Chapter 269

Chapter 269: Extracting Baby Teeth

Not long after Xia Xun and Liang Meijuan left, Mei Lijun hurriedly drove back home.

“Where’s Yuanyuan? And Youxi? Did they go back already? Is it because I came back that they went back… Oh, that would be so unlucky for me—”

Mei Lijun complained as he walked into the house and saw Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi watching TV with Xiang Xiaoxia. Seeing Uncle Mei arrive, the two children quickly stood up to greet him:

“Uncle Mei, long time no see!”

“…”

Mei Lijun was momentarily at a loss when he saw Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi, stammering for a while before he couldn’t even call out their names. It was only when his eldest daughter gave him a hard thump on the leg that he finally snapped out of it. He then carefully examined the two girls who might become future daughter-in-laws:

“It feels like you two have completely different auras compared to last year…”

“Is there really such a difference? I just think the two sisters look better now!”

Meiya said as she tugged at her father’s sleeve, “And Dad, why are you back so late today? I need to check if you’ve been drinking.”

“Oh, no drinking! I drove back, so how could I drink?”

Meiya, being both the eldest daughter and a drama queen, smacked her father’s thigh again, “Comrade Mei Lijun! Please cooperate positively with my inspection, this is routine!”

“Alright, alright… I get it.” Mei Lijun squatted down and muttered under his breath, “Speaking of which, with your sister Yuan and sister Youxi here, can’t you give your dad some face?”

“The rule in our Mei family is not to drink and neglect work, and this is also an opportunity for sisters Yuan and Youxi to learn the process, they will definitely need it in the future.”

Xiang Xiaoxia, hearing her daughter assist her, found herself both amused and annoyed, “Xiaoya, what nonsense are you spouting?”

Meiya stuck out her tongue at her mother, “I’m not spouting nonsense!”

“You little rascal… just like your father and brother! Wait until I properly discipline you!”

“I’m not being stubborn!”

“Miss Xiang, Miss Xiang, it’s fine… really, it’s okay!”

Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi pulled Xiang Xiaoxia away, ending the situation. The whole family was quite boisterous in the living room. When Mei Fang came downstairs after showering, he almost got hit by a slipper flying his way.

Mei Fang’s house had a guest room, which Xiang Xiaoxia had prepared for Lin Youxi and Xia Yuan during the day. She led the girls to the room and said, “You’ll stay in this room for now. If you need anything, feel free to ask me. Treat it as your own home, don’t be shy!”

“Okay, we know!”

Xia Yuan smiled at Xiang Xiaoxia, nodding appreciatively. Lin Youxi added, “We won’t trouble Auntie too much; we’ll just ask Fang if we need anything.”

“That’s right… just ask Fang directly.”

Xiang Xiaoxia glanced at Xia Yuan, then looked at Lin Youxi for a while before leaving and returning to her bedroom. Mei Lijun was sitting on the bed, happily watching TV. Seeing his wife come in, he quickly made space for her to lie down.

“Hey, honey, haven’t seen you in a short year, but I feel like Yuan and Youxi have grown up completely, very different from when they were little.”

“It’s normal for girls to change so much.”

Mei Lijun patted his thigh and sighed, “Boys don’t change much. Like our son Mei Fang, he still looks like a silly kid.”

“Your son is silly? He’s actually quite smart.”

Xiang Xiaoxia rolled her eyes at him, “If your son wasn’t smart, these two girls wouldn’t follow him so devotedly, not even coming home for the New Year.”

“That makes sense…”

Mei Lijun thought for a moment, “But do you think Youxi is really dating our son? I observed him today, and he doesn’t seem particularly special towards her. It’s about the same as with Yuan.”

“I can’t say for sure… let’s keep observing.”

Xiang Xiaoxia pondered, “Yuan has a good relationship with them, probably hasn’t broken through yet… Anyway, as parents, we shouldn’t interfere too much.”

Mei Fang and Lin Youxi dating was a conclusion Xiang Xiaoxia drew from her observations last year—after all, they had secretly shared a blanket, making it nearly impossible for them not to have a relationship.

But did Xiang Xiaoxia really understand her son well enough? What if her son became someone—

After a tiring car journey, the three of them bid each other goodnight early and went to sleep.

The next morning, Mei Fang woke up to the beautiful chirping of birds. He stretched lazily, looking at the bright sunlight outside the window, feeling very relaxed and comfortable.

Jiangcheng’s small residence was fine as a dormitory, but the quality of life was far inferior to home. Now it was 2013, and housing prices hadn’t reached unreasonable levels yet. Buying some property now would be a good idea.

