No one understands rebirth better than me

Chapter 9 Sorry or Hug Me?

"Auntie Su, are you buying groceries so early?"

"Ah, yes... Yesterday the boss asked me to save a pair of lamb ribs, so I went there early to get them..."

Su Ping looked Guan Ren up and down, still a little bit unconvinced that this kid would come to the playground to run so early in the morning, it was quite strange:
"Xiao Guan..."

"Hey."

"What made you suddenly think of going out for a morning run so early on Saturday?"

"It's about keeping healthy."

"Tsk..."

Su Ping pointed her finger at him with a half-smile:

"You kid, you're so young, how can you raise a child?"

"hey-hey."

Guan Ren smiled brightly:
"Because we're young, we need to lay a good foundation and start exercising early."

"good."

Su Ping nodded repeatedly upon hearing this:

"That makes sense."

The high school boy gets up early on Saturday morning for a run, which may make him an anomaly among his peers, but in the eyes of middle-aged women like Su Ping, he is definitely a symbol of positivity and a manifestation of understanding and maturity.

"By the way, Aunt Su, the mutton you bought looks good."

"This..."

Su Ping didn't expect Guan Ren to change the subject and talk about this. She raised the bag in her hand:

"Yesterday I met a guy selling mutton at the market. He said it was some kind of Hengshan pepper mutton... I don't know much about it, but it looked good."

"Auntie."

Guan Ren restrained his expression slightly and said seriously:

"Then you have good taste. The ground pepper sheep from Hengshan are delicious. At least they are not inferior to grassland sheep and beach sheep."

"Really?"

Hearing Guan Ren say this seriously, Su Ping's eyes lit up immediately:
"There were only a few left yesterday and they were reserved, so I asked the boss to save some for me this morning. So it's worth it?"

"Yes, it's normal for people from other places not to know much about mutton, but you can tell the quality of good meat from its color and texture. I can only say that you are very experienced, Auntie. Others might have missed it."

"Hahaha, what's the deal with being experienced or not? I just thought it looked good and bought it to try, hahaha..."

When you praise someone, you have to be serious about it so that the person listening will take it to heart.

Su Ping smiled and kept looking back and forth between Guan Ren and the mutton she bought. Thinking about Guan Ren's comments, she felt more and more comfortable about this shopping trip.

"Oh, by the way, Guan Ren, I've heard of this Tan sheep. What's the name for the Dijiao sheep?"

"Just... come on, Auntie, let's talk while we walk."

As Guan Ren spoke, he naturally took several bags of vegetables and meat from Su Ping's hands.

"Oh, Xiaoguan, you..."

"It's okay, Auntie, it seems that your hands are still quite heavy, let me help you."

"Look at you... this is not good, you still have to run, right?"

"Oh, this is the last lap, Auntie, just leave it to me. Let's go."

Su Ping was a little caught off guard, but the plastic bag was inconvenient to handle, so she let Guan Ren carry all the vegetables over.

"Auntie, this ground pepper is actually thyme. The sheep in Jiangzhou County and the local sheep nearby are not tasty. The white cashmere goats in Hengshan are fed with thyme..."

……

In this way, Guan Ren helped Su Ping carry the bags while chatting with her.

Although Su Ping was agreeing along the way, at least half of her mind was no longer on the content of the conversation.

Occasionally glancing at what the child was holding, the smile on Su Ping's face gradually exuded a kind feeling.

This guy...

I've never seen him so sensible before...

Su Ping was puzzled. Could it be that he had an epiphany as soon as the second year of high school started?
Hard to say...

Because it is not uncommon for adolescent children like this to suddenly become enlightened and understand the truth after a summer or winter vacation.

--------

Guan Ren's house and Luo Xiaobei's house were in the same direction. Soon Guan Ren helped Su Ping carry the things all the way to the community where Luo Xiaobei's house was.

Although Su Ping declined downstairs, Guan Ren still carried the dishes up to the eighth floor in one breath and directly brought them to Luo Xiaobei's doorstep.

"Is this child exhausted?"

"I'm not tired. Auntie, didn't you say that you delayed my running? Look, I also consider this as exercise, it's worth it."

"You are such a good talker..."

Su Ping kept smiling throughout the whole process.

Looks like he has grown up...

It would be even better if I could make some progress in my studies...

……

In fact, Su Ping herself has nothing much to think about when it comes to studying.

At least when it comes to "Guan Ren and Luo Xiaobei continuing to be friends", Su Ping has no requirements for Guan Ren.

After all, when it comes to studying, Luo Xiaobei’s academic performance is not that good.

At most, he is slightly better than Guan Ren, and is also in the middle and lower levels in the class.

It is even quite coincidental that Luo Xiaobei's academic performance from childhood to adulthood has changed, just like Guan Ren's, starting high and ending low. He was the best student in the grade when he was in junior high school, but started to decline when he entered the first year of high school.

As the saying goes, "a match made in heaven", so Su Ping felt that there was no intention of one leading the other astray when Luo Xiaobei and Guan Ren played together, so it was no big deal.

However, the person in charge of the family, Luo Xiaobei's father Luo Jianming, has always been more concerned about this.

