Chapter 182 I Do Like Her on the Fourth Night of the Lunar New Year
While sitting on the sofa, Zhu Yingning was still in a state of out-of-body experience.
She couldn't understand why Zhou Tianlan and Xu Sirui came here, even though they had explained not long ago that they came to G Province to visit an old senior, and since she thought her home was also in G Province, they came here on the way.
It's no wonder she was confused; the term "on the way" was simply too unrealistic. While their house had just been renovated and was a complete improvement compared to years ago, it was still so remote, even buses couldn't reach it. How, exactly, could they possibly get to the mountains on the way?
Unlike her soul leaving her body, Liu Guifang had already started chatting with Zhou Tianlan.
To be precise, we were forced to chat.
Zhou Tianlan is undoubtedly a socialite among young and middle-aged women. When she was married to Xu Zhengkang and became a full-time wife, she had nothing important to do except taking care of Xu Sirui. One of her few hobbies was chatting with the other wives.
Regardless of whether they had common topics, a friendly gesture always came through immediately. She took Liu Guifang's rough hand, as if they had known her for years, and said with a kind smile, "Mother Yingning, you have no idea how much Yingning helped Ruirui and me when she lived with us. I've always wanted to find an opportunity to come and thank you in person, but it's a pity I've only just made it this far. Please don't blame me. Honestly, you're so lucky to have such a wonderful daughter like Yingning. You have no idea how much I envy you."
Liu Guifang had never met anyone of Zhou Tianlan's stature and personality before. Her face flushed with embarrassment, her shoulders hunched, and she said nervously, "No... you're too polite. It's our Ningning who's been relying on you for care. You came from so far away... it must have taken a long drive, right?"
"We took a plane, so it's fine. Your house looks very new. Was it recently renovated?" "Yes, yes," Liu Guifang stammered. "It was built at the beginning of last year. We have a small place here. You see, I didn't prepare anything. Alas, this is really..."
They were chatting harmoniously over there, while on the other side, Xu Sirui stood at the door with gift bags hanging on both sides of his hands, looking around the house which was very different from what he remembered, his eyes full of confusion.
Zhu Yingning rolled her eyes, seeing that the things in his hands looked very heavy, and suggested, "Put them down first?"
"...Okay." He looked at her, "Where is your kitchen?"
"Here." She stood up and led the way.
The renovated house has three bedrooms and a living room. The master bedroom is the largest and is where Liu Guifang, Zhu Dashan and the old lady sleep. The remaining two bedrooms are pitifully small, and Zhu Yingning and Zhu Jixiang each have one.
Unlike ordinary kitchens, hers adhered to the old layout, still located at the northernmost end. However, instead of being separated from the main house as before, they were now integrated, connected by a door. The kitchen floor was no longer the rough cement floor of the past, but was newly tiled. Cooking was no longer done in a large iron wok built into the stove, but with a newly installed natural gas stove.
Zhu Yingning pointed to the kitchen counter and signaled him to put the things on hand there.
After he put down the bags of gifts, she took a closer look and found that what he brought were actually bird's nests, shark fins, sea cucumbers and other things. She had not looked carefully before and had always assumed that they were Wangzai gift bags or Mengniu milk that were often used to give each other gifts during the Chinese New Year.
After seeing it clearly, she couldn't help but be shocked: "You and Aunt Zhou should just come, why bring such expensive things?"
She pretended to pick up the things and stuff them back to him. Xu Sirui quickly stepped back and said, "My hands are about to break carrying all these things over here, and you want me to carry them back the same way?"
Zhu Yingning then gave up.
After putting the things back, she was a little speechless. Looking at his increasingly pale face under the kitchen light, she asked dryly, "It's so late, are you and Aunt Zhou staying with us tonight?"
"If you don't want us to stay here, we can sleep on the street."
“…”
She was both angry and amused, "How dare I, Master Xu?"
She turned around and motioned for him to follow, leading him to Zhu Jixiang's bedroom.
Zhu Jixiang was playing mahjong tonight at a friend's elementary school home, a place he hadn't seen in a while. They were likely to play all night, so by chance, his bedroom was free for Xu Sirui to sleep in. It also saved them the awkwardness of meeting each other. After all, Xu Sirui had ruthlessly rejected Zhu Jixiang when he ran away to Beijing to stay with him in high school. Xu Sirui had probably forgotten about it long ago, but she knew her brother best, and she knew Zhu Jixiang would definitely harbor some resentment when he saw Xu Sirui.
Xu Sirui was indifferent: "Just arrange it."
Zhu Yingning was a little worried: "Your room is easy to solve, but it's mainly about Aunt Zhou. She may have to sleep with me. I'm worried she won't be used to it... because my bed is a bit small."
"How small?"
"It's only 1.2 meters tall." She said as she opened the door of her bedroom.
The bedroom was dark, but due to its small size, the dim light from the living room was enough to illuminate the space. Since they had just been discussing the bed, their gazes naturally fell towards it.
In the bright light, I saw a bra lying on the pillow.
“…”
“…”
Zhu Yingning slammed the door shut with the greatest agility of her life, turned around and walked away from the bedroom, saying calmly as she walked, "Yes, you saw it... I mean the bed. One meter and two meters isn't wide enough for two people to sleep on. We need to move a few more chairs to extend the width of the bed so we don't fall off when we sleep at night."
His tone of voice was normal, his expression was normal, even his walking speed was normal, but his cheeks were out of control and were burning rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.
She wished she could take a brick and beat herself to death on the spot.
When she was boarding at Xu Sirui's house, since he and Xu Zhengkang were both men, she paid great attention to details in this regard. For example, private clothes such as bras and underwear would be washed clean and hung on the windowsill of her room, and half of the curtains would be pulled up to cover them, making sure that no one could see them.
