Chapter 266

As soon as Liu Liu Yumei said this, she realized she had slipped up.

She lowered her head and quietly glanced at the granddaughter holding her hand.

The granddaughter was the same as usual, just silently supporting her as they walked toward the bed, not specifically looking up at her, and certainly not opening her mouth to dig for the truth behind the slip of the tongue.

Liu Liu Yumei relaxed, and after lying on the bed, she closed her eyes, her cheeks burning slightly.

She had recovered, but she also remembered what happened recently.

Liu Liu Yumei knew her temper was big when she was young, but she didn't expect it to be so absurd.

She looked at herself in the mirror and realized how difficult it must have been for the old thing to be so devoted to her back then.

Unfortunately, the old thing didn't have the blessing to enjoy her belated thoughtfulness.

A-Li moved the small stool over again, intending to sit down and continue "supervising" her grandmother.

Liu Liu Yumei raised her hand slightly and said: "A-Li, Grandma is fine now. Xiaoyuan is back, go play with Xiaoyuan."

This was said very naturally, as if the sentences "men and women should not touch" and "what kind of decorum is this" hadn't come from her own mouth just moments ago.

And now, it was already dark.

People are just like that; the ones who slap themselves the hardest are often their future selves.

A-Li put away the stool. She didn't hesitate, didn't waver, and certainly didn't put on an act. She was going to find Xiaoyuan to listen to stories.

Every time Li Li Zhuiyuan returned from river-walking, it was also the busiest time for A-Li.

Before going out, A-Li pulled down the cloth covering the spirit tablets, revealing them.

She had deliberately covered them earlier, fearing that the young Liu Liu Yumei would be stimulated by seeing these tablets.

Walking out of the east room, she closed the door.

In the flower bed below the dam, Liu Yi was holding a box of ointment to apply to Qin Shu's chest.

The Liu young lady had been merciful, using the flat of the sword instead of the edge, but she hadn't been merciful with the force.

It was only because Qin Shu had a sturdy build; if Xiong Shan had been slapped twice like that, he wouldn't have been able to perform his marital duties for at least three months.

Liu Yi hurriedly gave Qin Shu a look, shaking her head, signaling him to fly out.

When A-Li arrived at the second-floor terrace, Li Li Zhuiyuan had just finished bathing.

Both were in the developmental stage of growing up. If they were together all the time, they might not notice, but every time they met after a period of time, they could clearly feel the slight changes in each other.

A-Li's childishness was gradually fading, and Li Li Zhuiyuan's face was gaining more sharp angles.

When truly reminiscing, neither could beat the version of themselves from when they first met.

One sat in the room, embroidered shoes on the threshold, looking straight ahead, eyes unblinking;

One sat on the terrace, holding a book and turning pages, eyes looking down, savoring it.

But true beauty is never frozen in time; it is the consistency that spreads from the past to the present, or from the present back to the past—for instance, growing up together.

The two sat on the rattan chairs and played chess. While losing the game, Li Li Zhuiyuan recounted his experiences from the previous wave.

He focused on two points: one was the miserable state of the Qixing Temple they saw after arriving, which was the old lady's handiwork.

The other was Zhao Yi scolding the Emperor of Fengdou and forcibly sacrificing two lazy dogs.

Mainly because these two things were the most interesting. Besides that, Li Li Zhuiyuan wasn't very willing to talk too much about the matters between himself and the main body.

Just as he finished speaking, Liu Yi's voice came:

"Dinner is ready!"

There were many things to do, so they were delayed, and dinner was much later than usual.

Liu Liu Yumei didn't come out for dinner, and well, no one went to call her either.

Everyone knew the old lady cared about her face; she needed some quiet time right now.

As for excuses like amnesia or not remembering anything, they couldn't fool the people who wanted to be fooled.

Lu Runsheng and Lin Lin Shu You each had a large copper basin, with thick rice spread on the bottom and various vegetable toppings on top.

No matter how delicious the food in Chuan-Yu was, after eating it for a long time, Lu Runsheng began to miss Liu Yi's cooking.

Lin Lin Shu You's side was the child and Lu Runsheng clashing. Putting aside other aspects for now, at least in terms of appetite, they could still compete. Even if they were stuffed, they could share the pain of a bloated stomach.

The coarse incense was lit, like pressing a timer. The two held chopsticks in their right hands and spoons in their left, starting to sweep through the food like a whirlwind.

Liu Yi: "Don't rush, I specially cooked more soup. If it's not enough, I can make noodles for you later."

After the meal, Lu Runsheng went to clean up the tables, chairs, bowls, and dishes that had just been collected on the first floor. Every time he was full, Lu Runsheng would actively find some work to do.

