Lin Qingping and Gu Juncheng

Chapter 501 Girls Need to Be Raised with Care

She glared at him, then entered the room with a smile and spoke to Zhiyuan, "You didn't even bring Xiaomai's gift before you came."

“Mom, if you’re giving this to Xiaomai, bring it yourself. We have our own gifts! Zhuzhu has one too!” Zhiyuan said confidently.

"Oh?" Lin Qingping chuckled and walked over to Gu Juncheng to tease her daughter, "What did Zhangzhu give her older sister?"

How could Zhangzhu understand what she was saying? She only heard the familiar voice and felt the familiar presence, which made her very happy. She danced around and grinned.

“Auntie, Zhangzhu gave me this.” Xiaomai was very close to Lin Qingping and immediately clung to her, a small pearl lying in her palm.

Lin Qingping laughed. Who else could these pearls be but the ones Zhiyuan got from somewhere? "That's wonderful. I'll have Zhangzhu send you one every year from now on, and you can string them together into a bracelet or necklace."

“I have this necklace, Auntie,” Xiaomai pointed to her collar, where a seashell necklace was displayed.

In fact, Lin Qingping had already seen it. It must have been a gift from Zhiyuan! He even polished it himself! When they were still on the island, this guy picked out a bunch of seashells from his stockpile of seashells accumulated over the past two years and polished them all the way. Yesterday morning, he went to find Xiaoyuanlian, and when he came back in the afternoon, he drilled holes at home and strung the necklace.

"It's so beautiful!" Lin Qingping praised without reservation. "Zhiyuan's skills are absolutely amazing!"

"Hehe." Xiaomai was very happy to hear that; girls just love pretty things.

"Wouldn't Auntie's gift be too tacky?" Lin Qingping gave Xiaomai a jewelry gift box containing a gold bracelet, which was quite heavy but a plain band.

Years later, plain bracelets became very popular. Lin Qingping spent a long time choosing one from a gold jewelry counter. For such a small little girl, a plain bracelet looked better.

Xiaomai had no idea whether it was expensive or not, and didn't even open it to check. She simply thanked her aunt politely and obediently.

There were quite a few guests in the house: Director Cheng and his family, Zhong Xiaoxiao and her daughter, He Qiancheng and his three sons, Wei Zhonghua with Song Qiuyun, and He Qiancheng with Qian Ping and Qian Ping's son.

They all came to the capital from other places and had no relatives or friends there. In the past two years, thanks to Lin Qingping, they have become each other's closest friends in the capital. They would get together whenever someone had an event.

Gu Youlian was busy in the kitchen. When she came out, she smiled at Lin Qingping and said, "We've been waiting for you! Come on, let's eat! Hurry up and sit down!"

Everyone was chatting and laughing, just about to sit down around the table, when suddenly a figure darted to Xiaomai's side and tried to snatch the jewelry box from her hand. At the same time, a boy's voice rang out, "Let's see what's inside!"

He is Qian Ping's son.

Xiaomai, of course, was unwilling to let him take it away. She squeezed it tightly, and in the struggle between the two, the jewelry box fell to the ground. The lid of the box was folded and fell open.

Upon opening, it gleamed with golden light, dazzlingly bright.

"Oh my, this aunt is really generous!" Jiang Liping, the wife of Factory Director Cheng, joked with a smile.

Everyone was amazed, but they all meant well.

This startled Gu Youlian, who quickly picked up the jewelry box, closed it, and tried to return it to Lin Qingping, saying repeatedly, "This is too precious, too precious! How can a little child like her accept such a valuable gift?"

Lin Qingping didn't like hearing this. "What's wrong with a child? It's not like it's for her to wear now. We'll save it all up for her and prepare it every year. When she grows up and gets married, this will be her dowry. If she doesn't get married, she can wear it to play with or keep it for herself."

Gu Youlian still felt unworthy of the offer, "We should wait until she's older. She's too young now, a little girl..."

"What's wrong with a little girl?" Lin Qingping didn't like hearing this. "Can't little girls be respected? Precisely because she's a little girl, she needs to be raised with extra care. Here, Xiaomai, don't listen to your mother, you're getting distant with me!"

Gu Youlian smiled sheepishly, "Then thank you, Auntie."

"Thank you, Auntie." Xiaomai's face was a little red, and her eyes were sparkling.

"Alright, let's eat." Lin Qingping joked with a smile, "I'm a guest today, so I won't do any work. You can serve the dishes yourselves."

Gu Youlian said to her, "You were just saying we weren't strangers, but now you're a guest again."

“Yes, that’s me. I’m your sister-in-law. I’m here for dinner, and you still have the nerve to ask me to do chores!” Lin Qingping started acting shamelessly.

Gu Youlian chuckled at her words.

The people at the table were all family, and there was no custom of women doing the work while men sat and waited to eat. Everyone pitched in and quickly brought out the food.

The birthday party for Xiaomai officially began. Gu Youlian brought out a cake she had made herself, with the words "Happy Birthday Gu Xiaomai" written on it.

Yes, the wheat has been renamed Gu.

I made a fruit cream cake, using strawberries as the fruit.

At that time, although strawberries were already being grown in the north, they were still a rare fruit and very expensive. Gu Youlian loved her daughter, which is why she used so many strawberries on the cake.

When the cake was served, Gu Youlian imitated how Lin Qingping used to celebrate children's birthdays in the capital, planning to light candles, sing a birthday song, and let Xiaomai make a wish.

However, just as she was about to put the candles in, suddenly, a hand appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the strawberries on the cake, taking away several in one go, thus ruining the shape of the cake.

Everyone was stunned; they hadn't expected this at all.

The owner of this hand—Qian Ping's son—was completely unaware, and simply stuffed the strawberries into his mouth one by one.

The situation became a little awkward for a moment, but Gu Youlian quickly smoothed things over by laughing and saying, "Kids just love eating strawberries, and our Xiaomai loves them too."

Zhiyuan's expression turned sour.

Qian Ping chimed in, smiling, "Yes, yes, it's just a child's birthday, it's all about having a good time."

On her daughter's birthday, Gu Youlian didn't want to cause any trouble, so she smiled, put in the candles, lit them, and said to Xiaomai, "Come on, Xiaomai, make a wish."

As soon as she finished speaking, Qian Ping's son leaned out, lay on the table, and blew out all the candles on the cake. Then he took three strawberries.

Gu Youlian's expression had already turned sour, but out of consideration for He Qiancheng, she didn't say anything.

Zhiyuan finally couldn't hold back anymore, "Nobody else has started eating yet, and Xiaomai is the birthday girl, so why are you starting to eat? Isn't that incredibly rude?"

Qian Ping felt a little embarrassed. When did it become your place to lecture a little kid like me? Her tone became somewhat sarcastic, "He's just a kid, what's wrong with him eating first? Besides, aren't we all family? There's no need to be so petty among family. We're all used to being casual. You're an outsider, you don't know."

Zhiyuan was not happy about it. His logic was very clear: "First, I'm not an outsider. I've lived in this house for many years. This is my aunt's house, and Xiaomai is my younger sister! Second..."

Zhiyuan looked at Qian Ping's son, "Is he still young? He's taller than Xiaomai! Doesn't he go to school? Didn't the school teach him to respect the elderly and care for the young?"