Chapter 532: Chapter 532: Smiling Is Better Than Crying
His face scrunched up like a ball, with every cell in his body showing resistance to training.
Yi Chichi didn’t even have a chance to react before Ji Jian and Zhou Lan were shocked, "A boy who doesn’t like training?"
Qin Jiu’s reaction genuinely surprised them.
No matter whether it’s a boy or a girl in the courtyard, everyone has a hero dream.
The most favorite game is "Fighting the Little Devils."
The three-person tactics are used incredibly smoothly.
Before every game, there’s always a dispute over which team gets to be the Liberation Army and which team has to be the Little Devils.
So, as soon as the summer or winter vacation comes, apart from doing homework and catching the tide, Yuan Chu and the other kids spend most of their time in training.
Of course, young teens are still kids, and their training can’t compare to the soldiers’.
But it’s enough to drain their abundant energy.
Even so, after waking up and regaining their energy, the kids would howl their way out the door to start a new day of training after breakfast.
Even toddlers who have just learned to walk and speak with difficulty love to follow their older brothers and sisters to play.
They’ve never seen anyone like Qin Jiu who is so full of disdain for training.
"When I was in Beijing, I trained every day."
Recalling his days in Beijing, Qin Jiu couldn’t help but want to shed a tear of bitterness for himself. He was so young, yet Grandmaster Song was eager to train him to be a pillar of the nation.
If you’re backward, you’ll get pushed around, so studying is important.
Especially after the college entrance examination resumed, Grandmaster Song was particularly strict about his studies.
So, every day besides regular school classes, he had extra lessons from Grandmaster Song and others.
Languages, math, physics, and chemistry were just the start; he also had to keep up with arts like music and calligraphy.
And simply having knowledge without good physical strength wasn’t enough, so training had to keep up too.
Raising his arm, he said helplessly, "Don’t be fooled by my seemingly frail appearance; I’m actually quite capable in martial arts, firearms, and endurance training."
With so many military elites around, it’s impossible not to succeed.
Ji Jian and the others understood.
"You’re here to escape training."
They said in unison.
Yi Chichi burst into laughter. Qin Jiu might have that thought, but mainly he just wanted to see the children.
After all, in his generation, he had no siblings.
Even his relationship with his cousin was quite distant; isn’t there an old saying about how close relatives become more distant with each generation?
Their close relationship now was built over the years spent at Kao Shan Village.
But to maintain the relationship, both sides need to put in effort.
That’s why he came.
Sure enough, Qin Jiu’s answer was similar to what she thought.
"I did have that thought, but I mainly miss my aunt and brother."
He also missed Grandma Wen and his uncle-in-law, but unfortunately, his uncle-in-law wasn’t home.
Thinking of Wen Shi, he asked, "Aunt, when will my uncle-in-law be back?"
Yi Chichi couldn’t answer that, "I don’t know, they don’t have a set time to come back from the sea."
They might suddenly come back and appear right in front of her.
Wen Shi had done that before too.
"Actually,"
Ji Jian spoke up, "If you want to know, you can ask their superior."
"I’m not going."
Yi Chichi waved her hands repeatedly, "They’ll come back when they should."
Ask the superior?
She’d have to be crazy to do that.
Seeing the serious face of the superior, she always felt like she was being scolded by the dean in high school.
Besides, "Xingxing hasn’t come back."
As soon as she said that, Ji Jian slapped her forehead, "I forgot about that."
"But," she was puzzled, "it’s summer vacation, shouldn’t Xingxing be back by now?"
Who knows.
They couldn’t get in touch, nor did they know if she contacted her parents.
Her parents were quite upset about not seeing their daughter, so it’s better not to add fuel to the fire.
"Are you going to work today?"
"Night shift."
"What about Yuan Chu and the others’ meals?"
"Canteen."
Talking about this, Ji Jian and Zhou Lan were also quite helpless.
