books44 Chapter 366 The fox pretends to be the tiger's power
Chapter 366 The fox pretends to be the tiger's power
On rainy days, Song Tingnan took Yali from house to house, chatting with the village aunties and uncles, leading them to talk about the 'aloof Song Wanxing' of the past; when the weather cleared up, he let Yali go with Song Wanxing to collect scrap for two days, so that she could personally experience Song Wanxing's changes.
She didn't want to reconcile the father and daughter, but rather to make Yali realize more directly that if one's character doesn't match their position, reality will teach them a lesson, and Song Wanxing is a real example.
Finally, Tingnan took Yali to the county town's vegetable market early in the morning. The market was noisy, dirty, and chaotic. The faces of people who were tired from lack of sleep, the backs bent under the weight of carrying poles, and the joy of the empty market...
“Yali, I’ve always felt that people should be the same, each with their own stories, joys and sorrows. Why should we divide people into different classes based on their status? If we really have to differentiate, there are only three kinds of people in this world—good people, bad people, and people who are neither good nor bad.”
Yali's views have been changing and reshaping these past few days. She can't understand why she was so arrogant and rude before, so ignorant of her own limitations. Was she just a bully using someone else's authority? She glanced at her "tiger" sister, who was very calm. Ting Nan never thought of herself as anything special; there are so many talented people out there, and she was just a nobody.
Song Tingnan then took Yali to the best restaurant for dinner, letting her observe all sorts of people: the humble and polite, the arrogant, the obsequious...
“Yali, we need to have a peaceful heart. No one has to coax anyone else. We need to be able to accept all kinds of things in life. Because the people and things that appear in our lives are either there to help us or to test us. We should be grateful and try to plant flowers instead of thorns.”
Song Yali blushed. No wonder everyone liked her older sister. She was upright, kind, sunny, and full of life. She treated her relatives and friends with pure and unreserved kindness. Who wouldn't want to be close to such a "Brother Nan"? She should study hard.
Song Tingnan has experienced a lot, and she believes that "understanding the ways of the world is knowledge, and being adept at human relationships is literature." If you don't even understand this, then you've wasted all those years of reading.
Seeing that Song Yali gradually calmed down her aggressive nature, the adults in the family were very happy. Song Wanxing even poured out two liters of popcorn and chased after the popcorn vendor with the children.
During the Spring Festival, villagers have a special fondness for popcorn. In the past, they thought it was a waste of food, and even if the children in Tingnan were craving popcorn, they wouldn't dare to ask for it. Now that life is better, popcorn vendors rarely come to the countryside anymore.
Song Tingnan and Yali also went along. The pace of life outside was too fast, and she really liked this kind of simple and warm atmosphere.
Watching the popcorn vendor sitting leisurely on a small stool, pulling the wooden bellows with his left hand and slowly rotating the machine with his right.
The round, dark, olive-shaped popcorn machine rotated steadily over the red flames. The operator occasionally glanced at the round pressure gauge on the machine, his mind following the jumps of the red needle.
After five or six minutes, the children were getting impatient. When they saw the pressure gauge needle cross the indicator line, the cook stood up, grabbed the wrench, and aimed the pot at a long, large cloth bag.
At this moment, the onlookers knew that something was about to happen, and they all covered their ears in unison. The timid girls quickly hid far away, and Yali tightly gripped her sister's arm.
With a loud "bang," a plume of white smoke billowed out, releasing the enticing aroma of popped rice. The golden corn kernels transformed in the blink of an eye into beautiful, fragrant little white flowers. The vendor, holding the back corner of the large cloth bag, poured the popped rice into a basin he had brought from home.
Yali took the basin her father handed her and let each of the surrounding children grab a handful. Song Tingnan knew she was shy, so this was a way of apologizing to her friends.
She was the first to grab a handful of fluffy popcorn and put it in her mouth. It was still as sweet as ever. The other children followed suit, and joyful laughter immediately filled the air around the popcorn machine.
In the past, Song Wanli would not allow people to pop popcorn in order to save money, and he would coax them by saying that it was too sweet and contained artificial sweeteners, which were not good for children. This time, however, he ate it happily.
Song Wanxing also recited a poem: "Ten thousand households enter Wumen from the east, each popping grain to predict the year's fortune. Golden millet is poured into the pot, and in a flash, it turns into white jade flowers."
After a lively and festive New Year celebration, Song Tingnan will once again go to Shanghai alone to pursue her studies. After discussing it with her family, she decided to complete her bachelor's and master's degrees in five years.