On the third floor, she bought herself a lot of women’s clothing and bags. This time, Shen Haiyang said nothing, even though he was soon buried in shopping bags again.
The fourth floor is for teenagers and children’s clothing. She definitely won’t forget the three little ones at home. Everyone got a share, and she bought an extra piece for Huihua. The girls’ clothing is really nice, and there are more styles than the boys’.
“And the Kevin brothers.”
Shen Haiyang reminded her, and Li Xia nodded silently. No matter how bad Shen Yaozong was, Kevin and Jimmy were so well behaved, so he didn’t have to be hard on them. These two were Shen Haiyang’s nephews by blood, and now they live here, so it was considered a face-saving thing to bring one with them.
“What time is it? Why do I feel hungry?”
Shen Haiyang raised his hand and was about to let her check the time when he found that his wrist was bare. “I forgot; the watch was sold by Yiyi .”
The salesperson next to him smiled and replied, “It’s half past one.”
Li Xia laughed: “Let’s go buy a watch. Then we can go eat after buying the watch. I’m starving.”
Li Xia wanted to buy him a Rolex but was stopped by Shen Haiyang, so he picked out an ordinary one. “Yiyi will buy me a Rolex.”
“Okay, wait for the brat to buy it.” Li Xia saw a Japanese food store across the street and was very curious about it. “Let’s go eat Japanese food. I’ve never eaten it before.”
“Okay, let’s try it.”
It was her first time eating here, and she didn’t know what to order, so she asked the waiter to give her the restaurant’s specialties. When the dishes came, they were really exquisite. The salmon sashimi was dipped in mustard, and Shen Haiyang was choked by tears.
He reached out to grab a napkin, wiped his own eyes, and grabbed a few more for his wife. Li Xia was also choked, and she couldn’t stand the strong mustard smell. Not only did her tears flow, but her nose seemed to be full of water. Her husband reached out to wipe her tears, and she wanted to grab a few pieces of paper to wipe her nose, but he snored while wiping her eyes.
Li Xia felt embarrassed and said, “I’ll wipe it myself.”
Shen Haiyang threw the paper into the trash can. “Why are you being shy with me? We are going to be together until we grow old, and we will show each other everything we are like.”
Li Xia was still chewing salmon, and she said incoherently, “We can’t do that now… Never mind, it’s been so many years; it’s a bit late to think about the image now.”
Her eyes were clear, with a few strands of hair falling on her cheeks, and her cheeks were puffy as she chewed something. The woman in her thirties made him think of the word cute.
It is true that a good man raises his wife to be a child, while a bad man drives his wife crazy. Marriage cannot be smooth sailing; there will always be troubles of one kind or another. He will use all his abilities to bear the storm with you, and he will hold up an umbrella to isolate you from the wind and rain.
Salmon sashimi, eel rice, miso soup… After leaving the Japanese restaurant, Li Xia felt like she was not full. Should she go for another bowl of sliced noodles? Forget it; it seemed like her stomach was full again.
(eel rice) 
( miso soup)
She had a rare Japanese meal with such hesitation. If you ask her if she would eat it again next time, she will definitely shake her head. A little bit is not enough to fill you up, and it is so expensive.
After entering the cinema in the afternoon, Shen Haiyang went to buy juice and popcorn. Most of the people in the cinema were young couples, and they were dressed very young today. Seeing others holding hands or putting their arms around each other’s shoulders, Shen Haiyang also held his wife’s hand.
The two of them went in and found a seat to sit down. Li Xia’s face flushed. In such an environment, it really felt like being in love.
In the 1990s, mainland China’s film industry was in a slump. People were watching videos now, and Hong Kong and Taiwan videos were extremely popular. The movie being shown in the cinema today was also a Hong Kong movie.
“Tricky Brains” is a movie by Stephen Chow that makes you laugh all the way to the end. His nonsensical way of making people laugh is very popular among young people. There was constant laughter in the theater from the beginning of the movie. Li Xia was shaking with laughter while holding Shen Haiyang’s hand, and she fell into his arms several times.
After the movie, she walked out of the cinema with a group of young people. When she got home, she still had a smile on her face. She called the three little ones to help her get things. Huihua noticed that her mother was different from before.
“Mom, what good news do you have today?”
