Luo Peng’s smile was gentle to the extreme: “At home, it’s always her dad who plays with her.”

Sometimes, Luo Peng felt that Jiang Zhishu spoiled Xixi too much.

But at that moment, Xixi would jump out and say, “Mom, Dad doesn’t spoil me; he loves me! Dad loves you too, and I love you!”

Then she would hug Luo Peng with a sweet smile, making it impossible for Luo Peng to stay mad at her.

Jiang Weixi treated a few dogs as her friends, dressing them up and whispering to them while the adults continued to ignore them.

When it was time to eat, Zhang Lu and Cen Huaian stood up to help bring dishes from the kitchen.

As they passed a few dogs, both of them widened their eyes in unison.

The next second, Zhang Lu burst into laughter, holding his stomach and bending over.

“Xixi… Xixi, what did you put on the dogs?”

The adults from Chuxia gathered around, and when they saw the dogs adorned with various hairpins and covered in countless colorful stickers, the dogs looked like they had transformed into colorful rainbows.

They were stunned for a second before bursting into laughter.

Cen Huaian turned his face away, unable to hide the smile on his face, and Jiang Weixian laughed just as loudly as Zhang Lu.

Jiang Shengnan, busy in the kitchen, heard the laughter and rushed out, asking, “What happened? Why is everyone suddenly laughing?”

Chuxia pointed at the dogs, laughing so hard that her words were broken: “Mom, you… you look… Yellow… Yellow, Black…!”

Jiang Shengnan and the others also joined in the laughter.

Chuxia, sitting on the carpet and still laughing, asked Jiang Weixi, who was laughing with her, “Xixi, how did you think of putting stickers on the dogs?”

“Because I ran out of hairpins, and the stickers look just as good.”

The dogs were covered in stickers, even their fur on their heads was not spared.

They looked up with innocent eyes, sticking out their tongues and sitting obediently, smiling at their owners. Chuxia couldn’t help but reach out to pet them.

“Now you’re the prettiest dogs in all of Beijing!”

Jiang Weixi’s eyes lit up: “Auntie, I want to take them to play in the alley!”

Luo Peng held her back: “It’s time to eat; we’ll go play after dinner.”

The lunch was very lavish.

There were mooncakes and crabs, which were essential for the Mid-Autumn Festival every year.

Every time they ate, Jiang Zhida would envy Chuxia and the others who had someone to help peel the shells.

Now, Cen Huaian could eat by himself, no longer needing Cen Zhengnian’s help, and even Jiang Weixi could gnaw on her own.

This was the first time Jiang Shengnan had sat down with Jiang Grandpa and her elder brother for the Mid-Autumn Festival since returning to Beijing.

In previous years during the Mid-Autumn Festival, they would only communicate with Jiang Grandpa over the phone, and Chuxia would wish them a happy holiday.

Today, Jiang Shengnan truly felt the meaning of family reunion during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

This lively atmosphere made her eyes a bit misty while eating.

In the afternoon, the adults sat at Jiang Grandpa’s house chatting about family matters.

However, Jiang Erjiu’s family left the earliest, and Chuxia could tell they were missing Jiang Zhiyi.

Chuxia was also thinking of Jiang Zhiyi and worried about her.

She wondered how she was doing abroad; there probably weren’t any mooncakes for sale there.

Zhang Lu’s pager went off, and she used the phone at Jiang Grandpa’s house to call.

Cao Gaocong’s clear voice came through: “We’re setting off for the cinema in Xidan now. When are you guys coming over?”

Zhang Lu looked at Cen Huai An, who nodded.

She replied, “We’re heading out now; we’ll be there soon.”

Xidan was a distance from Jiang Grandpa’s house, and the kids pleaded with Jiang Zhida to take them to the Xidan cinema, which was also close to Jiang Zhida’s Yunmengze.

Jiang Zhida could never resist the charms of the younger generation, especially when Zhang Lu and Jiang Weixi looked at him with their big eyes, eagerly waiting for his response.

However, Jiang Zhida joked, “I’ll charge you for the ride.”

Cen Huaian asked, “What do you want, Uncle?”

Jiang Zhida stroked his chin, pondering if he had any difficult tasks lately.

His eyes lit up as he snapped his fingers: “I need to check the accounts of a few audio-visual stores. You’re all high school students and can do math, so it’s perfect; I have something else to handle, can you help me check?”

