Chapter 277

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Protagonist:

Lin Xiyu

"Coming back alone was exactly right."

Ruirui couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "My dad's busy with training, no time to keep me company, didn't want me to come back originally, if I hadn't come back I wouldn't have gotten to see such a soft, cute, and adorable little sister."

"Before age one is the most fun time."

Liu Jie said with a smile: "Once they grow a bit older they become mischievous, once they can run you can't catch up even if you chase."

"I can do it......"

Ruirui held the little sister, smiling until her eyes narrowed: "Wherever the little sister runs to, I can catch up."

Grandma Gu's eyes revealed affection: "If you could stay here a few more days, by September the younger brothers and sisters will be one year old and will be running."

"September won't work."

Ruirui said with some annoyance: "I'm starting seventh grade, school starts in September."

"So fast......"

Lin Xiyu was filled with emotion: "Ruirui's already going to middle school."

"Indeed......"

Liu Jie smiled in agreement: "These days pass so fast, one day after another, once in middle school it's even faster, three years you don't feel anything at all, whoosh and it's gone, right after that it's time for high school."

"Once Ruirui's in high school, he'll really be a big young man."

Lin Xiyu imagined in her brain what Ruirui would look like grown up, and felt even more overwhelmed with emotion: "I still remember the first time I saw him, he was only this big, hiding behind Great-Grandma, timid and not daring to show his head, in the blink of an eye seven years have passed."

"Seven-year itch."

Xu Jie suddenly interjected: "Isn't this term super popular right now, saying marriage is most dangerous at seven years, once the honeymoon phase passes the couple's feelings fade, they can't resist outside temptations, most likely to have problems."

"You're pulling this too far......"

Liu Jie looked at her in bafflement, not understanding what nerve her brain had twitched, suddenly saying such an out-of-tune line.

"Hey hey."

Xu Jie regretted it a bit as soon as the words left her mouth: "Xiao Lin don't mind it, I wasn't deliberately aiming at you, just lately reading newspapers, keep seeing this term, blurted it out in a moment of loose tongue."

"It's fine, I don't care."

Lin Xiyu didn't take it to heart: "Us two spouses, although our marriage is exactly seven years, don't feel anything special at all, days still pass as usual, do whatever needs doing, those outside temptations, I have no mood to pay attention to them, as for the kids' dad......"

"I have even less mood to pay attention."

Guben went to the vegetable market to buy vegetables, returned at just the right time, heard his beloved wife's words, flatly denied: "My time and energy are all occupied by you and the babies, there's no gap for anyone to insert themselves."

"Hear that......"

Lin Xiyu laughed jokingly: "This is the benefit of having many kids."

"Hahaha."

Grandma Gu and the three nannies were all amused by her tsundere little expression, laughing until they couldn't close their mouths.

——

"What happy occasion? Laughing this happily."

Arriving right before and after Guben was another person, Chen Xiaoyi heard the familiar laughter from across the courtyard wall, after entering the door first looked toward the direction where his sister was standing.

"Aiyo, what good day is it today?"

Lin Xiyu's eyes revealed surprise and joy: "One after another, the students studying away have all come back."

"Summer break started, I should come home too."

Chen Xiaoyi hehe'd with a grin, scurried in a small run toward Xixi: "Xixi be good, let Uncle hug hug."

Xixi had an impression of him, happily stretched out her little arms.

"Xixi, do you miss Uncle?"

"Uncle brought you guys yummy food."

"White Rabbit Milk Candy, do you like it?"

Chen Xiaoyi snatched Xixi from Ruirui's arms, immediately activated coaxing-child mode.

He took out a piece of milk candy from his pocket, shook it in front of Xixi's eyes, smiling so craftily it couldn't be more.

"Yiya ya."

Xixi saw the milk candy, sure enough her little eyes brightened, grabbed it in one handful, clutched it in her own hand.

"Can't let her hold the milk candy....."

Liu Jie was afraid she'd accidentally stuff it in her mouth and choke, hurried over, wanted to take the milk candy from Xixi's hand.

Xixi was unhappy, little hand clenched tight, no matter how she coaxed and tempted she refused to let go.

"I'm watching, won't let her choke."

Chen Xiaoyi took the opportunity to curry favor and act cute, holding Xixi retreated a few steps, dodged Liu Jie.

"Hehe."

Xixi was happy, looked at Uncle with incomparable approval.

Chen Xiaoyi peeled open the candy wrapper, let Xixi lick it.

Xixi's little eyes brightened, sucked on the milk candy herself, sucking with great relish.

"Yiya ya."

Pingping and Lele were also attracted by the sweet fragrance of the milk candy, crawled over from the bamboo mat using hands and feet.

"Hahaha, the babies all want milk candy, come come come, one piece each......"

Chen Xiaoyi grinned hee-hee with delight, and gave the two little babies one piece of milk candy each.

