Volume 1: The Hidden Dragon in the Abyss Chapter 40: A Warm and Worry-Free Dinner Party

  Toll sections (12 points)

  Chapter 40: Warm Dinner Party

  By the well in the kitchen, Lì'er was squatting there with Qíqí picking vegetables. It can be seen that Lì'er is doing this for the first time and seems a bit awkward. However, the smile on her face proves that she still likes this kind of life scene.

  Since childhood, everything in Lizi's living environment has been taken care of by others, so she doesn't need to worry at all. It's not an exaggeration to describe her life as "clothes are handed over when you stretch out your hands and food is served when you open your mouth". Only after entering university and starting collective life did Lizi's independent living ability gradually develop.

  For the first time, Lui'er came into contact with this kind of household chores that were full of strong life breath. Under QiQi's leadership, she quickly eliminated her initial strangeness and helped MiaoLihua with various tasks such as picking vegetables, washing dishes, setting the table, etc., doing them with great enthusiasm.

  As for Qiqi, she also likes this beautiful elder sister very much. It's not just because Lili brought her a lot of toys and snacks, but more importantly, Lili has a kind of affinity that makes Qiqi involuntarily want to get close to her. Of course, this is her brother's girlfriend, who knows if she will become her sister-in-law in the future and become one family.

  Under the hundred-year-old ginkgo tree in the courtyard, two old men were lying on a lazy bamboo chair, smiling at Lizi who was washing vegetables opposite them.

  "Old lady, look at our family's stone, it's still not small!" The old man with three wisps of whiskers smiled, his eyes narrowing into a line.

  Lao Yezi is Duan Lei's grandfather, Duan Xiwen. He is already 72 years old this year. Don't look at Lao Yezi's name, which seems elegant and refined, but when he was young, he had seen bloodshed. In the local conflict that broke out in the southwestern region in 1962, Duan Xiwen followed the troops into the territory of Country A San, killing countless enemies with his own hands.

  However, after the massive movement in the mid-1960s began, the details of Duan's family being landlords for generations were also exposed, and Duan Xiuwen was inevitably affected. If it weren't for some superiors who remembered old times, Duan Xiuwen would have been allowed to return home safely after being locked up in a cowshed for a period of time.

  However, even after returning to his hometown, the old man's skills did not decline. In order to implement the policy of "hitting tigers and eliminating harm" at that time, the old man carried a shotgun in and out of the Tiger Mountain Range countless times, earning him the title of "Tiger-Hunting Hero".

  His father had a tumultuous first half of his life, but after reaching middle age, he became content with his fate, especially after having a grandson named Duan Lei. It can be said that the majority of Duan Lei's childhood was spent with his grandfather, and due to the affection between generations, for some time, Duan Lei's feelings towards his grandfather were even stronger than those towards his father.

  However, the old man did not expect that when he was over 70 and his life was coming to an end, his beloved son would make a big mistake. The funding gap of hundreds of millions made the old man's head bigger by several circles, and in the end, he took out all the pension money he had saved, but still couldn't fill this hole.

  Watching his son and daughter-in-law work extremely hard to make money and pay off debts over the years, the old man also felt very uncomfortable in his heart. However, as a septuagenarian, he was also powerless and could only sigh every day, which made him look much older. The only thing that made the old man happy was that his beloved grandson had been admitted to Haicheng University three years ago and had excellent grades in school, and he would soon be able to jump out of the quagmire of Jiuzhou Town and have a broader sky.

  Today, Yan's young son drove a luxury car back to the village to pick him up, saying that Shi Tou was bringing his girlfriend back. Although the old man had never sat in such a famous car, he still noticed the difference with his sharp eyesight. Hearing it was his grandson's car, the old man was naturally very happy.

  When Lao Yezi arrived in town and saw the lovely daughter, he was overjoyed.

  To say nothing of other things, just relying on this beautiful daughter-in-law is enough to dispel the gloomy mood that Lao Ye has had for some time.

  "Is this how all of you from the Duan family are?" The old lady looked at her smiling husband and scolded him.

  The old lady is also nearly seventy years old this year, with a head of silver hair neatly combed, wearing a Tang suit printed with dark flowers, looking exceptionally elegant. The old lady was also a good girl in the old state town ten miles away when she was young, and at the age of seventeen, she met the old man through introduction and spent half a century together.

  Duan Yue's mother, Miao Lihua, was Duan Bingyi's junior when he was studying at the normal school. The two fell in love while they were still in school and got married after Miao graduated. It can be said that Duan Yue's tradition of finding a girlfriend from among his juniors was inherited from his father.

  "Kiki, why are Grandpa and Grandma always staring at me?" Luli felt a bit embarrassed under the intense gaze of the two elderly people.

  "Hehe... it's nothing, who made you come home for the first time? Every girl who comes home is stared at like this." Qiqi said with a smile while washing vegetables.

  "Has a girl ever come to our home before?" They say women are sensitive, but girls aren't an exception either. As soon as Keke said that a girl had been to their home, Lui immediately became tense.

