Chapter 184 - 145: Celebrating a Birthday_1
Having heard the Little Monk’s words, Monkey Brother shook his head like a rattle-drum, thinking that if one couldn’t eat meat or eggs in the temple and might not even get a ragged piece of clothing to wear, it was better to forget about it.
Monkey Brother climbed down from the Little Monk and scurried onto Qian Yixiu. Qian Yixiu pretended to be annoyed and ignored it, but then the monkey made bows and funny faces until she couldn’t help but chuckle. Qian Yixiu ended up laughing as well, and the person and monkey were as good as new friends.
Qian Yixiu asked Qian Xiaolei to fetch Qian Yeejin from the private school. She always felt that Qian Yeejin and the Little Monk had the most in common and got along very well.
Cheng Yue, who had been embroidering, came out of the eastern chamber as soon as the Little Monk arrived. She smiled at the Little Monk, took a stool and sat down next to them without speaking, just quietly watching her daughter and the Little Monk talk and laugh. When she saw the Little Monk’s glass was empty, she diligently got up to refill it for him.
Qian Yeejin ran back, his little face flushed with exhaustion. As soon as they saw each other, the two boys hugged and jumped around in circles.
The children sat under the jujube tree, eating snacks and chatting about interesting things they had encountered. It was mostly the Little Monk talking about what odd things he had seen on the way, how magnificent Baoguo Temple was, how delicious the vegetarian food there tasted, and how beautiful the scenery of West Mountain was...
When the two boys started talking about their studies, Qian Yixiu did not disturb them and leaned on her mother as she watched them.
Perhaps because of the weariness from his journey, the Little Monk had slimmed down a bit, and his features appeared more defined than before. Qian Yixiu wondered if it was her own illusion, but sitting together, the Little Monk and Qian Yeejin seemed to bear a resemblance to each other.
Qian Xiaoyu, who came to refill the water, laughed and said, "Brother Jin and Little Master Hongji do look a bit alike. If others didn’t know better, they might think they were real brothers."
Qian Sangui and Lady Wu, sitting under the eaves, also laughed and said, "Hmm, they really do look a bit alike."
Lady Wu felt something was amiss and became a bit flustered, hastily adding, "It’s not just that Little Master Hongji looks a bit like Jinwa, but also like Shan Wa. They all have white teeth and red lips, big eyes with double eyelids, and fair skin."
Qian Manxia took a closer look at them and laughed, saying, "Mother is right. Little Master doesn’t just resemble Jinwa and Shan Wa; he even has a slight resemblance to Yixiu."