It was Zhang Lu’s first time checking accounts, and she was excited to see what the ledgers mentioned in her books looked like.

She even wanted to show off and see if she could uncover any pests in the stores.

Cen Huai’an had helped Bang Zi with calculations when he was young, so he knew that accounting was not an easy task.

It was not only tedious, but also very easy to make mistakes if one wasn’t careful, leading to a lot of rework.

He didn’t say any of this because he didn’t want to crush Zhang Lu’s excitement, and Jiang Weixian was also eager to try.

Jiang Weixi wanted to join in as well but was rejected by Jiang Zhida: “You’re still little; you just need to focus on playing for now.”

With Jiang Zhida driving, the four kids and four dogs headed to the Xidan Cinema.

When the car stopped, Cen Huai’an was the first to get out, followed by Jiang Weixian and Zhang Lu.

Jiang Weixi was last, leading the four dogs. The moment the dogs got out of the car, they instantly attracted the attention of everyone around.

“Why do those dogs look like they’re wearing clothes?”
“And they have hair clips? Which child is so fond of dressing up dogs?”
“Are they really bringing dogs to watch a movie?”
“How unusual!”
…

The murmurs around them were faint, and Jiang Zhiyi could only catch a few words, completely unaware that they were talking about her.

“Zhang Lu, Cen Huai’an, are these your little siblings? Are these dogs from your family too?”

Cao Gaochong, who had been waiting at the cinema entrance since Cen Huai’an and the others got out of the car, wore an astonished expression that hadn’t faded.

“Yeah! Aren’t our dogs cute?”

Cao Gaochong and his friends fell silent, their faces scrunching up as they replied, “They’re kind of cute.”

Jiang Weixi stroked the dogs’ heads and looked up at Cao Gaochong and his friends with a big smile. “Right? My doggies are the cutest!”

Cao Gaochong and the others knew that these four dogs were quite gentle, so they tentatively reached out to pet them.

As they touched the dogs’ heads, their excitement grew, as if they had just watched a thrilling movie.

They jumped up high, unwilling to let go of the hands that were petting the dogs.

However, no matter how much they liked the dogs, they couldn’t bring them into the cinema.

Jiang Weixi reluctantly handed them over to Jiang Zhida.

“Uncle, Xiaohua and Ban Dian will get hungry and thirsty. You have to remember to feed them and give them water!”

Jiang Zhida leaned against the car window, casually nodding. “I’ve got Xiao Hei, so they won’t miss out on food!”

Jiang Zhida drove off with the dogs, while Cen Huai’an and the others bought tickets and entered the cinema.

This cinema was much larger than the one Cen Huai’an had been to in Liangzhou, with more advanced facilities and more elegant décor.

This difference was not only due to the economic gap between the two cities but also because of the rapid development the country had undergone in recent years. The cinema in Liangzhou would probably see significant changes as well.

Once inside the cinema, the lights hadn’t been turned off yet, and Cen Huai’an knew it was a good time to find the projectionist and check out the equipment.

When he and his parents had first gone to see a movie, his dad had explained the principles of projection and how the equipment worked.

The things he had learned back then resurfaced in his memory, still vividly intact.

Watching the scenes being projected on the screen, Cao Gaochong and Zhang Lu were completely engrossed and would gasp at the thrilling moments, while Cen Huai’an was busy analyzing the betting techniques used by the characters.

He wasn’t sure if those techniques could work in reality, but since the protagonist had special abilities, it was clear that such things didn’t exist in the real world.

Jiang Weixi sat next to Cen Huai’an, her big eyes wide open, not blinking as if her gaze was glued to the screen.

The movie was indeed exciting, with many thrilling and comedic moments that drew bursts of laughter from the audience. Zhang Lu and Jiang Weixi laughed a lot.

After the movie ended, Cen Huai’an had memorized all the betting techniques shown in the film, but he wouldn’t engage in gambling; he knew it was something to avoid.

Gambling, drugs, and other vices were things that Chuxia had taught him to steer clear of since childhood.

Cen Huai’an still remembered how he was scolded by Chuxia for winning candy as a kid.

After exiting the cinema, Jiang Weixi and Zhang Lu all looked reluctant to leave.

Zhang Lu said, “‘The God of Gamblers’ was so good! I want to watch it again!”

Cao Gaochong added, “Yeah, yeah! The male lead is amazing! I want to have his special abilities and dominate Hong Kong, winning tons of money.”