CHAPTER 206: CHAPTER 198: THE BEST FRIEND ARRIVES

Tian Sisi has been maintaining correspondence with her new best friend, Liu Qiqi. The two little girls got along swimmingly, especially since they shared a common hobby—collecting dolls.

Qiqi had always wanted to visit Yuequan Village, but last time when Tian Sisi came back for summer vacation, she had already started school. And with school resuming, she hadn’t found time to visit; so, in their letters, they made a pact to come play once winter vacation started, and called on Hu Weichao, Hu Weixin, and others to join them in catching wild rabbits and pheasants on the mountain.

In early November, Hu Weiwen went to Inner Mongolia to assist in the border construction efforts. According to Qiqi, on the day Weiwen left, his young aunt and young mother-in-law were in floods of tears at the station. The other people there were crying too; the whole station was in tears, which made her eyes swell from crying as well.

With Tian Aiguo there, Hu Weiwen probably wouldn’t meet the same fate as in his previous life, right? Tian Sisi was very satisfied with how things were developing. Many aspects of this life were different from the last. In this life, she was determined to make everyone who cared for and loved her very happy.

Winter break arrived quickly. Tian Sisi and Jianguo both attended the end-of-term school exams, and both of their grades were good, both scoring above 95. Jianguo performed even better, with 100 in math and 98 in Chinese, still the top of the class.

Jianguo had grown quite a bit taller, estimated to be around 145cm, and had become a resolute young man. Brother Shou Jizu had also been doing well over the past few months. Although he was still slow in his work, he was now halfway to being a farmer, and he was believed to become a qualified farmer after some more time.

Just a few days into the winter vacation, Tian Mantong brought Hu Weichao, Hu Weixin, and Qiqi over. Zhang Mingliu, seeing that Tian Sisi had guests, magnanimously gave Tian Sisi leave to entertain her visitors.

Liu Qiqi was still very polite outside, sweet-mouthed and pretty, standing beside Tian Sisi like sisters, quite endearing.

Tian Xinhua and He Chengsi were not home, and Hu Weichao and Hu Weixin were slightly disappointed. However, their disappointment did not last long. Without Tian Xinhua, there was still Tian Qinghua. He was also an expert at having fun, and he, along with Tang Qiubai, led Hu Weixin and the brothers on a wild romp over the hills. Tian Sisi and Liu Qiqi joined them.

Yuequan Village had just experienced a snowfall, and the snow scene on the mountain was incredibly beautiful, as if donning a coat of snow white. Children from the city have never seen such beauty. Hu Weixin and his brother were a bit better off, having been here a few times before.

But it was Liu Qiqi’s first time seeing it, and she was so delighted that she scooped up snow from the ground and threw it towards the distant trees. The snowballs hit the trees, knocking down a flurry of snowflakes, very beautiful.

Tian Sisi was in charge of taking photos, and most of the photos were of Qiqi, who kept changing poses. The young girl had quite a presence on camera and photographed very well.

They played happily. After a snowball fight which left them all warm, Tian Qinghua suggested checking the pit traps to see if any prey had been caught. Hu Weichao and the others readily agreed, and even Liu Qiqi was very interested.

From afar came the sound of talking, with a girl’s voice the loudest, audible from a distance.

"Aw, your mountains here are so ugly, nothing but trees and rocks, nowhere near as pretty as the parks in Shanghai!"

Who could it be? And all that ’aw’ talk. Apart from her own family in Yuequan Village, she hadn’t heard of anyone else having relatives in Shanghai.

Walking at the front was surprisingly Tian Shouhua, although he seemed not too happy. Following him were Tian Ping’an, Tian Pingxiu, Gao Qiao Mei—Tian Ping’an was the younger son of Tian Chusheng, Tian Shouhua’s classmate.

Tian Pingxiu was Tian Qiusheng’s little girl, about the same age as Zhong Wanhua. At 14 this year, she looked like her mother. Although a bit dark, she was quite pretty. However, her temper was not so good and she was easily provoked.

The last two were beautiful girls. One was known to Tian Sisi, the bridesmaid Xiao Mi, who could drink a lot—that one from Tian Pinggui’s wedding. She didn’t recognize the other, but by the look of her upturned nose, she didn’t want to. Presumably, the girl who had spoken just now was her.

"If you dislike this place so much, why bother coming here? We never invited you."

Tian Pingxiu, who was already quick-tempered, became instantly infuriated upon hearing this. If not for the sake of her sister-in-law’s feelings, she would have slapped her right away.

"Pingxiu, I’m sorry. Nana just has a foul mouth, just treat it as if she farted."

Xiao Mi’s face looked terrible. She glared at her cousin Nana, clearly not wanting to bring this cousin to her cousin’s house at all. But after her mother and second aunt insisted, she had no choice but to comply.

"Zhou Nana, shut your mouth. If you keep babbling, you can walk back by yourself."

Xiao Mi quietly warned her cousin, who was really spoiled by the second aunt. She had no sense of being a guest and truly acted like a princess!

"Mo Xiaomi, dare you talk to me like this, I’ll tell Mama and my little aunt when I get back!" Zhou Nana was livid, glaring at Xiao Mi.

"Oh wow, why don’t you go tell them right now? I’m so scared of you!" Xiao Mi mocked Zhou Nana’s tone, causing everyone to burst into laughter.

"Let’s go, let’s go have fun and ignore her." Xiao Mi was too lazy to pay any more attention to her cousin and called everyone to move on.

From a distance, Tian Sisi waved to Tian Shouhua, "Brother Shouhua, you guys are playing on the mountain too?"

Seeing Tian Sisi with her hat and scarf off, Tian Shouhua gave her a stern look and walked over to put them back on for her.

"Oh, Brother Shouhua, I’m too hot. I’ll put them back on later!"

"You’ll catch a cold later, do you want to take medicine again?" Tian Shouhua quickly tied the scarf, soon enveloping Tian Sisi warmly.

"Brother Shouhua, isn’t that the pretty lady who drank with you? Why are you playing together?" Tian Sisi squinted and whispered with an ambiguous smile.

Tian Shouhua flicked her nose hard and gave her an annoyed look but still answered Tian Sisi’s question.

"She’s Ping Gui’s younger aunt, called Mo Xiaomi, and the other is her cousin, seems like her name is Nana or something, from Shanghai. That Nana wanted to see the snow scenery on the mountain, so Ping’an and Pingxiu accompanied them here, along with me, who got roped in by Ping’an to help out."

Tian Shouhua had a regretful expression, knowing now just how annoying Zhou Nana was, he would never have agreed to join them no matter what.

"So they’re from Shanghai, no wonder they keep saying ’A-La A-La’. Sister Qiqi, those are your fellow townsmen!"

Tian Sisi joked with Liu Qiqi, but got no response. Instead, she saw Liu Qiqi staring unblinkingly across the way, and that Nana from the other side seemed to be staring back at them.

The expressions on both faces were far from friendly, even with a touch of mutual enmity as if old acquaintances were eyeing each other with dislike. Could it be that these two knew each other from before?