Chapter Twenty-Four: Stepping on the Scum

At night, there is no sister as a pillow, there is no heat source to rely on, the little tiger woke up very early, sat on the floor and looked at the door to wait for his sister, when he heard the door was pushed open, a tiger leaped over and hugged one leg that stepped into the house, and whined aggrievedly. Novel l

The three little creatures sitting on the bed: "Embarrassment, little tiger, can you hug your thighs with the momentum of the king of beasts or something, it's not heroic."

The three children flew up with a swish, and pounced on their sister like a meteor catching the moon, and in the blink of an eye, the golden boy and Yutong hugged their sister's arms respectively, and the little monster stuck to the button on the collar of her sister, and the three children smiled: "Sister, good morning"

My sister's lips are red, her face is like a layer of glow, the crimson color is hazy, her bright eyes are rippling, and she is indescribably bright and moving.

They felt that their sister must have had a good night's sleep last night, so they were so radiant, and it could be seen that Evil Star took good care of her sister, and it was also the right decision for them to hand over their sister to Evil Star.

"Early. Pinched the little faces of his friends one by one, and Qu Qiyue bent down to pick up Xiao Jinzi, gently stroked his hair, and helped him smooth his hair.

The little tiger threw himself into his sister's warm and fragrant embrace, found the most comfortable position, put his head in his sister's neck, and squinted his eyes in enjoyment.

Qu Qiyue hugged the little tiger and turned around and walked out of the room, and happened to meet the evil star who was tidying up and going downstairs, to be precise, the evil star was waiting for her at the door, she hummed with her nose facing the sky, and raised her feet to leave.

For the little girl's expression of picking her nose and eyes, she smiled coldly, and slowly followed behind the high-spirited little girl, smiling with her lips and eyes, and she was so handsome that she couldn't say anything.

The two went downstairs one after the other, and the evil star was busy turning on the heating to open the door, helping the little tiger to heat the milk and go to the kitchen to heat breakfast, the little girl didn't have to do anything, and the clothes came to reach out for food to open her mouth.

Wake up too early in the morning, after breakfast before dawn, the star helps the little girl cut fruits and snacks, and then goes into the kitchen and noodles, a few days at the beginning of the year is the time to jump the door, there is not much effort to make food, bread and the like are stored in the year before, and then move out to heat it up, because the amount of flour needed is large, and he has two large pots of flour.

Beat the hammer and fall, and the drum is beaten out of the "bang bang" endlessly.

Qu Xiaowunu slipped into the kitchen to watch, couldn't help but itchy hands and grabbed the dough pin to beat the dough, didn't play for a few minutes with sweaty forehead, quickly threw the cane and climbed on the uncle's back, she didn't toss the dough but tossed the uncle.

The little girl is so sticky to herself, the happy heart of the cold-faced god blossoms, carrying the future daughter-in-law on her back, working hard to make noodles, and taking the opportunity to show her strength and strong physique.

In his strong tapping and patting, the dough is very strong, and then divided into several small dough, one is used to make yeast, and then after fermentation, the other is made into steamed buns, one is used for dumplings, and the other is used to make gluten, leaky fish and cold noodles.

Divide the small dough and wrap the dough into dumplings.

The cold noodle god is easy to do, the dough is wrapped, the filling is neat, every step is clean and neat, and the dumplings made are also decent.

As for the little girl, you can count on help, she is a southern girl, she doesn't know the artistic work of making dumplings, and if she really wants to drive ducks to the shelves and let her make a few dumplings, it is too ugly to look at.

The cold-faced god was also reluctant to let his little girl work, and indulged her to play on her back, and he was single-minded, while trying to prevent her from falling down with excitement, while kneading the dough and dough, wrapping the stuffing and steaming it in a pot, Rao was so, and he did not appear in a hurry.

The first pot of dumplings is steamed, and the aroma lingers.

The man moved down the steamer to cool and continued to make dumplings.

Qu Qiyue lay on his uncle's back, scratching his earlobes and neck from time to time, or scratching his armpits, or patting his head and putting on an official show."

"The mouth grows on someone else's body, who loves to say let him go. "Those who really get along and get close will not mind those little things, those who are picky and often talk about whether they love to come or not, he is not rare, he is only rare his little daughter-in-law.

