1990s: Spring Water Family

Chapter 285 The Ace Pilot's Dark History

“That’s a very good answer.”

Lin Xiyu led the applause as a sign of praise.

The other children were also very enthusiastic, clapping and cheering enthusiastically.

The atmosphere in the classroom was very harmonious, which eased Li Ang's tension.

"Next, our new teacher, Ms. Li, will teach you today's paper-cutting pattern, a double blessing."

Lin Xiyu wanted him to show off his skills in front of the children, so she deliberately pushed him forward.

"Me, me?"

Li Ang was suddenly called out, and his heart trembled three times in shock.

The students applauded.

Lin Xiyu deliberately tried to liven up the atmosphere.

The children were very supportive, clapping their little hands and looking at him with expectant eyes.

"Ok."

Encouraged by his senior, Li Ang's confidence soared: "Since my classmates want to learn, I'll show them what I've got."

-

Grandma Hu had ten apprentices, and Li Ang was the third oldest among them. Back then, he was considered one of the older apprentices.

His talent is not outstanding, but his strength lies in his solid basic skills.

Common patterns like "double happiness" are a piece of cake for him.

The scissors moved nimbly across the paper, and in no time, a double happiness pattern took shape in his hands.

"Wow, Teacher Li is amazing!"

"Wow, that was fast!"

"As expected of Teacher Lin's junior brother, he has just as skillful hands as Teacher Lin."

His superb skills have earned him a large following of young fans.

The children all looked at him with longing and admiration.

"Hahaha."

Li Ang finally felt a sense of presence, and his previous restraint and awkwardness vanished.

Do you all like the double happiness?

Lin Xiyu seized the opportunity to create a lively atmosphere.

"like."

The children gave a uniform answer.

"If you like it, just start learning it."

Lin Xiyu provided on-site guidance: "Follow the teacher's instructions. First, fold the paper into a quarter, then start cutting from the upper right corner."

The children did as instructed and learned very diligently.

-

"Senior sister, do you have any plans to take on disciples?"

Li Ang was preoccupied with applying to become an intangible cultural heritage inheritor. While the children were learning paper cutting, he sidled up to his senior sister and whispered something to her.

"Yes, I have."

Lin Xiyu frankly admitted, "I just haven't encountered the right opportunity yet."

"How long are you going to wait?"

Li Ang asked in confusion: "Isn't there a prerequisite for applying to be an inheritor of intangible cultural heritage, that you have to have apprentices?"

Lin Xiyu frowned slightly: "But we need to find a suitable candidate first."

"Isn't this readily available?"

Li Ang glanced at the children who were cutting paper, his expression suggestive.

"They are still a bit too young."

Lin Xiyu has her own perspective: "It is still unknown whether we can continue. Many children are brought by their parents who feel that it is a free public welfare class and they might as well take it. For them, paper cutting is just a hobby, not something they are really passionate about."

"Who cares if he really likes it or not?"

Li Ang, harboring his own ulterior motives, urged, "First, take on one or two apprentices, get through the application process, and we can talk about the rest later."

"This is not good."

Lin Xiyu frowned: "Wouldn't that be considered cheating? If it gets exposed, wouldn't it be even more embarrassing?"

"This has nothing to do with fraud."

Li Ang argued sophistry: "Apprentices are also human. Today they want to recognize a master and learn from him, but tomorrow they change their minds and don't want to learn anymore. This is not something a master can control."

"I'd better wait."

Lin Xiyu made her own decision: "Taking on apprentices is a big deal. It is related to the inheritance of art. I have no intention of teaching someone who does not truly love paper-cutting and is willing to treat it as his mission."

"If you're this strict, it'll be hard to find apprentices."

Li Ang couldn't persuade her and sighed in frustration.

"If you want to take on apprentices, you can do it yourself. You don't need to worry about me."

Lin Xiyu vaguely guessed his intention.

"Then why are you so embarrassed?"

Li Ang pretended to decline, saying, "Senior Sister didn't take on any disciples, but I, as her junior brother, beat her to it."

"What's this?"

Lin Xiyu didn't take it seriously: "Taking on disciples depends on fate. Whether you can find a disciple who suits your taste depends entirely on your own ability."

Li Ang secretly rejoiced: "Among these kids in the classroom now, none of them are to my liking?"

"That's how it is for now."

Lin Xiyu didn't rule out any possibility: "As for whether I'll be able to meet someone with exceptional talent in the future, it's hard to say."

"If my senior sister doesn't like it, am I really going to choose her?"

Li Ang asked again, still not entirely convinced.

"Choose."

Lin Xiyu agreed without any hesitation.

"Thank you, senior sister."

Li Ang's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled back into his stomach.

"Why are you thanking me when you're choosing an apprentice?"

