Chapter 38:

Because children should not date too early!

Jin Guijuan, who was staying in the backroom, felt happy when she heard Jing Qizhen’s voice.

As a result, just as she stood up and opened the door curtain, she saw the strange little girl staring straight at Jing Qizhen with her dark eyes.

Although Lu Lingxi didn’t understand what was going on, he also noticed the odd change in the little girl’s eyes. He subconsciously touched his gun, but when he thought that their situation was different from the real world, the effect of shooting a gun might not be the same. So, he simply put his hands on the table and tightly clasped the cotton-padded coat that he had mended for Xu Siya.

The strange little girl’s gaze remained unmoving. After a long time, she finally spoke. She still had that simple and innocent voice, but her tone had changed slightly, revealing an indescribable darkness and gloom.

The little girl blinked her eyes innocently, and asked quietly, “Big brother, why did you take my music box?”

Jin Guijuan and Lu Lingxi stayed aside and watched as the little girl stared at Jing Qizhen, feeling the goosebumps rising on their bodies.

However, Jing Qizhen, the focus in the little girl’s eyes, was completely indifferent. He first put the two bundles of vegetables he brought back on the stove next to him, and then he looked at the little girl. He calmly replied while speaking in a serious voice, “Because you are still young, and children should not date too early.”

The little girl was dumbfounded, and her eyes that were staring straight at Jing Qizhen turned dazed for a moment because of his unprecedented answer.

Lu Lingxi and Jin Guijuan: …???

Manman and Yan Hong, who were following Jing Qizhen’s suggestion to wait outside the door and were restless with worry: …

The duo outside exchanged a quick glance. They had already touched the music box, so naturally, they remembered the description it gave.

Manman grumbled in a low voice, “A girl who probably couldn’t even wear cotton-padded clothes to keep warm… received a music box from a boy, and it happened to be snowing that day…”

Yan Hong: …

He was vaguely aware of Manman’s criticisms that she didn’t say directly, and Yan Hong felt that Jing Qizhen’s next words might render him even more speechless.

Jing Qizhen, who had just sent out a thunderbolt, still looked calm. He carried the bag containing the music box as he walked to the table. Lu Lingxi subconsciously pushed a chair out for him.

Jing Qizhen thanked him first and then readily sat down on the chair.

Then, his eyes fell on the little girl again. Confidently, he lectured her about the dangers of premature love among children.

Jing Qizhen: “Puppy love has a certain negative impact on children’s physical and mental health.

“After all, a person’s energy and time are limited, and puppy love will inevitably consume the child’s limited energy and time. Moreover, children who were dating prematurely will also be afraid and become defensive if parents and teachers discover their relationship. At the same time, whether the relationship between young lovers is sweet or awkward, people will always talk about it. To put it bluntly, it causes double pressure and burden.

“Oh, of course, I admit that adults in relationships often face many sweet burdens. After all, without love, nothing will happen at all.”

The little girl who fell victim to Jing Qizhen’s preaching again: …

Lu Lingxi, who was forced to watch at a close distance: =口= !!!

Jin Guijuan couldn’t help but nodded in agreement. “Little Jing is right!”

Lu Lingxi turned to look at Jin Guijuan subconsciously.

Jin Guijuan glanced at him and explained in a whisper, “In our village, the girls who were busy dating will later be busy getting engaged, getting married, and getting pregnant while they were still teenagers, and then they stayed like that for the rest of their lives…”

Lu Lingxi: …Sorry, I was short-sighted!

Jing Qizhen was completely unaffected by the people around him and continued to speak out his own thoughts.

Just now, Lu Lingxi, who was still holding on to the cotton-padded coat that was originally made for Xu Siya and was later put on the weird little girl’s head to restrain her, lowered his head to stare at his hands. He decisively put down the cotton-padded coat that he regarded as a ‘weapon’. He stood up silently, took a clean bowl from the stove and filled it with water before bringing it to Jing Qizhen.

He really wanted to pour a cup of tea for Jing Qizhen, but the consumables in the house were limited and he couldn’t find any tea leaves.

When Jing Qizhen took the bowl of hot water from Lu Lingxi, he couldn’t help but pause for a moment and subconsciously said thank you again.

He also took a small sip to moisten his throat before he continued, “Children in puberty are emotionally unstable and have poor self-control. After all, they are all minors. Out of curiosity and ignorance, it’s easy to lure them with the taste of forbidden fruit. Especially for girls, if they accidentally get pregnant when their bodies are not fully developed, no matter how they deal with it, they will cause both physical and mental harm to themselves.

“Generally speaking, women have to be at least twenty years old to be fully physically mature. If you take into account psychological maturity and academic issues, as well as the relative stability of economic conditions, you have to be at least twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven or twenty -eight years old, right?

“Not to mention most children have unstable minds, so most puppy love ends in failure. That kind of emotional disturbance can easily cause serious psychological trauma to children.

