After walking for just over half an hour, they finally stopped in front of the understated entrance to a detached villa: "The two girls must be tired from the walk! It's really inconvenient to get around here without a car." Aunt Wei said with a slightly disdainful tone: "Alright, hurry inside and take a break. I'll have someone make you some hot tea to warm up." From the conversations along the way, Xu Xiuxiu and Xu Jingjing had already become familiar with the two Aunts. One, surnamed Lai, was referred to by the sisters as Aunt Lai, who, according to her, lived just next door.
The one who had been hit by that crazy Lu Xiangxiang was the good-tempered military wife, Aunt Wei, and the place where they were standing was right at Aunt Wei's front door: "Sorry to disturb you, Aunt Wei." Xu Xiuxiu said politely, seeing that her son had already ditched her, his mother, gleeful and hand-in-hand with Aunt Wei heading inside. She then noticed that Xu Jingjing, who had been clinging to her as her sister, had long since let go, and was now hanging around Aunt Lai like a tag-along, the two of them chatting and laughing. Even Xu Jingjing was taking advantage of the laughter to narrate the reason behind the fight with Lu Xiangxiang, successfully applying a thick layer of ointment to Lu Xiangxiang's reputation.
Ding dong ding dong! Aunt Wei stood at the villa entrance and pressed the doorbell, and soon after, a middle-aged woman came out to open the door: "Lady, you're back!" The middle-aged woman respectfully asked when she saw Aunt Wei standing at the door holding Song Chengguang's hand.
The large iron gate of the villa slowly opened, and Aunt Wei was the first to lead Song Chengguang by the hand into the house: "Cheng Guang, walk slowly, watch the steps." Aunt Wei meticulously instructed Song Chengguang, as if she feared the little guy would fall, and when they reached the two steps at the door, she patiently reminded the little one out loud.
"Grandma, don't worry, Cheng Guang isn't scared of falling," Song Chengguang, with his little short legs, stepped onto the staircase and then grinned widely at Aunt Wei.
"Ah! Cheng Guang, you're terrific!" Aunt Wei immediately spared no praise for the cheeky kid: "Xiao Li, these guests are all invited to our home by me. Hurry to the kitchen and prepare some fruit and tea for them." After climbing the steps with Song Chengguang, Aunt Wei immediately instructed the middle-aged woman who was standing by, waiting.
"Yes, Lady, I'll prepare it right away." The middle-aged woman responded, but instead of hurrying inside, she waited for the others to enter the living room before closing the door and heading into the kitchen, clearly a sign of strict protocol.
"How come you're back already? Didn't you say you were going to visit the military wife?" In the living room, there sat a man who wasn't very tall, undoubtedly Aunt Wei's husband by his age. He was wearing reading glasses and a dignified military uniform, and he was looking at a newspaper. Upon hearing the sound, he lifted his head from the paper to ask Aunt Wei, "Oh! You've only been out for a little while and you've already brought back a little treasure from outside? Come on, kid, want to come over to Grandpa? Grandpa's got some fun stuff here." The man with three stars on his olive leaf uniform brightened up with a mischievous expression at the sight of Song Chengguang being led by Aunt Wei.
Song Chengguang, obediently led by Aunt Wei, heard the old man's call and hesitantly looked towards Aunt Wei: "Grandma…" The look he gave Aunt Wei was clearly asking for guidance.
Seeing this, Aunt Wei immediately laughed triumphantly at the old man: "Thinking of abducting our Cheng Guang? No way. Right, Cheng Guang? We won't fall for that old man's tricks. Want to stay with Grandma and have some fruit later?" Aunt Wei said while bending down to coax Song Chenguang.
Song Chengguang didn't know what Aunt Wei was talking about; the little guy only knew that Aunt Wei had called his name and then mentioned eating fruit. His small face immediately regained a serious look, "Yes, grandma!" adorably earnest.
"Hey! Wei Cuihua, why are you , can't you let me have fun with the kid?" the old man with quite the high position and a military rank that could scare people immediately scowled unhappily.
"Don't try to intimidate me with your Admiral's authority, hmmph, I think you only act tough at home and bully an old lady like me; otherwise, how could I still be bullied by a young girl outside?" Aunt Wei huffed and gave the old man a disdainful glance, then led Song Chengguang to sit on a sofa to the side: "Hua Qiong, Xiuxiu, Jingjing, you all come sit down too, let's not bother with him." Aunt Wei spoke as if she was holding a grudge.
"Alrighty." Aunt Lai, named Lai Huajiong, upon hearing Aunt Wei's call and being very familiar with her, automatically took Xu Jingjing's hand and went over to find a seat. Reader support at * made this translation possible.
Xu Xiuxiu had been astounded upon entering and seeing the old man in the Admiral's uniform in the living room; an Admiral! In this era, someone who could achieve the rank of Admiral must be an esteemed founding figure. Thus, before Xu Xiuxiu approached the sofa, she respectfully bowed to the old man, "Greetings, sir." Xu Xiuxiu solemnly bowed to the old man.
"Hmm! This girl's not bad," as soon as Xu Xiuxiu bowed, the old man immediately regained his serious look with a nod, "Sit! No need to be formal." Although his tone wasn't as mischievous as it had been towards Song Chengguang, Xu Xiuxiu could feel that the old man's seriousness was just a pretense, so she sat down on the sofa after he gave the nod.
"Wei Cuihua, you just said you were bullied by a young girl? What do you mean? Don't tell me there's someone here who dares to bully you?" The old man put down the newspaper in his hands, folded it, and stared at Aunt Wei full of puzzlement.
"Indeed!" Wei Cuihua said indignantly, "Look, my face is still a bit swollen from where that girl hit me." Aunt Wei pointed to the right side of her face that had been struck, then tilted her head back and called out to the kitchen, "Xiao Li, bring me a bag of ice to put on my face in a bit."
Upon hearing this, the old man fixed his gaze on the red slap mark on Aunt Wei's face. Though it wasn't severe, the old man sitting on the sofa instantly frowned, slap! His palm hit the wooden coffee table in front of him, "Speak up, which reckless girl did this? I'll chop off her hands." The old man thundered angrily, his gaze suspiciously lingering on Xu Xiuxiu and Xu Jingjing for a moment.
The sudden burst of anger from the old patriarch stunned everyone present. Seeing this, Aunt Wei immediately frowned and spoke out, "Don't get angry at the two young girls, it wasn't them; it was Zhou Yumin's granddaughter." Aunt Wei defended the Xu sisters.
"Her! She's turned the world upside down!" The old patriarch's eyes widened as if he knew exactly who it was, "Guard, get me Zhou Yumin's phone number right now, I want to call and ask him if he's going to give me an explanation for today's incident."