Chapter 84 Chapter 84 Wrestling

Meng Yufei cleaned up the table, went to the kitchen to get a soup bowl, poured the kelp and pork ribs soup into it, and brought out the shrimps that Xia Junshan had grilled.

Different from the boiled shrimps that Meng Yufei likes to make, today's shrimps are braised, which is obviously a little more difficult than before.

"Okay, the last dish is ready, we can start eating now."

Xia Junshan came out of the kitchen with the steamed oyster eggs and put them on the dining table.

Xia Qinqin pointed at the oyster on the egg in surprise and asked, "Hey, Dad, what is this on the egg?"

"These are oysters, a kind of seafood." Xia Junshan explained to his daughter with a smile.

"Seafood? Then they live in the sea with the shrimps." Xia Qinqin pointed to the shrimps next to her.

"Yes, it and shrimps both live in the sea. Steaming eggs with it will make the eggs taste more delicious."

"Wow, then I'm going to eat two bowls of egg rice today!" Xia Qinqin announced solemnly.

Xia Junshan smiled and nodded: "Okay, Dad will make you some rice today."

After saying that, he turned to the kitchen and brought up the smashed cucumber. Meng Yufei brought the bowls and chopsticks from the kitchen, and the family sat down to eat.

Xia Junshan filled his daughter's small bowl with half a bowl of rice, scooped out two large spoonfuls of eggs, and then mixed them.

He scooped an egg from Lu Yannan's bowl and asked him, "Do you want to try mixing the eggs today?"

Lu Yannan shook his head: "Thank you, uncle, but it's okay." He didn't like mixing eggs and rice together.

Xia Qinqin put a big mouthful of steamed egg into her mouth, her round eyes lit up. Today's steamed egg is really more delicious.

She puffed up her cheeks and moved them back and forth. After finishing the rice in her mouth, she said in surprise: "Wow, Dad, today's steamed eggs are really delicious. Dad is so awesome."

Xia Junshan put the peeled oysters into her bowl and said with a smile, "Try this oyster again."

Xia Qinqin picked up the oyster meat and put it in her mouth. After eating it, she said, "Dad, it looks like the clams we ate before."

She still remembers the time she ate the clams.

Xia Junshan said: "Well, they are quite similar, so which one is tastier?"

“I think they’re all delicious.”

"Then Dad will make it for you next time."

"Okay! Thank you, Dad~"

Meng Yufei picked up a piece of cucumber for each of the two children and gently reminded them, "Eat more vegetables. Today's cucumber is also delicious. Come and try it."

"Oh, okay."

"Got it, Aunt Meng."

The two children answered in unison. Lu Yannan picked up the cucumber and put it into his mouth without hesitation. He was always very methodical when eating, and you couldn't tell from his face whether he liked it or not.

When Xia Qinqin saw the green vegetable, she picked it up reluctantly and put it into her mouth. Who knew that it tasted so good.

"Cucumber is crispy and delicious. Mom, I want to eat more cucumber." Xia Qinqin said as she raised her small bowl.

Meng Yufei was naturally happy, and she picked up two more pieces of cucumber for her daughter, praising her: "Qinqin is really a big kid now, she's sensible now, she knows about balanced nutrition, and she loves to eat vegetables."

"Hehe..." Xia Qinqin smiled happily when she heard her mother's praise.

After dinner, Xia Junshan asked his daughter with concern, "Qinqin, you went to Grandma Liu's house to learn calligraphy today. How was your study going?"

Xia Qinqin hurried to her father and told him what happened in the morning.

"Grandma Liu asked Brother Yannan, Sister Yueyue, and Brother Lele to write poems, and asked me to just write the word 'peony'. There are many words in the poem that I don't recognize. Grandma Liu said that after a while, the teacher will teach us to recognize them." Xia Qinqin said cleverly with a stutter.

Xia Junshan listened and nodded, saying, "Grandma Liu is right. You are still young now. When you grow up to be as old as Sister Yueyue, you will know all the words in the poem."