  "When my brother was in high school, he often had classmates come over to play at home. At that time, Grandpa and Grandma would always look at them with this kind of gaze, not worrying about my brother having a premature romance at all." QiQi turned around and looked at the expression on Grandpa and Grandma's faces, smiling as she said: "However, Lier sister, you are the first girl to come over alone."

  Qiqi's first half sentence made Lier a bit nervous, could it be that Duan Lei had other girlfriends before? But Qiqi's second half sentence immediately let Lier's suspended heart fall back down.

  "Dead girl, speaking half-truths, startling and scaring each other!" Luli stretched out her slender hand, wet with well water, towards QiQi's neck, eliciting a burst of silvery laughter that spilled into the courtyard.

  The old man looked at the pair of sisters in front of him, smiling and laughing, feeling that this courtyard had not had such a happy laughter for a long time. Even when Duan Lei was admitted to Haida University, the Duan family was still gloomy, and no one could be happy because at that time, Duan Lei's tuition fees were nowhere to be found.

  However, after Duan Yue returned this time, the old man could feel that the dark clouds hanging over the Duan family seemed to be dispersing, and his mood naturally improved as well.

  "Dad, Mom" "Grandpa and Grandma" were just in the old man's presence when Duan Lei and Duan Bingyi entered the yard.

  "Back?" The old man looked up and nodded slightly as he watched his son walk in.

  Ever since that incident, he has visibly aged, with half of his hair now turned white. The old man is pained at heart, but constrained by the dignity of being a father, even wanting to show concern is impossible to express.

  However, when he saw Duan Yue's appearance, Lao Yezi's reaction was completely different, and the smile on his face was like a blooming chrysanthemum.

  "Come here and let Grandpa take a look." The old man, although over 70 years old, was still robust and stood up, waving his hand at Duan Yue.

  Seeing his own father treating him so differently, Duan Bingyi curled up his mouth and carried the snake skin bag into the kitchen.

  The old man is 170 cm tall. In the south, in his era, he was already considered to be of a slender build, but now compared to Duan Lei's one meter eighty several, he is still shorter by a head.

  "After all, it's the big city that nourishes people, our stone is already so high" The old man laughed and patted Duan Lei's shoulder, looking very happy.

  "Grandpa, I brought you a few bottles of good wine from Haicheng, you can drink more cups later." Seeing the spirited grandpa, Duan Lei was also very happy. He then leaned into grandma's ear and shouted loudly: "Grandma, wait for me to put on your new hearing aid later, and you'll be able to hear clearly!"

  Looking at their own grandson's appearance, the two elderly people laughed so hard that they couldn't open their eyes.

  "Stone, this wife is pretty good, when will you let grandma hold her grandson?" But it's unclear whether Grandma heard Duan Yue's words or not, anyway, her question caught Duan Yue off guard.

  The old lady's ears were hard of hearing, and her voice was involuntarily louder, so everyone in the whole yard heard it.

  Lily's face turned red to the roots of her ears, and she buried her head deep in her chest, wishing there was a crack in the ground for her to crawl into; the heartless and shameless QiQi even burst out laughing, making Lily even more embarrassed.

  Duan Yue looked left and right, discovering that others were also sizing him up with strange glances as he drank the lychee, suddenly feeling his head swelling.

  "Grandma, we're still in school, we can only get married after graduation." Looking into Grandma's piercing eyes, Duan Lei couldn't even think of making excuses.

  "Didn't they say on the radio that university students can get married too?" The old lady's eyes widened and she said loudly.

  Got it, the old lady actually knew about this news from the radio broadcast and even took it out of context, which really made Duan Lei cry and laugh. Duan Lei couldn't help but want to explain to the old lady that undergraduate students in school can't get married, only graduate students or those who got married before taking the college entrance exam are exempt... It's likely that if they wanted to fully explain these things to the old lady, everyone would have to skip dinner.

  "Grandma, we will hurry up." Under helplessness, Duan Yue could only use delaying tactics.

  "That's good, that's good" The old lady saw Duan Lei nodding and smiled like a blooming chrysanthemum, still sizing up Li Er with her discerning eyes.

  The atmosphere in the whole yard became strange with this interruption, originally everyone knew that Lui was Duan Lei's girlfriend, now it seems that the two old men are quite satisfied with Lui, and they will probably be upgraded.

  After laughing and joking for a while, Duan Lei finally started his first dinner at home after introducing Lizi to his father. Although Duan Bingyi and Miao Lihua still had many questions in their minds, they couldn't open their mouths in front of so many people, so they could only try their best to put aside their worries and enjoy this reunion dinner.

  Dinner was eaten under the silver ginkgo tree in the center of the courtyard. After dinner, the jade rabbit first rose, and the bright moonlight passed through the gaps between the swaying leaves, forming a dreamy light and shadow in the courtyard. The happy voices and laughter of the family broke through the quiet night sky of the countryside, startling the fireflies that were resting in the nearby vegetable garden, and the twinkling lights filled the entire world, as if it were a fairy tale world.

  Chapter 40: Warm Dinner Party

  Chapter 40: Warm Dinner Party