Chapter 6
◎ The things Bei Bitang sent back to Shanghai from the northwest arrived about three days later than hers. …◎
The things Bei Bitang sent back to Shanghai from the northwest arrived three days later than hers.
Before the post office notified her to go, she had found out where to exchange tickets and goods over the past two days, and used her money to exchange for enough cloth coupons to make a new set of clothes.
She went to a well-stocked department store and spent a long time choosing the pattern she liked best. After buying the cloth, she went to a specialized tailor shop and asked a master tailor to tailor the clothes for her. As she explained her requirements, the master drew up the design draft.
Bei Bitang was afraid that it would be too late, so she paid extra money to ask the tailor shop to speed up the work.
Bei Bitang knew how to make clothes, but how many pieces did she make in a year? How many pieces did the master tailor make in a year? She couldn't even catch up with the master's craftsmanship.
This time, she was determined to make a good impression on her boyfriend's parents. She had sensed their indifference back in Northwest China, but when she wasn't around, she didn't care. A lover's life is a blessing, but a heartless heart is a curse. She and Xu Zeli were happy, and nothing else mattered.
This time, the attitude of her family towards her taught her a great lesson. If she wanted to continue with Xu Zeli, she couldn't just live her life behind closed doors. Her family wouldn't tolerate her staying at home doing nothing for too long.
Bei Bitang hadn't worn a skirt for a long time. She didn't choose the most popular Dacron dress because she felt that clothes made of Dacron were transparent, stuffy and fluttery.
She had a mid-length skirt made of bright yellow, medium-weight cotton, printed with small, cute oranges of the same color, each with two branches and leaves. For her top, Bei Bitang chose a simple white shirt, which, thanks to its well-cut design, stood out.
Bei Bitang took out the black round-toed low-heeled leather shoes she had brought back, wiped them clean and hung them up to dry, ready to put them on just before going out.
Bei Bitang went to the post office and dragged back a thick burlap bag. When Miao Xiuxiu, who was enjoying the cool air downstairs, saw it, she immediately left her old sisters and went forward to help. Together, the two of them dragged the burlap bag into the house.
Miao Xiuxiu stared into the sack and said, "These past two days you've been making new clothes and polishing shoes. What do you want to do? Bei Bitang, tell me the truth."
Bei Bitang untied the sack, took out the contents, and said calmly, "I'm dating someone in the northwest. He's also from Shanghai and was my junior high school classmate. It's nothing special. I just went to see him."
The words were so shocking that Miao Xiuxiu didn't take Bei Bitang's words seriously. She thought Bei Bitang just didn't want others to interfere in her affairs. Bei Bitang had always been opinionated since she was a child, and once she made up her mind, no one could change it.
Miao Xiuxiu didn't care about the things anymore. She fanned herself with a palm-leaf fan and asked hurriedly: "What's his name? How old is he? What do his family members do? Where do they live? How many brothers and sisters does he have? What do his brothers and sisters do..."
Bei Bitang didn't answer. She placed the things she was bringing to her boyfriend's parents on the table. She had personally packaged them back in the northwest. She wrapped them in small packages of kraft paper, tied them with finely ground hemp rope, and tied them into beautiful Chinese knots. Even after such a long journey, the packaging hadn't been damaged.
Miao Xiuxiu murmured in her heart that the man's family conditions must be good, otherwise this girl would not be so desperate to curry favor with him and would not even care so much about her, her mother.
Miao Xiuxiu criticized Bei Bitang, "You didn't even tell me about this big thing. Let me give you some advice. Do you want me to go with you?"
Bei Bitang shook her head and refused, saying, "Don't bother Mom. I'll explain it to Mom in detail when I get back. I'll leave the rest for Mom to distribute, and I'll also leave some for Second Sister."
Bei Bitang washed her face, wiped her body, put some Ya Cream moisturizer on her face, changed her clothes, carried a small black shoulder bag, and went down the stairs with her hands full of gifts.
Bei Bitang left the alley and followed the route she had memorized long ago. She first took a bus for four stops, then got off and walked for more than ten minutes to transfer to another bus. This bus route went directly to the alley in front of Xu Zeli's house.
As she rode, Bei Bitang looked out the window at the young women on the street, observing their attire. She looked down at her own clothes and decided that while she wasn't particularly fashionable, she wasn't embarrassing either.
Thinking of how Xu Zeli often praised her for being pretty, good-looking and beautiful, and that she was the most beautiful woman in the world in his eyes, Bei Bitang couldn't help but smile sweetly.
Bei Bitang stood at the entrance of the alley, traffic whizzing past behind her. She took a deep breath to ease her tension and said softly, "Xu Zeli, I'm here to see you."
Xu Zeli is also a child who grew up in an alley, a Shikumen house with white walls, black tiles, tangled electric wires in the alley, clothes hanging out of the windows to dry, and coal stove ash piled in the corner.
Bei Bitang looked at the identical scene, and her heart slowly returned to its original place.
Bei Bitang's face froze with smile as she counted the house numbers one by one. The aunties and grandmas in the alley looked at her curiously, saying, "What a beautiful girl! Where did you come from? Where are you going?"
