Early the next morning, Chen Lian finished tidying up carefully and was about to go out. As soon as she walked out of the room, she was stopped by Chen's mother: "Go to the field to help pick the corn. They will come to harvest it in the afternoon."
"No, didn't I say yesterday that I had nothing to do? I made appointments with my classmates." Chen Lian sounded anxious and frowned.
Mother Chen put on the equipment: "Then make a call and come over later, your dad and I are too busy."
"Then there is a younger brother." Chen Lian was about to cry. "He can also help. You promised yesterday, so you can't go back on your word."
"Your brother has to study. You're going out to play anyway. What's the difference if it's early or late? Hurry up and call your classmate. I'm going to the fields first." Mother Chen said, put on her straw hat and went out.
Chen Lian stared at the retreating figure of Mother Chen unwillingly. She raised her foot and kicked the stool next to her to the ground. Her teeth gritted and tears rolled in her eyes.
As a last resort, she could only call Tao You to apologize, saying that she would be late, changed into clean clothes, put on farm clothes, and went to the fields with a basket on her back.
"Why is it so difficult to ask you to do something!" Mother Chen broke off the corn, rolled her eyes at Chen Lian who was not far away, and shouted, "Who are you showing your face to? We owe you! We provide for you and provide for you. I wear clothes for you to study, there are so many things to do at home, you go out to play all day long, and you don’t even know how to help! What kind of white-eyed wolf are you raising!"
Chen Lian's face hidden under the straw hat was red with anger, her chest was heaving violently, her heart was burning, and her temples were beating suddenly. Corn stalks swept across the brim of her hat from time to time, which was very annoying. She broke off the corn and bent the corn stalks. She was angry and yelled at Mother Chen: "I asked you yesterday, and you said it will be fine today!"
"That's what your dad said, not me." Mother Chen yelled back, not to be outdone.
Chen Lian roughly wiped away her tears and calmed down slightly: "Why didn't you say anything when I asked you yesterday! It's not like I didn't ask you before! Now do it for me!"
"Okay." Chen's father advised Tao's mother, "Don't be so radical. My daughter needs to go out for fun occasionally, see the world, and get close to her classmates. The land is not big, so we can finish it by ourselves if we spend more time. ,Why bother."
Mother Chen cursed a few more times and shut up.
After harvesting the corn, it was already close to noon. Chen Lian simply finished her lunch at home and took a shower before going out. The hair style she had carefully done early in the morning was long gone, and her interest had also disappeared. After thinking about it, she felt that it would not be feasible to miss the date right now. , or choose to go to the appointment.
"Bring your homework." Mother Chen carried the fruit to Chen Lian's brother's room. "If you don't know, you can ask your classmates. Don't just play around. There are other things tomorrow."
Chen Lian went back to her room, took some homework and angrily stuffed it into her schoolbag, slammed the door, and ran to the station.
Here, as soon as Tao You got up, he received a call from Chen Lian, saying that something suddenly happened at home and he would be late. She didn't mind this, she just said it didn't matter, just call her when the time came, it wasn't a big deal.
After breakfast, Tao's father and Tao's mother went out to do errands, leaving Tao You alone at home to clean up the house. Seeing that it was almost time, she took the things she had prepared and walked to the door. After thinking about it, she went back to do some homework. If I finish early in the afternoon, I can go to the bookstore to do some homework.
Tao You arrived early and wandered under the big tree at the entrance of the alley, humming softly. The breeze blows, and the leaves are swayed by the wind. The sunlight breaks into the cracks of the leaves and forms irregular patterns on the ground.
"Little Youyou!" Hong Xiqi got off the bus and waved to Tao You, carrying several boxes of cakes in her hands.
"I told you there's no need to bring anything." Tao You took off his headphones and looked at the heavy boxes of pastries in Hong Xiqi's hands. He was both expected and unexpected.
Hong Xiqi put down the pastry box, "This is delicious. It's a dessert shop I just discovered recently. It's not expensive. I'll take you to eat it next time."
