Chapter 21: Husband, Your Daughter Is Really Vain

“Where are you?” Cao Shujie asked her.

Cao Huifang said, “My classmate and I will arrive at the temporary long-distance bus station in town around 11 AM. Please wait for me there.”

“Your boyfriend?” Cao Shujie teased her. Could it be that his sister was already in a relationship?

Speaking of which, his sister was already 20, and she would graduate from university in another year; it was indeed time for her to start dating.

But Cao Shujie had clearly thought wrong. The next moment, he heard his sister say, “Bro, she’s my roommate, a good sister. What are you thinking?”

“Oh!”

Cao Shujie checked the time. It was not yet nine o’clock. Two hours was enough.

“Okay, I’ll go over later.” After saying that, the siblings hung up the phone.

Cheng Xiaolin asked him, “Husband, is Fangfang back?”

“Yes, Mengmeng’s aunt is back, and her roommate is coming too.” Cao Shujie looked at his daughter, who was still clinging to her mother’s leg and throwing a tantrum, with a bit of pity, feeling sorry for her.

He and his wife doted on their daughter, but his sister Cao Huifang was not like that; she treated Mengmeng like a rag doll.

The main thing was that little Mengmeng, upon seeing her aunt, still loved to go up to her, asking for trouble herself. What else could the couple say?

“Mengmeng, your aunt will be back soon. Quickly get up, shall we go pick up your aunt?”

“Auntie?” Mengmeng’s thoughts were half a beat slow, then she remembered who it was. She happily stood up and clapped her hands, “Okay, okay!”

Seeing his daughter so happy, Cao Shujie felt it was better to give her a heads-up first: “Mengmeng, you can’t cry then, okay?”

“Cry about what!” Mengmeng didn’t understand.

Seeing his daughter’s confused look, Cao Shujie didn’t bother to say more to her.

They stayed On the Mountain until ten o’clock, having seen enough of the sea of flowers and satisfied their eyes.

Cheng Xiaolin also took dozens of photos with a digital camera.

There were photos of cute Mengmeng crawling around under the fruit trees, photos of her playing with two small huskies, and also photos of the entire sea of flowers.

Looking at them from the photos, this sea of flowers was layered and undulating, with white and off-white colors reflecting each other, making one understand what beauty was with just one glance.

“Shujie, look, the photos turned out really beautiful.” Cheng Xiaolin showed the digital camera to her husband.

Cao Shujie had only looked for two glances and hadn’t finished, when Mengmeng ran over: “Mommy, let me see, let me see.”

But Cheng Xiaolin just wanted to tease her, and deliberately didn’t let her see.

Mengmeng got anxious, raised her hands, stood on tiptoe, grabbing her mother’s clothes, about to grab the camera, and shrilly shouted: “Mommy!”

She was about to get angry!

Her little round face also had an expression as if she was about to cry at any moment. Only then did Cheng Xiaolin squat down and look at the photos just taken with her daughter.

Who knew that when Mengmeng looked at the photos, she had no interest in the little huskies and the sea of flowers at all, but when she saw the photos her mother took of her playing, Mengmeng never got tired of looking at them.

Seeing her mother swipe away her photos, Mengmeng wasn’t happy again: “Mommy, look at the little doll.”

“Mengmeng, that’s you, what’s so good about it?” Cheng Xiaolin said.

As soon as she finished speaking, Mengmeng stubbornly tilted her little head back and shouted: “Beautiful!”

“…” Cheng Xiaolin stopped talking.

She looked at her husband, then at Mengmeng, who was enjoying her own photos with great relish, and suddenly said to her husband: “Husband, did you see that? Your daughter is really vain.”

“Haha, let her be.” Cao Shujie also found it amusing.

He had never seen his daughter like this when they were in Beijing. He didn’t expect Mengmeng to become more and more lively after returning, and different from before.

This made him feel that his decision to return was the most correct one.

After staying On the Mountain for a while longer, they started to walk down, reaching the foot of the mountain. As they passed their new house under construction, Cao Jianguo, who was watching from outside, saw them: “Shujie, come here for a moment.”

“Dad, what’s wrong?” Cao Shujie wondered.

He also said, “Dad, Fangfang is back, her classmate also came along to visit. I’ll go to town to pick them up in a bit. If your matter isn’t urgent, let’s talk about it when I get back.”

Cao Jianguo heard his son say that his daughter was coming back, and he was still puzzled: “Fangfang is coming back? Why didn’t she call me?”

