Chapter 41 Mom, I plan to continue studying (1)
Zhong Qiao was a very beautiful child when she was young.
Especially those eyes that were as calm as black beads, with pupils that were seven parts black and three parts white. She wore a white skirt, pigtails, and a red rope on her hand. She was so beautiful that she stood out among the other children.
But she has a strange disease.
Before the age of thirteen, I couldn't speak.
People in the compound laughed at her for being mute, but because of this "congenital disability", the old man of the Ji family felt very sorry for her and often taught her to read and write.
Ji's mother particularly likes Zhong Qiao.
One New Year's Eve, the old man and the old man of the Zhong family had a long talk all night long. They were drunk and didn't know whether they were joking or serious, but they decided to arrange a marriage between Zhong Qiao and Ji Hebai.
Ji's mother was happy at that time.
She treated Zhong Qiao as her own daughter, even though she couldn't speak. But she thought, as long as a child who couldn't speak had a kind heart, that was enough.
But as a mother, Zhong's mother naturally couldn't bear to see her daughter endure the ridicule of others all her life, so she asked a fortune teller to calculate Zhong Qiao's fate.
The master said that she was destined to have a disaster. She had three souls and seven spirits, and she lost one spirit. When the time was right and a noble person arrived, her spirit would naturally return to her body, and then the child would be able to speak.
This wait lasted for fourteen years.
When Zhong Qiao was fourteen years old, he suddenly fell into the water and nearly drowned. Fortunately, he was rescued. This rescue was incredible. The famous "pretty little mute" in the compound could speak again!
Their family was so happy! But unexpectedly, a few days later, Zhong Qiao and his family suddenly moved to Hong Kong and disappeared without a trace. Even when they came back to worship their ancestors in the following years, they had no contact with their family.
Ji's mother thought that since the marriage was settled, it would be final.
So Ji Hebai proposed to study medicine, and they took great pains to send him to the school where Zhong Qiao was. As a result, they found out that Zhong Qiao actually had a girlfriend in college, and he also slandered Hebai, causing him to be expelled.
They went to settle accounts with the Zhong family, but they couldn't find Zhong's father and others, nor could they find Zhong Qiao.
One of them eloped with someone.
One or two are in Hong Kong.
They went to settle accounts with the old man of the Zhong family, but unexpectedly, the sisters-in-law of the Zhong family were all from the countryside. They either pretended to be dumb or scolded them.
She was so angry that she almost had a heart attack.
Therefore, she unilaterally thought that the Zhong family had become rich and looked down on their family, so she broke the contract. From then on, she did not allow anyone who knew the situation to mention the Zhong family or Zhong Qiao again.
"Why."
When talking about Zhong Qiao, Ji's mother felt both emotional and disappointed.
"Tell me, I've watched this child grow up. When I was pregnant with Tangchun, she was so little and didn't know anything. She even picked flowers for me to wear, and I sewed little skirts for her. Now that she's grown up, how come she's become like this?"
"What do you mean it's like this?" Father Ji looked at her sideways.
What annoyed Ji's mother the most was her husband's indifferent attitude. She immediately became angry and said, "What's this and that? Compared to how smart she was as a child, she's like a fool now. Where's her intelligence left?!"
Father Ji sighed, his forehead wrinkled like a river. "Alright, stop talking. You, a woman, love to gossip. I have a child now, so don't bring up the past."
Ji's mother sulked and walked away.
On the other side, Zhong Qiao, who was on the road, sneezed three times.
She looked around and remembered that she still had a roasted sweet potato in her pocket that her sister-in-law had given her, so she took it out to warm her hands. Unfortunately, it was already a little cold, with only a little residual warmth left.
Zhong Qiao shrank his neck and hurried home.
She thought to herself, it’s too cold. The wind makes my head numb. I must go back and boil some ginger water to drink to drive away the cold.
When I arrived at the yard not far from home, I saw that the lights in the house were still on through the glass windows covered with newspapers.
