1990s: Spring Water Family

Chapter 117 Aren't you afraid of spoiling me by pampering me like this?

"What a coincidence."

My cousin promised Wang Fan she wouldn't expose him, and gave a vague, perfunctory answer: "It just so happened that someone wanted to rent out a place on Qinglong Back Street. When we arrived, the person had just registered with the real estate agency and hadn't left yet when we ran into them."

"Both houses belong to his family?"

The aunt was incredulous: "A rent of only 100 yuan a month, and there's such a good deal?"

"You don't even look at who went to make the negotiations."

My cousin got a little cocky: "I'm the top salesperson who landed 10 renovation orders in a month. With my sales skills, 100 yuan is too much for him. If it weren't for Wang Fan dragging me down, I would have been happy to give him 80 yuan."

"Blow it."

Her aunt glanced at her sideways and said, "Your mother is sitting right here, watching you boast."

When can we move in?

The aunt's eyes lit up as she listened, and she couldn't help but chime in.

"Around the end of the month."

My cousin counted the days on her fingers: "Those two apartments are unfinished; the toilets and kitchens haven't been renovated yet, so they can't be used for the time being. Including installing lights and wiring, it should only take about half a month."

"Are we supposed to do the renovations ourselves?"

Her aunt's heart skipped a beat: "How much will that cost?"

"You don't need to worry about the renovation."

My cousin said nonchalantly, "Don't forget what I do. We're in the renovation business. How could we let something like this cause us trouble? The materials are all readily available. We can just bring a few people from somewhere else."

"Ah."

Auntie laughed angrily: "Listen to this! How long have you been working here? You've made a few bucks and you already look down on people. You dare to call yourself the older sister in front of your grandma? You're asking for a beating, aren't you?"

I think so too.

Grandma smiled with her lips pursed, her eyes full of love.

"Grandma, don't believe what my mom said."

My cousin rushed over and hugged her grandmother's arm, saying sweetly, "I may look down on anyone, but I would never look down on you. You are my dearest, most beloved grandmother. In my heart, you are the best grandmother in the world, and no one can compare to you."

"That girl is all talk and no action."

Grandma chuckled and poked her forehead: "Grandma is so kind, yet I've never seen you give her any money after you get paid. Xiyu even knew to buy Grandma a small pair of scissors with her earnings. What did you, as her older sister, buy?"

"hey-hey."

My cousin blushed and shamelessly defended herself, "I was just thinking of giving Grandma a surprise. There will definitely be a gift, it's just a matter of time."

"It better be this way."

Grandma glanced at her and smiled meaningfully: "Don't try to fool Grandma. Grandma keeps a record of everything for you. From childhood to adulthood, every expense you've incurred while eating, drinking, and sleeping here is recorded in a little notebook, every single one. If you're not filial, I'll deduct it from your dowry. Grandma will save it for herself. Once you're all married and no longer need Grandma to worry about you, Grandma will go to Beijing for a visit, to see the sights on behalf of your grandfather, and to fulfill his lifelong wish."

"Going to Beijing is easy."

My cousin readily agreed: "Once I've saved enough money, I'll go with you."

"Haven't you already earned 2000?"

Her aunt teased her with a smile, "2000 is enough. You don't need to wait until later; you can go now."

"Oh, let's go now?"

My cousin looked away guiltily: "I've spent all my money, I haven't saved much."

"You spent 2000 yuan?"

The aunt's expression changed upon hearing this: "What have you been doing? You've spent so much money."

"Leilei."

Grandma looked worried: "You're not still in contact with that high school classmate of yours, are you? Have you spent all your money on him?"

My cousin kept her head down and didn't say a word.

"say something."

My aunt's voice changed from anxiety.

"No."

My cousin didn't admit it. Her mind raced, and she came up with a good excuse: "I haven't been in contact with him for a long time. I spent the money to buy a shop. I asked Liu Ye to keep an eye out for suitable shops and to grab them first and pay a deposit. I didn't have enough money, so I borrowed 25000 from him. I only keep 500 yuan for myself each month and use the rest to pay off my debts."

"That's right."

The aunt believed her and patted her chest, letting out a long sigh of relief.

Grandma frowned, looking at her with a worried expression.

"Where is Second Aunt?"

My cousin was alarmed by my grandmother's gaze and changed the subject: "Where's my second aunt? Where did she go? Have they discussed it? Are they getting a divorce?"

"Divorce is not such an easy thing."

Auntie sighed: "Even if you really want a divorce, if you take it to the Civil Affairs Bureau, there will be a cooling-off period. I told her to go back and pack her things. Your maternal grandma's house is too crowded, so let her and Xiaoyi stay at our house. You and your brother are not here, and your father has gone to the countryside to perform. I am all alone at home. If they go, they can keep me company."

