The salty life in Life of Pi

Chapter 73 Wang Dingnan's Divorce Countdown

"Alright, alright, stop arguing. Shengnan, give way to Dingnan. She's been feeling unwell these days, so just say a few words."

Lin Miaomiao's grandmother couldn't stand it anymore and came out to smooth things over.

Wang Shengnan felt a familiar feeling, blew the hair hanging on her forehead, and looked at Wang Dingnan. She felt guilty and put down the snacks in her hand. She looked around to see if there was anything she could help with.

Lin Miaomiao took this opportunity to slip away, went to the living room and played with her cell phone.

"Oh, that's great, Shengnan. I wanted to ask you something about the house you moved to for Miaomiao. How is Miaomiao's grades now?"

Seeing that her little daughter was about to be bullied again, the grandmother quickly changed the subject. Upon hearing this topic, Wang Shengnan suddenly became energetic and her face was full of smiles.
"Mom, you don't know, Miaomiao's grades are very good now. This year, her class ranking has never been lower than the top three, and her grade ranking is always in the top 20. Sometimes she can even be in the top ten. If she works hard, she will probably be admitted to either Peking University or Tsinghua University."

"Wow, that's amazing!"

Grandma was also a little surprised. She had just wanted to change the subject at first, but she didn't expect Miaomiao to be so enthusiastic. She walked out of the kitchen with a bunch of leeks in her hand, talking as she walked.
"Then I have to go ask Miaomiao if she needs any help, and see if you, as a mother, have bullied her."

"Go ahead. You can chat with Miaomiao. You haven't seen each other for a long time."

Wang Shengnan pushed her mother out and grabbed Wang Dingnan who was trying to escape. The grandmother pretended not to hear Wang Dingnan's cry for help and walked towards the living room while calling Miaomiao.

"Just follow me into the kitchen."

Wang Shengnan pulled Wang Dingnan into the kitchen, closed the door, and took out a kitchen knife. Wang Dingnan felt a cramp in his calf.
"Sister, there's no need for that. It's better to sacrifice one's own family for the greater good."

Wang Shengnan cut the dough into small pieces and turned to look at Wang Dingnan.

"If you don't bring the rolling pin, I will really kill you for the sake of justice."

For the sake of the kitchen knife, Wang Dingnan reluctantly walked forward and started rolling the noodles in an unskilled manner.

Finally, when it was just getting dark, the family ate dumplings. Lin Miaomiao felt that the dumplings were delicious, after all, she had contributed a lot to it.

My grandma was picking vegetables in front of me, I couldn't just stand there and watch, I naturally had to go forward and help.

Seeing Lin Miaomiao eating voraciously, Wang Shengnan couldn't help but think of Wu Xianyu. The two children really looked more and more alike, except that Wu Xianyu didn't eat like her own daughter without caring about his image. He ate one dumpling in one bite, and before he knew it, a bowl was gone. Lin Miaomiao, on the other hand, would get her mouth full of oil just from eating a dumpling.

The family was having dinner when Tang Yuanming walked in with Tang Jiaojiao. Seeing the people in the living room, he forced a smile and greeted them.
"Dad, Mom, Big Sister, and Miaomiao are all eating."

Grandma reacted and stood up to greet

"Yuanming is here, please sit down, I'll go get the dishes and chopsticks"

When passing by Wang Dingnan, grandma quietly touched Wang Dingnan's back, indicating that she should be more nice to him.

It’s a pity that if Wang Dingnan had done as he was told, their relationship wouldn’t have become so strained.

Lin Miaomiao brought Tang Jiaojiao to her side and fed her dumplings with her own bowl and chopsticks.

After Tang Yuanming sat down, he spoke to Wang Dingnan

"Dingnan, go back. You can't come back to see your parents whenever something happens."

"That's right, a couple doesn't go straight home after a quarrel."

Wang Shengnan chimed in, Tang Yuanming smiled gratefully, and the grandmother who brought the bowls and chopsticks also spoke.
"You're not homeless, just go back after dinner, I don't need you for this."

"Mom~"

Wang Dingnan was very unhappy and complained to his mother, but it obviously had no effect. The grandmother said to Tang Jiaojiao
"Jiaojiao, persuade your mother to go back."

“I don’t care, they can do whatever they want.”

Tang Jiaojiao's words were like pressing the mute button on the living room. Tang Yuanming almost couldn't maintain the smile on his face, but this was really not what he taught.

Grandpa and grandma looked at Tang Jiaojiao, their faces were not very good. At this time, Wang Shengnan interrupted the silent atmosphere in time.

"Jiaojiao is still angry. Don't worry, Auntie will definitely bring your mother back to you tonight."

With Wang Shengnan's explanation, everyone's faces looked much better. Lin Miaomiao said nothing the whole time and just fed Tang Jiaojiao. As for Tang Jiaojiao being angry, she didn't notice it, but she didn't ignorantly expose the lie either.

Grandpa spoke at this time
"Why are you arguing? There must be a reason."

"The guy keeps saying I have someone else outside, but I really don't."

