Chapter 7: Youth Begins When I Met You

  Cecilia had read many stories about time-traveling, where the unlucky or lucky female lead would inadvertently cross over thousands of years and meet her destined prince. She loved this type of storyline, just like how she enjoyed returning to her place after finishing work in the lab, mixing strong whiskey with black beer, drinking while leaning on the sofa watching soap operas - of course, accompanied by sleeping pills.

  In Sito's view, those exaggerated and unbelievable plots were not meant to be believed in the first place. Their sole purpose was to add a few touches of self-entertaining fantasy color to the otherwise dull reality.

  However, Situ Xin was not interested in falling back to a certain dynasty. She loved modern civilization so much that she felt unable to live without electricity. In her girlhood, she often thought that if one could really travel through time and space, she only hoped to sneak into the future to see who she would hold hands with when she grew up. Later, such fantasies also collapsed, because in the darkest days of her life, she closed her eyes, hoping to skip that period of time and avoid sadness. However, every time she woke up, opened her eyes, and it was dawn, everything remained the same, and she had never escaped from what she should face. If there really is a god who dominates time and space and fate in the underworld, then this god ignored the sincere prayers of a girl at that time, so it can be seen that she really didn't have that fate. So she turned to think that if she couldn't go to the future, going back to the past would also be good.

  If she could go back in time, what would she do?

  Perhaps she should go tell Siu Yuk-yin, who bit her teeth and still tasted the salty taste of tears back then, to remember that he will also have this day.

  Perhaps she should have been with Sito Yan on the day he left home, so that when he stood alone at the airport with his luggage, he wouldn't look so lost and lonely. When Sito Yan casually threw his phone into a trash can in the waiting room and took one last look back at the road they came from, she could have comforted him: You don't need to spend your whole life getting over this, it will all be over soon, maybe just a few years.

  Or perhaps she should have gone back to the beginning, before it was too late, and told the naive Xīu Yuè: "Stay far away from that person, whatever you do, don't fall in love with him."

  But if fate has its own trajectory, isn't the greatest fortune and source of all courage that the ending cannot be foreseen at the beginning?

  Let's take a look at what Shi Tu Xuan and Yao Qi Yun originally looked like.

  At that time, Situ Xuan was actually a child who was quite late in terms of psychological development. Perhaps all children who grew up in happy families and under the care of their parents were like this. At the age of 15, she had just entered high school, and girls of the same age were infatuated with Japanese idol dramas and comics to the point of madness. From then on, her classmate Mei Mei had secretly started dating her first boyfriend, while Situ Xuan was still as carefree as when she was a child, playing and having fun, completely unaware of the confusion and distress that came with adolescence.

  She also liked the "River of Red" from Mei Mei, and the popular "Tokyo Love Story" which she watched every episode, but for her, once she's seen it, it's just something that's been seen, those were other people's stories, not even worth sighing about. The boys' favorite "Dragon Ball" and "City Hunter" she also devoured. Walking on campus or on the street, the glances from boys with acne she wasn't completely unaware of, but just found it amusing.

  Wu Jiang still hung out with her every day, just like when they were kids. They lived close to each other and their moms worked in the same hospital pharmacy. Their dads had similar jobs, one running a small business and the other working as a minor official. In the sweltering summer weather, they would often sit under the shade of a tree not far from either of their homes, dropping their backpacks on the ground, each eating half of a watermelon, leaning against each other with no care for appearances, while cicadas lazily buzzed above their heads.

  Wu Jiang always made excuses to stick watermelon seeds on her face, then praised her saying: "Situ, your freckles look better when they're bigger." Or "Wow, you've grown a mole and now you look like a matchmaker."

  Situ Xuan's reaction was usually to wipe his face and kick Wu Jiang to the ground with one foot.

  Two people bickered and made physical contact, but neither of them felt embarrassed. As for romance, she had the same longing as all girls, but she always thought it was a very distant thing.