Xia Qinqin tilted her head and asked, "But how come Brother Yannan knows all of them?"

"Well……"

"Because Brother Yanan learned it when he was in Beijing, and the children there start learning early." Meng Yufei explained.

Xia Qinqin nodded: "So that's how it is."

After dinner, Xia Qinqin was eager to eat lychees again.

Lychees are high in sugar, and since they had just finished their meal, Meng Yufei only ate two. Seeing that Xia Qinqin was still staring at the basket of lychees with an unsatisfied look on her face, Meng Yufei said:

"Eat the rest in the afternoon and take it to Grandma Liu's house to share with them. Didn't they treat you to mango in the morning?"

"Oh, okay." Xia Qinqin nodded and looked away reluctantly.

After eating lychees, I took the two children to rinse their mouths and then let them take a nap.

Lu Yannan and Xia Junshan slept in Xia Qinqin's small room, while Xia Qinqin and Meng Yufei slept in the big room.

Lying on the bed, Xia Qinqin whispered, "Mom, I heard that fierce aunt talking again today."

Meng Yufei paused while fanning her daughter, and recalled the people she met today. She asked, "Is it the auntie in the cafeteria at noon?"

"Yeah, that's her."

"What did you hear from her?"

Xia Qinqin thought for a moment and said, "That auntie said a lot of things. She said that a troublesome person came to their house... well, and... I don't remember."

Meng Yufei touched her daughter's head and said, "It's okay if you don't remember. It has nothing to do with us anyway. Go to sleep. We have to go to Grandma Liu's house to learn painting this afternoon."

"I love painting the most!" Xia Qinqin said happily.

"Then go to sleep and get enough energy to paint."

"Yeah, I'm going to sleep now." She said and closed her round eyes.

Meng Yufei was fanning her daughter gently with a fan, while she lowered her eyes to look at her daughter's sleeping face. Her fair, jade-like face lay there quietly, like a little angel.

She recalled her daughter's words in her mind. It seemed that her guess was right. Qi Huiying really did not welcome her cousin.

Why is this? Is there a grudge between the two families, or is it just between the two of them?

But these had nothing to do with her family, so Meng Yufei didn't think about it anymore. She slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep with her daughter.

The sunshine is brightest in the afternoon. The road to the courtyard is empty, as most people are taking a nap at home.

At Deputy Headmaster Chen's house, after dinner, Deputy Headmaster Chen asked Qi Huiying to clean up the guest room, while he played chess with his new cousin Gu.

Qi Huiying went to the guest room reluctantly, and cursed this uninvited guest again in her heart, for making her more troubles just by his presence.

Gu Jingwei looked at Qi Huiying's back, with a hint of doubt and confusion in his eyes. Just now during the meal, he saw Qi Huiying pick up the fish meat that she used to hate the most.

People's hearts change easily, could it be that their tastes also change?

While the two were playing chess, Gu Jingwei asked casually, "Captain Chen, I wonder if you are feeling well after coming to the island? I had a colleague who was not used to the climate here and got seriously ill."

Deputy Head Chen said, "When I first arrived, I was also vomiting and having diarrhea. I was sick for several days. Hey? Cousin Gu, are you feeling well?"

Gu Jingwei nodded: "I'm fine. Maybe it's because I grew up on the coast and I'm used to it. Huiying should be fine too."

"Yes, she also had no reaction. She enjoyed everything she ate on the island and is in good health." Deputy Head Chen said with a smile.

Gu Jingwei paused holding the chess piece, lowered his head to look at the chess and cards in silence, as if he was thinking about something.

Deputy Head Chen thought, Cousin Gu is a cultured man, but I didn’t expect him to be so bad at playing chess…

After waking up from a nap, Lu Yannan suggested: "Aunt Meng, we can go to Grandma Liu's house by ourselves. It's very close, so we don't need you to pick us up."

