"I'm not trying to comfort you, I'm just telling the truth."
Xia Lan interrupted Xu Xiaoyu, her smiling eyes unusually serious.
Xu Xiaoyu paused for a moment, then hugged Xia Lan with emotion.
Xia Lan patted Xu Xiaoyu reassuringly. "Besides, I think the way he looks at you... you should have more confidence in yourself and ask him what he likes about you."
"No, I dare not." Xu Xiaoyu blushed.
Xia Lan smiled as she looked at the girl's shy and demure appearance.
"You're finally smiling." Xu Xiaoyu breathed a sigh of relief as she looked at Xia Lan's smile.
"Didn't I just laugh?" Xia Lan was taken aback. How did Xu Xiaoyu notice that her smile was fake?
"Do you want to look at how you were laughing just now... You weren't laughing at all, it looked more like you were crying," Xu Xiaoyu said cautiously.
"..." Xia Lan rubbed her face. Was it that obvious?
"Xiaoyu~ bring Comrade Xialan out for dinner!" Sister Liu called out to the room.
"Hey, we're here." Xu Xiaoyu led Xia Lan to the table in the living room and asked Xia Lan to sit down.
Xia Lan shook her head and went to the kitchen to help Sister Liu bring out the dishes.
"Look at you, even Comrade Xia Lan came over to help me, and you're still sitting here so rudely..." Sister Liu poked Xu Xiaoyu's forehead as she came out, saying with disdain.
"Mom! How could you say that to me! You were the one who blamed me for making things worse and wouldn't let me help you!" Xu Xiaoyu pouted and complained.
"Is that so? I don't remember!" Sister Liu pinched her daughter's chubby cheeks. Although she complained, the doting look in her eyes was undeniable.
"That's wonderful," Xia Lan said enviously, watching the interaction between the mother and daughter.
Xu Xiaoyu then remembered that Xia Lan had lost both her parents and quickly hugged Xia Lan. "I'll give you half of my mother, so you'll have a mother too."
"You!" Xia Lan chuckled and pinched Xu Xiaoyu's cheek.
"I'm serious!" Xu Xiaoyu pouted. Xia Lan and Sister Liu exchanged a glance and smiled knowingly.
"What do you mean? Why did you look at each other and then laugh? When did you two become so close?" Xu Xiaoyu asked in surprise, feeling excluded.
Why are they so in sync?
"Alright, you two eat first!" Sister Liu said with a smile, letting the two of them eat first.
"Sister Liu, aren't you going to eat with us?" Xia Lan was taken aback but didn't pick up her chopsticks.
“I’m waiting for her dad! You guys eat first, don’t worry about us!” Sister Liu explained.
Xia Lan shook her head upon hearing this. "I'm not very hungry either. Let's eat together when Uncle Xu comes back!"
"Lanlan!" Xu Xiaoyu looked at Xia Lan.
Xia Lan turned to look at Xu Xiaoyu. "What's wrong?"
"Why do you call my mom 'Sister Liu' and my dad 'Uncle Xu'? Isn't that a generational difference?" Xu Xiaoyu asked seriously.
“But Sister Liu doesn’t look like someone of her age! She’s so young… I can’t call her Auntie!” Xia Lan glanced at Sister Liu; she didn’t look very old, and she really couldn’t bring herself to call her Auntie.
Moreover, at work, she always called her Sister Liu, and she had gotten used to it.
"Haha, I love hearing that."
Sister Liu was delighted to hear Xia Lan's words.
No woman is immune to the desire to be beautiful, and this applies to older women as well.
“My mom isn’t young anymore…she’s thirty-six!” Xu Xiaoyu said, looking at her happy mother.
"I married her father when I was seventeen, and Xiaoyu was born when I was eighteen," Sister Liu explained with a smile.
"Back then, I was considered late to get married. In our village, most people got engaged at fifteen and married at sixteen. I was two years late."
“You look to be in your early thirties at most,” Xia Lan said, looking at Sister Liu. “I wish I were your age and still as young as you.”
"You're such a good talker, child." Sister Liu happily grabbed Xia Lan's hand and patted it.
"I'm back."
A strong male voice came from outside the door, and a middle-aged man in a Zhongshan suit walked in. He wore black-rimmed glasses, was unsmiling, and looked like a homeroom teacher, very serious.
"You're back!" Sister Liu went out to greet him and handed him a towel to wipe his hands and face.
"Waaah, wife, I missed you so much." The man who had just seemed serious to Xia Lan instantly turned into a pitiful, overgrown baby the moment he saw Sister Liu.
She hugged Sister Liu and acted coquettishly.
Xia Lan was utterly shocked by what she saw.
Xu Xiaoyu was already used to it.
"It's a bit too much for my eyes, don't look at it, I can't even bear to look at it."
Xu Xiaoyu tugged at Xia Lan to shield her eyes.
The father acted like a child seeking comfort in front of the mother, which made her feel uncomfortable.
She's been looking at it for over a decade...
She thought all other people's parents were like hers, until she started school and discovered that there are many different kinds of parents.
Nobody would believe her family's situation if you told them.
As a result, she spent her entire primary school years being questioned by others.
Sister Liu patted the big man who was hugging her and acting coquettishly, and reminded him with a smile.
"Xiaoyu's friend is here today, so be mindful of your appearance."
"Why didn't you say so earlier?"
Mr. Xu was startled, but immediately regained the seriousness he had shown when he entered.
Having already witnessed his appalling behavior, Xia Lan no longer felt afraid even if he tried to act serious.
"Hello, I am Xiaoyu's father, Xu Zhengjiang."
"Hello, Uncle Xu," Xia Lan asked obediently, nodding.
"Dad, can you please pay more attention to your image in the future?" Xu Xiaoyu rolled her eyes at her father and said disdainfully.
“Who knew you’d have friends! You’ve never brought any home since you were little…” Xu Zhengjiang glanced at his daughter and scoffed.
"..." Xu Xiaoyu was about to explode when Sister Liu spoke up in time to save Xu Zhengjiang.
"Why are you so late coming back today?" Sister Liu asked, puzzled.
"On her way back, she was stopped by a man, right? That man kept calling out for his wife, frantically searching for her everywhere, asking everyone he met if they had seen a pretty woman wearing a white shirt, blue pants, and braided pigtails..."
As Xu Zhengjiang was talking, he saw Xia Lan sitting opposite him.
...Why does this outfit look so much like the person that comrade was talking about?
Xia Lan's heart stirred upon hearing Xu Zhengjiang's words.
"Could it be your husband?" Xu Xiaoyu looked at Xia Lan. Wasn't her father referring to Xia Lan's attire?
"Xia Lan! Where are you?!"
"...Comrade, I'd like to ask you, have you ever seen a pretty female comrade wearing a white shirt, blue pants, and braids?"
A familiar voice came from outside the door. Xia Lan recognized the voice as Qin Yu's.
Qin Yu has been looking for her all along?
"It's this guy, he's been looking for his wife." Xu Zhengjiang pointed outside the door, and when he heard the voice coming from next door, he paused for a moment.
"Is he asking each household one by one?"
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