"Okay, you cow. "Such a good guy is her boyfriend, and I feel as if I can be proud of it, and I have honor.

After the two boys finished reporting the letter, they slipped to the door of the living room to see who was coming.

A red and a black sedan drew an arc in front of the instructor's house, and only after reversing the car did it push open the door of the cab, the red car got down was a young woman, and the owner of the black car was a young man.

The two children said they didn't know the man, and the young woman they knew, the guy surnamed Li who claimed to be the cousin of the evil star.

The child quietly retreated to the living room and floated to the big clam to stay with the little monster and the little tiger.

Li Yuwan walked out of the cab, she was still a little depressed, she didn't know that Instructor Shi had moved, so she went to the previous small building to see General Tie guard the door, and called the doorman to know that she had changed the house.

If it weren't for the rules for the ordering of each building, she wouldn't have known how much effort it would have taken to find it.

Because she didn't know that Instructor Shi had moved, Li Yuhuan felt unbalanced in her heart, and looked at the building in front of her with resentment before going to the back compartment to raise the New Year's gift.

Ke Yue got out of the car and quickly moved out the gifts he carried, and he didn't urge Li Qianjin, he walked to the door of the instructor's house first, and out of politeness under the eaves, he first informed the master: "Cousin Hua Rong, there is no one at home."

was robbed of the opportunity a little slower, Li Yuhuan was in a less wonderful mood, twisted four boxes of gifts, rushed to Ke Shao's side quickly, and the two opened the curtain and went into the house.

As soon as the person entered the house, he heard the roar of "woo", and then saw a big spotted cat running out from behind the sofa, grinning at the door and glaring angrily.

"Oh my God, what a big cat"

Li Yuhuan was startled, and couldn't help but take a step back, and when she came back to her senses, she found that a person of such a big age was scared away by a cat, and her face was flushed.

Ke Yue was also taken aback, staring at the big cat with fierce eyes, and didn't dare to move, for fear that it would rush out and scratch itself a few times.

The little tiger was angry at the bullfight, and the fierce god looked at him like a vicious look, where did the human beings come from scratched people and were quiet, and they really wanted to rush over as a target to practice their claws.

The little tiger lifted one of its paws and shook it, stretched it forward and landed on the ground, followed by another leg forward, and moved forward slowly.

Ke Yue didn't dare to act even more, and shouted again: "Cousin Hua Rong, cousin Hua Rong, cousin Hua Rong"

Before he finished the third sentence, he heard an angry complaint: "What is the roar and it doesn't bother you much, the ghost is howling and the wolf is howling." ”

Ke Yue's face froze, and this voice was the little girl of the instructor's family.

Hearing the familiar voice, Li Yuhuan almost bit a mouthful of jade teeth, it was all this damn little girl, it was this yellow-haired girl who caused her to be trained by her grandfather

Along with the sound came footsteps, a man and a woman in search of prestige, and the sound of footsteps came from the corridor leading from the living room to the dining room, and then there came a tall and majestic young man, whose face was carved by a craftsman, handsome and unparalleled, and covered with a layer of frost.

Ke Yue's heart skipped a cold beat, he hadn't seen it for about half a year, Instructor Shi became more and more handsome, and he was more heroic, even if he wore an apron and looked like a family cook, it would not damage his tiger and wolf momentum, even if he was so far away, he still didn't dare to look directly at the iconic phoenix eyes inherited from the descendants of the Ke family.

The next moment, he could hardly believe his eyes, the man who made people dare not look directly, the golden and noble man was carrying the little girl on his back

The child lay on the back of the man who could freeze three feet, his hands on his neck, his head leaning forward over his right shoulder, and looking impatiently at them as guests.

This discovery made Ke Yue feel like the sky was falling apart in an instant, he didn't expect that Instructor Shi would spoil that child to the point of being like a fighter

The picture of Instructor Shi carrying the little girl on his back was too beautiful and dazzling, Li Yuhuan was stunned, her eyes stared at the man with a cold face and moved slowly, her mind was empty, and she could hardly think.

The little tiger wanted to scream a few times, but when he saw the evil star coming out with his sister on his back, he also died down, and instead slipped to the sofa a few times to occupy a position first.

Wrapping around the bib, with white flour on his hands, he walked to the living room step by step, swept his cold gaze over the uninvited guests, and nodded indifferently: "Two, we are not familiar with each other, please bring back the things." ”

With a cold tone, a rigid face, and no human touch, he almost gave a direct eviction order and said, "I'm busy, please go."

