After lunch, Zhu Yanyi took Zhu Yanli and Zhu Zhibin to visit Ms. Chang. Ms. Chang and Zhu Yanyi kept in touch often, so she already knew Zhu Yanyi had an older sister who loved music. She looked at Zhu Yanli’s gentle, pretty, and clean aura, and nodded slightly.
“Your family must eat something special. Why does everyone have such good temperament?”
Indeed, the three siblings looked great. Zhu Yanli was gentle, Zhu Yanyi was calm, and Zhu Zhibin was playful. Because Zhu Yanyi had secretly helped improve their health over the years, all three looked beautiful. Even Zhu Shun Yao and Xie Xinlian didn’t look like people in their forties. They looked like they were just in their thirties—young and charming.
“It means we grow well. We only pick the good parts to grow,” Zhu Yanyi said with a smile. She walked up and linked arms with Ms. Chang. “Grandma Chang, isn’t my sister nice?”
Ms. Chang tapped Zhu Yanyi’s forehead, then spoke gently to Zhu Yanli. “You’ve grown up too. I’ll call you Yanli. You can call me Grandma Chang.”
Ms. Chang had met Zhu Yanli when she was little. She spent more time with Zhu Yanyi, so she liked Zhu Yanyi more. But because she loved Zhu Yanyi, she naturally liked Zhu Yanli too.
“Okay, Grandma Chang,” Zhu Yanli said with a gentle smile.
Ms. Chang looked kind. “I heard from Ani that you like the erhu.”
“Yes,” Zhu Yanli nodded, answering honestly. “I’ve liked the erhu since I was little. People say its sound is sad and long. But I like that feeling. Not because it’s sad, but because the erhu sound can change a lot. Most importantly, I feel I can connect better with the erhu.”
People who love music know it’s rare to find an instrument that connects with you.
Ms. Chang nodded, understanding. “Since that’s so, play a piece for me to hear.”
She then turned to Zhu Yanyi. “You take your brother out to play. I’ll take Yanli to the music room nearby. I’ll listen to her skills before deciding.”
Zhu Yanyi knew Ms. Chang wanted to test Zhu Yanli. She and Zhu Zhibin shouldn’t go.
“Grandma Chang, you go ahead. Zhibin and I will wait here,” Zhu Yanyi said.
Ms. Chang agreed. “If so, wait here. Or you can go to the study. Your Grandpa Zhang bought many books. I don’t know what they are, but he seems happy with them. You can look. They are all in the study.”
Zhu Yanyi’s eyes lit up. “Great! Grandpa Zhang’s books must be about plants. I want to find a book with many plants recently. I know there are about 350,000 plant species in the world. Our China has over 30,000. I know most of China’s plants from books. But I need to see them in real life to truly know them. I don’t know enough about world plants yet. I’ll go read.”
She didn’t wait for Ms. Chang to answer. She pulled Zhu Zhibin toward the study.
Ms. Chang smiled helplessly. No wonder her old man liked this little apprentice. Her knowledge was indeed wide. But it was understandable. After all, the child studied traditional Chinese medicine. That field deals with many plants.
She shook her head slightly, then took Zhu Yanli to the side to test her.