"You dare to say that you have no one outside?"

"I dare say"

Wang Dingnan gasped angrily and looked at Tang Yuanming hatefully, but Tang Yuanming looked back at him honestly and he had a clear conscience.

"Okay, okay, there are children here, don't talk about this."

In fact, grandma could already tell a lot from the two men's reactions. At least the second son-in-law didn't seem to have someone outside.

"It's okay, go ahead, I'm used to hearing it."

Tang Jiaojiao blurted out this sentence out of the blue. Wang Shengnan felt her heart sinking when she saw this. She wondered what had happened to this child.

"It's just right, Miaomiao, you are here too, tell me if you have seen your uncle-in-law getting close to anyone of the opposite sex."

Wang Dingnan remembered what he had instructed Lin Miaomiao before and brought it up directly at this time.

"no"

Lin Miaomiao felt helpless. How could the fire burn to her? She rejected Wang Dingnan's invitation to join a team and explained

"Anyway, I didn't see my uncle-in-law being close to anyone. I remember he fell asleep as soon as he got on the bus. He looked very tired. And I'm not the only one who said this. Many of my classmates saw that my uncle-in-law had heavy dark circles under his eyes."

"Then why are the dark circles under your eyes so heavy?"

Grandma was a little worried and couldn't help asking. Tang Yuanming looked at the table and his tone was emotionless.

"Because the guy wouldn't let me sleep the night before and insisted that I tell him who the person outside was."

"Ugh"

Grandma sat down, not wanting to care about it anymore, and continued to eat dumplings. Grandpa saw this and didn't care anymore, he and his wife ate by themselves, occasionally talking about something between them.

After dinner, regardless of their little daughter's wishes, the two elders pushed her out the door.

Wang Dingnan looked at the tightly closed door and knocked a few times angrily. Seeing that no one opened the door for her, she turned and walked outside.

Seeing this, Tang Yuanming hurriedly took Tang Jiaojiao to follow, and did not forget to say something to Wang Shengnan.

"Big sister, I'll take them back first. Thank you for tonight. And Miaomiao, thank you too."

“No, no, I just told the truth.”

Lin Miaomiao didn't want to get involved in this matter, so she quickly sent her uncle-in-law away.

Wang Shengnan looked at Tang Yuanming's back, sighed silently, and put her arm around Lin Miaomiao's shoulders with a complicated tone.

"Now, your aunt and uncle-in-law are really entering the countdown to divorce."

"mom?"

Lin Miaomiao looked at Wang Shengnan strangely as she talked about this topic with her.

"Would you tell me something like this?"

"You're almost an adult, there's nothing you can't say. Let's go, mother and daughter will go back too. Remember, if you have a fight with Xiaoyu in the future, I won't help you."

"Mom, what are you talking about? I don't understand." Looking at Lin Miaomiao who was still pretending to be stupid, Wang Shengnan couldn't help but slap her and rolled her eyes.

After returning to school, Lin Miaomiao listened to people around her discussing Qian Sanyi and Deng Xiaoqi while they chewed snacks. Wu Xianyu also took two snacks from the bag and listened to the gossip.

The science class was also noisy, but it became quiet as soon as Qian Sanyi walked into the classroom, and everyone looked at him, either obviously or secretly.

Qian Sanyi returned to his seat silently with a stern face. The classroom was filled with rustling sounds again, and the topic of discussion was nothing more than Qian Sanyi and Deng Xiaoqi.

Jiang Tianhao looked at Deng Xiaoqi's seat where the table and chair had been moved away, shook his head, and without discussing anything with others, he silently picked up the book and began to recite.

After a few days, the students had other topics to talk about. They finally put Deng Xiaoqi's matter behind them and started talking about various recent news, including celebrity gossip, which students were dating which students, and the Jiangzhou Youth Basketball Tournament that was about to begin. However, Jiang Tianhao seemed to be the only one who was excited about the last piece of news. He pulled the others to the dormitory to listen to him talk about his plan.

"I've inquired about it. The first place winner of this competition will play against foreign students. I heard that they are all NBA reserve players. I have long wanted to test their strength. This time I must play against them."

Wu Xianyu looked at Jiang Tianhao and didn't express any opinion. He didn't think Jiang Tianhao could physically confront those old blacks.

Putting away the novel and taking off his glasses, Wu Xianyu turned over and prepared to go to sleep.

"Hey, Xianyu, don't fall asleep, I haven't finished talking yet."

"The salted fish are asleep, so I'll sleep too."

As a result, before Jiang Tianhao could wake up Wu Xianyu, Sun Chuanchu also got into bed. Zhong Wei also let out a cry and got into bed, leaving Jiang Tianhao alone standing in the middle of the dormitory.

"I haven't finished talking yet."

As soon as he finished speaking, the lights in the dormitory were turned off and Jiang Tianhao returned to his upper bunk helplessly.

Friday.

Lin Miaomiao leaned back in her chair and said that Wang Shengnan was going to take the team to the competition and there was no one at home to cook. She looked at Wu Xianyu.

