Da Yi must have developed genuine feelings for him.
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After dinner, Ah Heng and Si Wanyan went to the Xin family to visit Dayi together.
When they arrived at the room upstairs, Xin Dayi was wearing pajamas, swinging her legs and humming softly on the bed, with a Walkwan violin piece playing beside her, its melodies rising and falling.
Yan hope and Si Wan exchanged glances, then chuckled to themselves. They tiptoed around, taking advantage of Xin Dayi's reverie, grabbed the corner of the blanket from the headboard, and pounced forward, burying the boy completely under the covers.
"Who, who attacked me?!" The person under the covers struggled violently, kicking and thrashing their limbs.
Ah Heng chuckled to himself.
"Ah, I heard Ah Heng laugh..." The boy's voice was muffled from under the covers, and he let out a strange laugh—"Hehe, Yan Xisiwan, you two watch out, I'm coming out!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Xin Dayi used brute force to push the blanket off with both hands. Upon seeing Si Wan and Yan hope, he hooked one of them with each hand and, grinning foolishly, started banging his head against the two boys' heads.
Siwan rubbed her head, her eyes beaming with sunshine as she smiled – “You’re sick, yet you’re still so energetic!”
Yan hope poked Xin Dayi's swollen face with his slender index finger—"It used to be just a pancake, well, today it's a pancake!"
"Perfect timing, let's make dumplings." Ah Heng chuckled.
"Aheng, I've noticed you're getting worse lately! I'm sick, okay? You heartless little brat!" Xin Dayi burst into tears.
Ah Heng looked on gently, then smiled and held up the lunchbox in her hand, showing eight teeth as she grinned at Xin Dayi—"Dayi, I made chicken soup, do you want some?"
"I'm having an allergic reaction, not postpartum confinement. Why would I drink chicken soup?" Xin Dayi raised his head.
"It's mixed with Sophora flavescens, for detoxification," Aheng explained.
Sophora flavescens has the effect of treating acute allergies and detoxifying the body. Her father had mentioned this when he taught her about medicinal herbs back in Wushui.
“Aheng stewed it for three hours, and Yanxi and I haven’t even had a sip yet, and you’re still being picky…” Siwan looked at the boy in front of her with a mournful expression.
"Whoever picks, I'll drink it, hehe, I'll drink it. I trust Ah Heng's cooking." Xin Dayi scratched his head, sat down at the table with the lunchbox in his arms, and scooped up the food with a spoon.
"What did the doctor say?" Yan hope asked.
"Pollen allergy!" Xin Dayi answered crisply, burying her head and gulping down her soup.
Yan hope rolled his eyes, sneered, looked around the room, and carefully examined it for a long time. Finally, he pulled out a box from a hidden corner of the bedside table. Xin Dayi broke out in a cold sweat and wanted to rush over, but it was too late—Yan hope opened the box.
Bags of milk. Originally a full case, now only a little less than half remains; it looks like a lot has been consumed.
"What do you say?" Yan hope threw the box in front of Xin Dayi, her tone cool.
Xin Dayi broke out in a cold sweat: "Well, they often say on TV that drinking milk helps you grow taller."
"Dayi, I remember you're allergic to milk. You had to go to the hospital every time you drank it when you were little. What, you still haven't gotten better?" Siwan's face turned ugly.
Yan hope had always liked to drink milk like water since he was little. Da Yi was envious and, even though he knew he was allergic to it, he insisted on drinking it even though he was not allowed to. He would hide in a corner and drink it by himself. As a result, he vomited and had diarrhea, and his whole body turned red and hot. He cried and sobbed in the hospital. After he recovered, Yan hope gave him a good beating and never drank milk in front of him again.
"I was fine when I first started drinking it, but who knew this milk had the same problem as Moutai, it had a strong aftereffect..." Xin Dayi felt guilty and lowered her voice by eight octaves.
"Oh, so you mean I should just buy up Moutai bottles right now, fill them with milk, and pour them out? In less than a year, I'll be able to taste what it's like to be a tycoon." Yan hope said with a forced smile.
"Tch, I knew you weren't telling the truth, you brat. You've never had a pollen allergy in your life, so why are you having one this year? Couldn't you have come up with a better excuse? Do you think I'm as stupid as you?"
Xin Dayi was in the wrong, so he hung his head and remained silent.
"Dayi, what exactly are you thinking?" Aheng felt that she couldn't fathom the structure of this young man's mind.
"I wasn't thinking about anything," Xin Dayi said dryly.
"So you just want to grow taller so you can be a good match for a girl, right?" Yan hope said irritably.
Mr. Xin blushed.
"Dayi, are you still thinking about your relationship with Chen Juan?" Siwan asked, somewhat surprised.
He thought that Da Yi would just see pretty girls, get excited for a couple of days, and then forget about it. But he never expected that Da Yi would take it seriously.
Yan hope's lips twitched as he looked helplessly at Si Wan—"Si Wan, aren't you quite close to Chen Juan? Try to mediate for your aunt. That kid is always coming up with stupid ideas; it's so annoying to watch."
Siwan looked like he'd swallowed a fly. After a long pause, his handsome face stiffened as he finally spoke—"I'll give it a try."
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Reassured, Xin Dayi returned to school with her head held high, full of energy, within two days.
The preliminary rounds of the B City High School Basketball League are about to begin. Siwan and Dayi are both on the school team, and they are always on the basketball court, staying at school until very late.
Yan hope had no patience to wait for the two of them, so he went home with A Heng every day.
