Fish Ball Soup

After much anticipation, the New Year's Day arrived. Although it was only a one-day holiday, Song Shixia was very satisfied. Finally, she didn't have to write an essay every day. Since the essay only scored 10 points, mathematics, physics and chemistry were ranked behind.

The professor of literature and history lives next door to me, and I get comments on my writing. What kind of treatment is this that only high school students get?

Ever since Aunt Feng learned that she had ranked first in the school in the midterm exam with a score of 650, she has been showing off to everyone she meets.

Song Shixia knew that Aunt Feng had no ill intentions and was simply proud of her friend. But the rumor spread among others and became that she would definitely be admitted to Yenching University in the college entrance examination.

If the college entrance examination questions are not unexpected, she can indeed give it a try. But people are afraid of being famous, just as pigs are afraid of being fat, so one should not be too decisive, lest one's happiness turns to sorrow.

Sometimes she happened to meet President Hu and Zhang Wanqing, who would enthusiastically chat with her, implying that she should apply to Yenching University to prevent her name from being snatched away by the national university next door.

The pressure came instantly. Originally, as long as I could get into undergraduate school, I would have performed exceptionally well, but now I had to take the entrance exam to Yanjing University.

Yanran also returned home during the New Year's Day. She performed well in the midterm exam and scored over 500 points.

As soon as she arrived at the door of her house, Yu Fang from next door called her.

Ji Yanran was in a dilemma; her sister-in-law was so good to her, and she felt a little guilty towards her for often interacting with Yu Fang.

Yu Fang pretended not to notice her embarrassment.

"Yanran is on holiday now, come and eat some peanuts, the peanuts I just fried are so delicious."

She glanced at her home, wishing her mother would come out and call her.

Ji Yanran forced a smile and followed her into the house: "It's really not easy to have a holiday. The teacher assigned a lot of homework."

Yu Fang peeled peanuts for her: "You high school students are just too hard-working. Why don't you study at home? Your sister-in-law went home after a few days of classes at school, and asked your brother to tutor her every day."

What she meant was that the Ji family was too partial. The most educated son did not help his own daughter with her homework, but instead favored the daughter-in-law who was an outsider.

I thought I could sow discord, but Ji Yanran was relieved after hearing this.

"Fortunately, my brother just stopped giving me extra lessons. My sister-in-law is really strong-willed. My brother always outsmarts me, which makes me feel that I might as well not continue this school."

Every time she got good grades on the test, she would muster up the courage to ask her brother to give her two questions. However, after racking her brains for two hours, she would end up getting all the answers wrong, which completely destroyed her self-confidence.

Anyway, she would rather live in school, even if the conditions are a little difficult, than being treated like a useless person by her brother every day.

Yu Fang's smile froze on her face.

"You would definitely get good grades if your brother was there to teach you. Did you know that your sister-in-law got the highest score in the school in the midterm exam? All the neighbors on the street know about it."

Ji Yanran knew about this. Sometimes when she didn't want to go home during holidays, her elder sister would go to school to bring her daily necessities and living expenses. When she heard this, she became motivated.

For some reason, she suddenly felt that Yu Fang had ulterior motives today.

She changed her words for some unknown reason: "I don't know about this. Are you sure it's my sister-in-law?"

Yu Fang breathed a sigh of relief.

"How could it be false? Your mother brags about your sister-in-law's high scores every day and treats her better than you do. I feel bad for you when I hear that."

Ji Yanran was not upset, she was also happy for her sister-in-law. Being the top student in the school was not something that could be achieved easily. No wonder her brother married her sister-in-law, maybe because he saw her potential in learning.

As for Yu Fang, Ji Yanran felt complicated.

She used to be very close to Yu Fang, and she really considered Yu Fang a good friend at that time. Even though there was a big age gap between them, Yu Fang never treated her as a child and even shared little secrets with her.

Is it because I have grown up? Or is this Yu Fang's true face?

She felt a little sad that a friend who had once treated her sincerely wanted to use her to sow discord and destroy the relationship between her and her family.

