: 283 Distant relatives are not as good as neighbors

Before the dinner table, Li Qingqing happily greeted Hu Lai to sit next to him. This small detail made Xie Lan's eyebrows smile, while Li Ziqiang's hand paused for a while.
After eating a plane meal for a day, Hu Lai looked at the sumptuous meals in front of him, drooling happily, and raised his chopsticks to pick up the dishes.
But it was blocked by my mother.
"You have a special World Cup package."
After speaking, Mom turned around and walked into the kitchen again.
Hu Lai had a bad feeling when he heard the name.
Sure enough, next he saw his mother brought him a plate from the kitchen and placed it in front of him. It contained boiled chicken breast, boiled beef, boiled shrimp, boiled broccoli...
"What kind of World Cup package is this?" Hu Lai protested. "This is a traditional French meal!"
"Oh, aren't you going to the national team for training in two days? I'm afraid that too much oil at home will affect your physical condition, so the athlete recipes made for you...These dishes are all online. Searched it." Xie Lan explained.
"Mom, do you have a misunderstanding about what athletes eat? Athletes can't eat this every day? Besides, it wasn't like that when I came back last time..."
"Isn't this about to play the World Cup? I told you Hu Lai, you are not my son now..." Xie Lan said seriously.
"So mom, you finally have to tell me that I actually sent it for the phone bill?"
Xie Lan raised his hand and made a gesture: "Nonsense! I mean you are now the hope of the national fans. I have to take you well, lest there is something wrong... Or you can ask your coach!"
Hu Lai turned his gaze to Li Ziqiang, only to see that the latter looked at Hu Lai with a calm expression on his face: "Don't be so exaggerated, Sister Xie..."
Hu Lai breathed a sigh of relief, with a smile on his face.
"You don't need to eat like this every day. But the first meal you come back should really be lighter, so let's do this for today's meal."
The smile solidified on Hu Lai's face before it fully bloomed. He looked at the delicious food on the table and then at the plate in front of him. It's almost like a dish taken with a domestic mobile phone and an American mobile phone. The former makes people appetite, while the latter doesn't want to eat it...
Li Ziqiang looked at Hu Lai's deflated appearance, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.
With the endorsement of Li Ziqiang, a professional coach, Xie Lan clapped her hands: "Okay, let's eat! Come on, everyone first toast! Oh, Hu Lai, you can only drink boiled water..."
"I know..." Hu Lai rolled his eyes and held up the glass with boiled water.
After instructing her son specifically, Xie Lan held the wine glass with one hand on her hips, and continued:
"Today's meal... is of great significance. First of all, we welcome Qingqing and our family Hu Lai to return from abroad. This is a banquet! Secondly, congratulations on Qingqing and Lao Li's housewarming. Everyone will be neighbors in the future. Well, distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors. Since you are neighbors, you need to get in touch and help more. Lao Li, if you have anything to do, just ask, we will definitely help!"
Seeing how enthusiastic the other party said, Li Ziqiang waved his hand quickly: "Don't bother you..."
"Hey, no trouble, no trouble!" Xie Lan waved his hand.
Hu Lixin also explained to Li Ziqiang next to him: "Xie Lan is right, Lao Li. Everyone is a neighbor, and it's not just an ordinary neighbor. You are Hu Lai's coach, and you should take care of each other..."
"That's what the old nonsense said. In fact, we have seen it several times before. Who knew you turned out to be Hu Lai's high school coach. I mean, Lao Li, you look good, but you really didn't dare to think about it..." Xie Lan turned to everyone again: "The third point, I have already told Lao Li before that since Hu Lai went to Europe to play football, the Spring Festival cannot come back every year, so at this time of the year we will advance the Spring Festival. Therefore, the first Three points are naturally the New Year! The fourth point is that the World Cup is just around the corner. This meal is a cheer for Hu Lai!"
