xia Junshan started cooking at home.

"I'll stop by the cafeteria on my way back and get some rice and soup." Meng Yufei said as she put on her backpack.

Xia Junshan handed her the hat and said, "Okay, thank you for your hard work."

Meng Yufei smiled and said, "You've worked hard cooking at home."

After going out and walking along the road, it is about 200 meters to Aunt Liu's house, which only took two or three minutes. If it were a child, it would only take five minutes at most.

When Meng Yufei arrived, Xia Qinqin and Lu Yannan had already packed their schoolbags and were sitting on the sofa in the living room eating mangoes.

Tang Jiayi peeled the mango and cut it into small pieces, then placed a few silver forks on top for the children to eat.

Xia Qinqin looked at the small silver fork in her hand. It was very delicate. She asked curiously, "Is this a fork specially for children?"

Tang Jiayi smiled and said, "Yes, it is specially for you to eat fruit."

Xia Qinqin took a small fork, poked a piece of mango into her mouth, and nodded: "Hmm, it's delicious."

When Meng Yufei walked in, Xia Qinqin had already eaten three mangoes. She saw the person coming in, her eyes lit up, and she ran over with a small fork in hand.

"Mom, you're here to take me home. Look, this is the small fork from Teacher Tang's house. It's specially for us kids." She smiled and held up the small fork to show her mother.

Meng Yufei smiled and said, "Wow, what a delicate little fork! Teacher Tang is so thoughtful."

Tang Jiayi smiled and said, "These are also little items my mom left behind. If Qinqin likes them, take two back to play with."

Meng Yufei shook her head and smiled: "No need, Qinqin just wants something new for a while."

Xia Qinqin looked up and said, "Teacher Tang, next time I come to your house to eat fruit, can you let me use this fork?"

Tang Jiayi nodded and said, "Okay, no problem."

Meng Yufei poked her daughter's nose with amusement, "Girl, you're still ordering fruit here."

Xia Qinqin covered her little nose with a smile.

Aunt Liu, who was sitting on the sofa, said, "Children, eating together is more delicious. Next time you come, grandma will make coconut jelly for you."

Xia Qinqin said happily: "Thank you, Grandma Liu."

On the way back with the two children, Xia Qinqin kept talking, sharing with her mother what happened that morning.

"Grandma Liu taught me how to hold a brush. Mom, I know how to hold a brush now."

"Really? Qinqin is amazing."

"Grandma Liu also took us to see flowers. Sister Yueyue said that her yard was full of peonies, so many different kinds of peonies, so beautiful. Grandma Liu even picked one for me, and she said she would pick flowers for me next time I go there."

"Did you thank Grandma Liu?"

"Yeah, I did."

…

Meng Yufei led the two children around a corner and went to the cafeteria. They met Qi Huiying holding a lunch box at the door. She walked with her head down, looking absent-minded.

After entering the cafeteria, Meng Yufei was standing right behind Qi Huiying. However, the person in front of her was obviously preoccupied and didn't even notice who was standing behind her.

"It's so annoying. Why did this guy suddenly come here and claim to be my cousin? How could he be related to me? He's not here to blackmail me, is he?" Qi Huiying's mind was in a mess, and her first reaction was to think the worst of him.

Xia Qinqin's eyes moved and she heard the familiar voice again. She looked up at her mother. Hey, this time it seemed that her mother didn't hear what the bad aunt in front was saying.

She moved her feet, took a few steps forward, and moved closer to Qi Huiying in front of her, listening with her little ears tilted up.

But one of her hands was still tightly grasping the corner of her mother's clothes.

Lu Yannan noticed her behavior and looked at her in confusion. Seeing that she seemed to be listening to something, he raised his head and glanced at Qi Huiying in front of him.

She's not talking?

Qi Huiying ordered two meat dishes and two vegetarian dishes. Meng Yufei heard this from behind and thought that the ancient journalist was staying at her house for dinner.

However, it looked like Ziqi Huiying didn't look happy at all about the visit of her relatives.

Qi Huiying was still making all kinds of guesses in her mind.

"Could it be that he is here to borrow money? I heard that all his family's assets were confiscated. He is not here to borrow money from me, is he? I don't have any money to lend him."

"Are you here to ask for a job? With his status, he probably can't get a good job. Is he here to ask for a good job from his family?"

"Then he should bring some good stuff. Wasn't his family a big capitalist before? Maybe he has hidden treasures..."

Qi Huiying's mind was full of confusing thoughts, Xia Qinqin could only frown as she listened to them. She couldn't remember so many words from this bad aunt...

Qi Huiying walked away with her lunch box. Xia Qinqin subconsciously stepped forward and wanted to follow her to continue listening. Meng Yufei happened to be walking forward at this time, and the tug of her clothes made Xia Qinqin stop.

Meng Yufei felt the movement of her clothes, lowered her head and asked, "What's wrong? Mom is going to the front to get food, you should follow her."

Xia Qinqin came back to her senses and nodded: "Oh, okay."

Lu Yannan walked over and asked her in a low voice: "Do you know that auntie just now?"

Xia Qinqin nodded and whispered in Lu Yannan's ear: "That's a bad aunt. She bumped me into a pile and made me fall before, and she also said that I was a naughty child."

As he spoke, he stretched out his palm to show her. The previous abrasion had healed, but the newly grown skin tissue was still a different color from the surrounding skin.

Lu Yannan looked at the pink mark, his dark eyes moved slightly, and he asked, "Do you want to take revenge on her?"

"ah?"

"She hurt you, you should fight back. This is called tit for tat."

"But, but I couldn't beat her. Besides, my mother rubbed my hand, so it doesn't hurt anymore." Xia Qinqin held her hand and smiled, "Dad and Mom fed me during those days."

Lu Yannan looked at her smiling face and said, "If you can't defeat the enemy by force, you can defeat him by wits. The way to defeat him by wits is to use strategy."

"Ah?" Xia Qinqin was confused. "Brother Yannan, what are you talking about? I don't understand."

After Meng Yufei finished her meal, she saw the two little heads huddled together, mumbling something. She smiled and asked, "What are you talking about? The meal is ready, let's go home."

Xia Qinqin wanted to speak, but Lu Yannan took the lead and said, "Okay, Aunt Meng, I'm hungry. Sister Qinqin, are you hungry too?"

Xia Qinqin's attention was diverted and she nodded, "Yeah, I'm hungry too."

Meng Yufei smiled and said, "Then let's go home now. We bought some lychees today."

"Wow, I want to eat lychees." Xia Qinqin clapped her hands happily.

When I got home, Xia Junshan was in the kitchen. He poked his head out when he heard the noise and said with a smile, "You guys are back. The shrimps are ready and the eggs are almost done steaming. I just need to cut the cucumber and we can have dinner."

Meng Yufei nodded: "Today the cafeteria has pork ribs and kelp soup, I brought back an extra portion."

"Pork rib soup is great. Drinking it can help you grow taller. We have two growing little ones at home." Xia Junshan said with a smile.

Xia Qinqin changed her shoes, ran to Xia Junshan and said, "Dad, I miss you so much."

Xia Junshan smiled and said quickly, "Dad misses you, too."

Xia Qinqin said again: "Dad, Mom said she bought lychees, where are they?"

"It's on the table. Look, it's in the bamboo basket." Xia Junshan pointed to the living room.

Xia Qinqin's eyes lit up, and she ran over, climbed onto the chair nimbly, and looked through the bright red lychees in the bamboo basket.

Looks delicious~

Meng Yufei reminded: "You can't eat it now. Eat the fruit after you finish your meal."

"Oh, okay..." Xia Qinqin put down the lychee in her hand.