As she spoke, Shen Qionghua waved toward Lixia, who was standing at the kitchen door. “Lixia, go call Qingqiu and Linlang. Tell them Brother Li and Sister Liang are here.”
Li Ping’an quickly waved his hand, a simple and honest smile on his face, speaking somewhat awkwardly, “Comrade Shen, please don’t trouble Lixia. We came specifically to visit Lixia today. If Qingqiu and Linlang are resting, there’s no need to ask them to come down.”
Yu Lixia stood at the kitchen door and said softly, “Father, Mother, please don’t stand on ceremony. Have a seat first. I’ll go call Qingqiu.”
Just as Yu Lixia finished speaking, sounds came from the staircase. It turned out that Yu Qingqiu had heard the commotion and came down from the second floor with Wei Linlang.
“Father, Mother, why are you here today?” Yu Qingqiu’s voice carried a hint of barely concealed disdain.
Wei Linlang completely ignored Li Ping’an and Liang Cuihua, following behind Yu Qingqiu and sitting as far away from them as possible.
Upon hearing Yu Qingqiu’s words, Li Ping’an and Liang Cuihua both wore awkward smiles. Liang Cuihua rubbed her hands nervously and said with an embarrassed smile, “Qingqiu, we heard that Lixia had an accident yesterday. We just wanted to see how she was doing. Now that we see she’s fine, we’re relieved.”
“There’s a lot of farm work at home. We should head back now.”
After saying this, Liang Cuihua reached out and tugged at Li Ping’an, wanting to stand up.
Shen Qionghua shot a glare at Yu Qingqiu and quickly stood up to stop them. “Brother Li, Sister Liang, please sit. Qingqiu cares about you, she just doesn’t know how to express it properly.”
“You’ve come all the way from the village. You must be thirsty. Sit for a while, have some water before you go back.”
Just then, Yu Lixia walked into the living room holding two enamel mugs.
Seeing the mugs in Yu Lixia’s hands, Shen Qionghua smiled and asked her, “Lixia, is that malted milk inside?”
Yu Lixia nodded and placed the two enamel mugs in front of Li Ping’an and Liang Cuihua respectively. “Father, Mother, it’s not easy for you to come all this way. Have some water first.”
Seeing the milky-white liquid in the enamel mugs, Liang Cuihua’s smile bloomed brighter than a chrysanthemum in full bloom. Delighted, she picked up the mug and drank in big gulps, making slurping sounds as she drank.
After finishing half, she placed the mug on the table, smacking her lips to savor the aftertaste of the malted milk. She then asked with a smile, “It’s malted milk today? Did you finish the milk powder from before?”
Seeing Liang Cuihua’s crude manners, Yu Qingqiu curled her lip and didn’t respond.
Shen Qionghua pretended not to notice Liang Cuihua’s behavior and replied with a smile, “Sister Liang, the milk powder Lixia bought earlier is all gone, so we made malted milk for you instead.”
“If Sister Liang prefers milk powder, next time you come, we’ll make milk powder for you.”
Liang Cuihua was still savoring the malted milk with great relish. After Shen Qionghua finished speaking, she chimed in with a smile, her lips still stained with a bit of leftover malted milk.
“Comrade Shen, please don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying malted milk is bad. I was just a bit curious, so I asked.”
“That can of milk powder was bought by me and Lixia together at the supply and marketing cooperative a few days ago. The can I bought for Yaozu is still half full, but Comrade Shen’s milk powder is already finished. So I found it a bit strange for a moment. I spoke out of turn. Please don’t take it to heart, Comrade Shen.”
Bai Li felt something was off after hearing Liang Cuihua’s words and couldn’t help glancing at her a few more times.
Sensing Bai Li’s gaze, Liang Cuihua looked at her kindly and reached out to touch her hair. “Li Li, why are you staring at Grandma Liang? Is there something wrong with me?”
Seeing those grimy hands reaching toward her, Bai Li felt repulsed. Just as she was wondering how to dodge them, Guo Jingbo’s voice chimed in, “Grandma Liang, your hands have malted milk powder on them. You’ll dirty Li Li’s hair.”
It turned out Guo Jingbo had sensed Li Li’s discomfort and spoke up to help her out.
Hearing Guo Jingbo’s words, Liang Cuihua paused her hand just before it touched Bai Li’s hair, then awkwardly smiled and pulled it back. She picked up the malted milk powder on the table again and began gulping it down with a “glug-glug” sound.
Meanwhile, Li Ping’an beside her finished his malted milk powder in a few sips. Seeing Liang Cuihua drinking so noisily, he frowned and said apologetically to Shen Qionghua, “Comrade Shen, we still have farm work at home, so Cuihua and I won’t stay any longer.”
Shen Qionghua replied politely, “Brother Li, it’s not easy coming all the way from the village. Why not stay for dinner before heading back?”
Li Ping’an shook his head. “No, if we’re late, there won’t be any buses back to the village.”
As he spoke, he stood up.
But Liang Cuihua remained seated on the sofa, her eyes constantly darting toward the kitchen.
Seeing Li Ping’an’s insistence, Shen Qionghua didn’t press further. Instead, she turned and went into the kitchen.
A moment later, she emerged with a bag in hand, wearing a slightly apologetic expression. “Brother Li, Sister Liang, here’s some meat and dried goods. Take them back to nourish yourselves and Yaozu.”
“However, we had guests over for lunch today and cooked quite a bit, so there isn’t much meat left. Please don’t mind, Brother Li and Sister Liang.”
Liang Cuihua sprang up from the sofa in an instant, taking three steps in one as she hurried to Shen Qionghua’s side. She took the bag from her hands, grinning to reveal a set of yellowed teeth. “Oh, these days, us country folks have to wait until New Year just to get a taste of meat. How could we possibly mind?”
But Bai Li didn’t miss the flash of surprise and disdain in Liang Cuihua’s eyes the moment the bag landed in her hands.
Oh?
Could it be that these two freeloaders thought Grandma had given too little?
Bai Li wondered to herself.
And so, Li Ping’an and Liang Cuihua stayed at the Yu family for no more than half an hour before leaving.
After seeing off the two, Wei Linlang looked disdainfully at the two empty enamel cups and whispered into Yu Qingqiu’s ear in a childish voice, “Mom, every time Grandma comes, she takes a whole bunch of stuff back. It’s so annoying. Why do we even let her in?”
Hearing her daughter’s words, Yu Qingqiu’s expression darkened. She patted Wei Linlang’s back lightly and scolded her in a low voice, “Linlang, that’s your grandpa and grandma. You can’t talk about them like that.”
Wei Linlang pouted. “But Mom, their eyes are so scary. Linlang just doesn’t like them.”
Bai Li had sharp hearing and naturally overheard the conversation between Yu Qingqiu and her daughter. When Wei Linlang mentioned that Li Ping’an and Liang Cuihua’s eyes were scary, it reminded Bai Li of the way the two had been secretly glancing at her and Guo Jingbo earlier. Those gazes, when they landed on someone, felt like being watched by a venomous snake.
Not just Wei Linlang—she didn’t like it either.
However, Wei Linlang’s ability to detect the hostility in Li Ping’an and the other person’s gaze came as a surprise to Bai Li.
While Bai Li was lost in thought, his gaze inadvertently fell on Wei Linlang, who immediately noticed. “Bai Li, why are you staring at me? Don’t look at me!”