Chapter 150: Little Gou Dan
Ning Xiyue’s refusal was the right choice — she watched Liu Yao and Chen Yechu’s faces twist into a visible, sour grimace after eating it.
Liu Yao, still holding her chopsticks, tried to take a few more bites of food to suppress the sourness.
Ning Xiyue shivered. Thankfully, she had refused.
Chen Yechu, covering her cheeks, looked at Wang Mengmeng and cautiously asked, “Mengmeng, are these hawthorn slices from the batch you bought last time?”
Wang Mengmeng cheerfully nodded as she ate another slice. “Yep! There were still a lot left over. Fresh hawthorn fruit doesn’t keep well, so I sliced and dried them all. I usually eat them as snacks.”
Sss… Just as she suspected — they were from the last batch. Ning Xiyue once again felt grateful for refusing.
“Do you want another slice?” Wang Mengmeng asked, eating another piece herself and handing one over.
“No thanks. One slice was enough — I can already feel my digestion speeding up.” Chen Yechu waved her hands repeatedly, her eyebrows raised in strong refusal.
After hearing that, her teeth somehow felt even more sensitive. Another slice would probably dissolve them.
“I’ll try it,” Yu Zhiyu said after hearing Chen Yechu, picking up two slices and eating them. He actually found them tolerable.
“Impressive,” Chen Yechu said, watching his calm expression.
Liu Yao, who had eaten two slices at once, had been too overwhelmed by the sourness to speak. Now that she had finally recovered, she complained, “Comrade Wang Mengmeng, how can you eat such sour hawthorn like a snack?”
“Maybe I just like sour food. Is it really that sour?” Wang Mengmeng asked, seeing their pained expressions.
The three — Ning Xiyue, Chen Yechu, and Liu Yao — replied in unison, “YES.”
Wu Guifang, who had never tried Wang Mengmeng’s hawthorn before, put down her bowl and hesitantly accepted a slice.
“Well?”
“Sour,” Wu Guifang said, squinting her eyes from the taste before handing the remaining slice back.
Realizing no one liked sour food, Wang Mengmeng didn’t push it further. “Hawthorn is delicious! But since you can’t enjoy it, I’ll just eat it myself.”
Ning Xiyue shook her head — this was a “blessing” she could happily skip. She stood up and said, “Let’s go tell our hosts we’re leaving. I want to go back and take a nap.”
“Wait for me,” Chen Yechu said, getting up to follow her.
The others also stood up and left together.
As soon as the group from the educated youth courtyard left, the dishes on the table became highly sought after.
Many people had been eyeing their table for a while. The moment they stood up, those with plans rushed over without hesitation.
Those seated nearby had the advantage of proximity. With their lunch boxes already prepared, they quickly scooped up the dishes they’d been eyeing.
When Ning Xiyue returned after saying goodbye, she saw that their table was already completely empty — not even a drop of soup was left.
Chen Yechu, seeing this, chuckled. “That speed is impressive.”
Just then, a little boy ran up to Ning Xiyue and pulled a few pieces of wedding candy from his pocket. “Sister Xiyue, here’s some candy for you.”
It was Little Gou Dan — the very first patient she treated as a barefoot doctor on her first day. He was the treasured child of Uncle An Guo’s family, the boy who had injured his leg with a hoe.
Ning Xiyue squatted down and patted his head. “Sister doesn’t eat candy — keep it for yourself, Gou Dan.”
“Gou Dan gives candy to Sister to say thank you,” he insisted stubbornly, pushing the sweets into her hands, his little face serious.
“Alright, then Sister will take one, you take one, and the rest you keep for tomorrow, okay?”
Ning Xiyue took two pieces — one for herself and handed the other back to him. Their candies bumped together.
“Okay.” Gou Dan finally agreed, stuffing the rest back into his pocket. His small face was full of determination. “Tomorrow Gou Dan will bring Sister more candy.”
Ning Xiyue didn’t take that seriously.
But the next day, while she was rolling medicinal pills at the clinic, Little Gou Dan showed up with a group of friends. They waited in the courtyard while he ran up to her, holding up a candy with a wide grin. “Sister, your candy.”
In that moment, the busy Ning Xiyue felt her heart completely healed by the little boy’s gesture.
She picked up the candy and bumped it gently against his again.
“Thank you, Gou Dan.”
“Goodbye, Sister.” Gou Dan waved and ran back to join his friends outside.
As he left, the whole group of children waved to Ning Xiyue.
She felt warm inside and smiled, raising her hand to wave back.
The kids in the production team were truly adorable — all good children. Not every child was a little terror.
Li Xiuxiu said enviously, “Xiyue, you and Gou Dan have such a good relationship. It’s obvious he really likes you — the other kids do too. You seem to be really popular with children.”
“They’re all good kids — very obedient.”
Li Xiuxiu stared at her in disbelief, completely unable to understand how Ning Xiyue came to such an unrealistic conclusion.
“Obedient? Impossible. You have no idea how annoying they can be when they’re naughty. Everyone in the team hates dealing with them — they’ve caused plenty of trouble.”
Li Xiuxiu knew those kids inside out — she’d grown up around them.
“But they’re just little kids — mischievous, yes, but still the treasured children of every family. You can’t hit them, so people are just frustrated and helpless.”
“It can’t be that bad.”
Thanks to her recent positive encounters, Ning Xiyue still had a favorable impression of them.
Li Xiuxiu let out a snort, predicting, “Just wait. Since they’re all gathered together today, they’re definitely planning something big.”
Sure enough, two hours later, Li Xiuxiu’s words proved true — her “prophecy” became reality.
The group of kids had indeed stirred up something big… something that shocked the entire production team.
Someone came rushing to pull Ning Xiyue over.
