Chapter 3 The Girl's Laughter
Grandma Ann herself is an older generation who planned to spend her remaining old age here. She is currently staying in the second child's house here in the Astra Residential Community. Her son had previously bought a house and moved in here several months before them.
Ever since their first meeting with Grandma Ann's family, they had frequently met with each other from then on. When they came to the garden in the evening, they would meet Grandma Ann walking around there. Sometimes she was just walking and sometimes she was even doing some Tai Chi movement to exercise.
The little girl would often follow along with Grandma Ann's movement. She probably treated it as just playing around and thought it was fun. At other times, she likes playing and running around with Tangtang and the other children there.
Sometimes, they would also meet Grandma Ann's eldest daughter and youngest son families. Despite living away, the two families would take some of their time to come and visit her every so often.
However, during their interaction, Seline never saw or heard her talking about her husband. Seeing Grandma Ann never intended to talk about it, the couple had never asked. They are not insensitive people.
Maybe it was because Grandma Ann was amused by the little girl's antics or she was missing her grandchildren living in different provinces, or maybe it was due to both reasons, Grandma Ann happily talked to the girl, teasing her to laugh now and then.
Over time, she liked the girl more and more, and finally, she regarded her with special fondness.
"It's okay to occasionally spoil her. She has been a very good and sensible girl. It's alright to reward her now and then", the old lady said with a smile.
"Right. That's right. I've been a good girl. So, I need to restock my energy with snacks! Ooh Oh, and there's also ice cream!" the girl quickly nodded, totally taking the side of Grandma Ann.
She didn't even forget the ice cream being promised by her mother!
Looking at the young and old pair, the mother could only shake her head helplessly with a smile. What else can she say?
Since they were going in the same direction, she invited Grandma Ann to accompany them together.
The old lady's son, Xing Wei, who was standing on the side, could only laugh seeing the trio combo interaction. He had seen similar scenes too many times. Thanks to the old lady, both his and the girl's family had also become acquainted.
Sometimes he and the girl's father, Lu Yang, would also meet and hang out together. His wife had also invited Stella's family to come over several times for lunch and dinner. Even their daughter, Tangtang who was similar in age, became good friends with the girl. The two along with several other children in the neighborhood frequent play with each other when they met.
Today only he came along to accompany the old lady. His wife took their daughter and went out shopping near the business district.
Despite a comprehensive list of products and items sold in the community's shopping complex, it does not encompass all types of products. When they need to buy specialized or unique items that can only be found outside, they need to go shopping outside, either in the business or commercial district of the provincial capital.
And the item they were looking for couldn't be found here. So, the two left earlier in the morning, leaving him to accompany the old lady.
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The playground section is located towards the central location of the garden.
On the scene, the crowds leisurely sat around on benches or hurried along to meet friends and families. Now and then screams and laughter of children playing and running around could be heard.
From time to time, one could hear naughty children making trouble while their guardians reprimanded and scolded them.
In this peaceful and lively atmosphere, the group of four quickly arrived at the ice cream parlor. Next to it, there was a small stall shop selling various appetizing snacks.
Upon their arrival, there were not many empty places to sit around. A group of children were already busily lining up to buy ice cream and snacks. So, Grandma Ann told Seline and Xing Wei to go ahead and queue first while she accompanied the little girl sitting on a nearby empty table and chairs.
As they were already familiar with each other, Xing Wei already knew which favorite snacks Stella wanted. And since it was in the evening, and the weather was clear and fine, they decided to take a small break and have snacks and tea here. Since moving to this community, his mother had formed the habit of enjoying her evening walk here and later drinking tea while enjoying the breeze.
As the two adults went to buy snacks and drinks, Stella and Grandma Ann found an empty table and waited for them. While waiting, the girl's eyes kept looking around with expectant eyes. Seeing this, Grandma Ann couldn't help but ask her, "Little girl, what are you looking for?"
"Grandma, where's Tangtang? Didn't she come here today?" asked the girl.
"Well, she is helping her mother today. This morning they both went out to buy something near the GreenDear Building," answered the old lady.
"Ooh. That building! I know that. It's a large, big building with a small fishpond in front of it, right? Last time Papa brought me and Mommy there to eat," the girl excitedly recounted her experience.
During the talk, she also talked about how she bought a packet of fish pallets at the store beside the pond and fed the fish. The movement of various colorful fishes erratically snatching the thrown pallets greatly amused the little girl. She kept jumping around in delight and laughing happily even when she was reminiscing and telling Grandma Ann about it.
Grandma Ann happily hears her story with a gentle smile. She knew about the pond. As one of the attraction spots for tourists, the pond was rather famous for the service that allows urban people to experience feeding the fish.
The two continued to talk and sometimes laughter could be heard coming from the two. They talked for a long time until the long-awaited ice cream and snacks arrived.
The queuing and waiting were a bit longer than expected since many children and guardians were also queuing in front of them. But looking at the girl's excitement when she saw her favorite ice cream, excitedly jumping down from the chair to her mother, she felt it was worth it.
Due to her work, she rarely had the time to accompany her baby girl. As much as she would love to nestle at home and be by her daughter's side, she also knows she needs to go out for work to support their current lifestyle consumption.
"Ice cream! Hahaha Mama, I love you!" she said while only looking at the ice cream impatiently.
Watching her daughter happily enjoying her favorite vanilla-chocolate ice cream, Seline couldn't help but smile from the bottom of her heart. Today is the 'treat day' for the family.
On other days, Seline and Lu Yang, as parents, would practice a rather disciplined and strict education way to the family. Though it is not like the old grandparent's generation where sticks and cane were used, they would supervise Stella's behavior strictly and patiently educate their daughter.
Normally eating ice cream and sweets was strictly controlled and avoided. Not only it is not good for her daughter's health but it also trains her to control her impulses and temper.
The only exception was when it was the 'treat day'. On these days, she would indulge her baby with whatever she wanted. And as a foodie, Stella prefers to enjoy her days with snacks and ice cream.
The group happily enjoyed their time as they spent the day in leisure.