Li Xia reached out and touched her face. Why was she smiling so obviously? “Nothing. I just watched a movie.”
“Can a movie make you so happy?”
“if not?”
“You are so happy; your eyes are full of smiles. It’s not just because of the movie, right?”
Li Xia smiled but didn’t say anything, and while Yiyi called his sister over there to help, “Don’t just whisper to mom. Dad and mom have moved the department store back today, so hurry up and help us.”
The whole family went out together, and Qin Mu was shocked when she saw it. “Oh my God, when you go out, you go all out. This time, it’s too scary. Brother Shen is so patient. If it were my husband, he wouldn’t accompany me for a whole day. He would run away halfway.”
Li Xia joked with her: “Tie him up with a rope and see where he runs.”
“Forget it; I might as well go shopping by myself.”
After a few small talks, they divided up the things they bought. The three children took their own clothes to try on, while Shen Haiyang took the clothes he bought for the other two and went to the backyard.
Li Xia didn’t ask the other two whether they were wearing the clothes or not. She looked around and saw that the three children were wearing the clothes she bought. She felt that Huihua and Shen Hui were really good-looking.
Shen Hui is over 1.8 meters tall, with a tall and handsome figure. When he puts on the shirt and trousers she bought, he looks like a handsome young man, much better than the usual school uniform. Huihua is over 1.6 meters tall, and the clothes make her look even better, with a slender figure and picturesque features.
Turning to look at her youngest son, she collapsed immediately. “Shen Ruyi, when are you going to lose weight? You tell me yourself.”
Yiyi is thirteen years old, not as tall as Shen Hui, but heavier than him. This child has loved eating since he was young, and he is chubby and cute. In his previous life, he naturally lost weight after he grew up and lost his baby fat to become a teenager. So in this life, Li Xia didn’t pay much attention to this, and as a result, he ate himself into a fat man.
“It will be fine when I grow up.”
“How big have you grown?” Li Xia was somewhat helpless. He was already thirteen; he is still young. “How about getting up early every day to exercise?”
“I have morning self-study at 6:30 in the morning and can’t go to bed until after 11:00 at night.”
This means, look at my time in a day; how can I find the time to exercise? Li Xia also knows that the child is studying hard, but if he is allowed to continue like this, will he grow up to be a fat boy?
“Then control your diet.”
“Mom, how do I control it?”
“Cancel the midnight snack. Go straight to bed when you get home.”
“Then how would I go to bed early if I’m hungry?”
“What else can I do? Control your mouth and move your legs. If you don’t like these two methods, what else can you do?”
“I’m not that fat.”
Li Xia rolled her eyes at him and said, “Let’s go and see on the scale.”
“Okay, okay, I won’t have midnight snacks anymore. I’ll go to bed as soon as I get home.”
Shen Haiyang heard his wife and son talking about losing weight at the door, but he didn’t go in at all. Yiyi was the best at acting like a spoiled child, and he was afraid that if he went in, he would ruin his wife’s plan.
Because he was not allowed to have midnight snacks, Yiyi planned to have an extra bowl of rice at night. But after he finished the second bowl, his mother took away his rice bowl. Looking at his empty hands, he turned to look at his mother pitifully.
Am I not allowed to eat my fill?
“Two bowls are enough.”
Well, he is adapting to the first day of weight loss. The rice bowl is gone, but the chopsticks are still in his hand, and he starts to pick up the food to eat. Li Xia wanted to say something but was afraid that the children would not be able to accept it if she was too strict, so she had to look at them one by one. Shen Haiyang received the message from his wife and took the lead to speed up.
Then they found that they hadn’t eaten much of the food, so they all put down their bowls and chopsticks. His mother cleared the dishes and even whispered something to the cook. He didn’t need to listen; he could guess that she must have asked her to put the food away.
After finishing homework during the day, the entertainment at night after dinner is watching TV. Li Xia bought an 18-inch color TV and placed it in the west wing.
Shen Haiyang called out to Shen Hui in the yard, “Dad, what do you want me to do?”
“Go to the backyard and see Kevin and his brother. You can ask them to watch TV with you.”
“Oh.” Shen Hui responded habitually, then took two steps, realized something was wrong, and turned back. “Dad, Jimmy doesn’t speak Chinese very well; can he understand TV?”
