Chapter 23: Qin Hong Thanks Him

  Qin Hong proudly said: "The total score of the five subjects is 452 points, which is almost the highest score in the province's science subjects."

  Yu Yueyue hugged her small face again, kissing non-stop, and exclaimed: "Heavens, I didn't expect that after a fight, a science champion would emerge."

  The professor is a university scholar, and upon hearing that Qin Hong was the champion, he also pulled Qin Hong's hand and said: "Girl, you are the literary star descended to earth, your arrival is a great joyous event, grandma is delighted, and will set off firecrackers in a while."

  Zhuang Ba immediately let Da Gezi go buy firecrackers, and then found an opportunity to talk to Yu Yueyue: "Auntie, wu wu, you can't just focus on pampering Xiao Qin and leave me out."

  "Get out of here, pretending to cry won't work. You really know how to cling to relatives, grabbing onto a woman and daring to call her mom."

  Zhuang Ba said: "You can't deny this, I and your son are brothers, aren't you my aunt? Besides, you admitted it yourself at the time. Uncle Qin can be a witness, right, Uncle Qin?"

  "Xishi" opened his eyes wide and denied: "I am her own son, how could I know when I became brothers with you?"

  Qin Weimin hastily said: "Since that fight, Xiao Zhuang has indeed been doing well. He no longer hangs out on the streets and has opened his own restaurant, becoming his own boss. The more he does it, the better he gets. Now, I even work as a chef for him. Auntie, don't make things difficult for him."

  Yu Yu said: "I did say that, but even if you recognize your mother, you can't recognize me." Then, she told them about the relationships between their families, and everyone burst out laughing.

  Zhuang Ba said: "Little Yu brothers, although they are not your biological sons, I think they are closer than biological sons. I'll just acknowledge them all."

  Yu Yu's mother said to "Xi Shi": "Son, this brother is eager to recognize his godmother, do you agree with having such a brother?"

  "Xishi" also didn't mince words, disdainfully pointing at Zhuang Hu and saying, "Him? He can't even beat me." As he spoke, he rolled up his sleeves and was about to take action. Zhuang Ba was so scared that he retreated repeatedly, hiding behind Yu Yueyue. He had experienced the ferocity of Yu Songyuan before, and as a member of Yu Xinghe's family, he didn't dare to fight back.

  Yu Yu said: "The host is gone, how did you lose him?"

  Qin Hong said with a wronged tone, "Auntie, you're looking for my little brother, right? Oh dear, you don't know that as soon as he saw me, he 'whoosh' ran away without a trace."

  Yu Yu Da cursed: "This useless little thing." Then he repeated the conversation by the Erdaoqu River that day to everyone, causing everyone to burst into laughter immediately.

  Yu Yu then let "Xi Shi" go and invite Yu Songyuan's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Chen, Xiao Ye and his wife, to come over, while Chen Lan and "Pang Dun" went to catch Yu Songyuan.

  Yu Xinhe, Yu Xinmin and his wife, Yu Songjiu and others were chatting by the fire at Yu Songyuan's house, so they all came together. Yu Yueyue grabbed Qin Hong's hand and said to Yang Wenfang, "Sister-in-law, I'm introducing you to this beautiful young lady that my son has just gotten to know. Whether or not she becomes your daughter-in-law is none of my business."

  She Wenfang pulled this tender and delicate big girl, beaming with joy. Qin Hong blushed and called out: "Auntie." She Wenfang responded loudly: "Ah!" and happily hugged Qin Hong in her arms.

  Then Yuexiang told them again about how Yushuangyuan helped Qin Hong fight, and then took out the telegram receipt notice from Qin Hong for them to see.

  Everyone was amazed by Qin Hong, and Yu Yue introduced Qin Weimin, Zhuang Ba and others to everyone. Zhu Hu then asked Yu Songyuan's mother to be his godmother, and everyone laughed again, but no one took it seriously.

