Siheyuan: Hang Jia Dongxu, smash Banggeng to death!

"Grandma's meat is so delicious!"

"It's delicious. Grandma will make it for Tangtang again tomorrow."

"Yay!"

Tangtang: ✌︎ ॑꒳ ॑✌︎

Dinner took more than an hour.

The braised pork was almost gone, the sweet and sour pork ribs were down to the bones, and Tangtang devoured half a plate of braised bamboo shoots all by herself.

The little girl, with a grain of rice stuck to the corner of her mouth, was nestled in her grandfather's arms, burping contentedly.

Father Su held a teacup in one hand and patted Tangtang's back lightly with the other, his wrinkles spreading wider than the chrysanthemum tea on the table as he smiled.

Lin Jianguo sat opposite his father-in-law, barely daring to pick up any food throughout the meal. Su Xiaoxiao secretly scooped two pieces of braised pork out of his bowl when her father wasn't looking.

Han got up and went to the kitchen to brew a pot of fresh tea. When she returned, she found that Tangtang had already fallen asleep in her grandfather's arms.

The little girl clutched the buttons of her father's work clothes tightly in her hand, and was still smacking her lips in her sleep, probably dreaming of White Rabbit candy.

Mr. Su glanced down at his granddaughter, gently wiping a grain of rice from the corner of her mouth with his rough thumb, his voice extremely soft:

"Old woman, clean up the west wing. My little granddaughter fainted from the heat."

Su Xiaoxiao was holding a teacup when she heard this, and her fingers trembled slightly, causing the tea to swirl around in the cup.

The west wing has been empty for years.

Su Xiaoxiao pushed open the door, and a faint fragrance wafted towards her. The furnishings in the room were almost unchanged from when she left eight years ago.

It was very clean, obviously it was cleaned regularly.

Han took out two new cotton quilts from the cabinet, and then took out a clean floral bed sheet, which she unfolded and spread on the bed board.

The mother and daughter each held two corners of the bed sheet, working together seamlessly to smooth out every wrinkle.

"Your father has taken out the bedding from the west wing to air it every summer and winter for years."

As Han stuffed the quilt into the duvet cover, he casually mentioned, "He said that the rainy season is humid and the quilt will grow mold if it's not aired out."

I joked that since you're not coming back, it's pointless to get sunburned.

He got anxious and said, "What if our daughter comes back someday? We can't let her sleep in a damp bed."

Su Xiaoxiao lowered her head and pounded on the pillow.

The pillow is made of buckwheat hulls, and it makes a rustling sound when you pat it.

She patted it again and again until Han reached out and pressed her hand down, only then did she realize that the pillow had already been loosened.

So all these years, Dad... I...

Silent tears streamed down her face.

Inside the main room.

Su's father gently placed the sleeping Tangtang on the rattan chair and covered her with one of his old cotton-padded jackets.

Then he sat back down at the table, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and his gaze fell on Lin Tian, ​​who had been sitting quietly beside him.

After finishing his meal, the child didn't jump around like other mischievous kids; instead, he sat properly in his chair.

He was holding a copy of "Fundamentals of Mechanical Drawing" that he had taken from the bookshelf.

That was Su's father's reference book, filled with densely packed cross-sectional diagrams and tolerance tables.

He clearly couldn't understand it, but he translated it very carefully.

"You can read?"

Mr. Su put down his teacup, his tone carrying a hint of scrutiny unique to an old fitter, but without malice.

It's just that I'm used to using the standards for inspecting parts to inspect everything.

"Knowing a little is enough."

Lin Tian looked up at his grandfather and answered honestly.

"What about arithmetic?"

"I know a little."

Su's father took out a palm-sized notebook and half a pencil stub from his pocket, flipped to a blank page, wrote a string of numbers, and pushed it in front of him.

Lin Tian looked down and saw that it was a six-digit addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division operation. It wasn't difficult, but it was definitely not something an eight-year-old child should be involved in.

He grabbed the pencil and quickly wrote down the answer.

