Xi Junjie stayed for only a moment, then tactfully left. After all, the family only reunited once a year, and it was inappropriate for an outsider like him to stay here for too long. When Xi Junjie thought of the word "outsider", he felt sour in his heart. He silently calculated that he still had three years to graduate, and suddenly felt that the road to getting married was too long.
The people in the old Li family watched Xi Junjie leave the house, and they all remained silent. After about a minute, Roubao estimated that Xi Junjie had gone far away, so he couldn't help asking, "Auntie, how did you trick him into getting what he wanted?"
"What are you talking about?" Zhenzhen stretched out her white and tender finger and poked Roubao's head fiercely: "We are in love with each other, do you understand? Besides, he was the one who took the initiative to pursue me."
When they heard the words "mutual affection", Li Muwu and Wang Sufen covered their faces with their hands. It was really hard to handle their daughter being so direct.
Seeing Roubao's obviously unbelieving look, Zhenzhen pointed at Mingbei and said, "If you don't believe me, ask your fourth uncle and fourth aunt."
When Mingbei saw Li Muwu's sidelong eyes, he immediately shook his head and said, "Don't ask me, I don't know anything. By the time I found out they were dating, they were already blatantly holding hands."
The family turned to Wang Xinwen again. Although Wang Xinwen didn't understand, she nodded firmly, "Yes, it's Xi Junjie who pursues our Zhenzhen every day." She seemed to think that this sentence was too thin and had to provide evidence to be convincing, so Wang Xinwen added: "Xi Junjie waits for Zhenzhen at the bottom of our dormitory every night after class. Don't you know that when he comes, he can cause a commotion in the whole dormitory. Those girls lean on the windows to look at him, and sometimes they even fight to grab a good position."
Looking at Zhenzhen, Roubao concluded with a sad heart: "It turns out that you female students all look at faces."
Zhenzhen smiled and looked at Roubao with sympathy: "Do you feel particularly desperate?"
Roubao touched his face and felt a little unconfident for the first time. He didn't think much of himself when he was among a group of rough guys, but after meeting Xi Junjie, Roubao felt that he was not as good-looking, had a worse figure, and a worse voice than Xi Junjie, and his brain was not as good as his. Roubao could only stay in the top five in three years of high school, and it was a bit difficult for him to get the first place. But Xi Junjie could always get the first place in Imperial Capital University. There was no comparison.
Seeing Zhen Zhen's smug look, Rou Bao added unwillingly, "My uncle-in-law is good in every way except his eyesight, otherwise why would he like you?"
Zhenzhen picked up a handful of pine nuts and pretended to throw them over. Roubao immediately smiled and hid behind Guihua: "I'm just kidding. I climbed the tree and picked those pine nuts for you. Don't waste them."
Zhen Zhen crushed a few pine nuts with a "crunch" sound, threw the pine nut skins into the trash can, and looked at Rou Bao with a smile: "Wait and see what kind of niece-in-law you find for me."
Seeing that it was getting dark, Wang Sufen hurriedly led Guihua and Zhenzhen to the kitchen to cook dinner. Mingbei went to Xi Junjie's house next door to borrow a phone and called Mingxi, telling him that Mingdong and Mingnan were here, and asked him to come back early after get off work. Mingxi didn't have any experiments on hand now, he was just organizing materials in the office. When it was time to get off work, he rode his 28-bar bicycle back to the courtyard with his wife and children.
Wang Sufen led her daughter-in-law and daughter to prepare a table full of dishes. Fortunately, the room in the kitchen was big enough, so the whole family could sit down and it was not crowded. Instead, it was quite lively.
There was heating in the kitchen, and the two stoves were still on, with the flames licking the casserole and making a sizzling sound. The table was covered with a very thick folded towel, and Zhenzhen put the handle of the casserole directly on the table with thick gloves.
