On the bus, Aunt Liu comforted Lin Qingyan: "That man is gone, so be it. At worst, I'll find you a better one. Don't be sad because of that scoundrel."
When Lin Qingyan heard Aunt Liu cursing Gu Mingzhou and Lin Sisi as a despicable couple, she wanted to laugh.
“Auntie, a man who can be snatched away by someone else is definitely not a good man. I won’t be sad for him. As for arranging a marriage for me, I think you should forget about it. My health has always been poor, and I would only be a burden to whoever I marry. Besides, I have no plans to find a partner right now.”
Aunt Liu thought about it and agreed. Although Lin Qingyan was pretty, her health was indeed poor. What family would want to marry a sickly wife? And if she couldn't even have children after marriage, that would be even worse.
She stopped talking about it and turned her gaze to Yi Zhiheng, who was standing to the side. She remembered the scene of Yi Zhiheng protecting Lin Qingyan earlier and asked Lin Qingyan, "Who is this young comrade?"
Are they dating?
Lin Qingyan smiled and said, "This is my newly adopted younger brother, who will also be my biological younger brother from now on."
"A younger brother he's adopted? I think he treats her better than that other woman, even better than your step-sister's biological brother."
Yi Zhiheng remained silent and did not respond to Aunt Liu's praise. Lin Qingyan said, "Sometimes, whether we are close or not does not depend on whether we are related by blood. Although we are not related by blood, we will take care of each other like siblings."
"Good, good, how wonderful!" an old woman exclaimed. "These days, many brothers and sisters turn against each other over trivial matters. You are so lucky to have such a good brother."
"It is my blessing to have met my sister."
Yi Zhiheng, who had been quiet all along, suddenly blurted out this sentence.
Aunt Liu said, "I think this younger brother is much better than the previous one. You saw that the previous one seemed a bit impatient with his own sister."
"That's right, I think those two are only related by blood."
Yi Zhiheng had fair skin and was as well-behaved as a girl, so the three aunts teased him, saying, "Young man, how old are you? Let us find you a match."
Have you taken a fancy to any of the girls around here?
This is probably human nature to enjoy entertainment; the more shy Yi Zhiheng was, the more they liked to tease him.
Yi Zhiheng shrank shyly behind Lin Qingyan, burying his head so that the aunties wouldn't see him.
Lin Qingyan said, "Aunties, my brother is shy, so please don't tease him."
"Okay, let's stop joking about him. But this young man is indeed quite handsome, hahaha."
...
Lin Guanghui and Lin Sisi, who could only walk on foot later on, had a rather miserable experience.
Lin Sisi gritted her teeth when she thought of Lin Qingyan: "Lin Qingyan, you are so despicable, you dare to expose everything."
She immediately thought of something, "Hmph, you're just jealous of me because you can't have Mingzhou anymore. Just you wait, when Mingzhou comes to see me, he'll definitely make you furious."
Lin Guanghui, however, was concerned about his own ability to walk: "We're relying on our own two legs, when will we ever get to the county town? You've already paid for the bus fare, and you still insist on getting off."
Lin Sisi felt wronged: "Do you think I wanted to come down? I was forced to by that bitch. Lin Qingyan, you made me look bad and humiliated today. I won't let you get away with this."
...
The oxcart Lin Qingyan was riding in soon arrived at the county town. The driver tied the old ox to a gate, and everyone on the cart got off.
Aunt Liu asked Lin Qingyan, "Little educated youth, where are you and your brother going?"
"Let's go to the police station."
"Going to the police station?!" Aunt Liu was taken aback, her face showing a look of astonishment, as if to say, 'What are you doing there?'
Lin Qingyan explained, "Because my brother and I need to transfer our household registrations to the same place, we have to go to the police station."
Aunt Liu gave them a thumbs up: "You really are siblings. Okay, you go ahead, the three of us will go buy some things."
"Okay, Auntie, you should go too."
They greeted Hu Jiajia and Shen Man as well, telling them that they were going to register their household registration with Yi Zhiheng. The two women were also going to the supply and marketing cooperative, so they went their separate ways.
When the two arrived at the police station, the police officer in charge of household registration checked their household registration information and the letter of introduction issued by the brigade. Finding no problems, he changed Yi Zhiheng's surname and completed the household registration transfer procedures.
An hour had passed since the formalities were completed. Lin Qingyan, holding their new household registration certificate, said to Yi Zhiheng, "Xiao Heng, from now on you will really be called Lin Zhiheng."
"Yes." Lin Zhiheng nodded firmly.
Lin Qingyan was in a good mood today and said to Lin Zhiheng, "Xiaoheng, since we don't have to work today, let's go for a walk."
"Okay, sister."
Lin Qingyan saw a photo studio by the roadside and wondered if Lin Zhiheng had ever had his picture taken.
And the original owner, growing up in that kind of family, probably didn't have any photos to keep as souvenirs.
"Xiao Heng, today is the day we officially become siblings. Let's go to the photo studio to take pictures to commemorate this."
"Take a picture?"
Lin Zhiheng not only did not show much desire, but was also somewhat timid.
Lin Qingyan guessed that he probably wouldn't be comfortable with such consumer-oriented things, so she encouraged him: "We're family now, so taking a picture to commemorate it would be meaningful. Besides, life needs a record of growth, doesn't it?"
"Okay then, let's go take pictures."
But when Lin Zhiheng reached the entrance of the photo studio, he hesitated. Lin Qingyan tugged at his clothes and pulled him inside.
"Xiao Heng, don't be afraid, you'll need to have your picture taken often in the future."
After communicating with the photographer, Lin Qingyan first pushed Lin Zhiheng in front of the backdrop and told him to stand still and not panic.
The photographer pointed the camera lens at him, clicked, and captured the boy's image on the film in the camera.
Lin Qingyan asked her master to take another picture of her, and then the siblings stood side by side and took a group photo.
After the photo was taken, Lin Zhiheng took out two yuan from his pocket to give to the photographer.
Lin Qingyan pushed it back to him: "You don't need this much, take it back quickly. This time it's your sister's treat, your sister will pay."
"Sis, let me do it."
Lin Qingyan guessed that it must be his educated youth subsidy, which she herself would definitely be reluctant to spend on normally.
She asked Lin Zhiheng to take the money back, and gave the photographer three cents herself. The photographer gave her a receipt, and she came back a week later with the receipt to pick up the photos.
Lin Zhiheng gripped the money in his hand, and the thought of earning more money for his sister to spend suddenly popped into his mind.
After leaving the photo studio, they had nothing else to do, so they strolled around for a while.
As he passed the grain station, Lin Zhiheng turned his head to look inside and suddenly stopped.
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