The Seventh Section Blue Skirt

  Watching them, the three boys were moving things into their shared room in a chaotic manner. Luo Er shook his head gloomily, "It's really messy, guys! Boys are just clumsier! Moving stuff is like going to war. Depressing!"

  Luo'er scooped a bowl of bone soup from the pot and shouted at the three of them, "Hey, fellow men, I'll eat first!" As she spoke, she picked out a large pork knuckle and started gnawing on it, not even lifting her head as she ate...

  "Hey, Lì Luó'er, you're not being very considerate, are you? You...you...you ate the biggest ones yourself, what are we supposed to eat? At the speed you're eating, by the time we finish moving our stuff, the whole pot of rice will be gone too?" Chen Zhìquán shouted, his mouth watering as he continued to move things into the house.

  "What and what? How can it be finished eating? I'm not a pig!" Luo Er looked at Chen Zhiquan and smiled.

  "Xuan Sheng, Li Chao, you guys continue~ I'm done! I'll go eat first~" After finishing speaking, he put down the things in his hand and directly went to the table, holding a ladle to scrape the bottom of the pot, checking if there were any bigger pieces of pork ribs left inside.

  At last found two bigger ones, Chen Zhiquan's eyes lit up and he scooped the bones into his own bowl, then sat down across from Luo Er and started eating.

  "Hey Chen Zhiquan! You haven't even washed your hands! Are you going to eat like that? You're not starving to death, are you? It's a bit frightening!" Luo'er looked at Chen Zhiquan's terrifying eating habits and couldn't believe this was the young master from a wealthy family... she thought it was an Afghan refugee grabbing food.

  Chen Zhiquan looked at Li Lu'er and said, "What's the big deal? I'm not some kind of literary or elegant person, why be so particular? Besides, it's not like we're talking about something serious, just a casual conversation. Did eating that make you sick?" Then he started smiling foolishly with his mouth open.

  "Please, the things I've done are very clean, and they're even cooked! As for what you call unclean, well... I have no way to explain it. All I can say is that the meal I carefully prepared was contaminated by your hands..."

  "Whatever, as long as I can eat, don't say anything else!" Chen Zhiquan quickly finished a bowl and refilled it, "Hey, aren't you two going to eat? If you don't come soon, Li Lu'er and I will finish all the meat..."

  "Hey Chen Zhiquan, what's with 'me and you'? Are you talking about yourself? Stop dragging me into your mess all the time! We've been together for a while now, but I haven't seen any benefits yet. You're already acting like a freeloader!" Luo Er said irritably to him.

  "We'll be done soon, let's come and eat..." Xuan Sheng glanced at the two of them eating happily outside, and carelessly threw everything onto the bed, pulled Li Chao to wash his hands, and prepared to have dinner.

  "Sister, how can you just focus on eating yourself and not even serve us some cooled down food? This is too hot to eat!" Li Chao complained to Luo Er while looking at the scalding hot bones and steaming soup.

  "Is it? Self-reliance, warm clothes and sufficient food, haven't you heard of that?" Luo Er smiled and said to Li Chao.

  "Haha, your sister is right, eat quickly! Look at Zhi Quan's speed, if we don't eat soon, maybe by the time Chen Zhi Quan finishes eating all the bones, we won't even get a sip of soup!" Lu Xian Sheng said.

  "Hey, Luo Er, ask you something!" Chen Zhiquan stuffed the meat from the bone into his mouth while blinking his big eyes and asked Lei Luoer vaguely.

  "What's up?"

  "May I hammer a nail into the wall?" Chen Zhiquan asked cautiously.

  "What is a nail used for?"

  "Of course it's for hanging things, what, are they going to hang me?" Chen Zhiquan said with a hearty laugh, almost choking himself.

  "Can't you speak with a bit more decorum? Stop embarrassing me all the time!" Lu Xiansheng scolded Chen Zhiquan with a frown.

  "What is called having style? What is called losing you? Depressed, I'm not your wife, how can I be called losing you?" Chen Zhiquan smiled...

  Lu Xiansheng's face sank, and a chopstick on the table spun around, looking like it was about to fly off like in those old martial arts movies. Chen Zhiquan listlessly hugged his bowl and slid over to Luo'er's side, saying innocently, "I'm just stating facts, right? Luo'er?"

  The boy suddenly got up in anger, put down his bowl and walked towards his room, shouting at them, "You can do whatever you want, don't always make a big deal out of such trivial things and have all these grown men crying and wailing!" After that, he slammed the door shut with a loud bang.

  "Didn't I say it has nothing to do with me? What are you two looking at me for?" Lu Xiangsheng tilted his head.

  "It's definitely not me!" Lei Chao said with a loss of interest, and then the two men's eyes converged on Chen Zhiquan.

  "It's not me, what are you looking at me for? If you two don't eat, I'll just take the pot and eat it myself..."

  "It's all over for this guy!" Lu Xiansheng said to Li Chao as he looked at Zhiquan.

  After they finished eating, Lao'er came out of the house, collected the bowls and chopsticks, poured a pot of iced chrysanthemum tea on the table, and sat down to read the newspaper he bought this morning.