Lin Lin Shu You lay on his side on a bench, his belly bulging, his eyes constantly bulging, arguing with the child.

Yin Meng went to the kitchen and brought out the longevity noodles Liu Yi had made, with three eggs poached inside.

This was to be sent to Tan Tan Wenbin, who was staying at the bearded man's house.

Tan Tan Wenbin had asked Xiao Yingying to bring him a cake, so they were definitely celebrating there tonight, but everyone had a tacit understanding not to disturb them.

Lu Runsheng went to the dog kennel.

Xiao Hei had completely reached adulthood. If it stood up and shook its might, let alone the dogs in the surrounding villages, even adults would be afraid.

This bone structure, this fur, these muscles—Lu Runsheng's hand patted the dog's back hard.

Ordinary people would have their backs bent by the pat, but Xiao Hei enjoyed this kind of force very much, even extending its claws to actively clamp Lu Runsheng's wrist and pull it down, signaling for more to help relax its muscles and blood.

Lu Runsheng: "Let's go, let's go for a walk."

Xiao Hei didn't like going out. Except for eating and sleeping, it resisted all exercise.

But it didn't dare not listen to Lu Runsheng, because for most of the time since it was young, it had been taken care of by Lu Runsheng.

It shook itself to stand up, twisted its neck, making a crisp sound; then it stretched its claws forward, pressed its dog body down, and did a stretch.

Just going out for a walk, this guy's preparation movements were really one after another.

Lu Runsheng held a "cigar" in his hand and said impatiently: "Go!"

In this day and age, even in the city, dog leashes weren't common, let alone in the countryside. However, the countryside had its own pet ecology; any dog that bit or scratched people would be humanely dealt with.

One man and one dog walked along the field ridges, through the rice fields, in the evening breeze and moonlight—very peaceful.

Occasionally, domestic dogs would come out in groups at night to run and mark territory. After sensing Xiao Hei's aura, they immediately scattered and fled, never daring to approach or disturb.

Just when Xiao Hei was immersed in this harmonious atmosphere, Lu Runsheng's next sentence made its dog fur stand up collectively.

"Xiao Hei, will you betray us in the future?"

Xiao Hei couldn't understand complex human speech; after all, it was just a lazy dog that drank tonics every day and donated blood regularly. But it could feel the emotion behind this sentence.

Lu Runsheng was speaking from feeling. Having witnessed the monkey that betrayed them and the dog that betrayed them, he naturally thought of the pet he raised.

Xiao Hei immediately prostrated on the ground, wagging its tail frantically.

It knew that Lu Runsheng couldn't kill it, but compared to killing it, it was more afraid that Lu Runsheng would set it free.

Its breed was good, and it was raised even more luxuriously. When other families' female dogs were in heat, many male dogs would gather on the dam, waiting expectantly.

Xiao Hei was the opposite. It had never gone out. It seemed to know what the key to maintaining its current luxurious life was, so it was very self-disciplined.

Originally, according to the initial plan, Xiao Hei had served enough corvée labor and should have been set free to pursue dog happiness.

Lu Runsheng had let it go, planning to buy a new five-black dog puppy to take over, but it just wouldn't leave, showing no intention of giving way to its successors.

Seeing Xiao Hei scared like this, Lu Runsheng also felt he had thought too much.

He reached out and touched Xiao Hei's dog head, and Xiao Hei flatteringly extended its tongue to lick Lu Runsheng's fingers.

"Alright, let's go home."

Lu Runsheng walked back, and Xiao Hei followed behind, lifting its dog neck, taking steps, its dog eyes looking around, like the most loyal guard.

And after returning, it rarely went back to the dog kennel to sleep soundly at night, but lay on the dam to guard the house, barking "Woof woof woof" loudly at the slightest disturbance.

This barking woke Li Sanjiang up. When he got up to go to the toilet at night, he scolded Xiao Hei below:

"Dead dog, what are you barking for? Go to sleep."

This lazy dog had been raised in the house for years, and it was like it hadn't been raised at all. Suddenly barking like this really made the owner uncomfortable.

In the room, A-Li stood at the drawing table, holding a brush, thinking for a long time.

She still couldn't design how to draw the picture for this wave. Xiaoyuan wouldn't like the main body to appear in the painting, but she couldn't paint her own grandmother, and certainly couldn't paint that lazy dog.

"Don't rush, think about it slowly." Li Li Zhuiyuan held A-Li's hand, took her downstairs, and sent her back to the east room.

As soon as the door opened, the old lady's voice came from the room:

"A-Li, pour a cup of tea for your sister."

Immediately, the room was silent.

A-Li smiled.