When did it start? It seemed to be from when her sister-in-law came to visit her. Her brother's words had awakened her to be on guard against Yu Fang. She had never expected that this day would come so early.

Ji Yanran returned home, feeling depressed and sat on the sofa flipping through her father's newspaper. Han Rong passed by the sofa and looked at her in surprise.

"Why are you venting your anger on the newspaper? Who has offended you again?"

"Mom, am I stupid?"

"What's wrong? Didn't you do well in the exam? Even if you get a high score, it won't make you a living. Just do better next time."

Ji Yanran suddenly remembered Yu Fang's words to sow discord, and deliberately asked her,

"My sister-in-law scored 650 points, and I scored more than 100 points lower than her."

"Silly girl, why are you competing with your sister-in-law? Your sister-in-law is older than you and has read more books. If you study for two more years, you can be like her. If you want to improve your grades, go find your brother, he will definitely be happy to help."

Ji Yanran shook her head quickly: "My brother should be left to my sister-in-law, I don't want it."

Song Shixia heard this as soon as she entered the room, and teased her with a smile: "We came at an unfortunate time. How come Professor Ji was rejected by his sister?"

Ji Yanran subconsciously looked towards the door, and felt relieved when she didn't see her brother.

"Sister-in-law, don't tell my brother."

Song Shixia pretended to consider: "Then I have to ask for hush money."

Ji Yanran said with a bitter face: "My most valuable thing is that pen."

Han Rong smiled and said, "You two can chat while I go to the kitchen to check on the bone soup."

"Hush money doesn't necessarily mean money."

Ji Yanran was curious: "What do you want?"

"Like your little secrets."

Ji Yanran felt a little guilty: "I don't have any secrets!"

"Don't worry, your brother is on the way with the kids."

Song Shixia sat down calmly and picked up the newspaper that Ji Yanran had flipped through.

Ji Yanran approached cautiously: "Sister-in-law, I really have no secrets."

She used to have many secrets, all of which she told Yu Fang. Later, when she lived in the school dormitory, she started writing a diary.

Song Shixia pretended to sigh: "I thought all little girls would have secrets."

Ji Yanran pinched her shoulders flatteringly: "I'm a grown-up girl."

"Okay, I'll let you go with all my might, and give me another squeeze."

Song Shixia went out early to find her brother and gave him the tea. She did not explain the source, and Song Qiu Sheng did not ask, because he was her brother after all.

She also compiled the early childhood enlightenment cards into a booklet, the content of which includes but is not limited to reading pictures, recognizing objects, fruits and vegetables, etc. All the pictures of the objects were drawn by her herself. She suggested that her brother find a proper art teacher to redraw them.

After seeing it, Song Qiu Sheng thought it would sell well, so he directly agreed to give her a share of the profits, but Song Shixia only asked for 20%.

"Sister-in-law, how is the strength?" Ji Yanran looked at her sister-in-law's skin with envy. Why was her sister-in-law so white while her skin was so dark.

Song Shixia stretched comfortably and said, "Not bad, I brought you a gift, open it and take a look."

Ji Yanran was flattered and she thought her sister-in-law was keeping a distance from her.

Open the bag and inside is a pair of furry little boots.

"Try them on to see if they fit your feet. I asked someone to bring you these boots." Not long after her test results came out, her brother called her and asked her what gift she wanted, so he asked his sister-in-law to bring her a pair of popular small boots.

Ji Yanran's eyes sparkled with stars: "Such beautiful boots, I don't even dare to wear them."

She pushed it back reluctantly: "Sister-in-law, you should keep it for yourself. These boots must be expensive."

"This is your size, specially bought for you as a New Year's gift."

Ji Yanran held the new shoes lovingly in her arms.

"Thank you, sister-in-law!"

Song Shixia went to the kitchen to help her mother-in-law. The fish and meat prepared by the kitchen were more abundant than a banquet.

"Mom, this is the necklace I bought for you. It is said that jade can nourish people, and it is most suitable for you to wear."

Han Rong was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling: "I never thought I could receive a gift at my age."

Song Shixia helped her mother-in-law put on the necklace: "Our whole family has it."

