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Chapter 578: Chapter 370 Summer Night_2
Xue Yuantong and his mother had talked for a while before he ran over to Jiang Ning’s house to play with him.
Aunt Gu watched her daughter’s retreating figure; her face, once weathered by time, now seemed younger, revealing a gentle smile.
Aunt Gu sat at the doorway for a while, then got up and headed east. After a few steps, she arrived at a bungalow, where the lights inside were on.
Aunt Gu called out, "Aunt Pan."
Soon, a chubby middle-aged woman came out of the house, looking older than Aunt Gu, and she was accompanied by a boy around four or five years old.
Aunt Pan moved a stool for her, and then they started chatting at the door.
After exchanging a few words, Aunt Gu explained her purpose, "Aunt Pan, I heard from Uncle Tang that your family is planning to sell the house?"
"Yes," Aunt Pan replied, "my eldest daughter has gone off to university, and my family has opened a shop outside. We barely see each other all year round. It’s not feasible. I’m thinking of selling this house and taking the child to live somewhere else."
Aunt Gu listened quietly until she had finished, then asked, "Have you found a buyer for the house yet?"
Being neighbors, Aunt Pan answered honestly, "It’s hard to sell, being so far from the city."
"How much are you planning to sell it for?" Aunt Gu asked.
At this point, Aunt Pan realized something and looked at Aunt Gu, "Xiao Gu, is your family also planning to sell your house?"
Without hiding anything, Aunt Gu got straight to the point, "Here’s the thing, someone in our village is planning to settle down in Yuzhou. I heard you were selling your house and thought maybe they could buy it."
"Why buy my house? Doesn’t your family have an empty house available? You’re currently renting it out, right? Just sell it directly to the person from your village; that would be even more convenient!" Aunt Pan suggested, considering it a hassle-free option. 𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒑𝒖𝙗.𝒄𝒐𝒎
Aunt Gu smiled, "It’s for Jiang Ning to live in."
Aunt Pan thought about it and agreed, "That makes sense. Yours and Jiang Ning make quite a pair."
She spoke with envy, for Jiang Ning was a tall, skinny kid, polite and genteel to everyone, with good academic performance. He would surely not have a bad future, especially matched with Tongtong. Absolutely perfect.
"Aunt Pan, if you’re really planning to sell, I’ll bring over the person from my village in a few days, and you guys can discuss the price," Aunt Gu suggested, facilitating the connection.
Aunt Pan agreed happily, "That’s wonderful!"
Her house was near the outskirts of the city. It had originally been countryside property, quite old now. Nowadays, people preferred buying houses in the city.
As for demolition, who would come to tear down buildings in such a remote place? Not one of the residents here had thought about demolition.
After discussing the sale, Aunt Gu chatted for a bit more and then went back home.
She planned to inform Chuchu’s mother about this.
If Chuchu’s family bought the house, even if Tongtong and Chuchu went to study far away in the future, she and Chuchu’s mother could live together, keeping each other company and not feeling lonely at all.
...
While Jiang Ning was playing a video game, he suddenly turned his head and frowned tightly,
"What are you doing?"
Inside the room, Xue Yuantong was ’walking’, or rather, she was walking sideways.
Xue Yuantong pursed her lips and huffed, "I’m a crab now."
After saying that, she splayed her legs and raised her hands, moving recklessly sideways.
Jiang Ning was speechless and continued with his game, too lazy to bother with her antics.
After a while, he noticed Xue Yuantong playing with his Divine Sense, and she had improved significantly, now bearing a closer semblance to a real crab.
"You’re not acting like this just because we’re having crab tomorrow, are you?"
Xue Yuantong replied, "You don’t understand me."
Jiang Ning indeed did not understand her inner world.
After finishing a game, Xue Yuantong nudged him, "Jiang Ning, it’s so cool outside, and there’s a breeze. Let’s go out and cool off. My mom brought some snails."
After hearing this, Jiang Ning put his computer on standby.
Meanwhile, Xue Yuantong sidestepped out the door, surprisingly quick in her movements.
She was pretty bold, bravely confronting Aunt Gu’s stern gaze.
She took some snails and two bottles of ice-cold Coke from the fridge and sidestepped outside.
She had just sat down but hadn’t opened the Coke when Xue Yuantong asked, "Jiang Ning, when you were little, did you ever sleep outside during summer nights?"
"Yes, my family had two old wooden beds. We’d move them outside in the summer, set up mosquito nets, and sleep there. We didn’t even need to use a fan," Jiang Ning reminisced about his childhood.
Xue Yuantong agreed, "Just like at my house. I used to love being outside."
Jiang Ning nodded, "Later, we heard about children being stolen, and my family didn’t want to do it anymore."
Xue Yuantong was shocked, "Is that true?"
Aunt Gu nodded from beside them, "Yes, it’s true."
