Chapter 8 Gift
Li Yuanhu did not stay in the ward for long as he had a big business to discuss in the capital. He told Li Xiangping to recuperate well in Jinling and listen to his grandparents, then said goodbye to "Aunt Lin" and left.
After the two walked away, before Li Xiangping could speak, it was Old Shi's turn to gossip first:
"Friend Xiang Ping, who are you, these two?"
Li Xiangping rolled his eyes: "Didn't you hear me just now? I call that man dad."
"I know the man is your father, but that woman..."
Li Xiangping interrupted him coldly: "Nothing, she is not related to me. Okay, Brother Ding'an, let's not talk about this anymore, let's continue talking about your business."
"That's weird. That woman is your mother, but her age doesn't seem right. Your father asked you to call her aunt, but you insisted on calling her sister. So who is this woman? Oh, and what about your mother? You were sick and in the hospital, but why didn't your mother come to see you?"
Li Xiangping was both angry and amused. Who would have thought that the great chess master Shi would be such a gossipy and talkative person? Li Xiangping was not going to pay attention to him at first, but then he thought about it and realized that this guy would not be able to leave him at least in the short term. So it seemed necessary to let him know about his social relationships.
"My mother passed away eight years ago."
"Ah?! Sorry, sorry, little friend Xiang Ping."
Li Xiangping nodded: "Ignorance is not a crime, but you don't need to apologize."
Li Xiangping's biological mother did pass away 8 years ago. She died of the most common breast cancer in women. It was for this reason that Li Xiangping lacked maternal love since childhood.
Hearing the bleak tone in Li Xiangping's voice, Old Shi now advised him:
"Little friend Xiang Ping, you don't need to be sad. From what I've observed over the past few days, your grandparents love you very much. Even your father, whom you rarely see, speaks with great care for you. His love for you is evident in his words. Therefore, you don't need to take the pain of losing your mother to heart."
Li Xiangping snorted softly and stopped talking.
His mother died of a terminal illness. Life, old age, sickness and death are inevitable. Although he regretted losing his mother at a young age, Li Xiangping knew that he could not blame anyone. Moreover, it had been so many years since the incident, and the pain had long since faded. Besides, Old Shi said this out of kindness. It was not convenient for Li Xiangping to refute what someone said out of kindness.
"Oh, right, my friend Xiang Ping lost his mother at a young age, and I just saw that woman being intimate with your father, could she be your stepmother?"
Li Xiangping said coldly: "No, she is not my stepmother."
"Oh, who is that?"
Li Xiangping finally lost his patience. He yelled at Lao Shi, "Hey, Lao Shi, are you annoying? You're a chess master, but is there anyone as gossipy as you? Who is that woman? You'll find out in the future."
That "Aunt Lin" is indeed not Li Xiangping's stepmother yet, but in a few years, she will truly earn this title.
To be honest, Li Xiangping didn't have much of an opinion on this matter. This "Aunt Lin" was not only good to her, but also sincere to Li Yuanhu, especially a few years later, when Li Xiangping was about sixteen or seventeen years old, Li Yuanhu's career encountered a crisis, a big crisis. As the saying goes, a friend in need is a friend indeed. Li Xiangping believed it was because of the performance of "Aunt Lin" during that crisis that she won the unanimous recognition of her family. It was also after resolving that crisis that Li Yuanhu officially married her.
However , how should I put it? Although Li Xiangping had no problem with this "Aunt Lin", it did not mean that he didn't feel uncomfortable.
It was normal for him to be so awkward. Li Xiangping remembered that at this time in his previous life, he had never liked this "Auntie Lin" and always thought she was a green tea bitch. So for a long time, he deliberately called her "sister" instead of auntie, which made Li Yuanhu laugh and cry, and also caused a little estrangement between father and son.
Li Xiangping's attitude towards "Auntie Lin" was purely out of inertia. He had this attitude before, so it's impossible that he would make a 180-degree turn right after crossing over? Wouldn't this make people more suspicious?
However, these things are not worth telling to outsiders. They are considered private family affairs. Especially now that he is not familiar with Lao Shi, Li Xiangping is naturally unwilling to discuss related topics with him.
And the chess master Shi Da was obviously not the kind of person with low emotional intelligence. When he noticed Li Xiangping's unhappiness, he tactfully shut up.
"Huh? What is that?"
"What is it, what do you want to say, Lao Shi?"
"The things on the table. I heard from your father that this is a gift from that woman to you."
"So this is what you are talking about."
Li Xiangping smiled when he saw what Lao Shi was pointing at. It was not a rare thing, just a laptop. He gave it to Li Xiangping as a gift to help him pass the time, thinking that Li Xiangping would have to stay in the hospital for at least half a month for observation.
Hearing Lao Shi's reminder, Li Xiangping went over to fiddle with the laptop.
"Oh my goodness, it's IBM again. One of these things seems to cost more than 20,000 yuan these days. It really cost a lot of money..."
Li Xiangping talked to himself and thought that this "Aunt Lin" was really thoughtful.
Who paid for this computer? Li Xiangping knew that it must have been paid by his father, but the key now was not who paid. Li Xiangping believed that if it was just his father Li Yuanhu, he would definitely not be so careful and would think of moving a computer to entertain himself. Therefore, from this perspective, he still had to thank "Auntie Lin" for his kindness.
"Brother Ding'an, you must have never seen this thing. Let me tell you, this is high technology, the crystallization of the progress of human civilization."
Old Shi has been in Li Xiangping's body for several days. He now knows that this person is an antique. How to describe him? He is like a person who has just woken up after sleeping for hundreds of years. Not to mention a computer, even a bicycle can make him marvel.
"What is the use of this thing?"
"this……"
It must be admitted that Li Xiangping was really stumped by Mr. Shi's question. Although he often used the computer, for a layman like him, this thing was actually just a leisure tool, mainly used for watching DVDs and playing games.
Li Xiangping's eyes rolled, and he smiled and said to Lao Shi: "This thing can be used to play chess. Haha, Brother Ding'an, do you want to play a few games with this thing?"
"Ah?! This thing can also be used to play chess."
"Of course, Brother Ding'an, please wait a moment."
Li Xiangping continued to fiddle with the laptop while saying this. Fortunately, the conditions in this high-ranking cadre ward were quite good, and Li Xiangping actually found a network cable interface. After some trouble, he connected to the network and began to download the chess software.
"The domain name you entered does not exist. Please check and re-enter..."
Seeing this prompt, Li Xiangping shook his head and smiled bitterly. It was only the year 2000, and the largest and most popular chess websites of later generations did not even exist yet.
Li Xiangping thought about it for a while, and then said to himself: "Old Lianzhong, old Qingfeng, it's been a long time since we last met..."
In today's era, the largest and most famous chess websites are of course these two. However, in later generations, Lianzhong has declined, and Qingfeng has long disappeared in the long river of history. Therefore, these two websites can only remain in the memories of old chess fans.
It took nearly half an hour for Li Xiangping to finally download the two software. Li Xiangping really couldn't complain about the Internet speed these days, but there was no other way. In an era without WLAN and 4G3G, he knew that today's Internet speed was already quite good.
The poor internet speed did not affect Li Xiangping's enthusiasm. After downloading both chess software, he said to Lao Shi with great interest:
"Okay, brother Ding'an, now everything is ready, do you want to have a plate?"