Lin Xiyu could understand his eagerness to take on apprentices. After all, there are requirements for applying to be an inheritor of intangible cultural heritage, and it was a real pity that he was not selected just because he did not have any apprentices.

"I just arrived."

Li Ang was embarrassed: "Unlike my senior sister, who has spent a lot of time with these children and has developed feelings for them, if my senior sister intends to take on disciples, the children will definitely be more willing to be your disciples, so I, as her senior uncle, will have to step aside."

"Children?"

Lin Xiyu raised an eyebrow: "It's about quality, not quantity, when it comes to apprentices. One talented one is enough. How many more do you want to take on?"

"The more apprentices the better, of course."

Li Ang said matter-of-factly, "Grandma Hu only took in ten back then, so we can't take in fewer than her."

"Ten?"

Lin Xiyu laughed and asked in return, "Isn't that a bit too much? Can you teach it all?"

"What's so hard about teaching this?"

Li Ang didn't take it seriously: "The master leads you in, but the rest is up to you. Whether you can learn well or not depends on yourself."

"you."

Lin Xiyu was both amused and exasperated: "Isn't this a bit irresponsible? Isn't this just setting your apprentice up?"

"This isn't a trap, it's casting a wide net."

Li Ang said confidently, "With more disciples, the base will be larger, and we will be able to pick out a few good ones. At that time, we will focus on training them and let them inherit my mantle."

"It seems our ideas are quite different."

Seeing that some children had already finished cutting out their finished products, Lin Xiyu interrupted him with a smile: "Alright, let's stop here for now. Since you have the idea of ​​selecting apprentices, then spend more time with the children. Over time, you'll be able to see each person's strengths and weaknesses."

"That's exactly what I was thinking, Junior Brother."

Before she could finish speaking, Li Ang eagerly walked over to the child who had cut the best hair.

Lin Xiyu didn't pay attention to his little scheme and, as usual, started checking the children's work from the first row.

— The old house.

Grandma Gu was tidying up the wardrobe when she pulled out an old photo album from the bottom drawer. The photos inside were of Fu Zheng and Gu Bin when they were little, recording their happy childhood.

“Rui Rui, come here, look at your dad’s childhood photos.”

Grandma Gu called her great-grandson over with great interest to look at the photos with her.

"This is... Dad?"

Rui Rui looked at one of the photos and suddenly her eyes widened.

"Yes, that's your dad."

Grandma Gu covered her mouth and laughed: "When he was little, his hair was black and long, like satin, and very smooth. I just had a sudden inspiration and combed it into a topknot."

Tying your hair in a little bun is fine, but why wear a skirt?!
Could it be that Dad had a habit of dressing up as a little girl when he was a child?!

Rui Rui was so shocked when she saw the "little girl" in the photo wearing a dress that her eyes almost popped out.

"I dressed him in the skirt too."

Grandma Gu smiled from ear to ear: "It was a coincidence that day. I was organizing the wardrobe and found a dress that your grandma, who is your dad's mother, wore when she was little. Xiao Zheng happened to be playing next to me, so I had an idea to let him wear it and see."

Rui Rui's heart skipped a beat when she heard this. She silently moved her body away from her great-grandmother, afraid that she would pull out another old dress from the closet and make her wear it.

"Your dad was obedient and quiet when he was little, like a little girl, unlike your uncle, who was very naughty."

Grandma Gu didn't notice his little trick. She flipped to another page of the album, found another photo, and pointed it out to him: "Look at this one. It's your uncle when he was little, and he looks very different from your dad, doesn't he?"

"This is... Uncle?"

Rui Rui glanced at the photo and almost dazzled.

"A mischievous monkey."

Grandma Gu chuckled as she looked: "After the rain, they came back from playing outside looking like they'd rolled around in the mud, covered in mud from head to toe."

My uncle's dark history, oh, his dark history.
My aunt saw it; her expression must have been priceless.

Rui Rui looked at the photo, suppressing a laugh, her inner thoughts running wild.

"You and your father are both well-behaved and sensible from a young age."

Grandma Gu's thoughts raced quickly, and she immediately shifted from the photo to Sibao: "Pingping's personality is just like your uncle's; he's very mischievous, and he'll be a little rascal when he grows up."

"If you put a skirt on him, he won't be able to misbehave."

Rui Rui said it casually as a joke, but little did she know that the listener would take it to heart.

Grandma Gu's eyes lit up. She turned around and glanced out the window, a cunning smile spreading across her face.

"Uh."

Rui Rui was embarrassed and silently lit a candle for her little brother.

-

Gu Bin has been quite busy lately. When the staff in charge of fire safety came to inspect the training institution, he led his team to make the necessary rectifications, train the teachers, and conduct fire drills. After several days of hard work, they finally met the requirements and were able to continue operating.

