After experiencing a series of events, Lin Youxi was finally willing to have a good talk with her father about remarrying. Although Youxi still could not accept calling Aunt Liang "Mom", she still supported her father and Aunt Liang being together.
After getting their daughter's consent, Lin's father and Aunt Liang got their marriage certificate in the spring of 2009. They set up a sumptuous banquet at home and invited Mei Fang and Xia Yuan's families to have dinner together. Even Xia Xun and Teacher Yu, who usually did not communicate much with Lin's father, came to participate.
This was the first complete meeting of the three families. Six adults and four children sat around a table to eat. As the host, Lin Youxi was very busy that day, serving tea and water and setting the table. Her house had always been deserted since she could remember. Even she always went to Mei Fang's house for dinner. This was the first time it was so lively.
It was a rare sight for Mei Fang to see Yuanyuan's father Xia Xun interacting with ordinary people. He seemed very approachable and praised Aunt Liang's cooking skills.
"Sister Liang, your cooking skills are really good. They are almost as good as the chef of the hotel I used to run."
"Thank you, Yuanyuan's father. It's not just my achievement. Youxi also helped me cook a few dishes... like this braised eggplant, which was actually made by her."
"Youxi, are you so amazing? It turns out that you are not only an excellent student, but also a great cook."
Lin Youxi seemed very embarrassed by Xia Xun's praise, "Actually, I learned the craft from Aunt Mei, and Aunt Liang also taught me later..."
Lin Youxi's gaze finally fell on Xia Yuan, who was looking at her with her chin in her hand. "Actually, Yuanyuan is also very good at cooking!"
"Youxi, please stop insulting me!"
Xia Yuan shook her head helplessly, "The most I can do is better than Ah Fang and my mom's cooking... There's nothing else to it."
Teacher Yu likes to cook some fancy dishes, but they never taste very good. Now she is outdone by the two mothers and scolded by her daughter, and she feels a little embarrassed.
"How can you say this about your mother?"
"That's right, Yuanyuan, you weren't like this before. You always said that you liked the food your mother cooked the best, didn't you?"
"That's only limited to a few types of cola chicken wings! And Dad, you used to run a hotel, so you know best whether Mom's cooking is delicious or not. Only Dad would say something like this because he dotes on Mom."
"Hahaha… "
The adults burst into laughter because of Xia Yuan's speech. Mei Lijun laughed the most exaggerated and silly, and then he was pinched hard by his wife Xiang Xiaoxia.
Mei Fang listened to the adults chatting and eating melons while eating his meal in silence, allowing his sister Mei Ya to take the fried chicken leg from his bowl and scoop the vegetables and tofu he didn't want to eat into her bowl.
Through the fragmentary conversation information of the adults and some situations told by Youxi, Mei Fang learned that this aunt named Liang Meijuan had an unhappy marriage. Because of the infertility caused by miscarriage, she suffered bullying in her ex-husband's home. Later, because her husband had an affair, she finally couldn't bear it and chose to leave the house.
Although she has experienced hardships in life, she still faces life with a smile. Aunt Liang gives people a very gentle and considerate feeling.
She doesn't talk much normally, but she is always caring and concerned about Lin Youxi.
However, according to Youxi, she would also maintain a subtle distance from Lin Youxi.
For example, she would never enter Lin Youxi's room or touch her things without her permission. The early family photo of Youxi and her parents is still hanging in the middle of the living room. She would never easily move things related to Youxi's mother, and she was very careful even when cleaning them.
It was in this process of maintaining distance but respecting each other that Lin Youxi and Liang Meijuan gradually began to chat and became familiar with each other.
After becoming a family with Lin Youxi, she also started riding the electric bike that Lin Youxi had given to her father before. Because she worked in the logistics store of Baimei No. 1 Middle School, and Baimei No. 1 Middle School and Experimental Middle School were not far apart, she would ride her bike to take Lin Youxi to school in the morning and then go to work.
Such warm and ordinary days continued like this.
The ice and snow have melted, and spring has arrived. Small central cities like Baimei County have barely had time to enjoy the warm days before the sound of cicadas has begun to echo with the gradually rising temperature.
This is a season when the song "I Caught a Cold in That Corner" is sung. Female students consider owning a Bubugao I6 blue and white porcelain music phone as the happiest thing, which shows that they are at the forefront of fashion trends and have outstanding taste.
The boys used their mobile phones to download the last series of games developed by Java on Symbian keypad phones. At the intersection of the 2G and 3G eras, mobile games of this generation relied on data traffic fees and SMS payments to make profits, and the mainstream games on the market were independent stand-alone works with very little content.
Girls are keen on taking photos, recording videos, listening to music, watching dramas, and reading comics. Mobile Penguin allows them to save on text messaging costs and call their sisters to go shopping together anytime and anywhere.
However, the three protagonists of our story seem to be out of touch with this fast-changing and evolving world. They are still accustomed to meeting each other by visiting each other.
What Mei Fang is worried about these days is Xia Yuan's birthday gift.
He promised Xia Yuan that he would give her a special birthday gift this year.
Xia Yuan's family has very strict tutoring. She and her mother agreed that she could not touch the phone until she was in high school, so Mei Fang had no choice but to give up the idea of giving Xia Yuan blue and white porcelain.
As for electronic products such as MP3, MP4 and digital cameras, Yuanyuan, who is rich, has everything she needs, so she may not necessarily accept them.
But if it was accessories, dolls, mugs or other things that girls liked, Mei Fang and Lin Youxi would have given them over and over again in the past few years.
"So, Ah Fang, you haven't decided what gift to give to Yuanyuan yet?"
"If it were that simple, do you think I would have such an expression?" Mei Fang held his chin with his hand and looked helplessly at Lin Youxi who was stretching. "So, Youxi, what is the gift you gave me?"
Lin Youxi smiled slightly, took off the cuffs of her sleeves, and showed her bracelet to Mei Fang.
"Look, it's this."
Lin Youxi showed Mei Fang a shiny bracelet.
"A bracelet again? You must have given each other many bracelets, right? But why are you wearing the gift you gave to Yuanyuan?"
“Hehe.”
Lin Youxi smiled slightly, "I gave you a pair of bracelets."
"A couple?"
Lin Youxi showed Mei Fang the word "缘" engraved on the silver heart-shaped ornament on the bracelet, and Mei Fang suddenly realized:
"Does Yuanyuan have a bracelet with your name engraved on it?"
"Correct." Lin Youxi nodded.
"Girls are so nice, Yuan Xi is by my side... This birthday gift you gave me is really meaningful."
Mei Fang nodded. "Did you ask the owner of a boutique to customize this bracelet? Which store is it? It's so awesome."
Lin Youxi immediately cast a disdainful look at Mei Fang, "You don't want to give Yuanyuan a bracelet just like this, do you?"
"Isn't it possible?" Mei Fang narrowed his eyes and smiled slightly.
"Of course not!"
Lin Youxi pinched Mei Fang angrily, "Yuanyuan will blame me for teaching you how to do things... Figure it out for yourself!"
(End of this chapter)