  It can be said that Situ Xuan's entire childhood and half of his youth were carefree, sliding through the calendar until he met Yao Qiyun. If youth is represented by worries, troubles, suspicions, and inexplicable melancholy, then it can be said that Yao Qiyun's appearance marked the beginning of Situ Xuan's youth, although this beginning had nothing to do with love.

  The day Yao Qiyun was brought before her, the usually healthy and lively Situ Xuan received her first period in a strange way. In the past, she had never worried about this aspect, and every month those few days were safe and sound, without any illness, and if it weren't for her mother Xue Shaoping constantly reminding her, she wouldn't even need to ask for leave from physical education class because of this. But this time, starting from the morning when she woke up and found that a small piece of the bed sheet was stained, she felt a cold pain in her lower abdomen, her waist and back hurt, her legs cramped, and her forehead was covered in sweat, she thought she was going to die, but her mother, who was a pharmacist, just calmly handed her a packet of angelica and white phoenix pills.

  Later, Situ Xuan also thought that although she didn't get along with Yao Qiyun, adding this crime to his head might be slightly "unfair". However, after careful consideration, she realized that this issue was not entirely unrelated to him. At least because of him, the night before her painful experience, she hadn't slept well, as her loving and beautiful parents had rarely closed their door to quarrel all night.

  It all started with a decision announced by Situ Ji'an at the dinner table the day before yesterday.

  Situ Jiu'an is a businessman, one of the earliest entrepreneurs in the pharmaceutical industry after reform and opening up, and he has also gained a lot. However, apart from this identity, what he can't forget more is his military background. As his only daughter, Situ Yue has long been familiar with her father's stories about his hardships and struggles. He was a poor child who joined the army at 17 from his hometown in the mountains, relying on his intelligence and hard work to become a regimental officer after many years of service, before retiring honorably. With great pride, he refused the local government's offer of a mediocre job, and with his retirement benefits, he started his own business from scratch, married Xue Shaoping, an educated city woman, and had Situ Yue, a typical city girl.

  Situ Xuan later indulged in the "global Chinese online home" of Tianya, reading countless posts, and finally determined that her old father was a genuine phoenix man. Fortunately, Phoenix Man Situ Jiu'an's family had fewer people, which reduced many conflicts in this regard, and his relationship with his wife had always been good. The only thing that made his wife and daughter slightly unbearable was his nostalgia for "comrades-in-arms".

  To say that Jiǔ'ān had been in the military for many years, but he hadn't even fought a decent battle. However, his fellow soldiers and subordinates weighed heavily on his mind. Among his retired colleagues, he didn't mix too badly, so whenever his comrades were in trouble, before they could even open their mouths, he would enthusiastically extend a helping hand.

  For many years, even Situ Xin didn't remember how many of Dad's "comrade uncles" had come to their home, and how many times they had helped out Dad's old friends financially or with material support. The Jiu'an Hall had also taken in many of Dad's former subordinates since its establishment. Fortunately, Mom Xue Shaoping was not a petty woman; she understood her husband and usually didn't mind, only occasionally mentioning it when she really couldn't bear it anymore. Situ Xin, who had been taught by his parents to value relationships and be generous with money, also didn't take these things to heart, which is why they were able to avoid many conflicts.

  However, the real contradiction arose when Sutu Jianan heavily mentioned his best friend and subordinate during his military service at the dinner table that day. This subordinate was an honest man, in Sutu Jianan's words, who said little but did a lot, and was a good soldier. However, such people may not be valued in the equally complex small society of the military camp. Under Sutu Jianan's promotion, he finally mixed to deputy platoon leader, but still retired from the army, assigned to a small factory with poor efficiency, and eventually closed down, so he returned to his hometown to farm, married and had children, and lived a very difficult life.

  This has always been a source of regret for Sutu Jiu'an, who felt that his good friend had not achieved a better future and that he himself was also responsible. So he always wanted to provide some financial help to this friend. However, this friend surnamed Yao had a strong personality (later summarized by Sutu Jiu as having a stubborn and eccentric temperament inherited from his ancestors, deeply rooted and difficult to change). When Sutu Jiu'an went to visit him, he was welcomed, but no matter how hard he tried to give him money, he refused to accept it, even though his family's life in the countryside had become so impoverished that it was heartbreaking.