"It's good that my second aunt is staying with us."

My cousin strongly agreed with our mother's decision: "It's better for her to have you, her older sister, to comfort her and talk to her more than for her to keep it all bottled up inside."

"Ugh."

Grandma's eyes darkened, and she sighed deeply: "Neither of my two daughters is easy to deal with."

"mom"

Seeing that the mother and her two children had finished speaking, the aunt lifted her eyelids, glanced at the grandmother's expression, and tentatively interjected, "I also have something I want to tell you."

"What do you want now?"

Grandma's eyelids twitched, and she felt inexplicably uneasy.

"My mom came to see me this morning."

Her aunt hesitated, a little embarrassed, before finally saying, "She said..."

"what did you say?"

My aunt was impatient and couldn't wait to ask.

She asked me

My aunt made a surprising statement: "Would you like to adopt a child?"

"Adopt a child?"

The aunt and grandmother exchanged a glance, both seeing an indescribable shock in each other's eyes.

"We're moving soon."

My cousin frowned, a hint of displeasure in her voice: "Why adopt a child at this crucial time? Aren't you and Uncle going to work at the hotel? You'll be eating and sleeping there, who's going to look after the child?"

"Besides, you're taking Chinese medicine, it's not like you can't be cured. You've waited for so many years, and suddenly you want to adopt a child? What are you trying to do now? Does your mother want to push you to get a divorce if you don't have a child?"

-

"Leilei."

Grandma's face darkened, and she sternly rebuked, "How can you talk to your aunt like that? It's been a long time since his mother came to our house to cause trouble, don't bring it up again."

"I just can't understand it."

My cousin muttered under her breath, "What's wrong with not having children? Why do you have to have them? It's so much easier not having children. You can earn your own money and spend it yourself. I don't want to have any children in the future."

"Go to Xiyu Lane and see if Xiyu and the others have finished yet."

Auntie rubbed her temples, looking annoyed, and shooed the person out: "Buy some sesame seed cakes on your way back. We won't cook dinner tonight, just make some tomato and egg soup and eat the sesame seed cakes."

"Row."

My cousin didn't want to stay at home anyway, so she readily agreed, lifted the curtain, and ran out.

-

Qingquanju, a traditional Jinan-style Shandong cuisine restaurant.

The wrap party was over, and the crew drank heartily until they were all tipsy.

Xu Yi had a sweet tooth and tried some baijiu (Chinese liquor). His head was spinning and he felt a little tipsy.

The little guy was holding back his anger, feeling that Gu Bin had stolen his sister, and he vented his frustrations while drunk.

"Brother Bin, you promised to take me to see airplanes, when are we going? I've been waiting for almost a month, and you still haven't kept your promise. If you don't take me soon, I'll stop letting my sister be with you. I'll talk bad about you in front of her every day and try to make things difficult for you." "Xiao Yi."

Seeing that he had taken a few sips of wine and his cheeks were flushed, Lin Xiyu smiled and scolded him, "What are you saying? You've drunk a couple of sips of cat pee and you don't know who you are anymore."

"It's okay, the little guy is quite cute when he's drunk."

Gu Bin, who was always self-disciplined, was the only sober man present who was not drunk.

"I just want to go see airplanes."

Xu Yi yelled in his little voice, "Brother Bin promised to take me to the barracks! I want to go to the barracks! When I grow up, I want to be a soldier and become the most powerful soldier king!"

"Ah."

Gu Bin chuckled and teased, "Not bad, little one, you've got quite the ambition."

"I'm not a little one."

Xu Yi grumbled unhappily, "I'm already 8 years old, not a little kid anymore."

"Okay, okay, you're not, you're a little man, alright?"

Gu Bin smiled and coaxed him, "Tomorrow we'll go to the western suburbs to watch airplanes."

"Are you really taking him?"

Lin Xiyu looked surprised.

"Filming is over, it's time to go."

Gu Bin had his own ideas and smiled meaningfully: "My older brother called me a couple of days ago to ask when I was going home to visit my grandparents. I'll take this opportunity to go back and let them meet you too."

"I also need to go?"

Lin Xiyu's heart trembled.

"If you don't go, who will they see?"

Gu Bin laughed and said, "Are you expect me to point at the TV and tell them, 'Watch for yourselves, that pretty young girl in the documentary is your future granddaughter-in-law'?"

"What granddaughter-in-law?"

Lin Xiyu blushed and said, "It's not even close to being a done deal yet, don't talk nonsense."

"Grandma has already agreed, so why don't you want to give me a proper status?"

