Chapter 345 Strawberry

Chapter 345 Strawberry

Chapter 345 Strawberry
When winter comes, young poplar branches are wrapped into rice dumplings.

Her long black down jacket is basically a standard item and she has to put it on whenever she goes out, making it seem as if Xu Mingyuan didn't give her any pocket money to buy clothes.

However, Xiao Yangzhi also learned this from Xu Mingyuan. He doesn't care much about clothes. He will buy a set of casual clothes and buy the same one again after a while.

Xiao Yangzhi followed suit and bought several almost identical down jackets, not showing any of her own personality.

Today she changed into a fleece-lined white jacket, tight sky blue jeans, and even wore a pair of shiny Martin leather boots, looking extremely beautiful.

The popular style this winter is still tight and light clothing. Xu Mingyuan has never seen the clothes she is wearing. It must be that Tao Shuxin and her friends specially matched these clothes for Xiao Yangzhi when they were shopping.

It has been just two days since the Northern New Year, and it is now the coldest time of the year.

Xiao Yangzhi is not cold-resistant to begin with, and wearing such thin clothes just to look beautiful is just asking for trouble.

Of course, Xu Mingyuan thought that Xiao Yangzhi just wanted to go home early, so she pretended to be pitiful and wore thin clothes.

Yang Zhi, holding Xu Mingyuan's hand, walked through the crowd with a flushed face.

Normally they would hold hands and take a walk occasionally after evening self-study, but there were so many people here in broad daylight that Yang Zhi felt a little embarrassed.

Online shopping is too niche these days, and you need to go out to buy everything in your life.

At the end of the year, major shopping malls are filled with the sound of gongs and drums, and firecrackers. This grand scene of huge crowds of people is not fabricated out of thin air. This was the scene at the time when the Internet was not well developed.

Xu Mingyuan took little Yangzhi out to join in the fun, because in a few years, he would no longer have the opportunity to do so.

There were acrobats performing at the entrance of the mall, and a group of parents with their children gathered in front of the simple stage.

The actors on the stage occasionally threw some worthless little gifts into the crowd, causing a scramble for them.

Seeing this, Xu Mingyuan pulled Xiao Yangzhi away.

The show that has lasted for decades is about to disappear from the public eye because with the development of the Internet, news of stampedes has appeared more and more frequently.

Most parents in this era will tell their children one thing: avoid crowded places. And if they really encounter a place where they can join in the fun, they will rush forward to join in.

Xu Mingyuan used to be one of them, but looking at it now, he also feels that it is quite dangerous.

"Ugh."

Xu Mingyuan suddenly felt a little emotional.

"Brother, why are you sighing?"

Seeing that Xu Mingyuan seemed to be whining for no reason, Yang Zhi leaned over and asked.

"Sigh, time flies by so fast." Xu Mingyuan said with a sigh.

"Really? But I feel like time goes by so slowly." Yang Zhi said with a sigh.

"That was when you were still in high school, and you were terribly tired every day. The days were like years, how could they not go by slowly?" Xu Mingyuan said with a smile.

"No, it's because my brother is not with me that I feel time is slow. These days when my brother is at home, time flies by..."

As Yang Zhi spoke, he stretched out his index finger and drew a line in front of Xu Mingyuan's eyes.

"Hahaha... Hey, I just realized that your emotional intelligence is not low." Xu Mingyuan laughed out loud.

"I'm telling the truth..."

Yang Zhi looked at him with a puzzled expression. She didn't understand what emotional intelligence was. She just knew that saying this would make her brother happy and it would also gain her attention, so she pulled him out of his sigh.

Little Yangzhi is as likable as ever. Unlike her previous deliberate flattering, this time she is calm and refreshing.

Her lips were rosy and tender, and her long eyelashes were gently trembling. She was not wearing any makeup, but she exuded a faint softness, not as cold as before.

To be honest, if Xiao Yangzhi lied to him again, Xu Mingyuan felt that he could forgive her again.

Suddenly thinking of this, Xu Mingyuan shuddered subconsciously, wondering if his old father had been so trapped that he couldn't extricate himself.

Learn from the past, learn from the past!

However, Xu Mingyuan felt that he would not be deceived. After all, he had come to his senses once before.

Then Xu Mingyuan quickly shook off the thought, thinking that he might have PTSD and was always thinking about unrealistic things.

After all, Xiao Yangzhi's life has been changed by Xu Mingyuan, and she will definitely not cheat like she did before, because there is no need to do so.

Why would she lie to him? Xu Mingyuan couldn't think of it.

And what about Yang Zhi himself?

I don’t understand what Xu Mingyuan is thinking. If Yang Zhi knew, she would definitely criticize him in her heart.

Money is just a thing outside of one's body. Once you get your brother, you will have everything. There is no point in going through so much trouble...

"What do you want to drink?"

Xu Mingyuan took her to the front of the milk tea shop and motioned for her to look at the sign above her head.

"Hmm... I don't have anything to drink."

