1990s: Spring Water Family

Chapter 211 My younger brother ran away from home, and Gu Bin stepped in to comfort him.

Lin Xiyu took the opportunity to buy a lot of snacks to share with everyone. Children are innocent and pure; a few pieces of milk candy or a few candies can bring them great satisfaction.

The children were happy, and the parents were happy to see that.

Some of the women who stayed home to look after the children, seeing how generous Lin Xiyu was, also secretly got the idea and came over to chat with her.

Lin Xiyu intentionally won people over, saying nice things and gradually becoming one of them.

The children played their games, and the adults chatted. In just one afternoon, the aunt and nephew became the most popular people in Pingquan Hutong.

Gu Bin praised his wife's children's diplomacy, saying she had the potential to be a diplomat. Lin Xiyu was delighted and then used snacks to entice the children, gradually expanding the play area from Pingquan Hutong to Wangfuchizi West Street, and then to Qushuiting Street. The entire old city area was filled with traces of the children's carefree play.

-

Children's diplomacy is progressing smoothly, there is much less gossip, and the family is becoming more and more comfortable living in their old house.

Grandma Gu adored Rui Rui and doted on her from the bottom of her heart. Rui Rui felt her love and gradually became close to her.

With her help taking care of the children, Lin Xiyu had more free time to spend with her family.

She took some time to go back to her maternal grandmother's house a few times to visit her and buy her a lot of trendy nutritional supplements.

"Don't spend any more money, keep it for yourself."

Grandma was stingy with money and didn't want her to spend it. Every time she saw her, she would nag her for a bit.

"It's only two boxes of Brain Gold, it won't cost much."

Lin Xiyu sat down next to her grandmother and hugged her arm affectionately.

"You and Gu Bin spend a lot of money in Shanghai."

Grandma smiled lovingly and started her nagging mode again: "He's quit being a lawyer again. Starting his own business is even harder. You should spend your money wisely. Spend it when you need to, and don't waste it when you don't need to."

"How can buying you things be considered wasteful?"

Lin Xiyu affectionately rubbed against her grandmother's shoulder, deliberately trying to cheer her up: "As long as you are healthy, that's more important than anything else. With you here, we can still have something to look forward to while we're away. We've been busy and working hard all year, and all we want is to be able to go back to our hometown for the New Year and reunite with our families. If you're not here, this family will fall apart, and everyone will be busy with their own lives. It will be difficult to get together again."

"become"

Grandma smiled and agreed: "That Brain Gold, Grandma will drink it. Just because of what you said, Grandma will live a few more years."

"A few years isn't enough."

Lin Xiyu smiled sweetly: "Grandma is only 82 this year, she's still a long way from 100. My cousin isn't married yet, and Xiaoyi hasn't grown up. You won't be at ease until we're all married and have children, will you?"

"Ugh"

When Grandma heard about her cousin, her eyes darkened, and she sighed softly, "Grandma wanted to wait for your cousin to get married, but I'm afraid that will be difficult."

"What's wrong with my cousin again?"

Lin Xiyu looked surprised: "Isn't she dating Brother Xiao? Their relationship seems pretty good."

"It's gone."

Grandma shook her head, looking quite helpless.

"They've dispersed?!"

Lin Xiyu asked incredulously, "When did this happen? We were fine just a few days ago at dinner!"

"In the next couple of days."

Grandma smiled wryly: "Li Xiao's family thinks he's too old and is urging him to get married. Your cousin doesn't want to get married, so the two of them couldn't reach an agreement, had a fight, and broke up."

"what?!"

Lin Xiyu said incredulously, "Just for this? Can't we talk it out properly? Is it really necessary to argue? We've been together for two years, it's such a pity to break up now."

"you do not say."

Grandma continued, "Your aunt was also furious. She complained about your cousin, saying that she was obsessed with making money and was almost possessed. She didn't want to get married or have children. She said she would just live for money from now on."

"My cousin's company is supported by her alone, which is really not easy."

Lin Xiyu wanted to say a few words in defense of her cousin, but seeing her grandmother's displeased expression, she changed her words with a forced smile: "But no matter how important making money is, it can't compare to getting married. Putting everything else aside, Xiao Ge is a really good person. He has good character and is good to my cousin. Once you miss him, it will be hard to find someone as suitable as him again."

"I think so too."

Grandma said worriedly, "Leilei is not young anymore. If she doesn't get married now, she'll become an old maid in a few years."

"How about I go and try to persuade my cousin?"

Lin Xiyu couldn't bear to see the old lady troubled, so she volunteered to share her burdens.

"Go ahead."

Upon hearing this, Grandma smiled with relief: "You and your cousin are the closest. She won't listen to what others say, but she might consider what you say more."