  After Ji'nan Hall gradually developed, Situ Ji'an invited him to join the company several times, but this friend refused again. He said he knew that he had no talent for doing business and socializing, and was unwilling to drag down Situ Ji'an's legs and increase others' burdens. He only excelled at farming, and was willing to live a simple life in poverty his whole life.

  Originally, it was just a matter of acknowledging it, each person has their own fate, and there's nothing that can be done about it. However, the long-term hardship and poor living environment had taken a toll on Sutu Jiuan's friend with the surname Yao, whose health had been deteriorating day by day. At first, he tried to endure the discomfort, but after his son found out and repeatedly urged him to go to the hospital in town for a check-up, it was already too late - he had terminal liver cancer and was beyond help. By the time Sutu Jiuan called as usual to "catch up", his friend's family, which was already struggling to make ends meet, had been forced to sell all their belongings due to the illness that was doomed from the start, leaving them with nothing. His wife could no longer bear the life and left, claiming she was going out to work, but her whereabouts were unknown. Only one son remained, dropping out of school to stay by his father's bedside every day.

  At that time, Situ Jiu'an contacted the best cancer hospital in the city and made up his mind to bring out his old comrade-in-arms for the best treatment. As a result, he was still one step late and only managed to see off his friend on his last journey. He was heartbroken and regretful, and didn't smile for a long time. Xue Shaoping consoled him several times, and Situ Yue didn't dare to make trouble in front of her father during that period. On this day, Situ Jiu'an seemed to be in high spirits at the dinner table, which was the first time since his old friend's death. At first, Situ Yue and her mother thought he had finally gotten over it, and they felt relieved. But unexpectedly, he proposed to bring out the orphan left behind by his old friend from the countryside and raise them himself.

  Situ Xuan listened to her father's endless talk about the boy's miserable life and his intelligent, filial, understanding, diligent and other virtues, and was so surprised that she forgot to eat. She wasn't a person without sympathy, every time her father mentioned that poor Uncle Yao, Situ Xuan also felt some sorrow, but such a life and such a person were after all too far away from her, like the stories in the newspaper, and the fact that such a tragic character would actually join her family and live with her was unthinkable.

  Xue Shaoping's reaction was even greater, she quietly listened to her husband finish speaking, until he mentioned that the school had already contacted them and would drive over tomorrow to pick up the child, only then did she understand that her husband was not discussing this with her, but rather informing her of a decision that had already been made.

  Xue Shaoping, who had always been gentle and respectful to her husband, slammed the bowl down in front of the children. She could accept that her husband had always prioritized his camaraderie with his fellow soldiers over the years, and she could also accept that he was depressed after a good friend's passing, thinking that a good man should be like this. However, Si Tu Jiu'an disregarded her feelings as a wife, and without any discussion, decided to bring someone else's child home to raise, no matter how good or pitiful the child was, which made her extremely angry and resistant.

  Facing his wife's anger and opposition, Situ Jiu'an was both expected and helpless. Perhaps he only told his wife and daughter at the last moment because he feared their opposition would make him hesitate. On the day they bid farewell to Old Yao, the boy's silence and understanding, as well as the desperate look in his eyes, were unforgettable. From then on, Situ Jiu'an had vowed before his friend's new grave that he would raise the child like his own son and not let his old friend leave any regrets behind.

  "Do you know what it means to suddenly have an extra person at home? That child is already 16 years old, not six or six months. How are we supposed to get along with him? She's a stranger to me and my daughter. This is my home, not an orphanage!" Xue Shaoping said indignantly to Sutu Jiuan.

