Xu Ruantang thought it was Shen Qingwen, and her face darkened as she was about to lash out.
Turning around, I saw it was Li Shuyang.
"My sister is drunk?"
Li Shuyang's face was gentle, but there was a hint of anger in his eyes.
"ah!"
When Xiao Bao saw Li Shuyang, he excitedly dropped the beef in his hand and reached out his arms to Li Shuyang, saying, "Hug!"
The anger in Li Shuyang's eyes immediately dissipated. He sighed softly and smiled as he picked up Xiaobao.
Xu Ruantang glanced at the sky, then pointed to the stool opposite her. "Would you like to sit down and have something to eat?"
Li Shuyang teased Xiaobao, then turned and said gently, "I've already eaten."
How did you know we were here?
Xu Ruantang had a question in her mind: In this day and age, there's no cell phone.
They came here on a whim.
Li Shuyang's expression was extremely complicated. After a pause, he said, "My mother made my sister's favorite stewed pork ribs and asked me to take some over to her."
Xu Ruantang understood immediately.
Li Shuyang didn't happen to witness Li Shuhe arguing with the Shen family. If he had, and found out how his sister was being treated in her husband's family, he probably would have started a fight.
Li Shuyang, despite being the younger brother, always gave way to Li Shuhe.
My beloved older sister, who was married, has to suffer such injustices.
Xu Ruantang pursed her lips and said nothing.
When she came out of the restaurant, Li Shuhe regained her senses for a moment. She looked up and saw Li Shuyang's face, and her eyes dimmed.
"Why is it you? Didn't he come?"
Her voice was aggrieved and trembling with tears.
Li Shuyang gave Li Shuhe a disappointed look and silently carried her on his back.
Xu Ruantang pushed Xiaobao's stroller, following beside Li Shuyang.
Sometimes I don't understand what my sister is thinking.
Li Shuyang looked dejected, his tone full of despondency, "It's a marriage that no one is optimistic about, but she's like she's possessed, insisting on jumping into it."
Li Shuyang dared not say these words in front of Li Shuhe.
She only dared to complain when she was drunk, afraid that Li Shuhe would be hurt if she heard it when she was sober.
"I don't understand either."
Xu Ruantang smiled and said, "Every time Xiaobao eats beef, because her teeth haven't fully grown in yet, some gets stuck between her two molars. It makes her uncomfortable, and since she doesn't know how to pick her teeth, she just keeps opening her mouth wide and making noises, wanting me to pick her teeth."
She spoke slowly and deliberately, as if she were chatting casually.
Li Shuyang did not interrupt her and let her continue.
“Every time I finish picking her teeth, I ask her, ‘Do you still want to eat beef?’ Guess what Xiaobao answered?”
Li Shuyang slowly curled the corners of his lips, looked at Xu Ruantang and chuckled, "She said she wants to eat."
Xu Ruantang also smiled.
"Yes, she still wants to eat."
You should have turned back when you hit a wall.
But children don't understand this principle, and they stop understanding it when they fall in love with someone.
After a while, Li Shuyang said in a half-joking tone, "I have no right to talk about my sister. I seem to be just like her."
Xu Ruantang looked at him, puzzled.
Li Shuyang did not intend to explain.
Upon arriving at the gate of the compound, Li Shuyang carried Li Shuhe on his back and parted ways with Xu Ruantang.
As the weather gets warmer, some of the flowers planted in the courtyard have bloomed, filling the air with their fragrance.
As Xu Ruantang pushed Xiaobao's stroller, she noticed a little dumpling in front of her who was silently holding a small yellow flower in its chubby hand.
She held it up the whole time, her eyes darting around on it.
"Ruan Tang, are we going home?"
More and more people in the compound became acquaintances, and everyone would greet each other when they met, either by nodding or exchanging pleasantries.
Xu Ruantang has lived here for less than a year, but it feels like she has lived half her life here.
She replied with a smile, "Yes, is my sister-in-law going to buy groceries?"
It's Liu Xue.
As soon as she came over, she patted Xiao Bao's head and said, "Oh, so cute. I always wanted a baby girl."
This wasn't her boasting; Liu Xue genuinely liked the girl.
"Ruan Tang, have you heard? Your second uncle and your second aunt are getting a divorce."
Liu Xue lowered her voice and glanced around, "You live in that courtyard every day, didn't you know?"
Xu Ruantang lowered her eyes, concealing the strange look in them. "I know."
"What exactly is going on? They're that age, why are they getting divorced so easily?"
Liu Xue kept nagging, "At our age, we shouldn't be making a fuss anymore. Your second aunt is still young, having another child shouldn't be a problem. Wouldn't it be better to have a child and settle down and live a peaceful life?"
Xu Ruantang was unaware of Jia Shuling and Chen Gang's affair, and how much the people in the compound knew.
She smiled slightly and said, "I don't know either, I haven't been there much lately."
Liu Xue patted her on the shoulder, "Deputy Brigade Commander Chen was farsighted enough to move out and live on his own early on. Look at you now, living such a comfortable life, taking the kids out for walks every day, and no one nagging you when you get home. Isn't that great!"
Xu Ruantang laughed along.
She really didn't know what to say.
Liu Xue seemed to suddenly remember something, slapped her forehead and said, "Oh dear, Lu Shishen is injured and is in the hospital now. You didn't know that, did you?"
Liu Xue knew that Wang Xiuxiu and Xu Ruantang had a good relationship.
She only heard about it in the afternoon.
Xu Ruantang frowned. "I don't know how you got injured. Is it serious?"
She thought she was injured during training, but Liu Xue said, "She said she went to some new house with Xiuxiu and got hurt. People these days are really arrogant; they even dare to bully soldiers."
Liu Xue asked her, "A few of us in the courtyard are discussing it. We're all neighbors, so we're going to go take a look together tomorrow. Do you want to come?"
Xu Ruantang nodded, "Yes, I'm going."
"Lu Shishen's parents are gone, and Xiuxiu has divorced him. He's a grown man; I don't know how he's coping in the hospital!"
Liu Xue sighed, "Don't you think he deserved it? Who told him to bully Xiuxiu back then?"
Back then, Lu Shishen embarrassed Wang Xiuxiu in front of so many people in the courtyard because of his mission.
He also yells at her all the time.
Although she later learned it was a mission, the grievances Wang Xiuxiu suffered were genuine.
Liu Xue, being a woman herself, naturally sided with the women.
After exchanging pleasantries, Xu Ruantang returned home, where Xiaobao was already yawning from exhaustion.
Xu Ruantang prepared milk for her, and she drank it and fell asleep immediately.
Chen Ji did not return that night either.
He did send someone back to let them know, saying he had official business to attend to and would be staying at the military base that night.
Xu Ruantang didn't think much of it and went to sleep with her sweet and soft daughter in her arms.
She had to go to work on Monday. In the morning, she drove Xiaobao back to the Gao family first, and then picked up Liu Xue and the others.
The group, still carrying baskets, looked at Xu Ruantang in surprise as they got into the car.
"Ruan Tang, you can drive?"
Xu Ruantang hummed in agreement. "I just learned it. I drive around all day to work, so it's more convenient."
As soon as she finished speaking, Xu Ruantang saw through the rearview mirror that several women were silently holding their baskets tightly, gripping the car's handrails, and looking ready for battle.
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