"I hope so."

Lin Xiyu wasn't sure she could persuade her cousin: "Where is Sister Leilei right now? Is she at the company? Is she on a business trip out of town?"

"do not know."

Grandma was indignant: "That girl is too wild. Such a big thing happened and she doesn't care at all. If your uncle hadn't happened to see it and told your aunt, we would all still be in the dark, thinking that we would hear good news from them after the New Year."

"I'll call her."

Lin Xiyu patted her grandmother's back to help her catch her breath: "Don't worry, I'll tell you after I've found out."

"it is good."

Grandma smiled with satisfaction, looking at her with loving eyes.

-

My cousin isn't indifferent to relationships; she just chose making money over relationships.

After breaking up with Li Xiao, she vented her emotions by working even harder to earn money.

Lin Xiyu couldn't get in touch with her cousin, so she called her driver and learned that her cousin had gone out of town again and was catching up on sleep on the way, and that her phone was switched off.

Her cousin's matter had to be put on hold for the time being. She hung up the phone somewhat dejectedly and was pondering how to appease her grandmother when her phone suddenly rang again.

The caller ID showed her as her biological mother, Chen Xiulan.

"Is Xiaoyi with you?"

The call connected, but Chen Xiulan couldn't wait for her to call her "Mom" and immediately launched into a rude interrogation.

"No."

Upon hearing that it was related to her younger brother, Lin Xiyu did not hold her mother's rudeness against her.

"That brat!"

Chen Xiulan was anxious and frustrated: "I don't know where he's run off to again. All he does is play games all day and doesn't study properly."

"Could he have gone to an internet cafe?"

Lin Xiyu asked tentatively.

"I've searched all the internet cafes nearby, but I haven't seen him."

Chen Xiulan was very agitated.

How long has he been away from home?

Lin Xiyu's heart skipped a beat, and a bad premonition welled up inside her.

"He didn't come back all night last night."

Chen Xiulan was so angry that she gritted her teeth, and the sound of her grinding could be heard over the phone.

"Don't rush."

One problem after another, Lin Xiyu was exhausted: "I'll look for it first, and if it doesn't work, I'll call the police."

"I hope nothing bad has happened to your brother."

Chen Xiulan panicked when she heard that the police had been called.

It's hard to say right now.

Lin Xiyu rubbed her temples, looking troubled. "I'll ask Gu Bin to think of a solution. He's resourceful and might be able to guess where Xiaoyi is."

Chen Xiulan clearly still harbored resentment towards Gu Bin, and remained silent for a long time after hearing his name.

"Let's hang up now."

Lin Xiyu was a little annoyed and hung up the phone without waiting for a reply.

-

"Did Xiaoyi have a fight with your mother?"

A moment later, Gu Bin received the news and rushed over from home. The two met at the entrance of the internet cafe at No. 1 Middle School to discuss countermeasures.

"I estimate"

Lin Xiyu sighed and rubbed her forehead: "Judging from my mother's tone, the two of them must have had a fight. Maybe my mother hit him and drove him away."

When did Xiaoyi start playing games?

Gu Bin frowned deeply: "How addicted are you? Have you ever stayed out all night before?"

I don't know.

Lin Xiyu felt a little guilty: "I'm too far away in Shanghai. I only call Xiaoyi occasionally to chat for a bit, and he never told me about playing games."

Does he have a cell phone?

"No, my mom didn't buy him anything. I always call my grandma's public phone to find him."

"We should buy him a cell phone."

"It was my oversight as the older sister."

"Ask your mom."

Gu Bin pondered a solution: "Does Xiaoyi have any close classmates at school? We can ask his homeroom teacher for the contact information of their parents. If we can't find them, we can only call them one by one and ask all our relatives and friends first."

I'll ask now.

Without any hesitation, Lin Xiyu immediately took out her phone and called Chen Xiulan again.

-

Chen Xiulan replied quickly and successfully obtained the contact information of Xiaoyi's classmate.

Gu Bin and Lin Xiyu were in an internet cafe, making phone calls to each of his classmates.

The two were lucky enough to get some useful information from a classmate.

Chen Xiaoyi was in a bad mood last night. He came to his house to see him, hoping to invite him to play games together.

His father happened to come back from outside, so he couldn't sneak out and had to give up.

When Chen Xiaoyi saw that he couldn't come out, she was very disappointed and left alone, looking dejected. She never contacted him again after that.

Gu Bin perked up upon hearing the useful clue. He found out the address of a rather secluded internet cafe they had visited before, and he and Lin Xiyu took a taxi there immediately.

-

As expected, Chen Xiaoyi was in the internet cafe, having played games all night. He was so tired that he fell asleep as soon as he lay down on the table, unaware that someone had come.