“If he doesn’t understand, you can teach him and practice your spoken English at the same time.”
“No, Dad, do I have to teach him Chinese just to watch TV?”
Shen Haiyang looked at his son in silence for a moment, then said earnestly, “They both encountered an unexpected change, and grandpa and grandma haven’t contacted each other for many years. They are like strangers. They have been staying in the room for a day.”
“Oh, children are innocent of the grudges between adults, right? I know. I will go and take care of my two cousins.”
The son didn’t need him to say anything else; he fully understood what he meant. The two of them really looked pitiful. Such a big family change happened all of a sudden, and those who are less able to bear it might develop psychological problems.
He walked through the alley and went around to the backyard. He heard a lot of foreign chatter coming from the main room in the backyard. He listened attentively. It was Kevin’s grandmother complaining to his grandfather.
He heard his grandfather ask her to take the two children away. Then the two of them started a discussion about the children, one after another, and the woman’s voice became louder and louder.
Shen Hui turned around and looked at the east wing. The two brothers in there must have heard it. He wondered what they were thinking at this moment. Alas, it’s so pitiful for a child without a father or mother.
Shen Hui went to the backyard to call his two cousins to come over to watch TV. After knocking on the door several times, it was finally opened. Little Jimmy looked at him shyly and tried several times but failed to speak. He finally smiled and spoke.
“Come to the front and watch TV with us. It’s boring to stay in the house all the time. After watching TV, I’ll take you out for a walk.”
“I’m not going.”
“Why? The TV series is very interesting. If you don’t understand it, I can tell you after it’s over.”
“Oh well.”
After all, he was young, so Shen Hui persuaded him with a few words and prepared to go out with him. He had heard his brother talk about his uncle’s sons and daughter, and he was very envious of those brothers who could play the piano, catch cicadas, and roll iron rings.
“Ask your brother to come along. He’s bored in the room alone.”
“But my brother won’t go.”
“Why?”
“My brother said we shouldn’t have come to see grandpa in the first place.”
“Children should not be burdened with adult matters.” Shen Hui said as he walked inside, wanting to relieve the burden borne by the little kid who used to pull him and call him brother when they were little.
“Kevin, Kevin, do you really not want to come out? This place is different from when you came here. There are many local delicacies in the night market at night. I will take you to try them.”
“OK, thanks.”
Kevin was very curious about China, and although he felt embarrassed, he still came out to appreciate the kindness of his cousin. The two brothers followed their cousin to the front yard to watch TV. Jimmy was not interested in the TV series that the older children were watching. Huihua noticed it and found him a cartoon after a paragraph.
“If you don’t understand something, ask your brothers.”
“Why can’t I ask you, sister?”
“Because, sister,” Huihua stuttered for a moment, not knowing how to express herself. Her foreign language proficiency is the worst among the three siblings. The three of them have been learning from their grandfather since they were young, but these two have good brains and excellent memory and are better than her in all aspects except painting.
“Are you the little question, prince? Why are you asking so many whys?” Yiyi spoke up to help his sister out.
“What is the problem, little prince?”
“Oh, no.”
Yiyi slapped his forehead with his hand, looking extremely helpless. The process of watching the animation refreshed his cognition again and again. He was tortured by his little cousin, and he was very distressed. He got stuck in his speech many times. Talking with someone who didn’t understand Chinese at all really improved his foreign language level.
“Brother.” Yiyi was about to collapse and called Shen Hui. The brat was brought here by his brother, and now he and Kevin were silent, throwing the question to him.
Shen Hui and Kevin were laughing. “Let’s go to the night market.”
“What’s available at the night market?” Jimmy asked.
“Delicious food.” Foodie Shen Ruyi started to count. “Grilled fish and meat, oden, fried rice noodles, donkey meat hot pot… Oh, there are so many delicious things. Let’s go; you will know how many there are when we get there.”
“Okay.”
The four-year-old boy had an oriental face but didn’t understand Chinese at all. Yiyi was afraid that he would get lost, so he held his hand tightly, just like his older brother and sister took care of him when he was a child.
The three siblings rode their bikes and took the two brothers to the pedestrian street. The night market was crowded at that time. They bought teppanyaki and a few skewers of squid each.
The squid is cut into small pieces and fried on a hot iron plate. It is brushed with sauce and sprinkled with pepper and other seasonings, and it smells delicious.
