The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 428: Chapter 428: An Interesting Nickname

Old Madam Xu was born before the Qing Dynasty had even fallen!

She attended a modern girls’ school as a child and studied abroad in her youth. Her rich life experience allowed her to see through appearances to the essence of things.

She did not permit fools in her family. One could be mediocre, but not a fool, and certainly not be swindled into becoming one.

Xu Yingying smiled. ”Mom, I know. We take the good and discard the bad. If foreign technology is more advanced than ours, we’ll learn it. As for all that foreign nonsense, we’ll cast it aside.”

She had already reached the age of forty, a time for shedding confusion. If she couldn’t figure certain things out by this age, she was probably destined to live her whole life in a muddle.

Han Xiaorui saw the diamond jewelry set Old Madam Xu had given her. It had a very chic, foreign-sounding name: ”Alice’s Heart.”

Opening the box, her eyes were met with a dazzling sparkle.

There were two pairs of earrings—one pair of diamond studs and one pair of long, dangling diamond earrings.

There was a necklace made of large diamonds in an intricate, luxurious design, a ten-carat diamond ring, a pair of diamond bracelets, and a pair of brooches.

The set could be worn all together or as individual pieces.

”Grandma, this gift is far too valuable.” Han Xiaorui didn’t know the exact price, but from what she’d seen in magazines, it was on par with the diamond jewelry worn by European and American royalty.

Old Madam Xu chuckled lightly. ”It’s precisely because it’s valuable that I’m giving it to you. Since it’s a gift, don’t refuse it. You can wear it while you’re young. In the future, when your daughters are grown, you can give it to them to wear, use it as part of their dowries, or give it to your daughter-in-law as a present.”

Xu Yingying persuaded her, ”Xiao Rui, hurry up and accept it. Mom has plenty more in her treasure vault. When we’re older, we can be as extravagantly generous as Mom and give the younger generation lots of nice things.”

”Thank you, Grandma. I’ll accept it then,” Han Xiaorui said with a smile. She had three daughters and one son. With a future daughter-in-law to think of, and jewelry now in hand, she could also be a generous elder one day.

In truth, the jewelry set was stunning.

Xu Yingying was quite envious. ”Xiao Rui, in the future, if I need diamond jewelry for certain occasions, I’ll borrow from you. I’ll take good care of it and make sure nothing happens to it.”

”Okay!” Han Xiaorui agreed immediately. ”Whenever you need it, you can come and get it.”

She didn’t particularly like or dislike such things and wouldn’t get too attached to them.

In Han Xiaorui’s heart, all this diamond jewelry was honestly less appealing than a good meal.

”Then I’ll thank you in advance. You’re welcome to borrow my jewelry anytime, too,” Xu Yingying said with a smile, being just as generous with Han Xiaorui.

”Mm!” Han Xiaorui agreed. ’I’ll never borrow any, though. I don’t have many occasions to wear jewelry.’

She loved the sea, and wearing jewelry on the water was inconvenient.

The babies were already ten days old. Their skin had smoothed out, and they were adorable as little jade dolls, with fair skin and small, red lips.

”Grandma, have you and Grandpa chosen formal names for the children yet?” Han Xiaorui asked. ”Ye Feng and I only came up with nicknames. The girl is Ningning, and the boy is Zhuangzhuang.”

”Zhuangzhuang?” Xu Yingying couldn’t help but laugh. ”Little Zhuangzhuang, that’s interesting. And Ningning has a nice meaning, too.”

Hearing this, Old Madam Xu’s brow furrowed slightly. ”A nickname of Ningning for the girl is fine, and Ye Ningning works as a formal name. It follows the theme of her two older sisters, Pingping and An’an. As for the boy, Zhuangzhuang is fine as a nickname, but Ye Zhuangzhuang is absolutely not acceptable as a formal name.”

”Ye Zhuangzhuang, haha, you’re right, it doesn’t sound very good. It’s even a little comical,” Xu Yingying chuckled. ”Mom, you and Dad should pick a nice formal name for him.”

