After Ji Ningzhi left, Liang Wenhua bought another fish and then went home.

As soon as I arrived home, Ji Yousheng greeted me with a smile and asked, "Did you buy so many groceries today?"

"Yanjun will be back in a bit," Liang Wenhua said with a smile. "Fangfang will be here too."

"What's Fangfang doing here?" Ji Yousheng's smile vanished.

"Come and eat."

"Didn't she just eat here last week?" Ji Yousheng asked.

"I'll come again later."

Ji Yousheng frowned: "Fangfang is a grown woman now, it's not good for her to keep coming to our house."

Liang Wenhua retorted, "What's wrong with it? Wen Qing used to come every day, why didn't you say that was bad then?"

“Wen Qing is different. Wen Qing will marry into our family in the future. She’s one of us.”

"What do you mean 'our own people'? What nonsense!" Liang Wenhua snatched the vegetables from Ji Yousheng's hand and stormed into the kitchen.

Ji Yousheng: "..."

At this moment, Ji Ningzhi led Zhang Fangfang into the courtyard.

"Dad," Ji Ningzhi called out with a smile.

Zhang Fangfang greeted him very politely, "Hello, Uncle." Then she handed him a box of tea, saying, "Uncle, this is tea I bought for you."

Ji Yousheng quickly waved his hand: "Fangfang, no, no, no, your uncle loves tea. Take it back for your uncle to drink. Yanjun brought me some melon seed tea, and I haven't finished it yet. Take it back for your uncle to drink. Ah, Ningzhi, you guys have fun. I'm going to see if Yanjun has reached the main road yet." With that, Ji Yousheng left.

Zhang Fangfang looked slightly embarrassed.

Ji Ningzhi took the tea leaves and said, "My dad loves to cheat, don't mind him. Put the tea leaves on the table, and he'll drink them in three days. Come on, let's go play in my room."

Zhang Fangfang greeted Liang Wenhua again before going to Ji Ningzhi's room.

In Ji Ningzhi's room, a black-and-white television was playing an anti-Japanese war drama. Zhang Fangfang was distracted and asked after a while, "Ningzhi, is your brother's room always locked?"

“He used to not lock the door, and I could come in whenever I wanted. But ever since Wen Qing went into his room, he’s locked the door and won’t let me in.”

"Wen Qing went into his room?" Zhang Fangfang asked, even though she had never been into Ji Yanjun's room.

"Hmm." Ji Ningzhi looked disgusted: "Wen Qing acted like she'd never seen anything before, taking and looking at everything, leaving things lying around. She made a mess of my brother's room as soon as she arrived. My brother is very clean and tidy, and ever since Wen Qing messed up his room a few times, he's been afraid of others seeing how messy it is, so he locks it every day."

Zhang Fangfang paused for a moment, then asked, "Ning Zhi, you haven't been to your brother's room in a long time, have you?"

"Hmm." Ji Ningzhi lowered her head to apply nail polish, then suddenly had a bright idea: "Sister Fangfang, would you like to go in and take a look? My mom has the key, let's go in together."

"Isn't this a bad idea?" Zhang Fangfang asked, looking troubled.

Ji Ningzhi laughed, "It's okay, my brother won't know anyway." As she spoke, Ji Ningzhi slyly asked Liang Wenhua for the key to Ji Yanjun's room.

Liang Wenhua specifically instructed: "Just take a look, don't touch your brother's things, he'll be angry if he finds out."

"Okay, okay."

Ji Yanjun's room is separated from the main room by one room. It is located at the far east end of the single-story house. The wooden door is painted with a thin layer of yellow paint, making it look very clean and refreshing. However, a celebrity poster is pasted on it, which seems out of place.

“This celebrity…” Zhang Fangfang asked.

"That brat Wen Qing put this up, it's hideous, but no one is allowed to touch my things, otherwise I would have torn it off long ago." As she spoke, Ji Ningzhi gripped the lock, inserted the key into the lock, and opened the door. She reached for the light bulb switch cord on the wall and turned on the light bulb.

