Chapter 22: One Thing Conquers Another, Mengmeng Has Met Her Match

“Auntie.” Mengmeng looked at her aunt, Cao Huifang, who was running over from the opposite side, and shouted loudly, as if to express her longing.

But when Cao Huifang and her classmate Deng Miaoshan arrived, and Cao Huifang instinctively reached out to hug her, Mengmeng seemed to recall some unpleasant experience. The hand she had extended quickly retracted, and with a spin, she buried herself in her mother’s arms, tightly clutching her mother’s neck, refusing to let go, and absolutely refused to let Cao Huifang hug her.

“Mengmeng, come let Auntie hug you, Auntie has missed you terribly,” Cao Huifang said. “Auntie has been working and earning money at school, I’ll buy you some delicious food later.”

“No, no, don’t touch me!” Mengmeng shouted very loudly.

Cao Shujie couldn’t help himself and burst out laughing.

Cheng Xiaolin was also helpless. Seeing a female classmate standing next to her sister-in-law, she said, “Fangfang, aren’t you going to introduce your classmate?”

Cao Huifang stuck out her tongue in embarrassment. She had forgotten all about it when she saw her niece Mengmeng just now. She quickly introduced, “Sister-in-law, brother, this is Deng Miaoshan, a good sister from my dorm. I told her that the fruit trees here are blooming beautifully, so she wanted to come and see.”

“Right, most of the fruit trees have just started blooming, it’s not yet their most beautiful time. But for some reason, our family’s fruit trees bloomed earlier this year, and they’re already very pretty,” Cao Shujie said with a straight face, telling a white lie.

After Cheng Xiaolin heard that, she was amused.

“Get in the car quickly, let’s go home first,” Cheng Xiaolin said proactively.

“Brother, sister-in-law, you still had to come pick us up, I’m really sorry, I’ve caused you trouble,” Deng Miaoshan said this.

Cheng Xiaolin waved her hand: “It’s fine. Are you and our Fangfang classmates in the same class?”

“Yes, we’re in the same class, and also in the same dorm,” Deng Miaoshan said.

Everyone got into the car.

Cheng Xiaolin held her daughter Mengmeng in her arms, and her sister-in-law Cao Huifang and her classmate Deng Miaoshan also sat in the back row.

They chatted and laughed on the way. Cheng Xiaolin also had her daughter call Deng Miaoshan “Auntie,” and the little one was very cooperative!

They arrived home in about ten minutes.

Deng Miaoshan also said, “Fangfang, the roads here are quite good, not at all worse than in the city.”

“It’s because of good national policies,” Cao Huifang retorted.

Cao Shujie, driving in front, smiled silently. He admitted this point; if it weren’t for the nation’s efforts, local areas wouldn’t be able to afford to build so many roads.

Just as they parked the car at the doorstep, Wang Yuelan, who was working inside, heard the commotion and came out again.

Seeing her son open the door and get out of the car, she was puzzled: “Shujie, you’re back so soon?”

“It wasn’t far at all. When I got there, they had already gotten off the bus,” Cao Shujie said.

Wang Yuelan saw her daughter Cao Huifang and her classmate Deng Miaoshan get out of the car. Although she didn’t know them well, she still greeted them warmly.

Cao Huifang introduced her classmate to her mother.

Cao Shujie went to the other side to help his wife open the car door and carried Mengmeng over.

The first thing Cao Huifang did after getting out of the car was to come over and “snatch” Mengmeng.

She said somewhat impatiently: “Mengmeng, quickly let Auntie hug you.”

“No!” Mengmeng almost gritted her teeth as she shouted it out, showing how much psychological trauma this aunt had caused her.

Wang Yuelan also knew what was going on. Seeing her granddaughter so scared, she almost couldn’t control herself from kicking her daughter: “Fangfang, stop scaring Mengmeng, or else you can go back to school.”

“This…” Cao Huifang was speechless.

It was Cheng Xiaolin who said, “Mom, it’s fine, Mengmeng will go play with her aunt by herself later.”

“You all come in and have some water first, I’ll go make dinner,” Wang Yuelan said.