Yang Zhi doesn’t like sweets very much, and the same goes for milk tea. She feels that drinking plain water is worse than this.

"I ask you to hold it to warm your hands. There are so many people around. If you feel shy, just hold it and take a couple of sips to cover up your embarrassment." Xu Mingyuan said with a smile.

"Wow, bro, you're really good at this."

Yangzhi continues to provide emotional value.

"That is."

Seeing Xiao Yangzhi's slightly surprised eyes, Xu Mingyuan was in a good mood.

Holding a cup of coconut milk, they wandered around the mall aimlessly. They bought all of Xiao Yangzhi's clothes, including Xu Mingyuan's.

He took little Yangzhi to the mall for a walk, mainly to buy some small gifts. Throughout the year, Xu Mingyuan didn't buy anything for her except pocket money.

"Brother, I don't want to buy these things, let's go..."

Yang Zhi stopped Xu Mingyuan. When she saw the brightly lit jewelry store, she felt an indescribable sense of anxiety.

After all, I still have some inferiority complex and always want to hide in a corner where I won't be noticed.

"Just buy it for fun." Xu Mingyuan said.

"What a waste! I can't wear it. I might as well buy gold bars..." Yang Zhi looked at him hopefully and said.

"My goodness, are you a money-grubber?" Xu Mingyuan said with a smile.

"It's more practical, and I can also exchange it for money."

Yang Zhi, who had been afraid of hunger since childhood, always wanted to fill her piggy bank like a hamster to survive the next cold winter.

Although there may not be another cold winter in this lifetime, it is better to prepare for a rainy day.

Yang Zhi, who feels at ease, sleeps much more peacefully. After all, her brother cannot be with her every day, so she has to find a way on her own.

"Okay, okay, I'll take you to buy gold bars later and buy you a necklace first."

"Do it……"

"What are you afraid of? You can wear the necklace to school even if you put it inside your clothes. Let's go."

"It would be better to buy more gold bars..." Yang Zhi said a little embarrassedly.

Yang Zhi felt that if she wanted to give a gift, a small gift worth a few dozen yuan would be enough. Jewelry and other things were not practical. It would be better to waste money just to pursue beauty than to look in the mirror more often...

Xu Mingyuan was suddenly shocked. Was this unlucky kid planning to manage the accounts and empty his family's assets?
This appetite is too big and too scary.

But how is this possible? Business owners use financial accounting to manage their accounts, and only keep a small portion of the money for themselves.

Xiao Yangzhi definitely doesn't know these inside stories, but Xu Mingyuan still believes that she would not do that.

The little girl is a little scheming, but she is inexperienced and will never be my opponent in this life.

The happy little Yangzhi finally got the reserve fund he had been longing for.

As soon as he got home, he quietly avoided the guests who were visiting his home and slipped into the house through the small door in the backyard.

Xu Mingyuan was definitely not as shy as Xiao Yangzhi, so he went to greet her.

Seeing Xiao Yangzhi hiding on the stairs on the second floor and waving at him, Xu Mingyuan stopped listening to the nonsense of a group of middle-aged people and went to accompany the little girl.

When there is someone at home, Xiao Yangzhi is still very honest.

But as soon as the door was closed, Xiao Yangzhi couldn't wait to take off her coat. Then she took out a small box of gold bars from her arms.

He opened the closet and dug out a small, square safe from under the pile of old clothes.

"Brother, do you still remember the password?"

"Where am I going?"

"It's 710316."

"Oh." Xu Mingyuan responded casually.

"It's your and my birthday, it's easy to remember..."

Seeing how careless he was, Xiao Yangzhi felt a little discouraged, so she had to explain it to him again with a blushing face.

Fishing bait, right?

Xu Mingyuan didn't buy it. He held her rosy little face and started rubbing it.

……

The Xu family had a lively New Year.

Xu Jun is a person who cares a lot about his reputation. He opens his door to welcome basically anyone he knows by name who comes to visit him.

Xu Mingyuan would go to see him at first, but later he was too lazy to do it and let his father deal with it alone.

The party lasted until ten o'clock in the evening, when the visiting guests gradually dispersed, allowing the family to celebrate a reunion year.

That night, Xu Mingyuan drank a little too much with his old father and didn't know how he returned to the room.

The advantage of living in the suburbs is that it is quiet and the thick windows block out the outside world.

But the faint sound of firecrackers still woke Xu Mingyuan up.

But little Yangzhi had woken up long ago and had been lying on his chest, staring at him.

In fact, Xu Mingyuan sometimes felt that this little girl was a little neurotic and would scare him from time to time.

"Brother, Happy New Year." Yang Zhi said with blinking eyes.

"Well, Happy New Year. You can take the red envelopes yourself. You stay over there and set off the firecrackers for the first day of the new year. Let me lie down for a while." Xu Mingyuan said with his eyes closed.

"I'm back after I finished releasing them."

"Oh, what about my dad?"

