Reborn in the 80s: My Whole Family Secretly Hears My Thoughts and Goes Wild with Success! - Chapter 156

“Xiao Xiang!”

Seeing that Lu Shuangshuang and He Bin were butting heads, Ye Zhiqiu quickly stepped forward and pulled He Bin back, afraid he might do something rash in the heat of the moment.

“Sis, she insulted me!” He Bin instinctively complained to Ye Zhiqiu.

Ye Zhiqiu reached out and ruffled his hair. “Alright, alright now. Shuangshuang Sis is my good friend. I invited her over.”

“Shuangshuang, let me formally introduce you. This is my brother, He Bin.”

Lu Shuangshuang pointed at He Bin, her face full of shock. “Isn’t he Shen Xiang?”

“He was Shen Xiang before, but now his name is He Bin. I’ll explain the details to you later.” Ye Zhiqiu pulled He Bin behind her with one hand and took Lu Shuangshuang’s hand with the other. “Come on in.”

“Where’s Xiaomei?”

Dong Xiaomei emerged from the side. “Sis, I’m right here.”

“Come on, come sit!”

A plate of freshly cut watermelon sat on the stone table in the pavilion. Ye Zhiqiu first handed a piece each to Lu Shuangshuang and He Bin. “Cool down, calm the temper.”

“I’m not angry, but I definitely need to cool down. It’s so hot today, sweltering even this early in the morning.” Lu Shuangshuang took it and started eating heartily.

He Bin wanted to say something, but a look from Ye Zhiqiu made him obediently close his mouth. He took a bite and glanced at Lu Shuangshuang.

Lu Shuangshuang initially didn’t want to engage with He Bin, but his glances were far too obvious to ignore.

Seeing him roll his eyes as she picked up another piece, Lu Shuangshuang decided to tease the brat. “Xiao Xiang, just eat yours. Why are you staring at me?”

“It’s not like I’m eating yours! You’re like a little dog guarding its food! Look, there’s plenty more here! If it’s not enough, I’ll go buy you two more watermelons later!”

He Bin stiffened his neck. “How is it not mine? I bought this watermelon. I bought it for my sister and Ya Ya!”

“Over a few pieces of watermelon, look how stingy you are! Let me tell you, if you’re this stingy, you’d better watch out or you’ll never find a wife!”

Lu Shuangshuang pulled five yuan from her pocket and placed it on the table. “There, how’s that? Consider it my treat.”

“What are you doing? Take it back.” Ye Zhiqiu tried to return the money to Lu Shuangshuang, who pushed it back.

“I came in a hurry and didn’t bring anything. Use this money to buy snacks for the kids. They can buy more watermelon or soda.” Lu Shuangshuang leaned forward and peered towards the house. “Do you have a fridge here?”

“Yes.”

“Then buy some popsicles and ice cream too.” Lu Shuangshuang took the money back from Ye Zhiqiu’s hand. “Never mind, I’ll go buy them myself.”

After finishing the watermelon in her hand, Lu Shuangshuang waved to He Bin. “Xiao Xiang, come on, you come with me.”

“I’m not going!”

“We need to carry the soda.”

He Bin’s eyes shifted thoughtfully. He stood up, feigning reluctance. “Fine, I’ll go with you.”

Outside the hutong, they had to walk quite a distance to reach a supply and marketing cooperative. Lu Shuangshuang went straight in and ordered two cases of different soda flavors. She turned and asked He Bin, “Can you carry these?”

He Bin lifted his chin, challenging Lu Shuangshuang: “I could carry five more cases if you had them! The question is, do you have the money to buy them?”

“We can’t just buy soda.” Lu Shuangshuang asked the shop assistant, “Comrade, what kind of popsicles do you have?”

“Take your pick.”

The salesperson lifted layers of cotton padding, opened a foam box, revealing thirty-plus popsicles inside.

Lu Shuangshuang waved her hand grandly. “I’ll take all of these.”

“Okay.”

The salesperson found a woven basket and dumped all the popsicles into it.

After paying, Lu Shuangshuang signaled for the salesperson to give the basket to He Bin to carry.

He Bin took it and pointed at the counter. “I also want some snacks.”

“Sure, but you have to call me ‘Sis’ first, then I’ll buy them for you.”

“Why should I?”

“Because you’re younger than me! I’m actually two years older than Zhiqiu. By rights, shouldn’t you call me ‘Sis’?” Lu Shuangshuang leaned sideways against the counter, smiling at He Bin. “I remember back when I hung out with Shen Liya, you used to call me ‘Shuangshuang Sis’.”

He Bin blushed. “That was then, this is now.”

“You bullied my sister. I’m never calling you ‘Sis’.”

“I did bully your sister before, but I’ve already apologized to her. We’re friends now.” Lu Shuangshuang pointed a thumb at herself. “If you really care about your sister, then you should be nice to her friend—me.”

“Xiao Xiang, if you keep this up, your sister will be stuck in a difficult position between us.”

“Besides, look, I bought all this stuff to show I’m trying to be friendly. Can’t you see my sincerity?”

He Bin tried to open his mouth, but he couldn’t get the words “Shuangshuang Sis” out. Angrily, he turned his back to Lu Shuangshuang. “Buy them or don’t. I don’t care.”

“I’ll buy them! Who was in the wrong before?” Lu Shuangshuang pulled on He Bin’s arm. “Come here, pick what you like. I don’t know what the others would like either.”

“Hurry up and choose, otherwise the popsicles will melt soon.”

Lu Shuangshuang was, after all, a few years older than He Bin. Plus, having dealt with that little beast Lu Xu before, she was quite skilled at handling boys his age.

He Bin picked out a lot, deliberately trying to annoy Lu Shuangshuang. However, she remained good-natured and agreed to everything, which instead made him feel uncomfortable, thinking he was being too much.

“Give me six bags of the jelly and haw flakes. Four bags each of the rest.”

“I’ll take these.” Lu Shuangshuang took the two bags of jelly and haw flakes herself and put all the rest into the woven basket He Bin was carrying.

“You can carry all this, no problem?”

“Mm.” He Bin carried the two cases of soda and the woven basket. Lu Shuangshuang noticed he wasn’t struggling at all and was even walking faster than her.

“The kid’s really grown up.” Only then did Lu Shuangshuang suddenly realize He Bin was a full head taller than her now, and much sturdier too.

She still remembered the first time she saw He Bin, back when he was still Shen Xiang—just a little brat.

No, a rude, ill-mannered little rascal.

He had even grabbed a caterpillar to scare her!

Thump

“Ow, my head!” Lu Shuangshuang’s eyes welled up with tears as she clutched her forehead. She looked up and glared at He Bin. “Xiao Xiang, did you do that on purpose? Stopping right here to ambush me!”

He Bin quickly explained, “I didn’t! I just noticed you weren’t keeping up and turned back to see if you’d gotten lost.” He had been talking to her and, not hearing a reply, realized she had fallen quite far behind.

They were exactly in each other’s blind spot around the corner. She couldn’t see that he had stopped right at the corner, about to turn back. He couldn’t see that she hadn’t actually fallen that far behind and, not seeing him, had sped up.

The next second, they collided.

“Um, are you okay?”

“What do you think?” Lu Shuangshuang moved her hand to show He Bin the red mark on her forehead.

“I’m already not the brightest. A bump like this is just going to make me dumber.”

He Bin struggled hard not to laugh. “You’re quite self-aware.”

“Of course I—” Lu Shuangshuang belatedly realized something was off. She raised her hand and smacked He Bin’s arm a couple of times. “Xiao Xiang, you little brat! What did you just say?”