Zhenzhen came back from the market and handed the live chickens and ducks she bought to Mingxi and Mingbei, asking them to pack them up. As for the pigeons Xi Junjie sent, Zhenzhen thought that she probably couldn't eat them today, so she opened the cage and put them in the main yard, and gave Yuanxiao a handful of millet to feed the pigeons. With Zhenzhen's ability to control them, there was no need to worry that the pigeons would fly out of the yard.
Zhenzhen went out for a run early in the morning and bought some live poultry. She always felt that she didn't smell very good. Seeing her nephew having fun, Zhenzhen returned to the west wing, closed the window, locked the door, entered the space, put out a full basin of hot spring water, and Zhenzhen stepped in and lay in the bathtub to take a bath.
After taking a nap in the bathtub with her eyes closed for ten minutes, Zhenzhen opened her eyes and took the shampoo she bought from the Overseas Chinese Shopping Mall from the shelf to scrub her long hair. She then applied shower gel all over her body and turned on the shower. Hot spring water sprayed out from it, rinsing her body clean.
After taking a shower, Zhenzhen was not in a hurry to go out. She wrapped herself in a bath towel and controlled the temperature of the room to about 30 degrees. A gentle breeze blew by, and soon her shiny black hair was dried.
The weather in mid-October was already a bit cold, so Zhenzhen found a loose-fitting sweater she knitted and put it on, with a pair of jeans underneath. Because of a certain TV series at that time, bell-bottom jeans became a fashion trend among young people, but Zhenzhen didn't like bell-bottom jeans very much, so she went to several places to buy a pair of skinny, regular-sized jeans, and then asked the store to taper the bottoms of the jeans. After putting them on, not only did her legs look thinner and longer, but they also looked particularly energetic and neat, which was so beautiful.
Zhenzhen scanned her yard with her mind and saw that Mingxi and Mingbei had not yet finished plucked the ducks, so she was not in a hurry to go out. She combed her hair into a princess style in front of the mirror, which made her look sweet and cute with her slightly curved bangs.
As soon as she opened the door, Zhenzhen heard someone knocking on the door: "Lao Li, we're here."
Just as Zhenzhen was stunned, she saw Li Muwu coming out of the house, shouting loudly, "Here I come," and quickly invited the person in.
Zhenzhen used her consciousness to scan the doorway, and saw a couple standing at the doorway who were both superior in temperament and appearance, and Xi Junjie was standing behind them, with a look of shock and collapse on his face.
Li Muwu invited the people in. Xi Junjie felt hopeless but was glad that he had the habit of taking a shower after running. The only thing was that the clothes he wore were a little too casual. Xi Junjie immediately regretted it. If he had known that he was going to be a guest at Zhenzhen's house, he should have worn that well-tailored white suit. However, his own father had quietly tricked him and ruined all his plans.
Originally, Xi Junjie's idea was to visit Zhenzhen's home after graduation, wearing a hand-made suit, shiny leather shoes, and bringing carefully prepared gifts. But now, with his hair still a little fluffy after just washing, wearing casual clothes, following his parents, it was completely different from what he had expected.
When Xi Junjie saw Zhenzhen coming out from the inner courtyard and smiling at him, he instantly felt like crying.
Ling Xiu Lan was exchanging pleasantries with Li Muwu when she suddenly saw a graceful young girl standing in front of the hanging flower gate. Her eyes immediately brightened. Over the years, whether in the imperial capital, the magic capital or in France, Ling Xiu Lan believed that she had seen many girls with outstanding looks, but this was the first girl with such an extraordinary temperament.
Ling Xiulan was a beauty lover and had a cheerful personality, so when she saw such a pretty girl, she was full of praise. She couldn't help but ask Li Muwu, "Mr. Li, is this your daughter? She's so beautiful!"
When Li Muwu heard Mr. Li address him like that, he was a little at a loss: "Well, sister, I'm not used to you calling me like that, why don't you just call me Lao Li like Lao Xi does."
Of course not. When Ling Xiu Lan saw such a pretty girl, her first reaction was to find a way to bring her home to be his wife. How could she call her such a casual name as Lao Li
Ling Xiulan had also heard her husband mention the Li family, but she called them by a more down-to-earth name: "Old Brother Li."
Li Muwu relaxed this time and kept grinning: "This is my daughter, her nickname is Zhenzhen."
Ling Xiulan didn't care about her son holding a gift behind her. She quickly walked up to Zhenzhen, took her hand, and asked her affectionately, "Your name is Zhenzhen? My husband Xi said that you also study at Imperial Capital University?"
"Hello, uncle and aunt. My name is Li Mingzhen, and I'm a journalism student at Imperial Capital University." Zhenzhen smiled gracefully and helped Ling Xiulan through the hanging flower gate.
