Before she could finish eating the pine nuts, there was another knock on the courtyard gate. Xu Xingyan was about to get up to open the door when the old lady pressed her down, saying, "I'll go. You just stay here and don't move. Going in and out like this, with the temperature fluctuating, you might catch a cold again."
The old lady hurried out the door and soon returned with a slightly plump middle-aged woman. "Yan Yan was just saying she was going to deliver this to you, and here you are."
Xu Xingyan stood up and called out "Auntie," then washed a cup, made some tea, and said with a smile, "I brought all the books with me; they're in the trunk. I'll take you to get them."
Then she quickly put on her down jacket and went to the parking lot in the yard, ignoring her aunt's slightly unhappy expression.
While opening the trunk, he said, "I've always been a meticulous reader since I was little, and I don't like to write or draw. This book is practically untouched. Now that I'm working, I don't have time to read it anymore. I was thinking it would be a waste to keep it on the bookshelf, but then you called."
"Also, I heard from you last time that Xiaohui's grades have slipped a bit. A friend of mine runs a tutoring center, and after hearing about the situation, he recommended a few practice books. They look pretty good. Could you give them to Xiaohui and let him try them out? If they're effective, I'll bring over a few more sets of papers."
Auntie, somewhat surprised, picked up the stack of practice questions, beaming from ear to ear. "Oh dear, I'm so embarrassed," she said, then praised the kind-smiling old lady beside her, "I've always said that among the younger generation of the Xu family, Yan Yan is the most thoughtful and caring."
"Last time, the daughter of the sixth brother next door..."
Seeing that she seemed about to launch into a long speech, Xu Xingyan wrapped her down jacket tighter around herself. The old lady, noticing the situation, quickly said, "Come on, come on, come inside and sit down. There's no rush to cook at this hour. Have a couple of cups of tea before you go home."
Despite her honest and kind appearance, Auntie Xu was stunned by the gossip she was spouting. After a series of trivial matters, including the neighbor's daughter finding a boyfriend from out of town and her family's disapproval, and Old Li's son being taken advantage of... she finally brought out today's topic.
"Yan Yan is twenty-seven this year, right? Is she dating anyone?"
Xu Xingyan snapped out of her daze and smiled, "I'm not in a hurry. My older cousins aren't married yet."
"Hey, you can't say that. Does that mean you won't date just because the others don't get married?" My aunt said, as if imparting wisdom. "You have to do what you're supposed to do at each age; no one can escape it..."
The aunt coughed lightly and said bluntly, "Auntie, why are you suddenly bringing this up? Did someone ask you to be their mediator?"
"Look at what you're saying. Even if I'm clueless, I know what it means to be a good match. What are Yan Yan's conditions like? The young men I have, let alone Yu Ming and his wife, I wouldn't even look at them myself. How could I dare to bring them out and embarrass myself?"
"A while ago, my sister-in-law's sister-in-law came over and asked me to mediate between her son and her husband. I scolded her on the spot. She doesn't even look in the mirror. She's just a project manager, but she's always looking down on people with her head held high, acting like she's inherited a throne in Europe and that she needs a princess who's a perfect match for her."
Aunt turned to complain to the old lady, and Xu Xingyan took the opportunity to pull her hand back.
The old lady seemed to be listening very attentively, and sighed, "That won't do. Nothing else matters. The key is to have a good family tradition. Yan Yan, the water bottle is almost empty. Go to the kitchen and boil some water."
"Okay," Xu Xingyan quickly replied and ran out in a few steps.
My aunt said shyly, "No need to burn any more, there's enough to drink."
Auntie: "It's alright, it's alright, pour me another cup."
...
More than an hour later.
The old lady sliced a peach and brought it upstairs.
Seeing her enter the room, Xu Xingyan, who was lying on the bed watching TV, moved aside to make room for her. "Are you leaving?"
The old lady leaned back on the pillow and sighed with relief. "They're gone. Luckily you ran fast. The second half of the story was about the son of one of her old classmates. He majored in jewelry design, graduated with a master's degree, and had been abroad. His parents are both civil servants and own several properties."
"So how did you reply?" Xu Xingyan asked, turning her head to the side.
The old lady chuckled twice, sat up straight, and pointed to the bowl of peaches. "I'm telling you, you're just like this peach pit, with a kernel inside."
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Author's Note:
When I was a child, I especially liked to crack open peach pits and take out the kernels to play with.
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Is there really such a person in Chapter 5?
After a moment of stunned silence, Xu Xingyan tilted her head and smiled, "It's fake, I don't believe it. My aunt has always been a big mouth. If you really tell her that, the whole village will know by tomorrow morning. I don't care, I can just leave early if she pushes me too far. But you can't leave. All your aunts and uncles will come to you asking all sorts of questions. You're such a shrewd person, why would you want to cause yourself that kind of trouble?"