  Zhuang Hu can't help it, he hastily said: "This won't do, I'm being serious."

  Yu Yu said: "You won't come true, will you? Really want to admit it?"

  Zhuang Hu pulled over a stool and asked Si Wenfang, Xiao Shu, Wang Feng, and Yu Yuemonth to sit down. He said: "I am brothers with Yu Songyuan, so his three sisters are naturally my sisters too. From today on, you four will all be my elder sisters." As he spoke, he knelt down respectfully and kowtowed three times.

  Wang Feng's face turned red with anxiety, as if a big dry son had fallen from the sky, and she was completely unprepared.

  Zhuang Ba invited Yu Xinhe, Yu Xinmin, Professor and Teacher Chen to sit down on the bench, then knelt down and kowtowed three times with great respect.

  Inside and outside are joyful together, having a big New Year's celebration, it's just lively, everyone lets him be lively.

  Chen Lan and "Pang Dun" searched all the way to the Nan Chao River before finding Yu Song Yuan.

  At this time, he was lying on the snow on the river embankment, with his head resting on his hands, and his heart was in a mess. He had fought a fight, got a wife, and now others were coming to find him, after this, he would become a laughing stock in the village. He was worried to death, blaming himself for being too meddlesome. But then again, if he didn't intervene, watching Qin Hong's father and son being bullied, could he still call himself a man? Just as he was thinking wildly, Chen Lan and "Pang Duan" arrived.

  Chen Lan just said a sentence: "Such a beautiful new daughter-in-law, and also a university student, what are you hiding?" Before he finished speaking, Yu Songyuan kicked out with one foot, kicking Chen Lan flying, sliding down the slope of the river embankment, all the way to the center of the ice-covered river surface.

  "Pa Dun" said: "A real man (note: a colloquialism in Northern Jiangsu dialect, meaning 'a true hero'), and you're still afraid to see your wife? If I had known that, why would you help someone else fight?" Before he could finish speaking, Yu Songyuan also kicked out with one foot. "Pa Dun" was already on guard and dodged nimbly. He said again: "Master and Teacher Chen have ordered us to take you back by any means necessary, so it's up to you."

  Yu Songyuan said: "No return. You just say I didn't hit you. Get out of here!"

  In Yu Yuemonth's home, Qin Hong was taking out this year's exam questions for the province and discussing them with everyone. Yu Yuemonth and several others were busy in the kitchen preparing lunch. It was during the Chinese New Year period, so there was a lot of food, but since it was the new daughter-in-law's first visit to pay respects, they couldn't be careless. Therefore, following the highest etiquette for receiving guests, not one of the seven bowls and eight plates could be missing.

  Chen Lan and "Pang Dun" returned with their tails between their legs, not daring to enter the main house, so they walked into the kitchen and quietly called out Yu Yueyue. Yu Yueyue looked around and asked in surprise: "Where is the person you were supposed to find?"

  The two men said dejectedly: "Auntie, we're useless, we can't beat him, it's no use trying."

  Yu Yu's mood turned bad, but after thinking for a moment, he suddenly smiled again: "What is this little thing doing now?"

  Chen Lan said: "Lying by the river in the heavy snow, lost in thought. Auntie, why are you laughing?"

  Yu Yu said, "Just pretend nothing's going on, got it?" Then she turned to Chen Jing, who was kicking a shuttlecock in front of the door, and said, "Go invite Qin sister over, tell her Auntie wants to see her about something."

  Qin Hong walked out of the house, and Yu Yue immediately pulled her hand, whispering something in her ear. Qin Hong's face turned red as she said, "Is this okay?"

  Yu Yu said: "Listen to me, little girl. I know this little rascal too well. He's definitely going to make it." And then she told Chen Lan and "Pang Dun": "You two take your sister to find him. Just come back after you've found him."