As soon as she arrived at the main courtyard, Ling Xiulan was shocked by the pigeons all over the yard. Although her pigeons were bought only two or three days ago, Ling Xiulan thought that the pigeons from Lao Li's house looked so much like the ones she bought. While she was thinking about it, Ling Xiulan saw the cage in the corner of the yard and instantly confirmed her idea. The bow tied on the handle was tied by herself.
Ling Xiu Lan immediately turned around to look at her son who had been silent all the way, only to see that his face was slightly red. Although he tried his best to hide it, his eyes unconsciously following Zhen Zhen's figure still made Ling Xiu Lan see something. Ling Xiu Lan suddenly realized: it turned out that her son was not stupid before, but he had never met such a beautiful girl.
When the pigeons saw someone coming, they flapped their wings and flew to the corner. Zhenzhen was a little annoyed when she saw the pigeons all over the floor. She was busy picking up Xi Junjie and his family, but forgot to put the pigeons away. She clapped her hands at the pigeons, and ten pigeons immediately rushed into the cage, squatting there obediently. Zhenzhen quickly closed the cage door.
Ling Xiulan was surprised to see that the little girl from the Li family had trained these pigeons to be so obedient in just one morning. "Have you ever raised pigeons before?"
"No." Zhenzhen smiled a little embarrassedly: "But when I was in my hometown, I often played with birds in the mountains, so I am more familiar with them."
Thinking that these pigeons were sent by Xi Junjie, since the adult came to visit my home, I should thank him solemnly: "I haven't thanked Auntie for sending so many pigeons to my family. Now that you are here, you can also taste my cooking skills."
"Okay! Okay! Okay!" Ling Xiu Lan couldn't stop smiling. She turned around and looked at her son's somewhat embarrassed expression and smiled even more happily. She didn't expect that he had this ability and even knew how to steal things from home to please girls.
Looking at the cages filled with pigeons, Ling Xiulan had already thought of the whereabouts of her wild ducks that kept disappearing. She took Zhenzhen's hand and asked with a smile, "Was the wild duck delicious last time?"
"It's delicious, especially fat." Zhenzhen smiled with her eyes curved: "Auntie's wild ducks are really well raised, and the soup they make is very delicious."
"As long as you like it." Ling Xiulan said with a smile, and glanced at Xi Junjie meaningfully: "Our Junjie is urging me to raise more pheasants, wild ducks, and pigeons. Tell your aunt what you like to eat. I love to raise these things."
Following Ling Xiulan's line of sight, Zhenzhen's eyes also fell on Xi Junjie, and she smiled a little embarrassedly: "How can I be so embarrassed? I have eaten a lot of your ducks in the past few months."
Ling Xiu Lan thought about the number of ducks that were lost in her family and nodded silently in her heart: Yes, they ate a lot!
Old Lady Li and Wang Sufen had just heard Li Muwu invite neighbors to visit their home, so Wang Sufen quickly mopped the floor again before anyone arrived and put away all the scattered things. Although the main house is now occupied by Old Lady Li and Li Muwu and his wife, Old Lady Li and Wang Sufen are both clean people, and they wish they could mop the house three times a day so that it is always shiny.
Old Mrs. Li picked out some of the various fruits that Li Muwen had sent, filled a basin with them, and asked Xie Yanan and Wang Xinwen to wash them. When they heard the noise of talking outside, the washed fruits had already been brought up on a plate.
The quadrangle where Zhenzhen's family lived was the central courtyard of the former royal palace, so the layout from the front yard to the main house was different from that of Xi Junjie's family. Xi Changbo admired the original appearance of the old house while walking into the main house. As soon as he entered the door, he saw a lot of rosewood furniture.
The Li family has been in the capital for nearly a year. The social environment has become more and more relaxed, and there are more and more places and channels where you can buy things without receipts. Zhenzhen took this opportunity to buy a lot of furniture for the house. Because the remaining money for buying the house was in her hands, her family didn't think too much about it.
Living in such an ancient house, Zhenzhen doesn't like to put newly made furniture in it. Therefore, apart from a few items from the Qing Dynasty at the beginning, the worst items added later were also imitation Qing styles from the Republic of China. For example, the set of furniture placed in the main hall is an imitation of Qing Dynasty rosewood inlaid with colorful shells, and the tables and chairs are carved with patterns of wealth and good fortune, five blessings holding longevity, and bamboo reporting peace on both sides.
Because it was not a particularly rare antique, Xi Changbo and Ling Xiulan did not pay much attention to the furniture, but instead simultaneously set their eyes on a row of orchids placed in the main hall. The orchid varieties that they saw in Xi Junjie's room last night can basically be seen here, and the flower pots are all from the same series of the same variety, and it is obvious that they were bought together.
"Auntie, you take great care of the flowers." Ling Xiu Lan praised with a smile.