  "Sister, come and see!" Li Chao walked out of his room.

  Luo Er raised his head and only then discovered that Li Chao was wearing a sporty casual outfit, with gel in his hair, which was styled in spikes, and on his feet were a brand new pair of leather loafers. Except for not wearing socks, everything else looked great. It wasn't until now that Luo Er realized that the Li Chao from his household actually looked very handsome, very handsome! Indeed, Buddha relies on golden decorations, people rely on clothes, Luo Er couldn't help but think to himself.

  Chen Zhiquan stood in front of Luo Er again, looking at the way Luo Er looked at Li Chao, and irritably waved his hand in front of Luo Er's eyes. "Hey, Luo Er, don't be so infatuated, okay? He... he... he is your younger brother..."

  "A loud slap on the back of his head, 'I finally understand...'"

  "What's going on?" Chen Zhiquan asked.

  "You're really stupid!" Luo Er roared in Chen Zhiquan's ear.

  Lu Xiansheng and Li Chao also burst out laughing, making Zhi Quan suddenly look embarrassed like a little girl.

  Xuan Sheng saw Luo Er about to enter her own room and took out a delicate paper bag from her own room, "Luo Er, wait..."

  The boy turned back and asked, "What's wrong?"

  "Here you go." Lu Xiansheng handed her the paper bag.

  "My?" The child's face was filled with confusion.

  "Go change into it and try it on!"

  Luo'er just realized that it was a blue dress, her favorite style. "Do I have to change?"

  "Hmm, see if it fits, this is what we three big boys spent the whole morning picking out on Women's Street, you should like it, right?"

  "How much money?" Luo Er asked.

  "It's not expensive, just a few dozen yuan, consider it a gift for our meeting."

  "Oh." Lao'er nodded. Half-believing and half-doubting, she took the skirt and went into her own room to change. Only to hear from the main hall, a burst of chaos.

  "Xuan Sheng Ge, tens of dollars? No way, my sister isn't stupid, she can't be cheated that easily." Lei Chao asked Lu Xuan Sheng with a sullen expression.

  "It's indeed, it's indeed, clearly several hundred." Zhi Quan also joined in the noise.

  "What I say goes," Xuan Sheng said with a smile to both of them.

  "Ah~ Understood! Sir."

  Luo'er carefully put on the skirt and stood in front of the mirror, examining herself meticulously. The main color of this skirt was blue, a blend of sky blue and sea blue, with a one-piece collar, dropped waistline, and scattered lily patterns along the hem, making it seem like it was tailor-made for her. Luo'er couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. But, could this be a bit too revealing? Luo'er hesitated in front of the mirror, wondering whether she should go out or not...

  "How come it's still not good? Are all women in the world so troublesome and finicky?" It was Chen Zhiquan's voice.

  "They're all the same, girls are too slow, it's just the opposite of us boys!" Damn it, Lei Chao is now actually helping them speak, ah, what a failure!

  Luo'er slowly came out of the house, with a flush on her face. Standing at the door, she lowered her head and didn't say a word. The three boys were stunned, their mouths agape in amazement. Luo'er wore this dress, and it was simply too beautiful~ Her raven-black hair cascaded down to her waist, her long eyelashes fluttering, her big eyes sparkling...

  Chen Zhiquan: "Oh my god! I've found another beauty, hahaha..."

  "What and what?" Lu'er's face turned red as she retreated back into her own room, sitting on the edge of the bed, covering her chest with both hands to hold down her heart that was about to jump out. "Am I really beautiful? No one has ever praised me like this before... From childhood to adulthood, my uncles and aunts, classmates and teachers have all said the most is that I'm sensible, obedient, capable, intelligent, hardworking, and ambitious... What is beauty? Maybe I really don't understand it. Looking at the bag of doll oil on the desk..."

  Outside is still bustling with activity.

  "Xuan Sheng is indeed Xuan Sheng, the gaze of a monster is really not ordinary, great!" Chen Zhiquan said, looking at Lu'er's tightly closed door.

  "What does it mean?" Lei Chao asked with a dark face.

  "Haha, filial son, go by yourself!" Chen Zhiquan said with a smile.

  "What does it mean? Did Brother Xian Sheng take a fancy to my sister or that skirt?" Li Chao asked Chen Zhi Quan with a puzzled expression.

  "Hmm, I don't know then." Zhi Quan kept a poker face.

  "Really want to hear?" Xuan Sheng looked at the bewildered Li Chao and said.

  "That's ~""Yes." Zhiquan and Lichao immediately surrounded Xuan Sheng.

  "Really?"

  "What is it? Speak!" Zhi Quan urged impatiently.

  "The fact is... you two are really stupid!" Lu Xiangsheng said, taking advantage of their still being in shock to give each of them a chopstick!

  "Depressed." Chen Zhiquan said, rubbing his head.

  "Exactly!" Lei Chao smiled slightly.

  Lu Xiansheng looked at Lu Er's tightly closed door and couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. "What was it that made her uneasy during the season of flowers and rain? And what was it that made Bai Tian'e live like an ugly duckling?"