"Zhong Xiao, is this your niece?"

The other party said that she was Yu Zhongxiao's niece, not any other speculation, and even the look in her eyes showed the kindness of an elder.

This should be a dinner party for old friends. At least the people present seemed to be very familiar with Yu Zhongxiao.

He brought him to meet his friends, but Ye Hehuan was not happy at all.

Ye Hehuan looked at the man next to him. He was tall and straight, like a pine tree rising from the ground, with a faint smile on his face. Sure enough, she heard Yu Zhongxiao say: "At home

One of our juniors is going back to city B today, and we came here together before we even had dinner."

When he said this, his tone was very natural, and he explained the cause and effect in a concise sentence.

"He Huan?" Jiang Hui recognized her at a glance.

Ye Hehuan twitched the corners of his lips and called out "Aunt Jiang", then stood obediently next to Yu Zhongxiao, holding on to his small bag without saying a word.

"Why are you standing at the door stupidly? Come and sit down -" At this moment, someone had already called the waiter to add two pairs of bowls and chopsticks.

Jiang Hui also pulled away the chair on her right: "He Huan, come and sit."

Ye Hehuan didn't know how she got to the empty seat next to Jiang Hui and sat down. When she reacted, Jiang Hui and another woman were talking softly in her ears: "Little girl got separated from someone on the train last night."

, and encountered a pickpocket, so he got off the bus with us in Fengcheng."

"The same thing happened to me last time. When I took my baby back to my parents' home, I found that my wallet was missing when I got off the train."

"When a woman goes out alone, she should really be careful and don't look any bigger than the men..."

In the midst of whispers, Ye Hehuan raised his head, and Yu Zhongxiao happened to be sitting opposite. He leaned back on the chair, with his crisp shirt sleeves rolled up, and lit a cigarette, but he did not smoke. In the thin smoke, he

He was talking to a man in his forties and wearing a casual coat with his head tilted sideways.

As for the topics they talked about, they were all related to work. However, Ye Hehuan found that some of the words they mentioned were not very understandable to him.

His left hand was lightly touched. Ye Hehuan turned his head and saw Jiang Hui's kind smile.

"Why are you so lost in thought?" Jiang Hui brought a bottle of milk over and said in a joking tone, "You should be able to drink this, kid?"

"I'm not a kid." Ye Hehuan retorted subconsciously.

Jiang Hui paused as she poured the milk for her.

Ye Hehuan's voice was not soft, and it was particularly clear in the small and cramped box. Others heard the words and looked over here...including Yu Zhongxiao.

The temperature on her face instantly rose.

The whole box was a little quiet for a while, but the atmosphere was soon broken by another woman holding a child: "Children nowadays like to pretend to be mature. My Lulu just went to the police station to take an ID photo not long ago.

, I always say that I am an adult, but in fact, I am a little kid who doesn’t understand anything.”

"The people born in the 1990s are so amazing now. Do you think they are still the same as we were back then?" Jiang Hui answered with a smile.

"That's true."

The woman nodded seriously and turned her attention back to Ye Hehuan: "Zhongxiao, is your niece fifteen years old?" After that, she asked Ye Hehuan again: "

Little girl, the high school entrance examination is coming in June, are you ready?"

"I'm already eighteen years old."

In the past, Ye Hehuan might have been happy if she had been recognized as a few years younger, but today she really didn't like the feeling of being treated as a child by everyone at the table.

She stared at the man opposite her and said a bit stubbornly: "I have an ID card and am an adult."

Yu Zhongxiao seemed to be aware of her burning gaze, and raised his eyes to look at her. His eyes were very dark, as heavy as the deep sea on a winter night. This confrontation seemed familiar, but it was different from last night's slamming the door and leaving. This time he

He turned his head to look at the comrade next to him, with a slight smile in his voice: "Like Jialu, I will take the college entrance examination this year."

His understatement once again classified her as a 'child'.

"That's really as old as Lulu." The comrade smiled heartily: "Nowadays, the children are very smart, and they even blackmailed me and her mother about the college entrance examination, saying that if she gets admitted to the best in the province,

University, let us pay for her to go to Thailand."

When the children were mentioned, the others also laughed, and the topics became more and more interesting, starting from the daughter of this family to the son of that family.

Ye Hehuan looked to the opposite side again. Yu Zhongxiao was drinking tea from a cup, with his eyelids lowered. She could not see the expression on his face clearly at the moment due to the smoke in the air, but she already vaguely understood that he had brought her here to eat.

intention.

Facing a table full of food, Ye Hehuan had no appetite at all, and only felt a tightness in his chest.

Jiang Hui seemed to notice her low mood, put a chopstick of food on Ye Hehuan's plate, and asked softly: "Where are you, Hehuan? Where are you planning to go on your graduation trip?"