"Ever since they started eating in the canteen themselves, they’ve been saying my cooking is like pig slop."
Yi Chichi, "..."
Well, it does kind of taste like that.
Cooking with less salt and oil until almost everything is just boiled, there’s no wonder it doesn’t taste good.
According to Yuan Chu and the others, eating at home is just to survive, as long as they’re not starving, it’s fine.
This talk sounds so bitter, yet it’s the reality for them.
The father isn’t home much throughout the year, and the mother has to work, so cooking is often done half-heartedly.
The canteen is their sanctuary.
Laughing and chatting, they took a turn.
And then, Wen Yi’s excited scream came from ahead.
Looking up, the little guy was sitting in Wen’s mother’s arms, excitedly waving at her with his small rice-sized teeth showing, babbling non-stop.
Indeed, Wen Yi had grown two tiny teeth.
"Brother!"
Qin Jiu’s eyes lit up when he saw him and he ran towards the grandmother and grandson pair.
Yi Chichi following leisurely behind, her eyebrows and eyes full of smiles upon witnessing this scene.
Ji Jian sighed, "Xiao Jiu genuinely seems to like Yi Yi."
"Yeah."
"Now that he’s here, do you still have time to work?"
Shouldn’t she spend some quality time with him?
After all, he came all the way here.
"I have the time."
But definitely, her work hours would be reduced.
When Yi Chichi and the others got closer, Wen Yi was already in Qin Jiu’s arms, and Wen’s mother took over the basket and bucket from Yi Chichi’s hands, her face breaking into a smile at the weight.
"You’ve got quite the harvest."
"Yes, pretty good."
Ji Jian responded, "Aunt, you guys are busy, we’ll head home first."
"Join us for lunch at noon."
"No, we should tidy up and get ready for work."
Nobody’s wealthy enough to shamelessly eat without contributing.
And bringing something over isn’t appropriate; if it’s too modest, it seems insincere, and if it’s generous, it’s a burden.
So, better to refuse.
The two left without turning back, and Wen’s mother had no choice but to give up.
"Let’s head home, it’s too hot outside."
"Yes, our Yi Yi looks so nice and fair, we can’t let him get tanned."
The white chubby little brother looked like a large dumpling; if he tanned...
Qin Jiu glanced at Wen Yi, grinning with his little mouth open, and immediately, shivering, he sprinted indoors with the kid.
A dark little dumpling wasn’t appealing at all.
He didn’t like that.
Wen Yi was caught off guard by the sudden sprint, but he clapped his little hands and laughed out loud.
The laughter was magical and joyful.
Wen’s mother, "...Why is he suddenly laughing like this?"
It’s the first time hearing this kind of laughter, it sounds a bit strange.
Yi Chichi was used to it, "You’ll get used to it."
No matter how the laugh sounds, as long as Wen Yi isn’t crying, it’s fine by her.
This kid crying is truly a nightmare.
With a loud voice and good lung capacity, his crying is like having someone with a loudspeaker yelling beside your ear, it really gives you a headache.
"Laughing is better than crying."
Wen’s mother agreed, "Did you harvest oysters?"
"Yes, we did."
Talking about the oysters, Yi Chichi reminded, "Mom, they need to be cooked soon, the weather’s too hot for them to keep."
"You two take care of the child, I’ll go make lunch."
Not wanting to waste food, Wen’s mother felt a sense of urgency and quickly hurried to the kitchen with the basket and bucket.
As a result, Qin Jiu enjoyed a rich seafood feast for lunch.
Steamed scallops with vermicelli, garlic oysters, steamed grouper, sea urchin egg custard, cold jellyfish head, stir-fried choy sum with lard, and a soup made with shrimp and seaweed.
He ate to his heart’s content, with a round and satisfied belly.
Wen Yi was the same; he ate a little vermicelli, sea urchin egg custard, a stalk of choy sum, but the most of fish.