One time, when they were almost home, Yanxi unfortunately forgot the paint he had just bought in the classroom, so he told Aheng to go home first and he went back to school.
Ah Heng was at home. After dinner and a bath, she watched TV with her mother and grandfather for a long time. Si Wan hadn't returned yet.
Mrs. Wen looked up at the wall clock—"It's already 8:30, and Siwan is still playing basketball at school?"
"Training has been really intense lately, and the competition is coming up soon," Aheng explained to her mother, though she herself wasn't really confident.
"Oh, as long as he doesn't run around." Mrs. Wen nodded, turned to look at her father-in-law, and said with a smile, "Dad, don't wait any longer, go to sleep first, your reading glasses have slipped down to your nose."
Mr. Wen was indeed tired and nodded.
Old Man Wen had been wounded in the leg during the Vietnam War. Aheng was worried that the old man's legs would go numb from sitting for too long, so she helped him stand up and took him back to his bedroom.
"Mom, you should rest too. I'll wait for Siwan." After bringing the old woman some water to soak her feet, Aheng returned to the living room.
"I'm not sleepy," Wen's mother said with a smile, shaking her head.
"Mom, you're tired from playing the piano. Let me massage you." Aheng looked at her mother with some trepidation.
Wen's mother paused for a moment, then nodded.
Ah Heng's massage skills are top-notch. Zai Zai has been bedridden for many years, and Ah Heng massages his legs and feet every day. Over the years, he has developed an excellent grasp of the pressure in his hands.
Wen's mother felt very comfortable on her shoulder, and soon she was about to doze off. When she woke up, her daughter was looking at her with a smile.
"As you get older, you always get sleepy easily," Wen's mother said with a smile, patting her daughter's hand.
Si'er used to love giving her massages, but her little hands would always grab and scratch here and there, never getting the right spot. She would also coax her with words like, "My mom is the best and most beautiful mom in the world. Mom, look how filial I am. You should love me more than you love your brother!"
Every time, she was amused by Er'er.
As Wen's mother recalled the past, a smile appeared on her lips.
"Mom, when I earn money, I'll buy you a massage chair." Aheng gently squeezed her mother's hand and spoke softly, her face slightly flushed.
She smiled and accepted her daughter's kindness with equanimity, gently stroking the child's cheek, and said earnestly, "Okay, Mom will wait."
It was still happiness and touching.
She realized she was indeed getting old. Only the elderly would so greedily crave the warmth of their children; only the elderly would so greedily want all their children to be around them.
Is there really no way to have it all in this world?
She thought about it for a long time, but even as she drifted off to sleep, she couldn't come up with a suitable way to avoid hurting anyone.
Everyone in the Wen family, except for Aheng, was asleep; Siwan had not yet returned.
She was sitting in the living room, about to fall headfirst, when she heard a rustling sound in the entryway.
Ah Heng stood up, only to see Si Wan peeking into the living room.
"Mom and Grandpa are asleep, everything's fine." Ah Heng chuckled.
Siwan breathed a sigh of relief and walked into the living room.
Ah Heng was startled.
The boy's shirt was tattered, and there was a bruise on the corner of his mouth.
"Aheng, don't tell anyone about my injury today, okay?" Siwan's expression was serious.
Ah Heng nodded, took a breath, and asked him, "Who did it?"
Siwan hesitated for a moment, then looked into Aheng's clear eyes and spoke softly, with embarrassment, "...Axi."
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The next day, when Aheng saw Yanxi, she hesitated several times before finally asking him the question.
Yan hope had been wearing a gloomy face the whole time. At noon, he threw out a question: "Chen Juan, do you have a boyfriend?"
Chen Juan was startled and shook his head.
Yan hope raised an eyebrow—"What do you think of me? Am I good enough for you?"
Xin Dayi Aheng was stunned and stood there dumbfounded.
Chen Juan – “Yan hope, are you kidding me?”
Yan hope glanced at her indifferently—"I never joke about this kind of thing."
Chen Juan raised his phoenix eyes, his brows and eyes carrying a cold, ruthless quality like a rose—"Yan hope, are you so confident that I will agree to your request?"
Yan hope smiled slightly, his eyes bright and clear, and shrugged – “What do you think?”
Chen Juan chuckled softly, "Okay, I don't care."
Xin Dayi froze for two seconds, then dashed out of the classroom in the third second.
Ah Heng also rushed out, following behind Xin Dayi.
"Go back, you son of a bitch, and don't follow me!" Xin Dayi yelled at Aheng as he ran.
"No!" Ah Heng shouted at the boy.
"Wen Heng, I know you hate me for bullying you in the past, and you're just waiting to see me make a fool of myself. Now that you've seen it, you're so happy?!" Xin Dayi's eyes reddened, and she spoke recklessly.
"I'm so happy!" Ah Heng gritted her teeth and ran towards the boy.
"I hate you! How dare you drive Er'er away and then pretend to be a good person so that everyone is on your side!" Xin Dayi rubbed her eyes, but tears fell down her cheeks.
"I don't like you either! You're so mean, so mean!" Ah Heng's eyes also reddened.
"Why are you running so fast! Are you in a hurry to be reincarnated?" Xin Dayi cried and cursed as she watched Aheng catch up with her.
"You're not a man, why are you crying!"
"Your crush got snatched away by your closest brother, aren't you going to cry?"
"I have no brothers!"
"Get out! Do you think...your brother Yan hope's father...is a dead man?!"