Chapter 76: Chapter 76

When Ye Ling went out, Zhao Guodong also stood up and followed, naturally hearing all the conversations between Grandma and Ye Ling. He didn’t say a word, just stood at the kitchen door watching Ye Ling busy inside. With such a big guy fixated on her like that, how could Ye Ling not notice?

It wasn’t until she stir-fried the eggplant and started stewing it in the pot that Ye Ling turned around and called to Zhao Guodong, "Peel two potatoes, I’m waiting to put them in the dish."

Zhao Guodong responded and entered the kitchen, then realized, "I don’t know how to peel potatoes."

"Are you a pig? Just use a knife to take off the skin, even a three-year-old can do it. How come you can’t?" Ye Ling gave him a sideways glance.

Zhao Guodong touched his nose, squatted down to pick out two potatoes from the basket, and stood at the dirty water bucket peeling them, periodically looking up at Ye Ling who was tidying up the dishes. When Ye Ling went to the living room to deliver the dishes and came back, she saw he had only peeled one potato skin, and helplessly took the potato from his hand to peel it.

In taking the potato from Zhao Guodong’s hand, she inevitably touched his hand. Ye Ling, having lived two lifetimes, regarded Zhao Guodong as a child, but Zhao Guodong’s ears got hot after being touched by Ye Ling, and he stood there dumbly.

"What are you standing there foolishly for?" Ye Ling cut the potato into pieces and put it into the pot, then turned her head to see Zhao Guodong still standing there, inevitably sizing him up.

Once sized up, Zhao Guodong’s face also reddened, and he said grumpily, "How come you’re nothing like your sister? Look at you, where do you look like a girl."

Ye Ling sneered, "I’m different from her. Whether I’m a girl or not has nothing to do with you, so don’t compare me with her in the future."

"You...," Zhao Guodong opened his mouth but ultimately didn’t say more as he watched Ye Ling turn her back and leave.

Wang Ping watched Ye Ling come out of the kitchen, clearly hearing her argument with Zhao Guodong, but when she came out, there was no trace of unhappiness on her face. She sat down in the living room, chatting and laughing with Grandma Zhao, leaving Wang Ping even more puzzled. He turned his head to look at Zhang Linong, seeing him reading a book, he didn’t ask.

When Zhao Guodong came out of the kitchen, he seemed to have done something wrong, took a glance at Ye Ling, and squeezed in next to Zhang Linong to sit down. Mrs. Zhao chattered to her grandson, "Dongzi, you must listen to Lingzi. With more than a month left until the middle school exams, use your time wisely."

Hearing Grandma even changing the way she called him, Zhao Guodong looked at Ye Ling again, seeing she wasn’t looking at him, he felt blocked inside, but he didn’t notice his own unhappiness, just nodded silently.

Mrs. Zhao just thought her grandson was shy, laughed, "This kid."

Then turned to chat with Ye Ling again. When Ye Ling brought out the stewed eggplant sauce, although she used the usual ingredients, what she made smelled fragrant and tasted delicious, even Mrs. Zhao couldn’t help but praise a few times while eating.

Zhao Guodong’s eyes lit up when he took the first bite, and then he started eating in big bites. Zhao Guodong’s eating style was definitely manly; while he was putting down his chopsticks, Wang Ping was still hunched over shoving food into his mouth, among the three boys, Zhang Linong ate the quietest, even more refined than Ye Ling.

Ye Ling was also used to her own cooking, and for the first time eating at the Zhao Family, she didn’t pretend; after finishing a bowl, she added half a bowl more before putting down her chopsticks.

Zhao Guodong had already handed over a cup of hot water, "Drink."

This move attracted everyone’s attention, Zhao Guodong defiantly placed the cup on the table, "Aren’t you thirsty from eating the eggplant sauce?"

Acting like he was disagreeing, he turned and went into the room.

Mrs. Zhao first laughed, "This child, has been since he was little, always feeling embarrassed when caring for others."

Sighing deeply, "Good, he has matured, this is good."

Ye Ling understood Mrs. Zhao’s feelings, like her own grandma, who always hoped she would grow up and become sensible. After she became sensible, it was more satisfying than anything else, more blissful than eating meat all day.

So when interacting with Mrs. Zhao, Ye Ling also knew what words would reach Mrs. Zhao’s heart, "Grandma Zhao, don’t worry. Although I’ve only known Zhao Guodong for a few days, I can tell he’s kind-hearted. Besides, when have boys not been mischievous? In our countryside, look at every family’s boy, either climbing trees or poking bird nests, much more mischievous than city boys. Just look at their clothes; they go out clean in the morning and come back looking like they’ve rolled in the mud."

Wang Ping listened with great curiosity, sitting quietly on the side.

Mrs. Zhao was pleased upon hearing this, only feeling that this eldest daughter of the Ye Family was really good with words, knowing how to cheer people up, "You just know how to talk, but listening to you brings back the days spent in the countryside. Those kids were really like that, playing much more mischievously than the city ones, if it weren’t for having to take care of Dongzi, I would never have come to the city. When Dongzi can take care of himself, I’ll return to the rural hometown, where I truly belong."

"You’ll be waiting to enjoy life later, when Zhao Guodong graduates and gets a job, you will be the big contributor."

"A contributor, huh? It’s just what I owe the children," Mrs. Zhao, being persuaded by a young girl, snapped out of her reflection, "Good kid, Grandma Zhao understands everything. You all should go in and study."

Ye Ling nodded, looked at the table wanting to speak, Zhang Linong spoke up, "You go in, Wang Ping will help tidy the table."

"Okay." Only then did Ye Ling enter the room assuredly.

In the room, Zhao Guodong, having heard Ye Ling praise him, felt uneasy seeing Ye Ling come in, turned awkwardly and sat to one side, "Your grandma doesn’t interact much with others in the courtyard. People come to my home mostly because I make trouble. Thanks for today."

"You know what you’ve done wrong, so from now on behave well, don’t let your grandma worry about you." Reflecting on her own regrets with her grandmother, Ye Ling wanted to persuade Zhao Guodong a bit more, but having only interacted with others a few times in two lifetimes, Ye Ling said no more.

This time, helping Zhao Guodong was also a way to gather some good fortune for herself.

Besides, Zhao Guodong was the first in the courtyard to stand up for her, an outsider.

When Zhang Linong and Wang Ping came in, Ye Ling brought out the problems she had transcribed during the day, "These are problems I’ve estimated myself, take a look, if there’s anything you don’t understand, I’ll explain directly."

The three squeezed together, Ye Ling observed from the side, Zhang Linong’s eyes swept quickly from top to bottom, while Zhao Guodong and Wang Ping stared at the top, this little action showed whether they could understand or not.

Luckily she knew the exam questions, otherwise, with Zhao Guodong and Wang Ping’s level , passing the high school exams wouldn’t be easy. (To be continued. If you work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast recommendation votes, monthly votes; your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)