"Mianmian, what is this?"
Wang Li and Li Lan had never seen such a device; they were curious about the small black box and watched Jiang Mianmian intently as she wore the headphones.
"What’s this odd-looking thing for? Why do you wear it on your head?" Wang Li had forgotten the previous squabble with Jiang Mianmian, and leaned in fascinated.
"This is a Walkman, a portable music player that you can carry with you to listen to music or learn English." Jiang Mianmian took off the headphones and switched to speaker mode for them to listen.
Upon hearing it, Wang Li’s face lit up with envy and amazement, "Wow, isn’t this just a mini radio! It’s so small you can carry it in your pocket. No wonder it’s called a ’Walkman’."
Li Lan also rarely agreed with him, "Indeed, it’s very convenient, but this thing must be quite expensive, right?"
"I don’t know the exact price. We don’t have them for sale here yet. This was a gift from Brother Yu’s sister," Jiang Mianmian dismissed it without any intent to show off.
"Do you guys want to listen together?"
Both kids nodded vigorously, "We do!"
They didn’t understand English; their interest was mainly out of curiosity and novelty.
So Jiang Mianmian kept it on speaker mode and everyone listened together.
Sitting at the doorway picking beans, Su Wanyu overheard the English dialogue from the Walkman and unwittingly began to recite it aloud.
Jiang Mianmian, with her sharp ears, immediately heard her mom reciting the words.
"Mom, you know English?" Jiang Mianmian craned her neck, staring at Su Wanyu sitting on the couch and asked in surprise.
And her pronunciation was quite standard and fluent.
Su Wanyu casually hummed a "Hmm," "I know a bit, as well as some French, Russian, and German."
Even though she spoke modestly, Jiang Mianmian could immediately sense the pride in her tone and exclaimed in admiration, "Mom, how are you so amazing? How do you know so many foreign languages? When did you learn them, and how did I not know about this?"
Li Lan and Wang Li also wore expressions of shock and admiration, having not even started learning English yet.
Su Wanyu enjoyed the adoring gazes from the young ones, came over, pinched Jiang Mianmian’s cheek, and said with a smile, "That’s because I was learning foreign languages before you were even born. By the way, sweetheart, do you know what your grandpa did?"
"I don’t know, Mom. What did grandpa do?" Jiang Mianmian shook her head in confusion, recalling that her mom had never mentioned her maternal family before; this was the first time she brought it up.
"Your grandpa was a famous feng shui master in our area. Back then, people from all around the country would come seeking his advice. When I was little, I saw a box this big full of gold bars," Su Wanyu gestured with her hands the size of an A4 sheet.
Upon hearing this, Wang Li and Li Lan, who didn’t have much concept of gold, had no particular reaction, but Jiang Mianmian was thoroughly astonished—her maternal family had been so wealthy!
Her eyes gleamed as she eagerly asked, "And then?"
Having a box that size full of gold bars would mean a life of luxury, free of financial woes.
"And then there was no after that."
Su Wanyu spread her hands and said with a nonchalant tone, "After that, there was an accident, and everything was taken from our home, nothing was left."