Zhong Qiao stepped on the thick snow, taking deep and shallow steps. When he reached the corridor, he stomped his feet to shake off the mud and snow stuck to his soles.
As soon as she entered the door, she saw Mr. Zhong and others.
Mr. Zhong was comparing the size of the wood under the light, while Mrs. Zhong was warming herself by the fire, fiddling with the firewood in the stove from time to time. When they saw her come back, there was light in their eyes.
"I'm back."
Mother Zhong smiled and reached out to brush off the snow on her coat.
"Mom and Dad, why aren't you sleeping yet?" Zhong Qiao complained, "I'm just delivering something. You don't have to wait for me."
"It's your dad." Mother Zhong smiled, but Father Zhong beside her coughed lightly a few times, interrupting the words that were about to jump out of her throat.
The voice changed, and she could only continue: "It's me, I'm still worried about you, so I made you a bowl of ginger soup. Here, it's still warm."
Zhong Qiao was delighted and went forward to take a look. There was indeed an enamel pot warming on the stove. When he opened it, he saw yellowish soup and a few pieces of ginger inside.
She picked it up carefully and took a sip. It was still seven-tenths hot.
"Mom, you are really a worm in my stomach."
Zhong Qiao huddled on the stool, taking small sips, and touched the enamel pot with his frozen hands. The heat from the hot enamel pot spread to his heart, and he unexpectedly felt the long-lost warmth and happiness.
Seeing her acting like a little mouse stealing oil, Zhong's mother covered her mouth and laughed secretly: "I'm your mother, how can I not understand you?"
"That's great." Zhong Qiao praised again.
Mother Zhong fiddled with the fire in the stove, thinking of the things in the bamboo basket. She turned around and asked, "Did the Ji family and Mrs. Qian have any reaction to receiving the gifts? I haven't made this stewed pork with potatoes in a long time. I don't know if my cooking skills have deteriorated, or if Mrs. Qian taught me how to make it."
Zhong Qiao held the enamel pot in her hand, feeling empty inside as if something was missing. Suddenly, she thought of the two eggs that Mrs. Qian had stuffed into her.
I put it in the basket and forgot to take it back.
Never mind, it doesn’t matter.
Zhong Qiao fell into deep thought. She could get away with it by talking to Mrs. Qian, but the way the Ji family looked at her today was very strange.
She couldn't tell what was strange about it. Maybe she was just imagining things. It was not good to slander others without any evidence.
I could only mumble, “They all accepted it, Mom, your cooking skills must be fine.”
"You are so sweet-talking." Mother Zhong was very pleased.
Zhong Qiao laughed along, and after a while, as if she had thought of something, she asked again, "Mom, do you know which school Zhou Yingying goes to?"
"Zhou Yingying?" Mother Zhong recalled for a moment. "Oh, you mean her? The normal school she attended, I don't know what it was called."
"Normal College." Zhong Qiao understood clearly, her tone a little nostalgic and complicated, "That's great. I saw the girls' uniforms at the Normal College. They're very pretty and look very elegant."
When she was studying at university in Hong Kong, she was an undergraduate student. The school uniform of her alma mater was surprisingly similar to Zhou Yingying's. When she saw it today, she almost got distracted and thought she was meeting an old classmate.
Speaking of studying, the thing she regretted most in her previous life was that she didn't continue her studies and chose to get married and have children instead. Now that she is divorced and has cleared out the bad apples in her life, she should get back to studying.
"Mom." Zhong Qiao's heart moved and he asked her, "Is there any school near our house for young people to go to? I want to continue my studies."
"Do you want to continue studying?" Zhong's mother and others were excited when they heard it, and even Zhong's father put down what he was holding and went to look at her.
"Qiao Qiao, you didn't tell us?"
Zhong Qiao took a sip of ginger soup, smiling lightly, but speaking in a voice neither loud nor soft, and every word he said touched his heart.
"This was the path I was supposed to take. More than a decade ago, I gave up. Now, I want to start over."
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