The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 127: Chapter 127: Heartwarming Little Sweetie

The driver spoke with an envious tone, ”The people in Jinshan Bay must be rich. No wonder you’re willing to take a taxi all the way home from the train station.”

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”It’s alright. We make our living from the sea. The harvests are good, but it’s dangerous too.”

When the car stopped in front of Han Xiaorui’s house, the two sisters finally realized that the countryside here was nothing like their own village.

Although the other houses weren’t as nice as Han Xiaorui’s, they were all large, brick-and-tile buildings with their own courtyards.

”Sister Xiao Rui, is this your home?” Wu Jiao asked, suppressing her excitement. In her entire life, she had never even seen a house this nice, let alone lived in one.

Han Xiaorui nodded. ”Yes, please come in. I’ve already gotten your room ready. It’s on the first floor, on the east side, by the window.”

Inside was a bunk bed, a large wardrobe, a large desk, and two chairs.

”Actually, I prepared bedding for you both. Didn’t Ye Feng tell you?”

Wu Jiao looked at the clean cooling mat and mosquito net on the bed. ”We didn’t want Brother Ye to spend money on us. My mom told us to bring everything we could to avoid troubling Brother Ye as much as possible.”

Hearing this, Han Xiaorui became even more certain that they came from a good, honest family. ”You two get settled in here. I’m going to go buy some groceries.”

”Please don’t go to the trouble. We brought pickled vegetables,” Wu Jiao said, not wanting Han Xiaorui to spend more money.

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”Save the pickled vegetables; I’ll try some later. But you can’t live on just pickled vegetables. I’m providing room and board, so from now on, you’ll eat whatever my family eats. Don’t be shy.”

Han Xiaorui started the rice, then began stewing some braised pork belly in the pressure cooker.

She then rode her bicycle to the market, where she bought a mouth-watering chicken, along with some more meat, eggs, and vegetables.

As for fish, there were plenty in the large tank at home, ready to be prepared fresh at any time.

At the market entrance, Han Xiaorui saw a stall selling white T-shirts and sweatpants and remembered that the two sisters were wearing long sleeves despite the sweltering heat.

(The style of sweatpants popular in the eighties)

She bought clothes for them, guessing their sizes based on their height and build.

Seeing how much Han Xiaorui was buying, the shopkeeper immediately told her she could come back and exchange them anytime if they didn’t fit.

She also bought them undershirts, bras, and underwear—if you’re going to buy some, you might as well get a full set.

And three pairs of Warrior sneakers for each of them.

(The Warrior WB-1 basketball shoe, which debuted in 1979, has a style that isn’t outdated even today.)

Timing it just right, she went to the school to pick up Yang Minmin.

”Auntie Xiao Rui, why’d you buy so many clothes?” Yang Minmin asked in her bright, clear voice from the back seat of the bike. ”This isn’t your style, is it?”

”Well now, this little girl even knows about style,” Han Xiaorui said with a laugh as she pedaled. ”So tell me, what’s my style?”

Yang Minmin giggled. ”Ladylike, of course! You’re pretty, and you look even better in skirts and high heels.”

”Haha, that’s because you haven’t seen me fight. It’s pretty scary and not the least bit ladylike,” Han Xiaorui laughed heartily. The compliment on her looks had put her in a cheerful mood.

Yang Minmin added, ”That must be because they were bad guys who deserved a beating. Auntie Xiao Rui only hits them then. You’re enacting justice, exercising your right to self-defense!”

”Oh my, Minmin, who taught you all this?” Han Xiaorui asked, surprised. ’If her schoolteacher is teaching her things like this, maybe having the children attend the village elementary school would be fine after all,’ she thought.

Yang Minmin replied, ”Our Teacher Xu said that. She’s our language arts teacher. She tells us stories all the time. We all love Teacher Xu.”

”Wonderful!” Han Xiaorui praised. ”When your little sisters are older, we’ll have Teacher Xu teach them, too.”

”Yeah, yeah, Teacher Xu is the best...” Yang Minmin said with a smile.

With Han Xiaorui’s gentle prompting, she began to talk about her morning at school.

This allowed Han Xiaorui to stay up-to-date on how Yang Minmin was doing at school and relay the information to Wu Cuicui and Yang Jianguo.