Ye Hehuan glanced at Yu Zhongxiao again, not wanting to be confused with the person named Jiajia or Lulu: "It's not going to Thailand anyway."

"I don't think there is any need to go abroad."

The woman holding the child, who was also Jialu's mother, looked at Ye Hehuan in a friendly manner: "I think the two of you can go on a free trip together. Girls of the same age generally have many topics in common, more so than with us.

These old guys are a lot more fun together."

"Yes, my son always says there is a generation gap between him and us, saying that his father and I can't understand his world."

Another woman at the table also echoed: "We are only in our thirties, how can we become the old people they say are old-fashioned?"

Jiang Hui smiled and glanced at Ye Hehuan who was quiet beside her from the corner of her eye. She found that she had not touched the food on the plate and asked with concern: "Is the food not to your liking?"

"Maybe I ate too much for breakfast and I'm a little tired." As he said that, Ye Hehuan pretended to pick up a piece of chrysanthemum and took a small bite.

The man sitting on the other side of Yu Zhongxiao suddenly said: "It is rare to see such a quiet girl nowadays. Have you thought about which university you will go to in the future?"

Now Ye Hehuan was not in the slightest mood to talk, but he still replied out of politeness: "I should apply for the university in city b."

Yu Zhongxiao suddenly raised his head, his deep gaze falling on her face.

Ye Hehuan lowered her head after replying, using chopsticks after chopsticks, and quickly finished the food on the plate. Perhaps because the food was cold, the greasy feeling left in her mouth made her feel uncomfortable, so she simply backed away from the chair and stood up.

: "I'm going to the bathroom."

————————————————————————

The bathroom in Yufulou is very clean, the scent of freshener still lingers in the air, and the sound insulation effect is good so you can't hear the noise outside.

Ye Hehuan sat on the toilet in the cubicle for a while, opened the door and came out, and saw Jiang Hui standing in front of the mirror applying makeup.

"Come out?" Jiang Hui stopped what she was doing and smiled at the girl in the mirror.

Ye Hehuan hummed softly and walked to the sink to wash his hands. Jiang Hui turned sideways and looked at her with gentle eyes: "Unhappy?"

"No."

Ye Hehuan's answer was obviously duplicitous, but Jiang Hui didn't press him and just said: "I'm going back to City B today? Why don't you stay here for two more days?"

"I have to go to school tomorrow. Now is the sprint stage. I can't fall behind."

Jiang Hui nodded, reached out and patted her shoulder: "Go back to the box. I just ordered macarons. My niece likes this very much. I think you will also like it. If you really don't want to eat those dishes,

, let’s have some more desserts later.”

Ye Hehuan observed Jiang Hui's expression and behavior when he spoke. It was undeniable that from last night to this moment, Jiang Hui had always given her a very good feeling. In addition to being generous, intellectual and considerate, she couldn't help but ask when she walked to the door: "Those

Are you my uncle's friend?"

"I used to be his comrade in the army, but later I became a professional in the local unit. Be careful——"

A dining cart pushed over from the side, Jiang Hui hurriedly pulled Ye Hehuan over, looked at the girl's clean eyebrows, and smiled: "Isn't it boring to eat with people like us?"

"Actually, it's not bad." Of course, if we don't keep saying that she is a child, we can still have a pleasant meal together.

Ye Hehuan said the second half of the sentence silently in his heart.

Jiang Hui smiled and couldn't help but sigh: "I really want to go back to your age. At that time, my family was poor. In order to support my brother's schooling, I went out to work early. Later, I opened my own store and became even busier. I didn't even have regular work.

You should read more books."

"Aunt Jiang, why didn't your child come to Fengcheng with you?" Ye Hehuan asked pretending to be casual.

"I don't have children yet."

"You and your husband are from a DINK family?"

Ye Hehuan thought that his temptation was very tactful. Judging from Jiang Hui's appearance, she was also in her twenties. Generally, women of this age have children. If they don't have children, there are only a few possibilities. If they don't want to have children, they can't.

, and the other thing is - the relationship between husband and wife is not good.

I don’t know which category Jiang Hui belongs to...

——

Jiang Hui's smile was a little thin, and she rolled up the corners of her lips, revealing her shallow dimples: "My husband passed away five years ago."

"..."

Ye Hehuan didn't expect to get such an answer. He didn't know how to answer the question for a while, and he felt guilty because his little thoughts had touched her wounds.

She apologized softly: "Aunt Jiang, I'm sorry, I didn't know..."

"It doesn't matter." The smile returned to Jiang Hui's face and she changed the topic without leaving a trace: "Are you on the afternoon train?"

Ye Hehuan told her that it was at night, but Jiang Hui seemed worried: "Doesn't it take midnight to get to city B? Then you have to call in advance and ask your family to pick you up at the station. As for here, let your uncle take you to the bus.

train."
To be continued...