The most distinctive thing about this small courtyard in the slum is not the rare quiet, but the rare clean, the same simple courtyard gate is mottled, but there are no mud spots and footprints common in this block, Xu Le quickly stretched out a palm, blocking the courtyard door that was about to close, looking at the aunt in the courtyard who was wiping the sweat with a towel, and shouted in a stirred mood: "Auntie, I'm back." ” Aunt Susan heard the sound behind her, a little puzzled, thinking that she was really old, otherwise how could she have heard the royal pronunciation when she was a child, she smiled self-deprecatingly, threw the yellowed towel in her hand into the wooden basin by the well, and subconsciously glanced back, her body stiffened in place, and her wide palm was on her thick waist, forgetting to take it off.
I don't know how long it was, but Aunt Susan finally recognized the face in the shadow of the brim, she let out a scream in shock, covered her mouth in disbelief, and then opened her arms, walked quickly to Xu Le, and hugged him hard.
The aunt slapped his back hard, as if to blame him for his sudden disappearance, and as if she wanted to beat him into the first serious injury, and then stuff him back into the attic to raise, lest he suddenly disappear again, and no matter how hard she struck, Xu Le just hugged her tightly, resting on her fleshy shoulder, showing a happy and happy smile.
At the gate of the small courtyard, Zhong Yanhua's mouth opened wide, looking at the scene in front of him in surprise, and vaguely guessed who this chubby woman was, but he still couldn't adapt to his seemingly omnipotent brother, who would snuggle up to such an ordinary woman like a child.
Hugs and rude thrashing were not enough to show Aunt Susan's surprise at the sudden reunion, she held Xu Le's face, looked at him seriously, wanted to see what injuries he had suffered over the years, what hardships he had suffered, thick lips kept moving, expressing her concern in the inexplicable vernacular dialect, and then kissed him fiercely on the face.
Xu Le also kissed her fiercely on the forehead.
Because of this kiss, Aunt Susan seemed to remember something, and the expression on her face suddenly became extremely nervous, and she writhed her bloated body like a hurricane and rushed to the door, like a lioness guarding her calf, and looked vigilantly at the alley outside the courtyard gate, noticing that no one was passing by.
Closing the door tightly and inserting the iron rod, she really relaxed, beating her chest like a drum, looking back at Xu Le's face, rubbing her rough fingers, and asking in a rough voice: "Little guy, are you an exiled nobleman or a federal person?"
After a pause, Aunt Susan tried her best to make her expression look as vicious, supported her waist with her right hand, and whispered intimidatingly: "If you are from the Federation, leave immediately, otherwise maybe I will go to the police after a while." ” Xu Letai knew this kind aunt, smiled indifferently, shrugged his shoulders and said, "Auntie, of course I'm not from the Federation, uh, this is my sister." ” He pulled out the bell fireworks, which were still in a semi-sluggish state behind him.
Aunt Susan looked at this beautiful and lovely girl, I don't know for what reason, nodded with satisfaction, and then patted the back of Xu Le's head hard, and said, "Then what are you doing in a daze, bring the little girl in for tea." ” Two cups of weak tea, steaming, the room was very warm, Aunt Susan naturally cared about where he had gone and what he had done over the years, but Xu Le found that he couldn't answer this question at all, and couldn't help but feel a little ashamed.
Because he was ashamed, his eyes drifted a little, and he realized that there was only a pair of chopsticks in the leftover plate on the small table wrapped in a gauze umbrella, and he asked suspiciously: "What about Paul, he should have graduated from the second university the year before last, which department is he working in now, don't you usually come back to accompany you?"
Aunt Susan took out a plate of nuts from the cabinet, kindly pushed it in front of Zhong Yanhua, looked back at Xu Le and explained: "Paul went to the front, it's really a troublesome thing to say, and it's also a thing that I am very proud of, and now the salary is good, but this kid sent back two-thirds of the monthly allowance, and I'm a little worried that he won't have enough to eat on the front line." ” That kind-hearted young man of the empire, as he feared back then, stepped onto a battlefield full of death and killing, Xu Le's mood couldn't help but be a little gloomy, forced a smile, and said to Aunt Susan: "The cost of the army is very small, don't worry about these problems." ” Aunt Susan looked at him with a smile and said, "Knowing that you are still alive, I have fewer things to worry about, and it is inconvenient for you to stay for as many days as you want this time."
"Will spend a little longer."
Xu Le replied with a smile, without saying polite words such as bothering the other party, in this small courtyard, in front of the fat woman, any politeness is unforgivable hypocrisy, "How is the business in the market, have you hired a few more people?"
During this time, Xu Le confirmed that Aunt Susan's life had been good all these years, at least much better than the poorest ones, and there was even a TV in the room.