The uncle's tone of rejection thousands of miles away almost made Qu Qiyue suspect that the uncle had been dropped, and then suddenly realized that this was the original character of the uncle, cold as frost, fierce and vicious, whoever approached would be frozen to death.

Isn't this how she saw her uncle in Shanghai, which made people want to stomp on him a few times, and now she also realizes that the uncle is this iceberg to the outside world, and he will only be kind in front of people close to him, and in front of her, he is a pervert with a dead face and no discipline.

It can also be seen from this, as Uncle He said, the uncle has no affection for those messy relatives of his family, she still didn't believe it that day, thinking that Uncle He was afraid that she would be angry so he deliberately comforted her, and now that the little witch believes it, just by the tone of the uncle, you can judge that the uncle has no feelings for the two people who came to visit.

The indifferent words also woke up a man and a woman at the door, and the two of them came back to their senses, very embarrassed, and the host tactfully ordered the eviction of the guest, which made people very faceless

Ke Yue smiled unnaturally: "Cousin, what kind words did your family say. ”

As he spoke, he placed the gift next to the box stacked near the door, and walked briskly to the sofa.

Li Yuhuan also put down the gift as she drew the gourd, and took off her gloves and coat as she walked.

Wow, this face is thick enough

Qu Qiyue blinked, she thought that sometimes she was quite thick-skinned, but she didn't think that these two were thick-skinned, and she would be polite to take the uncle's euphemistic refusal, how strong a psychology it must be to do this.

Ke Yue and Li Yuhuan took the first step to the sofa and sat down by themselves, put their coats on the back of the sofa, the two of them thought very beautifully, and finally entered the door, they must not give up halfway, the host does not invite guests to sit, they sit by themselves, the host is always not good to really drive people away, isn't it

Instructor Shi walked to a two-seater sofa with a cold face, tilted his head, and his eyebrows softened a little: "Girl, I have flour in my hands, or you can pour a cup of tea for the guests."

Ke Yue was secretly happy, and said, well, he sat down, Instructor Shi won't really drive him away, isn't it still entertaining him

Li Yuhuan was overjoyed, not only was she accepted, but more importantly, the instructor asked the little girl to pour tea, no matter who the little girl was, she still wanted to serve her tea and pour water

What, tell her to pour tea

Qu Qiyue, who was still on the uncle's back and refused to go down, blinked, looked at the guests, and bit his fingers: "Uncle, Mother Lan said, laundry and cooking, sweeping and washing dishes are not the work that a little girl should do, and serving tea and pouring water is not the work of a little girl, and the girl has to be pampered, so the little girl just needs to eat and have fun every day, who dares to let the little girl work, who dares to make the little girl unhappy, hit the broom out, let him squat on the eaves, uncle, are you sure you want to ask me to work."

I want her to wait for someone

Speaking of doors, there are no windows.

Of course, if Mother Lan comes back, or Old Man Yang and Old Man He come, the little witch is very happy to serve tea and pour water, as for outsiders, hum, which side is cool if it doesn't please the eye.

Li Yuhuan showed ridicule, the little girl dared to be arrogant, thinking that Instructor Shi favored her, she was the master, and she dared to refute Instructor Shi's face, she really didn't know whether she was alive or dead

She stared at the little girl with a playful expression, as if she saw the scene of the little girl being thrown to the ground by the instructor, and her mood was particularly light.

"Well, Aunt Lan is right, the job of serving tea and pouring water is not done by the little girl, so I'll go by myself. The cold-faced god nodded, and just wanted to stand up, but was held down again.

Li Yuhuan, who was waiting to watch the show, heard Instructor Shi's calm words with the little girl, the original joy was instantly cold, and she looked at Instructor Shi in disbelief, Instructor Shi was not angry, how could this be possible

She also sorted out her thoughts, and heard the little girl's voice sound again: "Uncle, don't go to Mother Lan, she is not at home, you have to protect and take care of the little girl, you have to make the little girl happy, now I'm not happy, you have to make me happy, or I'll tell Mother Lan that you are bullying me with outsiders." ”

excessively

Li Yuhuan was so angry that she rushed to her chest, why did the dead girl have a condescending tone, why did she dare to shout at Instructor Shi.

