Chapter 26: Nian Nian, the Little Genius of Flower Planting
Under a cloudless sky, the lush green leaves, soaked by several downpours, grew even more luxuriantly, their leaves so dense that they blocked out the harsh sunlight. The calendar slowly ticked from mid-June to early July, and the students' long-awaited summer vacation finally arrived.
The air-conditioned living room was cool and comfortable. Nian Nian, dressed in a pure cotton long-sleeved shirt and shorts, stood by the kitchen counter. He was small, not even as tall as the counter itself. Trying to look upward, he could only see the elbows of the two people in front of him moving back and forth.
Next to the high cooking table, Shi Guilin was busy serving the warm sweet corn porridge from the pot, while Shi Linzhuo helped to put the crystal soup dumplings and other side dishes on the plates.
But it's ten o'clock in the morning.
That's right, since summer vacation began, the number of bedridden people in the Shi family has increased from Shi Guilin and Nian Nian to four, with the addition of Shi Nanxi and Shi Linzhuo. They get up late and at irregular times, so Auntie keeps the food warm so that they can wake up and come downstairs to eat directly from the kitchen.
"Niannian is hungry." The little guy stood between the two of them, holding Shi Guilin's left leg with one hand and Shi Linzhuo's right leg with the other. His stomach was rumbling at the aroma of the food.
"It's ready, it's ready. I'll bring it over right away." Shi Linzhuosi breathed a sigh of relief as he placed the slightly scalding dishes on the tray. He then picked up a warm custard bun and handed it to Nian Nian, who was crying for food at his feet. "Baby, take this and eat it first."
The small custard bun in Shi Linzhuo's hand became much bigger in Nian Nian's hand. He held the custard bun with both hands. He was so hungry that he didn't even have time to say thank you to his brother. He lowered his head and took a big bite, and his cheeks bulged all of a sudden.
Shi Guilin placed the four bowls of porridge on a tray and walked towards the restaurant with Shi Linzhuo, not forgetting the little one who was still eating the custard buns: "Nian Nian, let's go to the restaurant."
Nian Nian, who was concentrating on eating her custard bun, mumbled a vague "hmm" and started to follow her father step by step. Shi Linzhuo fell to the end of the group, watching over Nian Nian to make sure she didn't fall.
Although the little guy can stand steadily now, he still falls down occasionally when walking. But Nian Nian is very strong when she falls down. She doesn't cry or make a fuss. She just pats her knees and buttocks and stands up. She is very well-behaved.
After the three of them sat down in the restaurant in this order, Shi Nanqi finally arrived. She didn't even have her hair tied up, just wore a headband to push her bangs back until they were out of the way before coming down to eat.
"Where are my parents?" She ate a small soup dumpling.
Nian Nian also looked around in a serious manner: "Where are Grandpa and Grandma?"
Shi Guilin wiped the bun stuffing off his mouth and said, "Dad went to the greenhouse in the back garden to look after his flowers, and Mom went out a long time ago to chat and drink tea with the sisters."
"Oh, so that's it." Shi Nanqi pressed the tip of the chopsticks.
Nian Nian followed suit and nodded: "Oh, I see."
Shi Nanqi looked at Nian Nian with a smile and picked up a soup dumpling for him.
"Nanxi, I heard a music variety show recently invited you?" That music variety show is very famous, and the guests are all big names in music. Shi Guilin also heard the news from his agent last night.
Shi Linzhuo: "Ah? Are you going, little aunt?"
Nian Nian raised her head from her rice bowl and asked, "Where is my aunt going?"
Shi Nanqi seemed to have lost his appetite. He put down his chopsticks with a weary look on his face and said after a long while, "No."
She added, "I don't feel like creating recently." After that, she picked up her chopsticks and continued eating breakfast.
The atmosphere at the table froze for a moment, and Shi Linzhuo and Shi Guilin felt a little at a loss.
At the critical moment, it was Nian Nian who broke the silence. His voice was clear and crisp: "Aunt, don't leave, Nian Nian, I like you." He thought Shi Nanqi was going to leave home and go somewhere else.
