Chapter 184

When Lin Hua woke up, he saw through the window. It was almost dark. It seemed that the sun had been set long ago.

Zhao Chen was still sleeping beside him and Lin Hua didn’t wake him up. Then as he focused, he heard many people talking downstairs.

Lin Hua guessed that this should be the helpers invited by Xu Ran. Whenever their family had a banquet or guests, the house would go very lively.

Lin Hua stretched himself and sat up lazily from the bed. An iron basin was on the wooden shelf in the room, with some water inside. Lin Hua got dressed and washed his face, admiring for Xu Ran’s thoughtfulness.

When Lin Hua walked to the doorway, he saw that the door to the next room was also open, from which Lin Xi came out. As Lin Xi greeted him, Lin Hua nodded and asked, “How was your sleep?”.

Lin Xi scratched his head and was a bit embarrassed, “I’m fine. How about you?”

Lin Hua nodded, “I’ve slept enough too. You can go down now! I will go to call Zhao Chen.”

“Okay!” Lin Xi responded and went downstairs.

After all, this was not their own home. There were still guests in Xu Ran’s home. Lin Hua thought for a moment and decided to wake him up.

Zhao Chen couldn’t sleep well in unfamiliar beds. However, as he hadn’t slept well when he was at home earlier, and hadn’t slept on his way to here. At present, he was so sleepy that he fell asleep without even picking on the bed.

Besides, the bed of Xu Ran’s home was quite soft and the quilt was warm.

Plus the living environment. Lin Hua even felt a bit envious.

He toured inside the house, then walked to the window and looked outside carefully, talking to himself, “Zhao Chen, when we’re old, let’s move in and live here. Okay?”

“Okay!”

Hearing the response, Lin Hua suddenly turned his head and saw Zhao Chen sitting on the bed in a daze.

Lin Hua smiled and leaned over to kiss him. “I have wanted to call you, but you wake up by yourself.”

Zhao Chen rubbed his eyes and asked Lin Hua, “What time is it now?” He looked like a child at the moment.

Lin Hua was so tempted to do something, but neither the time and the location was right, so he had to endure.

Lin Hua said, “It is getting dark, dusk time! Will you get up?”

“Yes, I will. It sounds so lively. Is someone here?” Zhao Chen asked.

Lin Hua fetched his clothes over for him to dress and answered, “It should be the helpers invited by Xu Ran. After all, Baozi will reach his first hundred day in life tomorrow.”

“Mm, I’m hungry. Let’s go downstairs to eat something. By the way, I want to wash my face. Go downstairs and get me some water,” Zhao Chen said.

Lin Hua pointed to the basin on the wooden shelf behind him. “There’s water inside, but I’ve used it. If you don’t mind.”

Zhao Chen rolled his eyes at Lin Hua, “Have I ever minded?”

Lin Hua thought about it seriously, “No.”

Zhao Chen got dressed and pushed him away. “Stay away. I shall wash my face.”

Lin Hua, who had wanted to be lovey-dovey with Zhao Chen, seeing his resistance, could only pout and move aside.

Zhao Chen washed his face, and then the two went downstairs together. The voices downstairs came from the kitchen, so they went straight to the kitchen.

Xu Ran and Liu Tong were both in the kitchen and there were other Ge’ers and men. They talked while working. Lin Hua also saw Lin Xi was among them.

He walked over with Zhao Chen and said with a smile, “It’s so lively.”

Xu Ran raised his head at the words. “You two are up! Are you hungry? We can have the meal dinner soon.”

Lin Hua shook his head. “Not yet. We have just eaten before the sleep. How can we be hungry so soon? Are you guys preparing for tomorrow?”

Xu Ran nodded, “Yes!” Then he said to Lin Hua, “Let me give you an introduction. They’re all from Xu Village and we’re on good terms, so we invited them over to help. This is Xu An, this is his spouse, Wu Mei.”

Xu Ran introduced everyone one by one, and then pointed at Lin Hua as well as Zhao Chen, saying, “They are the friends I knew in He Shui Town. This is Lin Hua, and this is Zhao Chen. There is no need to stand on ceremony, just call them by names.”

After Xu Ran finished speaking, Wu Mei and others all greeted them, and Lin Hua and Zhao Chen responded one by one.

Lin Hua was jocular by nature, and his words always made people burst into laughter. After a few words, the distance between them was much closer.

“Dad.”

“Dad.”

Just as Lin Hua was about to continue talking, the voices of two identical kids came from behind him.

Lin Hua turned back and saw the twins looking at Xu Ran in front of him.

