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墨書 Inktalez
An Shaojie nodded thoughtfully, "But..."
He wanted to say something more, but Bai Cuifang interrupted him, "Go to sleep! The sun will come out tomorrow. Just go tell her, open your heart, tell her you love her, and start your life anew."
The next day, the weather was indeed clear, with bright sunshine and a true sense of spring in the air. The grass in the fields was turning green, the willows by the canal swayed gently, and the pond's clear water rippled under the warm sunlight.
After breakfast, Shaw Min, Jian Ming, Simple, and Chen Yang left Liu Family Village.
The Stilt House built against the mountain regained its usual tranquility. It was so quiet that even the birds in the trees couldn't help but chirp a few times, as if trying to break this silence and bring joy to those inside the house.
Qingmei stood at her yard's entrance watching them leave, then hopped into the yard and called out to Liu Xiuzhen, who was busy inside, "They've all gone."
Liu Xiuzhen understood what she meant and gestured with her lips while winking, saying, "It's good they've gone." As she wiped her hands on her apron, she continued, "Only we are the true residents of Liu Family Village; only we will never leave. Our home is the liveliest in the village!"
Qingmei giggled proudly, slid down from Liu Xiuzhen's side, and ran upstairs. She reached Xu Wen's room door and stopped to knock loudly.
Having been lost in thought last night and finally drifting off to sleep late into the night, Xu Wen was still groggy when he heard such knocking. He knew it had to be Qingmei outside. No one else in this house would urge him to get up or knock on his door like that.
He quickly put on his outerwear and opened the door to find a rosy-cheeked girl standing there.
Xu Wen's sleepiness vanished completely as a gentle smile appeared on his face. He asked, "Why are you up so early?"
"It's not early," Qingmei replied looking up. "Mama has been up for a while."
"Oh?" Xu Wen's smile widened a bit. "Your Mama is already up?"
Xu Wen felt a slight blush on his face. Every morning in this house, Qingmei liked to compare his wake-up time with Qinglan's, and he had never once woken up earlier than Qinglan.
Moreover, last night...
Qingmei pointed at Xu Wen's forehead with an expression of discontent like a little adult. Pouting cutely, she said, "You always wake up late; you're such a lazybones! But every time Mama still says you're the best person in the world."
Xu Wen was taken aback, his blush deepening until it reached his ears and neck.
He truly didn't know that he was regarded so well in Qinglan's heart. She had always been indifferent toward him; despite all he had done for her over the years, he had never heard her speak well of him. Suddenly hearing it through Qingmei's words brought a warm current flowing through Xu Wen's heart.
But Qingmei still wouldn't let it go and continued, "Uncle Xu, why is your face suddenly so red? You haven't been drinking, have you? Is it because Mama praised you, and you're feeling shy?"
This little rascal! Xu Wen pinched her nose and said, "Now tell me, what woke me up so early? What do you want me to do with you today?"
Qingmei pouted and, with a surprised tone, said, "They all left."
"Who left?" Xu Wen didn't catch on right away; his hand holding her nose paused as he stared at her in confusion.
"They," she replied with a look that suggested it was obvious, as if she thought Xu Wen was slow for not understanding. "That group of people."
Xu Wen thought for a moment, then laughed. He moved his hand from her nose to pat her chubby cheek and said, "What does it matter to you that they left? They're not from Liu Family Village, so of course they would leave."
Qingmei pushed Xu Wen's hand away from her face, stuck out her tongue at him, and made a funny face as she said, "Now that they're gone, no one will make me unhappy."
Xu Wen burst into laughter.
Little Ones were imitating Qinglan's words; Qinglan often told her to behave or else she'd upset Mama.
She puffed out her cheeks and stared wide-eyed at him, commanding, "No laughing."
Xu Wen suppressed his smile but couldn't help the amusement in his eyes. With a smirk, he asked, "What did they do to make you unhappy?"
"They had more people than us, which made me unhappy." She knew this reasoning was a bit flimsy, so she avoided looking Xu Wen in the eye and lowered her head, appearing somewhat unreasonable.
"How can they have more people than us?" Xu Wen counted on his fingers for her. "There are only six of them; we have six people in our family too. It's not like they have more."
Qingmei quickly raised her fingers to count and mumbled the numbers to herself.
"If your uncle comes back, plus your uncle, then we would have one more person than them. It would be even livelier. Maybe your uncle will bring back an Aunt too; then we would have even more people than them. Your Grandma, Grandfather, and maternal grandmother would be even happier." Xu Wen bent down and rubbed her upturned nose.
Qingmei squinted her eyes in disbelief and huffed, "Hmph! Not only did they make me unhappy, but they also made Mama unhappy. That's why I'm unhappy."
Xu Wen was momentarily stunned and after a pause asked, "What made your Mama unhappy?"
"Last night," she replied angrily.
"How do you know Mama is unhappy?" Xu Wen asked. The smile that had just spread across her face slowly faded.
"Mama is unhappy, I just know. She doesn't make a sound, doesn't tell me stories, doesn't laugh, and doesn't talk to me. That means she's unhappy."
At this point, Qingmei suddenly seemed to remember something and quickly turned around, rushing down the stairs.
Xu Wen stared at her disappearing figure like a whirlwind for a while before walking over to the bed to tidy up the bedding and head downstairs.
After Qingmei ran down the stairs, she hurriedly searched for Qinglan.
From the kitchen to the living room, and then into the yard, she shouted, "Mama, Mama."
It wasn't until she burst into the room that she saw Qinglan sitting by the bed, her head lowered in thought, with a worried expression.
Originally excited, Qingmei noticed that Qinglan seemed unhappy and quickly reined in her earlier enthusiasm. She slowed her pace and gently approached Qinglan, curling up like a docile cat in her embrace.
"What do you need from Mama?" Qinglan asked as she stroked her head.
Qinglan's question reignited Qingmei's earlier excitement, and a smile returned to her face. However, this smile was not as exuberant and loud as before; instead, it carried a sweet and warm comfort.
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