That era was relatively chaotic—thieves stealing everything from dogs to other possessions, unlike now, which is much safer.
Xue Yuantong asked, "Mom, weren’t you afraid I might be taken away?"
Only now did she realize how dangerous it was to sleep outside.
Aunt Gu reassured her, "With mom here, there’s no problem."
Xue Yuantong sat at the door for a while, then suddenly suggested they go to the bungalow rooftop to enjoy the cool air and eat some snacks.
Jiang Ning thought it was a good idea. He brought out a ladder, along with some Coke and river snails, a small stool, and a small wooden table, and climbed up to the rooftop first.
Xue Yuantong walked sideways to the ladder, and Jiang Ning, looking down from above, taunted,
"Think you can come up sideways?"
Xue Yuantong was really annoyed. He just loved to tease her all the time!
If it weren’t for the fact that he had taken the Coke and river snails up, Xue Yuantong would definitely not indulge him.
Alas!
She had to admit she was not able, adjusted her posture, and tremulously climbed up, even needing Jiang Ning’s help to pull her up.
Once on the rooftop, the view was even broader; they could see the surrounding environment clearly, and the distant fields seemed to be asleep.
The bright moon was overhead, stars speckled the sky, as if to coat the summer with a layer of silver radiance.
The evening breeze blew gently, refreshing and delightful.
She sat on a small stool, with a small table in the middle.
Xue Yuantong first took a sip of the cold Coke, feeling refreshed all over. Then, she grabbed a spicy river snail, which was much longer than the usual ones.
Xue Yuantong had never tried these before and had foolishly tried to probe the meat inside the shell with a wooden stick, but couldn’t get it out at all.
Jiang Ning took one and said to her, "It’s best to suck these river snails."
He demonstrated it for Xue Yuantong.
With her exceptional talent for eating, she mastered the technique after just one watch.
The kitchen at Changqing Liquid Company maintained very high hygiene standards, and these river snails were exceptionally clean and delicious after being stir-fried.
Xue Yuantong thoroughly enjoyed it, and Jiang Ning could hear her slurping noises.
On a summer night, drinking Coke and eating river snails was quite enjoyable.
The only flaw might be the mosquitoes?
However, Jiang Ning activated the Body Refining Techniques and spread out a faint electric current which easily electrocuted any approaching mosquitoes.
From an angle Xue Yuantong didn’t notice, mosquitoes fell from the dark night sky one by one.
...
After finishing the river snails, Xue Yuantong went downstairs to take a shower, changed into a loose, soft cartoon T-shirt and shorts, and ran to Jiang Ning’s room to play games.
She always felt that Jiang Ning’s room was particularly comfortable, fresh and cool. She folded her legs on the chair and gripped the mouse.
Friday night was often Xue Yuantong’s happiest time; she didn’t have to go to school the next day and could fully enjoy playing games.
While gaming, she even had time to chat with Xue Chuchu on QQ.
Jiang Ning leaned back on a couch playing with his phone, the class chat was lively.
Dong Qingfeng posted his test paper, "Sorry, this is the test paper from Gao Heshuai. I’ve finished it, who else?"
Lu Qiqi: "Dong Qingfeng, can you share it with me?"
Dong Qingfeng didn’t reply immediately. Lu Qiqi had a boy, so her priority in his books had to be lowered a notch.
Not until Jiang Yanan spoke up did Dong Qingfeng say, "Since so many people want to see it, I’ll send it to you privately."
When Cui Yu saw his beloved copying another boy’s test paper, he said sarcastically, "Incredible, truly incredible!"
Duan Shigang had just joined the group recently, pretending to be surprised, "What? Homework on the weekend?"
Wang Longlong said, "You can ignore other teachers, but we can’t afford to provoke Gao Heshuai!"
Duan Shigang: "Play, am I afraid of him?"
Dan Kaiquan: "Brother Gang, you are my warrior."
Cui Yu: "Brother Gang, you are my immortal belief."
Wang Longlong: "Even if I died and got nailed inside a coffin, I’d shout out from this grave in a rotting voice—Brother Gang is awesome."
Floated by the group’s praise, Duan Shigang became even more determined not to do any homework.
The night grew deeper, eleven o’clock.
Aunt Gu came into Jiang Ning’s room looking for her daughter and saw her daughter monopolizing someone else’s chair.
Aunt Gu looked at the snacks on the table, "Tongtong, have you brushed your teeth?"
Ever since she caught her daughter not brushing her teeth one night, she had been reminding her daughter to brush her teeth.
"I did," Tongtong responded without turning around.
"Don’t lie; the toothpaste I squeezed for you is still there!" Aunt Gu frowned and scolded.
Hearing this, Tongtong said sullenly,
"Alright, alright, I’ll brush my teeth now."
She walked to her bathroom in her slippers, only to discover that her mother hadn’t actually squeezed any toothpaste for her.
