People in the alley: A woman dressed as a man shouldn't be foolishly filial, Zhuang Chaoying

It was almost the end of December, Sunday.

Zhuang Chaoying carefully sealed the completed "Hundred Transformations Magic Cards" booklet and headed towards the post office.

When I went out, I saw Wu Shanshan carrying a vegetable basket and queuing up to buy meat at the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative.

Seeing this, Zhuang Chaoying couldn't help but shake her head. The old saying was really true; having a stepmother meant having a stepfather.

Wu Shanshan spotted Zhuang Chaoying first and greeted her politely. "Teacher Zhuang, are you going out together?"

"Shanshan is queuing up to buy meat. I need to go to the post office."

Zhuang Chaoying did not stop and continued walking towards the post office.

Behind him were Xiaoting, Tunan, Dongzhe, and Huang Ling.

He had promised the children that he would take them to the Dongyuan Zoo on Baitadong Road today, a place they had been longing to visit for a long time, and he couldn't let them down.

In the morning, the children attended classes at the Children's Palace.

Song Ying and Lin Wufeng have never liked taking care of children, finding them noisy and troublesome. So they decided to let Sister Ling and Teacher Zhuang take Dongzhe with them, which would give them some peace and quiet.

At this moment, Song Ying was sitting in the warm house, leisurely watching TV. "Wu Feng, it's so nice to be neighbors with Sister Ling. Teacher Zhuang tutors us, and Tu Nan is taking care of Dong Zhe. I feel that Dong Zhe is much more mature than before."

Lin Wufeng sat to the side, casually cracking open a sunflower seed and stuffing it into Song Ying's mouth. "Yeah, we're lucky."

His gaze never left the television screen.

Zhuang Chaoying mailed the email.

Afterwards, he led his wife and children to the bus stop, especially Lin Dongzhe and Xiaoting, who chattered excitedly about the zoo.

The bus slowly pulled up, and they squeezed onto it.

We arrived at the zoo quickly.

The three children each carried a shoulder bag.

Song Ying gave each child a big apple.

Huang Ling was still carrying that same blue plaid crossbody bag.

After buying the tickets, Lin Dongzhe excitedly ran ahead, shouting as he ran, "Brother Tu Nan, Xiao Ting, Uncle Zhuang, Auntie, hurry up!"

The zoo was bustling with activity. Giraffes and monkeys were leaping and jumping on the artificial hills, tigers and lions were lazily sunbathing, and there were bears and all sorts of other animals!

It's a pity that there's no camera to take pictures of the children and record this beautiful moment; Zhuang Chaoying couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

The children had a great time today and didn't care about the cold weather.

The three children walked in front, while Zhuang Chaoying and Huang Ling followed behind them with smiles.

Zhuang Chaoying watched the children's retreating figures and said to Huang Ling, "Ling, look how happy the children are! Let's go back and take a picture to remember this moment."

Huang Ling nodded. "Okay, Chaoying, go take a picture. We'll take it when we get back."

So, everyone took a picture together. The children in the photo had bright smiles, with Zhuang Chaoying and Huang Ling standing on either side.

The three children took another picture by themselves, standing close together, their friendship captured in that moment.

Finally, Zhuang Chaoying and A Ling took a photo together, both with a faint happiness on their faces.

After paying, the staff said to come back in a week to pick up the photos.

、、、、、、、、

On New Year's Eve, everyone crowded into Song Ying's house, their eyes glued to the television screen.

Zhuang Chaoying sat to the side, gently peeling off the peanut shells with her fingers and handing the peanuts to Huang Ling, who opened her mouth slightly.

Song Ying pouted. "Teacher Zhuang, are you pretending we're not here? Be more careful!"

Huang Ling smiled and patted Song Ying on the shoulder.

At this moment, Lao Wu and Zhang Amei also brought their three children over to join in the fun and watch TV.

Zhang Amei's gaze fell on Huang Ling: "Sister Ling, are you really not going to give the children red envelopes?"