Lifting the lid of the casserole, Zhenzhen used chopsticks to push aside the lotus leaves inside. Immediately, the aroma of meat came out of the casserole and drifted to every corner of the room. For a while, gurgling sounds came one after another. Mingdong held his stomach and swallowed his saliva: "I have only eaten dry food on the train these days. You brought up such a fragrant jar. All of a sudden, I feel my stomach is empty and my heart is panicking."
Mingbei didn't even want to talk when he smelled the fragrance. He moved a pile of small bowls aside. Zhenzhen filled the bowls one by one and distributed them to everyone. Guihua saw that the soup in the bowl was dark brown and couldn't help but drink a sip of it first. The mellow soup was thick but not greasy, and the mouth was full of meaty aroma. Picking up an abalone, Guihua couldn't tell what it was after a long time. It was quite chewy and the more she ate, the more delicious it became. After eating one, Guihua wanted to find another piece from the bowl, and then she found that there was no duplicate in the full bowl.
Compared to Guihua who ate very carefully, Roubao and the other little ones stuffed the food into their mouths with great force. They had already finished the whole bowl after Zhenzhen had taken a few bites. Seeing that the jar of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall was already half empty, Zhenzhen was stingy and only gave each person one spoonful: "You young and strong people should eat less, and save the rest for my grandma and my parents."
Old Mrs. Li usually likes to drink a cup of wine when she eats, but today she didn't even have time to drink the wine. She was so busy eating that she couldn't stop. When she heard Zhenzhen say to save the rest for herself, she nodded in agreement: "I think so too. Come on, Baoer, serve another bowl for grandma."
"Okay." Zhen Zhen saw that Old Lady Li liked to eat the sea cucumber and fish maw, so she served her more: "My grandma is the best at eating, she knows what's good."
Old Mrs. Li narrowed her eyes and smiled: "Everything tastes good. Zhenzhen, you should learn how to make this from Junjie, and then we can stew it at home."
Zhenzhen put a bowl of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall next to Mrs. Li: "It's not particularly difficult to stew this, the key is that it's hard to put the ingredients together." Zhenzhen pointed at the ingredients one by one with a spoon at Mrs. Li: "Sea cucumber, abalone, fish maw, fish maw, turtle skirt, shark fin, fish lips... deer tendons, pork tripe, lamb elbow... There are dozens of things swimming in the sea and running on the mountains. It takes a lot of effort just to buy these things."
"This jar must be worth a lot of money." Old Lady Li frowned, "We can't eat other people's food for free. Go back and get a ginseng from my box to give to the Xi family. We should have a reciprocal relationship."
Zhenzhen drank a mouthful of soup and said, "Just tell Auntie Ling not to accept it. The New Year is coming soon. I'll put the ginseng in the New Year gift, and it won't attract attention."
Old Mrs. Li nodded, her face full of appreciation: "My granddaughter has grown up and is more thoughtful than I am."
"Isn't this because grandma taught me well?" Zhenzhen smiled and picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork ribs for Old Lady Li: "You like the sweet and sour taste the most."
Mingdong finished the soup in his bowl and sighed with satisfaction: "Zhenzhen, your future mother-in-law's cooking skills are really good."
As soon as he finished speaking, Mingbei raised his head while holding a rib in his mouth, stretched out his chopsticks to pull off the bone, and swallowed the meat in a few bites: "Her mother-in-law? Big brother, you are wrong!" Every week, he can eat all kinds of snacks bribed by his future brother-in-law, and occasionally have exquisite meals at home. Mingbei has become Xi Junjie's number one fan: "This is made by Xi Junjie. Oh, you don't know, his cooking skills are very good, and the dishes he makes are better than the state banquet."
Mingnan burst out laughing: "You talk as if you've been to a state banquet."
Mingbei raised his head unconvinced: "Even if I haven't eaten it, I can imagine that it is definitely not as delicious as this."
"This dish was actually made by my future uncle-in-law?" Roubao's chopsticks were suspended in the air, and his expression was very conflicted: "Is it so difficult to find a wife in the capital now? Not only does she have to be good-looking, but she also has to be able to cook?"