  At that time, Sutu Jiuan avoided his wife's sharp words and turned to Sutu Xuan, who was eating with a fork: "How can you say it's a stranger? Daughter, don't you know Uncle Yao? And that little brother, haven't you met him before?" Seeing her daughter's confused expression, Sutu Jiuan frowned: "Didn't you go to Uncle Yao's house with me? That little brother even had dinner and talked with you, how could you forget?"

  Actually, Situ Xin's expression at this moment was not nostalgia, but rather being nauseated by his father's straightforward and domineering "little brother", feeling somewhat unwell in the stomach as he struggled to adjust.

  She has watched a lot of idol dramas, Taiwanese romances, and Japanese manga. The situation she might be facing now is like a super romantic scene from TV shows or manga. A representative example is the manga "Itazura Na Kiss" by Kaoru Tada. Citu Xue can't stand Qinzi, but still quite likes Irie Naoki. When reading manga, she has thought about what if her family suddenly had an additional handsome guy of the same age, living together under the same roof every day, how tempting it is to have such thoughts.

  But, but! Such a plot is reasonable only in stories, because it's too strange when it happens in reality. Just like mom said, there's an extra stranger at home, and what's more, it's someone you see every day, which is hard for anyone to accept. Especially that "little brother" (at this point, she finally couldn't eat anymore and put down her chopsticks) completely left her no room for imagination.

  "Dad's 'Uncle Yao' she had seen, and not just once, but the first few times were all before she was ten years old. The last time they went to Uncle Yao's house wasn't recent either, it should be about two years ago when she was in her second year of junior high school, right during summer vacation. Dad took several comrades to visit Uncle Yao and insisted on bringing her along, saying it was to let her experience rural life and appreciate the privileged conditions she had now, and change her spoiled ways."

  Who knew that after following the car to the countryside, she would be like a bird released into the forest, flying around happily and freely. She was naturally lively and active, and although she had played with Wu Jiang's children in the city, her parents were always by her side, and there were few open spaces in the city, so she felt constrained. The good mountains and rivers of the countryside made her extremely happy, curious about everything, and finding everything interesting. Sutu Jiu'an was busy drinking wine and reminiscing with old friends, while Sutu Xuan formally called out to a few uncles, surnamed Zhang, Li, and Yao, but didn't pay much attention to who was who, then went off to play with the village children until that evening when she suddenly fell ill after eating something bad, vomiting and having diarrhea. When Xue Shao-ping found out, she was anxious and worried, and Sutu Jiu'an had no choice but to take her back that night, afterwards scolding her for not being able to bear a bit of hardship, saying she was too spoiled by her mother, which made Sutu Xuan feel very wronged.

  Xīu Xīn made an effort to recall that experience in the countryside, she remembered the pond not far from Uncle Yao's house, remembered the smell of roasting sweet potatoes with a few children slightly younger than her, and remembered the pheasants pecking at grains everywhere. But as for what her father said about this "little brother" with the surname Yao, she had no impression whatsoever.

  Xue Shaoping has always spoiled her daughter, so Situ Jiu'an also tries to open a gap with her daughter. Seeing that Situ Xuan didn't speak, she said: "At home you are the only child, with many relatives and brothers, isn't it good? There is someone to accompany you and take care of you, and you don't have to be outside all day."

  It was unknown to her that Ci Tu Jiu An's words were not very popular, Ci Tu Xuan liked many things, but she didn't like being controlled by others. Her parents were fine, but an "outsider" had no right to do so. She avoided her father's expectant gaze and didn't dare look at her mother's reddened eyes. In fact, she just felt strange, and the deeper anger and sadness couldn't be mentioned. What she lacked least was playmates, where would she lack one from home? Fortunately, she wasn't a person who looked for trouble, thinking to herself that whatever she said was useless, her father seemed to have already made up his mind, so why provoke him when you can avoid it?

  He hummed and hawed for a while, then lied that he was full and his stomach hurt, hastily fleeing the scene and leaving the mess behind.

  That night, Situ Xuan woke up in the middle of the night to drink water and heard her parents' room still having a faint conversation coming from it. She was curious and quietly went upstairs to check on the situation. Even though the door was closed, she could still hear the anger in her mother's deliberately lowered voice.

