Read Novel Full Chapter 135 Part 2 – One Good Thing After Another (II)
Chapter 135 Part 2 – One Good Thing After Another (II)
Xia Wenyue continued, “So please help keep an eye on things at the factory and let Huimei focus a bit on her personal life.”
Just then, Mao Huimei walked over carrying a plate of fruit, only to hear that and roll her eyes. “Mom~ what are you saying to him?”
“What?” Xia Wenyue did not care. “You’re going to be twenty-six after the New Year—practically an old maid already!”
“Oh, right,” she added. “There is a factory owner I know through work. You’ve met him before—that Uncle He, remember? He says his son is about your age, hardworking and all, and asked me to put in a good word. Should I set up a blind date for you two?”
Before Mao Huimei could say anything, Fang Yongpeng visibly straightened up, sneaking glances at her while his hands slowed down noticeably.
Xia Wenyue acted as if she hadn’t noticed a thing, smiling sweetly at him. “Xiao Fang, don’t you think so? What a shame you’re already married—otherwise Auntie would’ve considered you first.”
Fang Yongpeng blurted out, “I’m not! Auntie, I’m not married!”
Xia Wenyue looked extremely surprised. “Oh, sorry, I said the wrong thing. You’re not married? No girlfriend or fiancée?”
“No, no, no one.” Fang Yongpeng, afraid of being misunderstood, rushed to clarify. “I started college late, only graduated less than two years ago, and never met the right person. Then I quit my job to join Huimei at the factory.”
Xia Wenyue sighed with exaggerated regret. “Oh, you’re so steady and reliable. Auntie really thought you were already taken!”
She turned to her overwhelmed daughter. “I already spoke to Uncle He. Why don’t you at least meet the guy…”
“Auntie,” Fang Yongpeng cut in, a little awkwardly, “I… I actually have to head out soon, but I needed to go over some factory matters with Huimei first… would that be okay?”
“Oh, of course, of course. Business comes first,” Xia Wenyue said. “Huimei, go on with him.”
As she watched them walk out, Xia Wenyue picked up her knife and went back to chopping, muttering, “Xiao Fang’s great, but boy is he slow.”
Mao Huilan, who had been quietly giggling, looked up. “Mom, you knew? You did that on purpose?”
Xia Wenyue grinned smugly. “What? Think I don’t know what’s going on just because I wasn’t home? I gave birth to all of you—I can tell what you’re thinking with just one look.”
Seeing Huizhu darting off with a mischievous glint in her eyes, Xia Wenyue laughed. “Just wait. She’ll be back in a minute to imitate them.”
Mao Huilan chuckled. “Oh, I already know that’s coming.”
Sure enough, a little over ten minutes later, Mao Huizhu snuck back in, covering her mouth as she tiptoed.
Her sister grinned. “So, what did you hear?”
The little girl stood in the middle of the room, straightened up, and prepared to perform.
“Hu—Huimei.” She deepened her voice and scratched her head awkwardly, perfectly mimicking Fang Yongpeng’s expression. “Don’t go on that blind date.”
Amid everyone’s laughter, Mao Huizhu remained unfazed. She switched expressions again, now becoming Mao Huimei, raising her voice into an annoyed tone. “Why not? I have to get married next year.”
Then she flipped back into Fang Yongpeng, shyly lowering her voice again. “Auntie seems to like me… Wh–what do you think?”
Switching once more, she ducked her head and fiddled with her shirt hem, mimicking Mao Huimei’s bashful and funny manner. “What do I think?”
“Think… think…” She shut her eyes for a second, then suddenly bellowed in a voice full of heroic intensity, “What do you think of me?! I like you! Will you marry me next year?!”
The whole room burst into laughter. Xia Wenyue was laughing so hard her eyes teared up. “There’s no way he actually said it like that.”
Mao Huizhu laughed heartily. “That’s how they do it in dramas! It’s more entertaining that way.”
