Chapter 181: 90: A Family by the Spring Chapter 181: Uncle Is in Trouble, Guben Steps In to Help

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Lin Xiyu

"Get up......"

Lin Xiyu's ear root reddened: "Two people squeezed together is uncomfortable."

Guben smiled black-belliedly: "With me as your meat cushion, it's much more comfortable than lying down directly."

"It's uncomfortable precisely because you're here......"

Lin Xiyu glanced at him with dislike.

"How do you know it's uncomfortable if you haven't tried? Come, try it."

Guben continued black-belliedly, yanking hard and pulling the person into his arms.

"Ai ai."

Lin Xiyu had no time to react, already unsteady on her feet from his brute force, falling onto him.

"Comfortable?"

Guben held the person, raising his eyebrows leisurely.

"Uncomfortable."

Lin Xiyu was both shy and embarrassed, struggling to climb up.

"Be good, don't move, let me hold you for a while."

Guben was unwilling to let go, instead hugging the person tightly.

The fresh fragrance unique to a young girl was inhaled at the tip of his nose, making his heart itch.

He used a bit more force, lifting the person up, his forehead affectionately rubbing against her cheek.

Warm breath sprayed beside her ear, stimulating Lin Xiyu's cheek, which was also burning red.

"Don't go back tonight......"

Guben took the opportunity to tempt her again: "Just stay here?"

"No."

Lin Xiyu instantly sobered, all the tender feelings vanishing in an instant.

"Why not?"

Guben tried to reason with her: "We're already engaged, staying overnight at the in-laws' is perfectly normal. Wu Meng's parents aren't home, didn't she stay at Li Liang's house too?"

"Her family's situation is special......"

Lin Xiyu argued with reddened ear roots: "Her parents aren't home, and she had a conflict with the neighbors, so she had to go hide for a few days."

"Even without this matter, she would still stay at Li Liang's house......"

Guben put on a serious face to hoodwink her: "And she's stayed there more than once."

"Ah?"

Lin Xiyu's eyes showed surprise: "How do you know?"

"Li Liang said......"

Guben sold out his brother without any psychological burden.

"You men together, would you talk about this?"

Lin Xiyu's beautiful eyes suddenly widened, unbelieving.

Guben's face unchanged and heart not jumping: "You and Wu Meng chat privately, doesn't that include bedroom fun?"

"We're not as......"

Lin Xiyu's ear root heated up, she opened and closed her mouth, wanting to retort "lewd" at him, hesitated for a long time, but was too embarrassed to say it.

"Wu Meng is already ahead of you."

Guben continued to coax: "You have no practical experience at all, how will you chat with her in the future? Mutual exchange must be equal. Just relying on imagination and glib talk, people will dislike you, and there will be no common language."

"Really?"

Lin Xiyu couldn't stand his nonsense, glared at him unhappily: "You seem to know so much, were you disliked by someone?"

"Hehe."

Guben didn't get angry but laughed: "Your little head turns pretty fast, you figured this out?"

"You're actually shameless enough to admit it?"

Lin Xiyu originally wanted to jab him with a sentence, but didn't expect to actually guess the truth.

"What's wrong with that?"

Guben righteously and confidently: "I'd admit it to their faces, the wife is too hard to deal with, on New Year's Eve she pushed me off the bed."

"Ah, I'm dying!"

Lin Xiyu wailed lifelessly, her forehead smashing into his chest, refusing to lift her head again.

——

Qinglong Back Street.

The bottled tomatoes Lin Xiyu brought back from Guben's grandmother's house were also very popular at her maternal grandmother's house.

Her maternal grandmother personally cooked, making a pot of tomato and egg noodles.

Uncle worked the night shift; before leaving, he ate a bowl of hot noodles with soup and all, his whole body warm and cozy.

"The weather forecast says there will be snow tonight......"

Uncle's wife held the baby and saw him out, then worriedly instructed: "Watch carefully, don't drive too fast, if the snow gets too heavy don't go out, come back early..."

"Fine, it's cold outside, you go back."

Uncle feared the baby would catch cold from the wind, and hurriedly urged her.

"Yaya."

The baby saw Daddy was leaving, reached a small hand out from Mommy's arms, and grabbed his sleeve.

The baby was small, but her grip was strong; Uncle was suddenly pulled, wanted to break free, but feared hurting the child.

"Nana be good, Daddy needs to drive..."

Uncle's wife smiled and coaxed: "Earn money, and I'll buy you something tasty."

"Yaya."

The baby still couldn't bear to part with Uncle, twisting her small body hard in Uncle's wife's arms, reaching out her small hand wanting Daddy to hold her.

"This child..."

Uncle's wife laughed angrily: "I look after her all day, yet she's closer to you."

"Hehe."