"Ah? Are you okay?" Meng Yufei asked uncertainly.

Lu Yannan nodded: "Okay, I know the way."

Xia Qinqin also said hurriedly: "I know the way too! But, but, I still want my mother to take me there."

Lu Yannan turned around and said, "We can try to go to school by ourselves. Older children should go to and from school by themselves, without parents picking them up."

"Really?" Xia Qinqin asked doubtfully.

"Yes, look at Fangfang's brothers and sisters, don't they all go to school on their own?" Lu Yannan affirmed.

Xia Qinqin thought for a moment and said, "Yes, Sister Yueyue said that she and Brother Lele also go to and from school by themselves."

"Mom, I also have to go to and from school by myself, so you don't have to take me there this afternoon." Xia Qinqin turned and said to Meng Yufei.

"Ah? This..." Meng Yufei was still a little hesitant. Qinqin had never gone out by herself, and she was really worried for a moment.

Xia Junshan then said, "Let them go to school by themselves after a while. You'll have to take care of them for the next few days. Help them get familiar with the roads around here, and then let them walk by themselves."

Meng Yufei nodded: "Yes, I still have a lot of things to pay attention to when walking that I haven't told you yet. Can I still take you there for the next few days?"

"Yeah, okay, I'll stay with mom." Xia Qinqin happily held Meng Yufei's hand.

Lu Yannan also nodded.

Meng Yufei took her two children and carried a basket of lychees towards Aunt Liu's house.

Because of the basket of lychees, Aunt Liu taught several children how to draw lychees in the afternoon painting class.

As the painting went on, the lychees became fewer and fewer, and went into the children's stomachs.

After they had finished eating the lychees and finishing the paintings, Aunt Liu commented on them one by one. Qinqin's painting received the most praise, saying that her brushwork was immature but full of spirit.

Xia Qinqin happily took the painting and handed it to Meng Yufei when she came to pick her up.

"Grandma Liu said that my paintings are very good. I want to give them to my mother." Xia Qinqin said sweetly.

Meng Yufei took the painting, kissed her smiling face happily, and said with a smile: "Thank you Qinqin, this painting is really good, Mom likes it very much, I will ask Dad to hang it on the wall when I go back."

He turned around and asked Lu Yannan next to him, "Yannan, where are your paintings? Can you give them to me too?"

Lu Yannan handed over his painting and said, "My painting is not good."

Meng Yufei said: "Auntie thinks it's good, let's hang it on the wall when we get home."

Lu Yannan raised the corner of his mouth and nodded: "Okay."

The three of them were going home, and when they passed by Qi Huiying's house, they happened to run into Qi Huiying carrying a lunch box and going out, apparently to the cafeteria to get food. When the two met, they turned their heads away without saying hello.

When we got home, Xia Junshan was rolling noodles. His technique was becoming more and more proficient.

Xia Qinqin took the painting and happily ran to Xia Junshan to show him. Naturally, she received a round of praise. Xia Qinqin handed the painting over with satisfaction and said, "Dad, Mom wants you to hang this painting on the wall."

Xia Junshan said, "How about we wait until Dad finishes rolling the noodles before hanging them up?" He raised his hands which were covered in flour.

"Yeah, okay." Xia Qinqin nodded: "I like eating the noodles rolled by my father the most, they are delicious."

"Then go and play for a while. The noodles will be more vigorous if you roll them for a while longer." Xia Junshan listened to his daughter's painting and kneaded the dough more vigorously.

Xia Qinqin was about to take Lu Yannan to the study, but Lu Yannan said, "Let's go play in the yard."

"Okay, I'll take you to see how the trees we planted last time are doing."

After Lu Yannan talked to Meng Yufei, he and Xia Qinqin came to the yard. There was a small tree planted on the east side near the gate. They planted it together during the May Day holiday last time.

Xia Qinqin pointed at the tree and asked, "Brother Yannan, do you remember what kind of flower this tree is?"