Mr. Su picked up his notebook, looked at the answers, then looked at his thin, small grandson, and frowned slightly.

All correct.

He turned to a page in his notebook and created an even more difficult problem.

Lin Tian has finished writing again.

Su's father put the pencil stub on the table, leaned back in his chair, and looked Lin Tian up and down.

"Did your dad teach you all this?"

"No, I'm self-taught. My dad isn't as good at math as I am."

"Xiao Tian, ​​if Grandpa remembers correctly, you're only eight years old this year, right?"

"Hmm."

"You know so much by only being a second-grader?"

"Maybe it's because I'm smarter."

Su's father: "..."

Is this a smart thing to do?

The second question that was just asked was clearly something you should have learned in middle school, and you answered it flawlessly.

Is this the kind of gene that incompetent Lin Jianguo could possibly have?

"Hahaha……"

"My grandson is qualified for university."

"Grandpa, keep it low-key."

Su's father cursed, "Be low-key my ass! What do you know, you little brat? Your stepfather will teach you."

"Your old man is like a char siu bao (barbecued pork bun), all these years he's still only a level four fitter, a complete waste of time."

Lin Tian: "..."

You are of a higher generation, what you said makes sense.

After a moment of silence, Su's father suddenly asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"Go to university, become an engineer, do design, and build the most advanced machines for the country."

Su's father's lips twitched slightly. "University, become an engineer."

Ambitious.

He felt better after hearing those words than if he had braised pork.

He stood up, walked to the old-fashioned cabinet against the wall, and opened the bottom drawer, rummaging through it for a while.

The drawer was piled high with screwdrivers, calipers, half a box of sandpaper, and several tangled wads of copper wire.

Finally, he rummaged through the corner and found a brown paper bag, returned to the table, and placed the bag in front of Lin Tian.

"Here you go, these are the materials I collected when I was taking the Level 8 worker exam. They're all practical information. Ask me if you don't understand anything."

Also... your pen-holding posture is wrong. Tomorrow I'll teach you how to draw basic lines. If you can't even hold a pen steadily, you can't draw good drawings.

You're talented; you can learn junior high school material on your own. So you can't limit yourself to books.

The country now values ​​talent; rote learning leads nowhere. Only those with technical skills will be valued and employed anywhere.

Lin Tian nodded in agreement.

Having your own abilities is the foundation of your confidence.

Lin Tian took the brown paper bag, glanced down at the yellowed pages and hand-drawn illustrations inside, then looked up and called out:

"Thank you, Grandpa."

"Alright, go wash your face and get ready for bed."

Mr. Su waved his hand, his tone still indifferent, but the deep crow's feet at the corner of his eyes unconsciously curved into an arc.

This grandson is good; much better than those two mischievous monkeys.

Do as you please.

One idea after another pops into her head; at such a young age, she has quite a lot on her mind.

This matter must not be known to others, especially not to his maternal grandmother, otherwise the old woman will accuse him of favoritism again.

The west wing has been tidied up.

Han laid two layers of cotton mattresses on the carved wooden bed, and then a floral bed sheet on top. The pillows were patted loose and soft.

Su Xiaoxiao took off Lin Tian and Tangtang's coats. Tangtang opened her eyes groggily when she was moved from the rattan chair to the bed.

She mumbled, "Grandma, where's my White Rabbit candy?" Han quickly stuffed two milk candies under her little pillow.

The little girl then turned over contentedly and continued sleeping.

Lin Jianguo washed his feet and sat on the threshold of the west wing, staring blankly at the loquat tree in the courtyard.

Su Xiaoxiao sat down next to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Your dad's really not angry with me anymore?"

Lin Jianguo asked in a low voice.

"Give birth."

Su Xiaoxiao said with guilt, "But what's worse than being angry is that I haven't written home a single letter all these years. However, with Xiaotian and Tangtang around, even the angrier Dad gets, he'll eventually calm down."

Lin Jianguo held her hand, and everything was understood without words.

My dear son and daughter, your life depends on you two.

……