"Didn't you take so many things?" He said and nodded towards the bags at Tao You's feet.
Tao You held his forehead: "My mother prepared it."
This morning, Tao's mother got up early and went to the market to buy some fresh fruits and left them at the door for Tao You to bring over. Even though she knew that Grandma Tang might not be short of these, she still wanted them.
While they were chatting, Gu Yi and Song Yimian also arrived. As expected, they each brought a lot of things.
It’s almost half past ten, and the sun is almost overhead. It’s hot! Tao You still sweated a lot while standing in the shade of the tree, and his navy blue clothes were soaked. Fortunately, the color was dark and not obvious.
"The only thing missing is Chen Lian. When will she arrive?" Hong Xiqi put her hand in front of her forehead and fanned her face with the other hand, enduring the scorching sun.
"She has something to do at home and will be late. Let's go in first." Tao You said, picking up the bag on the ground and walking into the alley.
Not long after walking, Tao You stopped again.
"What's wrong?" Hong Xiqi also stopped.
"It's too heavy." Tao You said, switching to another hand to carry the bag. The fingers that were originally holding the bag had become purple due to lack of blood, were numb, and felt uncomfortable. Or maybe she asked Song Yimian to help her carry it for a while.
Song Yimian and Gu Yi, who were following behind, approached and were still chatting with no intention of stopping.
Without waiting for her to make a move, Song Yimian stopped beside her, listened to Gu Yi's words, and chatted with her from time to time. He stretched out his hand to take several bags from Tao You's hands, his movements were natural and skillful, and his expression was calm.
This didn't bother Tao You anymore. She was ready to trick Song Yimian into helping her.
"Thank you." Tao You freed his hands and wiped the sweat from his nose.
Song Yimian transferred the bag to the same hand, turned the other hand over, took out the folding umbrella from the side pocket of the schoolbag and handed it to Tao You: "Hold it, you didn't put on sunscreen, don't get allergic to the sun again later." ”
"Oh." Tao You pursed his lips slightly and touched his face. He had indeed been lazy in the morning and hadn't put on sunscreen. Now his face must be as red as if he had just come out of a steam room, and it was a little itchy.
"Let me help you." Gu Yi also extended his hand to Hong Xiqi.
"Thank you." Hong Xiqi put the bag on Gu Yi's hand without any pretense.
Gu Yigang didn't look carefully. When he saw the name on the bag, he was a little unsure. He looked back and forth several times and looked at the pastry box inside through the transparent plastic sheet on the bag. His eyes were full of disbelief.
"What's wrong? What are you looking at?" Hong Xiqi saw Gu Yi's strange behavior and followed him to look at the bag, thinking something was wrong.
"Do you like the desserts from this store?" Gu Yi asked her, holding up the bag.
Hong Xiqi thought he looked down on this kind of ordinary store: "Yes, this store is very popular. It is full and sold out every day. In order to grab this pastry, I waited at the door before the store opened. The smell It’s no worse than what you, Mr. Gu, eat.”
"That's not what I meant." Gu Yi knew that Hong Xiqi had misunderstood.
"Open it later, and you will know if I lied to you after you eat it." Hong Xiqi was too lazy to listen to his explanation, and intuitively could not hear anything good from his mouth. After saying that, he pulled Tao You and walked forward, leaving Gu Yi behind with a grimace.
"I haven't said anything yet, have I? How can she figure out so much?" Gu Yi asked Song Yimian aggrievedly.
Song Yimian patted him on the shoulder to express comfort.
"That's it."
Ten minutes later, Tao You and the others stood in front of a wooden door.
Tao You stepped forward and knocked on the door. The door was not closed properly and opened as soon as he pushed it.
They walked directly in, walked through the front yard, leaned into the half-open door of the back room and looked inside. It was very cool inside, a completely different world from the heat outside.