Zhenzhen's big eyes curved up with laughter: "So, Roubao, you have to study hard after you finish the college entrance examination, otherwise no girls will be interested in you in college."
"Ah, I learned it last winter." Roubao stuffed a mouthful of twice-cooked pork into his mouth with some worry: "But my mom said that the potato shreds I cut were thicker than my fingers, and my fingers were as clumsy as toes. I'm not cut out for that at all."
"Then you're done." Mingbei laughed mischievously: "It's hard to woo girls in the capital. If you don't have a special skill or something, then it's definitely not going to work."
"I've decided to apply to a university in Bingcheng." Roubao looked at Mingnan expectantly: "Uncle San, what do you think?"
Mingnan glanced at him with a smile: "Girls in our Ice City are never easy to pursue."
Roubao looked desperate: "It's over, Dad. Why don't we go back to Anbei and find a wife?"
Mingdong was so angry that he laughed: "Do you have anything else in your mind besides finding a wife? I tell you, if you can't get into a university in the capital next year, I'll show you how I'll deal with you."
Roubao suddenly became listless, and ate three bowls of rice before he regained his spirits: "I just thought about it, it's not bad to apply to a university in the capital, at least I can have the opportunity to eat the food cooked by my uncle." Then he stood up: "Grandma, grandpa, grandma, eat slowly, I want to go back to my room to read."
"Go ahead." Old Mrs. Li looked at him with a smile: "You haven't had a good rest on the train these days, don't stay up too late."
"Hey!" Roubao responded, and then said something to everyone present before leaving. Roubao returned to his room and opened his textbook. The playful and smiling face he had with Zhenzhen during the day disappeared. His face became very serious and earnest, and he soon immersed himself in the book.
Zhenzhen regained consciousness and asked Mingdong with a smile: "Roubao, are you studying seriously?"
"He's a good student and willing to work hard. He gets up at five in the morning to memorize the text, but he's a little careless when doing the test. He didn't get first place in several exams because of his carelessness." Mingdong said, "But you know the level of our school. It's not as good as the capital. When I took the college entrance examination, it wasn't as difficult as it is now. If you have time these days, you can help him with his homework."
As her own nephew was at this critical period, Zhenzhen agreed immediately and even planned to give him a test paper tomorrow to get a feel for his performance so that she could give him targeted tutoring.
Zhenzhen is a man of action. After dinner, she returned to the house and worked until midnight with the desk lamp on to finish a set of papers. She glanced at Roubao's yard and saw that the lights were still on. She could still see Roubao studying from the window. Zhenzhen put on her cotton-padded jacket and went to the kitchen to heat up the leftover beef stew and steamed buns from the evening before and brought them to Roubao.
"Rou Bao, you haven't slept yet?" Zhen Zhen knocked on the door and asked softly. Rou Bao rubbed his eyes and stood up. When he opened the door and saw the midnight snack Zhen Zhen brought, he smiled immediately: "My aunt is so nice. She knew I was hungry and helped me heat up the food."
After putting the food on the table, Zhenzhen took out a stack of white paper from her bosom and handed it to him with a smile: "Is there something better for you?"
"What?" Roubao asked vaguely while chewing a steamed bun in his mouth. He reached out to take it and immediately saw the word "mathematics". He was so scared that the steamed bun in his mouth got stuck in his throat, choking and looking desperate.
Zhenzhen reached out to help him take a picture of the steamed bun, and kindly flipped through the papers at the back for him: "There are also Chinese, physics, chemistry and so on. You should do your best. I will mark your papers when I get up at noon."
Roubao looked at the clock on the wall. It was already half past twelve. He then looked at the thick test paper in his hand. He was suddenly confused: "You want to sleep until noon? How can I finish so many questions before noon?"
"Are you moved by the test paper I made?" Zhenzhen smiled and looked at him: "Don't worry, this kind of test paper will appear frequently in the future. By the way, I heard from your dad that you often made mistakes in previous exams because of carelessness. If such a problem appears in my test paper, you will be hung upside down on a tree and do 100 sit-ups for each wrong question."
