Zhu Yanyi finished explaining and set the items aside. The bag was full. Without Luo Gang and Wang Ye helping, she couldn’t have carried so much.
“You brought so much,” Ouyang Manqing said. She didn’t mind the things. They looked plain but tasted great. Dried plum vegetables were perfect for braised pork. It was delicious. As an actress, she couldn’t eat too much, but she liked to satisfy her cravings often.
“Let’s eat first,” Xie Yijun said, bringing out dishes. “We’ll sort those things later.”
Everyone sat down to eat. Xie Yijun grew up near Xie Zhong, so he didn’t follow strict rules about silence during meals. Chatting while eating was fine.
“Tomorrow is your summer camp. Are you scared?” Xie Yijun asked after serving Zhu Yanyi and Zhu Zhibin some food.
Zhu Yanyi smiled but didn’t answer. She looked at Zhu Zhibin. Zhu Zhibin glanced at Xie Yijun. “Uncle Yijun, we are grown up. If I were scared, would I still be a man?”
“Oh, our Bean Sprout is a man now. Amazing,” Xie Yijun laughed. “But you have to perform at the camp. What act do you know, Bean Sprout?”
Zhu Zhibin smiled proudly. “I know music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.” He spoke boldly, not afraid of showing off.
“Cough, cough.” Zhu Yanyi coughed at her big talk. Luo Gang and Wang Ye coughed too.
Zhu Zhibin didn’t blush. She looked very proud. Xie Yijun looked suspiciously at Zhu Zhibin, then at Zhu Yanyi. “Does Bean Sprout really know everything?”
Zhu Yanyi smiled lightly. “She has six out of seven senses open for music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.” Her eyes showed teasing. Zhu Zhibin buried her head in her rice, pretending not to see her.
“…” Xie Yijun was speechless. “So she knows nothing? But that’s impossible. She didn’t inherit any talent from her adoptive father.” She looked at Zhu Yanli and Zhu Yanyi. Both were talented girls. Zhu Zhibin shouldn’t be bad.
Zhu Yanyi smiled. “Her skills are strange. For example, she changed the two strings of an erhu into one. She calls it ‘One Hu’. She says ‘Erhu’ means two strings, like two beards. So with one string, it’s ‘One Hu’.” She laughed. “She can play One Hu, but not Erhu. She can copy a painting perfectly, making it hard to tell real from fake, but she can’t paint alone. She can read chess books and watch others play to guess the winner, but she can’t play chess herself. So, six senses are open, but the one for doing it herself is closed.” Zhu Yanyi laughed until her stomach hurt. She wondered what Zhu Zhibin was like in her past life. Now, she could appreciate art but couldn’t do it.
“How is that possible?” Xie Yijun was shocked. There are many kinds of people, but Zhu Zhibin was truly unique.
Zhu Yanyi sighed. “The problem is her IQ is very high. Higher than mine. Last time, Brother Yan took her for a test. Her score was one hundred sixty.”