"Path, huh?" Xibao bowed his head and pointed at the ground underfoot. He said to Lou Shaonong: "Grandpa, it’s the ’path’!"
Lou Shaonong was startled for a moment, then laughed: "That’s right, what we step on with our feet is the ’path.’ There was no path initially, but we all walked here and there, and a path was formed. Xibao, you’re very smart indeed!"
Understanding his grandfather’s last sentence, Xibao did not act modestly and nodded confidently, "I’m very smart!"
Feng Qingxue couldn’t help but cover her face, what a shameless little guy!
Lin Yufen pulled Feng Qingxue over to sit down, "Let’s sit down and chat. It’s tiring to stand, and I’m getting a neck ache from looking up."
Without any prompting, Xibao crawled up onto Lin Yufen’s bed, his feet dangling over the edge. He turned to his mom, "Mommy, my shoes!"
"Xibao, your feet stink. Please don’t take off your shoes."
Upon hearing Feng Qingxue’s words, Xibao wasn’t pleased. He rubbed his feet together, kicked off his shoes, and out of nowhere, extended one chubby foot towards Feng Qingxue’s face, "Mommy, baby doesn’t stink!"
Feng Qingxue quickly swatted his foot away; this cheeky kid!
Lou Shaonong and Lin Yufen burst out laughing, "This child is such a delight."
Xibao, holding his chubby foot, made a face, crawled back, and lay flat out, "Baby sleepy!"
Weren’t you just napping before dinner? Are you tired now?" Feng Qingxue turned and quickly scooped him into her arms to sit on her lap. No one understood Xibao’s boundless energy better than her- she would have to stay up past ten o’clock with him this evening.
Xibao smiled at Lou Shaonong and then at Lin Yufen, and extended his arms, "Grandma, hug me, please!"
Lin Yufen’s heart was completely captivated, "Okay, okay, grandma will hug you."
"But he is quite chubby." Feng Qingxue remarked.
Both elders were extremely lean and thin, how could they withstand Xibao, who weighed nearly forty pounds with his clothes on.
Lin Yufen said, "How much could such a little guy weigh? Relax, I can handle him!"
Xibao sat down on Lin Yufen’s lap, leaned his head against her chest, and said, "Grandma, I love you."
Lou Shaonong, who was in the middle of sipping water from a mug, choked and quickly turned his head and spat out the water, followed by a fit of coughing, "You little guy, who taught you this?"
Feng Qingxue also had her eyes widened in a heartbeat, her face flushed bright red.
Lin Yufen laughed heartily, "Oh, boy, what a sweet talker, it’s as if he smeared honey on his lips."
Feng Qingxue was speechless; this shameless little guy was invincible.
Who were these elders in front of her eyes? They were the big shots of the academic world! When Feng Qingxue heard Lou Shaonong’s self-introduction, she immediately knew their identities. Surprisingly, Xibao made them both smile so genuinely.
However, these two elders didn’t meet a good end; both died by suicide after enduring severe torture and various insults a few years later.
How can these two be spared?
Both elders were humble scholars devoting their lives to academia. Who wouldn’t sigh with regret at their tragic end?
"Prof. Lou, Prof. Lin, where are you two headed?" Feng Qingxue was the first to break the silence.
At these words, both Lou Shaonong and Lin Yufen looked surprised. Then the latter asked, "You recognize us?"
Feng Qingxue smiled and answered, "I’ve read the foreign classics you’ve translated. I’ve admired your talents for a long time, but you’ve both been teaching in the Capital, and we’ve been stationed at the border, thousands of miles apart, so we haven’t had the opportunity to meet. Today was lucky, all thanks to Xibao’s interruption, to run into you both here."