“After all, children have limited experience and rarely face hardship in society. If they have to bear so much before reaching adulthood, it’s easy for them to have a mental breakdown when faced with even more societal challenges later on. You must understand that life is not only about enduring present struggles. It will also include wedding invitation cards sent by those who have left you, as well as countless future struggles.”

The little girl’s dark eyes were becoming a little bleak after being bombarded by Jing Qizhen’s long exposure of truths and toxic ‘chicken soup for the soul’.

Especially in the 1990s, given the environment in which young girls grew up, private relationships between men and women were often judged as shameful by the public.

Probably no one in her life ever lectures this kind of thing straightforwardly like Jing Qizhen. Moreover, it sounded very reasonable…

At that moment, Jing Qizhen almost completely controlled the situation.

Yan Hong stayed outside waiting for Grandma Fang and others, but Manman had already walked in after informing him.

After exchanging nods with Jing Qizhen, Lu Lingxi and Jin Guijuan, Manman added fuel to the fire by reminding, “The gift was delivered by that boy on a snowy day? He has a good heart, um… it’s just a little bit…”

Manman deliberately hesitated for a while before saying, “To be honest, even if he’s a good boy, it’s better for him to be practical, attentive, and capable of managing daily life.”

Upon hearing Manman’s words, Jing Qizhen also got a new inspiration. He then added, “Yes, and this! The reason is very simple.

“On a snowy day in winter, sitting in a warm villa with a roaring fire in the fireplace, a beautiful Christmas tree adorned with gifts, and the table piled with a sumptuous dinner—that’s called the festive atmosphere.

“A young couple runs out of the warm house, embracing each other in their cozy winter clothes in the snow-covered landscape—that’s called romance.

“A little girl selling matches faces the winter storm—that represents the tragic plight of the poor and the author’s dissatisfaction and criticism of the dark society at that time.”

Afterward, Jing Qizhen specifically asked, “Have you heard of the fairy tale ‘The Little Match Girl’?”

Seeing the little girl shaking her head in confusion, Jing Qizhen briefly recounted the story, and then emphasized to the child, “When you live without worries and have your basic needs met, pursuing romance is what a suitable good man should do. But when you’re still struggling to make ends meet, having a warm home, hot food, and warm clothes is even more important. However, this is just a personal opinion.”

Manman corrected him calmly, “That’s not the case. This is the basic argument of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory.”

Jin Guijuan and Lu Lingxi: …

Although they were as confused as the weird little girl and did not understand what Jing Qizhen and Manman were talking about, they still felt it was very profound.

Jing Qizhen finally concluded, “In short, premature love can easily delay your development. Although nothing is absolute, ordinary children should try not to challenge fate.”

The blurry eyes of the little girl became more and more confused. She faintly glanced at Jing Qizhen and disappeared out of thin air again.

Lu Lingxi didn’t know whether he should breathe a sigh of relief.

As a result, after Jing Qizhen put down the bowl of water that Lu Lingxi had just poured for him, he hesitated for a moment before speaking, “I suddenly realized that the conscious, communicative creatures in the erosion area seem to have rigid thoughts.”

Manman raised her eyebrows: …?

Jing Qizhen questioned, “Once their established beliefs are broken, their danger level decreases?”

Manman hummed and said objectively, “Maybe we are just lucky in the two erosion areas we entered. Next time, after we give them toxic ‘chicken soup for the soul’, they might go crazy and die on the spot after being provoked!”

Jing Qizhen accepted the advice humbly and nodded. “…That’s right, you are right.”

The weird little girl refused Jing Qizhen’s offer to send her home and disappeared, so Jing Qizhen directly started washing vegetables and preparing to make the hot pot.

Manman also took out her mobile phone and showed several specific ways to prepare hot pot broth. She hesitated and confessed, “Jiayang gave these to me before.”

Manman was obviously someone who didn’t know how to cook. Jin Guijuan couldn’t help but look through Manman’s phone and find the easiest recipe to follow. She rolled up her sleeves and got ready to start cooking.

Lu Lingxi also jumped up immediately. “I’ll do it, I’ll do it! I can cook!”

Jin Guijuan asked in surprise, “How come you can do everything?”

Lu Lingxi curled up the corners of his mouth and smiled, his Bambi-like eyes sparkling. “Hey, when it comes to survival in the wild, what haven’t we done? Who wants to eat compressed biscuits when we can eat cooked food? I can even show you how to make fried rice with a military shovel!”

Everyone present: …

Manman immediately stated sincerely, “…I’m useless.”

Lu Lingxi was dumbfounded and quickly waved his hands. “Ahem, it’s not that big of a deal, it’s really not that big of a deal.”

Dahliya: Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in psychology compromising a five-tier model of human needs, often depicted as a hierarchy level within a pyramid. The five levels are physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.