As soon as they arrived, Liu Jian took two chairs from the car and placed them in a flat, sheltered spot.
He said to Nian Suian and Xu Jiasong, "Today, you two beautiful ladies are in charge of eating and sitting here to supervise. That's all you need to do."
"You little rascal, how did you move so fast?" Qin Wei jokingly scolded. He hadn't even had a chance to show off in front of his wife yet, and Liu Jian had already done it all.
Nian Suian and Xu Jiasong smiled and sat down. Everything for today's barbecue was ready-made; they only needed to assemble the grill. The meat was already skewered by the kitchen staff, so there really wasn't much for them to do.
"Uncle Liu, what about me? I'm underage, does that mean I don't have to work either?" Gu Zhijing asked.
Liu Jian glanced at him and said, "That's right, minors are the flowers of our motherland. You don't have to work either. Go to the trunk and bring over the washed fruit and drinks. You can eat with these two beautiful ladies."
"Yes, sir! I'll complete the mission," Gu Zhijing saluted and scampered off to fetch the items.
"Zhijing has really grown into a young man," Xu Jiasong remarked.
Nian Suian mercilessly exposed the truth, "He's still giving the Young Pioneers' salute. He hasn't grown up yet."
Hearing this, Xu Jiasong chuckled and said, "It's because he hasn't grown up that he's so adorable. Once they grow up, they're not cute anymore. Men and boys are two different species."
Nian Suian found her words interesting and looked at the four men fiddling with the barbecue grill. She asked, "What about your Qin Wei?"
"He's the same. But what can I say? I fell for him when he was still a boy," Xu Jiasong replied. Qin Wei was now like a devoted husband, looking up at his wife every few moments while working.
This time, he caught Xu Jiasong looking at him and immediately grinned and waved at her.
"I'm back!" Gu Zhijing announced, holding a folding table in one hand and fruit, drinks, and a folding chair in the other.
"Why didn't you make two trips?" Nian Suian went to help him.
"Didn't want to run back again," he replied.
"Thank you, Zhijing," Xu Jiasong stood up and took the fruit, arranging it on the table.
"You're welcome, Aunt Jiasong. You're pregnant, you should rest more," Gu Zhijing said seriously, making Xu Jiasong laugh.
After sitting down, she asked him, "Zhijing, you're in your first year of high school now, right? Which school do you go to?"
"Yes, first year. I'm at No. 15 High School."
Xu Jiasong exclaimed in surprise, "No. 15? What a coincidence!"
Seeing her reaction, Nian Suian asked, "What is it? Do you know someone there?"
"My little niece is also at No. 15, also in her first year."
"Niece..." Nian Suian thought of someone. "It couldn't be Xu Yuan, could it?"
"You know her?!" Xu Jiasong was also surprised. After all, there were so many students in a grade, even in the same school, it wasn't guaranteed they'd know each other.
Gu Zhijing was also stunned. He hadn't expected such a coincidence, even though they both had the surname Xu, no one had made the connection.
"Xu Yuan is my classmate. You're Xu Yuan's aunt?"
"Yes, her father is my cousin. I never imagined we'd have this kind of connection!"
Nian Suian also marveled internally at how small the world was.
"Then Xu Yuan's uncle is your... I met him before at Zhijing's parent-teacher conference," Nian Suian said, silently praying for more juicy details.
"You mean Xu Licheng? He's my younger cousin. Yuan's father, my older cousin, is in the peacekeeping forces and rarely comes home. Yuan has basically been raised by her uncle."
Nian Suian followed up, "That must have been tough for him. He's not that old himself and he had to help his brother raise a child."
"Exactly. My uncle and aunt (Xu Yuan's grandparents) aren't in good health, so they couldn't really take care of her. Yuan has mostly relied on Licheng. We all tease him, saying he became a father and mother before even getting married."
Talking about this, Xu Jiasong sighed. Xu Yuan's parents divorced when she was two or three years old. Their youthful romance had been a mess. Now, one of them was on a peacekeeping mission abroad, and the other was reportedly teaching in a village so remote it wasn't even on the map.
They were both people with great love for humanity, but unfortunately, it was Yuan who suffered. However, as a cousin, she didn't feel it was her place to say much about it.
"Now that Yuan is older, it should be easier for him compared to when she was little. Who knows, in a couple of years, he might have his own children."
At this point, Xu Jiasong shook her head and said to Nian Suian, "I think he's destined to be a bachelor. I heard from my parents that he had a girlfriend from a teachers' college for a few years, but they broke up for some reason. Now the family is trying to set him up, but he refuses to meet anyone, saying he wants to be single for life."
"Maybe he just hasn't met the right person yet. He's probably just saying that. Once he meets someone he likes, he might want to get married in a heartbeat."
"You're right about that."
At this moment, in the group chat "The Four Most Handsome Men of No. 15 High School":
[Gu Zhijing: @Chu Mingyan Guess who I'm with]
[Chu Mingyan: How would I know who you're with!]
[Gu Zhijing: That's why I'm asking you to guess! Be bold with your guesses]
[Qu Zizhou: You little rascal, don't tell me you're with Xu Yuan]
Qu Zizhou thought to himself, if it were anyone else, he wouldn't have left the guessing to Chu Mingyan alone.
[Chu Mingyan: !!!!!]
[Chu Mingyan: Is it true?!!!! Gu Zhijing!!]
[Gu Zhijing: You're half right. I'm with Xu Yuan's aunt right now]
[Chu Mingyan: Aunt? Are you at her house? Weren't you supposed to be at the hot springs?]
[Gu Zhijing: It's a coincidence. Let me put it this way, Xu Yuan's father's cousin is my dad's friend's wife]
[Qu Zizhou: ...]
[Qu Zizhou: Wow, such a simple relationship]
[Chu Mingyan: What's the point of telling me this? Xu Yuan isn't even there...]
[Gu Zhijing: I didn't say it was useful, I just wanted to let you know]
[Chu Mingyan: [middle finger.jpg]]
"I smell meat. Looks like we'll be eating soon," Nian Suian said.
Just then, Gu Junxing called out, "Gu Zhijing, come and carry the meat!"
"Coming, coming!" Gu Zhijing put down his phone and scurried over.
Gu Junxing handed his son a plate of beef and lamb skewers and grilled chicken wings. "Wait, here are some potato slices too. Your Aunt Nian likes these." Take these over first, then come back for more.
"Got it!"
Gu Zhijing brought the grilled skewers back and placed them on the table. It was clear that half of them were more heavily seasoned, while the other half were likely prepared specially for Xu Jiasong, with very little seasoning.
After putting down the plate, he darted back to the grill. He loved eating the food straight off the grill.
"Hey, hey, Suian, look quickly," Xu Jiasong tapped Nian Suian and gestured for her to look. "Which one of them do you think just got asked for their WeChat?"