  Yu Songyuan was still lying on the snow by the river, staring at the gray sky above with his eyes wide open, his mind in a mess. Suddenly, Qin Hong walked up to him and said, "Little brother, I've come to see you." He was startled and almost jumped up, not knowing what to say for a moment, only opening his mouth wide and staring at Qin Hong's beautiful face.

  "Little brother, don't misunderstand me. I'm about to go to school soon and just wanted to come see you before that. There's really no other meaning behind it. If you dislike me so much, then I'll leave after eating, okay? If it weren't for your help in fighting off those people, our restaurant would have gone under and I wouldn't have been able to take the college entrance exams, which means my future would be ruined too. Tell me, shouldn't I come thank the person who helped me?" Qin Hong said.

  "No, no, sis, don't get me wrong, I'm not annoyed with you. I...I just feel a bit embarrassed." Yu Songyuan was no match for the university student and immediately took the bait.

  Qin Hong suddenly lost his smile, walked over to him and sat down: "You said you didn't dislike it, then why did you run away? You didn't even greet me when we met, how embarrassing. Little brother, do you know what I wrote about in my college entrance exam essay? This year's language subject in our province was called 'Bitter Battle', writing a narrative essay."

  " 'The Bitter Battle'? A narrative essay? That's too easy. Tell me, how did you write it?" Yu Songyuan sat up with a look of anticipation, gazing at Qin Hongjiao's beautiful face.

  Qin Hong said: "I am inspired to speak out. The article roughly says: My mother passed away early, and my father struggled to make a living with us three children. He opened a small restaurant in the county town to barely make ends meet. Later, he was forced to close down by thugs, but no one came to help us. When a group of thugs smashed our restaurant, a young martial artist stepped in to help, chased away the thugs and saved us. When we thanked him, the young man was very shy."

  "We finally survived as a family, and I was lucky enough to take the college entrance exam. To cherish this hard-won opportunity that my young brother fought for with his fists, I studied hard before the exam and made great progress in a short period of time. After the exam ended, when I received the admission letter, the first person I wanted to tell was this lovely martial arts boy, my dear little brother whom I had only met once."

  "Is that it? Is this okay? I think you should focus on how to overcome difficulties and improve your learning results. What score did you get in the end?"

  "I just focused on studying, but what's most attractive is the beginning and end. The composition finally got a full score."

  "Full marks? You're kidding me, can an essay really get full marks?"

  "Of course, it's full marks, don't believe me? Go check. Besides, you're my benefactor, why would I cheat you?"

  Yu Songyuan suddenly said: "Qin Hongjie, I also want to take the college entrance examination, do you think I can make it?"

  Qin Hong said: "Sister has found all the test papers from each province this year, and also brought you review materials and study experiences. Sister supports your participation in the college entrance examination, and you will use it later. Moreover, you are so smart, you must do better than sister in the exam."

  "Sister, thank you for your encouragement, but can I really do it?"

  Qin Hong didn't answer him, but instead asked: "Do you know what the supplementary question in language is?"

  "What is it?"

  "I have spent the whole day thinking, but it is not as good as what I learned in a moment; I have stood on tiptoe and looked into the distance, but it is not as good as seeing from a high place. Climbing to a high place and waving my arm, my arm does not become longer, yet those who see me are far away; shouting downwind, my voice does not become faster, yet those who hear me are clear. Borrowing a chariot and horses, I am not skilled at walking, yet I can travel a thousand miles; borrowing a boat and oars, I am not able to swim, yet I can cross rivers. A gentleman is not different from others in his birth, but he is good at making use of things."

  Yu Songyuan said, "I've read this before and I basically know what it means. It's very simple. It revolves around the central argument 'learning cannot be stopped' and is discussed repeatedly from different angles in several layers. How did you translate it, sister?"

  Qin Hong said: "Little brother, you are really clever. I translated it like this: I used to ponder all day, (but) not as much knowledge was gained in a moment; I used to stand on tiptoes and gaze far away, (but) not as broad a view as from a high place. From the high place, waving hands, arms haven't grown longer, yet others can see from afar..."