Huang Ling calmly replied, "It's all our adults' money, so it doesn't matter whether we give it or not. We won't give it. Besides, it was already ordered last year."

After hearing this, Zhang Amei's lips pursed slightly, and she remained silent.

Old Wu ate some sunflower seeds and laughed, "This year's Spring Festival is going to be lively! We can finally watch Song Ying's TV!"

Song Ying checked the time. "Lin Dongzhe, quickly change the channel, the lecture is about to start!"

Lin Dongzhe sat on the bench, muttering somewhat reluctantly, "Mom hasn't finished watching the news yet!"

Song Ying immediately said, "Your brother Tu Nan's studies are the most important thing!"

Song Ying turned to look at Huang Ling and Zhang Amei and explained, "Teacher Zhuang said that English is the most widely used language now and will become more and more important in the future, so we're letting the children get in touch with it first and learn from the TV."

Zhuang Chaoying nodded in agreement: "The college entrance examination has included English in the total score."

Old Wu looked at Zhuang Chaoying and asked in confusion, "What will happen to the children if there's no TV at home?"

Zhuang Chaoying patiently replied, "Some schools will take this seriously and will definitely offer this course in the future."

Lin Wufeng nodded in agreement: "The trend is about to change. Just now in the news, first he visited the island nation, and then he visited the United States. It really is going to change."

Zhuang Chaoying said solemnly, "This change will be significant. In the future, all children will have to go to university, and universities will gradually become more widespread, eventually replacing vocational school graduates."

Old Wu picked up his teacup and took a sip of water: "Teacher Zhuang, no matter how things change, we still have to go to work."

Zhuang Chaoying shook her head: "That's not true, Lao Wu. The changes brought about by the reforms are beyond our imagination. We still have to go to university. Tu Nan, Xiao Ting, Dong Zhe, you all have to study hard and get into university so you can choose your own path in life! Although it takes three more years than vocational school, university graduates earn higher salaries!"

Zhang Amei was still secretly calculating. Unable to get the red envelope, she thought of getting the TV viewing privilege. She said to her child, "Xiaomin, did you hear that? English is very important in the future. You should come to Aunt Song's house to watch English lectures too!"

Seeing this, Huang Ling smiled and called out, "Xiao Jun and Shan Shan, come over here too."

The children all looked at Song Ying and obediently said in unison, "Thank you, Aunt Song!"

That evening, Song Ying's family prepared a sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner, including steamed pork with rice flour, braised pork ribs, scrambled eggs, stir-fried shredded radish, and fried meatballs.

The family of four sat together, enjoying their New Year's Eve dinner in a warm and harmonious atmosphere.

After dinner, Zhuang Chaoying was in high spirits. She took out a deck of cards from her drawer and waved them in front of the children: "Xiaoting, Tunan, do you want to play cards?"

The children shouted excitedly in unison, "Yes, we want to play!"

Zhuang Chaoying glanced at Huang Ling with a hint of expectation in her eyes. The two children were clever and quick-witted, and understood immediately.

"Mom, play cards with us for a while."

Xiaoting spoke first, shaking Huang Ling's arm and acting coquettishly.

The two children sat on either side of Huang Ling, and Tu Nan chimed in, "Yes, Mom, you can only play a few times a year."

Huang Ling was focused on her knitting when she heard the children's request. A doting smile appeared on her face, and she put down her knitting.

"Let's begin!" With that, Huang Ling hugged the two children tightly, and the room was filled with laughter.

During the card game, everyone had agreed that the loser would have a sticker stuck to their face. After several rounds, Huang Ling had the most stickers on her face, followed by Xiao Ting and Tu Nan, while Zhuang Chaoying only had two.

Xiaoting looked at her father and pouted in dissatisfaction: "Dad, are you cheating?"

Zhuang Chaoying replied innocently, "No!"

The two children pretended to be angry and came over to hug Zhuang Chaoying, taking the opportunity to stick the notes on their faces onto Zhuang Chaoying's face, and the whole family burst into laughter.