The two nannies stared at him speechlessly, each picking up a child, watching the two kids closely, for fear they would swallow the milk candy whole.

"I understand......"

Ruirui was also quite displeased that a certain scoundrel uncle had snatched away Little Sister, and commented like a little adult: "You're deliberately here to cause trouble."

"Hahaha."

Chen Xiaoyi shot him a showing-off little gaze: "Bro wins the babies' affection through sheer ability, I'm just this excellent."

"You forgot there's still one......."

Ruirui was sharp-eyed, pointing at Nuan Nuan who had been watching them eagerly.

"It's Uncle's fault, how could I forget our little darling Nuan Nuan."

Chen Xiaoyi immediately squatted down, smiling with an extremely exaggerated shameless expression, took out a candy from his pocket, and placed it in Nuan Nuan's little hand.

Nuan Nuan was startled by his bootlicking expression and took a step back, tripped on her foot, and plopped down sitting on the ground.

"Can you not laugh that disgustingly? You scared Little Sister."

Ruirui hurriedly ran over and picked Nuan Nuan up.

Nuan Nuan was already one and a half years old, her height and weight were a size larger than same-age children, pressing down on the arm heavy and solid, completely different from Xixi's feel.

Ruirui glanced at Little Sister with some surprise, held his breath, and hoisted her up again.

Chen Xiaoyi laughed and teased him: "If you can't hold her then don't hold her, don't hard-support it."

"Who said I can't hold her."

Ruirui unwilling to be looked down on, hard-supported holding her for a while longer, holding his breath until his little face flushed red.

"Hahahahaha......."

Chen Xiaoyi found it amusing, laughing very carefreely.

——

At noon there were many people, Guben brought Sixth Grandpa over from Ban Shan Street again, arranged a full table of good dishes, treating it as a welcome banquet for his little brother-in-law and Ruirui.

Mother Wu and Nuan Nuan didn't leave either, a whole family gathered together, happily eating a reunion meal.

The little kids couldn't endure the sleepiness, after eating they became drowsy.

The nannies coaxed the babies to nap, Lin Xiyu continued following Mother Wu to learn cutting, while Guben stayed in the living room, accompanying the relatives and friends chatting.

"Brother-in-law, our school doesn't require classes in senior year."

Chen Xiaoyi seized the chance to pester his brother-in-law: "Starting September I won't go back to school, can I intern at your company?"

"Have you thought it through?"

Guben kindly advised: "Why not go intern at a state-owned enterprise, temper yourself? A fresh graduate's status is very important, choose the right internship unit, and you might be able to stay and work there later."

"No."

Chen Xiaoyi answered very resolutely: "I'm not going to a state-owned enterprise, I just plan to follow you for the rest of my life."

"You like this, will give me a lot of pressure."

Guben self-deprecatingly joked: "Speaking honestly, a lifetime is really too long, I don't even know if I'll stay in the game industry forever, maybe one day I'll get bored, sell the company, and wash my hands of it......."

"Brother-in-law, don't rush to sell it off yet, wait a few more years for me."

Chen Xiaoyi patted his chest and guaranteed: "Once I've accumulated enough capital, I'll take over, I'll help you manage the company."

"How many years do you plan to make me wait?"

Guben's lip corners curved up slightly, looking at him with great interest.

"5 years?"

Chen Xiaoyi sneakily observed his expression, tentatively asking.

"Too long."

Guben shook his head.

"4 years?"

Chen Xiaoyi's expression changed slightly.

"No good."

Guben continued to deny.

"3 years?"

Chen Xiaoyi was a bit startled.

"Still too long."

Guben still wasn't satisfied.

"No way, Brother-in-law."

Chen Xiaoyi sucked in a cold breath: "You wouldn't want to sell off this early, right? Not even willing to persist 3 years, that's too hard on me, even if you drive me to death I can't possibly earn enough money in 3 years?"

"That depends on your own ability."

Guben teased with a smile, deliberately provoking him: "Your brother-in-law achieved it in 3 years, took an obscure little company public successfully, without that kind of boldness, wanting to take over the company, I'm afraid it won't do."

"Uh."

Chen Xiaoyi was embarrassed, choked back a deep red face.

"Drink some water, calm the shock."

Ruirui very obediently and sensibly handed him a cup of herbal tea, using it to ease his embarrassment.

Chen Xiaoyi gratefully glanced at his little nephew, picked up the tea cup and gulped it down in one go.

"Xiao Bin......"

Grandpa Liu found it amusing and took the chance to interject, "If you don't want to start a game company, what do you want to do?"

"Raise children."

Guben spoke with righteous confidence.

Grandpa Liu was angered into laughter: "If you don't make money, how will you raise children?"

"There's still the training institution, isn't there?"

Guben had his own plans: "I feel the development prospects of education are better than the game industry. Xiyu wants to do public welfare and can't be distracted on both fronts. I'll handle the training class matters, and in the future I'll put more energy into the training institution, fully supporting my wife's public welfare undertakings."