After seeing off the fire inspectors, before I could even catch my breath, I received another call from Grandma Gu.

Grandma Gu told him to hurry up and not delay, to go to the mall right now and buy four identical little dresses.

You have to obey your own matriarch's orders, whether you like it or not.

He didn't think much of it and mistakenly assumed it was for his two daughters to alternate wearing. He spent a lot of time carefully selecting clothes in the mall, only to find out when he got home that it wasn't like that at all.

Grandma Gu smiled like a cunning old fox who had just stolen some fish. She took four identical little dresses and walked towards the fish pond. After dressing her beloved great-granddaughters in them, she turned her attention to her two great-grandsons.

Da Bao and Ping Ping are easy to coax. Seeing that their two younger sisters looked pretty in their dresses, they also changed into dresses and laughed happily.

An'an's situation is not so easy.

An'an is a clever little girl; she noticed the differences between herself and her younger sister from a young age.

He and his brother resemble their father, while his two younger sisters resemble their mother.

Dad doesn't wear skirts, Grandpa Liu doesn't wear skirts, and Brother Rui Rui doesn't wear skirts either.

He shouldn't have worn it either.

As for his silly older brother, let him do whatever he wants.

She crawled into her skirt by herself; she was so stupid, there was nothing I could do.

There was no way to stop them!

-

Grandma Gu tried everything—coaxing and cajoling—but to no avail. She managed to get An'an to change into the little dress.

The old lady was quite disappointed, and her mood wasn't so pleasant anymore.

The great-grandson is too young and doesn't understand, so you can't talk to him or hit him. You can only transfer your resentment to the grandson.

Gu Bin was innocently implicated and inexplicably scolded, leaving him speechless.

After finishing her public service class at the Children's Palace in the afternoon, Lin Xiyu returned home and happened to see Grandma Gu throwing a brand-new little dress at her grandson, which hit him in the face.

Gu Bin caught the skirt, turned around, and met his wife's surprised gaze.

"Wife, you're finally back."

He breathed a huge sigh of relief, and said with a wry smile, "If you hadn't come back, my head would have exploded."

"what happened?"

Lin Xiyu glanced at the fishpond past him.

When An'an saw her mother, she stopped struggling and crying, and crawled towards her mother using both her hands and feet.

Lin Xiyu quickly went over, picked up her son, and kissed his tear-streaked face.

An'an, like a frightened little quail, huddled in her mother's arms and refused to look up.

"Grandma wanted to dress the babies in dresses, but An'an refused and kept fussing."

Gu Bin couldn't blame his maternal grandmother, so he could only bring up his son.

"If An'an doesn't want to wear it, then she doesn't have to."

Seeing her son's red eyes, Lin Xiyu felt a pang of heartache and couldn't help but speak with a hint of reproach.

"Grandma didn't mean anything by it, she just wanted to keep the children entertained."

Seeing that her expression was off, Gu Bin hurriedly offered an explanation.

Lin Xiyu was still angry: "You can't force a child to do something they don't want to do!"

"Hey, hey."

Gu Bin didn't want any rift between his mother and daughter-in-law, so he subconsciously took all the blame upon himself: "It was my oversight. I didn't expect An'an to be such a stubborn child."

"It was your fault to begin with."

Lin Xiyu glared at him disdainfully: "Why would a boy wear a skirt? It's so hot, don't you worry about getting heat rash?"

"You don't need to blame Xiaobin. It was my fault for being so fussy and making myself unpopular."

Grandma Gu couldn't stand hearing her complain about her grandson, and she was already in a bad mood, so this made her even angrier.

The old lady angrily flung her hand away and turned to go into the living room.

"An'an is crying, can't I even say a few words?"

Lin Xiyu's face darkened, and she carried her son back to her bedroom.

"Tsk."

The atmosphere took a sharp turn for the worse. Gu Bin, who had never encountered anything like this before, gasped and was genuinely dumbfounded.

He glanced at the living room, then at the bedroom, and rubbed his temples with a headache.

"Uncle, look at this photo album."

When it really mattered, Rui Rui was the most reliable. While Grandma Gu wasn't looking, she sneaked into the inner room and took the photo album out of the wardrobe.

When Gu Bin saw the yellowed old photos, he finally understood where his old lady's quirky hobby came from.

-

bedroom.

"This is... my elder brother?"

A moment later, Lin Xiyu saw the photo of "a certain brother-in-law" wearing a skirt and almost burst out laughing.

"Grandma's quirks haven't changed over the years."

Gu Bin smiled with relief: "Luckily, I was naughty when I was a child, unlike my older brother who was obedient, so I didn't have such a tragic dark history."

"Has Rui Rui seen this photo?"

Lin Xiyu felt sorry for her brother-in-law: "Won't this affect the father's lofty image in his son's eyes?"

(End of this chapter)