I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 235. Here's half a dollar for you.

On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Mr. and Mrs. Xu and Wu Lingyu returned to Lianhua Courtyard one after the other.

The person most excited about Wu Lingyu's return was not Xu Qingfan, nor Xia Xiaoxiao, but Yao Jinping.

She cupped Wu Lingyu's face in her hands with delight and looked her up and down: "Yu'er, have you missed Auntie? I bought you a lot of gifts."

"Happy New Year, Auntie, and Happy New Year, Brother Fan."

Before the girl could finish speaking, Yao's mother pulled her down to squat on the ground and started picking out Tu ethnic ornaments.

"This hat looks good on you."

"Hmm." Wu Lingyu looked up at Xu Qingfan with embarrassment, and returned the smile when she saw him smile at her.

Xia Xiaoxiao bit her lip. Although she had already chosen a gift, her aunt's enthusiasm for Xiaoyu was clearly much greater than for her.

[Should I play fewer games and spend more time helping my aunt shop for groceries and cook?]
"Xiaoxiao, come and try on this dress. It's a traditional Tu ethnic costume from their area, bought especially for you!"

"Okay!" Seeing Yao Jinping waving for her to come over, Xia Xiaoxiao nodded with a bright smile.

As for Xu Qingfan, he was inevitably forgotten by his mother.

"Son, come here." Just as he was watching the two girls frequently changing their headdresses, Yao Jinping suddenly waved him over.

They say distance makes the heart grow fonder. After being apart for a while, Yao Jinping's attitude towards him improved a lot. At least she stopped calling him "brat."

"Mom's here, what's up?" Xu Qingfan looked at the silver pendant his mother was holding and guessed that it was a gift for him, but he still asked knowingly.

"Here, take this."

Before Yao Jinping could finish speaking, Xu Qingfan interrupted, "The silver items in the scenic area are all fake, but I guess I'll just buy them anyway, since my backpack keychain is broken."

He reached out to take it with feigned disgust, but the next second Yao Jinping slapped his hand on the back of his hand and said with equal disgust, "Why would I waste money buying this for you? You never wear the clothes I buy. This is for your little brother. You can hang it around his neck!"

"???"

"No, isn't it inappropriate to hang a silver pendant on a cat? What if someone steals it?" Xu Qingfan was about to lose his temper. Even the cat got a gift, but he didn't!

“Didn’t you just say it was fake and worthless? So what if it got stolen?” Yao Jinping retorted, using Xu Qingfan’s words to shut him up, and glared at him, saying, “Go quickly, get the lucky charm.”

Xu Qingfan, looking rather disappointed, accepted the silver ingot engraved with the words "May wealth and treasures come to you" from his mother's hand.

"Deserve it!"

Xia Xiaoxiao mocked her without giving her any face. Wu Lingyu also wanted to laugh, but when she saw Xu Qingfan glaring at her, she covered her mouth and held back.

It's not that Yao Jinping doesn't buy him things; it's just that every time Yao's mother is in a good mood and goes shopping to buy him clothes, Xu Qingfan always complains that they're ugly and refuses to wear them. And when Xu Aiguo tries to wear them, they don't fit, so the money is wasted.

If it were just that, it wouldn't be so bad. But the most important thing is that every time Zhang Chunxue or Wen Wanqing buys him clothes or shoes, this brat is overjoyed and loves them. Compared to that, who could tolerate this?

But Xu Qingfan also had something to say. The clothes and shoes his two aunts bought for him were either luxury brands or trendy brands, or at the very least, well-known brands like Heilan Home. How could these compare to the clothes and pants his mother bought for twenty or thirty yuan a piece at a street stall, where she could even make a profit by cutting the price in half?

“Let’s ignore him. There are still Tibetan clothes here.” Yao Jinping lowered her head and opened another suitcase.

"Hmm." Yao Jinping had clearly had a great time shopping on her road trip, judging from the three suitcases and two large woven bags full of items on the living room floor.

Although he said he was disgusted, Xu Qingfan was actually quite happy to see the innocent smile on his mother's face.

At this time in her previous life, due to the pressures of life and the passing of her father, Yao Jinping had never smiled like she does now, nor did she look as young.

Everyone says that the thing they want to do most after they become successful is to turn off their mom's alarm clock at six in the morning. Fortunately, Xu Qingfan did just that.

After seeing her son hang the pendant around the cat's neck, Yao Jinping waved for him to come over: "Come here."

"What, is there another gift for me?" Xu Qingfan asked as he walked over, holding the cat.

"I almost forgot to take the dirty clothes inside into the washing machine on the balcony," she said, pointing to a large black plastic bag on the ground.

"Pfft~" Wu Lingyu finally couldn't hold it in anymore, and her shoulders twitched from trying to suppress her laughter.

"Hahaha!" Xia Xiaoxiao pointed at him and laughed as if he were a clown.

"Alright, alright, I still brought you a gift." Seeing her son's embarrassment, Yao Jinping felt she had gone a bit too far and tried to smooth things over.

"Really? What is it?" Xu Qingfan squatted down and asked curiously.

"Wait a minute," Yao Jinping thought for a moment, opened one of the woven bags and quickly found a red plastic bag inside, the contents of which were not visible.

"What's this?" Xu Qingfan asked curiously as he took it. It was quite heavy, and he felt a sense of excitement, like opening a blind box.

"You'll know once you open it yourself."

Xia Xiaoxiao and Wu Lingyu were also curious about what was inside, so they craned their necks to take a look.

The plastic bag was tied with a slipknot, which he easily untied. Looking at the contents, Xu Qingfan asked uncertainly, "Mom, did you take the wrong one? Are you sure it's this?"

“Yes, this is it.” Yao Jinping opened the plastic bag and looked inside to confirm that it was the correct one.

"Half a stone?" Xu Qingfan reached inside and took out half a stone, holding it up to show his mother in astonishment.

“This is it. Your spendthrift dad saw someone gambling on stones and insisted on doing it too. This half of the stone you have is worth 500, no, half of it should be 250.” Yao Jinping earnestly explained the origin of the stone to the three of them.

"Mom, I feel like you're cursing me. You can keep your stupidity for Dad." Xu Qingfan picked up his dirty clothes, got up, and left without looking back.

"Hahaha!" Upon hearing Xu Qingfan's words, the three of them instantly realized the ambiguity of the stone and burst into laughter.

After sorting and organizing the luggage in the living room, it was already close to 5 p.m.

Xu Qingfan knew that Wu Lingyu and his parents were coming back today, so he bought a lot of fancy dishes early on. He originally wanted to cook a big meal to treat everyone, but Yao Jinping took over his position as head chef, saying that she hadn't cooked for a week and was itching to cook.

Lin Jing and Yao Jinping, the two mothers, were cooking in the kitchen, and Xia Xiaoxiao stayed behind as well, using the excuse that she wanted to learn how to cook.

Clearly, Xia Xiaoxiao felt that Yao Jinping preferred Wu Lingyu to her, and the young woman was also preparing to put more effort into grocery shopping and cooking.

(End of this chapter)