After the lights were turned on, the spacious and tidy room of Ji Yanjun came into view for the two of them, with the bed, table, chairs and wardrobe all arranged neatly.

"Look, my brother's room is much cleaner than mine," Ji Ningzhi chuckled. "He does his own laundry and cleans his own room."

Zhang Fangfang looked at the checkered bed sheet on the bed and wondered where she bought it, as she had never seen such a checkered sheet before. Looking down, she saw two pairs of slippers in front of the bed. One pair was blue with the characters "Yan Jun" embroidered in light blue; it didn't look out of place, but rather quite nice. The other pair was red with the characters "Wen Qing" embroidered in light red.

Zhang Fangfang's mind went blank for a moment. She thought that Wen Qing was a tailor who could make clothes and shoes, so bed sheets, shoes... Zhang Fangfang looked at the room again. The room was very well-furnished, but some things that seemed out of place appeared from time to time.

For example, tying hair ties.

For example, a tuft of long hair

For example, a lipstick

For example, a women's plaid shirt,

For example, there's a red paper pasted on the table that says, "Ji Yanjun, I'm Qingqing, remember me?" For example...

Zhang Fangfang couldn't watch any longer.

“Ningzhi, your brother’s room is so plain, there’s nothing to see. Let’s hurry up and get out of here before he finds out.” Zhang Fangfang gave a puzzling smile.

"Yeah, I also don't think it's anything special, and there's no money on the table." Ji Ningzhi only looked for change and didn't pay attention to anything else.

After locking Ji Yanjun's door, Liang Wenhua called for dinner.

Just then, Ji Yanjun returned.

"Brother!" Ji Ningzhi ran to the yard to greet him.

Ji Yanjun smiled and said, "It's the weekend again. When did you get back?"

"I finished the exam on Friday morning and came back in the afternoon."

"Yanjun." At this moment, Zhang Fangfang called out.

Ji Yanjun looked up and saw Zhang Fangfang. His smile vanished, and he said in a serious tone, "Fangfang came to visit Ningzhi."

Zhang Fangfang nodded: "Mm."

"Don't just stand there, Ningzhi, go and help your dad clear the table so we can eat." Liang Wenhua called out, "Yanjun, go and change your clothes so we can eat."

"Okay." Ji Yanjun replied, then walked into the main room, passed through a room, and arrived at his own room. He took out his key, and just as his hand gripped the lock, he saw a red mark on it. He wiped it, smelled it, and realized it was nail polish. He then hurriedly opened the door, made sure the room hadn't been disturbed, locked the door again, and went into the main room.

"Ning Zhi," Ji Yanjun called out with a stern face.

Ji Ningzhi was already seated at the dining table, and happily replied, "Brother, what's up?"

"Didn't I tell you not to open my room door when I'm not here unless there's a fire?" Ji Yanjun said in a deep voice, his tone tinged with anger.

The main room was quiet.

Ji Yousheng looked at Liang Wenhua: "Did you give me the key?"

Liang Wenhua chuckled and tried to smooth things over: "I thought it was a big deal, Yanjun. Maybe Ningzhi just went to get a pen. Besides, who doesn't allow family members into their room? You're being a bit bossy. Ningzhi is your sister. When she was little, didn't you often bring her to your room to play? Are you angry with your sister already?"

Zhang Fangfang remained silent.

"I'm not angry, just don't do it again next time." Ji Yanjun said expressionlessly, "I have something to do, I'm going out for a bit. You guys eat first, it's fine whether you stay for the meal or not."

With that, Ji Yanjun walked straight to the yard, took his bicycle, and pushed it out of the yard.

Liang Wenhua, Zhang Fangfang, and Ji Ningzhi were stunned.