"They were all brought by my daughter Zhenzhen." Mrs. Li praised her granddaughter: "She has loved flowers and plants since she was little. She can grow anything well. If you like, you can bring a couple of pots when you go."
"I have a lot of orchids at home." Ling Xiulan said with a smile, "I also like to take care of flowers and plants, but I am just average at it. If Mingzhen is free, come to my house and chat about flowers and plants. Auntie, you don't know, I love her so much when I see her."
Old Mrs. Li said cheerfully, "If you don't mind her making too much noise, just ask her to go out and play. When we were in Heilongjiang Province, we would visit each other and chat. Now that we're in the capital, we don't know anyone, so even if we want to chat, there's nowhere to go."
"Aunt and sister-in-law, come to my house to chat when you have time. I get bored when my kids are not at home because they are in school." Ling Xiulan said enthusiastically, "They say that a distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor. What's more, our two houses are split from the same palace, separated by a wall. We should get closer to each other."
"Okay, then come to my house when you have nothing to do. Although I don't have that many flowers at home, I grow a lot of vegetables. Just pick whatever you want to eat." Old Mrs. Li had been bored for a long time. When she saw that someone was willing to deal with her family, she immediately agreed.
As the conversation was going on, Zhenzhen came in with a tea tray. There was good tea sent by Li Muwen at home, and in order to appear serious, Zhenzhen also found a set of porcelain from the official kiln of the late Qing Dynasty from the space to make tea.
Xi Changbo lifted the lid of the tea, took a sip, and praised: "Good tea!"
Ling Xiulan took the tea handed over by Zhenzhen and put it on the table beside her. She was happy to see her and said, "Good girl, stop working and sit down and talk."
"Okay." Zhenzhen agreed with a smile, turned around and handed Xi Junjie a cup of tea.
Since entering the main room, Xi Junjie has quickly adjusted his mentality. Since he was dressed casually, he should behave better, but he couldn't give up on himself and leave a bad impression. Therefore, when Zhenzhen brought the tea, Xi Junjie quickly stood up and took the teacup. Before he put it on the table, he couldn't wait to praise: "The tea you brewed is really good. I am so lucky today."
Zhenzhen smiled with her eyes curved: "You know the tea I brewed is ready before you even drink it?"
Xi Junjie's eyes were full of smiles: "I can smell the fragrance of the tea you brewed."
When Xi Changbo came in, he was busy talking to Li Muwu and had not noticed his son's behavior behind him at all. Now seeing Xi Junjie's attentiveness, Xi Changbo was immediately complacent: "You little brat, you said you didn't know the girl, but look at how skilled you are in flattering her. I'm afraid you have liked her for a long time."
Old Mrs. Li put on her reading glasses and looked at Xi Junjie carefully, with a look of fondness in her eyes: "Oh, is this your child? He looks so good."
Ling Xiulan laughed and said, "Your Li Mingzhen is the prettiest. To be honest, I have traveled to many places and seen many beauties. Mingzhen is not only beautiful, but also has a spiritual aura that makes people like her at first sight."
Everyone likes to hear people praise their children. As soon as Ling Xiulan finished speaking, Mrs. Li's eyes narrowed with joy. Wang Sufen saw that people kept praising her daughter, and smiled a little embarrassedly: "Don't look at her quiet and gentle, she is actually very wild and active."
"Being lively is good." Ling Xiulan said hurriedly: "My Junjie is too quiet. He used to go out for a run with his dad around 7 o'clock, but now he refuses to go every time his dad calls him." She looked at Zhenzhen with a happy look on her face: "Since Zhenzhen and Junjie are classmates and both majoring in French, they can make an appointment to participate in more school activities together in the future. Junjie, you should also take care of Zhenzhen at school."
Just as he finished speaking, Mingxi and Mingbei, who had just put away the chickens and ducks, came into the room to say hello. Mingxi took one look at Xi Junjie who was sitting at the last seat and said in surprise: "Hey, isn't this the guy who runs with Zhenzhen every morning? It turns out he lives next door?" Seeing everyone quiet down instantly, Mingxi was a little confused.
Mingxi had noticed Zhenzhen going out for a run every morning since he moved into the courtyard. Since his parents and grandmother lived in the same courtyard with Zhenzhen, Mingxi thought everyone in the family knew about it, so he told everyone about it. Seeing that no one was talking and didn't understand what was going on, he added with a smile, "It's too early. She went out for a run at 5:30, catching up with us in the army."
Li Muwu: …
Xi Changbo: …
Mingxi looked at everyone staring at him, especially his father, who looked like he was spitting fire. He immediately took two steps back in embarrassment: "Well, I suddenly remembered that I haven't finished the pigeons that Zhenzhen asked me to clean up. Well, I'd better go kill the pigeons first..."