Ke Yue's forehead oozed a layer of fine sweat, that, the source of the little girl's unhappiness should not be them

He didn't dare to bear the charge of bullying the little girl, and smiled very sensitively: "We're not thirsty, don't be busy, just sit down and talk." ”

I didn't want to give tea to the cold face, otherwise I wouldn't have deliberately called the little girl, and now the guest is interested, he is happy to cooperate, and move forward a little to prevent the little girl on his back from being squeezed.

moved his posture and looked at Li Qianjin expressionlessly: "Miss Li, are you apologizing for stealing my little girl's clothes in Jinshang You bullied my little girl and accepted your apology, but, only this once, not as an example." ”

Uncle is a good guy wow

Someone supports herself, someone stands on her side, Qu Qiyue is happy, the surname Li bullies her, if the uncle gives her a good face, when she is free, she has to find the uncle's ballast.

Now, as soon as the uncle opened his mouth, he gave the surname Li no face, Qu Xiaowunu was very satisfied, straightened up the unproud little bun, rubbed the uncle's back hard, slightly sideways his face, his lips slid against the uncle's cheek, and quietly rewarded him with a kiss.

The pink and moist red lips crossed the face, and the cold face was overjoyed, and the little girl was very satisfied with his behavior, well, for the person who bullied the little girl, he must find a chance to give him no face.

He decided to learn to repay in the future, isn't there a saying that "if you have a chance, you have to go if you don't have a chance to create", who bullies the little girl, he has no chance to have the opportunity to clean up the lesson, so that the little girl is happy.

Who has bullied the little girl

Liu Ying, the niece of Major General Guan, the surname Li in front of her, there is a female student at Yan University, who else

Suppressing the ripples in his heart, the cold-faced god secretly counted the people who bullied the little girl, thinking about when to create an opportunity to teach those guys a lesson one by one.

He had a lot of thoughts in his heart, but his handsome face was not leaking, and his eyes were cold.

Ke Yue didn't help Li Qianjin, who came with him, and pretended not to know that Li Qianjin had had an unpleasant affair with Instructor Shi's little girl.

"I'm not here to apologize. Li Yuhuan almost couldn't breathe in one breath, and she was right to apologize, why apologize

She didn't know in advance that the instructor had placed an order in advance, and she thought that she hadn't paid for it, so there was nothing wrong at all.

Talking about bullying the little girl, that is even more nonsense, she has not scolded the little girl from beginning to end, nor has she been fierce little girl, she is discussing with the little girl, she is lifting the little girl, what is wrong with her

Grandpa said that she bullied the little girl, and the instructor also said that she bullied the little girl, how could she bully people

Dissatisfied, Li Yuhuan is not convinced, she is not wrong, at most she is not aware, and those who do not know are not guilty.

"You're not here to apologize, so why are you running here and you want to come to the uncle to say that he has no blood relationship with you, and he doesn't have messy relatives like you. ”

Qu Xiaowunu is a little woman who has revenge, she will step on as much as she can when she sees the enemy, and if she can't step on it, she will keep it and wait for the right time to step on it.

The cold man also echoed the "um" to show that he completely agreed with the little girl's words.

"I, I" Li Yuhuan mustered up the courage to raise her head, and when she saw Instructor Shi's cold face, she couldn't express what she meant.

Ke Yue looked at Li Qianjin's cowardice, shook his head secretly, and spoke lightly: "Cousin Shi, Cousin Yuhuan is here to give a New Year's gift, I met Cousin Yuhuan at the banquet of the Kong family the night before yesterday, she asked me to come with me, it just so happens that I haven't seen you for a long time, so cousin, I came with her." ”

Before the cold-faced god squeaked, Qu Qiyue stared at the young man as if he had discovered a new world: "Oh, you said that you are the uncle's cousin, your surname"

"The surname is Ke, and Cousin Shi's grandfather is my grandmother's brother. Ke Yue showed a friendly smile, answering all questions, judging from Instructor Shi's love for little girls, perhaps, if you want to improve the relationship between Instructor Shi and the Ke family, maybe it is more effective to start with little girls.