Lin Xiyu felt both heartache and anger when she saw her younger brother like this. Just as she was about to wake him up, Gu Bin stopped her.

"Leave the rest to me, I'll talk to him."

"This child is so infuriating."

Lin Xiyu was still in a bad mood.

"It's because you guys are so hot-tempered that you easily make things worse."

Gu Bin had his own opinion: "Now is not the time to be angry. We need to find a way to resolve Xiaoyi's inner conflict, otherwise he will not be willing to go back with us."

"Okay."

Lin Xiyu was used to trusting him, and she agreed without much hesitation.

-

A moment later, Chen Xiaoyi was woken up from his nap. When he saw the person standing in front of him, he thought he was seeing things and rubbed his eyelids in confusion.

"Are you hungry? Have something to eat."

Gu Bin bought him a cup of soy milk and a roujiamo (Chinese hamburger).

"Brother Bin, is it really you?"

Chen Xiaoyi was really hungry. He swallowed the roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) in a few bites. Only when he felt the scalding temperature of the soy milk did he come out of his daze and reveal an expression of extreme surprise.

"It's been five years since I last saw you. You've grown into a handsome young man."

Gu Bin patted his head affectionately: "At first glance, I didn't even recognize you."

"You haven't changed, you're still the same."

Chen Xiaoyi stared wide-eyed at him, scrutinizing him closely.

"My appearance hasn't changed, but my mindset has."

Gu Bin sighed softly, "I'm no longer the arrogant and rebellious young man I was five years ago, who didn't respect anyone. When I encounter setbacks, I force myself to grow up. I can't change the environment, so I can only change myself."

"Brother Bin."

Chen Xiaoyi's thoughts were complicated: "These words don't sound like they came from your mouth. The you I remember is smart, free-spirited, domineering, and strong. Nothing can stump you. Even now, you are a legend at No. 1 High School and a role model for the younger students. Even as your ex-brother-in-law, I still feel very proud when I hear the older students praising you."

"You got into the top high school?"

Gu Bin was both amused and exasperated when he heard his "former brother-in-law": "He's only 13 and he's already in high school. His grades are pretty good. He's really made your mom proud. She should be very happy."

She was happy.

Chen Xiaoyi's handsome face darkened, revealing a hint of dissatisfaction: "She forces me to study all the time. I skipped two grades and she's still not satisfied. She keeps making me study and study. I'm almost driven crazy by her."

"You skipped two grades?"

Gu Bin said in a flattering tone, "It's clear you're really smart and have a lot of potential. You might just be the next provincial champion."

"Impossible, I don't have your skills."

Chen Xiaoyi denied himself and kept complaining: "After entering high school, I clearly felt that studying was very difficult. High school courses are much more difficult than junior high school courses. The rote memorization method that my mother used to teach me was like pulling up seedlings to help them grow, squeezing out all my potential to the extreme."

"When I got to high school, rote memorization didn't work anymore. My grades fell far behind other students, and now my total score is at the bottom of the whole grade. Even the teachers think I'm too young and can't keep up with the intensity of high school studies, and they want me to repeat a year."

-

Do you want to repeat a grade?

Gu Bin is good at guiding, so try to communicate with him.

"Of course I don't want to!"

Chen Xiaoyi was very distressed: "It's too embarrassing to repeat a grade, but my grades have plummeted and I can't catch up no matter what I do. I'm also very annoyed, and my mom keeps nagging me, complaining that I'm not working hard enough and not studying properly."

Have you tried to communicate with her?

Gu Bin patted his shoulder reassuringly.

"Of course I said that."

Chen Xiaoyi complained helplessly: "But my mom just won't listen to me. She always thinks that as a teacher, she knows her students very well. In her eyes, there are only two kinds of students: those who study well and those who don't, those who work hard and those who don't. If someone doesn't study well, then they're not working hard. That's what I am now. She's labeled me as not working hard, and no matter how I explain, it's no use."

Which subject do you like?

Gu Bin tried to guide and soothe his emotions.

"Of course, it's math, physics, and chemistry!"

Without hesitation, Chen Xiaoyi replied, "I hate history and geography the most. I had to memorize them by rote in junior high school, and I'm almost sick of it now. Just looking at them gives me a headache, and I wish I could throw the books away."

"Then study science well."

Gu Bin offered his understanding and support: "Not many boys want to study humanities. Just bear with it, get through the first year of high school, and things will be easier when you choose your major in the second year."

I want to do that too.

Chen Xiaoyi smiled bitterly: "But my grades are already at the bottom of the class. The teacher wants me to repeat the year, and I don't have much confidence that I can catch up."