Lin Hua felt he had lost his heart to them. He squatted down and kissed each of the two children on the cheek, “You must be Xu Ran’s kids! What are your names? You are so cute! Xu Ran, can you give me one?”

Before Xu Ran could react, Zhao Chen had given him a slap from behind, “What are you blabbering? The kids are human beings rather than objects. How can they be given to you?”

Xu Ran touched his chin and looked at Lin Hua, then at Zhao Chen. Although he was unhappy about what Lin Hua said, he could understand since his child was so cute.

Xu Ran was afraid that Lin Hua would scare the two kids, so he pulled them to his side and told them, “Tangtang, Guoguo, these two have no ill intentions. They are my friends, this is Uncle Lin and this is Uncle Zhao.”

Tangtang and Guoguo looked at Lin Hua and Zhao Chen up and down. Until they didn’t find they didn’t look like bad guys, they greeted them.

Lin Hua felt that his heart was being melted by the greetings.

Although the two babies who were still in the cradles were cute too, it was obvious that the two in front of them were even cuter, and they looked exactly the same.

Xu Ran hadn’t intended to let Lin Hua to play with Tangtang and Guoguo. However, he felt that if he refused, Lin Hua would definitely be sad. So, he said generously, “Tangtang, Guoguo, have some fun with these two uncles for a while. You can play Chinese chess and Five in a Row.”

Tangtang and Guoguo were obedient to Xu Ran. Since their dad had said that the two guys were not bad people, it was fine to have fun with them. Anyway, it was good to have new opponents to play.

The twins planned very well; then they walked over to hold their hand each. “Let’s go to the living room!” Guoguo and I will play chess with you,” said the “diplomat” Tangtang.

“Okay!” Lin Hua assented in a hurry, lest that Tangtang and Guoguo would change their ideas if he gave his answer a little late.

Tangtang and Guoguo did not go back on their words, but they felt that Lin Hua was a little weird.

There was only one set of Five in a Row, so it could only be played by two. Tangtang and Guoguo had to be split.

Zhao Chen gave the opportunity to Lin Hua, and the one who taught him was Tangtang. Guoguo was not as patient as Tangtang after all.

Guoguo played chess with Zhao Chen. They had studied chess after Lin Xi took it back from Xu Ran last year. In addition, they had somehow mastered it by playing it every now and then in the past few months.

However, Zhao Chen was a little hesitant. He wondered if he should compromise a bit; after all, Guoguo was a kid. What if he refused to play with him after he lost?

But it turned out that he had thought too much. Guoguo was obviously much better than him.

After losing the first round unaccountably, Zhao Chen could not recollect what was going on.

Guoguo didn’t show any mercy when playing chess. According to his dad, if one could not even beat a kid, he should not claim that he knew how to play. Shame on him!

Zhao Chen lost several rounds to Guoguo. Looking at his frustrated look, Guoguo kindly explained how to eat the other player’s chess pieces when opening a new game.

Zhao Chen sincerely felt his inferiority!

He now believed in Xu Ran’s words, about his son being better than him.

According to Xu Ran, the child was less than seven years old.

If there was a hole on the ground now, Zhao Chen felt that he would probably crawl into it.

However, Lin Hua on the other game was not better than Zhao Chen.

In the first few rounds, Tangtang was teaching Lin Hua how to play, so he didn’t play seriously. When Lin Hua said he had mastered it, Tangtang’s style changed constantly. Not long before Lin Hua could place several pieces onto the board, the round was over.

What’s more, the same thing was happening again and again. At first, Lin Hua could use his unfamiliarity as an excuse, but after so many rounds, plus Five in a Row was not difficult, he was embarrassed!

But kids were naive. Tangtang had no other thoughts. When they played chess with the other family members, they might win or lose. When he played with Guoguo, they mostly drew a tie.

They lost more when they battled with Xu Ran, but obviously Xu Ran was more experienced in it.

“Come in high spirits but return frustrated,” it was probably the condition of Lin Hua and Zhao Chen.

They had planned to tease the two kids, but they wound up being teased by kids.

When Xu Ran came over to call them to have dinner, he saw them drooping their heads in frustration.

Looking at the chess pieces that had been put away and the confused look of Tangtang and Guoguo, Xu Ran smiled. “Alright, don’t underestimate them because of their age. They are very good at playing chess. I can’t even beat them. You guys are going to stay here anyway. Let them teach you two after school. Alright, let’s go eat now!”

Seeing the look of Lin Hua and Zhao Chen, the two kids realized that they had won too many rounds today, which was why they were so battered.