Chapter 7 Sweet and Sour Candied Hawthorn
On her way home, Yunxia encountered an old man pushing a bicycle. She was instantly captivated, her eyes and heart filled with the tempting red candied hawthorns coated in brown sugar.
Her throat moved slightly, and her pink tongue licked her slightly dry lips. "Brother Jiang Chao, I want to eat candied hawthorn. Just one... please?"
Jiang Chao lowered his eyes and stared at her in disbelief, as if he was startled by her affected tone.
The three of them were in the wind, with the north wind howling. The little girl was picking at her fingers, staring at the gloomy little boy, neither of them showing any sign of giving in.
"Homemade, clean and hygienic, the ingredients are cheap, just pay for the labor, one cent for a skewer, two cents for three skewers. Young man, you'd better make your decision quickly, it's windy here, it wouldn't be good if the young lady caught a cold."
Yunxia shivered in response, sniffed hard, pouted, and stared longingly at the candied hawthorns on the straw rack.
"This is a one-time exception; there will be no next time!"
With a gloomy face, Jiang Chao took out a crumpled two-mao banknote from his cloth bag and handed it to the old man with a thud. Then he picked out three strings of plump candied hawthorns, wrapped two strings and put them in his satchel, and stuffed one string directly into the hands of a certain drama queen.
"Brother Jiang Chao, you're the best! It's so sweet, do you want to try one?" The little girl, with sugar stains on her lips and puffed-out cheeks, said in a soft and cute voice.
"Heh, this sweet stuff, what's so delicious about it? Hurry up and get going, look how long you've been taking up your time."
A flicker of longing flashed in Tai's eyes; don't think no one saw it.
Feeling rebuffed, Yunxia angrily bit off a hawthorn and followed after him with her short legs.
...
"Ouch, I fell down! My foot hurts so much, boohoo~"
Upon hearing this, the gloomy young man paused, his brows furrowed, and he turned to look at the little girl squatting on the ground, clutching her foot and wailing. He thought to himself, "I've only taken a few steps, what kind of trouble is she causing now?"
"Waaah, it hurts so much! I can't stand up! Brother Jiang Chao, please come and help me, okay?"
Jiang Chao's feet were a sore spot. When he was 6 years old, he began to experience intermittent pain in his hip bone, which would last for more than ten minutes each time. Being precocious, he did not want his mother to worry, so he endured it without saying anything.
Later, her condition worsened, and she developed a limp. The doctor said she had come too late; the bone was fixed, and she would have to go to a big city to get treatment. Wu Lifang cried all night, blaming herself. The next day, she wiped away her tears and wrote down a plan to save money for the surgery in her notebook.
"Yunxia, take your hands away, let me see your feet... Ouch!"
Taking advantage of the moment when someone's thin lips opened and closed, Yun Xia, with quick eyes and hands, plucked a candied hawthorn and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Yes, it worked!"
Wow, it's both sour and sweet, it's really delicious! So this is what candied hawthorn tastes like!
He chewed it several times until the sweetness disappeared, leaving only sourness. Jiang Chao reluctantly swallowed it, seemingly remembering his behavior just now, which was contrary to his image as the head of the family and a manly man. His face... became even more gloomy.
Yunxia: No need to worry about drought, I have Jiang Chao. His temperament is extremely similar to the dark clouds pressing down on the city, as if a thunderclap would bring a torrential downpour.
"Yunxia, are you asking for a beating? How dare you make a joke like that?"
"Brother Jiang Chao, I meant well. I know I was wrong. Please don't blame me... Ah, you stinky Jiang Chao, let me go!"
Despite having eaten well for several days, the little girl still couldn't shake off the term "bean sprout."
Jiang Chao easily lifted her up, straightened the felt bundle, and dragged her along, his speed not slowing down at all, even though he was limping.
After a series of minor mishaps along the way, and with Wu Lifang anxiously waiting, the two finally arrived home.
"Hurry up and have a bowl of ginger tea to warm yourself up."
The warm ginger tea entered her stomach, and instantly a warm current flowed through her body, driving away all the chill. Yunxia couldn't help but let out a sigh.
"Aunt Wu, the ginger tea is so delicious! This morning, Xiaxia and Brother Jiang Chao sold a lot of hair ties at People's Square. Do you want to count the money?"
Hearing this, Wu Lifang smiled with relief, "Xiaxia is really amazing. If it were Aunt Wu, she might not have been able to sell a single one. You must be starving. Auntie will go to the kitchen to heat up some food."
After saying that, he patted Yunxia's head, told Jiang Chao to take good care of his younger siblings, and then turned and went to the kitchen.
"Jiang Chao, let's set up a stall next to the department store tomorrow. There's a lot of foot traffic there, and everyone's there to make a purchase."
"Is People's Square too small for you? Setting up a stall next to a department store? How did you even come up with that idea? You'll probably be chased away with insults before you even sell a few."
Stealing business from someone's face is just asking for trouble, isn't it?
Yunxia scratched the back of her head and smiled awkwardly, "Well... we only sell rubber bands, so we shouldn't... offend... well, okay, I was inconsiderate."
No matter how you look at it, People's Square is the best choice. Recalling the little money-grubber's unusual behavior today, Jiang Chao couldn't help but narrow his eyes and look the person up and down.
"What's wrong? Is there something dirty on my face?"
Hmm, what a gloomy look in those eyes, it's kind of creepy.
"It's nothing. We're going to Binyang Park tomorrow. There are quite a few people there. Just stay in the main room. I'm going to see An'an."
After saying that, he took out two strings of candied hawthorns from his bag, turned around and went to the side room. A few seconds later, Yunxia secretly followed, leaning against the door frame, tilting her head, and secretly watching the two brothers interact.
Jiang Chao glanced at the flat quilt, then fixed his gaze on the tightly closed wardrobe door.
"An'an, open the cabinet door, your brother bought you candied hawthorns."
The only response he received was the rustling of the cold wind through the window paper!
"An'an, be good, listen to me, open the wardrobe door."
Swish! Swish!
Jiang Chao frowned, feigning anger, and said, "Jiang An, if you don't come out, I'll spank you!"
Snap!
The lid of the large wooden box at the foot of the bed was suddenly pushed open, and little Jiang An, with starry eyes, clapped his hands excitedly and laughed heartily.
"Brother, An'an is in the big wooden box and can't open the wardrobe door, haha! Brother, you're so silly! You big dummy! Hehe!"
Hiding by the door, Yun Xia shook her head helplessly, as if she could already foresee An An getting beaten up.
Jiang Chao, whose face was gloomy, suddenly laughed. He solemnly put down the candied hawthorn, walked to the foot of the bed, picked up Jiang An, grabbed a slipper, and gave him a good beating, though it was loud but not forceful.
"Wow! There really are candied hawthorns! An'an loves them the most! Sister Xia, could you please bring them over?"
Yun Xia, who was suddenly called upon: ...
Oops, I got caught peeking.
Under someone's gloomy gaze, Yun Xia steeled herself, picked up a string of candied hawthorns, and tremblingly handed it to the little child. She 'timidly' glared at Jiang Chao, then turned and ran out of the room in a flash.
The boy snorted, put down the slippers he was holding, and looked disdainfully at the little child whose mouth was full of sugar crumbs.
"You're not eating properly. The other skewer is for Mom, don't you dare steal it."
"Brother, you should try one too. It's sweet and sour, and it's delicious."
The little baby, whose skin was so white it seemed to glow, held up a long bamboo stick, trying to feed the candied hawthorn to her older brother, but she wasn't tall enough.
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