Chapter 283: 90: A Family by the Spring Chapter 283 Li Ang's Little Thoughts, Babies Call Big Brother

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Protagonist:

Lin Xiyu

"It's Li Kui."

Li Ang scratched his head sheepishly.

"It's cut very well."

Lin Xiyu smiled and praised: "As expected of Hu Nainai's direct disciple, your fundamentals are very solid."

"If Senior Sister says so, I believe it."

Li Ang smiled and echoed her, with a hint of flattery and ingratiation.

He wanted to apply to be an Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritor, and he had his own selfish motives; previously he hadn't been very enthusiastic about it and hadn't taken it to heart.

Recently he had started dating a girlfriend, and her family disliked him for not having a formal job, so he had the idea of setting his sights on becoming an Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritor.

District-level inheritors receive a government subsidy every month; although not much, just over a thousand yuan, it counts as an income guarantee.

Moreover, being an inheritor comes with honor; once selected, her family would look up to him more.

"Believing is right."

Lin Xiyu didn't know his little schemes; she was truly delighted that he had voluntarily proposed applying to be an inheritor.

"Sister Xiyu..."

Li Ang asked tentatively again: "Can I also go with you to the Youth Palace to participate in public welfare activities? I'm afraid I don't have experience in this area, and during the selection I might not be qualified and could be eliminated from the candidate list."

"Sure..."

Lin Xiyu readily agreed: "Every Saturday the Youth Palace has a public welfare class, teaching children paper-cutting for free. If you want to go, I can mention it to the person in charge at the Youth Palace in advance; they should agree."

"Saturday morning?"

Li Ang was a bit hesitant.

"Is there a problem?"

Lin Xiyu's smile froze.

"Nothing..."

Li Ang almost said he had a date with his girlfriend, but seeing Lin Xiyu's gaze full of displeasure, he quickly changed his words.

"If you have difficulties, you can tell me."

Lin Xiyu thought he wanted to work part-time to earn money and didn't think much of it: "If it really doesn't work, just forget it; don't force yourself."

"I won't force myself."

Li Ang knew better than anyone that applying to be an inheritor was more important than dating; if he couldn't get selected, forget dating—whether he even had a girlfriend was an unknown.

"Then it's settled."

Lin Xiyu smiled with relief: "I'll tell the person in charge first, and once I have confirmation I'll tell you."

"Okay, okay, thank you, Sister Xiyu."

Having achieved his goal, Li Ang, being tactful, stood up to take his leave: "I won't disturb you anymore. Another day I'll treat, and call up Dabao, Zhang Jie—us fellow disciples can get together."

"What have Dabao and Zhang Jie been up to lately? I've been busy all day looking after the child and haven't contacted them for some time."

While seeing him out, Lin Xiyu also asked about the recent situations of the other two fellow disciples.

"The last time I saw Dabao, he said he wanted to take the civil servant exam."

Li Ang interacted with Wang Lei more: "As for Zhang Jie, I'm not too sure either; it's university vacation, so he probably has nothing to do and is likely staying home playing games."

"It's still better to be in school."

Lin Xiyu sighed wistfully: "Too bad, youth is gone forever, time never returns; in the blink of an eye, I'm already a child's mother."

"I'm 24 too."

Li Ang smiled self-deprecatingly: "Always doing odd jobs, braving wind and rain, the skin on my face is all chapped; I'm completely cut off from youth."

"Compared to me, you're all still very young."

Lin Xiyu patted his shoulder, expressing comfort in the manner of the eldest senior sister: "When I reach my age and look back, 24 is truly the most beautiful time of life."

"That's if you have money."

Li Ang smiled and echoed: "I also thought that by the time Sister Xiyu reaches her current age, she could have saved so much money, and with a casual gesture could produce ten or twenty thousand..."

"Actually my family doesn't have that much money either."

Lin Xiyu had no intention of showing off wealth and casually brushed it off: "Hu Nainai is our benefactor teacher; she's old and ill, and we disciples can't just stand by and do nothing."

"You still have the ability."

Li Ang felt sour and bitter inside, very unpleasant: "Someone like me, earning that little bit a month, can barely fill my stomach; even if I wanted to give, I couldn't come up with it."

"Be careful riding on the road..."

As the two talked they arrived at the doorway, and just ended this topic.

"Alright, Sister Xiyu, you go back; no need to see me off."

Li Ang was also too embarrassed to keep chattering; he got on his bicycle, stomped hard on the pedal, and rode out of the alley.

Lin Xiyu smiled and waved her hand, watching his back disappear at the alley entrance before withdrawing her gaze.