Just as Mei Fang put on his pajamas and got up, there was a knock on the door.

Before he could open it, the door was opened by his elder sister, Meiya.

“Brother, Brother, hurry up and get up! Sister Youxi made breakfast, come down and eat together!”

“Got it, got it…”

“I only give you ten minutes, hurry up or Sister Youxi will be unhappy.”

“… When did you become her sidekick?”

Mei Fang quickly finished washing up and went downstairs to the dining room to eat. The whole family ate breakfast made by his son while watching TV in the warm winter morning.

“The mung bean soup cooked by Sister Youxi is so delicious!” Meiya drank two big bowls in one go.

“Good, try this.”

Lin Youxi placed a spring roll in Meiya’s bowl. Meiya hesitated, picked up the spring roll slowly, then put it back down.

“Why… don’t you like it?”

“Not this, it’s because…”

Meiya grimaced and showed her teeth to Lin Youxi, then shook one of her front teeth in front of her, “This tooth has been wobbling lately, it feels like it’s going to fall out.”

“Is it a baby tooth falling out? Let me see…”

Xia Yuan moved closer to Meiya and carefully examined her little tooth.

“It’s wobbling a lot…”

“But it hasn’t fallen out yet.”

Xia Yuan warned, “Xiaoya, don’t lick it… Mom says if you do, the new teeth will grow out crooked, and that won’t be cute.”

Meiya nodded seriously but immediately showed a troubled expression, “But no matter how much I shake it, it won’t come out. It’s really uncomfortable…”

Seeing Meiya’s tooth wobbling incessantly, Mei Fang, who was eating breakfast and drinking soup, couldn’t help but look at his father Mei Lijun. Coincidentally, Mei Lijun was also looking at his eldest son, Mei Fang.

Through eye contact, the father and son suddenly reached a strange mutual understanding. Then Mei Fang approached his distressed younger sister, Meiya, “Xiaoya, you’re 10 years old. If your baby tooth doesn’t fall out, it will affect the aesthetics of your permanent teeth later. It should be pulled out now.”

“Pull… pull the tooth?”

Meiya covered her mouth in pain, “I… don’t want to pull the tooth, it must hurt, right? I don’t want to go to the hospital. I hope we can save money for the family.”

“It won’t hurt, pulling a baby tooth isn’t painful at all. You don’t need to go to the hospital, I’ll help you with Dad, it won’t hurt at all.”

“Really?”

Xia Yuan watched skeptically, and Mei Lijun stepped forward confidently, “No lies allowed. I tell you, when Fang was young, several of his baby teeth were pulled out by me, his dad.”

Seeing his elder brother and father guaranteeing it, Meiya, who was licking her wobbly tooth that was slightly painful and itchy, finally nodded.

“Then… let’s try it?”

Mei Lijun asked Xia Yuan to fetch a piece of thin string from Xiang Xiaoxia, and tied it around Meiya’s baby tooth.

Watching the Meis enthusiastically prepare, Xia Yuan felt a pang of pain and instinctively covered her cheek.

Lin Youxi watched with interest, “This method of extracting baby teeth is indeed classic.”

“Wow… really? Did Youxi do this before?”

“No,” Lin Youxi smiled at Xia Yuan, “but I was present when Uncle Mei pulled Fang’s baby tooth.”

“Will it hurt a lot… maybe we should reconsider…”

Meiya was a bit scared now.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be quick. We’ll sing a song while doing it.”

Mei Fang and Mei Lijun coordinated their efforts, Mei Fang lowered himself and patted his sister’s shoulder, singing,

“Under the bridge flows a group of ducks.”

“Rue rue ra, flows a… group of ducks.”

“Come quickly, count, two four six seven eight.”

Mei Fang deliberately sang off-key, causing Meiya to burst out laughing.

At that moment, Mei Lijun and Mei Fang exerted force simultaneously. One gently pushed Meiya’s forehead, causing her to lean backward, while the other pulled hard. Before Meiya could react, her tooth was already gone.

“Guh…”

The extraction was almost instantaneous, and Meiya didn’t even realize the pain until later, when her face twisted in agony.

She held her mouth in distress, kicking and punching her delighted brother and father who were examining her baby tooth.

“Puhahaha—”

“Let you laugh, let you laugh!”

Thus, a scene of father-daughter filial piety and brother-sister harmony unfolded in front of Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi, who were visiting the Meis.

Yesterday’s mahjong game was really fun. I’ll update later tonight.

(End of Chapter)