  Situ Xin didn't dare get too close, and only fragmented words and phrases reached her ears.

  Xue Shaoping said: "......You can say more, but it's useless. I'm not without sympathy, but even if the child's parents are gone, there must be relatives at home who can help take care of him. You can support his education without any problem, why do you have to bring him back home... Si Tujiu'an, I still don't know what you're thinking. Your mouth doesn't say it, but your heart is regretful that I gave birth to a daughter. Now you've picked up a son and want to keep him by your side like a treasure... You're just an old-fashioned person who can't change."

  Then Situ Jiu'an explained again, nothing more than responsibility and morality, or how that child understood things.

  Situ Xuan leaned against the wall by the door, feeling a bit uncomfortable in her heart. She thought that maybe her father was indeed unable to shake off the traditional Chinese notion of having sons to support him in his old age. Although he had never expressed this desire in front of her and her mother, when he used to hold her high up in his arms as a child, he would tease her by saying, "We're raising someone else's daughter-in-law, it seems like your mom and I are destined to be outsiders, and the Jiu'an Hall will eventually belong to someone else's family."

  After all these years, Situ Xin always thought it was just a joke, but now hearing her mother say this, she couldn't help feeling a bit indignant. What's so special about boys? From childhood to adulthood, in what way had she ever lost to them? Was it possible that from now on, her father would treat a boy who wasn't even his own better than his own daughter? She shook her head, worrying about unknown things was the stupidest thing to do. If the sky fell down, she still had her mother.

  She sneaked back to her room, had a restless night, and caught a chill from the thin clothes, which led to a lingering illness. Coincidentally, her aunt was visiting, so she felt uncomfortable all morning.

  Who knew things weren't over yet, just after taking the medicine her mom gave her, her dad told her before leaving the house to quickly pack up and move to the second floor, vacating her original room for "Brother Yao" who was about to arrive.

  Situ Xuan jumped up on the spot, furious and strongly protested, firmly opposed. Unfortunately, Situ Jiu'an was quite tough on this matter, and without hesitation, he rejected his daughter's protest, leaving no room for discussion, and they had to move even if they didn't want to. Situ Xuan tearfully sought help from her mother, but from her mother's silence, she saw that after a whole night of argument between her parents, perhaps some kind of consensus had been reached, at least her mother, who always prioritized family harmony and marital love, had made concessions on this matter.

  Xīu Yuè returned to her room, feeling down in the dumps. Her room was on the first floor, while her parents lived on the second floor; only these two rooms in the house were equipped with independent bathrooms. She understood that her parents wanted her to move upstairs because of that boy surnamed Yao who had just arrived and they hoped to give him a relatively independent space. Moreover, the room on the second floor was adjacent to Xīu Jiǔ ān's master bedroom; no matter what, Xīu Yuè was their biological daughter, living there would be more convenient in some ways. However, understanding is one thing, but she didn't want to move out of her room naturally had its own difficulties, and this difficulty was really not something that could be openly discussed with her parents.

  Not to mention the first-floor bedroom where she had lived for over a decade was filled with emotions and memories, that room also contained countless small mechanisms and hidden compartments known only to Situ Jing herself, hiding all sorts of things she didn't want her parents to know about. The most crucial thing was that once she moved out, her only escape route and source of joy would be cut off as well.

  There was a window in Situ Xuan's room that faced the community garden. For safety reasons, adults had installed anti-theft nets on the windows long ago. The anti-theft net was an old-fashioned structure with iron branches vertically embedded in the window frame, looking very secure. However, more than two years ago, Situ Xuan discovered that one of the iron branches had loosened due to age, and with her deliberate shaking and pulling, it could be pulled out from a certain angle. As a result, there was one less iron branch on the window, leaving an opening just big enough for Situ Xuan's slender figure to freely enter and exit like a cat.

