NCCnovel Chapter 294 They All Moved to Beijing
Chapter 294 They All Moved to Beijing
At this point, Yuan Bao's entire family moved to Beijing and began to embrace a new life.
Morning light filters through the mottled branches of the jujube trees in the courtyard, casting dappled gold spots on the blue brick floor.
Yuan Baoli stood under the tree, watching the morning mist, carrying the aroma of fried dough sticks from the stall, drift over the black tiles, making the figures of his family members appear warm and vivid.
"Miss, the transfer order from the Ministry of Commerce and the transportation company's license have arrived." Butler Bai, dressed in a navy blue satin cheongsam with a white magnolia flower pinned to the button, gracefully approached, carrying a kraft paper package of documents. A pearl hair clip at her temple gleamed slightly in the morning light.
"Pingping and Xiaoshan's transfer procedures have been completed, and they can go directly to Experimental No. 2 Primary School to register on September 1st." As she spoke, the wind chimes under the eaves were tinkled by the morning breeze, and the clear sound startled the sparrows pecking at jujube blossoms on the branches.
Yuan Bao ran his fingertips over the bright red official seal on the document, his gaze passing over Butler Bai's shoulder and landing in the center of the courtyard.
My grandfather was practicing Tai Chi, and he was moving on to the Cloud Hands move. His dark blue shirt was fluttering in the morning light, and his movements were more graceful than when he was in the county town.
Butler Bai had anticipated the gap in the moves. With graceful steps, she placed a thermos covered with a blue cloth and a neatly folded towel on the stone table. The steam rising from the rim of the thermos carried the fragrance of Longjing tea, mingling with the subtle scent of winter plum blossoms in the corner of the courtyard.
The morning light, like scattered gold, shone through the window lattice of the west wing, and the "clack-clack" of a sewing machine, carrying the unique fibrous scent of cotton, flowed out from the half-open wooden window.
The shop on the street corner with the wooden sign that reads "Qiaoxin Tailor Shop" is still under renovation, but my aunt and my other aunt couldn't wait and started working on their old-fashioned sewing machines ahead of schedule.
Neatly cut navy blue fabric was piled on the desk, and copper thimbles and colorful silk threads were scattered next to the outline of the school uniform drawn by the powder compact.
When Yuan Bao lifted the curtain, the sound of the sewing machine suddenly became lighter and more cheerful.
My aunt was biting off the thread with her teeth, while my other aunt, wearing reading glasses, was carefully sewing a button onto the collar of her clothes. Both of them had a light sheen of sweat on their foreheads.
Zi Tong curled up in the willow basket, her pink and white belly rising and falling gently with her breath. Half a jujube flower bun was still resting on her front paws. She was nothing like the "academic genius" who had used her paws to draw the graph of a standard function on her homework last night.
Last night, the AI system of the two kittens malfunctioned and suddenly displayed "non-cat" skills. Fortunately, with Xiao Jiu's reminder, Yuan Bao was able to reset their program in time, and the two kittens completely returned to being ordinary cats.
At this moment, Xiao Shi was lazily lying on Xiao Shan's schoolbag, its orange tail sweeping across the crooked "Shan" character on the schoolbag, and occasionally patting the ground.
When Xiaoshan tried to pull away the Chinese textbook that was under the cat's paws, Xiaoshi immediately stretched out its paws to press down on the pages, its amber eyes half-open and half-closed, and it made a coquettish purring sound in its throat, which made Xiaoshan laugh until tears welled up in its eyes.
The rising steam blurred the kitchen window, and the stew pot bubbled and steamed, the rich aroma of meat mixed with the fresh smell of mushrooms, wafting into the yard through the crack in the door.
As Yuan Ma rolled up her sleeves, about to reach for the kitchen knife on the cutting board, she was stopped by Xiao Xiaobai's gentle voice: "Madam, please sit and have some tea."
She wore a light purple apron, her fingers deftly twirling the shiitake mushrooms. As the knife fell, the thin, cicada-wing-like mushroom slices piled up in a flurry. "Miss specifically instructed that you should take good care of your hands."
Looking down at her rough hands, with cracks from years of hard work still visible at her knuckles, Yuan Ma felt a little awkward.
