Chapter 112
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, while the outside was filled with the sounds of gongs and drums and the clamor of people, the private room, where a calming incense was burning, was unusually quiet.
The carved wooden door was gently pushed open by two small hands, and the toddler with his little pigtails rushed in like the wind, heading straight for the bedside:
"Grandma, wake up! Great-Grandma says dinner is ready, time to eat!"
As soon as the door was pushed open, the air, carrying the aroma of food, rushed in.
The little girl, fast asleep, twitched her nose, opened her eyes with a smacking sound, and before she could speak, a plump, white bun was placed to her lips.
The aroma is enticing.
Xu Yirou instinctively opened her mouth and took a bite.
Grandma, who had successfully turned on the machine, quickly got off the bed, cut the meat bun in half, and handed one half to her granddaughter.
The young grandmother and grandson each held half a steamed bun and ate it with great relish.
Bubble went to bed early yesterday and didn't know that Xu Cheye and his nephew had come. So when she caught sight of the huge red envelope that Xu Yirou had placed on the bedside table, she was shocked and opened her mouth wide.
"Grandma, that big red envelope, who...who did you prepare it for?"
Chewing: "That was given to me by Cheche yesterday."
"Ah." The unexpected answer stunned Bubble. "Was he here yesterday? I didn't see him."
Last night, Paopao slept even more soundly than Xu Yirou, sleeping soundly until dawn, and had no recollection of it at all.
Xu Yirou washed her little hands, wiped her mouth, picked up the red envelope, and emptied its contents.
Three tiny golden things fell down with a thud, denting the blanket in several places.
Wow, gold bars!
"It's not a gold bar, it's a little goldfish~"
Three solid gold fish, plus a stack of cash, it's a substantial and impressive item.
Bubble stared in disbelief, swallowed hard, and blurted out, "Did Cheche win the lottery?"
Even though she was a very knowledgeable young girl, she found it hard to understand the nouveau riche behavior of stuffing gold bars into red envelopes.
Xu Yirou thought about it carefully and shook her head honestly: "I don't know, Cheche didn't tell me he won the lottery."
"I've made up my mind. From now on, Cheche and I are the second best friends in the world, and that will never change!"
Bubble reflexively asked, "What about Yin Yin? Grandma, don't you want Yin Yin anymore?"
Xu Yirou's innocent big eyes showed no sign of panic: "Cheche and Yinyin are tied for second place."
What? They can be ranked together?
Doesn't that mean her first place is also... in danger?
Bubble touched her chin, her little face gradually becoming serious.
Cheche, a somewhat handsome, smooth-talking nouveau riche who dreams of becoming her great-grandfather, makes her feel extremely threatened.
No, she couldn't just sit idly by and let Cheche steal her grandmother's attention.
"Grandma, Cheche has ulterior motives towards you. He's not really good to you."
Xu Yirou let out a puzzled "Eh".
"Bubble, you once told me that to see if a kid is good to you, you have to see if that kid is willing to spend money on you." The little money-grubber's praise was overflowing. "Look at this big red envelope, Cheche must really be good to me."
Please, those are tiny goldfish that are bigger than real goldfish!
"...That's him trying to mislead you, it's not the same."
Xu Yirou: "No, that was Cheche's way of showing filial piety to me, because I'm the mother of all the good kids."
"He also gave big red envelopes to Da Bao, Er Bao, Xiao Bao, you, and Yan Yan. Oh my, he has so many goldfish!"
Bubble was stunned, her eyes widened, and she looked around: "I have one too? Where? Where?"
"It should be with Goose's wife, right?" Xu Yirou recalled while gesturing exaggeratedly. "I saw Cheche put a big red envelope in your pocket last night."
Bubble appeared in a flash at the doorway and waved, "Grandma, I'll come back to see you later. You play for a while first."
Xu Yirou was caught off guard.
He scratched his head. "Didn't we say we were going to have breakfast together?"
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, we pay respects to our ancestors. Every year at this time, the three siblings would prepare earnestly and mournfully pay homage to their father, He Ting.
This year's ancestral worship ceremony was as grand as ever, but the three siblings felt no sadness or heaviness in their hearts. Their expressions were subtle as they stared at He Ting's memorial tablet in the ancestral hall.
The ancestral hall was filled with the scent of incense and candles. Qiao Wen, who was at the head of the group, held three sticks of incense, her expression solemn, and bowed three times to the ancestral tablets.
He Nianzhu's eyes darted around. Her father was still alive. Would burning incense for him count as cursing him?
We should urge him to reunite with his grandmother soon, so that he doesn't have to sweep her grave and burn incense every year during Qingming Festival, which is considered very unlucky.
He drifted off into his own thoughts for a moment, then glanced at his older brother and younger sister out of the corner of his eye.
The icy-faced older brother couldn't tell anything, but Xu Niancheng sensed something and turned her head, their eyes meeting.
Xu Niancheng rolled her eyes at him without saying a word.
Hey, dead duck, He Nianzhu looked away.
After the family respectfully offered incense to their ancestors, they officially began their meal. Breakfast was as plentiful as ever, and right after they finished eating, the younger generation of the He family's collateral branch came to pay their respects for the New Year.
Seeing Xu Yirou and Paopao is nothing new to He Nianzhu. He brought them on variety shows, and the two are now popular child stars.
The only thing worth being curious about is Xu Yirou's identity.
Their family is small, and there is absolutely no one who is so young yet of such a high generation. No one believes the nonsense that Xu Yirou is their great-aunt.
I secretly believe that Xu Yirou must be the illegitimate daughter of one of the three siblings.
— Xu Qingyan, the prime suspect.
Since he could have a five-year-old daughter without anyone knowing, it's not surprising that he also has a four-year-old illegitimate daughter. So the truth is that Bubble and Meatball are half-sisters.