“She called Mom, maybe she thought there was no need to call you.” Cao Shujie’s words were hurtful.

But Cao Jianguo didn’t care. He then shouted to Cao Zhenggang, who was not far away: “Uncle Zhenggang, Shujie is down here. Please tell him about that matter just now.”

Although Cao Zhenggang was old, he was very nimble when he ran. After arriving in front of Cao Shujie, he explained the situation to Cao Shujie.

“Shujie, if you’ve already found someone, then forget it. If you haven’t, you can let my friend come and take a look, and you can discuss it further. It’s fine if you can’t agree.” Cao Zhenggang said this.

He also specifically glanced at Cheng Xiaolin and added: “This friend of mine used to work for a decoration company outside for five or six years. Now he’s back and working independently with two people under him. He works very carefully, and there’s no problem with his work in terms of decoration.”

“Grandpa Zhenggang, I’m really sorry this time, I’ve already found someone.” Cao Shujie didn’t use a subtle approach; he directly refused.

He was very clear that with this kind of matter, the worst thing was to be vague and unclear, as if stringing people along, which would ultimately make everyone look bad.

Cao Zhenggang heard him say that he had already found someone, and didn’t say anything more.

“No problem, no problem. If you’ve found someone, then I’ll just tell my friend. We can cooperate again if there’s a chance in the future.” Cao Zhenggang didn’t force it either.

Cao Shujie walked home with his wife, child, and two puppies. On the way, Cheng Xiaolin asked him: “Shujie, who are you planning to hire for the renovation? How come I don’t know?”

“Cao Tiemin. Last time we went to the county town to eat together, I even mentioned it, did you forget?” Cao Shujie rolled his eyes at his wife.

Hearing her husband mention the trip to the county town, Cheng Xiaolin remembered: “That childhood friend of yours?”

“Yes, it’s him. He specializes in renovation now. He has three or four people working for him, and he also showed me some photos; his work is pretty good. I’ll tell him once the house is built and have him come back for a visit,” Cao Shujie said.

Regarding her husband’s decision, Cheng Xiaolin did not object.

When they were eating together in the county town at that time, she could see that her husband’s childhood friends were all quite honest people.

For house renovation work, it’s better to find people you know well.

When they returned home, Wang Yuelan said to her son: “Shujie, your sister just called and said she’s coming back today, and a classmate is also coming to visit. Do you have time to pick them up?”

“If you don’t have time, I’ll go pick them up.”

“Mom, I’ll go now. You should stay home and cook,” Cao Shujie said.

After changing clothes, Cao Shujie was ready to drive to town. Who knew Cheng Xiaolin insisted on going too? If she left, Mengmeng definitely wouldn’t be able to stay home, so in the end, he simply took both mother and daughter to town.

“Auntie,” Mengmeng pouted her little mouth and called out.

Cao Shujie saw his daughter’s cute appearance and asked her: “Mengmeng, are you practicing in advance? Are you afraid your aunt will hit you?”

“Pfft!” Mengmeng directly spat at her father, looking as if she was angry that her father underestimated her.

…

At the Qingshi Town Long-Distance Bus Station Temporary Stop, a long-distance bus from the city stopped here, and soon many people got off the bus.

Most of them were young people; judging by their youthful faces, most were students.

There were also some young men and women holding children, carrying bags and pulling suitcases, taking advantage of the Qingming Festival holiday to come back for a visit.

In the crowd, there were two fresh-looking girls. The slightly taller one was named Deng Miaoshan. “Fangfang, is your brother really coming? Otherwise, let’s just take a pedicab to your house, why bother your brother?”

“No need. If my brother says he’s coming, he’ll definitely come,” Cao Huifang said.

Hearing her say that, Deng Miaoshan didn’t say anything else.

Deng Miaoshan and Cao Huifang were good sisters from the same dorm. Hearing Cao Huifang say that the fruit trees in their hometown were blooming beautifully at this time, she shamelessly followed Cao Huifang back.

The two of them were talking, discussing where Cao Huifang would take her to play after they got home, when suddenly they heard a car horn from nearby, followed by the sound of a child shouting ‘Auntie’.

Cao Huifang subconsciously turned her head to look, and saw her brother’s car parked by the roadside across the street. Her sister-in-law had already gotten out of the car with her niece in her arms.

“Sister-in-law!” Cao Huifang happily shouted loudly, and then took her classmate Deng Miaoshan across the street.

“Mengmeng, I missed you so much, did you miss me?”

(End of this chapter)