  Since Ci Tu Xuan entered the physiological period of adolescence, Ci Tu Jiu An and his wife strictly controlled their daughter who had been accustomed to being wild since childhood. They set many rules for her, such as not allowing her to go out after 8 pm unless there was something special. After discovering the secret of the window, Ci Tu Xuan felt reborn. At first, she would do her homework at home in the evenings and when her mother knocked on the door asking if she wanted to eat something, she would get annoyed a few times, saying she was being disturbed. Later, Xue Shao Ping also stopped paying attention to her while watching TV. So as long as there was something fun outside, and Wu Jiang and others gave a slight signal from outside the window, Ci Tu Xuan would lock the door, pretend to be studying or sleeping with the lights off, and then sneak out to play, returning quietly after having enough fun.

  Although she was usually fond of playing, she also knew the limits and never dared to stay too long. Moreover, being cautious by nature, this secret had never been detected by her parents over a long period of time. Now that they have moved upstairs, away from this room and its window, living under her parents' watchful eyes, what fun is there left to speak of?

  That day happened to be a weekend, and no one in the family had to go to work or school. In order to prepare for the daily necessities of the boy who was about to arrive, Xue Shaoping seemed to have endless tasks, without any time to spare for Situ Yuan. The heavy burden of moving rooms fell on Situ Yuan's shoulders alone. She endured the pain in her waist and back, reluctantly packing up while strongly resenting the uninvited guest who had disrupted her original life trajectory. It wasn't until almost dinner time that she finally finished cleaning up. The room was now empty, and her mother had even put new sheets on the bed, ready for someone else to leave their mark on it.

  Situ Xuan still wanted to make a final silent mourning in front of that window, but Situ Jiu'an had already led a dusty figure into the house from outside. Situ Xuan stood behind her mother, welcoming the two men, big and small, listening to her father's emotional introduction for them.

  The one called "Yao Qiyun" was a sixteen-year-old boy who was both thin and tall. Due to his slender build, he appeared even more gangly, with long arms and legs. He stood there, attempting to smile, but the awkwardness and shyness that radiated from him couldn't fool anyone. The four of them returned to the dinner table, where Situ Xuan happened to be sitting across from him. She made no effort to conceal her curiosity about this intruder, ignoring her mother's subtle coughs as she brazenly sized him up.

  Yao Qiyun wore a brand new but obviously oversized tracksuit, with the large logo on it probably coming from her father's tasteless hands. Her cheeks were extremely thin and pale, with an unhealthy waxen color, and her newly cut hair had no shine to it. Apart from her slightly prominent teeth, her face wasn't ugly enough to make people avert their eyes, but the slightly deep eye sockets paired with the slightly downturned corners of her eyes made even the most delicate part of her features seem gloomy, which was precisely the trait that Xī Yáng's Sītú Yuè disliked the most.

  Under the repeated urging of Sutu Jiu'an, he finally picked up his chopsticks. The hand holding the chopsticks was dark and thin with prominent joints, and the fingernails were pale white, but there was still a faint black dirt in the nail seams.

  "Eat, Xi Yun, from now on this is your home, don't be polite." Shi Tu Jiu An frequently served dishes to Yao Qi Yun, under his gaze, Yao Qi Yun seemed embarrassed to keep her head down and eat, so for the first time at the dinner table, she stretched out her chopsticks and picked up a red braised lotus root ball that was said to be one of Xue Aunt's signature dishes.

  In the process, Si Tu's piercing gaze made him at a loss, his whole body feeling uneasy, and in his nervousness, his hands and feet didn't listen to commands. The round dumpling slipped from his chopsticks and rolled off the dinner table onto the floor.

  Yao Qiyun's face suddenly turned bright red, and he put down his chopsticks to pick it up immediately. However, Situ Ji'an pressed him down and repeatedly said, "Don't pick it up, don't worry about it, let's continue eating."

  The walnut rolled all the way under the round table and stopped at the foot of Sutu Xuan. She was afraid of stepping on it, so she quietly pulled out a paper towel to pick it up. When she bent down, she accidentally saw Yao Qiyun's feet and almost couldn't help but laugh.