The steamed bun in Roubao's mouth fell into the bowl of beef stew. Zhenzhen stood up and patted his shoulder: "Enjoy your midnight snack, young man. You may not have such a good appetite starting tomorrow."
Roubao looked at Zhenzhen with a sad face: "Well, I think you should give Doubao a set of questions as well. He is only in the first year of high school and he ranked tenth. This is unbearable."
Zhenzhen glanced at him with a half-smile: "Don't worry, after you are freed, his good days will come."
Seeing that Roubao had turned his grief and anger into appetite, Zhenzhen happily went back to her room to sleep.
Since the holiday, Zhenzhen rarely stayed up late. Although she didn't sleep until noon the next morning, she got up around ten o'clock. After stretching, Zhenzhen felt comfortable all over. She scanned the area with her mind and saw Roubao writing furiously at the table, Doubao helping the two sons of Mingnan to do homework, Tangbao accompanying Old Lady Li to pick beans, and Mingbei and his wife coaxing Noodles to build blocks.
Seeing that there was nothing to do outside, Zhenzhen simply did not go out. She flashed into the space, cooked a bowl of noodles with the chicken soup in the space, and then adjusted the temperature of the space to 28 degrees. She wore pajamas and half-reclined on the rocking chair in the sun to memorize words. It was not until noon that Tangbao came to call Zhenzhen to have lunch, and Zhenzhen flashed back to bed.
Zhenzhen is not the kind of child who likes to be lazy. No one would say anything about her occasionally sleeping in. After lunch, Zhenzhen went to Roubao's house to look at the test paper. Her basics were solid, but Roubao fell for two questions with traps. When Zhenzhen highlighted the key points on the questions with a red pen, Roubao's face turned green. Before doing the questions, he reminded himself again and again to read the questions carefully, but he forgot when he was anxious.
"You blame yourself for not learning from your mistakes, right?" Zhenzhen looked at Roubao with a smile, "It's okay, you'll remember it after you finish doing the sit-ups." Zhenzhen already knew the answers when she was giving the questions, so she graded all the papers in less than an hour, "I got five questions wrong because I didn't know how to answer them. The others are not covered here. How many days do you plan to take to finish 500 sit-ups?"
"Five days?" Roubao looked at her with a sad face.
"Okay." Zhenzhen agreed readily, "Anyway, we'll take the next test in five days."
*****
Tomorrow is Xi Junjie's grandmother's birthday. Xi Junjie wanted to discuss the time of going out with Zhenzhen, but as soon as he entered the gate, Mingbei took him to the garden mysteriously.
The thinnest tree in the garden was a hundred years old, and each one was extremely tall. Xi Junjie was just wondering why Ming Bei had brought him here in the middle of winter when he heard a trembling voice shouting, "Fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty..."
Following the sound, Xi Junjie saw Zhenzhen sitting on a tall tree. There was a person hanging upside down on a thick branch next to her, doing sit-ups and counting while crying and wailing.
Xi Junjie was so scared that his face turned green. He hugged the tree and tilted his neck and shouted, "Zhenzhen, come down quickly. Falling down is no joke."
The meat bun hanging on the tree was about to cry: "Uncle-in-law, what are you looking at? Didn't you notice that I'm the one who's likely to fall?"
Although he didn't recognize who was hanging on the tree, the words "little uncle" made Xi Junjie feel refreshed: "Then be careful when you do sit-ups, and don't fall down."
Roubao couldn't help but almost cried because of Xi Junjie's words. Zhenzhen sat on the tree and laughed. She insisted on waiting until Roubao finished 100 before she reached out and pulled him up. Seeing the aunt and nephew doing such dangerous actions on a tree three or four meters high, Xi Junjie suddenly felt that his soul was about to fly away.
After climbing down for a while while holding onto the tree trunk, and seeing that she was less than two meters away from the ground, Zhenzhen flipped over easily, flipped down from the tree, and landed in front of Xi Junjie, so lightly that there was no sound at all.