Uncle felt delighted inside, went along with the baby's wish, reached out and held her.

"Yaya."

The baby turned in Uncle's arms again, pointing her finger at his taxi.

"Nana knows that's Daddy's car? So smart..."

Uncle saw the baby was very clever, grinning from ear to ear.

"Yaya."

The baby saw Daddy praise her, happily pointing at the taxi with her finger, babbling nonstop.

Uncle couldn't understand baby talk, could only guess: "Nana likes taxis, wants to drive with Daddy?"

"Yaya."

The baby's eyes lit up, happily opening her small mouth, spitting out a saliva bubble.

"So late and so cold, don't mess around."

Uncle's wife feared Uncle would get stubborn and really take the daughter out driving, quickly snatched the baby away, turned and walked home.

"Wah."

The baby was unhappy, crying loudly with her small voice, kicking her small calves and struggling hard in her arms.

Uncle's wife didn't indulge her, ignored her struggles no matter how hard, and carried her home like a gust of wind.

"Hehe."

Uncle watched the mother and daughter enter the house, chuckled, took his thermos to the taxi, opened the door, and got in.

A northwest wind howled past the window, and snowflakes drifted down rustling in the night sky.

Uncle frowned slightly, hesitated a moment, still started the engine and drove the taxi out of the alley.

—

It snowed, snowflakes fell thicker and thicker, a layer of thick snow covered the eaves and ground.

Guben finally found a suitable excuse to persuade her to stay overnight; Lin Xiyu didn't want him to brave the wind and snow to send her home, hesitated for a long time, and finally agreed.

Grandmother Gu was dexterous, could knit sweaters, and could embroider very beautiful patterns.

Lin Xiyu stayed at the Gu Family overnight for the first time; Grandmother was very happy, and taught her to knit sweaters with great interest.

Lin Xiyu had learned some knitting skills from her own grandmother when young; although she couldn't independently finish a sweater, she knew the basic steps.

Grandmother Gu saw she was smart and eager to learn, was very happy, and also had the glory of taking on an apprentice; the more she taught, the more enthusiastic she became, and they learned until past midnight.

"Old Woman, it's almost 11 o'clock, time to sleep......."

Grandfather was at first happily watching the fun, gradually couldn't resist sleepiness, and yawned.

"If you want to sleep, sleep; I'm not sleepy."

Grandmother rarely had an apprentice to show off her craft, and was in high spirits; when Grandfather interrupted her, she glared at him displeased.

"Grandfather, let me help you go to sleep first."

Guben saw Grandfather dozing off one after another, couldn't bear it, stood up from the sofa, and helped Old Man back to the inner room to rest.

"Ouch."

Lin Xiyu's gaze involuntarily followed his figure; distracted for a moment, she pricked her hand with the knitting needle.

"That's enough, we'll stop here today."

Grandmother's interest was spoiled by Grandfather, and seeing her distracted, she gave up continuing to teach: "I'm tired too, you all rest early."

"I'm not sleepy."

Lin Xiyu came back to her senses, her cheeks turned red.

"You're not sleepy, I am."

Grandmother looked at her half-smiling, the teasing in her eyes obvious: "I'm old, can't compare with young people; I should rest too, otherwise I'll be in the way."

"I, really, am not sleepy..."

Lin Xiyu was made to blush by Grandmother's look, and stammered magnificently.

"Grandmother here has plenty of new yarn; pick some you like, and knit yourself a scarf."

Grandmother Gu found it funny, put away the sweater, and returned to the bedroom herself.

"Hoo."

Lin Xiyu fanned herself with her hand, fanning away the heat on her cheeks.

—

Grandfather Gu was right; she loved knitting sweaters, and her collection of yarn came in a full range of colors and styles.

Lin Xiyu looked at the yarn and felt the urge, wanting to personally knit a scarf for Guben.

She had originally planned to wait until Chuqi Department Store opened, go to the mall to browse, and buy him some small gifts with the money she earned herself.

Now thinking about it, no matter how expensive the gift, it couldn't compare to the sentiment of something handmade.

Since Grandfather Gu had given her a hint, she accepted his favor and decided to knit one identical scarf each for herself and Guben.

Of course, she couldn't use Grandfather Gu's yarn; she had to buy it herself.

Only what she bought herself had meaning; wearing identical scarves, anyone could tell they were a couple, and just thinking about that feeling was beautiful.

——

"What are you thinking about? Sitting here alone, grinning like a fool?"

Guben had seen Grandfather to bed and came out from the inner room, immediately spotting his fiancée staring blankly at the yarn.

"Ah?"

Lin Xiyu had been too lost in thought to hear what he said, turning back with a blank expression.

"Grandfather and Grandmother are asleep; how much longer do you plan to stay here?"

