"See her? That's the old lady in the blue jacket..."
After dinner, Hua Li and Aunt Shi took Luo Yan out for a stroll. When they arrived at the small square, Aunt Shi pointed out some things to Hua Li.
Hua Li sized up the old lady sitting on the stone bench under the maple tree. She had delicate features and a kind face. She was wearing a clean homespun cotton jacket and gray Burmese-style trousers with ties at the cuffs. Her three-inch bound feet were adorned with handmade cloth shoes with snow-white edges. She was clearly a clean and hardworking person.
Hua Li searched for Xu Tianzhong for a long time, only to find him hiding behind a tree not far away, occasionally peeking out to peek at the old lady before retreating back inside.
"Is this about finding a partner?" She seems to be only interested in it from one side.
Aunt Shi, "This was a private conversation between two people, one in front of others and the other behind their backs..."
Hua Li was surprised, "Why doesn't Uncle Xu come to propose marriage? It's not good to do it so secretly and cause misunderstandings."
Aunt Shi sighed, "The old lady is worried about her children and grandchildren's reputation, so she definitely won't give in easily. If the old lady won't give in, how can your Uncle Xu bring it up..."
Luo Yan watched for a while, and then some children came to play with her.
Recognizing that she was Xu Baojuan's granddaughter, Luo Yan happily followed Xu Yuan to play hopscotch.
Xu Yuan is two years older than Luo Yan. The five-year-old is tall and strong, much more robust than her peers, yet she moves with agility when playing hopscotch.
Luo Yan had just played with Xu Yuan for a while when several other children came over to ask her to play together.
Xu Yuan refused and chased the children away. At this moment, Leng Jian and Yang Tie came over to protect the children.
"Xu Yuan, you always bully others because you're strong. Come on, let's have a strength contest today. If you lose, you're not allowed to bully others anymore."
After Yang Tie finished speaking, Leng Jian added, "It's settled then, Luo Yan isn't allowed to participate, it's just you and me."
He and Xu Yuan are the same age, so no matter how they compete, it wouldn't be considered bullying.
Xu Yuan said arrogantly, "Let's compete then, who's afraid of you? Of course Luo Yan won't participate. She's so young, it's shameless of you to compete with her."
Leng Jian said, "Alright, let's have a brick-breaking contest and see who can break it."
A group of children moved to the wall and picked up a few leftover bricks from repairing the wall, placing them by the flower bed.
Leng Jian picked up a brick, placed one hand on the edge of the flower bed, and chopped down on the suspended brick with the other.
"Hiss!" Leng Jian gasped in pain, but the brick remained undamaged.
Xu Yuan covered her mouth and laughed exaggeratedly, and the other children laughed along with her.
"What are you laughing at? Come here."
Leng Jian glared at Xu Yuan.
Xu Yuan imitated Leng Jian, pressing down on the brick with one hand and chopping down with the other, and was also in pain, spinning around.
Other children, out of curiosity, tried to break bricks themselves, and without exception, they all screamed in pain.
Luo Yan had no interest in watching the brick-breaking, much less in watching the child act foolishly. She took a step to leave, but Yang Tie grabbed her pigtails and asked her a question.
"Luo Yan, where's your tail?"
Xiao Xiu and Luo Yan were inseparable, so it was quite a surprise that Luo Yan was suddenly alone.
"Let go!" Luo Yan commanded in a cute but fierce manner.
She could only endure Luo Shicheng pulling her hair; anyone else who dared to touch her was courting death.
Yang Tie, feeling hot from Luo Yan's scolding, let go of her hand as if it were burning him, and said unconvinced.
"You try to split it. If you can't, it means you and Xiao Xiu cheated when you fought us."
Yang Daocheng and Leng Zhanguo not only talked about her and her father's fraud behind their backs, but they even said the same thing to their child. It's really too much.
Luo Yan reached out her hand, and Xu Yuan took a brick and placed it in Luo Yan's hand.
The chubby little hands gripped both ends of the red brick with barely any force, yet the brick was broken apart as easily as breaking a cookie.