Grandma Tang was wearing an agate green cheongsam, makeup on her face, and reading glasses on her nose. She was half-reclining on a recliner with a tablet on her lap. She was so absorbed in watching TV that she didn't notice anyone at the door.
"Grandma Tang!" Tao You shouted with a smile.
Grandma Tang looked up and saw Tao You and the others, with a look of surprise on her face.
She put down her tablet, took off her glasses, and stood up slowly: "Oh, why didn't you tell me in advance that you were here?"
"Isn't this a surprise for you?" Tao You sent a message to Grandma Tang yesterday. He only said that when he comes to see her next time, he will introduce her to two friends he met in high school. He did not specify the time. She smiled naively, " Grandma Tang, this is my good friend, Hong Xiqi, the other one has something to do and is not here today."
"Hello, hello, the little girl is so pretty." Grandma Tang looked at Hong Xiqi up and down and smiled kindly.
"Grandma Tang, you are also very beautiful. You are well taken care of and you look so young. I think it is totally okay to call you aunt." Hong Xiqi smiled.
Grandma Tang was so happy that she smiled: "Hey, it's not as good as you said. The little girl has such a sweet mouth."
"Grandma Tang, don't be modest." Gu Yi also said, "You are a great beauty."
"Grandma Tang, this is the scarf my mother gave you." Tao You took out the scarf and handed it to Grandma Tang.
Grandma Tang clicked her tongue and waved her hand, "Why do you still bring these old things? I don't have any shortage. I shop online every day. I just ordered a few sets of clothes."
"Grandma Tang, these are some of our thoughts." Song Yimian opened his mouth to help Tao You, "This scarf suits you very well. You don't like red the most, and you were complaining about the lack of a red scarf to match your new clothes. "
"That's right, you will definitely look 20 years younger if you take it with you." Gu Yi also interrupted, "I'll take pictures for you."
As he spoke, he took out the camera from his schoolbag, opened it, and started debugging.
"Grandma Tang, please try it. It will definitely look good when you bring it." Hong Xiqi said, "And this pastry is delicious. I guarantee that after you finish it once, you will definitely want to eat it a second time. This store is not online yet. It’s on sale online, but it’s hard to buy.”
Grandma Tang didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so she had no choice but to listen to them, accept these things, put on the scarf Tao You brought, and took a few photos with them.
"I'm going to ask Mother Lin to add some more food. Tell me, I didn't even say anything in advance, and I didn't prepare any food." Grandma Tang bent down and carried fruits and pastries to the kitchen.
"I'll do it." Song Yimian took the bag and followed to the kitchen, "It doesn't have to be complicated, we can just have some home-cooked food."
The three of them sat down in the living room.
Hong Xiqi leaned on the sofa, looked up at the structure of the house, and sighed, "This house is so cool and comfortable. I came to Dongxiang several times when I was a child, and every time I just walked outside. Later, I moved to the north of the city. Didn’t come much.”
"Eat some fruit to cushion your stomach. There will be dinner for a while." Grandma Tang came over and sat down on the sofa.
Song Yimian followed behind, carrying a fruit plate and pastries brought by Hong Xiqi. He specially picked two hard peaches and winter dates and placed them in front of Tao You. He remembered that Tao You liked to eat these.
"Grandma Tang, try this pastry quickly." Hong Xiqi strongly recommended it.
"Not bad, not bad." Grandma Tang took a bite and nodded in praise, "The taste and texture are really good. Xiqi, where did you buy it? I don't think I've ever eaten it."
Gu Yi pricked up his ears and heard Grandma Tang's praise. He couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth, raised his eyebrows, folded his hands around his chest and fell back on the sofa, his face full of pride.
"Next to my house, a store has just opened on the street next to No. 1 Middle School. It should be a chain store. If you want to eat, I will buy it for you next time." Hong Xiqi's brows were filled with joy and she also stuffed a piece into her mouth. .
"Okay, okay, I'll add you on WeChat later and I'll send you a message then." With that said, Grandma Tang picked up another piece.