Old Madam Xu smiled. ”What about Chen? It comes from the *Book of Odes, Hymns of Lu, Pan Shui*: ’Awed are the tribes of the Huai; they will come presenting their treasures.’ It means ’treasure.’ Xiao Rui, what do you think of that name?”

”Ye Chen?” Han Xiaorui was taken aback, then laughed. ”The name and its meaning are both wonderful, but Grandma, have you forgotten about Ye Chen from Beijing? It’s not appropriate for a nephew and his uncle to have names that sound exactly the same.”

”Oh...” Old Madam Xu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She tapped her head. ”Look at me, I completely forgot about that. Since we can’t use Chen, let’s go with Ye Hui. Hui means ’fine jade’.”

”Ye Hui. That sounds very nice,” Han Xiaorui praised. ”Thank you, Grandma. Zhuangzhuang has a formal name now.”

”Xiao Rui, are you planning to hold a one-month celebration or a 100-day celebration?” Old Madam Xu asked, respecting Han Xiaorui’s decision.

Han Xiaorui had originally wanted a one-month celebration, but considering how young the babies were and that their immune systems weren’t strong yet, she changed her mind. ”Grandma, let’s do the 100-day celebration. By then, the babies will be over three months old and a bit stronger.”

”Good. Your grandfather and I were thinking the same thing. While these formalities are important, they are nowhere near as important as the children’s health. At 100 days, they’ll be over three months old and have stronger immune systems.”

Han Xiaorui gladly accepted the elders’ arrangement. ”Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa. We’ll have to trouble you again.”

”It’s no trouble at all. For a happy occasion like this, I wish it would happen a few more times.” Old Madam Xu had been full of vigor these past few days, and even her usual trouble sleeping at night had disappeared.

Old Madam Xu and Xu Yingying had just left when Yang Zhigang came to visit Han Xiaorui.

Sister Lian was helping Han Xiaorui during her postpartum confinement and taking care of the babies. Han Xiaorui made sure she was so well-fed with nourishing soups and liquids every day that Sister Lian’s own face became rosy and she had a healthy glow.

Seeing Han Xiaorui doing so well, Yang Zhigang felt a pang of guilt for the wrongs she had suffered in the past.

”Uncle Yang, what’s on your mind?” Han Xiaorui asked. ”Please, sit. Have some freshly made pastries.”

”Did Brother Liu tell you that those Japanese devils have their eyes on the islands we were planning to use for the water park?” Yang Zhigang asked.

Han Xiaorui nodded. ”He told me. Uncle Liu also said he’d keep an eye on it. The village committee hasn’t mentioned tearing up my lease contract yet. Uncle Yang, has something changed?”

Yang Zhigang frowned. ”The committee hasn’t said anything, but Cao Xuewen has already taken some of those Japanese devils to scout the islands. It’s probably going to happen any day now.”

”Uncle Yang, don’t worry. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Han Xiaorui reassured him. ”We never expected this. Before Cao Xuewen took office, he was reasonably polite to us. It’s barely been a month, and he’s already started making trouble. I don’t care if he’s the village party secretary or a high-ranking official from above—if he tries to ruin my business, I won’t let him get away with it.”

Yang Zhigang thought for a moment. ”We’re all from the same village, after all. It wouldn’t be good to make things too ugly. You stay put for now; I’ll go talk to Cao Xuewen first. He can’t just conspire with outsiders to screw over his own villagers.”

Han Xiaorui was unconvinced. ”Uncle Yang, don’t waste your breath. The moment Cao Xuewen took those Japanese devils to tour the islands, he proved he’s willing to be a running dog and stab us in the back.”

”I’ve already contacted a design institute. They’ll be sending professors, experts, and their staff to conduct a site survey soon. We’ll do the design ourselves, without any foreign involvement. I refuse to believe we can’t build a simple water park and aquarium on our own.”

Yang Zhigang was taken aback. ”What will you do if the village committee tears up the contract?”

Han Xiaorui replied, ”The village committee belongs to the villagers, not to Cao Xuewen. Besides, there are officials above him. He doesn’t get to call all the shots. Don’t worry, Uncle Yang. I already have a plan.”