Seeing Mingxi running so fast, Zhenzhen also stood up pretending nothing had happened: "Now that the ducks are ready, I have to roast them quickly. The stove has been lit early in the morning." She greeted Xi Changbo and Ling Xiulan again, secretly gave Xi Junjie a helpless look, and slipped away in a particularly disloyal manner.
Xi Junjie gritted his teeth and looked at his parents who were gloating over his misfortune. Looking at Li Muwu who had a very complicated expression, he suddenly didn't know what to say. After all, his original plan was not like this.
Compared to the father's reluctance to part with his daughter, Grandma Li and Wang Sufen seemed much happier. When they were in Beicha, children of Zhenzhen's age had already married a long time ago, but in the Li family, each child got married later than the other. As for Zhenzhen, she just went to school and read books all day long. Grandma Li was really worried that she didn't have that kind of brain.
Since he might be her grandson-in-law, Mrs. Li looked at Xi Junjie with a much harsher look. There was nothing to say about his appearance. Mrs. Li had never seen such a handsome boy in her life. He looked well-educated. As for his personality and character, you couldn't tell just by looking at him. You would know after getting to know him for a long time. But thinking about the boys of the same age as Zhenzhen in Beicha, Mrs. Li still preferred Xi Junjie.
Seeing Li Muwu looking at Xi Junjie fiercely, Granny Li softened her heart and tried to smooth things over: "In fact, it's good to go out for a run in the morning. If you have a good body, you won't suffer when you get old. Look at our Muwu, he has done all kinds of hard work in his life, and it's all thanks to the exercise he did when he went up the mountain every day when he was a child." Granny Li glared at Li Muwu, then said with a smile: "In the future, Mingbei should also go for a run when he gets up in the morning. Don't just eat and sleep all day long. Learn from him."
Mingbei had just entered the room and sat there for less than two minutes when he was caught in the crossfire. He hadn't figured out what was going on yet. He scratched the back of his head and looked at Xi Junjie next to him for a long time before coming to his senses: "It's you. I see you every time I take the bus home from school."
Xi Junjie smiled and said, "I'm also at Imperial Capital University, so it's just on my way."
"What a coincidence." Mingbei grinned and said, "Well, my name is Li Mingbei, what's your name?"
"Xi Junjie, French major in the Spanish Department."
"Xi Junjie... Spanish Department, French major..." Mingbei frowned slightly, as if recalling something: "This name sounds familiar." Mingbei pondered for a moment and suddenly his eyes lit up: "Oh, by the way, I heard from my wife last semester. She said that my daughter Zhenzhen said you were pretty, and Zhenzhen, who was a French major, remembered your name. My wife was scared at the time. She dragged me to see how pretty you were. Later, because we had to prepare for the exam, we never went." He looked at Xi Junjie's face carefully, frowned and nodded: "You are pretty, otherwise my sister would definitely not remember you."
Old Lady Li sighed at Mingbei. He had been admitted to NUS, but why was he so naive? He just kept saying the truth. Seeing that Mingbei was about to continue talking, Old Lady Li couldn't help but yell at him, "Don't sit here like an idiot. Zhenzhen wants to roast a duck. Go help your sister add some firewood."
"Oh." Mingbei stood up and said hello to Xi Junjie: "What time do you return to school tonight? Let's go together and chat in the car."
Xi Junjie didn't need to look at Li Muwu to know that Mingbei couldn't escape this beating. He couldn't sit still, so he took the opportunity to stand up and said, "Grandma Li, how about I go and help?"
Seeing Xi Junjie suffering in the house, Mrs. Li nodded and said, "Go and have some fun. Don't get involved. There are many people at home. You don't need to help."
Xi Junjie responded and followed Mingbei out of the main room in a hurry. He didn't breathe a sigh of relief until he reached the kitchen at the back along the corridor.
After the children left, Ling Xiulan burst out laughing, "Auntie Li, let me tell you, my son has always had a cool personality since he was young. No matter what happens, he always looks calm and composed. This is the first time I've seen him look so uneasy like he is today."
Mrs. Li smiled and said, "Junjie and Zhenzhen are both college students. They have their own ideas. They are still secretly dating without telling their family. Isn't it always about free love on TV now? Let them be free. We adults shouldn't interfere too much, so as not to get involved too much and get upset."
Li Muwu felt wronged when he heard this: "How old is Zhenzhen and she's already dating?"
Wang Sufen glanced at him and immediately put him off: "You're not small anymore. When I was Zhenzhen's age, I was pregnant with Mingdong."
"That's different." Li Muwu suddenly became anxious. After a long while, Li Muwu finally came up with an excuse: "My daughter is a good student. She ranks first in the class. She has a special scholarship."
Just as Xi Changbo was about to speak, Li Muwu said, "My daughter can fish! What can your son do?"
Xi Changbo looked at her calmly: "The girl my son likes is more capable."
Li Muwu: ... How shameless! !
The author has something to say: Update first, then fix bugs