Guben smiled helplessly, stepped forward a few paces, and pulled her out of the living room.

"Where am I supposed to sleep tonight?"

Seeing him lead her straight back to his bedroom, Lin Xiyu stood at the doorway, hesitating and refusing to move.

"The other three rooms; one is my mother's......"

Guben pointed at the remaining empty rooms with his finger and said seriously: "One is my brother's, and another is left for my father for when he occasionally stays over; you choose, which one do you want to stay in?"

"There's no guest room?"

Lin Xiyu didn't believe him: "The other day when your Uncle and them came, where did they stay?"

"Uncle and them aren't outsiders."

Guben said righteously: "Naturally, they can stay anywhere; any room will do......"

"I......"

Lin Xiyu wanted to say, "I'm not an outsider either," but after hesitating for a long time, she was still too embarrassed to stay in Fu Zheng and his father's room.

As for Guben's mother, she wasn't even a consideration; just thinking with her toes, she could imagine what expression her mother-in-law would have upon learning that her disliked daughter-in-law had, in her absence, taken over her room.

Thinking of that look of disdain and disgust, she couldn't help but shiver and decisively ruled it out.

"It's cold outside; don't just stand there."

Guben turned slightly to block the biting cold wind for her.

"I didn't bring a change of clothes......"

Lin Xiyu's ears turned red, and she still wanted to struggle a bit more.

"Wear mine......"

Guben didn't give her another chance to escape; he scooped her up with both arms and carried her through the door.

"Hey hey hey, put me down, I can walk myself......"

The lights weren't on in the room; amid the dim shadows came a few coquettish rebukes, followed by her soft, fragrant lips being covered by someone.

The quiet room fell silent, two figures held each other tightly, and a charming, sweet fragrance lingered in the air.

"Beep beep."

The pager hanging at Lin Xiyu's waist suddenly rang; the untimely sound was especially jarring at this moment.

"So late at night, who is this again?"

Guben, who was usually good-tempered, was also provoked to anger by this inconsiderate person.

"Calling this late, it must be an emergency."

Lin Xiyu's heart skipped a beat, and a bad premonition surged up.

Guben helplessly let her go and reached out to pull the light cord.

"Oh my god, it's Uncle......"

Lin Xiyu took off the pager and looked; the message on it shocked her eyes, and her face turned pale with fright.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing her expression was off, Guben reached out and took the pager.

"Uncle had an accident in his taxi and injured someone......"

Lin Xiyu was devastated, her mood plummeting to the bottom of the valley.

——

Snow kept falling, the northwest wind howled, and there was a trend of it getting heavier.

In the middle of the night, snow was still falling; the main street was empty, not a single person in sight.

Lin Xiyu and Guben braved the heavy snow as they walked out of the alley and arrived at Daming Lake South Gate, waiting for over half an hour before hailing a taxi.

Uncle had hit a drunkard and had already been taken to the nearest hospital by 120.

The two took a taxi directly to the hospital's emergency room; Lin Xiyu comforted Uncle's emotions, while Guben went straight to find the traffic police to learn the situation from them.

The drunkard ran a red light crossing the street, suddenly darting out from the sidewalk; the road was slippery from the snow, Uncle couldn't brake in time, and knocked him down.

The man's head was broken and bleeding from the impact; after a preliminary diagnosis, he had a mild concussion.

Uncle had never experienced such a thing; panicked and at a loss, in his confusion he thought of Guben, and with a hopeful mindset called Lin Xiyu, hoping Guben would help him out for the sake of relatives.

In fact, he had bet correctly.

Guben was familiar with the law; when he learned from the traffic police that the diagnosis result was a mild concussion, he knew what to expect.

A mild concussion would not be classified as a serious injury, only a minor injury; through traffic police mediation, it could be resolved through negotiation.

After the drunkard sobered up, he opened his mouth wide and demanded ten thousand yuan as soon as he spoke.

Guben negotiated with him, with sound reasoning and evidence, and finally settled the matter for five thousand yuan.

The money earned with half a year of hard work was just lost like that; Uncle blamed and regretted himself endlessly, squatting alone in the corner, dejectedly shaking his head, silent for a long while.

Lin Xiyu could not bear it in her heart and wanted to make a suggestion, but did not know how to speak up.

Guben advanced the medical expenses and compensation for Uncle, and the three of them tossed about in the hospital for half the night; when they left, it was nearly 5 a. m.

—

Mother and son are connected in heart; ever since Uncle worked twenty-four-hour shifts and drove a taxi at night, Grandmother had always worried about him and had not slept a single peaceful night.

Last night she tossed and turned even more, unable to sleep peacefully, as if she had a premonition; she had a nightmare, waking from the dream in a cold sweat.