Still laughing, Xia Wenyue said, “Looks like I’ll have to rein you in. From now on, only two hours of TV per day.”
Mao Huizhu froze, completely blindsided by this thunderbolt of punishment just for being cheeky, and immediately wailed, “Nooo, Mom, I’m keeping up with school!”
Mao Zhishan, the only one who didn’t laugh, suddenly asked, “What else did he say?”
Mao Huizhu jumped right back into character, rubbing her hands together nervously, deepening her voice again. “I have an older brother and sister—they’re both already married. My parents are really open-minded.”
“I’ve already saved up for the house. Just need a bit more next year, and I can get an apartment. Wh–where do you like living?”
Then she pinched her voice back up to imitate Mao Huimei again. “Well, in that case, you probably can’t afford a house. If you want to date me, you’re not getting your salary next year.”
She widened her eyes in dramatic shock. Then, after a pause, as if something clicked, she scratched her head and broke into a wide grin with gleaming white teeth. “Alright. I’ll work for you the rest of my life.”
Xia Wenyue laughed and nodded. “Not bad at all.”
Mao Zhishan, looking deeply conflicted, silently picked up the meat bowl and carried it into the kitchen to fry meatballs.
As soon as the aroma began to waft out, Chenchen and Xiao Feng—who’d been playing at Ning Shaoyun’s place—came running in like they had gourmet radars installed. All three kids tumbled into the kitchen, and moments later, each came running back out with a meatball in hand.
Not long after, Mao Huizhu’s voice rang out again from outside. “Mom! There’s a guest!”
And then, “Hey hey hey, careful! It’s about to fall!”
Chenchen shouted, “Don’t pull it that way—you’re gonna drop it!”
“Hmph! Idiot!”
Chenchen fired back, “You’re the idiot!”
Just as the two were about to start bickering again, Xiao Feng called out loudly, “Uncle Ning, help!”
Ning Shaobai immediately put down his surgical knife and went out. Xia Mian hurried after him, and the moment they stepped outside, they saw Ding Sijin pushing her bicycle.
There was a burlap sack balanced on the front bumper, clearly very heavy, wobbling dangerously and about to tip over. Mao Huizhu was trying to hold it from the left, but pressed too hard, almost toppling the whole thing. Chenchen, in a panic, rushed to hold it from the right, using all his strength and nearly taking the bicycle down with him. Xiao Feng was holding the handlebars, desperately trying to keep the balance.
The whole chaos made Xia Mian burst into laughter. Ning Shaobai quickly stepped forward and easily lifted the sack off the bike.
The kids sighed in relief at once. Ding Sijin parked her bicycle and said, “Local specialties from Uncle Zhang. He mailed them over—I came to give you some.”
Xia Mian leaned over and saw half a sack of cured pork and ham. No wonder it looked so heavy. “You pushed this all the way here?” she asked. “Why bring so much? This stuff keeps really well—you can eat it slowly.”
Ding Sijin was on high alert. “Grandma was going to give it to Uncle.”
Xia Mian patted her head. This little girl was very vindictive—she wasn’t going to let her uncle get even the slightest benefit, even if he was about to leave.
“Alright, we’ll store it here for now. Come pick some up when you need it.”
Ding Sijin spoke like a little grown-up, “No need. We still have plenty at home. This is for your family.”
Just then, a light cough came from nearby. Xia Mian looked up and was surprised to see He Wei, standing just outside the threshold with bags of fruit and boxes of alcohol and cigarettes in both hands. It seemed he’d been there for a while.
Mao Huizhu finally remembered and called out, “Sister Mian, we have a guest!”
Xia Mian looked exasperated. “I thought you were talking about Sijin.”
Mao Huizhu said matter-of-factly, “Sijin’s a friend, not a guest.”
True. Xia Mian chuckled and turned to greet He Wei. “Young Master He, please, come on in.”
He Wei looked a little awkward. “Miss Xia, Young Master Ning.”