Li Li Zhuiyuan also smiled.

A-Li went to pour tea, added some hot water to the teapot, and then poured it into a cup. It wasn't particular, but after all, it was made by A-Li, and the heart was in it.

During the days when Liu Liu Yumei was the "Liu young lady," she often ordered this sister around.

The Liu young lady herself found it strange—this sister's work in serving people wasn't delicate enough, and she didn't know how to read the room.

But toward this sister, the Liu young lady just couldn't feel dissatisfied. Even if she only brought a cup of plain water for her to drink, the Liu young lady could savor it like fragrant tea.

At this moment, Liu Liu Yumei on the bed sat up, took the teacup, and drank two sips.

"Xiaoyuan knows, right?"

A-Li nodded.

Liu Liu Yumei sighed: "Alright, I'm too lazy to pretend anymore. Anyway, my face has already been lost."

A-Li took back the cup and put it back in its place.

"Xiaoyuan is a good child. Grandma can tell that he treats you completely differently from how he treats others."

A-Li began to take off her clothes and change into pajamas.

"But Grandma's words still count. It was Grandma who was hysterical and anxious. Xiaoyuan has great talent, and his future is limitless. He really can carry the Qin and Liu family gates again.

A-Li, we are not marrying into a family, nor are we binding you to him. Even if we are a fallen family, we are still the Dragon King's family; we can't do such shameful things.

If you don't like it, if you feel it's not appropriate, don't worry about Grandma, and don't worry about the family. We can change people, or never marry. Anyway, your condition is getting better and better."

A-Li, who had changed into white silk pajamas, went to pour another cup of tea for Liu Liu Yumei.

"Grandma isn't thirsty."

A-Li shook her head.

Liu Liu Yumei could only drink the tea.

Then, A-Li poured another cup and handed it to her again.

Liu Liu Yumei understood and looked at her granddaughter with annoyance:

"Are you trying to block Grandma's mouth? You girl, fine, Grandma talked too much."

A-Li took the water cup away, got on the bed, and lay inside.

Liu Liu Yumei: "You child, you have more ideas than Grandma when she was young, and you know better what you want. Unlike Grandma, who clearly had feelings for him but still deliberately hung him for several years, just feeling that if I agreed to him easily, I would lose face.

Now that I think about it, Grandma also regrets it a bit. Knowing the future would be so short, why couldn't I let go of this face back then?

Grandma, in the end, was spoiled.

And our A-Li has suffered."

Liu Liu Yumei reached out to touch the palm-leaf fan on the bed. In the past, when sleeping, she would take the fan and gently rock it for her granddaughter.

The granddaughter had little sleep, was light, rejected sleeping, and found it hard to fall into a deep sleep. Every time she rocked the fan, she would secretly wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes.

Today, her hand couldn't touch the fan.

Beside her, however, came a slight breeze.

Turning her head to look, it was A-Li, who was holding the fan and gently rocking it for her.

Liu Liu Yumei's eyes turned red. She closed her eyes, not letting herself cry, and muttered:

"Grandma's life was worth it. From beginning to end, there was someone who doted on me."

"A-You, go call Deng Chen, tell him he can come over now."

"Okay, Brother Xiaoyuan."

Late at night, Li Li Zhuiyuan and the others arrived at the bearded man's house.

Deng Chen had already arrived and was sitting on the dam fiddling with his camera.

Tan Tan Wenbin pushed his wheelchair over and explained: "Brother Xiaoyuan, I asked Deng Chen to come early. I wanted to take some more photos of the children."

With parting in the future, first commemorate the happy scene—wearing a small crown, singing birthday songs, blowing out candles, picking longevity noodles...

Except for Deng Chen, even if they invited the best photographer, they could only take ghost pictures.

Li Li Zhuiyuan took out a stack of formation decomposition diagrams and handed them to Lin Lin Shu You, asking him to distribute them to the others and set up the formation to be used later.

Afterward, Li Li Zhuiyuan turned and went to the peach forest. Grandma Liu had recovered, so this matter still had to be concluded with that one.

Lin Lin Shu You scratched his head. As a foreman for the first time, he didn't know how to allocate these projects to maximize efficiency.

"Give them to me."

"Okay, Brother Bin."

Tan Tan Wenbin took the drawings and began to assign work.

Soon, everyone who could move was busy, including Deng Chen.

When receiving the drawings, Deng Chen was a bit surprised.

Tan Tan Wenbin: "What, you don't understand formations?"

Deng Chen: "The one who understands formations best is that pig."

That pig was the one with the greatest ambition and strongest ability among the five of them, so strong that it destroyed itself.

Deng Chen immediately said: "But this drawing is very simple, just follow it, I can do it."