So much so that since high school, Luo Jianming has gradually become somewhat opposed to the two children interacting with each other, and Guan Ren's impression in Luo Jianming's eyes has become worse and worse.

Because of this reason, the two children, who used to often go to each other's homes to play, rarely visited each other after high school.

Ugh…

Thinking of this, Su Ping felt a little helpless. She took the things from Guan Ren and rang the doorbell.

Ding-dong-

"Xiaobei, Xiaobei, open the door for mommy."

"Coming -"

There was a response from inside the door, followed by a brief silence, and then a series of footsteps.

squeak-

The door opened. "What a hassle! Mom, why didn't you bring your key again... Huh?!"

Luo Xiaobei held the door frame with one hand and the door handle with the other, holding an orange milk-flavored Alps lollipop in his mouth. He had just mumbled a few words when he saw Guan Ren behind his mother with surprise:
"Guan Ren, why are you here~?"

"A chance encounter."

Guan Ren's answer was concise and clear, and then he looked at Luo Xiaobei with interest.

She had obviously just gotten out of bed, with her hair hastily tied into a bun, and she was only wearing a tight-fitting beige cotton suspender skirt. The hem of the skirt was lifted by her slender waist, fluttering around, making her pair of well-proportioned, tight, straight legs underneath look so white that they were a little dazzling.

"You, you still have the nerve to say that to me."

When Su Ping saw her daughter, she also pressed her forehead in an angry tone:
"It's okay that the old man worked overtime last night, but you little thing also stayed in bed. Okay, get out of the way and let me go in to put my things first."

Su Ping went to the kitchen with the vegetables.

Luo Xiaobei turned around, wrinkled his nose, and questioned Guan Ren who was laughing:
"Is it funny?"

Guan Ren shook his head:
"Old stuff isn't funny."

After all, that is the father of my childhood sweetheart.

"But the little things are funny."

"You are the little one!"

"I'm a big thing."

Guan Ren retorted casually, but Luo Xiaobei was slightly stunned, then his eyes moved towards Guan Ren's body with a sly look, and his little face suddenly turned red.

"?"

This time it was Guan Ren's turn to be stunned.

What do you mean?
It turns out that this girl is still a little slut?

"Go ahead."

Luo Xiaobei narrowed his eyes like a little fox:

"You followed my mother here, do you have another purpose?"

"What purpose could I have?"

Guan Ren had a clear conscience. While helping Luo Xiaobei fix the strap that had slipped off his right shoulder, he explained honestly:

"I was jogging this morning when I met an aunt who had bought a lot of things. I thought they were too heavy, so I helped her carry them up."

"Oh fine…"

Luo Xiaobei put her hands behind her back, and her two little feet in pink caterpillar slippers restlessly tiptoed:
"So...what are your plans for today?"

"study."

"..."

"You don't seem to believe me?"

"Believe it or not, we'll find out after the monthly exam... A-choo!"

"?"

Luo Xiaobei sneezed as he was talking.

The temperature difference has been quite large recently, and it is still a bit cold in the morning.

Luo Xiaobei was wearing a thin little halter dress and had been standing at the door in the wind for a long time. It was easy for her to catch a cold. Guan Ren saw her rubbing her nose nonchalantly and immediately felt a little amused.

"What's that expression on your face... I'm about to catch a cold because of you, and all you can do is laugh..."

"because I?"

“Isn’t it!”

"Yes, yes...I was wrong. I'm sorry."

What's an apology? Is it sincere?

"Think again."

Luo Xiaobei raised his eyelids and looked at him unhappily:
"Sorry or hug me?"

Guan Ren thought for a moment:
"Hold them all."

So he reached out and embraced Qingmei's slightly cool and sweet body in his arms.

Compared to last night's hug around the waist, this time it was wrapped as tightly as possible:

"I'm sorry now, do you accept it?"

"accept."

"But this isn't a long-term solution. Don't just stand there like an idiot. Go back to the house."

"Um…"

Luo Xiaobei nodded, but she pressed closer to him:
"Guan Ren..."

"Ok?"

"You haven't been to our house for a long time. Come stay for lunch this afternoon... at noon..."

"Uh... I don't mind, but Uncle Luo..."

"..."

There was no way. When Luo Jianming was mentioned, Luo Xiaobei felt a little discouraged for a moment.

"Next time, find an opportunity, wait until I'm ready, or Uncle Luo is ready."

"Oh…"

"Then I'll go back first."

"Um…"

Luo Xiaobei nodded again, then came out of Guan Ren's arms:
"Also, you told me last night not to hug me for three days, and you hugged me again today, so you know what to do, right?"

"know."

In fact, this is all old rules. Guan Ren waved his hands speechlessly:
"We'll start the count over again for three days, right?"

"Uh-huh."

So Luo Xiaobei announced again:
"From now on, you are not allowed to hug me for three days. Is that okay with you?"

"No."

"Hey~"

That’s pretty much it~
Luo Xiaobei raised the corners of his lips, revealing his neat little white teeth.

My childhood sweetheart has spoken, how can a mere friend have any objections?
As for the old rules, what's the difference between three, four, and five days?

Luo Xiaobei thinks there is still some.

At least the more days she said it, the more afraid she would be that Guan Renzhen would not hug her one day.

(End of this chapter)