Ning Shaobai gave a brief nod and carried the burlap sack back inside. Xia Mian said to Ding Sijin, “You kids go play for a bit. I’ll send you back with some fried meatballs and spare ribs later.”
He Wei followed Ning Shaobai into the main hall. Once inside, she realized the whole family was busy preparing food. Xia Wenyue was a bit surprised to see him. “Oh, isn’t this He Wei? Come in, sit down! As you can see, we’re all tied up—sorry we can’t welcome you properly.”
He Wei quickly replied, “No, no, it’s my fault for not calling ahead.”
Then, sounding a bit surprised, he asked, “You make all your New Year’s food yourselves?”
Xia Wenyue laughed. “Yes, we country folks do it all ourselves. Homemade just tastes better. The whole point of the New Year is family reunions. It’s rare for the whole family to be together, so we make the food together and enjoy it.”
Just as she finished speaking, He Wei watched Ning Shaobai return, sit right down in front of a large basin of raw meat, and pick up a small knife to gut the chicken and duck like it was nothing.
Then a girl’s voice rang out from outside, “Ah! The spare ribs are done!”
That was followed by cheers from the children. Xia Mian, still kneading dough, shouted, “Xiao Feng, I want some too!”
A moment later, the four kids came marching in. Mao Huizhu was munching on a rib with one hand and holding a plateful in the other. Xiao Feng and Chenchen grabbed ribs with their bare hands and started handing them out to the busy adults one by one.
He Wei stared in disbelief as the cold and distant Young Master Ning opened his mouth and bit into the rib Xia Mian’s nephew offered him. His cheeks puffed up as he chewed, completely lacking his usual aloof aura, looking every bit like an ordinary family man. He Wei suddenly felt like that rib must taste amazing.
But clearly, the kids weren’t planning to offer any to him.
Watching Ning Shaobai chew, Xia Mian mischievously smeared a bit of flour on his cheek, earning a glare from Xia Wenyue. “Don’t waste food!”
“What if the kids see you and start copying it?”
Ning Shaobai shot her a gloating look as he leaned closer. Xia Mian, wrinkling her nose, reached out to wipe the flour off his face.
He Wei felt a bit dazed—this kind of ordinary, warm scene was something he hadn’t witnessed in years.
Ever since his family’s business had grown, all the little details of daily life were handled by hired help. He only ever saw his parents at the dinner table or occasionally in the study.
But……
Watching Ning Shaobai’s gentle smile, he suddenly felt that this was the kind of life that brought real contentment and happiness.
He wanted to be a part of it too…
Xia Wenyue set a plate of fruit in front of him and asked, “You came to see Huimei?”
“Yes,” He Wei didn’t dare to outright say he wanted to pursue Mao Huimei again. He only said, “I heard she got back from Country D and wanted to ask how things went. Also wanted to see if there’s a chance for a collaboration next year.”
“Is that so?” Xia Wenyue smiled, “Well, just wait a bit. She’s out with her boyfriend right now, but I think she’ll be back soon.”
He Wei’s expression changed. “She has a boyfriend?”
“Of course. She didn’t tell you?” Xia Wenyue said cheerfully. “She’s probably been too busy—honestly, we only just found out ourselves.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Fang Yongpeng’s excited shout came from the outside: “Uncle, let me do it!”
He Wei instinctively stood up and looked out the window, only to see Fang Yongpeng grabbing an axe and expertly chopping firewood.
He recognized him, of course—a guy from Jingyi Mountain, son of an ordinary fruit farmer. Not even modestly well-off. Just someone who followed behind Mao Huimei every day like a loyal puppy…
Why him? He Wei unconsciously clenched his fists.
At some point, Xia Wenyue had stepped up beside him, watching with a tone only a mother-in-law admiring a future son-in-law could manage. “Not bad, right? Sharp-eyed, hard-working, and most importantly, he’s thoughtful. Treats Huimei like a treasure.”
“That’s a good man to marry!”
He Wei had no words…
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