Hu Lai whispered: "Good guy, I got the wind before two paragraphs, and this will send me away... My is not hot yet..."
"Hu Lai, what are you talking about?" Xie Lan glanced at him.
"No, no, on behalf of the big guy in the national team, thank mom for cheering!" Hu Lai quickly stood up, holding the cup in both hands, and took the initiative to toast the "wine".
Li Qingqing, who had been sitting next to Hu Lai with a smile and watching mother Hu’s speech before, saw this, and then got up and picked up the glass with juice: "Thank you, Auntie for making this great table of good dishes, Auntie for your hard work!"
Xie Lan smiled and said, "Half of this table is your father's specialty, Qingqing."
Li Qingqing turned to her father again: "Dad, you have worked hard too!"
Li Ziqiang looked at his well-behaved daughter with a relieved smile on his face.
He could see that since Xie Lan and the others came, the daughter was very happy, perhaps because the family finally became lively...
Although being a neighbor with Hu Lai was a bit beyond his imagination, it made him feel like he was backstabbed. But seeing his daughter so happy, Li Ziqiang didn't care so much anymore.
After the death of his wife, his daughter is his only one. If the daughter is happy, he is happy as a father.
He then picked up the wine glass.
Hu Lixin also raised his glass next to him.
Five people sitting around the table, bumping the glasses together, making a crisp sound: "Cheers!"
"Come, come and twist. You can stand up and stretch out your hands. Qingqing, this is your home, don't be polite!" After drinking the first cup full of ritual, Xie Lan greeted like a host. Come everyone.
"Lao Hu, treat Lao Li well!"
"Hu Lai deliciously eat your World Cup package. I tell you, after eating this love package that your mother I made for you, I will keep you from scoring more goals in the World Cup!"
Hu Lai gave his mother a fish-eyed look, which was more dead than the boiled chicken breast in the white water that he was chewing.
※※※
The dinner was going on, and the laughter and laughter in the restaurant gave this house, which is always very quiet, a breath of life.
Li Qingqing had finished eating, but she was still sitting at the dining table, listening to Hu Lai's mother talk about Hu Lai's embarrassment when she was a child, and hearing Hu Lai's angrily rebuttal denials, she was amused and laughed.
And her father, and Hu Lai's father have already drank to the point where they put their arms around each other's shoulders and whispered...
It was the first time she saw her father drink so much.
No, when her mother was sick before, she had also seen her father drunk alone...
But after being smashed by her, she never saw her father getting drunk again.
I don't know if it's Dad really no longer getting drunk, or only getting drunk in places he can't see.
In fact, she is not afraid of her father being drunk. She even thinks that under such circumstances, it is a good thing to let her father get drunk, at least it can vent all the distress in his heart.
So now she sees her father drinking too much, she is quite happy-such a father is a normal father!
Don't always be so bitter and deep. Your daughter has grown up, and the promise you made in front of your mother's bed has been fulfilled, and your mother will definitely be happy for you too!
Li Qingqing withdrew her gaze from her father, turned to Hu Lai's mother, and laughed again when she heard what she said.
After Li Qingqing looked away, Li Ziqiang, who had been lowering his head and whispering with Hu Lixin, suddenly raised his head and looked at his daughter.
Seeing her smiling like a flower, Li Ziqiang also smiled slightly.
Then he lowered his head again and clinked glasses with Hu Lixin.
※※※
After Xie Lan, Li Qingqing and Hu Lai were busy in the dining room and kitchen, the mess after the meal was finally cleaned up.
This time Xie Lan didn't refuse Li Qingqing's help. After all, the two men could not move after drinking. She was really too busy alone and needed help.
Of course, she didn't just ask Li Qingqing to help, so she called Hu Lai to the kitchen to beat her.
The three people chatted while washing the dishes in the kitchen, and they didn't find it difficult to deal with the piles of pots and pans.
When it was time to say goodbye after her busy schedule, Xie Lan asked Li Qingqing: "Qingqing, are you all right by yourself? Do you want Hu Lai to help you?"