Luo Yan threw the broken brick at Yang Tie's feet.
They couldn't even split it open, but Luo Yan easily broke it apart with her bare hands, leaving Yang Tie defeated.
Luo Yan raised her hand to straighten her messy pigtails and walked towards Hua Li in the distance with her short legs.
Yang Tie caught up with Luo Yan and stopped her, "How did you do that? Teach me!"
Luo Yan didn't want to get entangled with the child any longer, so she pushed Yang Tie away and ran back to Hua Li's side.
Hua Li was thinking about Xiao Xiu, and seeing that Aunt Shi was chatting enthusiastically with several nannies, she took Luo Yan home first.
Not long after arriving home, a noisy group of people arrived, and the woman in the lead entered the yard shouting for Luo Yan to come out.
Hua Li went out to greet her and stood in front of the door, blocking Luo Yan from entering.
"Who are you, and what do you want with Luo Yan?"
The woman said, "I am Yang Tie's mother, Tan Ziying..."
He reached out to the slender woman standing to his right and said, "This is Leng Jian's mother, Guan Qiongzhi."
Guan Qiongzhi asked Hua Li, "Are you Luo Yan's mother?"
Hua Li nodded.
Guan Qiongzhi said excitedly, "Your Luo Yan encouraged the children to break bricks, and several children broke their bones while breaking bricks. You have to take responsibility."
As soon as she finished speaking, Tan Ziying and Guan Qiongzhi stepped aside, revealing Yang Tie and Leng Jian, who were hiding behind her with their arms in slings.
"And our children..."
Two more women pushed a wheelchair out behind Yang Tie and Leng Jian. The child in the wheelchair had his arms and legs in slings and was in a cast.
"Are you sure it was Luo Yan who instigated this?" Hua Li asked.
Tan Ziying said, "The children all say that Luo Yan is your daughter, and that Luo Yan can break bricks like she can break cookies. Don't try to shirk responsibility. If the children don't develop any problems, then we'll let it go. But if they do, we'll never forgive you."
Hua Li said calmly, "You say it was my Luo Yan who did it, but Luo Yan would have to have the ability to do it. She can't even speak clearly yet, how could she incite others?"
Guan Qiongzhi exclaimed, "She can even break bricks! You're telling me she can't speak clearly? Who are you trying to fool?"
Hua Li stepped aside, and Luo Yan, dressed in a military green uniform, walked out of the door. Her pigtails swayed as she walked, and her big, dark eyes, like black grapes, scanned the crowd on her pink face, showing no stage fright whatsoever.
Tan Ziying looked at the little dumpling who was a head shorter than her son, her eyes filled with confusion.
"Didn't you say she could break bricks like she could break cookies?"
Yang Tie looked completely innocent when Tan Ziying asked him, "I did say that, but I didn't say she was older than me."
"She's so small, how did you manage to bend her like that? Tell me."
Tan Ziying started rolling up her sleeves, clearly ready to take action.
Yang Tie cried in grievance, "I told you that I hurt my hand because I was watching Luo Yan break bricks, but you insisted that Luo Yan encouraged me to do it, and now you're blaming me..."
Seeing his mother's face darken, Leng Jian shrank back and tried to explain.
"We've said it has nothing to do with Luo Yan, but you insist on blaming her..."
When Tan Ziying and Guan Qiongzhi asked her questions, they both assumed that their children were frightened by Luo Yan. Little did they know that Luo Yan was so young and looked very embarrassed.
Hua Li said, "Since it was a misunderstanding, it's good that it's been cleared up. Everyone, please go back now."
"Return to what?"
The woman with triangular eyes pushing the wheelchair said sternly.
"No matter what, if your Luo Yan doesn't break the brick, our child wouldn't have recklessly broken his hand and injured his foot by splitting the brick. You'll have to be responsible for the medical expenses."
Furthermore, if my child develops a disability and can't find a wife, your Luo Yan will have to be my child's wife. To prevent you from going back on your word, we need to write down the marriage certificate and put your fingerprints on it now.
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