Ji Yousheng pointed at Ji Ningzhi and said, "Ningzhi, you're a grown woman now. Your brother will get married someday. When he gets married, will your sister-in-law not feel uncomfortable if you still use the key to open his door? Everyone has a little privacy. Every time your brother comes into your room, doesn't he always let you know? Before, when your brother didn't say anything, you could come in whenever you wanted. Now that your brother says not to come into his room when he's not there, you shouldn't come in. Why don't you listen? People have to learn to respect others."

Ji Yousheng had barely said a few words to Ji Ningzhi when Liang Wenhua immediately stopped him: "Alright, alright, what's the big deal? What's wrong with going into his room? Does he have some treasure in there? Let me tell you, he's just following that brat Wen Qing's example. Why didn't he lock his door before?" After mentioning Wen Qing, he noticed Zhang Fangfang was there and quickly stopped talking about Wen Qing, urging Zhang Fangfang to eat.

Zhang Fangfang ate with a forced laugh, but found no taste in it.

Ji Yanjun rode his bicycle out of the Ji family home in the dark and slowly arrived at the opposite side of Aunt Xiao's tailor shop. He had only come to take a look, but he didn't expect to actually see Wen Qing.

"Aunt Xiao, Bao Hong, we're leaving now. You should get some rest. I'll come back tomorrow morning." Wen Qing pushed her bicycle, with Yao Shiling standing beside her.

Ji Yanjun stopped his bicycle. He was tall and had long legs. The bicycle tilted slightly, but he didn't need to get off. He used his feet to brace the bicycle and stop it. In the dim light, he looked at Wen Qing. Wen Qing had lost weight, and the baby fat on her face had decreased. As a result, she had become more serene. Her smile was as beautiful as before.

"Mom, let's go," Wen Qing said to Yao Shiling, pushing her bicycle.

Then Aunt Xiao whispered at the door, "Wen Qing, you just bought that bicycle, you're probably not very good at riding it yet. It's dark now, so you should push it back. Don't fall."

"Thank you, Aunt Xiao, I understand." Wen Qing smiled. "You should go into the shop now."

"good."

Did you buy a new bicycle?

Ji Yanjun thought, "This little girl is capable. Is this what she meant by 'I want to live more like myself'?" She has indeed become much more peaceful.

Seeing Wen Qing walk away, Ji Yanjun lifted his foot and pedaled, and the bicycle immediately started moving, approaching Wen Qing.

Wen Qing pushed her bicycle and chatted with Yao Shiling as they walked, not paying attention to the people behind them. The people behind them were not speeding, but following at a distance.

"Mom, are you hungry?" Wen Qing asked.

“I’m not hungry. Wen Liang must have cooked at home. I ate as soon as I got home,” Yao Shiling said.

"Mom, you push the bicycle. I'm going to the street to buy five ounces of fried dough sticks, a serving of mutton stew, and four fried dough twists," Wen Qing said, handing the bicycle to Yao Shiling.

Yao Shiling shouted, "Don't buy it, don't buy it, it's a waste of money."

However, Wen Qing had already run away.

Then Ji Yanjun followed on his bicycle. However, he didn't go up to her. Instead, he watched from afar as Wen Qing bought mutton stew, fried dough sticks, and twisted dough sticks. Seeing her greedily take a bite of the mutton stew, he smiled silently, and all the gloom he had felt all day vanished.

Wen Qing carried mutton stew, fried dough sticks, and twisted dough sticks, and ran onto the main road. Ji Yanjun followed, chasing after Wen Qing and Yao Shiling until they entered Shuiwan Village. Only then did he turn his bicycle around and head back to the county town along the dirt road in the darkness.

Because the dirt road is uneven, bicycles make a clanging sound when they go fast.

Just then, Wen Qing heard a clanging sound. She turned her head to look at the dirt road and saw a figure flash by.

"Wen Qing," Yao Shiling called out, "What are you looking at?"

"It's nothing." Wen Qing didn't notice anything amiss.

"Mom! Eldest sister!" Wen Peng ran over from the village, shouting, "You're back!"

At this time, the people of Shuiwan Village were all cooking in their own kitchens, and not many people saw Wen Qing pushing his bicycle.