Qu Qiyue stared at the young man, frowning slightly: " Uncle Shi's grandfather and your grandmother are sisters and brothers, it stands to reason that Uncle Shi should be surnamed Ke, you shouldn't be surnamed Ke, why are you surnamed Ke instead, I still remember that the uncle vaguely mentioned that the uncle is the right lineage, like the grandmother surnamed Li is a concubine, judging from the situation of you and the surname Li, is your surname Ke also out of the older generation of the head of the family is probably a confused, spoiled and killed, so instead let the concubine out of the house, and then the concubine gave birth to a daughter without a son, I am afraid that the family business will return to the lineage, so that the child born by the daughter is also surnamed Ke, and has inherited the family business to this day, is this not the case”

The little girl is open-mouthed, and Bala Bala is a conspiracy theory.

I have to say that the truth of the little girl is not far from speculation.

Li Qianjin and Ke Shao's faces instantly stiffened, and the eyes that looked at the little girl were extremely fierce

At this moment, the two hated the little girl and wanted to eat her alive.

"Little girl, the facts are not far from you, and there is one more thing to add, that is, the father of this Ke Shao's grandmother is a concubine, Ke Shao's grandfather's mother was too low, and she was not qualified to enter the Ke family at that time, and was raised by Ke Taizu, but the people's means are high, and Ke Taizu's soul is overwhelmed, so that he has a child with the outer room before he gets married, and that kind of child should have been a concubine.

Later, Ke Taizu got married, and the original partner gave birth to a son-in-law, that is, the person I should call my grandfather, but unfortunately, the great-grandmother was red-faced, gave birth to a child and injured her body, and went after three or four years.

Ke Tai's ancestor was obsessed with the outer room, and he naturally became a treasure when he married home, and he also loved the concubine who was born before, and the family business that should have been inherited by the concubine was in charge of the concubine.

In order to occupy the Ke family's property, the concubine of the Ke family asked her daughter to recruit relatives, and the child she gave birth to was also surnamed Ke, and continued to occupy all the Ke family, and then the descendants behind were naturally brazen to think that they were the real Ke family.

The Ke family has been suppressed by the concubine, life is difficult, to my father's generation and the concubine has no family affection at all, my father for a living and running around, met my mother, my mother is an only daughter, my father in the Ke family is difficult, then into the Shi family, I follow the mother's surname, not the surname Ke.

As for the grandmother of the Li family, her mother was an aunt, and her sister-in-law wanted to buy people's hearts back then, and the children of the concubine who had sex with her aunt were very close, and she still does. ”

The voice of the cold-faced god is cold, talking about the affairs of the older generation is like telling other people's stories, the voice has no ups and downs, no feelings, and no joy, anger and sorrow.

Qu Qiyue was stunned, the uncle's father is rich, and the uncle has the surname of his mother, no wonder Kong Lao suddenly changed his words when he said that uncle's grandfather that day, so it makes sense.

After thinking about it, she didn't bother anymore, and looked at the two guests, well, the faces of those two were very ugly.

Li Yuhuan was ashamed, her grandmother's mother's identity was revealed, she was anxious and hateful, and she couldn't walk away, like sitting on pins and needles.

Ke Yue hated so much that he almost crushed his bones, he also knew the relationship between the elders of the Ke family, and because of the death of the elders over the years, the rest knew little, and no one dared to mention it, but today it was all turned out by Instructor Shi.

His father and uncles also tried their best to suppress Instructor Shi's father, the two veins were like fire and water back then, and they also forced Instructor Shi's father away, who would have thought that the person who left the Ke family back then would give birth to such an excellent offspring as Instructor Shi.

The Ke family wants to rebuild the relationship with Instructor Shi, in order to take advantage of the situation, the current Ke family seems to have a big business, and the scenery on the surface is actually limited to a dead cycle, the loss and the profit are almost equal, those are all one line, and if you get rid of some of them, you will form a broken chain, and you can't get rid of it, you can only maintain it with difficulty.

The Ke family wanted to take advantage of the situation of the instructor to move the focus of enterprises outside Hong Kong to the inland in order to develop, because of the grievances of the older generation, the instructor has not opened the golden mouth, he tried his best, just want to slowly win the approval of the instructor.

In the past, Instructor Shi didn't say anything, didn't mention the history of the Ke family, and didn't admit that they were relatives, he thought that Instructor Shi didn't know the grievances of the elders, as long as he worked hard, there was some hope, but now, Instructor Shi just uncovered the fig leaf and laid out the history of the Ke family, which was equivalent to putting the grievances on the surface.