The purple clay teapot on the bamboo chair was emitting wisps of steam, but she seemed lost and murmured, "It's so quiet now..." Before she could finish speaking, a pair of arms suddenly wrapped around her from behind, carrying the warm breath unique to young girls.
“Mom,” Yuan Bao gently pressed his face against his mother’s hair, “Shall I accompany you to Beihai Park this afternoon? I heard the ice in the lotus pond has melted.”
Just then, the courtyard gate creaked open, and a cold wind carrying the scent of locust blossoms rushed into the yard.
Mr. Yuan strode over, carrying a briefcase. The collar of his dark blue Zhongshan suit was soaked with sweat, and fine beads of sweat clung to his forehead.
"I forgot my stamp!" He scratched his head sheepishly, a smile hidden in the wrinkles around his eyes. "My first day on the job, I was as nervous as when I first started working."
Yuan Bao immediately handed over a white towel embroidered with twin lotus flowers, and said reproachfully, "Dad, the Ministry of Commerce is only two stops away from home. Remember to come back for lunch."
Mr. Yuan took the towel and wiped his face, straightening his back ramrod straight: "Absolutely! I heard the cooks in the ministry's canteen used to work at the state guesthouse, so when it comes to cooking skills..."
He deliberately dragged out his words, glancing towards the kitchen, "Ten chefs from the State Guesthouse couldn't compare to our little Bai!"
Suddenly, hurried footsteps came from outside the courtyard gate, and the uncle's loud shouts drifted into the courtyard first: "Yuan Bao! Yuan Bao!"
Before he finished speaking, he rushed in like a whirlwind. His dark blue work clothes were stained with mottled machine oil, and even the tip of his nose was covered in oil stains, but it did not affect the excited light shining in his eyes at all.
He waved his oil-stained hands, as excited as a child: "Our company's first batch of trucks has arrived! Two brand-new Jiefang brand trucks, the paint so shiny you can see your reflection in them!"
"Keep your voice down!" Auntie chased after him, holding the account book. Her hair was a little messy from the wind, but her feigned anger couldn't hide her amusement.
She reached out and patted her husband's back, but when she touched his back, which was tense with excitement, she couldn't help but smile. "General Manager Chen has connected me with a textile factory and signed a long-term transportation contract. We'll get paid this month!"
As she spoke, she gently shook the ledger in her hand; as the pages turned, one could almost hear the rustling of banknotes.
The two smiled at each other, their wrinkles at the corners of their eyes filled with anticipation for the future.
The jujube tree in the corner of the yard seemed to sense this joy as well. Sparrows fluttered up from its branches, startling a few snowflakes that had not yet melted, which shimmered in the sunlight.
The last person to leave the house was my aunt's husband.
He pushed a brand-new bicycle with his agricultural machinery company ID hanging on the handlebars: "Yuan Bao, thanks to you for asking General Manager Chen to put in a good word for me."
The section chief put me in charge of debugging the newly introduced combine harvesters—a technical position!
After watching his family members leave one by one, Yuan Bao returned to his room.
Little Nine, the round, panda-like cat, lazily sat up from the bed: "Master, all systems have been checked. Purple Eyes and Little Ten's AI modules have been completely hidden; they're just two ordinary cats now."
The afternoon sun was shining brightly at Beihai Park.
Yuan Bao was strolling along the lakeside arm in arm with his mother when they suddenly heard the melodious sound of an erhu.
Inside the pavilion, several well-dressed elderly women were singing Pingju opera, while others were sketching and playing chess nearby.
"This young lady looks unfamiliar," an elderly woman with a full head of white hair greeted her warmly. "Would you like to sing a few lines together?"
Aunt Yuan waved her hand awkwardly, "I... I don't know how to do this..."
“If you don’t know how, you can learn!” The old lady patted the stone bench next to her. “I’m in the opera class at the senior university; new classes start next week.”
Yuan Bao clearly felt his mother's eyes light up.
On the way home, Yuan's mother kept saying, "Sister Zhang said the senior university also has cooking classes and calligraphy classes... Honey, Mom wants to sign up."
"That's wonderful!" Yuan Bao put his arm around his mother's shoulder. "I'll go with you to the consultation tomorrow."
As the sun sets, the aroma of food wafts from the courtyard house.