  His careless old man gave Yao Qiyun a new set of equipment, but forgot to arm his feet. Yao Qiyun wore a brand new outfit that looked awkward from head to toe, but on his feet were a pair of sneakers with soles that were almost worn out, furry surfaces, and colors that could no longer be discerned.

  Perhaps sensing that Situ Xuan might see something, Yao Qiyun lightly withdrew her foot, as if this could help her escape his line of sight. Situ Xuan made a face under the table and straightened up nonchalantly; she wasn't sure if there was a hint of a smile on her face that she couldn't hide, but she knew that Yao Qiyun looked even more embarrassed beside the dinner table, not knowing where to look or put her hands and feet.

  Jiǔ ān wasn't a fool either. Although he didn't know where the problem lay, he first took his eccentric daughter to task, frowning and scolding: "Jiǔ yuè, when you eat, just eat! Where did you learn all those little tricks? What have you been taught?"

  Situ Xin felt very wronged, she admitted that she didn't have a good impression of Yao Qiyun, but had carefully put away those thoughts. She wasn't someone who looked down on the poor, and at least this boy seemed to care more about it than her.

  "Can't you tell right from wrong? Your daughter picked it up with good intentions, what's her fault? Is this how you educate your children?" Before Situ Yu could defend himself, Xue Shaoping calmly said these words. Then, she looked at Yao Qiyun who was about to bury his head in his dinner and softened her tone, saying: "Continue eating, Qiyun, don't you like the dishes I cooked?"

  Yao Qiyun shook her head like a rattle drum, "No... Auntie, really no."

  His vigorous eating made Si Tu Jue feel both awkward and pitiful, and his original small anger towards him also dissipated a bit under this pitifulness.

  "We'll get used to it eventually, we're already a family and there are still many things that need to be worked out, these are just small issues." Si Tu Jiu An patted Yao Qi Yun's shoulder. Xue Shao Ping remained silent.

  After dinner, Xue Shaoping was cleaning up in the kitchen, while Situ Yue was watching TV on the sofa on the first floor, eating an apple and watching "Baseball Hero". Yao Qiyun walked into the kitchen, seemingly wanting to help Xue Shaoping, but Xue Shaoping said no need. However, the boy's determination to wash dishes was quite firm, and during their polite refusal, they accidentally broke a plate. In the end, Xue Shaoping gave in and let him do it, herself drying her hands and supervising.

  Jiǔ ān was smoking in the living room, pacing back and forth, and started picking on Jiǔ yuē's faults, saying things like "so spoiled", "never worked hard", "doesn't love labor", "why not learn from Qi Yun", "Qi Yun is a great kid", "poor people's children grow up early"... He criticized Jiǔ yuē until he couldn't even focus on the emotional scene between Da and Xiao Nan that he had been waiting for. He could only roll his eyes and say: "He needs to show off now, how can I compete with him? You'll just say I'm not understanding again."

  "You were never one to understand things." Si Tu Jiu An was momentarily at a loss for words and could only say this.

  Who knew that Situ Xuan was not done yet, "swish" threw down the pillow and stood up, "How am I not understanding things? Is it because mom didn't let me wash dishes? Besides not washing dishes, what else did I make you worry about?"

  This is indeed true, who doesn't praise the daughter of the Situ family for being beautiful and well-behaved? Situ Xuan herself has also been making her parents proud since she was a child, never losing face in terms of moral character, physical education, or aesthetics. With this remark, Situ Ji'an seems to have realized that he had shifted his inner anxiety onto his daughter's shoulders.

  "You're better off, following Yun Duo Duo to learn more is never wrong." He's also a tough nut, no matter how much he softens up, it's only this one sentence.

  "Said Siu Yuet: 'I'm a different story from him, stop comparing me to him.' After finishing speaking, she turned her head and rushed back to her own room. When she reached the door, she suddenly remembered that this room no longer belonged to her, so she went upstairs again."