"Is it okay for me to go to your house for dinner on the weekend?"

"No problem, but what about Monday to Friday? Isn't Auntie uncertain about the time?"

"Eat at school. If that doesn't work, eat outside."

"What about uncle?"

"Then you don't have to worry anymore."

Lin Miaomiao looked at Wu Xianyu

"How can he, a grown man, be hungry? Not to mention that he has been very busy recently, looking at houses all the time, and has to go out to eat with others from time to time, all for that house."

"That's fine. Didn't Auntie ask Uncle to take a break? Why are you busy so soon?"

Wu Xianyu ate the snacks in Lin Miaomiao's hand and was a little curious about how Lin Dawei had arranged it.

"My dad couldn't sit still, so after a few days of rest, he started looking for things to do. As a result, he kept causing trouble for my mom, so he just came out to look for houses."

"Okay, what do you want to eat tonight? Or should we eat out?"

Lin Miaomiao thought for a while, chewing the beef jerky in her mouth.
"Why don't you eat out? You've been in class for a week and it's a bit too capitalist to ask you to cook."

"Then I have to thank you for letting me go."

"You're welcome"

Lin Miaomiao picked up the beef jerky in her hand and clinked it with the beef jerky in Wu Xianyu's hand as a toast.

In the back row of the classroom where no one was paying attention, a girl quietly used her camera to take a picture of this scene. Looking at the picture she took, the two people only showed their side faces and smiled at each other. There was an indescribable emotion in their smiles.

Her deskmate covered for her and said with certainty after seeing the photo.

"When they get married in the future, take out this photo. If they don't give you a big red envelope, don't give it to them."

"I don't think too much about it, I just hope that the couple I support can have a happy ending."

The girl clasped her hands together with a pious look and prayed silently.

Lin Miaomiao and Wu Xianyu had no idea that their interaction was being recorded. They were discussing what to eat in the afternoon.

After school, Lin Miaomiao and Mai Ju waved goodbye and followed Wu Xianyu to a restaurant not far from the community. Lin Miaomiao looked up at the sign

"Subei Restaurant? I want to try the clay pot chicken you mentioned."

"Don't worry, I told you it's delicious, aren't you worried?"

Wu Xianyu locked Lin Miaomiao's car, walked into the restaurant, and greeted the boss.

"Boss, give me a clay pot chicken, a large portion, and less chili."

“No, just normal spiciness is fine, I can eat it.”

Lin Miaomiao refused to add less chili pepper, as she believed that any food would not taste its best if it lacked one ingredient.

The boss looked at the two of them with a smile on his face, and nodded in agreement without saying anything more.
"What do you want to drink?"

"I'll have a cold beer, and she'll have a drink."

"Okay, take a seat, it will be ready in no time."

Taking Lin Miaomiao into the restaurant, Lin Miaomiao looked up at the menu on the wall and the pictures next to it.
“I feel like the dishes there are all colorful and mostly spicy.”

“Our taste is strong”

Wu Xianyu helped Lin Miaomiao wash the dishes while explaining
"Spiciness depends on personal preference. I still feel that the dishes here are oily. Don't be fooled by the peppers on them. They are actually vegetable peppers. They are not spicy at all. They are just for the colorful look. After all, dishes should be colorful, fragrant and delicious."

Soon, the dishes were served. Lin Miaomiao looked at the dishes that almost filled the entire table. She was a little dazed and didn't know where to start with her chopsticks. Wu Xianyu took the lead and picked up a piece of chicken and put it in Lin Miaomiao's bowl.

“Try the taste.”

"Then I'm welcome."

Wu Xianyu didn't answer because he had already started eating. Lin Miaomiao felt a little spicy after finishing the chicken in the bowl, but she didn't stop moving her hands. She picked up the chicken and
“Shaha, it’s a bit spicy, but it tastes really good.”

"I told you, trust me, try this cake later, it tastes good too."

After eating a few pieces of chicken, Lin Miaomiao felt a little uncomfortable with the spiciness. She picked up Wu Xianyu's ice beer and drank it all in one gulp. She made a refreshing sound and looked at Wu Xianyu with a bit of blame.

"How can you eat meat without drinking alcohol? Next time, don't order drinks. Give me beer."

"Okay, I'm afraid you'll be drunk and have a hard time explaining yourself when you get home. I'm also afraid that my uncle will come down and tear my bones apart."

“Not really, just one bottle, no taste”

The two of them ate quickly, finished a bottle of wine, and drank the remaining juice.

After paying the bill, Wu Xianyu pushed Lin Miaomiao's bicycle towards the community.

Lin Miaomiao was still breathing cold air, her lips were already red from the spiciness, and the hair on her forehead was wet with sweat, looking quite charming.

Feeling that Wu Xianyu was always looking at her, Lin Miaomiao fanned herself with her hands and looked at him.
"what happened?"

"Nothing, I just think it would look good if you put on a bright red lipstick."

"Hehe, I'll take that as a compliment."

(End of this chapter)