YM778.TV Chapter 171: Two Swollen Eyes
Chapter 171
Li Xiaoya quickly explained, "No, it\'s not. Someone gave it to me."
"Oh, I see. That\'s a relief..." Ning Heng let out a sigh, but immediately followed it with a dejected expression.
"Did the boss who bought my work raise the price and resell it? Which sucker bought it?" Ning Heng said, looking around at his brother Sheng and then at Qin Sui.
Sheng Yuxiao lazily replied, "I\'m not that sucker. Wouldn\'t I just take it directly from you if I wanted it?"
"Yeah... that\'s true."
Before Ning Heng\'s guesses could become even more outlandish, Li Xiaoya hurriedly said, "It\'s none of that!"
Sheng Yuxiao immediately guessed, "Him, huh?"
He lowered his gaze suspiciously and said, "Don\'t tell me he snatched it from someone else?"
Li Xiaoya opened her mouth but found herself unable to refute.
Although Ning Heng didn\'t know who "he" was, after thinking for a moment, he said dazedly, "Well, we didn\'t lose out then..."
"Look at that, I sell it, someone pays me, then it gets snatched away and given to Xiaoya... A perfect cycle. Xiaoya, does he still snatch things? I\'m about to sell again. Sounds like a perfect industry chain."
Li Xiaoya: ?
Sheng Yuxiao punched Ning Heng, saying, "Don\'t corrupt the kid."
Meanwhile, Old Master Zhang sat inside, watching their movements through the window, hearing faint laughter - the unique vitality of youth.
"It\'s become so lively all of a sudden," Old Mr. Zhang remarked.
The Secretary, wiping his hands, said, "There have always been many people willing to keep you company."
"Most of them are uninteresting, and some are even insincere. What\'s the point?" Old Mr. Zhang smiled and shook his head, slowly molding a clay doll.
The Secretary nodded and sighed, "But this young friend certainly has good relationships, with so many friends."
"And they\'re all very interesting friends," Old Mr. Zhang said.
The Secretary was taken aback, "What do you mean by that?"
"That one, called Sheng Yuxiao."
"Ah, the Sheng family\'s only son. I\'ve heard his temper isn\'t great, but... I don\'t see anything wrong with him."
"The one next to him should be from the Ning family in the Jin circle. Their family has more dealings with the arts community. I\'ve met him a few times before, he\'s grown up now."
"Your memory is impressive," the Secretary admitted, feeling inadequate.
"It\'s because it\'s hard to forget the past that my memory is particularly good."
The Secretary felt he had misspoken and was at a loss for words.
Instead, Old Mr. Zhang waved his hand reassuringly, "I\'m just saying." He paused before commenting, "Many families in this circle don\'t know how to raise children well. Having too much often means they can\'t live properly. Just last month, two kids from the circle were extradited back to the country for committing crimes."
Old Mr. Zhang smiled, "That\'s why they seem so interesting."
Hearing this, the Secretary couldn\'t help but marvel, "The young lady does have some talent."
Old Mr. Zhang nodded, "I\'m curious about how her family raised such a girl."
The Secretary suddenly remembered the "variety show" Qin Sui had mentioned. It seemed odd to ask about it out of the blue...
Intrigued, the Secretary immediately turned to search for the keywords.
To his surprise, a show actually popped up.
The first season had already finished airing...
I\'ll watch it tonight, the Secretary thought.
Meanwhile, after Ning Heng had delivered the money, he wiggled his bottom and glanced at his brother Sheng\'s expression before saying, "Little sister Xiaoya, do you want to count the money? We\'ll leave after you\'ve confirmed it\'s all there."
This way, he and his brother Sheng could stay a bit longer, right?
He was such a schemer!
Qin Sui lifted his eyelids slightly, "I\'ll go borrow a money counter."
Ning Heng: "..."
Sheng Yuxiao saw through it clearly.
Actually, if they wanted to stay, it was quite simple...
