{Time: November 2, 2003}

{Location: Flower Planting-Special Zone}

The sudden thought that came to his mind made Ning Zi unconsciously focus on the closed door behind him when he opened the door silently.

So when the sound of the door opening overlapped with the sound of the door opening behind him, Ning Zimo's mind still hadn't turned around for a while.

When the sister in front of him saw him, his expression was not as natural as the previous days. Instead, she looked over her shoulder and looked further away.

Seeing Jun Ya's sudden frown, Ning Zimo always felt that something was wrong.

Turning around following her line of sight, she discovered that standing at the door of the room behind her was Lu Xiaona, who was also frowning.

A solemn atmosphere filled the air for a while, which made Ning Zimo feel a little weird.

What happened during the 166 days when I didn’t see Lu Xiaona?

Or, what happened during the seven days when I didn’t see my sister?

For a moment, the suspicion in his mind was not as fast as the movements of his hands. When he realized that he had raised his hand towards Lu Xiaona, Ning Zimo smiled:

"Long time no see, how have you been lately~"

Lu Xiaona, who looked tired, stood there blankly, with a bit of panic in her eyes, obviously not prepared for Ning Zimo's sudden appearance.

The solemn atmosphere became awkward, and Ning Zimo didn't know what to do for a while.

The corner of Lu Xiaona's mouth twitched, but before she could say a word, the sound of footsteps coming from far and near came from the room behind her from a space out of sight.

Although his footsteps were very light, Ning Zimo felt that the rhythm always touched a point where he was very uncomfortable, and it felt like it was hitting his heart every time.

Before he could think about the origin of this sudden feeling, a figure appeared in Ning Zimo's sight.

A woman with a mature figure walked out, but only the outline of her face and some details of the corners of her eyes and eyebrows. Even if she didn't know the identity of the other person, Ning Zimo knew that she was at least a woman who had a blood relationship with Lu Xiaona.

elder sister?

Mother?

After the woman appeared in Ning Zimo's field of vision, she seemed to feel the strange atmosphere at the door.

She took a few more steps forward, and when she stood next to Lu Xiaona, she raised her chin and asked Lu Xiaona beside her calmly, "Nana, who is this?"

However, the woman's gaze swept across Ning Zimo. After saying a few simple words, the final focus was indeed on Lu Xiaona's profile.

Ning Zimo knew that the woman's eyes had just glanced at her collar, wrists and feet. Thinking about it, that was the way she was used to "examining" others. Although she was not used to it, Ning Zimo still followed calmly.

The woman looked at Lu Xiaona.

"Mom~~This is sister Junya's brother - Ning Zimo."

Lu Xiaona's voice was not as gentle as she remembered, and seemed a little stiff.

Then, Ning Zimo saw her finally nodding towards him:

"Zimo, this is my mother~~~~She just arrived today~~~She dropped by~~~come to the special zone to see me~~"

After Lu Xiaona paused, she spoke with an explanation, causing Lu's mother to look at Ning Zimo again. She saw a young man named Ning Zimo, who followed the custom of younger people bowing slightly to their elders.

"Hello, aunt"

Taking this opportunity, Ning Zimo found that Lu's mother looked at her expression more carefully. Although it took a little longer than the sweep just now, Ning Zimo knew that this little time was enough for her to see that she was simple enough.

Overlooked clothing.

Lu's mother gently twitched the corner of her mouth and uttered a soft syllable in response. This understatement of greeting made Ning Zimo understand it very well.

It's one thing for people not to think of themselves at all.

Just taking care of you,

Can it be divided into three, six or nine grades?

Probably feeling something from her own expression, Lu Xiaona's expression finally changed after appearing for a long time. The corners of her mouth curled up slightly and she said, "You~~ are on a business trip for a long time this time."

"Well, in more than five months, I have traveled to a lot of places this time."

Although he came back in September, he stayed with his parents every day during that time. Ning Zimo counted this time as his "business trip" time. Furthermore, saying a few more words would not make it worse now.

The atmosphere seemed awkward.

Lu Xiaona nodded, paused and suddenly smiled and said, "How about we go out to eat together."

In just two sentences, Lu Xiaona's expression became slightly more beautiful, and that momentary smile made Ning Zimo feel like she had returned to the previous atmosphere.