Ji Weiqing came back with her two children. The little guys were wearing tiger hats made by their distant grandmother. They looked very cute with their tiger heads.

Ji Yuan ran over and hugged her: "Mom!"

Han Rong smiled happily. The fact that the child was so clingy to his mother just proved that Xiao Xia was good to the child.

Song Shixia touched his little face and asked, "Are you cold?"

"It's not cold. We want to make a snowman, but dad won't let us."

"It's no use trying to be cute to me. Mom doesn't agree with you making a snowman."

The light in the two little kids' eyes went out in an instant, and Song Shixia shook his head helplessly.

"Really not. Making snowmen will cause you to catch a cold, and you need a shot if you have a cold. Do you want to get a shot?"

Ji Yang straightened his back and said, "I am a man, I can do it."

"You are in good health, but your brother is prone to catching colds. Do you want to give him an injection?"

Ji Yuan pouted with a wronged look on his face.

"Be good, today we have your favorite fish balls."

After finally coaxing the little guy out, Song Shixia couldn't help but feel a headache.

"Mom, give me this fish. I'll make it into fish balls."

"I think there are too many bones to clean up, you can use them to make fish balls."

The kid doesn’t like fish, but he particularly likes fish balls and meat balls with flour. I don’t know what this habit is.

Ji Weiqing put down the bags he was carrying. All the things he brought were prepared at home in advance. Of course, he was only responsible for the effort. If the task of preparing gifts was left to him, he would probably just give whatever he had.

Han Rong poked her head out of the kitchen and said, "Our Professor Ji is here."

Song Shixia helped him brush off the snow on his hair.

"Why don't you use an umbrella?"

Professor Ji had a chill on his body. “He was carrying something in his hand and only walked a few steps.”

"Go change your coat, or you'll catch a cold from the sudden change of temperature."

There was sufficient heating in the house, so Song Shixia took off her coat as soon as she entered the door.

My eldest sister and her family did not come over. She had to have dinner with my mother-in-law in the morning and would not be back until the evening.

The two little guys were lying by the window, staring at the snow in the yard. They wanted to go out and step on the snow, but their parents didn't allow them.

Song Shixia carried them down one by one.

"When you grow up, you can play in the snow however you want."

The two young guys were in low spirits, and Song Shixia couldn't help but feel soft-hearted.

"Let's go out and have a snowball fight. We can only play for ten minutes."

The two little guys who were listless just now were suddenly excited.

“Yeah!”

Han Rong did not stop them, but just put layer upon layer of coats on them to make it easier for them to move.

Song Shixia: "Let's divide into groups first. Who wants to be in a group with me?"

Professor Ji stood beside her.

"Isn't it good for two adults to be in a group?"

Ji Yang patted his chest and said, "Then I will be in the same group with my brother and protect him."

Seeing his innocent yet determined eyes, Song Shixia did not tease the child.

"Okay, you two will be in one group, and I'll be in one group with dad."

Listening to the laughter coming from next door, including adults laughing and children shouting, Yu Fang glared at her daughter irritably.

"Don't you know how to go and play?"

The daughter shrank back: "Mom, it's cold, I don't want to go out to play."

"What are you good for? You don't even have a friend. You just cry when someone says something to you. Who are you pretending to be so pitiful for?"

The daughter held back her tears, her face flushed.

Mother heard the noise and came into the room.

"Why are you beating your child again? You should find a class to attend after the New Year. You will get sick sooner if you stay at home all day."

Yu Fang's face turned pale: "Okay, if you think I'm embarrassing you at home, I'll just find someone to marry and you'll be satisfied."

Yu Fang: I was furious and jealous to death, but there was nothing I could do.

My dad celebrated his birthday in advance today. He went out for dinner and came back late. I almost thought that I couldn’t update on time and I was so anxious. I have obsessive-compulsive disorder and can’t stand the interruption of Little Red Flower. I will keep Little Red Flower stable even if the earth explodes.

If there are no typos in the first few chapters, I won't revise them. I'm afraid that it will be even more painful if they are blocked by the high-level review after I revise them.