"Thinking about it that way is right too."

Grandpa Liu nodded, expressing agreement with his idea.

"Hey, I thought it was some big deal, making it seem like Brother-in-law wants to sell the company."

Chen Xiaoyi shamelessly flattered him: "It's just opening a training class. With Brother-in-law's intelligence and talent, handling both is no problem at all."

"Stop running your mouth here. Hurry up and think about how to improve your own management level."

Guben gave a teasing smile, half-joking half-serious: "When you have time, find more textbooks to study. I'll give you three years. Within three years, if you don't meet my requirements and lack the ability to take over the company, I won't wait for you anymore."

"Ah?"

Hearing he still had to study management experience, Chen Xiaoyi's face instantly fell with suffering.

Guben's sword-like eyebrows furrowed slightly, his brother-in-law's dignity fully displayed.

"Yes, sir!"

Chen Xiaoyi didn't dare complain further, nimbly stood up from his chair, imitated a Hong Kong drama, and gave a salute.

This action was slightly chuunibyou; Ruirui couldn't hold back and laughed very contentedly.

"Ruirui, come on, let's go play games with Brother."

Chen Xiaoyi's ear roots reddened, wanting to crush his opponent in the game.

"Not going."

Ruirui didn't give him a chance, very rudely refusing on the spot: "Dad said playing games ruins your eyes. Nearsighted people can't be pilots. Don't you drag me down."

Chen Xiaoyi: "..."

——

Under Mother Wu's careful guidance, Lin Xiyu's clothes-cutting skills improved greatly.

To make the paper-cuts adhere better to the model, after many failed attempts, she gained inspiration from a peony picture with layers of blooming petals, intricate and exquisite, that Grandma Hu had cut in her lifetime. She cut layer upon layer of fine patterns into the paper-cuts.

With the patterns, the paper-cuts became soft, easy to stretch, able to perfectly fit the model's delicate and shapely figure.

"Xiyu's hands are truly skillful."

Mother Wu watched her cut patterns for a matching ribbon, unable to help exclaiming in wonder: "When you said you wanted to use paper-cuts to make hanfu before, I just listened for amusement, didn't take it seriously at all. Didn't expect you'd actually pull it off."

"This is still just an experimental piece. There will be continued improvements later."

Lin Xiyu smiled humbly, her hands not stopping.

"The model's bare head is too ugly. She should wear a wig."

Mother Wu circled the model once, her gaze stopping on the top of her head, shiny and bright like a light bulb, somewhat laughable.

Lin Xiyu laughed in agreement: "Another day we'll invite a makeup artist to give her an ancient costume styling, to match the hanfu."

"You and I thought the same thing."

Mother Wu was very satisfied with her transparent thoughts: "That's exactly what I thought. Ancient costume and hanfu go together. It's a pity this model's hands are too stiff, unlike the portrait of beauties in paintings, which can still hold a fan in their hands."

"A model that can hold a fan would need to be custom-made, right?"

Lin Xiyu's mind stirred: "Another day let Guben ask around. Maybe it's possible......"

"Can paper-cuts only be bright red?"

Mother Wu was very picky about the clothes' colors: "Only one color is too monotonous. It would be nice if there could be more color combinations."

"Some are like ethnic minorities. Dyed paper-cuts have magenta, grass green, these warm tones. Multi-color paper-cuts use red, yellow, green......"

Lin Xiyu pondered slightly, said somewhat hesitantly: "On our Jinan side, we emphasize festive cheerfulness. Still mainly red. I really rarely see other colors."

"Is that so......."

Mother Wu sighed with some regret.

"Paper-cutting emphasizes local characteristics."

Lin Xiyu smiled helplessly: "Ethnic minorities have their own cultures, different from ours. If we really cut out clothes with bright red and bright green combinations, probably many people wouldn't accept it."

"If it's not possible, forget it."

Mother Wu didn't want to put her in a difficult spot, changed her tune: "I was just saying casually. You don't need to take it too seriously either."

"Let's use red for now."

Lin Xiyu comforted her in her own way: "Right now the most important thing is applying for inheritor status. Once the application succeeds and we have a certain influence, then we can try to break through and innovate."

"You just follow your own ideas and steps."

Mother Wu had great confidence in her: "Auntie believes. Just with your ingenious hands and clever mind, you can achieve whatever you set your heart on."

Lin Xiyu's eyes showed gratitude: "Auntie thinks so highly of me, I can't not work hard."

"You'll definitely make it. Jia you."

Mother Wu raised her fist, made a cheering gesture.

"Jia you."

Lin Xiyu smiled gently, also clenched her fist, encouraging herself.

"You get busy first."

Mother Wu glanced at the clock on the wall, deliberately taking her leave: "I should take Nuan Nuan home. If we don't leave now, there'll be lots of people getting off work, the bus will be crowded."