After all, most of the time I spent with Lu Xiaona in the past was basically accompanied by the scene of eating together. Although it is a little embarrassing now, it’s hard to say no, right?

"OK,"

Ning Zi silently agreed, and Lu Xiaona seemed to be relieved.

They both agreed, but suddenly realized that there seemed to be an extra person in this familiar scene, which made Ning Zimo's mouth twitch unconsciously.

But before he could say anything, Lu Xiaona turned to her mother and said, "Mom, let's go with Zimo and Junya."

Lu Xiaona's eyes flickered towards her mother as she spoke. When Ning Zimo saw that Lu's mother had a calm expression and just nodded slightly, Lu Xiaona looked over again after receiving the answer.

Lu Xiaona with expectation,

Mother Lu with a plain face,

The sister with a weird expression.

The three people looked weird, and Ning Zimo suddenly felt that this meal would be very embarrassing.

***+***

It is still the tea restaurant that they come to the most, and the three of them have long been accustomed to this delicious little shop. And since Lu Xiaona chose this place, it is naturally a taste that is acceptable to Lu's mother.

However, because there are elders present, the atmosphere is naturally not as casual as before.

When Ning Zimo sat down, he still felt that a person with his personality had no experience at all in dealing with elders who didn't take their minds seriously, so he could only lead the conversation to today's dinner at the door.

The menus of tea restaurants in the special zone usually have two to three portions. Ning Zimo specially pushed the menu excluding fast food in front of Lu’s mother and introduced, “Auntie, the Southern Cantonese and Sichuan flavors in this tea restaurant are pretty good.

, please help us check it first."

After speaking, Ning Zimo felt that the wording he carefully considered made no difference to Mother Lu.

Because Mother Lu just smiled and nodded, then took the menu and looked through it.

Mother Lu looked at it very carefully, but didn't waste much time.

After ordering the next three dishes, Ning Zimo discovered out of habit that they were all Lu Xiaona's favorite dishes.

When the menu was pushed to Ning Zimo's side, Ning Zimo took it and was about to hand it to Lu Xiaona politely, but she didn't expect Lu's mother, who had been silent all this time, to suddenly speak.

"I've already ordered something with Xiaona's flavor. You two, brother and sister, please wait and order something else."

Mother Lu seemed to turn a blind eye to Lu Xiaona's hand stretched out in the air, but she spoke to Ning Zi silently with a gentle look on her face.

The mixture of gentleness, affability and domineering reminded Ning Zimo of the scenes he had occasionally been arranged by his mother in the past, and it also made him instinctively resist.

So, Ning Zimo nodded slightly to Mother Lu, imitating her and stubbornly asked Lu Xiaona, "Is there anything in particular that you want to change the taste of today?"

Ning Zimo's imitative domineering attitude was beyond Lu's mother's expectation, but she had been raising her temper for many years and just shook her head at her daughter, "Xiao Na, you can do it yourself."

Do you have to figure it out yourself?

Ning Zimo knows,

That is such a powerful statement.

So he could only look at Lu Xiaona's hand stretched out and hanging in the air,

final,

still,

Received it back.

But Ning Zimo's eyes were still hovering at the place where her finger had just reached out and stayed.

There is nothing there now,

Very much like Lu Xiaona’s choice,

At the same time, Ning Zimo also felt that his sudden struggle was boring.

Smiling helplessly in her heart, Ning Zimo quickly adjusted her mind and switched the menu to her sister.

Probably sensing that something was wrong with her just now, Junya placed her order after selecting the dishes, then grabbed her arm and changed the subject.

But they didn't want to talk for a few words, and Mother Lu suddenly spoke.

"Xiao Ning, you look quite young for your grade. Are you coming out to join the society so early?"

"Mom, why do you care so much about other people?" Lu Xiaona, who was sitting aside and didn't say much, finally couldn't stand it anymore and couldn't help but blame her.

"I was just chatting casually with Xiao Ning."

Mother Lu still looked calm and composed, but Ning Zimo felt more and more awkward.

It was only after Ning Zimo calmed down that he finally understood that Lu Xiaona's "independence" was actually a character formed by the opposition under this old-fashioned family discipline model.
To be continued...