Li Qingqing smiled and shook his head: "No, auntie. I'm fine. You are also very tired, so go back and rest early."
"Hey, how tired can I be? Besides, it's so convenient to go home. You can turn right and take a step to get home. What's the trouble with this? Don't help?"
Li Qingqing said firmly: "It's not necessary, Auntie. Thank you."
Xie Lan did not reluctantly: "Well, it's all next door anyway. If there is anything you can do, just come knock on the door. Don't be afraid of too late. There will always be someone knocking on the door at any time. Aunts usually sleep late."
After speaking, she asked Hu Lai to help his father, and the three of them went out together, turned right, and stepped into their own door.
After closing the door, Li Qingqing turned to Li Ziqiang who was reclining on the sofa, and asked softly, "Dad? Are you okay?"
Li Ziqiang, who had been keeping his eyes closed before, opened his eyes and saw his daughter. He suddenly asked: "Qingqing, before you plan to buy this house, did Hu Lai tell you that his house is here?"
Li Qingqing shook his head in surprise: "No. I just know that he bought a house, so I want to buy a house. But I don't know where he bought his new house..."
Li Ziqiang looked straight at his daughter. After two seconds, he laughed, "I believe you."
After speaking he struggled to get up from the sofa.
Li Qingqing wanted to come up to help him, but he waved his hand and refused: "I'm not drunk."
He staggered towards his bedroom alone.
"Go to bed early, you also took the plane for a day..." After leaving this sentence to his daughter, Li Ziqiang closed the door and entered the bedroom.
Li Qingqing did not rush back to her room, but turned and walked towards the balcony, then looked to the left from the balcony, and saw light from the balcony on the left.
The orange light is like a small orange lamp in the dark night, which makes people feel warm and tranquil at a glance.
That's Hu Lai's house.
※※※
Xie Lan finally settled Hu Lixin and knocked on the door outside his son's room, "Are you asleep?"
"No. The door is unlocked."
Xie Lan opened the door and saw her son lying on the bed playing on the phone. She immediately smiled: "Where are you talking to Li Qingqing?"
"No, talk to Brother Huan and the others."
"Oh..." Xie Lan was obviously disappointed, and her smile disappeared instantly.
Hu Lai also noticed the change in his mother's expression. He couldn't understand: "We talked all night and still talk...Where is there so much to talk about!"
Xie Lan wanted to give her son a look: "You don't understand, there are so many things to talk about."
Hu Lai feels that it doesn’t make sense with his mother. Mom is the best stalker he has ever seen in his career, so it’s best not to entangle her when he meets him. The correct response is to recognize counseling quickly: , I don't understand."
Xie Lan remembered that she had something serious, and she lowered her voice: "There is a question, I have not been ashamed to ask in front of their father and daughter... Qingqing's mother, why didn't I see it?"
"Oh, Li Qingqing's mother died of cancer when she was ten years old."
Hu Lai said that it was an understatement~EbookFREE.me~ Xie Lan's eyes widened: "Ahhh... Qingqing is such a cheerful girl, but I didn't expect it... I really can't see it!"
"Yeah, I was surprised when I first heard about this news. I can't imagine her appearance at all. She is still very strong."
"It's more than being strong? Ten years old, ten-year-old children don't have their mothers... It's still a girl, how pitiful!" Xie Lan said that her eyes were red, and her voice started to choke.
Seeing that his mother was about to cry, Hu Lai was a little at a loss. He sat up from the bed, wanting to be comforted but didn't know how to comfort.
Fortunately, Xie Lan quickly adjusted her emotions. She raised her hand and wiped her eyes, and then said viciously to her son: "You kid should be nice to others in the future!"
Hu Lai:? ? ?
He didn't expect to be shot himself in this way.
Mom, your son owes people enough to sell himself. Isn't that good enough?
(End of this chapter)