—

Ever since Dabao accidentally unlocked the toddler's new skill of being able to call out something not very clear as "mama," Ruirui had found a new pleasure; from time to time she would tease the little brothers and little sisters, trying to teach them to speak and get them to call her Big Brother.

"De de, de de..."

The babies' pronunciation wasn't standard; they called Big Brother "de de," but even so Ruirui still enjoyed it immensely, teaching them over and over with great enthusiasm.

"Ruirui, why haven't I seen you go out to play?"

Guben had been beaten to the punch by his little nephew, and he harbored quite a bit of resentment; seizing the opening, he tried to shoo the kid outside: "Staying cooped up at home is so boring. Go find your old friends and go to a park, kick a ball around — isn't that better than just staying planted at home all day?"

"They're not free."

Without even lifting his head, Ruirui shot back four words.

"Why aren't they free?"

Guben was a bit puzzled: "Aren't they just like you — sixth grade graduation, summer break started, exactly the time to play?"

"They have to go to training classes, primary-to-middle-school transition......"

Ruirui lifted his eyelids and gave him a very resentful look: "It's that Yuncai Education your uncle and aunt just opened."

"Pfft, hahahaha......"

A certain unscrupulous uncle laughed until he sprayed.

"Ruirui, this can't be blamed on Auntie."

Lin Xiyu didn't want to offend her little nephew, so she quickly washed her hands of it: "The training classes Auntie used to run only had elementary courses; it was your uncle who arbitrarily decided to expand the curriculum to middle school and high school."

"Wife, that's really not loyal of you......"

Guben stopped laughing, put his arm around his precious little daughter, and was quite speechless.

"It's the truth."

Lin Xiyu spoke with righteous confidence: "You planned it single-handedly; I didn't participate in the slightest."

"Lele, look, Mommy is bullying Daddy."

Guben seized the chance to complain to his daughter, feigning grievance.

"Hee hee."

Lele thought Daddy was teasing her to play, didn't stand up for him, and instead laughed very happily.

"Ruirui, how about you go to the training class for lessons too?"

Guben had run out of options, and turned his attention back to his little nephew: "It's our own family's training class — no tuition, free learning, and you can exchange feelings with your childhood friends; what a great thing, killing two birds with one stone......"

"Even if it kills N birds with one stone, I'm not going."

Ruirui felt resistance in his heart, and had quite a few complaints about the training class: "I still want to play a few more days with the little brothers and little sisters; I refuse to waste time on meaningless things."

"How would you think going to a training class is meaningless?"

Guben found it funny, and deliberately argued with him: "Going to a training class lets you study the primary-to-middle-school transition curriculum in advance, letting new students adapt to the middle school learning rhythm faster, raising study efficiency; to put it in common terms, it's winning at the starting line."

Ruirui puffed up angrily and retorted: "Even without training classes, I can study well, I won't lose to anyone."

"That's a bit too arbitrary of you."

Guben had just wanted to argue with facts and give a profound ideological education, when he was slapped on the shoulder by his own grandmother.

"Ruirui rarely comes back once, what training class?"

Grandpa Gu glared at him dissatisfied: "I still want Ruirui to stay home and keep me company for a few more days; you stop playing tricks here — isn't it just that Ruirui let the little brothers and sisters call him Older Brother a few days earlier than calling him Daddy? Look at your jealous sourpuss face; I feel cold for you just looking at it."

"Lele, Great-Grandmother hit Daddy......"

Guben didn't dare argue with the old lady, and again seized the chance to hold his precious daughter and feign grievance.

"Hee hee......"

This time Lele saw clearly — Daddy really did take a solid slap.

The little padded jacket felt heartache, pouted her little mouth, and blew a breath of air onto the spot where Daddy was hit.

"It's still Lele and Daddy who are closest; come on, Daddy will take you to pick grapes."

Guben settled down, exerted his arms to lift Lele up, and placed her on his own neck.

"Hee hee."

Lele's field of view instantly became very broad; her big eyes sparkled bright, curiously turning her little head, looking all around.

Guben carried her to the grape trellis and let her pick grapes.

Lele understood Daddy's meaning, stretched her little arms up hard, and sure enough touched a bunch of grapes.

Grapes hung in bunches on the vines; wanting to yank them down in one go wasn't very easy.

She tugged once but couldn't budge them; her little hand exerted force, and she pinched and burst the bottom few grapes.

Fresh tender grape juice flowed down her little hand, dripping onto her pink little cheek.

Even so, the little girl still played very happily, tirelessly continuing to pick grapes.

I pick, I pick, I keep picking......

By the time the other adults noticed something was off, grape juice had already dripped all over her head and face; her snow-white little undershirt had also suffered, stained a glaring purple by grape juice.

"Oh my, my little ancestor."

Grandpa Gu didn't know whether to laugh or cry, hurried over in quick little steps, and gave another slap to a certain instigator.

