A neighbor just happened to be passing by and saw Zhao ii with a group of little rascals, yelling out of anger, "Zhao ii! I'm going to tell your dad to teach you a lesson later!"
Zhao ii and Da Bao plus the others turned and ran, laughing all the way.
After playing to exhaustion, Zhao ii waved her hand, "Go ho and sleep! No more playing!"
Da Bao and the others hurriedly shouted, "We'll wait for you at your place tomorrow!"
Zhao ii nodded, "Okay." As she spoke, she wiped her nose, her thin eyelids revealing a clever pride.
Zhao ii turned to walk ho alone; her apartnt building was in the middle of the neighborhood, not on Da Bao's way.
She hadn't reached the greenery in front of the building yet when she heard arguing, as if there were a fight, by the street.
It seed sothing was happening ahead.
Zhao ii was amused and didn't care about going ho anymore, turning to join the crowd and watch the commotion.
The cent road in front of the apartnt's green area was refurbished by the factory, very stable and smooth, with no bumps even when cycling over it.
The apartnt was ho to the factory workers; most families were double-inco, with comparable inco levels and living standards.
The factory wasn't far from the apartnt, about a twenty-minute walk or less than ten minutes by bike if you went fast; generally, there weren't many cyclists around the neighborhood, but now a black dostic car was parked by the street.
At that ti, those who could afford cars were wealthy. The leaders at Zhao Dazhuang's factory had one, driving it into the factory, feeling quite prestigious.
Back then, nightlife wasn't popular; every household closed their doors in the evenings, families gathered together, the well-off ones watched black and white TV, while so with elderly and children burdens just had conversations for entertainnt.
On this day, which happened to be the Qingming Festival, after burning paper money, everyone went ho, and the streets were almost empty.
Both the driver's and backseat doors of the car were open, and a man and a woman were arguing fiercely by the car.
Woman: "I don't care; I'm not letting you go. You only co to see once a month. No matter what, you have to stay tonight. Even if you don't consider , shouldn't you think about Yangyang? The child misses you too."
Man: "I really can't get away; I'm usually busy with work, and at night, I have to go to the hospital. Her condition is getting worse, I can't just leave her alone."
Woman: "You care, you just take care of her. You think she's pitiful bedridden, but can't you think of us? We, mother and child, are struggling to get by here, with no one to help when things happen. Aren't we pitiful too?"
Zhao ii got closer and finally saw the young man and woman arguing. The man was unfamiliar, but the woman was the pretty aunt living in the small villa, nad Xu Jing.
Man: "I really have to get back to the hospital. If it's any later, they'd lock my room at the hospital, and I wouldn't be able to get in."
Xu Jing: "Fine, go ahead, leave, then don't bother coming to see the two of us anymore. Whether you're here or not doesn't make a difference to us anyway."
Man: "Yangyang, I'm leaving now, I'll co back to see you when I have ti."
The boy standing silently on the curb looked up, didn't respond, and turned to his mother, saying, "Mom, let's go back."
The boy nad Shi Yang stepped forward to support his mother, softly advising, "Let's go back, co on."
Man: "Go back, the money is on the coffee table. Call if it's not enough."
After speaking, the man carelessly shut the backseat door and quickly got into the driver's seat, speeding off with a roar of the engine.
Xu Jing stared in a daze at the departing car, not moving for a long ti.
Shi Yang supported her, "Mom, he's gone far, let's go back."
Only then did Xu Jing nod, and the two of them walked ho shoulder to shoulder.
Xu Jing was quite petite, almost the sa height as Shi Yang when they stood together.
Once they were gone, Zhao ii turned and raced ho, eager to tell her parents about the exciting news she'd just witnessed. Kids love to show off and can't hold any secrets.
Zhao ii bounced ho, and just as she knocked, the door opened. Inside, Zhao Dazhuang was already dressed, about to co down and get her.
Seeing Zhao ii return, Zhao Dazhuang ruffled her hair from top to forehead, drawing her inside while scolding, "Didn't I tell you to co back after playing for a while? What, is there no end to your craziness? If you do this again, you won't be allowed out!" Saying that, he ruffled Zhao ii's hair again, with undeniable affection; this little rascal was even more mischievous than he was at her age.
Zhao ii, having never truly been hit from childhood, wasn't afraid of her dad. After being scolded, she didn't blink, instead grabbing onto her dad's arm, swinging while shouting for her mom, "Mom! Mom! Guess what I just saw!"
Liu Xiue was kneading dough in the kitchen and couldn't co over. Zhao ii dragged her dad over and blocked the kitchen doorway, vividly recounting what she'd just witnessed.
Zhao Dazhuang listened in surprise, "So you're talking about the mother and son in the small villa?"
Zhao ii nodded vigorously, "Yes, the woman is called Xu Jing."
Liu Xiue imdiately widened her eyes, teaching Zhao ii, "It's rude, you need to call her Aunt."
Zhao ii pouted, "Our kindergarten teacher calls her Xu Jing. She said she lives in a small villa and is very rich, and she even said she had a child without getting married, and the child is called Shi Yang."
Zhao ii's kindergarten teachers were mostly spouses of factory workers. The highest education level was the headmaster, who had attended technical school, while the others were uneducated housewives who loved discussing gossip in their spare ti.
Other kids played foolishly every day; Zhao ii also ran around madly, though she paid attention to what the teachers said, finding their tales particularly interesting.
Like what she was currently recounting about Xu Jing and Shi Yang living in the small villa.
Zhao Dazhuang was speechless after Zhao ii's recount, frowning as he complained to Liu Xiue, "These teachers really aren't suitable, saying anything in front of the kids. If ii wasn't so young, we should send her to a proper preschool; staying in kindergarten for another two years, she'd pick up bad habits."
Liu Xiue kneaded the dough vigorously, "ii, how many tis has Mom told you, 'talking too much leads to trouble,' but you just can't rember? You're not allowed to talk about other people's business; if you're so chatty again, go outside, find a brick, and sand your lips down!"
Zhao ii slipped off her dad, clinging to her mom's side, "No, I won't!"
Liu Xiue poked a white dot of flour on Zhao ii's nose, "Always fooling around, filling your head with nonsense. What if, when you go to school, you can't fill it with knowledge and score zero on exams?"
Zhao ii peeked out from her mom's side, "If I get a zero, I'll bring it ho and have you cook it for to eat."
Liu Xiue looked at her mischievous child, feeling both exasperated and amused.
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