But now I am at home.
She certainly didn't have to be so particular at home. She was used to arranging the clothes she would wear the next day in advance and putting them on her pillow to remind herself. She didn't think about being on guard against anyone, so she completely forgot about it before opening the door.
It’s okay, it’s okay... Zhu Yingning tried hard to comfort herself. This kind of thing is just like socks and gloves, it’s all a piece of cloth, what’s there to be shy about?
Just when she felt she was about to calm herself down, a whisper that sounded like a smile suddenly came from behind her.
It wasn't an intentional laugh, more like he was trying his best to hold it back but couldn't hold it in for the moment.
“…”
She stopped and felt the fire on her cheeks spreading from her head to her whole body, even her palms were burning.
Xu Sirui unnecessarily explained behind her: "That's not what I meant. I just thought your reaction was funny... Hey, Zhu Yingning."
He couldn't call her back. While he was speaking, she had already run away without looking back.
**
Zhu Yingning wandered around other people's homes in the village until after eleven o'clock in the evening before returning home.
By this time, Zhou Tianlan and Xu Sirui had already gone to bed, leaving Liu Guifang tidying up the coffee table in the living room. Seeing her come in, she muttered in dissatisfaction, "Where have you been? They came all the way to see you, and you didn't even come over to greet them."
Zhu Yingning hummed vaguely and walked over to help arrange the teacups.
For a moment, the only sound in the living room was the crisp sound of cups colliding.
Liu Guifang said: "I didn't expect Xu Sirui's mother to be such a nice person. I thought a wealthy woman like her would not be able to talk to someone like me, but I didn't expect her to be so friendly."
Zhu Yingning didn't respond, but she felt a little uncomfortable at Liu Guifang's self-deprecating remarks. She wanted to say that Zhou Tianlan wasn't a "rich lady," and she wasn't "that kind of person." Zhou Tianlan was Zhou Tianlan, and she was Liu Guifang. They were all human, nothing more.
But she didn't say these words after all.
Liu Guifang continued to chatter about her gains tonight in a low voice: "She also brought me skin care products. I didn't expect that even facial products for rich people are so expensive. Such a small bottle costs hundreds or even thousands of yuan. It's shocking. Hey, my skin is not precious. Even if I were to sell me, I might not be worth this much."
"...Mom, don't say that." She stopped drinking the matcha cup, looking helpless.
"Okay, I won't tell you." Liu Guifang squatted down and picked up the paper ball that had fallen on the ground.
Zhu Yingning then turned back and continued wiping the teacup.
The clock on the living room wall ticked towards twelve. She wiped the last teacup and carefully placed it back on the coffee table. Just as she was about to get up, she heard Liu Guifang mutter from a distance, "Ningning, Mommy has a question for you."
"Hmm?" She turned her face towards her.
"Tell me... is it your ex-boyfriend Xiao Zhang's family that's richer, or is it Xu Sirui's family that's richer?"
It's hard to describe the feeling she had at that moment, just as it's hard to describe the nausea of accidentally swallowing a fly. The awkwardness, embarrassment, and heartache and discomfort at Liu Guifang's self-deprecation that had lingered in Zhu Yingning's heart just a moment ago faded with that remark, leaving only a sense of unprepared shock and a deep, visceral revulsion. Her stomach cramped, as if acid, mixed with undigested dinner, rushed up her esophagus, making her nearly vomit.
She opened her eyes wide, afraid that the noise would be too loud and wake up Xu Sirui and Zhou Tianlan who were sleeping in the room. She tried to suppress her emotions, but the end of her words still trembled slightly: "What do you mean by asking this question? What do you think of me? What do you think of them?"
She always felt that there was no need to hide her love life from anyone, and her love was open and honest, so whether she was with Zhang Jiacheng or later decided to break up with him, she would briefly inform Liu Guifang after the dust settled.
She told her this in the hope that she would be informed of an important decision in her life, not to make her ask such a question.
"That's not what Mom meant. I just hope you can marry well and live a good life in the future. Let me tell you, Ningning, marrying a poor man is a dead end. You have to marry a rich man to live a good life in the future. Xiao Zhang can go abroad, so his family must be well-off. Xu Sirui is also not worth mentioning. Mom is just curious about who is richer among them..."
“That’s enough!”
She whispered to Liu Guifang, "Zhang Jiacheng and I have broken up. Even if we hadn't, I wouldn't be with him for money. Is our family so short of money? Why are you insulting my feelings like this? As for Xu Sirui, let alone him, he's a very important friend of mine. You're just..."
"A friend?" Liu Guifang showed an experienced look. "What kind of friend would bring his own mother to visit you on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year? From what I see, I think he's just..."
Zhu Yingning was so angry that her head hurt. "He doesn't have that kind of intention towards me at all! We have a very sincere friendship. Can you please stop slandering his feelings?! You..."
Perhaps the quarrel was a little too loud, and before they could finish their words, footsteps were suddenly heard in the corridor leading to the bedroom next to the living room, and Zhu Yingning and Liu Guifang fell silent instantly.
Looking up, the cold white light illuminated Xu Sirui's handsome face. He stood there in his pajamas, expressionless.
Liu Guifang looked at him in panic, opening and closing her mouth, then opening and closing it again, trying to make amends: "Um... Si Rui, you, you must not misunderstand, Auntie didn't mean that... We were just joking just now, you... you won't take it to heart, right?"
Xu Sirui didn't respond immediately.
He looked at Zhu Yingning with dark eyes for a long time before he slightly shifted his gaze to Liu Guifang. He raised the corner of his mouth slightly and whispered, "It's okay, Auntie."
He said: "I do like her and I am pursuing her."
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