◎ First update ◎ 

“Teacher Fan is here! I’m leaving!” Fang Zhibin was also the type who would freeze in front of a teacher. Even the most mischievous child would naturally feel a sense of respect for a teacher. At home, he was a little troublemaker, but he knew how to behave when a teacher was around. 

At this moment, the best strategy was to retreat. 

“Hey, Binzi!” Xu Shengwei called out softly, but the person had already run away, leaving him alone to go home and face his grandmother, who looked very serious at this moment. 

“Grandma, Teacher Fan.” Xu Shengwei hid the table tennis racket behind his back, and smiled playfully, “What brings Teacher Fan here? Let me get you a glass of water.” 

Zhou Yun glanced at the almost full enamel cup in front of Teacher Fan, understood her grandson’s thoughts, and immediately interrupted him.

“Xiaowei, what did you do just now?” 

Zhou Yun rarely spoke so sternly. She usually spoke in a gentle tone and was very caring towards her grandchildren. But when she opened her mouth this time, her throat was obviously tight, and her words sounded cold. 

Xu Shengwei was engaged in a fierce internal struggle in his mind. What was that saying again? 

—Confess for leniency, resist for severity? 

“I went to play table tennis.” After saying this, he was afraid of being scolded, so he added, “Grandma, this is a healthy sport that can strengthen your body.” 

“I know that very well!” Zhou Yun knew her grandson well; when he spoke in such a tone, it was clear he was feeling guilty. “Is that what you’ve been doing when you skip class?” 

“I… I didn’t…” Xu Shengwei instinctively tried to deny it, but glancing at Teacher Fan, he knew his ‘misdeeds’ had likely been exposed. 

“Xu Shengwei.” Teacher Fan saw that the student’s grandmother seemed very angry, so she came out to help ease the atmosphere. “Teacher is here for a home visit today. I’m concerned because you’ve been skipping classes to play table tennis.” 

Xu Shengwei looked at Teacher Fan and then at his grandmother, and said with his head down, “Yes, I was wrong.” 

It is always right to admit the mistake first. This way, parents will be less likely to use force and will be more cautious when they do speak. This is what Biaozi told him, and he learned that from experience. 

“You!” Zhou Yun slammed her hand on the dining table, and it made a loud noise, “Are you learning to be bad? Skipping class, you even skipped class?!” 

Zhou Yun wasn’t too concerned about her grandson’s poor grades. If he couldn’t go to school, it was fine as long as he could make a living on his own in the future. 

But skipping class was still infuriating. Even if he couldn’t learn anything, he should at least be sitting in the classroom! 

Playing table tennis? He even skipped class to play table tennis?! 

“You usually play with rolling hoops and marbles without skipping class, but now you skip class to play table tennis? Aren’t you ashamed?” 

“But playing table tennis is more fun!” Xu Shengwei replied in a low voice but quickly shut up when he saw his grandmother getting angry. 

Teacher Fan quickly spoke up, “Grandma Zhou, please don’t be angry. We’re here to solve the problem today. Getting upset is not worth it and can harm your health.” 

“Xiaowei, tell your teacher and grandma why you skipped class to play table tennis?” 

Xu Shengwei gets excited when talking about playing table tennis. He keeps talking and his speech speed quickens. “I don’t have enough time to play during my break, so I asked other people to play with me.” 

“So you just stopped going to school?” Zhou Yun shouted at the top of her voice. She was unable to catch her breath for a moment and suddenly started coughing violently. 

“Grandma Zhou, please don’t get too worked up.” 

*** 

At this time, Xu Shengjie and Liang Baozhen were helping Liu Nianhua at home. Liu Nianhua was thinking about reorganizing the things at home. There were two bedrooms in her house, and the two brothers slept in one room with two beds. 

Liu Nianhua was busy before and only had time to clean Zhou Guoping’s clothes. This time, she took the opportunity to tidy up the house while rearranging the furniture. 

The wardrobe and dressing table in her room were moved around. In the past, they were convenient for Zhou Guoping, but now Liu Nianhua has moved the dressing table to her side. 