"Business is getting worse and worse, those high-definition players you made, all of them were copied by those damn guys, and Paul and I don't have your skills."
Aunt Susan sighed and said, "Fortunately, Paul has a high allowance now, and he asked me to turn the stall directly, but I am still a little reluctant." ” Xu Le mentioned the parts he bought at the hardware store before, looked at his aunt and said with a smile: "It's okay, since I'm back, I'll design a few more 3D players, weld a few physical passwords, and let those guys eat." ” Aunt Susan clapped her palms, laughed loudly, and said in a rough voice: "Of course it's good, you are a meritorious man, say, what do you want to eat today, now it's better, I changed the big refrigerator, there is beef in it, do you want to eat steak" "I just want to eat chowder, and I can't forget the taste."
Xu Le said with a smile.
"Okay."
Aunt Susan quickly tied an oversized apron, wiped her hands on the greasy front, picked up the kitchen knife and went out to the hospital to slaughter chickens.
Watching the thick back disappear at the door, Zhong Yanhua, who had not spoken, turned around, looked at Xu Le like a monster, stretched out his hands and shrugged his shoulders cutely, and asked in disbelief: "The most powerful engineer in the universe, he assembled a pirated high-definition player in the empire back then" Xu Le stood up and walked towards the courtyard, ready to help Aunt Susan, and replied with a smile after hearing this: "Don't look down on this job, all the expenses of this small courtyard for a year come from that." ” The white porridge in the cauldron exudes a simple but charming fragrance with the hot mist, and the tender fresh greens, chopped into pieces by a sharp kitchen knife, mixed with bloody black feather chicken nuggets and a few small red oranges, are thrown into the porridge to boil, and a spoonful of spices is added, and the steaming chowder does most of the work, only need to stay for a while and add some chopped green onions.
Aunt Susan rejected Xu Le's idea of helping, quickly solved all the affairs, closed the lid of the pot, clapped her hands happily, turned her head to Xu Le and asked: "That little girl is very beautiful, but she looks a little younger, when are you going to have a child?"
Xu Le was leaning against the door at this time, looking around at the once extremely familiar kitchen, his chest and abdomen were full of warm and relaxed emotions, suddenly listening to this question, he stood up straight nervously, and explained: "Don't get me wrong, she is really my sister." ” "I'm not blind."
Aunt Susan glared at him angrily and said, "How can you have such a good-looking sister." ” Xu Le was speechless, thinking that he could judge whether there was a blood relationship based on this, if the aunt saw Huai Caoshi and Jian Shui'er, she would definitely not think that they were sisters.
Aunt Susan pinched a handful of fresh onions with water droplets, and was about to cut them, but the hand holding the kitchen knife slowed down, and after a moment of silence, she sighed and said: "You once promised me and Paul that you would tell us when you left, where did you think that you would disappear so quietly, and once you disappeared for so many years." ” Xu Le looked at the back of the aunt next to the pot, watched her raise her arm to wipe her tears, and her heart was a little sour, and explained in a low voice: "The situation was too tense at that time, and I really didn't have time to come back and talk about it." ” Aunt Susan looked back at him worriedly, and asked, "Is it related to the fact that the army entered the city that day, and all the neighborhoods around the white courtyard were bulldozed?"
” "Yes."
Xu Le didn't want to hide anything at all, and replied honestly: "I was in the white yard at that time. ” "Paul had to say it had nothing to do with you, but I knew then that you must be in that courtyard."
Aunt Susan put down the kitchen knife, stepped forward, rubbed Xu Le's head, and said, "You know, we are really worried about you. ” Xu Leqiang smiled to himself and said, "It's okay, don't worry." ” "It's okay," Aunt Susan reprimanded in a low voice: "Do you know that even Her Royal Highness the Princess has come to this courtyard later, although there are other things, but I know that she must be looking for you." ” Xu Le smiled, took Aunt Susan's hand, and said, "It's really okay, Her Royal Highness the Princess is quite familiar with me now." ” Aunt Susan was stunned, then came to her senses, snorted hard, and then smacked his eyebrows hard, and sneered: "This guy has learned to lie and brag now." ” Xu Le covered his scorching forehead and said sadly: "This is the truth. ” "Although Her Royal Highness the princess is a good person, she is a noble person, don't make fun of her in the future."
Aunt Susan said seriously: "After she came to the small courtyard, the guys from the public security department no longer dared to take my money, and she never allowed Paul to join the army and go to the front line, until last year, Paul went to the military headquarters to make trouble many times, and only then took advantage of His Highness's absence from Tianjing Star to secretly go to the army." ” Xu Le's brows furrowed slightly, not because of pain, but because of doubt, Huai Caoshi took such good care of Aunt and Paul because of herself, or for some other reason Aunt Susan's next sigh answered his question.
To be continued: