"I feel that the young man acting with her is also spirited, and the two of them look quite well-matched together..."
Aunt Zhou was a little unhappy:
"Oh, just because they match means they should be together? I'm Song Zuying's fan and I think she and Zeng Ziqian look good together too, but I haven't seen them get married! They're just colleagues, just because they work together as partners doesn't mean they have to get married!"
Qin Wei laughed when she heard this: "Ah, Aunt Zhou, I'm also Song Zuying's fan! I even know how to sing their songs!"
Aunt Zhou was very happy and grabbed Qin Wei another two handfuls of melon seeds, trying to get close to her:
"Little Qin, for their concerts, could you get me on stage to sing with Teacher Zeng? I'll buy my own ticket, I won't take advantage of Teacher Zeng!"
Qin Wei: "I want that too. Auntie, wait until I gain more influence in a few years, I'll start a company and sign Teacher Zeng so he can sing for you!"
The other aunties weren't interested in this, and kept talking to each other about whether she would get married or not.
"Little Qin, let me tell you, no matter who it is, everyone needs a place to settle down eventually..."
"Marrying the right person is very important..."
"It's fine for young people to focus on their careers, but you can't avoid relationships forever..."
"Little Qin, so many people online are scolding you. No matter how much money you make it won't be enough, you should consider retiring..."
"Alright, stop arguing," Aunt Tang finally couldn't stand to listen anymore. She put down the sweater she was knitting and scolded them a few times before the four old lady friends quieted down.
Aunt Tang pushed her glasses back:
"Little Qin, just focus on what you should be doing. And you old ladies, we're in the 21st century, can we act a bit more like elderly people of this new era? Enjoy your own lives, instead of worrying so much about the little things going on with the younger generation. Are the hot pots not tasty enough? Are the milk teas not fragrant enough? There's a saying that the children have their own fortune. Do we want to scare off any potential friends our age with how we're acting? Little Qin wants to focus on her career, so let her focus on her career. She wants to date, she'll go date. She's got money and looks, what are you needlessly worrying about?"
The others fell silent like dogs.
Aunt Tang put her sweater back in her canvas bag, and said to Qin Wei:
"Qin Wei, just keep doing what you should be doing. Love is important but it's only one part of your life. If you run into old ladies like them in real life, tell them to shut their mouths. And don't pay attention to all the idle chatter online either. It's impossible for everyone to love you, but it's also impossible for everyone to hate you. Paying too much attention will make you fall into an information cocoon. Stay grounded no matter how chaotic it gets, keep acting if you should act, keep taking on business deals if you should take them on."
Qin Wei nodded quickly, she didn't expect Aunt Tang to have thought about this so much.
After listening, the other four aunties also nodded:
"Ah, yes, yes, she's right, we should listen to Aunt Tang!"
Aunt Zhou quietly sidled up next to her and said:
"Aunt Tang used to be a university professor at the Central Academy of Drama. She doesn't seem to talk much usually, but among us she has the highest cultural knowledge, so we all listen to what she says."
Qin Wei chimed in:
"Aunt Tang is right! I don't plan on dating or getting married for the time being, I still want to make money."
"Ah, yes, making money is important too!"
Aunt Chen said, and the other aunties echoed in agreement.
Just then, a young boy around four or five years old burst out from the bushes. He had clearly been playing in mud and dirt this whole time, his clothes were very messy.
Aunt Tang had just picked up her sweater again but now put it back down, grabbed the child and started wiping his hands while nagging:
"Aina, you little rascal..."
Then she smacked the child's bottom twice.
Qin Wei good naturedly advised her: "No hitting, little Ning, I also like to play."
Sister Shao was shelling melon seeds, she watched Aunt Zhou get angry and pouted while asking:
"What are they saying? I didn't understand a word, can someone translate for me?"
Aunt Zhou waved her hand dismissively and glanced at her, then quietly started packing up her own melon seeds:
"No need to understand. Aunt Tang isn't originally from Beijing, she and her family speak her hometown dialect that we can't understand. But I can guess she's probably scolding her grandson."
"Oh~ But Qin Wei is from Beijing right? She can chat with them!"
Sister Shao looked thoughtful, but her mouth didn't stop busily shelling the melon seeds in her hand. When she came back to her senses and was about to grab another handful to keep cracking open, Aunt Zhou had already packed up all the melon seeds.
"Qin Wei!"
Sun Tiantian searched through the entire neighborhood park before finally catching sight of her by the fountain. She was chatting and laughing together with several aunties, which made Sun Tiantian feel a bit confused.
How on earth was she able to do this?
"Oh? Tiantian you came!"
When Qin Wei saw her, she curled a finger to beckon her over. As someone with social anxiety, Sun Tiantian hesitated for a moment, but still walked over in the end.
Aunt Tang had glanced over here earlier while wiping her grandson's hands. She pushed her glasses up while saying:
"Director Sun came over too!"
Sun Tiantian nodded: "Mm...ah?"
Although she's used to being jokingly called "Director Sun" by cp fans, hearing someone call her this title in real life and in the same neighborhood still made Sun Tiantian feel a bit surprised.
Sister Shao couldn't help laughing and secretly told the two of them:
"Your Aunt Tang said she used to be a Qin Wei fan, and these last two months has switched to being a Qin Xiao fan. Retiring to take care of her grandson hasn't affected her ability to keep up with celebrities at all."
Qin Wei was also shocked, she had always thought most of her fans were students after all, and would often remind them to focus on their studies instead of arguing with antis online.
She didn't expect there to be older fans as well.
Aunt Tang humphed:
"What's wrong with that? I became Qin Wei's fan because she's adorable. I've dreamed all my life of having a daughter, but just gave birth to sons. I was hoping to make up for that regret by having a granddaughter, but you see..."
Saying so, she smacked her grandson's bottom again. The child whimpered for a bit but quickly recovered, clearly thick-skinned.
Aunt Tang continued: "So Qin Wei happens to make up for my longing to have a daughter."
...
It was getting late, and after finishing chatting downstairs, Qin Wei followed Sun Tiantian back home. Sun Tiantian picked a movie, and the two curling up watching on the sofa until they felt sleepy and retreated to bed.
The next day Sun Tiantian still had filming while Qin Wei had already promised the aunties she would go grocery shopping with them. In the afternoon they went to the square to feed the pigeons together, then in the evening went to the neighborhood garden to play instruments and dance with the aunties.
She had the aunties act as cover for her whenever she went out for the whole day, and added with the fact that no one could guess the one frolicking with aunties was Qin Wei, she wasn't disturbed at all for the whole day. All in all, it was a very fulfilling happy day.
Today Sun Tiantian came home quite early. By the time she returned, Qin Wei was already busy in the kitchen. After changing and washing her hands, Sun Tiantian came over to lend a hand.
"Wow fish tonight!"
When Sun Tiantian saw the already gutted and prepared fish on the cutting board, she felt even more pleasantly surprised—
While the internet makes learning on the spot easy for many dishes, cooking delicious steamed fish still requires some skill, and it's not that easy to achieve great flavor.
The soup was already boiling; the yellow croaker that had been deboned was placed inside, along with mantis shrimp and clams. After stewing to perfection the soup was ladled over cooked wheat gluten, and the seafood noodle soup was ready.
Sun Tiantian accepted the treat gratefully, lavishing praise as well as taking photos which she instantly uploaded to the group chat. It angered Shen Qingqing who was constantly shading with sarcasm inside the chat demanding Sun Tiantian's address so she could also come over and eat.
After taking a bite, Sun Tiantian couldn't help praising:
"Delicious! It's like tastes from my hometown, I didn't expect a native Beijinger like you could make such authentic Jiangnan cuisine!"
"That's because I..."
She was very pleased at the compliments, and just as she was about to explain something she was stunned herself. That's right, in this and her past life she had been a Beijinger through and through, so how could she...
For a moment, scenes flashed through her mind of her falling...a flicker that quickly vanished...