Lin Xiyu followed close behind, took her daughter down from her dad's neck.

Guben realized belatedly, only then seeing his daughter's little face all colorful and messy.

"Heh heh."

Lele knew she had caused trouble; her little gaze trembled, too embarrassed to meet Daddy's eyes.

"That's right."

Guben not only didn't scold his daughter, but was actually quite pleased with himself: "Children should be innocent and happy; not causing trouble wouldn't be my daughter."

"Hee hee."

Lele's little eyes brightened; she randomly wiped her little face, thoroughly turning into a little tabby cat.

——

Lele was taken to the bathroom by Mommy to bathe; a certain kid's dad, for fairness' sake, went and coaxed each baby in turn, carrying them to pick grapes.

The babies were all very enthusiastic about this new game; even Anan graciously rode on Daddy's neck for a while, experiencing a new height she had never known before.

The result was predictable: the babies' bathing speed couldn't keep up with the grape juice tie-dyeing speed, making their mom's heart ache; she didn't speak to their dad all afternoon.

"Hahaha."

Seeing Uncle cowering and serving Auntie by bringing dishes and pouring water during dinner, Ruirui really couldn't hold it in, clutching her stomach and laughing until she bent backward and forward.

——

Yuncai Education's new campus opened just in time for summer vacation, and parents coming to inquire about classes arrived in an endless stream.

Wu Meng was very happy, originally wanting to make a big profit during the summer, but unexpectedly, not long after opening, another sudden change occurred.

Right across from the new campus, directly facing Yuncai Education, another training class newly opened; under the pretext of opening promotions, they waged a price war, not only attracting all the customer source away, but even parents of students who had already paid but not yet started classes found various excuses wanting refunds.

Wu Meng couldn't sit still; that very afternoon she rushed to the Old House in a panic to discuss countermeasures with Guben and his wife.

"Our last session was 12 lessons for 800, profit was already very low; after deducting teachers' salaries and rent, not much money remains. If we wage a price war like them, over one summer, not only would we not make money, we'd have to pay out of pocket."

Lin Xiyu's delicate brows knitted tightly: "A price war isn't a long-term solution; it will only make us more passive."

"I don't want to lower prices either."

Wu Meng laughed bitterly: "But this way, everyone runs over there; we can't recruit students, and hard support won't last long either."

"We won't lower prices; we'll raise them."

Guben pondered for a moment, then made a decision.

"Raise prices?!"

Wu Meng was so startled her voice cracked.

"What good idea do you have to win by surprise?"

Lin Xiyu was slightly better off than her; trusting her husband, she didn't lose composure too badly.

"I think like this......"

Guben's words were astonishing: "A price war definitely won't work; we can do the opposite, put effort into faculty strength, hire foreign students, teach English oral speaking under the banner of foreign teachers; this way we can attract students from comparatively wealthy families."

"Foreign teachers?!"

Lin Xiyu's eyes lit up: "This method is good; I think it'll work."

"Hiring foreign teachers now, is there enough time?"

Wu Meng raised a doubt: "Summer vacation has already started; won't those foreign students go home?"

"As long as the money is in place, nothing is impossible......"

Guben was full of confidence: "Jinan doesn't have them, but Shanghai does; we can post recruitment ads in Shanghai and hire people to come over."

"Recruit people from Shanghai?"

Wu Meng was startled, her voice rising another octave: "How much would that cost? Just the airfare alone is a huge expense."

"Initial investment might be a bit higher......"

Guben had a plan in mind: "Once reputation rises and there's brand effect, later there will be a continuous stream of customers."

"Does Jinan have that many rich people?"

Wu Meng still had some reservations: "What if they're unwilling to spend money letting their kids learn such expensive English?"

"Don't underestimate the local potential consumer group."

Guben analyzed rationally: "It's not necessarily only very wealthy families who are keen on letting their kids learn foreign languages; on the contrary, ordinary working-class families hope even more for their children to succeed; they're more willing to spend money on education, letting their kids access a pure English oral learning environment."

"I agree."

Lin Xiyu deeply concurred: "Having the chance to let kids access foreign teachers is what parents desire but cannot get; however much it costs, they're willing."

"Ordinary English classes, one session 12 lessons for 800,"

Guben thought a bit, then said: "Foreign teacher classes, one session 12 lessons, 1800."

"1800?!"

Wu Meng was startled, her little heart pounding wildly: "Priced this high, will anyone be willing to enroll?"

"You can also use the new opening as pretext to give them a discount......."

Guben laughed jokingly: "I'm deliberately setting the price high to leave you room for fluctuation; you can play the good guy and win over clients."

Wu Meng: "......."

I thank you.