The old lady sighed, "If your eldest and second aunts had been as smart as you when they were young, they wouldn't have been fooled by me every day without even realizing it."
"You're so smart! My dad always said you're the smartest person in our family, and he always admits he's no match for you," Xu Xingyan chuckled.
"Smooth-talking," the old lady clicked her tongue, a smile appearing on her face. "But then again, although Xiao Hui's mother was a bit annoying today, she also reminded me, why don't you ever have a boyfriend?"
"I'm not the kind of old woman who pressures people to get married or go on blind dates; that's too old-fashioned and doesn't fit my style as a former women's director. But you still have to date, right? I was scrolling through my phone the other day and saw an article on a public WeChat account that said young people can only learn how to build intimate relationships through dating, and it actually makes a lot of sense to me..."
"Wow, you really are a trendsetter! You even know how to use WeChat official accounts. I heard that Grandpa Sun next door hasn't even figured out how to use a basic mobile phone yet," Xu Xingyan exclaimed sincerely.
The old lady's eyes were practically overflowing with disdain. "Why compare me to him? It's so beneath me!"
"Also, don't change the subject! Answer the questions properly!"
Xu Xingyan covered her face and rolled around on the bed, finally saying as if she couldn't escape it any longer, "That's why I say you're smart, you guessed it right away."
"No flattery allowed..." The old lady stopped mid-sentence, then exclaimed incredulously, "There really is such a person!"
"Wait!" She sat up abruptly, bewildered, and said, "Who is he? What's going on? He doesn't like you? That's impossible. He must be insecure, or he must be blind!"
Xu Xingyan was both amused and exasperated: "Oh no, she's been studying abroad all these years and only came back to China this year. Besides... I've never told her that I like her."
"That's where you're wrong!" the old lady said angrily. "If you like someone, you can't hide it. You have to tell them clearly."
"Back in the day, your great-uncle was a well-known handsome young man in the surrounding villages. He was also educated and a sent-down youth. So many young girls secretly liked him. I was the only one who dared to go up to him and ask him to be her boyfriend. Later, people would ask him why he was with me, and he would say that he liked my straightforward and passionate personality!"
Unlike many people, the aunt rarely showed sadness when mentioning her deceased husband. They had so many beautiful memories that whenever she spoke his name again, it was always accompanied by happiness and a smile.
"So, she's coming back to Nancheng next week, and I want to find an opportunity to talk to her about it."
"A local?"
Xu Xingyan thought for a moment and said, "Not really. Her mother's family lives in Nancheng, and her father's family lives in another province. They divorced a long time ago and each has their own family. She went to high school in Nancheng and was in the same class as Luo Jing. She is a year older than me."
“That child has had a tough time,” the old lady sighed. “You know, he’s been studying abroad all these years, so he must be hardworking and ambitious.”
“Hmm,” Xu Xingyan smiled and said as if recounting her own experience, “She entered University A with the highest score in the college entrance examination, majoring in English. She started working early to earn her tuition and living expenses. Later, she completed her courses ahead of schedule. In her junior year, she went to a prestigious university in the UK as an exchange student to pursue a double degree. Then, while pursuing her master’s and doctoral degrees, she also worked part-time at a top translation company abroad.”
She paused, then continued, "Your Russian should be pretty good too."
"Wow, that's amazing!" The old lady listened for a while, then stroked Xu Xingyan's hair and exclaimed, "You really like it!"
"How can liking someone be fake?"
"I just feel a little sorry for her." The old lady looked at her. "She fell for him in high school, and it's been ten years now. How come things have been so bumpy? Our girls are all prone to being loyal to one person for a long time."
Xu Xingyan leaned over and hugged the old lady, and said with a smile, "People and paths are choices we make ourselves. If you really care about me, Auntie, I'll bring her home later. If my parents aren't happy with her, you'll have to help me."
"So confident? You haven't even confessed your feelings yet, and you already want to bring him home?" The old lady patted her grandniece's back and coaxed her like a child, "That's how you should be confident. That's what our daughter is like. She's talented and beautiful, and anyone would be worthy of her."
"Don't worry, your parents and I will definitely like the person you like. If your parents dare to have any objections, your great-aunt will be the first to deal with them!"
"I've got that in mind. When I come to collect my debt tomorrow, you can't renege on it!"
...
"Why are you packing so early? We still have to wait for Brother Zheng," Tao Jie said, rubbing her face as she looked at Lin Shengmiao.
"I won't be going with you. I already made plans with Teacher Yan yesterday to have dinner at her house."
Lin Shengmiao neatly packed up her documents and notebook, picked up her laptop bag, and draped a coat over her arm, looking ready to leave work at any moment.
“…Ah,” Tao Jie hesitated, a little shy, “but then it would just be me and Zheng Ge, that…isn’t that a bit inappropriate.”