"Gardenia."

"By the way." Xia Qinqin gave him a thumbs up.

Lu Yannan smiled, walked over to the gardenia that had grown new leaves, took a look, and said, "It seems to be lacking water. Look, the soil underneath is dry and cracked."

Xia Qinqin also came over to take a look and said in surprise: "Really? Let's give it some water right away. OK, I'll go find Dad."

"No need," Lu Yannan held her back and pointed at the faucet, saying, "The water is right there."

Lu Yannan walked to the faucet. Next to it were two wooden basins, one large and one small, for washing clothes. Lu Yannan picked up the small basin and filled it half with water.

Moving the basin next to the gardenia tree, Lu Yannan said, "Let's water it. We can't pour the water all at once, we have to pour it little by little, otherwise it will drown."

"Ah...then I'll give it a little water." Xia Qinqin squatted down, scooped up a handful of water with both hands, and carefully sprinkled it near the roots of the tree.

"Xiaoshu, Xiaoshu, drink water slowly, don't choke yourself."

Lu Yannan lowered his eyes and watched Xia Qinqin watering the soil with her palms. After a while, he said, "I think he still needs some soil. I'll go outside and dig some."

"Ah? Lack of soil?"

"Yes, the tree is buried in the soil, and it needs soil to survive." Lu Yannan said calmly.

"There's a lot of soil in my yard, Brother Yannan, you can just dig here." Xia Qinqin said, pointing to the muddy ground next to her.

Lu Yannan said, "It's had enough of the soil here and needs a different taste. I'll go dig some outside and you water it slowly here."

As he said this, he walked to the corner, picked up the small shovel that Xia Junshan had placed there before, turned around and walked out.

Xia Qinqin glanced at the small tree, patted its trunk and said, "Are you still picky about food? It's wrong to be picky about food. Don't be like this next time."

Lu Yannan didn't walk far either. He was just sitting on the grass not far from the gate of the courtyard. This was also where Xia Qinqin encountered the snake before.

The grass here has been cleaned before, and it looks much cleaner, but the grass has grown a lot again during this period of time.

Lu Yannan took a look at the surrounding environment, picked a place, and squatted down to dig the soil.

Qi Huiying also had two meats and two vegetables in the evening. On the way back, she complained: "It's not enough for them to come here to have a meal, but they even want to stay at home. How can they be so shameless? They eat and live for free, and they are the descendants of capitalists, but they are just like farmers who have never seen the world..."

She walked on the road muttering to herself all the way. When she arrived at the roadside in front of her house, she saw a boy standing there. She recognized that this was the boy who was with the woman Meng Yufei at noon. Qi Huiying rolled her eyes, turned her head and continued walking.

"Aunt."

Suddenly, a boy's voice was heard from behind, but Qi Huiying ignored it and continued walking forward as if she couldn't hear it.

"Auntie, is the money there yours?"

The boy's voice came from behind again, and this time Qi Huiying stopped.

"What money?" Qi Huiying turned around and asked.

Lu Yannan pointed to a piece of land in the bushes and said, "I just saw that thing there. Is that what you lost, Auntie?"

Qi Huiying hurried over to take a look, and sure enough, she saw a big ball lying on the grass.

Ten yuan can buy twelve and a half pounds of pork.

Now when she sees money, her mind automatically switches to the weight of pork. Who made pork so hard to come by now? She can only eat it once in ten days or half a month.

"Auntie, if you hadn't lost this money, I would have taken it back and given it to my uncle." Lu Yannan said.

Qi Huiying said hurriedly: "I lost it."

She thought to herself, this child looks pretty, but she didn't expect him to be stupid and didn't know how to spend money.

She kept her eyes on the money and walked forward to take it.

“Ouch!”

After taking just two steps, Qi Huiying screamed and fell to the ground.

She felt a sharp pain in her ankle and looked down. It turned out that her right foot had stepped into a pit. The pit was covered by a layer of grass and could not be found without careful observation.