The five-drawer cabinet and dining table in the living room were also rearranged, with the flat cabinet moved to the corner of the wall. Finally, she needed to change the direction of the beds in her sons’ room. 

“Sister Hua, just tell Xu Shengjie where to put it,” Liang Baozhen said, standing aside and watching Xu Shengjie work hard. 

“That won’t do. You should rest. I’ll help move the cabinet.” Liu Nianhua said as she was about to lift the chest of drawers. 

“Sister Hua, leave it alone, I’ll do it.” Xu Shengjie was strong and quick, and he finished the living room in a short time. He was ready to go to Xiaolong and Xiaohu’s room again. 

“Hey, Nianhua, what’s going on?” Zhang Rong and her son Zhou Qingdang came back from outside and saw that the neighbor’s house was very lively, as if there was a big movement. 

“Aunt Zhang, I’m thinking of changing the appearance of my house and rearranging it.” 

“Aunt Zhang, where are you coming back from?” Liang Baozhen also greeted with a smile. Seeing Zhou Qingdang, she felt that this man was much more energetic after returning to the city.

“We just came back from my daughter’s house for a meal.” 

“Moving furniture, right?” Zhou Qingdang poked his head into the room and took off the bag in his hand. “I’ll come and help too.”

“No need, no need.” Liu Nianhua usually bothers everyone quite a bit, so she decided to handle the rest herself. 

“Nianhua, let him do it. A big man like him might as well use his strength,” Zhang Rong said. 

Liu Nianhua had no choice but to agree after being persuaded by Zhang Rong and her son. He looked at Zhou Qingdang, “Thank you for your help.” 

“Sister Hua, you’re welcome.” 

Zhou Qingdang and Xu Shengjie, the two men, busied themselves inside the house while Zhang Rong, Liang Baozhen, and Liu Nianhua chatted outside. 

“I heard there will be a new supply at the vegetable market tomorrow. You should go early.” 

“Okay, we’ll go there during our lunch break.” This was mainly Xu Shengjie’s job, so she would help pick it out. “Sister Hua, do you want to come with us?” 

“No need, I can go there after I get off work this afternoon. I’ll get off work early tomorrow.” 

“Alright.” 

Xu Shengjie and Zhou Qingdang came out of the house and moved all the furniture according to Liu Nianhua’s wishes. Zhang Rong leaned over to take a look and was amazed. It was really different. 

“Nianhua, at first glance, I thought you had moved.” 

“After living here for so long, changing the arrangement is a nice change, it feels fresh.” 

Turning on the faucet, Xu Shengjie let the cool running water wash his arms. Liang Baozhen watched from the side and urged him, “Make sure to wash the gaps between your nails, too. Wash carefully.” 

Upon hearing this, Xu Shengjie rubbed and scrubbed his nails again and again. He carefully cleaned the gaps between his nails one by one. 

Zhang Rong saw this and teased the two of them, “Xiao Xu, it’s nice to have a wife who thinks of everything for you.” 

Xu Shengjie smiled and nodded but said nothing. 

“Look at how considerate those two are. Don’t you envy them?” Zhang Rong turned to her son Zhou Qingdang, “Think carefully about what mother said. You’re not a child anymore; it’s time for you to find a wife.” 

“Mother, let’s talk about it later.” Zhou Qingdang also washed his hands, shook off the water, and said perfunctorily. 

“You…” Zhang Rong wanted to say something else, but Liu Nianhua had already taken out the corn and sweet potato cakes made today from the stove. 

The plump orange-yellow corn and sweet potato cakes smelled delicious, so she put them all on the plate and thanked the neighbors for their help. “Hurry up and eat some; they were just made today. I also boiled half a pot of sweet soup to drive away the cold. Have a bowl of it too.” 

Liu Nianhua opened the lid of the pot and stirred it. She turned and went into the house, took out a stack of four bowls from the cupboard, stacked them on the stove, and scooped one bowl at a time with a large spoon. She slowly filled five bowls. 