"Auntie is at home." Shi Nanqi seemed to be distracted by Nian Nian's words. The gloom on his face disappeared, and he wrinkled his nose at Nian Nian with a smile. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm here to play with Nian Nian."
"Hmm!" Nian Nian ate the soup dumplings happily.
At this moment, there was a sudden clanging sound outside the door.
Shi Jianfeng swaggered in, carrying shovels, folding spades, and watering cans of various styles. As soon as he came in, he waved, "Niannian, come here quickly. Grandpa bought several new small watering cans. Pick out one you like."
"Grandpa!" Nian Nian put down the half-eaten bun in her hand and swung her legs to get out of the baby chair.
"Hey, hey, hey, slow down, daddy will hold you, there's no rush." Shi Guilin held Nian Nian's armpits with both hands, lifted him up from the chair and put him on the ground.
Nian Nian's feet began to twitch in the air, and as soon as they touched the ground, she rushed towards Shi Jianfeng like a small cannonball.
"grandfather."
"Hey, Nian Nian, take a look." Shi Jianfeng laid out the gardening tools one by one, pointing at them proudly and saying, "Pick any one you want. Once you've picked one, come water the flowers with Grandpa, okay?"
"Yeah." The little guy squatted down, grunted, picked up a small blue shovel and held it in his palm, then grabbed a transparent dark green kettle.
This kettle is equipped with an automatic nozzle, which will spray out a light mist of water when you push the switch. Shi Jianfeng thought that Nian Nian was small, so when he bought it, he specially bought one that was not much bigger than his bottle, so it would be light to hold.
Nian Nian's hands were full of tools. He stood tall like a little gardener and said, "Nian Nian, water the flowers too."
Shi Jianfeng was very satisfied: "Niannian is really good at choosing. Come on, grandpa will take you to the garden."
The father and son ignored the three people eating at the table, and walked out the door holding hands with their daughter. Yuanyuan, who was playing in the living room, quickly let go of the sandbag in his mouth and followed them.
Yuanyuan is now much bigger than when he first arrived at Shi Guilin's house. He's growing incredibly fast. A few nights ago, Nian Nian, overwhelmed by excitement, bit the corner of the blanket and cried after taking a bath, asking Shi Guilin why he hadn't grown up yet. Yuanyuan used to be only as big as his feet, but now his body is almost bigger than him.
Shi Guilin had a terrible headache and it took him a long time to comfort Nian Nian before she finally fell asleep crying.
But when Nian Nian woke up the next day, he was still angry. He felt that Yuanyuan, who had grown up secretly behind his back, had betrayed him, so he deliberately refused to play sandbags with Yuanyuan.
Fortunately, he did not persist in this sulking behavior for more than half a day, because Nian Nian found that the only person in the family who was most suitable to play sandbags with him was Yuanyuan. If he did not play with Yuanyuan, he would have no good friend of the same age, so the two reconciled.
Yuanyuan didn't know what he had done wrong from beginning to end. After all, he was just a puppy.
"Woof! Woof woof!" Yuanyuan breathed and jumped beside Nian Nian, his big fan-like ears swaying in the air.
"Hmm?" Nian Nian stopped and turned around, accidentally brushing Yuan Yuan's head with the watering can. "Yuan Yuan, come too?"
Seeing that he had stopped and did not urge him, Shi Jianfeng asked, "What's wrong, Nian Nian?"
"Grandpa," Nian Nian said, "Yuan Yuan also waters the flowers, and Nian Nian?"
It's a tone of asking for permission.
Shi Jianfeng readily agreed: "Let's go, Grandpa's small garden can still accommodate you two little guys."
The two of them and the dog walked for about another minute. Shi Jianfeng was worried that Nian Nian would get heatstroke because it was too hot, so he turned around and asked if grandpa could hold her. After Nian Nian nodded, he walked briskly and arrived at a greenhouse in the back garden in less than two minutes.
"Wow--"
Nian Nian was immediately struck by nature the moment he entered. Unlike the flowerbeds and lawns at Shi's doorstep, this place was filled with lush greenery, the fragrance of flowers and plants intertwined, ultimately converging into a sweet top note and a green base that penetrated his nose.
The little one stretched his neck, took a deep breath, and said lightly, "Grandpa, it smells so good."
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