Just now, her attention was all on the big picture, and she didn't pay attention to her feet at all, and she stepped into the pit.

"Who is the wicked one who dug a hole here? He is going to kill people!" Qi Huiying cursed angrily.

At this time, Lu Yannan walked around her, took the big knot in his hand, and said lightly: "Auntie, I remember, this is my money."

Qi Hui pointed at him angrily and said, "You stupid kid, didn't you just say this wasn't yours?" As he spoke, he got excited and his foot started to hurt again, "Ouch, my foot!"

Lu Yannan looked at her grinning face and said calmly, "I just asked if the money was yours, but I didn't say it wasn't mine, Auntie. It's wrong to lie."

Having said that, he turned and left.

Qi Huiying said angrily: "You are lying, you little brat, where did you get the money? I will sue your parents for stealing my money!"

Lu Yannan turned around and said, "This money was given to me by my uncle."

"Who is your uncle? Captain Xia? Don't think I don't dare to go and reason with him." Qi Huiying said arrogantly, "You stupid kid, you have a wrong mind at such a young age. I must have a good talk with your parents!"

Lu Yannan sneered: "My uncle is Master Li."

"Li, Master Li?"

"Yes, he is my guardian now. If you have any questions, go talk to him."

After Lu Yannan finished speaking, he turned and left.

Qi Huiying was still sitting on the ground, her teeth itching with anger. Teacher Li is so great, but can the teacher's children bully others?

She cursed a few more times in her heart and tried to get up, but the pain in her feet made her sit down on the ground.

"Are you okay?" A gentle male voice came from above my head.

Qi Huiying looked up and saw a handsome and elegant smile. He was wearing a pair of glasses, with a slightly raised smile on the corners of his mouth, and was looking at her tenderly.

It’s that cousin.

She was stunned for a moment and stammered, "Oh, I, I just... accidentally fell down."

"Are you hurt?" He asked in a worried tone.

"My foot hurts." Qi Huiying pointed to her right foot.

"Then let me help you up." Gu Jingwei stretched out his hand and gently helped her up.

Qi Huiying's feet hurt so much that she couldn't walk, so she had to lean half of her body on Gu Jingwei and walk back slowly with his support.

Qi Huiying quietly looked at Gu Jingwei's profile. His every move was as gentle as jade, and he looked like a gentleman with a graceful demeanor. As expected of a descendant of a former capitalist, he must have received etiquette training.

From this perspective, the original body's vision was not bad.

It's a pity that he didn't catch up with the good times. No one knows how much wealth his family has now. I wonder if they can make a comeback in another ten years?

Fortunately, this place is only two steps away from home, and I will be home in a moment.

Deputy Head Chen was surprised and asked, "What's going on?"

Gu Jingwei said: "I just went out and saw Huiying fell down. She must have hurt her leg."

Deputy Head Chen stepped forward and held her other hand, saying, "Come in and sit down. You are such an adult, but you can still fall down while walking. This family compound is all flat gravel roads, and you can still fall down. Fortunately, you live in the city. If you were in the countryside, I don't know how many times you would fall down."

He helped the person sit down on the sofa while scolding him.

Qi Huiying was a little angry and aggrieved by what he said, and pouted, "How could I know there was a pothole on the road! And I fell down, but you didn't even ask if I was hurt, and you just blamed me!"

Deputy Head Chen asked her, "Besides your feet, where else do you feel pain?"

"My foot hurts so much! I think it's broken. Take me to the hospital." Qi Huiying said unhappily.

"Let me take a look." Deputy Captain Chen squatted down and took off her shoes.

"Ouch! It hurts! What are you doing? Don't really break my leg!" Qi Huiying shouted.

Deputy Head Chen touched her face, stood up and said, "It's nothing serious, just a ligament injury. It will be fine after a few days of rest."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. I've seen a lot of these injuries in the army. It's a minor problem. Don't move around for the next two days. Just stay at home." Deputy Regiment Commander Chen said firmly.