"Mm, then go do it."

"Good."

"Hey, by the way, there's something I want to ask you."

"You ask."

"What do you plan to do with this body and this identity?"

"On weekdays, I will give his parents support money. This time, I cashed out the photo studio, and I plan to leave all the money I've earned over the years to his parents. It can be considered as ending this karma."

When the two-headed snake used Deng Chen to borrow a corpse to return to life, Deng Chen was already dead, so it didn't actually owe Deng Chen anything.

"Did you leave a will?"

"I left one."

Tan Tan Wenbin looked at Xiao Yingying and said to her: "Hold Benben and go upstairs to rest."

Xiao Yingying held Benben from the crib. Benben waved his hands; he knew it was time to part, and he was very reluctant to part with the two ghost brothers.

The two ghost infants also began to cry.

Among children, one cries and the other cries, and soon the rhythm picked up, and they began to cry louder and louder.

Tan Tan Wenbin: "Brother Xiaoyuan is here."

In an instant, the crying stopped!

Benben was held up by Xiao Yingying. When passing the stairs, he saw Xiong Shan and Lihua leaning by the window.

The two knew there was an "activity" tonight and it wasn't convenient to show their faces, but curiosity drove them to want to sneak a peek.

Seeing Xiao Huang Ying holding the child up, the two just smiled simply and greeted them.

"Resting, huh."

"Sleeping so early today."

It was almost like saying, the child in your arms is really handsome, too lovable.

Lin Lin Shu You had just adjusted a formation flag when the pager on his waist rang.

"Brother Bin, a call from Zhou Yunyun."

"Oh."

Tan Tan Wenbin took the phone, Lin Lin Shu You pushed Tan Tan Wenbin to the corner of the dam, and then went back to continue planting flags.

The call connected, and it was a bit noisy on the other side.

In this day and age, if you want to make a call, you have to line up downstairs in the girls' dormitory. If you want to talk more without anyone urging you, you have to wait until very late.

"Hello."

"Missed me?"

"Mm, missed you."

Ever since Tan Tan Wenbin returned from the outer sea of Zhoushan last time, Zhou Yunyun had been having nightmares about Tan Tan Wenbin. In recent nightmares, Tan Tan Wenbin's miserable state had become more and more severe.

Tan Tan Wenbin also blamed himself. His state of being more dead than a dead person would always make people who cared about him and were concerned about him soul-distraught in the dark.

But he hadn't completely died, always hanging on by a breath, so this kind of torture would continue until Zhou Yunyun no longer had him in her heart.

In a sense, this could be considered a sincerity tester for couples, but in this world, there weren't many couples who dared to use this. After all, when one side's sincerity was being tested, the other side had to be in a state worse than death.

"I'll be back tomorrow."

"Back to Jin Ling?"

"Nantong."

"Then I'll ask for leave and come to Nantong to find you."

"No need, I'll go to Jin Ling to find you. You have to study hard and strive for a scholarship. I'll have to rely on you to earn money in the future. I've already looked at cars and houses, and I'm counting on you to graduate and earn money."

"Are you really okay?"

"I'm fine, be good. I'll return to Nantong tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow I'll go find you. I'll spend a few more days with you then, accompanying you to class, shopping, eating, and sleeping."

"You don't need to accompany me to sleep; you can't get into our dormitory."

"Woman, are you questioning my ability to handle the dormitory auntie?"

"You are really... I don't know what to say to you."

At this moment, Tan Tan Wenbin sensed that the two children had floated to his side, both pressing their ears against the mobile phone, listening to Zhou Yunyun's voice.

"Yunyun, there are two cute children at the construction site. They have been accompanying me these days. The two children are very cute, and I like to take them out to play when I get off work."

"Really? Did you bring a camera? Did you take any photos?"

"The camera is broken."

"I really didn't expect you to like children."

"I didn't expect it either."

"Then they must be really cute."

"That's right, I even taught them to recite ancient poems, memorize words, and even taught them arithmetic."

"They are only so small, you are really bad."

At this moment, the two children began to make "Yi-ya-yi" sounds.

"Yunyun, listen, they are greeting you. I'll let them perform a show for you, recite an ancient poem."

Tan Tan Wenbin let go of the mobile phone, and the two children held the mobile phone, floating in the air.

Next, Zhou Yunyun's voice kept coming from the mobile phone:

"Is the signal bad there? There's only static on the phone..."

"I still can't hear clearly, it's intermittent..."

"It's getting clearer now. They are two little children, they don't know how to speak yet, they feel really small..."

"It's getting clearer and clearer. They are singing, singing..."

" 'In the World, Only Mother is Good'."

(End of chapter)