"Grandma Tang, you'd better eat less of this one with sugar." Song Yimian saw Grandma Tang picking up the second piece. Thinking that she couldn't eat a lot of sweets, Song Yimian couldn't help but remind her, "The doctor said it specifically before."
Grandma Tang gave him an angry look, "I know, it's okay to eat a few pieces now and then. Besides, it's not sweet at all."
"You guys should eat too." Grandma Tang pushed the plate in front of them.
"I don't want to eat. I'm tired of eating this." Gu Yi put away the expression on his face and resisted the nausea.
"Do you like it or not?" Hong Xiqi snorted.
"Also, I bought it specially without sucrose." Hong Xiqi explained.
"Did you hear that? Ren Xiqi is very attentive." Grandma Tang said, but still did not continue to eat the third piece.
"Are you all in the same class now?" Grandma Tang asked during the meal.
"Well, we are all in the same class." Tao You nodded and agreed, "That's enough, that's enough, I can do it myself."
She looked at the increasing amount of vegetables in the bowl and stopped Song Yimian in time to continue adding vegetables to her bowl: "There are so many that I can't eat."
"You don't like to eat these." Song Yimian stopped and said, "Eat more, Mrs. Lin's cooking is getting better and better." As he said that, he put a few more dishes of Tao You's favorite dishes in front of her.
Tao You was shy and stuffed food into his mouth without saying anything.
"You two are also destined to meet each other in high school after not contacting each other for so many years. What a fate." Grandma Tang indulged Song Yimian's movements and sighed with a smile, "You two should get along well, don't always talk to We always bickered when we were kids, we have to help each other in our studies, we have to get into a good university, and we have to come back often to see your family in the future." The last sentence was said to the four of them.
Tao You looked at Grandma Tang's melancholy expression and knew that she was thinking of her children again.
Grandma Tang has two children, both of whom were admitted to very good universities and achieved academic success. After graduation, one went to the south and the other went abroad. They both had their own families. At the same time, they became increasingly busy with work and rarely came back.
After Grandpa Tang passed away, Grandma Tang lived alone most of the time. She also missed her children very much, but knew that they were busy and never urged them to come back.
The two children also persuaded Grandma Tang to live with them many times, but Grandma Tang refused every time, saying that she did not want to burden them.
Hong Xiqi didn't know about Grandma Tang, but she could see that Grandma Tang was in a bad mood, so she took advantage of her "pistachio" advantage and talked about other topics with Grandma Tang, successfully attracting Grandma Tang's attention.
Not long after finishing the meal, they were sitting at the table chatting when the door was pushed open.
"Grandma!" Grandma Tang's little granddaughter ran in, followed by Grandma Tang's son and daughter-in-law, carrying large and small bags.
"Nanny, why are you here!" Grandma Tang received the second wave of surprises today, her face was full of spring breeze, her eyes were shining with joy, and she hugged her little granddaughter.
"It's been a long time since I've been back. I happen to have work in China during this period, and Yan Xun also has a vacation, so I came back to see you." Tang Zhilin smiled and sat down on the side.
"Uncle Zhilin, Aunt Yanxun." Song Yimian greeted.
Tao You greeted him and was also very surprised: "Uncle Zhilin, Aunt Yan Xu, long time no see."
"This is Xiaoyou." Yan Xu recognized Tao You first, "I haven't seen you in the past few years. He has grown so big."
"Xiaoyou." Tang Zhilin suddenly realized, "Long time no see, long time no see. You have grown up so much. Are you coming back here to study? This year should be high school, right?"
"Yes, I'm in the same class as Xiao Song. They are all in the same class. They happened to come to see me today. I just finished dinner and you guys came too. What a coincidence, you say, we all do good things together. Now." Grandma Tang's voice rose, her happiness visible to the naked eye, "Just come back, bring so many things, these children also brought a lot, they can't finish them." She looked at the nutrition products on the ground and couldn't laugh or cry.
Grandma Tang's family arrived, so Tao You and the others left the house early without disturbing them.
