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墨書 Inktalez
As soon as Simple got out of the car, he hugged Bai Cuifen and waved to An Shaojie at the door, looking quite familiar.
It seemed that An Shaojie had met Simple and Chen Yang when he was in Beijing, and he probably already knew about An Shaojie's return to Liu Family Village; otherwise, they wouldn't have rushed back from Beijing so quickly.
Indeed, since childhood, An Shaojie had cared for and protected Shaw Min, his half-sister. He would naturally get close to anyone who treated her well. Simple was Jian Ming's sister, and they had always had a good relationship, so it was natural for him to be close to her. After returning to Beijing, he would certainly want to contact Simple.
Xu Wen intentionally drove very slowly, keeping a distance behind them. Only after the people at the village entrance dispersed did he drive in.
Just as the car passed over the stone bridge and hadn't come to a complete stop on the flat ground outside the courtyard, Qingmei's figure darted out from the yard, running quickly to Xu Wen with open arms, wanting him to hug her as he got out of the car.
Xu Wen picked her up and walked toward the courtyard.
In front of the Stilt House diagonally across, many people had gathered, creating a lively atmosphere. Xu Wen didn't look in that direction, but children loved excitement and were full of curiosity. Qingmei kicked her little legs, refusing to let Xu Wen take her into the yard immediately, shouting that she wanted to go see the fun over there.
Just then, Qinglan came out and took Qingmei from Xu Wen's arms, saying, "Dinner is about to be ready. Where do you think you're going to play? We made your favorite food tonight."
Once Qinglan appeared, Qingmei lost her energy for mischief. She wasn't afraid of Xu Wen or Qing Shusheng or Liu Xiuzhen; she was only afraid of her Mama, who always spoke with authority.
Pouting her lips, although extremely reluctant, Qingmei had no choice but to follow Qinglan into the house.
This scene gently fell into An Shaojie's eyes among the crowd across the way—was it intentional or unintentional? It was hard to tell.
Although it was quiet outside the courtyard, it was quite lively inside.
Though Liu Xiuzhen's temperament had changed a lot over the years, her voice remained loud. Moreover, tonight she intended to create a lively atmosphere, so her voice became even louder and more emotional, making little Qingmei bounce back and forth between the kitchen and living room while shouting.
Qing Shusheng was also in high spirits, smiling broadly as if it were New Year's Eve.
In the kitchen, Liu Xiuzhen and Old Lady Liu were steaming, cooking, frying, and bustling about, filling the kitchen with steam.
Qinglan was busy in the room, coming in and out, while Xu Wen entered the kitchen to help.
Qingmei bounced into the kitchen for a while, then into the living room, and occasionally she would accidentally bounce into the yard, looking out towards the gate, still attracted by the lively scene outside.
In a house with children, no matter how few people there are, it never feels desolate; children are experts at creating liveliness and enhancing the atmosphere.
After a while, the people outside dispersed, and the earlier excitement faded away. Qingmei lost interest in the yard outside.
At Bai Cuifen's home.
As the crowd dispersed, the lively scene vanished, and the house fell silent.
If counting the number of people, there were Bai Cuifen, An Shaojie, An Shaomin, Jian Ming, Simple, and Chen Yang, six in total. Except for Bai Cuifen, the other five were all young people known for their noise and liveliness. Logically, the house should have been bustling with activity; however, it felt very quiet, like the silence after fireworks, evoking an unusual sense of loneliness and chill.
This loneliness and chill were not due to a lack of conversation; they were all exchanging pleasantries, chatting, and talking. Especially with Simple around, conversations never seemed to stop as she kept joking. Yet after everyone left, it felt as if their enthusiasm had also dissipated. The chatting and laughter only indicated that there were sounds in the house, that there were people present—many people even—but it did not represent liveliness or warmth.
Bai Cuifen, An Shaojie, and An Shaomin were originally not very talkative individuals; even when they spoke, it was in soft tones. Jian Ming was calm and understated. Only Simple and Chen Yang were lively. However, no matter how active they tried to be, they noticed that everyone seemed lazy and unwilling to talk.
Especially An Shaojie, who remained silent. Having traveled abroad and seen much of the world, he did not seem eager to discuss the exciting outside world. He sat aside like an outsider, occasionally looking up to ask Bai Cuifen, “That area of forest has changed.”
“Yes,” Bai Cuifen replied lightly. “It’s because Lan Girl planted fruit trees there.”
The discussions of others interested in talking were often interrupted by the back-and-forth between An Shaojie and Bai Cuifen, leaving them staring blankly at the two.
Then they fell into a moment of silence. When Simple finally managed to bring up a lively topic again, they heard An Shaojie’s cool voice gently rise, “It seems like that patch of hawthorn trees on the hillside has grown quite tall.”
Bai Cuifen replied calmly, “Yes, it has been taken over by Lan Girl.”
Everyone paused their conversation and looked at the two of them. Especially Simple, who looked at An Shaojie's eyes with surprise and confusion. She couldn't understand why Brother Shaojie, who had gone abroad, was still interested in things from the mountains and remembered those trivial matters from childhood.
Well, since they both liked to talk about these things, let them talk. Simple just wanted to have a good conversation about topics she was interested in, while the others should focus on their own discussions. However, she realized that this was impossible; the others were always easily influenced by the two of them.
As for the two of them? They were not disturbed by any of the other topics. Even though their voices were loud and their laughter cheerful, they remained unaffected.
Unintentionally, An Shaojie's voice floated out lightly, "Mother, I saw that it seems a factory has been built on that flat land ahead?"
"Yes, it's a factory opened by Lan Girl," Bai Cuifen replied without looking up as she was busy embroidering shoe insoles.
"You've already taken a tour around since you came back," Bai Cuifen smiled gently at An Shaojie and continued speaking.
An Shaojie smiled shyly and nodded, saying, "Yeah, I saw there have been many changes, so I took a look around."
No one on Simple's side wanted to listen to their conversation anymore, so they were no longer disturbed. The other group was chatting enthusiastically, only hearing Simple's laughter and chatter.
After a moment of silence between Bai Cuifen and An Shaojie, Bai Cuifen suddenly asked, "What about your girlfriend? The one who went abroad with you? Didn't she come back with you?"
This was a question that Bai Cuifen had been wanting to ask since An Shaojie returned.
The laughter from the other side immediately quieted down. Everyone in the room almost held their breath, waiting for an answer as if afraid to make any noise that might cause them to miss a single word of the response. After a brief moment of surprise, An Shaojie revealed a calm smile and said, "Her name is Su Hailu. We broke up a long time ago." Over the years, although his indifferent personality hadn't changed much, his stubbornness seemed to have lessened significantly. He had become much gentler; even his sharp eagle-like gaze had softened considerably.
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