Deng Miaoshan felt a bit envious seeing such a harmonious atmosphere in her classmate’s family.

She was an only child. Her parents both worked for state-owned enterprises. In that era, to keep their jobs, they didn’t dare to have a second child. She was destined not to experience this feeling.

After entering the house, Cao Huifang suddenly noticed that the house was a little different.

As she was observing carefully, she heard a few discordant sounds.

“Meow, meow!”

“Owoo…”

“Oh, oh… Woof.”

The sudden meows and wolf-like howls startled Cao Huifang. She turned her head to look, and a small cat with yellow and white fur was staring intently at her, its cat eyes looking a bit frightening.

Not far away, two small dogs of similar size were also staring at her, making Cao Huifang feel a chill down her spine: “Mom, is our house this lively now?”

“There’s also a little rabbit. They’re all kept for Mengmeng to play with. Don’t mess with them carelessly, okay?” Wang Yuelan seemed to know her daughter’s character and gave her a heads-up in advance.

This made Cao Huifang unhappy: “Mom, what do you mean? Can’t I even just look?”

“I don’t mean anything. I’m just afraid you’ll make them ‘fly away’ again,” Wang Yuelan teased her like this.

After Deng Miaoshan heard that, she couldn’t help but cover her mouth and laugh.

Even Cheng Xiaolin, hearing her mother-in-law caution her sister-in-law like this, couldn’t help but laugh. She found this way of speaking very amusing.

However, she also knew that her sister-in-law was indeed very lively, and when she got mischievous, she was like a tomboy.

According to her husband, when Cao Huifang was little, she often got into fights, making some male classmates cry and go home to complain.

With guests at home, Wang Yuelan prepared a very rich lunch. Even Cao Zhenggang and the others got to enjoy a better meal.

After lunch, Cao Huifang thought about taking her classmate Deng Miaoshan to see the fruit trees in bloom.

“Mom, sister-in-law, we’re leaving now,” Cao Huifang still remembered to tell her mother and sister-in-law before leaving.

Wang Yuelan instructed them: “You go play, but come back early for dinner tonight.”

Cheng Xiaolin said: “Fangfang, you can just go see the fruit tree blossoms On the Mountain at our place. The ones in other places haven’t bloomed well yet.”

“Got it!” Cao Huifang replied with a cheerful laugh.

Seeing Mengmeng playing alone in the yard, chasing the puppies, Cao Huifang’s eyes darted around, a mischievous smile on her face.

She quietly and suddenly sped up, running behind Mengmeng, and with one swoop, picked Mengmeng up: “Mengmeng, I finally caught you! Let’s see where you’ll run this time. Come with me to see the flowers.”

After saying that, she carried Mengmeng and walked out.

Mengmeng was startled. After she came to her senses, she kicked her little legs in Cao Huifang’s arms: “No, I want the puppies, I’m not going.”

“Not going? You say you’re not going, so you’re not going?” Cao Huifang didn’t care about that at all. She even remembered to tell her sister-in-law: “Sister-in-law, I’ll work a bit harder this afternoon and help you look after the child.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she was already outside the main gate.

Mengmeng was already very mischievous herself, but when she met her little aunt, she was completely outmatched. Limited by age and physical strength, they were simply not on the same level.

There’s a saying that goes very well: one thing conquers another. Mengmeng has met her match.

And that wasn’t all. The two little pugs saw their little owner being carried away, and instinctively chased after her.

“Owoo… Woof!”

“Oh…”

Fierce barks came, along with Cao Huifang’s complaints.

“You two, don’t bark at me! If you bark again, I’ll kick you! You little rascals, you think I can’t handle you?” Cao Huifang’s voice came.

Immediately after, Mengmeng’s shout came: “Put me down.”

“Puppies, bite her!” Mengmeng shouted loudly.

Cheng Xiaolin was also helpless. Fearing an accident, she quickly said, “Shujie, you stay home and help Mom, I’ll go keep an eye on them.”

“You go ahead. I’ll prepare some things, and then go to the Village Party Secretary’s place later,” Cao Shujie said. He had important business in the evening.

He was going to discuss leasing the mountain land.

(End of this chapter)