Mei Fang, the other two and Guo Yun were chatting enthusiastically about the project plan for the new game. Before they knew it, it was almost evening. Mei Fang turned on her phone and saw a missed call from Liu Xiaoyu. She and Xiang Bingbing had already taken a bus back after shopping.
"That's it for today... We promised our family that we would go home for dinner today, so we won't have dinner together."
"Ah... It's okay. I don't eat that fast at night."
Guo Yun exchanged a few more pleasantries with Mei Fang. Even though Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi were behind Mei Fang, she was not at all nervous. It can be seen that she is now much more confident than before.
The four of them said goodbye at the entrance of the shopping mall. Mei Fang stopped a taxi at the intersection and went straight home.
Because Youxi gets carsick very easily, Mei Fang and Xia Yuan agreed that they should try to make Youxi as comfortable as possible on future long-distance trips.
"There are new projects to develop, new music to write, and midterm exams to prepare for. I don't think you will sign up for any events in the sports meet? This schedule is really packed."
Xia Yuan stretched out his body and made a pleasant meowing sound. "I'll have a good rest today. I'll start doing homework and preparing for the exam tomorrow."
"We still have a long time today, so we can study in the evening, right?"
Lin Youxi smiled and said, "Even if you choose to major in liberal arts in the future, it would be good to learn a little physics, right? It won't do you any harm."
"Uh-uh-"
Xia Yuan nodded hesitantly, "I, I know! Class monitor Youxi is really strict."
It is already late October. During the National Day, everyone was still wearing short sleeves and short skirts, but within half a month they started wearing autumn clothes.
The three of them were walking on the way back to the community at night. The cold wind was blowing, and the chill was blowing in their faces. Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi both used Mei Fang as a human shield and pushed him forward.
Although it was very cold outside, I felt inexplicably warm when I returned home.
Liang Meijuan had already prepared dinner. After everyone washed their hands, they started to eat. Lin Youxi told Liang Meijuan about her experience at the intersection today. She served soup to the three little ones while listening to Lin Youxi talk.
"Is the buffet really all you can eat? It sounds great. But if I secretly take some food back, won't the restaurant lose a lot of money?"
"Haha, Aunt Liang, it's not as easy as you think. There are surveillance cameras, and it's usually hard to bring people with you. I feel the quality of the buffet dishes is average, but they are really filling. There's a girl in Fang's class who eats a lot..."
Everyone was talking happily at the dinner table. Liang Meijuan clapped her hands and said, "By the way... the weather has turned cold recently, so we don't need to take baths so often. Let's start sponging baths today. I just bought some mugwort leaves today. When the time comes, soak your feet in them. It can drive away the cold and is very good for your body."
"Yeah! Got it, Aunt Liang."
After dinner, everyone was very self-disciplined and did their homework and read together in the living room. Liang Meijuan did not watch TV in order not to disturb them. She just brought over some fruits occasionally and then took a nap on the sofa in the living room.
Around nine o'clock, Liang Meijuan woke up and the three little ones had almost finished their homework. After asking them if they were almost done with their studies, she started to boil water for them to soak their feet.
Different from the habit of bathing every day in the south and infrequently in some northern regions, people in Chubei Province are accustomed to bathing every day in spring and summer, and once a week in autumn and winter. At other times, they end the day's washing with a sponge bath. After bathing, underwear is changed every day to keep it clean and tidy.
The process of sponge bath generally has four conventional steps: washing face, hands, washing buttocks (changing towels at this time) and soaking feet.
Foot soaking is the most sacred part of the four steps, and it is also a pleasure that is almost impossible to enjoy while taking a bath standing up.
The three of them completed the three preliminary tasks one after another. Mei Fang finally came out of the bathroom carrying a foot basin and saw Liang Meijuan pouring boiling water into Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi's foot basins.
Crash—
Hot rising steam gushed out from the foot basin in front of the two people, and the mugwort steam fumigated Xia Yuan's eyes, making her feel very comfortable.
Xia Yuan put his feet on the edge of the basin and glanced at Lin Youxi, who also did not move his feet.
"Yes, the water in your basin must be cold. Why don't you try the water temperature?"
Lin Youxi shook her head. "I'll wait a little longer."
"You're so afraid of burning your feet. They won't be steamed."
Mei Fang sat down next to Lin Youxi with a foot basin in her hand and said to Xia Yuan with great interest, "When I was in elementary school, Youxi stayed overnight at our house once. I remember it was a very cold winter. My mother wanted her to soak her feet, but she refused to do so because she was afraid of getting burned. In the end, she stepped on my feet to put them in, and it burned me badly."
"You guys actually soaked your feet together when you were kids! Wouldn't that be dirty? And you could get something contagious, um, I mean... that... is..."
"Uh, it's okay! We used to soak our feet together when we were little. Children's feet are small, and the footbath in my house was very big, so we used to wash our feet together."
"Come to think of it, Xiaoya used to love soaking her feet with me, but she was completely the opposite of Youxi. She put her feet in first and lied to me that the water wasn't hot at all, but it ended up scalding me so much that I cried..."
Although she was a troublesome sister, Mei Fang hadn't seen her for almost half a year and missed her a little bit.
At this time, Liang Meijuan came over with a kettle and added mugwort leaves and boiling water to Mei Fang.
"You are living in a good time now. It was very difficult for us to soak our feet in the past. We had to wait for the coal-fired kettle to boil. Everyone rushed to use the footbath first, and in the end, everyone soaked their feet together."
Liang Meijuan walked up to Lin Youxi, squatted down and tested the water temperature.
"It's almost cold, Youxi, why aren't you soaking it yet?"
"I... go slower." Lin Youxi pursed her lips.
Mei Fang was laughing at Lin Youxi's reserved expression, and was glared at by Lin Youxi.
"It's okay, it's not hot at all. How could your Aunt Meijuan lie to you? You always have cold hands and feet, so you should soak your feet more often to help your blood flow smoothly... Come on, don't be afraid."
Liang Meijuan forced Lin Youxi's feet into the foot bath basin.
Then Mei Fang and Xia Yuan saw Lin Youxi’s face turn red.
She probably wanted to scream "It's hot!", but she didn't want to embarrass herself by acting like a child in front of Liang Meijuan, so she could only purse her lips and endure it silently.
"Look... it's not hot at all, right?"
Lin Youxi nodded with a red face, but kept her head down.
After Liang Meijuan stuffed Lin Youxi in, she went to Xia Yuan again.
"I'll let it go, I'll let it go, I'll let it go right away."
Xia Yuan was also laughing at Youxi at first. She didn't have many opportunities to soak her feet on weekdays, but she actually quite liked it.
I'll test the water temperature first...
Xia Yuan stretched out his little legs and gently tapped the hot water surface.
"It's hot, hot, hot... Wait a moment longer."
"It's not as hot as you say. How can I soak my feet if it's not hot?"
Liang Meijuan and Xia Yuan were already very familiar with each other. Seeing that she was as resistant as Youxi, they just joined in.
"Oh, hot, hot, hot..."
Xia Yuan struggled for a few times before finally settling down to soak her feet.
"Haha, it turns out Yuanyuan is afraid of heat too."
Mei Fang was laughing at Xia Yuan's incompetence. Lin Youxi, who was standing by, had been enduring him for a long time. When Mei Fang didn't react, she kicked him in the foot.
Because Mei Fang's foot basin was just filled with boiling water and it wasn't cold yet, he screamed in pain after stepping in. Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi looked at his embarrassed look and immediately laughed out loud.
(End of this chapter)