The two brothers had never eaten it in the United States. After they got it, they took a bite quickly after smelling the fragrance. Their taste buds were conquered in an instant, and their eyes brightened. Jimmy gave a thumbs up.
“Brother, it’s delicious.”
Yiyi raised his head halfway in a proud manner and said, “This is just the beginning. Wait for your brother to take you to eat all over the city and make sure you are fat and plump.”
“Like my brother?”
Bang, Jimmy’s arrow hit the bull’s eye, and Yiyi suddenly felt that the teppanyaki in his hand was a little hot. His mother just told him to lose weight and control his diet today. He didn’t eat enough for dinner, and he was a little hungry after watching TV just now.
He put a bunch of tofu skin rolls under his nose and smelled them, then he opened his mouth and took a big bite. “Eat your fill first, then think about everything.”
He said this in Chinese. Jimmy looked up and asked him, “Brother, what did you say?”
“I say the biggest thing in the world is to eat enough.”
He still spoke in Chinese, and the little boy looked confused. Facing the little boy’s confused look, he laughed loudly and reached out to rub his head, ruffling his hair.
“Want to understand?” This time, it became a foreign language.
“Yes.”
“Then learn it. You are now in China; how can you survive if you don’t understand Chinese?”
Shen Hui also said, “Your brother speaks Chinese very well. You are Chinese; how can you not know Chinese?”
The people around were attracted by the foreign language, and they couldn’t help but admire Shen Ruyi and Shen Hui for switching between Chinese and English. Whose child is so well-educated? He looks like he is only in junior high school, but he speaks foreign languages fluently.
“Kids, did you grow up abroad?” asked a curious middle-aged man.
“No.” Yiyi replied with a polite smile.
“Is this your brother? Why doesn’t he understand Chinese?”
“He’s my cousin. He grew up abroad.”
“Oh, so there is a language environment at home.”
“It’s said that a dragon gives birth to a dragon, a phoenix gives birth to a phoenix, and a mouse’s son can dig holes. Such an outstanding child must have very capable parents.”
Everyone had no ill will but instead praised him. Yiyi smiled and said nothing more. His parents were great, of course. His grandfather was a college student during the Republic of China, and his father was also a college student. Moreover, his grandfather had been abroad for many years, and he had learned spoken English from his grandfather since he was a child. He was not like those children who started to learn foreign languages in junior high school.
Five children walked from one end of the night market to the other, with stalls selling all kinds of things on both sides. He suddenly remembered what his mother said when he was a child—that the golden age of stalls would soon pass—and asked him to study hard because the future is the era of technology. Today, stalls still earn more than fixed wages, but they are no longer so rare and profitable.
“My mom has a really good eye. Awesome.”
Li Xia didn’t know she was being praised by her son. She took a bath, put on a facial mask, and listened to music. Shen Haiyang came over and sat beside her bed to give her a massage. She felt comfortable and hummed along.
“Over the years, you said you were so confused back then.”
When Shen Haiyang came, she tore off the mask, opened her eyes, and smiled at her husband. “Did I sing well?”
Shen Haiyang nodded immediately. “Not much worse than Mao Amin.”
“I love to hear that.” After saying that, she leaned over and kissed him, then went to wash her face and take care of her skin.
The man reached out and touched his face, saying with a smile, “You made my face full of mask water; it’s sticky.”
“Those are all for skin nourishment. Didn’t you see that I often apply facial masks? Look how good my skin is.”
She is less than 40 years old this year and has had good skin to begin with. She has taken continuous care of her skin over the years and does not have to work in the fields and be exposed to the wind and sun. She looks a dozen years younger than she did at the same stage in her previous life.
“That’s right. My wife hasn’t changed in all these years. She still looks the same as before.”
Li Xia washed her face and applied toner, then stood up and sat next to him, gently nudging him with her body. “Whether it’s true or not, I like to hear that.”
“Look at you. Do I have to lie to you?”
“really?”
“Of course.” She put her hand down after applying the toner. He turned his head to take a closer look. “You really haven’t changed at all since the first time I saw you.”
This man spoke seriously, which was more credible than a man who spoke in a slick way. Li Xia was immediately overjoyed, and she leaned over to give him another sweet kiss.