That makes sense now.
The distant relative, with keen insight, introduced himself, trying to get closer to the new family member.
Good news: Xu Yirou has some impression of them.
Bad news: a bad impression.
A middle-aged man with a large belly and little hair bent down and said with a smile:
"Hello, Rou Rou and Pao Pao. I'm your uncle. The two people next to me are your cousins. They love playing with kids. Let them play with you later."
Xu Yirou and Paopao retreated in unison, covering their mouths.
"Xiaoming, your breath stinks." Unable to bear the verbal attack, the cub revealed a pained expression. "I told you to quit smoking, but you just wouldn't listen."
Bubble suddenly realized: "No wonder Uncle's teeth are so black, they were all smoked to death."
He Ming's fat twitched, and he almost lost his composure, his smiling tiger expression nearly vanished.
Xiao Ming?
Is it appropriate for a little girl like Xiaoming to be called that?
He Ming's son and daughter: (jokingly)
Grab a handful of sunflower seeds, sit down, and start crackling them.
He Ming straightened up awkwardly, his unrestrained smile fading as he silently concealed his large, yellowed teeth.
"What a pair of clever and mischievous little kids, hehehe."
Xu Yirou realized that she had been too blunt and might have hurt Xiaoming's self-esteem, so she asked with concern:
"Xiaoming, it's okay. Even though your teeth are black and your breath smells bad, as long as you brush your teeth more often and quit smoking, your breath definitely won't smell so bad anymore."
“Exactly, exactly.” Bubble nodded vigorously. “Those who don’t listen to the elders will suffer the consequences.”
He Ming smiled, but in his heart he thought: What kind of old saying is this? These two little kids, whose combined age is not even as big as his shoe size, are talking such big words. Tch.
That's so damn right! Rou Rou is practically her mouth substitute. He Ming's eldest daughter almost stood up and applauded. She had long been fed up with her father's mouth full of cigarette stench.
The eldest son awkwardly dug out a three-bedroom apartment for his father, a heavy smoker.
He Ming was never a magnanimous person, but the two little babies were people he couldn't afford to offend, so no matter how unhappy he was, he dared not speak out.
He Ming chuckled dryly, "Uncle knows, knows."
After He Ming made an excuse to leave, Xu Yirou immediately pulled Paopao to a corner to play with crickets.
The little girl's voice was crisp and clear: "Bubble, let me tell you, that Xiaoming is a womanizer. He has a wife but he still dates girls everywhere."
"What? My God, he's so old, and he's still a scumbag?" Bubble was questioning her life. "He doesn't look like a scumbag at all."
Just as Xu Yirou was about to say that appearances can be deceiving, she heard Bubble make an incredulous sound:
"Aren't all 'scumbags' tall, handsome, with thick hair and fair skin? How come he's fat, ugly, and balding? Why do those aunties like him?"
The scumbags Bubble has encountered are all impeccably dressed and dignified figures in TV dramas, all handsome men handpicked by directors, a far cry from the real-life scoundrels—they're worlds apart.
The child usually eats too well, and it's hard to believe that there's a type of scumbag among men—[insert scumbag name here].
Bubble: I can accept a scumbag, but I can't accept an ugly scumbag.
The two cubs tried their best to keep their voices down, but everyone present was a shrewd person, and every word of their complaints reached their ears.
He Ming's face turned green with anger after walking only a short distance, and his hair stood on end like a hedgehog.
The observant aunt glanced at her husband and gave him a hearty laugh.
He Ming glared angrily.
His aunt wouldn't tolerate him: "What are you glaring at me for? Do you think I'm the one who spread this? You may be shameless, but I am."
"If you don't want people to know, then don't do it in the first place. If you're willing to risk your reputation to do those shameful things, then don't be afraid of people finding out."
He scoffed dismissively, "After all these years, you're still such a spineless coward."
He Ming's face was contorted with anger, but he dared not say much because they were in the He family's old house. He gritted his teeth and warned in a low voice, "You, you keep your voice down. Is it a good thing for the old lady to know? It's the New Year, don't go looking for trouble."
My aunt scoffed, "Oh yes, yes, yes, you old hag who wants it all."
What a shrew!!
Once again, she nearly made Old Deng's husband faint with anger, and then, satisfied, she swayed away.
The little dumpling in the corner said, "Look, look, Grandma didn't lie to you, did she? Xiaoming is a scumbag."
Bubble was amazed. Oh dear, suddenly TV dramas don't seem so good anymore.
It's better to see it live; it's more exciting.
She patted her chest and exclaimed, "I never knew old men could be so bad. Luckily, my grandpa is a good person, not a scumbag."
Grandpa Xu, far away in the Xu family mansion: Achoo.
Rubbing my nose.
Rou Rou must be missing me again. I'll go pick out a few more goldfish this afternoon.
"It seems like Mom doesn't like Uncle?" He Nianzhu noticed something was off. "How come I never noticed before? I remember Mom was always very polite to Uncle's family."
He had never heard Xu Yirou say a bad word about him in private. For example, he was hearing for the first time about his uncle's womanizing ways, which his mother had mentioned earlier.
Xu Niancheng didn't seem surprised at all, and casually replied, "Don't compare a 45-year-old mother with a 4-year-old mother."
"If you weren't a four-year-old mother, would you know how much unfair treatment our mother suffered in the Xu family when she was a child?"
The 45-year-old mother is the mistress of their small family at home and the wife of the president of Senming Group in public, so she is gentle, tolerant, knowledgeable and reasonable.
But the four-year-old mother is not only their mother, but also a kind and genuine child.
She doesn't need to bear any shackles; she can express her joys and sorrows as she pleases.
All they had to do was spoil their mother rotten, nothing more.
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