"Ah! A bicycle!" Wen Peng exclaimed first.

Yao Shiling covered his mouth and said, "Wen Qing, I told you, you can't push the bicycle back to the village, otherwise the villagers will talk about it."

Wen Qing laughed: "Mom, when I have ten yuan and you have ten yuan, we are equal. When I have ten yuan and you have fifteen yuan, I will be envious of you, I will be jealous of you, and I might even do something bad. But when I have ten yuan and you have a thousand yuan, I will only admire and look up to you."

"I don't understand what you're saying," Yao Shiling said defiantly.

Wen Qing laughed and then walked towards her yard, saying, "Mom, to tell you the truth, I deliberately pushed the bicycle back."

Why?

“We have a few skilled shoemakers in our Shuiwan Village. They make shoes quickly and meticulously. Since you don’t know how to use a sewing machine, I’d like to find five or six people from our village to work with you. They can work from home for twenty yuan a month, or you can pay them by piecework. If I don’t ride my bicycle back, they’ll definitely think I can’t afford to pay them, don’t you think?”

Yao Shiling hesitated for a moment and said, "But if we hire this person and not that person, won't the other people in the village cause trouble? Rural people love to cause trouble."

Wen Qing laughed: "Isn't Aunt Wang here to keep things in check? Who would dare to mess with Aunt Wang? And there's the village chief and team leader too. I'm just recruiting five or six people to start on a small scale, and then gradually expanding. The others will just be watching and waiting, don't you think?"

Yao Shiling was speechless, but her lack of business experience still made her worried: "Will this work?"

"Mom, you have to believe me," Wen Qing said with a smile.

As soon as Wen Qing finished speaking, she felt someone tugging at the cloth bag in her hand. Looking down, she saw Wen Peng lying on the bag, sniffing it.

"Big sister, I can smell mutton! It smells even better than the mutton we had at Limin Restaurant last time!" Wen Peng said.

Wen Qing patted his head: "Little dog nose, I bought some mutton that's salted and tender."

"Really?" Wen Peng's eyes lit up.

"real."

Yao Shiling pushed open the courtyard gate, and Wen Qing pushed her bicycle into the yard. Wen Liang came out of the kitchen and shouted, "Pengpeng, I told you to cook and you ran away..." Before he could finish speaking, he saw the bicycle and paused, "Where did this bicycle come from?"

"Big sister bought it!" Wen Peng said happily, moving closer: "Big sister, I don't know how to ride a bicycle yet, can you teach me how to ride, can you teach me how to ride?"

"Why are you riding a bicycle so late at night!" Yao Shiling said seriously.

Wen Peng looked at Wen Qing: "Big sister, just ride in the yard, just ride in the yard for a while."

“Okay.” Wen Qing was always easy to talk to Wen Peng. She handed the cloth bag to Yao Shiling and said, “Mom, take the vegetables to the kitchen. I’ll teach Pengpeng to ride a bicycle for a while. It’s okay, he can ride it in the yard.”

Yao Shiling took the cloth bag and said, "Wenliang, let's go cook, mother and daughter."

"Mom, this bicycle..."

"Let me tell you..." Yao Shiling went into the kitchen and told Wen Liang the whole story.

Wen Liang stared in disbelief: "Sister, you're so good at making money?"

"That's right. Even if I saw that much money with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it."

Besides being happy, Wen Liang was also worried: "The big bosses are all in their fifties or sixties, and my sister is only seventeen and wants to start a factory. Can she manage people?"

"Don't worry, your sister is very opinionated. She definitely thinks more about things than we do. She's much more mature."

"What do you mean by much more mature? Just listen to the silly laughter she and Pengpeng are making in the yard."

“You’re not stupid, your sister is very smart.” Yao Shiling defended Wen Qing.

Wen Qing was holding onto the back of the bicycle. Wen Peng was too short to sit on the bicycle seat, so he could only hold the handlebars with both hands, his left foot on the left pedal and his right foot under the front bar on the right pedal. He could only pedal half a circle, and his whole body looked like he was hanging on the bicycle at an angle.

