After Liu Chang'an finished his noodles, Li Hongfang drove Zhou Shuling off to finalize the shop uniforms' design. He was going to escort Zhu Juntang first, with Shangguan Dandan following behind him.
Shangguan Dandan had little interest in leaving the neighborhood for anywhere too far away, unless there was some event handing out free gifts.
Dongdong's mom was too busy, so Shangguan Dandan planned to look into the vending machine matter herself first. She generally got her information through her social circle, and the people she consulted were usually the elderly residents of the neighborhood.
As the two passed beneath the grape arbor, they saw Old Man Qian wrapping a crooked willow tree in plastic wrap and patting the tree as part of some health regimen.
"Little Qian, what are you doing?" There were always people in the neighborhood doing strange things, so "What are you doing?" had become a fairly standard greeting. Shangguan Dandan walked beneath the crooked willow tree and watched Old Man Qian curiously.
"I discovered that this willow tree is particularly extraordinary. All the others lean south, but this one leans north. Maybe it has a spirit. Using it to exercise gives twice the result with half the effort," Old Man Qian said sternly.
He was not stern because he was angry, but because he wanted to seem more imposing. If he paired that expression with his whooshing palms and loud shouts, perhaps Dandan would feel a little intimidated and stop so openly humiliating Old Man Qian's card skills whenever they played.
Although he quite enjoyed playing cards with Shangguan Dandan—and had even wanted to squeeze Liu Chang'an out of the neighborhood card games—Old Man Qian had now realized that while Shangguan Dandan was not as skilled at cards as Liu Chang'an, she was every bit