Gu Bin pinched her cheek, feigning displeasure: "The ring was a waste of money, you heartless little ingrate."

“Going to your grandfather’s house is definitely different from staying at my own home.”

Lin Xiyu broke free from his hand, her heart pounding with panic: "Your family are high-ranking officials, I'm afraid I'm not good enough for you."

"We've already seen Sixth Grandfather, what's there to be afraid of?"

Gu Bin noticed her nervousness and comforted her with a smile, "My grandparents aren't monsters, they won't eat you."

"I'm still afraid."

Lin Xiyu took a deep breath to calm her nerves: "It was too sudden, I wasn't prepared at all."

"Just think of it as visiting the barracks and running into them by chance."

Gu Bin thought for a moment and then said, "Let Wu Meng and Li Liang go too. It'll be more lively with more people. My grandparents are both very easygoing people. You'll see when you meet them."

"Can they really accept me?"

Lin Xiyu was most concerned about the difference in their social status.

“Your father was a martyr, and my grandfather admired soldiers with backbone the most.”

Gu Bin was confident: "From both a moral and logical standpoint, he won't look down on you. On the contrary, he'll think more highly of you because you're the daughter of a martyr."

"I still benefited from my father's influence."

A bitter look flashed in Lin Xiyu's eyes: "Just like Xu Jie said, we grew up stepping on our father's corpse and eating human blood buns."

"Xi Yu, don't say that."

Gu Bin hugged the person with heartache: "Your father sacrificed himself for the greater good of the country. This is the highest honor. If he were still alive, he would not want to see you tormenting yourself because of other people's criticism."

"I really envy people who have fathers."

Lin Xiyu's eyes reddened: "Xu Jie is so hateful, but I still envy her. No matter how bad she is, she still has her father to spoil her. She is a child who is spoiled by her father."

"From now on, I will spoil you."

Gu Bin tightened his arms around her, saying, "I will take the love from your father and spoil you twice as much."

"Aren't you afraid of spoiling me rotten by spoiling me like this?"

Lin Xiyu was deeply moved, and tears blurred her vision.

Gu Bin's eyes showed affection: "As long as you don't abuse me after you go astray, that's fine."

"Tsk, tsk."

Wu Meng, listening from the side, felt a pang of jealousy: "You two, that's enough. Stop hugging and kissing. Do you think I don't exist?"

"You can hug me if you want."

Lin Xiyu pointed at Li Liang, glaring at her with a mixture of shame and anger: "Isn't there a ready-made one?"

"Don't mention him, he makes me so angry."

Wu Meng complained angrily, "This guy, he's 1.88 meters tall but has such a low alcohol tolerance, he gets drunk after just one drink. He's so heavy, how am I supposed to drag him back?"

"Stop riding your bicycle."

Gu Bin helped his childhood friend up from the table: "The production team has cars; we'll have the drivers take everyone home later."

"also."

Wu Meng breathed a sigh of relief: "Just leave his beat-up bike here, it's an old-fashioned bicycle, I can't ride it even if you asked me to."

"Let's go too."

Lin Xiyu glanced at her watch: "It's past 3 o'clock, it's time to go home."

"I helped the driver take the person home."

Gu Bin put Li Liang's arm around his neck and dragged him out: "Take Xiao Yi back first, and don't forget to tell Grandma that we're going to see the airplane tomorrow."

"Are you really going?"

Lin Xiyu hesitated for a moment.

"Meet at the south gate of Daming Lake at 9 a.m."

Gu Bin didn't give her a chance to refuse: "Let's ride our bicycles there together."

"Row."

Wu Meng was very happy and readily agreed.

"If she says it's okay, then it's okay."

Lin Xiyu glared at her helplessly and sighed resignedly.

"whee."

Wu Meng raised an eyebrow at Gu Bin triumphantly, with a hint of provocation.

It seemed to be saying, "See? You'll have to rely on me to convince Xiyu."

Gu Bin blinked, ignoring the smug little expression on his face.

"Hey, this guy."

Wu Meng was unwilling to be ignored and was about to provoke him again when Gu Bin shut her down with a single sentence.

"How about this, I won't care about Li Liang anymore, you can take him back yourself."

Wu Meng chickened out and promptly shut her mouth.

-

Gu Bin helped the entire production crew into the car and sent them home.

Lin Xiyu watched the car leave, and just as she was about to take her younger brother home, she saw her older cousin strolling over from the direction of her maternal grandmother's house.

"Sister Leilei, where are you going on such a hot day?"

"My mom asked me to go buy some sesame seed cakes."

My cousin's eyes lit up when she saw her, and she ran over with quick little steps: "By the way, did you guys finish yet?"