Lin Shengmiao turned to look at her and said bluntly, "I'll say it again, I really don't want to be a third wheel anymore. Your food is so dry that I'm afraid my stomach problems will flare up if this continues."
"Oh dear, we haven't even started yet..." Tao Jie's cheeks flushed slightly, her voice trailing off, but she still insisted, "He hasn't confessed yet, we haven't even started."
"Stop talking about me," Tao Jie quickly changed the subject. "Aren't you going on vacation? Have you decided where to go? Do you want me to recommend a few vacation spots that I guarantee will make you feel relaxed?"
“No need,” Lin Shengmiao’s fingers, which were holding the laptop bag, twitched slightly. “I already have a place I want to go.”
...
Teacher Yan's full name is Yan Zhenzhen. She was Lin Shengmiao's professor in college. She took great care of Lin Shengmiao back then and can be considered a benefactor in her life. Over the years, she has always been grateful and has never lost contact with her. When she had no money, she could only send blessings during festivals. Later, when she gradually had more money, she often sent some gifts to her.
As luck would have it, Lin Shengmiao returned to China at the beginning of the year and was introduced to a job in Shanghai by Tao Jie. Meanwhile, Teacher Yan retired last year and also came to Shanghai with his wife to live with their son and daughter-in-law. Since they were both in the same city, they started to see each other more often.
Teacher Yan often invited Lin Shengmiao over for meals and gave her advice on some problems she encountered at work. Teacher Yan was very professional and also knew how to get things right. Her advice was often very insightful and beneficial to people. When Lin Shengmiao had some free time, she would also bring some gifts to visit her.
After a while, it felt somewhat like the formal master-disciple relationship of ancient times, where teachers imparted knowledge and resolved doubts.
Carrying two boxes of supplements, she walked into an old-fashioned residential building. Before Lin Shengmiao could knock, Teacher Yan opened the door wearing an apron. Upon seeing her, she smiled broadly and said, "I just saw someone in the kitchen window. I said it was you, but your husband insisted that I was mistaken."
He turned to his wife, who was chopping vegetables in the kitchen, and said, "I told you so, you're the one who's getting old and blind."
Teacher Yan's husband is a very mild-tempered scholar. Upon hearing this, he happily came out to apologize to his wife, greeted Lin Shengmiao a couple of times, and then went back to continue chopping vegetables and cooking.
"You, you just had to come, why bring things? We still haven't finished the food you bought last time, why spend money like this? You're a girl living alone, you should save up to buy a house..."
Lin Shengmiao smiled but didn't say anything.
Teacher Yan knew that was just her personality, so she said a few words and that was it, and then pulled her aside to chat about other things.
After dinner, Ms. Yan's husband made an appointment to play chess with some other elderly men in the neighborhood. After washing the dishes, he went out.
Lin Shengmiao sat with Teacher Yan on the sofa watching TV. It was a TV series from many years ago called "Xue Pinggui and Wang Baochuan". It happened to be on the part where Wang Baochuan, the daughter of the Prime Minister, broke with her father and married Xue Pinggui, who was a beggar, in a cold cave. Lin Shengmiao frowned.
Teacher Yan was just watching TV for fun, but seeing his beloved student like this, he asked with some interest, "Do you think there's something wrong with it?"
Lin Shengmiao thought for a moment, then lowered her eyes and said, "I don't really agree with the male protagonist's approach. If he truly loves her, then even if they are not a good match for the time being, he should first work hard to prove to her family that he can give her a carefree life, stand tall, and ask them to entrust their daughter to him with peace of mind."
"At most, I can shamelessly ask her to wait a few years. If she succeeds by then, we can naturally get married. But if she still fails, how can I have the face to let her pampered daughter suffer with me?"
Teacher Yan rested her chin on her hand, looked at her, blinked, and said, "But life is unpredictable. There are many accidents and changes in this world. What if we miss out because of this?"
Lin Shengmiao remained silent for a long time this time. Teacher Yan did not urge her and continued watching the TV series with a calm demeanor. She watched the young lady, who was cherished by her parents like a precious gem, take off her gold hairpins, jewelry, and silks and learn to do laundry, cook, and manage household chores with great difficulty.
“That’s better than… watching her suffer because of me.” The voice was slow but firm.
"Does Shengmiao also have someone she particularly likes?" Teacher Yan asked gently.
“Yes, she is a very warm… girl,” Lin Shengmiao said nervously, but still couldn’t help but smile. “I took a long leave of absence to rest for a while and also to see her.”
Looking at this student who was living independently at such a young age, Teacher Yan smiled gently and said, "Then I wish you a happy holiday and no regrets."
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Author's Note:
Welcome to "Lin Pinggui and Xu Baochuan"
Writing is boring, I want some lovely ladies to comment and pet me...