Su Xiaomei clearly hadn't expected Chi Ge to ask such a direct question.
Her face flushed, and she didn't know what to say.
"No, Grandpa Chi, I don't like... it's not that I don't like him..."
Su Xiaomei felt she couldn't explain it clearly.
Did she like him?
No, she definitely wouldn't like a stranger she had only met once, or rather, met a few times.
But could she say she didn't like him?
Why wouldn't she like him?
He seemed a little too enthusiastic, but he hadn't done anything else!
"Not disliking him, does that mean you like him?" Chi Ge teased.
Su Xiaomei hadn't expected Chi Ge to jump to that conclusion and quickly said, "Grandpa Chi, it's not like that. It's just that I can't dislike someone for no reason!"
Chi Ge gave a knowing look, as if he understood everything.
He looked at Su Xiaomei meaningfully.
When he first saw Su Xiaomei, she was just a country girl, at most a bit more presentable than other village girls.
But after a few years, especially after living in the capital for a while, Xiaomei had undergone a complete transformation.
Now, if this child walked down the street, no one would suspect she came from the countryside.
She had a beautiful appearance and an even better demeanor.
No wonder Huo Sinian had taken an instant liking to her.
It was just that that brat was too useless. He had created opportunities for him, even letting him escort Xiaomei home, so why did he still mess it up?
And now Xiaomei had come to him to complain!
"Xiaomei, don't worry, I'll talk to that brat Huo Sinian."
Chi Ge laughed heartily, but he was inwardly delighted.
That brat Huo Sinian had really hit a wall this time.
Did he think this was some foreign country, bringing flowers to find a female student at school?
Meeting for the first time and immediately inviting her to a movie?
He really didn't know if the boy had a brain or not!
He would have to teach him a good lesson later!
Chi Ge had no idea that Huo Sinian had put a lot of thought into pursuing the girl he liked, coming up with the idea of sending flowers and watching movies.
However, Huo Sinian never expected that Su Xiaomei would be so unreceptive to it, even avoiding him.
He clearly remembered that when they were abroad, the men all did things like this.
Why was it that doing this yielded no results for him?
Meanwhile, upstairs, Su Xiaotian, who was busy tutoring Su Xiao Ba, finally managed to explain the problem clearly.
The problem wasn't particularly difficult, but for some reason, the usually clever Brother Ba couldn't get past this hurdle.
"Xiaotian, with your explanation, I understand."
Su Xiao Ba said this with utmost seriousness.
Su Xiaotian glanced at her watch. More than half an hour had passed since she went upstairs.
"Brother Ba, let's go. Dinner should be ready!"
It was definitely ready; she could already smell the aroma of food.
Grandma's cooking skills were indeed getting better and better.
However, the current workload was a bit too much for Grandma. With more and more guests, they really should hire a chef to help.
Su Xiaotian was thinking about this, completely oblivious to Su Xiao Ba's smug smile.
Su Xiao Ba had deliberately found an excuse to drag Su Xiaotian upstairs because he was unhappy about Su Xiaotian being close to Chi Yiyuan.
He was hungry now.
He wholeheartedly agreed with Su Xiaotian's suggestion, and the siblings walked back downstairs together.
When the siblings went downstairs, they indeed saw six dishes neatly arranged on the table, all served in large plates, full and appetizing in appearance, aroma, and taste.
Grandma Su was coming out with a pot of soup.
"Xiao Ba, what were you dragging your sister off to do? It's almost time to eat, and you're letting your sister go hungry. Watch your hide!"
Grandma Su saw Su Xiaotian and Su Xiao Ba and immediately started scolding Su Xiao Ba.
Su Xiao Ba felt like he must have been adopted.
Look at the difference in how Grandma treated her grandson and granddaughter!
She worried about her granddaughter going hungry but didn't worry about whether he was hungry too!
"Grandma, I'm hungry too!"
"You're hungry, and it serves you right!" Grandma Su glared at Su Xiao Ba with disdain.
Su Xiao Ba looked resentfully at Su Xiaotian, hoping for some comfort from his sister.
However, Su Xiao Ba was destined to be disappointed.