"Uncle is sleeping too."

"Ah."

Xu Mingyuan responded, turned sideways and hugged the fragrant little Yangzhi.

But then Xu Mingyuan opened his eyes and looked into a pair of clear eyes.

Then he lowered his head and found that he had nothing to cover himself with except his pants.

"Where are my pajamas?" Xu Mingyuan asked.

"You're already asleep, why are you changing into pajamas?" Yang Zhi said weakly.

"What about my autumn clothes?" Xu Mingyuan asked again.

"It's uncomfortable to sleep in a long-sleeved shirt, so I helped you take it off. Brother, you don't have to thank me..."

"Go, now, right now, and get my clothes."

He pushed Xiao Yangzhi's head and pushed her aside while she was hugging him tightly.

"Brother, the New Year has passed, and I'm not a child anymore." Yang Zhi said in a low voice.

"Isn't it your birthday yet?"

"Alas, on New Year's Day you said it didn't count as New Year. Now that New Year has passed, you say you haven't celebrated your birthday yet. When my birthday comes, you'll say you haven't gone to college yet. In the future, you'll still say I'm a child..."

Yang Zhi didn't move, but stared blankly at the ceiling.

"Have you just reached puberty? Are you developing a rebellious mentality?"

"..."

Yang Zhi opened his mouth, but knew that he would never be able to win the debate against Xu Mingyuan, so he had to get up, take his pajamas and hand it to him.

Xu Mingyuan took it from the quilt and changed it. He ignored Xiao Yangzhi and continued to take a nap with a dizzy head.

Then Xiao Yangzhi moved over gently and held his arm tightly.

Xu Mingyuan also had a headache about this little girl who always wanted to seduce him.

If that were all, it would actually be fine, and Xu Mingyuan would not be unable to accept it.

But Xiao Yangzhi's request was made little by little. If things really developed to the next step, she would have to think about having a baby.

I don’t know what kind of person Xiao Yangzhi’s mother is, and how she taught her to have such an unusual way of thinking.

Camus once said that the essence of life is absurdity, but we just don't notice it in our daily lives.

Xu Mingyuan is not that profound enough to study such wild and unrealistic ideas as bird-feather philosophy.

But as I come into contact with more and more absurd things, I sometimes fall into a vicious circle and feel that it is difficult to escape the manipulation of fate.

In fact, Yang Zhi didn’t have many worries. In the past, she just wanted a better life in the future. Later, when she had a stable family, she just wanted everyone in her family to be safe and sound.

When I met Xu Mingyuan again, I thought about settling down there.

Xu Mingyuan has a lot on his mind, and the careful Yang Zhi can see it, so she asks him carefully.

In most cases, Xu Mingyuan couldn't give any answers, but occasionally he would say things that were incomprehensible.

In Yang Zhi's heart, her brother was such a smart man, it was normal that she didn't understand.

The only thing that bothered Yang Zhi was how to get her brother to her side, and then she would probably have no more worries.

But I do have brothers, and a lot of them.

Yang Zhi can't help much and is not very good at comforting people, but she is a good listener.

Because Yang Zhi discovered that what Xu Mingyuan wanted was a quiet, silent, and obedient child who would listen to him talk about things that made him feel bored.

Most of these boring topics revolve around trivial matters in life such as the company, personnel, friends, Uncle Xu, etc.

Of course, Tao Shuxin would be mentioned sometimes.

Yang Zhi originally thought that he would be worried about the love triangle, but later found out that was not the case.

Xu Mingyuan didn't mention it mainly because he was worried that he would have some small emotions.

Of course she had some little emotions, but as the uncertain factor that destroyed her brother's feelings, Yang Zhi couldn't give up halfway, so she had to keep them in her heart for the time being.

Later, Yang Zhi gradually realized that Xu Mingyuan did not pay attention to small things, but when it came to major issues in life, he always wanted to do everything perfectly.

But how can everything be perfect?

Yang Zhi, who had never had a perfect life since childhood, also couldn't understand Xu Mingyuan's thoughts.

Because I am just the opposite. I can do small things perfectly, such as wiping the table and folding clothes.

But when it comes to big things, I feel a little overwhelmed. I think there will always be a way out when the mountain is reached, and I just have to hold on.

It’s just like back then, when I was waiting for the dawn in the dark days, and then I easily got through it, and my life became better and better.

Yang Zhi, who was easily satisfied, had a little bad idea, so she tried her best to correct Xu Mingyuan's unrealistic and weird ideas and not make him feel so uncomfortable.

For example, I tried to flirt with him while holding back my embarrassment and blushing...

It’s a pity that my brother obviously likes it very much, but he still has to act reluctant.

This made Yang Zhi a little discouraged, but fortunately, people who like to daydream are very patient and continue to work hard.

While he was asleep, Yang Zhi secretly pulled down his collar, and pressed her thin lips against his chest, gently, preferably without being discovered, and then planted a strawberry...

(End of this chapter)