Ruan Jiaojiao looked at Xiu Xi, and he looked back at her. There were no words spoken, but his gaze seemed a bit aggrieved, and he appeared somewhat listless...
Yet Ruan Jiaojiao still felt there were issues weighing on her heart.
"Alright, you two play nicely. Granny will go cook some fresh fava beans for you." Saying this, she got up and left, giving the space to the two little ones.
Ruan Jiaojiao thought for a moment and then asked the little villain in front of her, "Do you know why I am angry?"
Xiu Xi shook his head.
Ruan Jiaojiao snorted coldly, "Then let me ask you, what were you and Wa Yiting doing standing at my house’s doorstep that day?"
Xiu Xi tilted his head, his expression blank.
He was no longer the scrawny little antagonist from before. Dressed neatly, he had grown increasingly delicate. With that action, he looked both cute and endearing, like a little puppy.
Ruan Jiaojiao almost couldn’t resist pinching his cheeks.
But she persisted sternly, "Do you like playing with her now?" Thinking of that bowl, she grew even more upset, "Did she give you something to eat?"
"Didn’t eat, didn’t play."
"Really?" Ruan Jiaojiao was somewhat skeptical.
Xiu Xi nodded vigorously.
Ruan Jiaojiao watched him for a while longer. Seeing his earnest eyes, which didn’t seem to be lying, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. The suffocating feeling also disappeared.
However, thinking of potential future complications, she said to him, "Then swear, from now on, you won’t play with her or eat anything she gives you!"
"Won’t play with her, won’t eat her things." Xiu Xi immediately made the vow, though he didn’t understand why he had to swear it. He ordinarily wouldn’t play with others or eat stuff given by strangers. But since Ruan Jiaojiao asked him to make a vow, he complied.
He didn’t want to endure days like the recent ones, with Ruan Jiaojiao not looking at him, not talking to him, and not letting him hold hands. Every minute and second of that was torture for him.
Hearing this, Ruan Jiaojiao finally smiled.
Seeing her smile, Xiu Xi smiled too, and the two were thoroughly reconciled.
The Ruanlin Family, seeing the two getting along just like before, also felt happy. The cooked fava beans were somewhat sweet and without any added spices, served as snacks for them.
In the afternoon, after eating, the Ruanlin Family locked up the house and went to Aunt Niu’s to buy a pound of meat. Then they took Ruan Jiaojiao and Xiu Xi to the village’s Qian Xiabai, to have him pick an auspicious day for the house construction ground-breaking.
But since Ruan Jianguo was busy looking at bricks and cement in town, only she could go.
Qian Xiabai was the famous fortune teller of the sixth brigade. Born blind, he learned some skills as a youth by apprenticing. Whenever a household had a good event, they would invite him to calculate auspicious dates. He could also do readings of one’s birth chart. His fee was usually a pound of meat, a few pounds of rice, or simply a red envelope, a token gesture was acceptable.
When they arrived at Qian Xiabai’s house, he just happened to be sending off a client. The Ruanlin Family stood aside waiting for him to send off the person, then came up with a smile to greet him, "How have you been recently, Brother Qian?"
"All’s well!" Qian Xiabai laughed. Maybe because he knew the way well, he didn’t need to feel around and walked straight ahead, asking, "Sister, is there something you need?"
"Haha, Brother Qian is always so straightforward. Well, my family is planning to build a house and would like to ask Brother Qian to select a date for us, to see which day is good for breaking ground."
"Boss is building a house?"
"Yes. Which day do you think is good?"
Qian Xiabai nodded and returned inside. The Ruanlin Family of three followed him in.