At that moment, Su Xiaotian saw Chi Yiyuan and excitedly ran over to him, completely forgetting about her own brother, Su Xiao Ba.
"Brother Yiyuan, my grandma made delicious food today. Hurry and wash your hands, it's time to eat."
Su Xiaotian called out to Chi Yiyuan repeatedly, her tone exceptionally affectionate and natural.
This time, not only Su Xiao Ba but all the male children of the Su family collectively felt a pang of jealousy!
Chi Ge looked at the two young children, who were as close as they were, and was very satisfied!
Especially seeing the unconcealed smile on Chi Yiyuan's face, Chi Ge felt even more pleased.
The incident from the past had left a huge shadow in his grandson's heart.
It was only with Xiaotian's appearance that the clouds finally dispersed.
What a joyous occasion!
Xiaotian was not only a lucky star for the Su family but also for their Chi family!
Chi Yiyuan didn't go to wash his hands. Instead, he smiled and said a few words to Su Xiaotian, then took a crystal hairpin out of his pocket and presented it to Su Xiaotian as if offering a treasure.
This had been prepared earlier, but he hadn't had a chance to give it to Su Xiaotian before Su Xiao Ba intercepted her.
The hairpin was sky blue, inlaid with rhinestones, sparkling and very beautiful. In the light, it shone with a dazzling brilliance.
Su Xiaotian wasn't particularly interested in such a hairpin; it was just hard plastic, and the rhinestones weren't real.
But because it was a gift from Chi Yiyuan, Su Xiaotian smiled, accepted it, and carefully pinned it to her hair, turning to show Chi Yiyuan.
Hearing Su Xiaotian's giggles, the curve of Chi Yiyuan's lips widened further.
Watching Chi Yiyuan gently adjust the hairpin on Su Xiaotian's head.
Chi Ge couldn't help but glance at Su Xiaomei again. Recalling Xiaomei's words, he couldn't help but feel proud.
That brat Fu Sinian wasn't as good at making young girls happy as their Xiao Yuan!
Su Xiaomei didn't think much of it, just sat there, clutching her handkerchief, lost in thought.
However, inadvertently, Su Xiaomei's face suddenly flushed.
Su Xiaotian turned back with a smile and asked, "Brother Yiyuan, is it pretty?"
Chi Yiyuan looked at the bright smile on Su Xiaotian's face and said, "Beautiful!"
Indeed, the saleswoman had been right; young girls liked such hairpins.
However, other girls outside were also wearing hairpins, but none were as beautiful as their Xiaotian's.
Su Xiaotian flitted like a butterfly to Grandma Su and Liang Xiu to show off.
Chi Ge looked at his grandson and cursed him with a smile.
"You brat, you actually know how to give gifts to young girls. Speaking of which, I, your grandfather, have never received a gift from you!"
The more the old man spoke, the more he felt a pang of envy.
He was truly envious, what should he do?
Chi Yiyuan suppressed the urge to roll his eyes.
At his age, competing for favor with a little girl, wasn't he ashamed?
Grandma Su and Liang Xiu also praised the hairpin on Su Xiaotian's head, saying it was very pretty.
They didn't pay much attention to the fact that the gift was from Chi Yiyuan, nor did they think anything was amiss.
The two families had been interacting for years; they had exchanged gifts many times.
"Before, I saw other little girls wearing hairpins, but none were as beautiful as my precious girl's!"
Grandma Su examined it for a long time and said quite sincerely.
Of course, it was what she personally felt was sincere; whether it was truly sincere was another matter.
Of course, Grandma Su didn't care if her words were sincere or not; as long as she felt her precious girl was the best, that was enough!
Coincidentally, Grandma Su also praised Chi Yiyuan: "Little Yuan has good taste! Look at the hairpin he chose, tsk tsk, it's so beautiful!"
Chi Yiyuan was unexpectedly praised, and the curve of his lips widened even further!
"Grandma Su, I just happened to see it and thought it suited Xiaotian perfectly!"
Grandma Su glared at her grandsons.
"You brats, why haven't you thought of buying anything for your sister? What are you even thinking about all day!"
The Su brothers: ...
Why were they being brought into this?
The few of them transferred their resentment to Chi Yiyuan.