"By the way, you just said there's a pothole on the road. Where is it? I'll go check it out. Who made it? It's so irresponsible."

Qi Huiying touched her leg and said, "Oh, on the grass at the intersection."

Deputy Head Chen was surprised and asked, "Why are you going to the grass instead of walking on the right path?"

Qi Huiying said unhappily, "I just want to leave, but I can't."

Deputy Head Chen shrugged and said, "Then I'll go and fill it in later, just in case someone accidentally walks by and falls again. Especially here, there are so many children."

When Qi Huiying mentioned the child, she became even angrier and said in a firm tone, "You are not allowed to fill it in!"

"You fell down yourself, and you want others to fall down again?" Deputy Head Chen frowned and said in a serious tone: "Comrade Qi Huiying, you need to correct your thinking and learn to help others."

Gu Jingwei then said, "Huiying is in a bad mood because of a foot injury. Captain Chen, you should spend more time with her. I will fill in the gap."

Deputy Head Chen realized that there were guests at home, his expression relaxed, and he said, "Let's talk about it later, let's eat first."

Lu Yannan walked into the gate with the big picture. Xia Qinqin had already watered the trees with her hands and said with a smile, "Brother Yannan, look, I've finished watering."

There was water-soaked land near the roots of the small tree, and next to it was a pile of new soil, which was the new soil that Lu Yannan dug from outside for the tree.

Lu Yannan nodded: "Let's go wash our hands. Uncle Xia should have finished rolling out the noodles."

"Yeah, okay, I'm hungry."

Xia Qinqin noticed the big ball in his hand and asked curiously, "Brother Yannan, what is that in your hand?"

“It’s money.”

"Money? How much is it?"

"Ten bucks."

“Is ten dollars a lot of money?”

She has no concept of money yet, and can only conclude from adults' conversations that big money means a lot of money, and small money means very little money.

"It's not a lot of money, it's my pocket money."

"oh."

Today's dinner is hand-rolled noodles with crab sauce, and the side dish is pickled cucumber given by Mrs. Zhang's family.

Xia Qinqin was eating happily and quickly ate half a bowl of noodles. She raised the bowl and said, "I want more. Dad's noodles are delicious."

Xia Junshan took the bowl with a smile, put two more chopsticks of noodles into his daughter's bowl, and then scooped in two spoonfuls of crab sauce and mixed it.

While Xia Qinqin was waiting for the noodles, she suddenly turned to look at Meng Yufei and asked, "Mom, how many candies can I buy with ten yuan?"

"Well, I can buy several kilograms of candy, probably enough to fill up your two small schoolbags. What's wrong? Why are you asking this suddenly? Do you want to eat candy?" Meng Yufei asked with a smile.

Xia Qinqin said with emotion: "Wow, then Brother Yannan can buy a lot of candy."

"Mom, Brother Yannan has ten yuan in pocket money. How much do I have?"

Meng Yufei said: "Kindergarten children are not allowed to carry money. When you go to primary school, your parents will give you pocket money."

Xia Qinqin pointed at Lu Yannan and said, "But Brother Yannan has ten yuan on him. I just saw it."

Meng Yufei asked in surprise: "Ah? Yannan, do you really have ten yuan on you?"

Ten dollars is a lot of money, not to mention for a four-year-old child, even for an adult.

Lu Yannan nodded.

Meng Yufei asked him, "Why do you, as a kid, carry so much money with you? Is there anything you want to buy?"

Lu Yannan said: "My grandfather said that when you go on a long journey, you should carry money with you for emergencies."

Meng Yufei smiled and said, "This is your home too. If you have any problem, just tell our adults. When you go back, leave the money at home. Don't take it with you, or you'll lose it."

"Oh, I see." Lu Yannan nodded.

Anyway, this money has already been used for an emergency and there is no need to use it for the time being.