“Don’t use this trick on others.”
Shen Haiyang laughed at his wife’s possessiveness. After applying the night cream, she sat there and talked to him about business. “Did Dad say what to do with them?”
“He couldn’t reach an agreement with that woman, and they were arguing.”
“Then, what does that woman want to do? Does she want to stay and remarry the old man?”
“I do not know.”
“ah?”
Shen Haiyang suddenly burst into laughter and reached out to pinch her surprised cheek. His wife was so interesting, and sometimes it was fun to tease her and see her get angry.
“He has called someone to find a host family for the two children. Their mother will be released in three years, and the old man will cover all expenses for the next three years. The two brothers can live together, just like foreigners studying in the United States, and the cost is not much. She wanted to take care of the two grandchildren and let the old man pay for it, and now they are arguing about this.”
“Then why did you say you didn’t know before?”
“Just to tease you.”
“Ah, Shen Haiyang, you are so annoying.”
Shen Haiyang laughed when his wife tickled him. She didn’t dare to use too much strength; she was just playing around. “Haha, okay, okay, I won’t tease you anymore.”
“Bad guy, you just know how to bully me.”
Shen Haiyang hugged his wife tightly in his arms and said, “Don’t worry about them; I’m here. When the old man asks someone to find a good host family to send the two brothers away, the woman will naturally have to leave.”
“Okay.”
Li Xia stood up and took the book from the bookshelf, not worrying about it any more. The old man had a bottom line. Even if the parents of these two grandsons were unreliable, he would at most support them in their studies and give them living expenses until they reached adulthood. Shen Yaozong taught him a lesson: he himself had no ability, and money could sometimes be a calamity.
This is not a big deal. Her factory spends more on charity every year. She supports the children of outsiders. This is a good child with a blood relationship. Even if the old man doesn’t say anything, she and Shen Haiyang will also support the two of them to study.
Shen Haiyang went to the toilet and ran into the five people laughing when he came back. Jimmy said the snacks were delicious, and Kevin said China was very rich and developing very fast.
“I must come back to visit after I graduate from college.”
Yiyi straightened up and raised his head when he saw his father grinning at him. Suddenly, he remembered something and quickly raised his hand to wipe his mouth. Jimmy didn’t understand what he meant, but his strong ability to imitate made him do the same thing.
This attempt to hide the truth made Shen Haiyang laugh in his heart, but he remained serious on his face. “Where did you go?”
“Just wandering around outside.”
“You smell like barbecue?”
Yiyi ‘s face fell immediately, knowing that he couldn’t deceive her. He smiled at his father and put his arm around his. “Dad, please don’t tell my mom.”
“What did your mother say to you today?”
“Lose weight and control your diet.”
“So what are you doing now?”
“But how can I have the energy to lose weight if I don’t eat enough?”
“Shen Ruyi, what kind of fallacy are you talking about?”
“This is a serious truth, Dad; why don’t you understand? Think about it: to lose weight, you have to exercise; I have to go out. I’ll be so hungry I can’t even walk; I have to replenish my energy; otherwise, how can I lose weight?”
Shen Haiyang looked at him helplessly and amusedly. This child was not as well-behaved as the other two. He has had his own ideas since he was young. Shen Hui, Kevin, and Huihua were laughing on the side. Shen Ruyi, who was so confident just now, could also be so flattering.
“So are you going to lose weight or not?”
“……reduce.”
“What about a midnight snack?”
“No more.”
Yiyi looked hopeless; no matter how he tried to get around his father, he could always catch his weakness. Jimmy didn’t understand what they were saying, and he felt sorry for his brother. The little hand silently took his hand, and he smelled a barbecue smell.
It smells so good. I’ll go out to eat with my brother tomorrow.
Little Jimmy was still thinking about the food and pointed to the backyard one by one and made a soft gesture, asking them to go back quietly. His mother was still awake at this time; if he disturbed her, he would be scolded again today.
Translator’s Note:- Hey guys, as a Christmas Gift I have decided to do mass release (10 chapters) of the novel which gets most votes in the poll posted on my Ko-fi page.
If you want mass release for this novel then vote for this novel in the poll.
This is the link to the poll: https://ko-fi.com/polls/Which-Novel-Mass-Release-do-you-want-V7V217M3GX