"Big sister, hold on tight, I'm going to pedal," Wen Peng said. At that moment, Wen Qing gripped the bicycle seat tightly with both hands, keeping the bicycle upright without the kickstand.

"Okay, go for it."

At Wen Qing's command, Wen Peng pedaled hard, and the bike started moving, but he couldn't hold onto the handlebars, and the bike headed straight for the cowshed.

"Big sister, help me up."

"I can hold you up, but you kicked too hard, I can't hold you back."

"Ahhh, we're going to hit a cow!"

The car bumped into the cow's rump. The cow mooed, stood up, and swung its tail away from the two men. Wen Qing and Wen Peng burst into laughter.

Having learned from their experience, the siblings worked together much better. Wenpeng even became addicted to riding the bicycle until the salted ham attracted his attention. He then abandoned the bike, reached out and rang the bell. The bell rang crisply, and he chuckled, "We have a bicycle now."

The news that the Wen family had a bicycle spread throughout Shuiwan Village within minutes of Wen Qing riding it up the dirt road early the next morning. Everyone exclaimed that the Wen family had struck it rich.

Aunt Wang even came directly to Yao Shiling and asked, "Sister-in-law Wen, whose bicycle is your Wen Qing riding?"

Yao Shiling didn't shy away from saying, "She just bought it today."

"She bought it herself?" Aunt Wang exclaimed in surprise, her mouth agape.

"Um."

"Where did she get the money?" Aunt Wang asked.

Yao Shiling said with a smile, "You know, Wen Qing has always been vain since she was little. She's so-so at farm work and cooking. Wen Peng is better at farm work than her, and Wen Liang is better at cooking than her, but she just loves to dress up and make clothes and shoes. Who knew that she would make something of herself like that? That Mr. Tang, the guy who drives a car, took a liking to Wen Qing's skills. This time, Wen Qing made clothes and shoes herself and sold them, earning several hundred yuan."

"Several hundred yuan?" Aunt Wang was stunned when she heard the number.

"By the way, Wenqing said that the shoe market is good right now. Aunt Wang, don't you know how to make shoes? Wenqing said she wants to ask you to help her make shoes, and she'll give you thirty yuan a month."

"Thirty yuan?" Aunt Wang was completely shocked. Thirty yuan! Ever since her straw stack was burned and her grain and cellar were dried, her family hadn't eaten fine noodles for over a month. Forget thirty yuan, she would work for ten yuan a month, otherwise she wouldn't even have anything to eat by the New Year.

"Hmm." Yao Shiling smiled and asked gently, "Aunt Wang, are you willing?"

"Yes, yes, of course I'm willing." Aunt Wang nodded and started pounding garlic.

“Then you have to do me a favor,” Yao Shiling said.

"What kind of help? Tell me."

Yao Shiling said, "Aunt Wang, you know everyone in this village well. Wen Qing said we need five people, and now that you've agreed, we're still short four. Could you help me find four people who are equally good at making shoes? They'll pay twenty yuan a month."

"Twenty yuan for your work? Why is mine thirty?" Aunt Wang asked in confusion.

Yao Shiling said with a smile, "Wen Qing said that Aunt Wang is very capable and righteous, so it is only right to give her an extra ten yuan."

Aunt Wang was overjoyed upon hearing this and immediately agreed. She secretly thought that Wen Qing's family was incredibly kind; thirty yuan a month, making shoes right at their doorstep—how ​​easy! This was much more than what people in the city earned. And she was even making ten yuan more than others. She absolutely couldn't tell anyone about that extra ten yuan, otherwise Wen Qing would be embarrassed.

Aunt Wang had a variety of thoughts running through her mind, and in the end, she did her best to find four other people for Wen Qing.

Meanwhile, Wen Qing had already ridden his bicycle to the county town.

As soon as I rode to Aunt Xiao's tailor shop, I saw that the entrance was crowded with people.

What happened this time?