You're not planning to open at all, are you?

Bai Jiu was stunned for a few seconds, then he blinked and said, "...Hello, Uncle Mao."

Mao Zhiping's eyes were full of surprise, and he was a little bit at a loss. He put the dishes on the table in a panic, rubbed his hands on the apron, and looked a little embarrassed: "...Xiao Jiu, you came back so early?"

"...Well, the classmate will only come for one day, and I have to go back in the afternoon." Bai Jiu spoke very slowly, but his mind was running fast. He saw Wu Qiulian's purple apron on Mao Zhiping and the homely slippers under his feet at a glance.

Those slippers had been placed at home for a long time, and he thought they were for guests, so he never asked about them.

Mao Zhiping was still rubbing his hands on the apron, as if he was trying to organize his words: "I... I don't open the store today, so I have a day off to help Qiulian with the cooking. I think she is usually very tired..."

Bai Jiu nodded.

Even the address is intimate, he remembered that Mao Zhiping called Wu Qiulian "Sister Wu" a long time ago.

Mao Zhiping smiled: "You're back... let's have dinner together? I'll go get a pair of bowls and chopsticks."

"Yeah." Bai Jiu put the mung bean cake in his hand on the dining table, looked at Mao Zhiping who was going to get the bowls and chopsticks in a familiar way, and wanted to talk, but the door rang again.

Before Wu Qiulian entered the door, the voice had already passed, with a bit of reproach, but more of a coquettish voice: "You don't know how to tell me that you don't have any salt at home. If you need it in a hurry, I will buy it."

"If you don't come and help me get it, I bought a lot, and you will be responsible if I get tired."

"...Can't you hear me, Zhiping?"

Mao Zhiping's expression became more and more awkward, and he stood motionless in the living room.

Wu Qiulian put all the things on the porch by herself, turned her head with a smile, but unexpectedly saw Bai Jiu and Mao Zhiping standing in the living room.

The room fell silent for an instant.

……

It was Bai Jiu who broke the deadlock first.

"...Sit down and eat when you come back." He said, took the salt from Wu Qiulian's hand, turned around and put it in the kitchen.

Mao Zhiping said "Oh!" as if he had just woken up from a dream, and ran to the kitchen to put salt in the pork rib soup.

Wu Qiulian didn't seem to have reacted yet, and she forgot to change her shoes. She stood there for a long time before pinching her fingers, looking at Bai Jiu anxiously, and deliberated for a long time before speaking.

"...Xiao Jiu, I'm sorry, Mom didn't tell you."

She thought Bai Jiu would be angry, but Bai Jiu just smiled lightly, as if he accepted the fact very quickly.

"I understand, and I'm happy for you too."

The tone of this sentence was too mature, Wu Qiulian instantly felt that Bai Jiu knew everything.

"You... don't blame Mom, do you?"

"How can I blame you?" Bai Jiu smiled, "I am very happy that you can get out of the past and plan for a new life. This is also... what I have always hoped for."

Wu Qiulian's eyes were red, Mao Zhiping heard their conversation, silently poured the pork rib soup into a soup bowl, and brought it out.

"Xiao Jiu, I don't blame your mother for this matter. I didn't let her talk about it. I was afraid it would affect your exam. By the way, I haven't asked you yet. How was the exam? Did it go well?" Mao Zhiping tried his best to maintain a smile, looking at he.

Bai Jiu also smiled: "It went well."

……

There was silence on both sides, only the clash of dishes and chopsticks.

After a while, Wu Qiulian seemed to muster up her courage, and looked at Bai Jiu again: "Xiao Jiu, I want to tell you something."

Bai Jiu stopped his chopsticks and raised his head: "What's wrong?"

Wu Qiulian's face turned red suddenly, she glanced at Mao Zhiping, Mao Zhiping took the initiative to sit beside her, and held her hand, as if to encourage her.

Bai Jiu lowered his eyes again, and didn't continue to watch the interaction between the two.

Wu Qiulian's face was flushed, her voice was a little trembling, but she couldn't hide her joy.

"Xiao Jiu, you are going to have a younger brother."