He finally understood that the relationship between the Ke family and Instructor Shi was not something that could be improved if he wanted to, the older generation had gone, and it was even more difficult to get Instructor Shi's forgiveness.

Ke Yue still wanted to fight for it, and tried hard to squeeze out a smile: "Cousin Shi, the things of the older generation are all in the past, why should you be so angry that you can't write two Ke in one stroke, my cousin's father's surname is Ke, and he will always be the Ke family, this is a fact that cannot be changed." ”

He rubbed his eyebrows: "The Ke family also hopes to meet and talk to Cousin Shi, about the twists and turns in the reason why the fourth uncle left home, it's not that the Ke family can't tolerate him, my father and uncles also want to explain this matter to Cousin Shi face to face." ”

"Heh-" The cold-faced god let out a sneer, his cold eyes fell on Ke Shao, and his phoenix eyes were cold: " When I suppressed my father and grandfathers, why didn't I say that I couldn't write two Ke when I wanted to put my father to death, why didn't I say that I couldn't write two Ke Fengyan is a sign of the Ke family's bloodline, for people with foreign surnames who have not inherited the Ke family's genes, what qualifications do you have to run in front of me to discuss who is the Ke family over the years, I let you jump in front of me all these years, but I am too lazy to you, but it is not because of kinship, I have no blood relationship with you, and I have no kinship, who comes to me to talk about relatives, I don't mind publishing the family history of the Ke family to the public。 ”

"You" Li Yuhuan bounced up angrily, wanting to accuse, but she had no words, she was anxious and angry, and her face was red with blood drops.

"There are sluts every year, but not as many as this year, and sluts dare to send them to the door to talk about their relatives, alas, the world is declining. Qu Qiyue sighed: "I hate scum, for the scum who robbed me of my clothes and bullied me, I have long been unpleasant, hey, I said that this aunt whose face is redder than the monkey's buttocks, the uncle said that he has no relationship with you, what are you still doing here, hurry up and go out mellowly, don't hinder my eyes, really, there are still dirty things running to get in the way of the eyes during the New Year, I hate it to death, and I will wash my eyes with grapefruit leaves in a while." ”

"I, you" Li Yuwan raised her hand, wanting to slap the little girl fiercely, but the hand was raised, and she was swept away by a cold eye, which made people stiff and couldn't even move.

The cold-faced god scared away Li Qianjin with a cold look, his handsome face was almost frozen, and even his voice was as cold as ice: "Two of you, the door is over there, please, please take the things back, you don't take it yourself, I don't mind calling a few radio and newspaper reporters, and then ask someone to help you deliver it to your doorstep." ”

"Cousin Yuhuan, let's go. Ke Yue took a deep breath, suppressed his anger that was about to burst his lungs, stood up stiffly, picked up his coat and left.

Li Yuhuan shuddered, picked up her coat as if she was snatching, and hurriedly caught up with Ke Yue's steps.

"I thought the surname Ke was good, but it turned out that the surname Li was a nest of snakes and rats, alas, embarrassed scumbag, mellow, mellow. ”

Qu Qiyue waved his little hand at the backs of the two, and the New Year's Eve was sent to the door to block people, it was too uninteresting, get out, get out, go back where you came from.

She won't sympathize with them, she bullied the uncle's father and seniors, and now she is running to the uncle to climb relatives, there are a bunch of scum, it is an eyesore to look at, and if there is a chance in the future, you must step on a few feet, and such a guy must be trampled to death.

A man and a woman were so angry that their chests were about to explode, but they didn't dare to settle accounts with others, the two hurried to the door, endured the sense of humiliation, and lifted the gift box they brought.

Originally, I wanted to brush up on my sense of existence and increase my favorability, but it turned out to be a complete collapse, and this result was definitely something they didn't expect.

I was angry for the New Year, can I still have a happy year?

The two of them rushed out of the instructor's house in three steps and two steps, threw things into the car, jumped into the cab, and left.

Waiting for the eye-catching person to go, Qu Qiyue kissed the uncle's face, and his eyes were crooked with a smile: "Uncle, you have to step on the scum, you just exposed the shortcomings of the scum, and you have a chance to continue in the future, let's step on the shameless goods."