"This old man acts like a lonely old bachelor, always looking for trouble. Why don’t you use your expertise to enlighten him a bit? He’s acting like a nopausal woman..."
"Old woman, what are you mumbling about!" Mr. Yu keenly noticed that his wife surely didn’t have anything good to say about him.
Mrs. Yu winked at Qian and turned towards the kitchen to join her sister-in-law in preparing lunch.
Qian actually admired the Yu Family parents’ way of getting along. They seed to bicker constantly, yet their relationship was strong.
Only in such a family atmosphere would the Yu Family’s children emphasize familial bonds so much. If one day she and Yu Minglang grew old, would they be like this?
"Little girl, do you know how to play Chinese chess?" Mr. Yu asked Qian.
"Just a little bit," Qian replied modestly.
"Young people, this is part of our national heritage. Co on, let’s go to the study, and I’ll show you a few tricks."
"Thanks for the trouble, Uncle."
Half an hour later, Mr. Yu looked displeased, holding onto a chess piece, unable to decide on his next move, occasionally sneaking glances at Qian sitting across from him.
The old man of the Yu Family had two things he considered treasures. One was his magical braised pork, reserved for those he truly liked.
The other was the rosewood daybed in his study, where only those he particularly favored were invited to sit and enjoy a ga of chess with tea.
Now, Mr. Yu regretted inviting this little fox who played dumb just to outsmart him.
He was in a dilemma now.
Just half an hour ago, Mr. Yu had seriously proposed to teach Qian about this national heritage.
Now, he was being thoroughly beaten by Qian.
anwhile, the girl across from him sat as calm as a mountain, her eyes following her nose, her nose following her heart, as if she hadn’t even used half her strength, staying very composed.
Mr. Yu placed the chess piece heavily, pouting a bit as he spoke.
"Not playing anymore!"
He’d been tricked by this little girl; she claid to know just a little. But her ga was grand, often setting traps for Mr. Yu to step into.
Mr. Yu’s chess skill barely ranked in the top three of his family. First was the amiable Mr. Yu, who won nine out of ten gas. The second was the dominant Yu Minglang. Mr. Yu occasionally stole a piece when Yu Minglang wasn’t looking to win a few gas. The third didn’t play often, always winning against the second, but Mr. Yu suspected the second might intentionally lose to him.
Finally seeing a young one, he thought she would be easy to bully, hoping to win a match or two, but ended up being defeated by Qian. He felt so embarrassed.
Mrs. Yu ca in to call everyone for lunch and saw Mr. Yu’s pouting face. She found it both amusing and annoying.
"This old man can’t take a loss, acting like a child."
"It’s my fault; I did push Uncle a bit hard." Qian hadn’t expected such a majestic Mr. Yu to be so hopeless at chess...
"You, with your skills, only manage to fluster old n of your level in the courtyard. Don’t boast at ho. How will the kids deal with it? Winning against you makes you unhappy, losing to you is even harder."
Mrs. Yu’s remark made Mr. Yu’s face turn sour. Suddenly, he slapped his thigh.
"Haha, hurry up and eat! After dinner, I’ll take Qian to visit neighbors. Li is surely ho, hahaha!"
Whenever Mr. Yu imagined himself leading Qian and casually telling neighbor Li that this is the worst player in his family—who he trained himself—and challenging him to a match or two, he could even imagine avenging the insult of being called a bad player.
Mrs. Yu rcilessly shattered his wonderful vision.
"Don’t think about taking Qian, let her go shopping with after lunch. Zhaozhao is off this afternoon; the three of us can go together."
Mr. Yu’s expression instantly darkened. Qian suddenly felt that Mrs. Yu really knew her husband well—an old kid at heart.
Having lunch with Mr. and Mrs. Yu, Mrs. Yu continually piled food onto Qian’s plate, repeating lines resembling Yu Minglang’s.
"Look how thin the child is, all face has disappeared."
"Auntie, I’ve gained weight. I’m almost 100 pounds now." She’d gained nearly 8 pounds compared to before starting school, with half the weight thanks to Mrs. Yu’s delicious food.
"Young people shouldn’t always diet. Does being stick-thin look good? I can’t stand those who are always talking about losing weight. Back in the day, we were so hungry we chewed tree bark. Look at these young people now, wasting food when there’s plenty to eat!"
Mr. Yu started reminiscing again, while Mrs. Yu stuffed a mouthful of food into his mouth, "Those were really old tis, don’t take it too seriously. But Qian is indeed a bit thin, gaining a few pounds would be just right."
Qian smiled awkwardly; it turns out aesthetics do inherit through generations.
When Yu Mingli entered, he almost thought he’d walked into the wrong place.
His father, usually fond of appearances and stubbornness, was sitting with Qian in the living room, sipping tea, their laughter audible from the entrance.
"Back in those days, when we were out of the base, villagers would bring us als. It was too dark to turn on any lights, so Li, out of hunger, ended up eating animal feed as if it were food rations. Only when the enemy plane flew past and the lights ca on did we see it," Mr. Yu was recounting past events to Qian.
"You must have anticipated that at the ti," Qian’s tily praise made Mr. Yu laugh heartily.
"Right, even when I was young, I was very perceptive. All these kids take after , hahaha!"
They surely took after him, alright. Just because soone called him a poor chess player, he dredged up the story of neighbor Li mistakenly eating animal feed. This was very much like Minglang, quite petty indeed.
"Qian, you’re here," Mr. Yu greeted Qian with a smile.
Qian noticed the smile on Mr. Yu’s face was sowhat different from before.
Yu Minglang’s gesture to protect her had clearly created so tension in the amiable tiger’s heart.
"Big Brother, I ca to find you for sothing."
"Oh? How did you know I’d be ho today?"
"Minglang said, no matter how busy you are, you’d always find a day during the weekends to visit your parents. So I thought I’d have better luck finding you here than at your company."
"Qian, what do you need from him?" Mr. Yu asked.
"I have an internship assignnt over winter break. If Big Brother is available, I’d like him to give an opportunity, I don’t need to be paid, just want to gain so social experience."
Yu Mingli lowered his gaze playfully. Such words could only deceive his parents. Chen Xiaoqian, studying clinical psychology, would search for an internship with his mother, not him, a businessman. What’s the relationship?
"Oh, an internship, that’s a good thing. Sure, you have a chat with the eldest brother. Gaining so social experience is a good thing for young people," Mr. Yu nodded.
Mrs. Yu expressed a bit of regret, "I thought I could go shopping with Qian."
"There’s always a next ti for shopping. Big Brother is so busy, I should seize this chance to talk."
Guessing the girl might be here because of yesterday’s unpleasantness with the youngest, Yu Mingli didn’t expose her. He only smiled.
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