When they got home, Han Xiaorui introduced them to Yang Minmin. ”These are the martial arts experts I’ve hired. The older sister is Wu Jiao—you can call her Sister Jiaojiao. The younger sister is Wu Yao—you can call her Sister Yaoyao.”

Yang Minmin’s eyes lit up at the words ”martial arts experts.” ”Like the martial arts from the Hong Kong dramas? Sister Jiaojiao, Sister Yaoyao, do you know the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms?”

The wuxia drama from Hong Kong, Legend of the Condor Heroes, had recently started airing in the mainland and was a smash hit with men and women, young and old.

Wu Jiao looked a little embarrassed. She had never watched television, so she knew nothing about wuxia dramas. ”I practice Shaolin Martial Arts. I’ve heard of the Iron Sand Palm, but I’ve never heard of the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms.”

Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, Han Xiaorui patted Yang Minmin’s head. ”Those are techniques from television dramas, not real life.”

Hearing this, Yang Minmin looked a little disappointed. ”But does practicing martial arts make you good at fighting?”

Upon hearing that, Wu Jiao shook her head vigorously. ”We practice martial arts to protect our home and country and to build up our bodies, not for fighting.”

”Then, can you two sisters teach me?” Yang Minmin asked, her eyes shining with hope. She forgot all about her hunger, now completely focused on learning martial arts.

Han Xiaorui asked curiously, ”Minmin, learning martial arts is exhausting and difficult. You still want to learn?”

”Of course I do! That way, if anyone makes fun of Pingping and An’an, I, as their big sister, can drive away those brats who bully them,” Yang Minmin said with a serious expression, clenching her small fists.

Han Xiaorui had assumed Yang Minmin was just interested for her own sake; she hadn’t expected the girl wanted to learn martial arts to protect Pingping and An’an. She was deeply moved.

’What a little sweetheart, she really warms your heart.’

”Okay, Minmin, you’re wonderful,” Han Xiaorui said with a smile. ”We’ll talk about learning martial arts later. For now, we need to have lunch. You have class at two o’clock this afternoon!”

Yang Minmin nodded. ”Okay.”

Just as Han Xiaorui finished setting the food on the table, Han Xiaoqing returned with Pingping and An’an.

Liang Xiaoyu and Cai Wenjun had already been dropped off at the village entrance to go to their own homes.

”Big sis, big sis...” Pingping and An’an called out as soon as they got out of the car.

Yang Minmin quickly jumped up from her chair and ran outside to meet her little sisters.

The three of them joined hands and spun in circles in the courtyard.

”Hurry and wash your hands so you can eat,” Han Xiaorui urged. Although it was a hot day, some of the dishes wouldn’t be as good if they cooled down.

Han Xiaorui introduced everyone and then beckoned Wu Jiao and Wu Yao to the table. ”Wu Jiao, Wu Yao, please, don’t stand on ceremony. It’s just us here, so make yourselves at home.”

Wu Jiao looked a little uncomfortable. ”Sister Xiao Rui, we could just serve ourselves some rice and vegetables and eat outside.”

When Wu Yao heard her sister say this, she also hesitated to sit down.

Han Xiaorui stood up and gently pressed them down into their chairs. ”I’ve already told you both not to be so formal. We don’t have that many rules in this house. If you still feel awkward, then you can repay me by taking good care of and protecting my sister and the children.”

”Now, hurry and eat. I still need to take Minmin to school, and when I get back, I’ll take you to the post office in the county seat to send a telegram home.”

Seeing how sincere Han Xiaorui was, Wu Jiao finally sat down to eat.

They were too shy to serve themselves, so Han Xiaorui used the serving chopsticks to put food on their plates. ”Eat more. We have so many dishes, it’ll be a waste if we don’t finish them!”

Back home, Wu Jiao mostly ate noodle and flour-based dishes and rarely had rice.

Although she wasn’t used to it, the food was delicious. The braised pork belly was especially flavorful, and the chicken was wonderfully fragrant.

After lunch, Han Xiaoqing stayed home to get Pingping and An’an to take their afternoon nap, while Han Xiaorui took Yang Minmin to school on her bicycle.

The poor girl didn’t even get to take a nap at noon.

But summer vacation would be starting soon, so she wouldn’t have to go to school for a while.

On her way back, she happened to run into Wu Cuicui at the village entrance. Wu Cuicui looked haggard, with dark circles under her eyes. ”Sister Cuicui, are you alright?”