Turning around, Zhen Zhen found Xi Junjie's face pale and realized that she might have scared him. She smiled and held Xi Junjie's hand and shook it gently: "You know my hometown is on the side of the mountain. I have been climbing up and down like this since I was a child. In fact, this is not dangerous for me at all."
Xi Junjie stretched out his hand and pulled Zhenzhen into his arms, hugging her tightly: "But I feel like I'm going to fall when I look at you."
Feeling that Xi Junjie's body was actually trembling with fear, Zhenzhen hugged his back and rubbed her little face in his arms: "It's okay, it's okay."
Roubao was still panting as he climbed down. When he finally touched the ground, he turned around and saw two people hugging each other tightly. He was so scared that his legs went weak and he sat down under the tree.
Mingbei shook his head and pulled him up: "It's only been a few years, and your legs are weak after doing a hundred sit-ups? You really lack exercise."
"I was scared by them." Roubao pointed at Zhenzhen and didn't dare to speak loudly: "Aren't they afraid that my grandfather would see them and break their legs?"
Mingbei touched his chin and said very pertinently: "Your aunt is fine, but as for Xi Junjie, it's hard to say."
As soon as he finished speaking, the two saw Zhenzhen suddenly raised her head and hugged Xi Junjie's neck. Seeing this familiar posture, Mingbei instantly understood what Zhenzhen wanted to do. He covered Roubao's eyes tightly and nervously opened his eyes wide to watch the two's subsequent actions.
Fortunately, Zhen Zhen was considerate of the people around, so she only gave Xi Junjie a light kiss on the mouth and then let go: "Do you feel your soul coming back now?"
Without waiting for Xi Junjie to answer, Mingbei snorted and laughed bitterly: "You two's souls have returned, but you scared my soul away."
Roubao hurriedly pulled Mingbei's hands off his eyes, and looked at the three people with different expressions, feeling a little confused.
***
On the 80th birthday of Xi Junjie's grandmother, Zhenzhen wore a knee-length woolen skirt and a woolen coat that reached her calves. Because there were no leggings in that era, Zhenzhen could only wear leggings as a base, and paired them with a pair of small leather boots that reached her wrists from the store. This outfit is not only not outdated now, but also in the future.
The birthday gift that Zhenzhen prepared for Xi's grandmother was a painting of "Turtle, Crane and Peony" that she painted herself, as well as a hundred-year-old ginseng and a hundred-year-old Ganoderma lucidum, all of which are good things for birthday celebrations.
The car stopped at Zhenzhen's doorstep at nine o'clock. Zhenzhen held the painting in one hand and the box of ginseng in the other. Mingbei helped her move out the Ganoderma lucidum wrapped in red cloth.
This Ganoderma lucidum was specially cultivated by Zhenzhen when she returned to Beicha Mountain. She first found a Ganoderma lucidum as big as a fist and covered it with a round mold engraved with the word "longevity". This instantly ripened and grew larger until the mold was full and it stopped growing. When she took off the mold, the word "longevity" was still too clear and obvious, so Zhenzhen pulled the Ganoderma lucidum bigger. Not only did the patterns look more natural, but the word "longevity" also looked like it was formed naturally.
Xi Junjie helped Zhenzhen pack her things, and then helped Zhenzhen into the car.
The imperial capital of this era was not as big as that of later generations, especially for families with some status, basically they did not live very far away. The car drove for about ten minutes and arrived at the gate of a courtyard. Looking at the several cars parked at the gate and the faint voices coming from inside, it can be guessed that many people have come.
As if he was afraid that Zhenzhen would be nervous, Xi Junjie pinched her fingers when he helped her out of the car and said softly, "Don't worry, I'll take care of everything."
The author has something to say: I went out at 7:30 in the morning to take my child to register. I saw both Chinese and Western doctors and took X-rays. It was viral bronchitis. I hope it will get better soon. When the seasons change, I feel particularly exhausted~~~Good night~~ (I will correct the typos tomorrow morning)