He stood up and said, "I\'ll go say hello to Old Mr. Zhang."
He walked ahead, and Ning Heng kicked the money bag and hurriedly followed.
"Sir, I\'m Sheng Yuxiao, Xiaoya\'s friend. I\'d like to pay my respects." The usually arrogant young master looked unusually proper, his sharp features softening.
Ning Heng quickly followed suit, bowing his head respectfully in greeting.
Most people were respectful in front of Old Mr. Zhang, either because they wanted something from him or because they feared his status.
The young men before him also had a request, but their request was for that little friend of theirs.
It was out of care and affection.
The older one gets, the more easily moved they become by such sentiments.
Old Mr. Zhang smiled, "Why don\'t you stay for lunch?"
"And here, take this," Old Mr. Zhang handed something to Sheng Yuxiao.
It was a small tray.
On the tray were four small clay figures, some sitting, some standing.
Old Mr. Zhang pointed in Xiaoya\'s direction, "Give it to her to play with."
Sheng Yuxiao looked down. It seemed... they were molded after them.
The Zhang family\'s dining table was particularly lively that day.
The young people competed to serve food and feed the little one, not being polite or reserved at all. This atmosphere made people feel more at ease, rather than tense and constrained.
"Here you go." Suddenly, a clean spoon extended from the side.
Li Xiaoya had scooped some egg custard for Old Mr. Zhang.
Old Mr. Zhang was surprised, "Why are you serving me?"
"Don\'t you eat this?"
"I do. But why..."
"They\'re serving me food, so I\'m serving you food."
And incidentally, she needed to stop them from piling more food into her bowl! She really couldn\'t eat anymore!
Old Mr. Zhang looked at her expression and smiled, "Is your bowl too full to finish? Then share some with me."
Li Xiaoya hesitated, "But the food in my bowl isn\'t very..."
"It\'s alright, it\'s better not to waste. In our time, a bowl of noodles had to be shared among several people. No one complained about leftovers."
This was what he had once fantasized about in his dreams - if his son were still here, if he had grandchildren, everyone sitting together for a meal. If the little one couldn\'t finish her food, as a grandfather, he would gladly eat her leftovers.
If only... but there are no ifs.
At this moment, Qin Sui also served some food to Old Mr. Zhang.
Old Mr. Zhang\'s face broke into a wide smile, "Good, good..."
The scene from his dreams had somewhat come true.
Old Mr. Zhang ate a bit too much for two days in a row and had to take some digestive medicine that day.
However, he surprisingly didn\'t experience any other discomfort.
After the family doctor finished examining him, he said, "Mood also affects intestinal health. If you can maintain a good mood, your old ailments won\'t easily recur."
Old Mr. Zhang sighed.
He wished he could.
When the little girl came, the house became much livelier. But after all, she belonged to another family... how could she stay here forever?
As they were speaking, the Secretary came out.
Old Mr. Zhang immediately said, "You got up late today, are you sick? Should we have the doctor check on you too?"
The Secretary looked up, revealing a pair of red, swollen eyes.
Old Mr. Zhang was startled, "What happened?"
"I was watching a variety show."
"Huh?"
Just then, Li Xiaoya also woke up. She came out with her backpack; she had to make one last trip to school today.
As soon as she looked up, she met the Secretary\'s sympathetic and excited gaze.
What\'s wrong with him?
Li Xiaoya left the house with a puzzled expression.
When she returned, she found two pairs of swollen eyes.
"I told you not to watch it, didn\'t I? Good thing you didn\'t cry yourself into the hospital."
"The little one has suffered too much."
Li Xiaoya carefully stepped through the door, and the people inside turned their heads—Old Mr. Zhang\'s eyes were also swollen from crying.
Qin Sui couldn\'t help but lower his head and sigh.
Well then.
It turns out all they needed to do was ask them to watch the show, and everything would be resolved... After all, not everyone was as difficult to empathize with as he was.