Zhou Qingdang took the sweet soup from Liu Nianhua and took a sip. It was indeed very sweet. While drinking the sweet soup, he looked at the stove and saw that Liu Nianhua’s hands and feet were very nimble and moved with practiced efficiency. She was like a spinning top on the stove—busy but orderly. 

“Mother, I want some too.” 

“I want some as well!” 

Zhou Long and Zhou Hu came back from outside and saw a lot of people standing in front of the stove. Each of them was holding a bowl and drinking soup. The two brothers were very greedy. 

“Of course, we wouldn’t leave you two out.” Liu Nianhua glanced at her two sons, who were laughing heartily, and scooped two more bowls of soup. “Drink slowly, be careful of the heat.” 

Zhou Hu was young, but he ate quickly. He gulped down a bowl of sweet soup, put down the bowl, and jumped to Zhou Qingdang’s side, “Uncle Zhou, I still want to ride a horse!” 

Zhou Hu, whose father is missing and who hasn’t experienced fatherly love for a year, finally found a ‘substitute’. Usually, his mother asks him to have meals at Grandma Zhang’s house, and he becomes familiar with their family over time. 

Uncle Zhou Qingdang often played with him and even carried him on his shoulder, and he felt like he was riding a horse. 

Riding a horse was so much fun; he could sit really high, much higher than all the other kids! 

“Xiao Hu!” Liu Nianhua put down the spoon and warned his youngest son, “Go play by yourself and don’t bother your Uncle Zhou.” 

She turned to the others and said, “This kid is really playful.” 

“Children are all like that.” Liang Baozhen found their interactions amusing. 

Zhou Qingdang didn’t mind at all. He bent down, picked up Zhou Hu, and placed him on his shoulders and held his sturdy little legs to prevent him from falling. 

“Ahhhhhhhh~” Zhou Hu was so happy, he felt that he was the tallest person now, even his mother was below him. “Mother, look how high I am!” 

“Get down, it’s quite improper.” Liu Nianhua felt a little embarrassed. In the past, Zhou Guoping was too lazy to pay attention to the children’s requests. He was only willing to play with the children only when he was in a good mood. In recent years, he has been leaving early and coming back late, and he doesn’t even pretend to be nice anymore. 

Now an unrelated neighbor is kind enough to play with Xiaohu, and Liu Nianhua feels sad when she thinks about it. 

Watching her son play like this for a while, and then being held in Zhou Qingdang’s arms while he pretended to throw him into the air and laughed joyfully, she was really happy. 

“Uncle Zhou, I want to be thrown too!” Ten-year-old Zhou Long was envious! 

However, Zhou Qingdang glanced at him and laughed, “Xiao Long, you’ll tire your Uncle Zhou out! You must weigh as much as two of your little brother!”  

Liu Nianhua watched the three of them talking and couldn’t help but recall what Luo Hongmei had said a few days ago.  

Did she really need to find another man? Was it really bad for the two kids to grow up without a man in the house? 

*** 

After Liang Baozhen and Xu Shengjie finished their sweet soup and headed home, they talked about Liu Nianhua with a sense of nostalgia. 

“Sister Hua is doing quite well now, and Xiao Long and Xiao Hu are also understanding.” 

“As long as Zhou Guoping doesn’t come back, there won’t be any problems.” 

When they reached their own door, Liang Baozhen heard Zhou Yun’s angry voice from inside. 

“You don’t study hard, and you skip classes just to play table tennis? What did your teacher teach you? What’s the point of playing table tennis? I’ll take away the racket and ball, and you’re not allowed to play anymore. Who bought these for you? Was it your brother? When he comes back, I’ll have a good talk with him!” 

Liang Baozhen and Xu Shengjie looked at each other. Why was grandma angry? 

It sounds like the trouble was caused by buying a table tennis racket. Liang Baozhen felt a chill on her neck and touched her belly. She thought at least now she had a ‘get-out-of-jail-free ticket’!