What's more, some people looked down from the upstairs windows and saw that Bei Bitang was walking very fast. If she wasn't afraid of bad manners, she would have wanted to run.
Bei Bitang found it funny when she thought about it and decided to tell Xu Zeli about it later.
Living on the fourth floor, Bei Bitang slowed down her pace as she walked up. When she was almost there, she adjusted her skirt and carefully checked herself to see if there was anything wrong before going forward and knocking on the door.
"Who's here?" A middle-aged woman's voice came through the crack in the door.
Xu Huiqiu was very happy that someone came to visit her, as it meant that people would no longer avoid her home and the three of them no longer had to be so cautious.
When the door opened, they saw a strange girl, but not too strange, because their son had shown them a photo of Bei Bitang.
The smile on Xu Huiqiu's face froze the moment she recognized Bei Bitang.
I have to say that Bei Bitang is really beautiful, and she looks much better in person than in the photos.
Xu Huiqiu wanted to play dumb, so she said, "Who are you looking for? I don't know you."
Similarly, Xu Zeli also showed Bei Bitang photos of his parents, and she recognized that the person in front of her was her boyfriend's mother, her future mother-in-law.
Xu Huiqiu said she didn't know her, but Bei Bitang's smile didn't change. She smiled and said, "Aunt Xu, I'm Bei Bitang. Ze Li has told you about me, right?"
"I'm back in Shanghai. I'm here to see Zeli. Is Zeli here?"
Xu Huiqiu stood at the door, refusing to budge, with no intention of letting Bei Bitang in. She said calmly, "Xiao Ze is not here. If you have anything, you can go to school to find him."
She left Bei Bitang afraid to go to East China Normal University to look for someone. A junior high school student, Bei Bitang would never have the guts to even walk to the university gates. Could Bei Bitang dare to watch Xiaoze chatting and laughing with her female university classmates? Xu Huiqiu, worthy of being a teacher, had read Bei Bitang's mind perfectly.
Bei Bitang's hands clenched and then quickly released. She continued to smile and said, "Aunt Xu, I'm Ze Li's girlfriend, Bei Bitang."
This time, Bei Bitang said it clearly, I am your son's girlfriend, I came here with gifts, you can't refuse to let me in.
But Xu Huiqiu still refused to give in and kept asking, "Bei Bitang? Isn't Bei Bitang in the northwest?"
Bei Bitang frowned. The mother Xu Zeli was talking about was not like this.
She explained, "I'm back from the northwest. Didn't Zeli tell you?"
I said it, but who would have thought that a girl would be so shameless as to come to me.
Xu Huiqiu smiled unexpectedly and said with a very happy look, "Oh, you're back. Did you get into college or find a job?"
The smile on Bei Bitang's face disappeared without a trace. She did not respond to Xu Huiqiu's sarcastic words. The two of them confronted each other in silence.
There was silence at the door for a while. Then a middle-aged man's voice came from behind Xu Huiqiu, "Why haven't you said anything for so long? Let someone in."
Xu Huiqiu then stepped aside. Bei Bitang looked into the room and saw a thin, gray-haired middle-aged man sitting on a high stool, crossing his legs and reading a newspaper.
Xu Zeli's father has changed a lot, and his temperament is completely different from that in the photo.
Bei Bitang's face lit up as she walked in and took the initiative to greet her boyfriend's father, "Uncle Xu, I'm Bitang, Zeli's girlfriend. I brought some things to see you guys."
Hearing this, Xu Zhengqing had to put down the newspaper and turned around to look at the people. Seeing Bei Bitang's hands full of things, he had a complicated expression and moved his purple-red lips and said, "Come in and sit down."
Bei Bitang found a chair and sat down slowly. Xu Huiqiu was angry with her husband. She was unhappy that Xu Zhengqing called Bei Bitang in and stood at the door as a door god.
However, her behavior did not last for a moment, as voices came from upstairs, getting closer and closer.
Xu Zhengqing's face darkened, and he shouted at Xu Huiqiu, "Come in quickly and close the door! Do you want to embarrass Xiaoze?"
Bei Bitang's brow furrowed again. Xu Zeli's parents were completely different from what he had described. He had described his father as talkative and good-tempered, and his mother as gentle and reasonable. But how could the reality be the opposite? One was silent and prone to anger, while the other was unreasonable and sharp.
Xu Huiqiu snorted heavily, closed the door with her backhand, and sat down with her back to Bei Bitang in a bad mood.
Bei Bitang put away the solemn expression on her face, placed the gift on the square table, and said, "Uncle and aunt, this is a specialty I brought back from the northwest."
Xu Zhengqing said calmly, "That's thoughtful."
Xu Huiqiu stood up suddenly, took the things that Bei Bitang had placed on the table, took them to the cabinet in the corner, and casually put them in the pile of miscellaneous items.
The warmth in Bei Bitang's eyes faded. Xu Zeli's parents didn't say anything, so she didn't say anything either. She just sat there waiting for Xu Zeli to come back.
Bei Bitang glanced at the room out of the corner of her eye. It was about the same size as her house, also the size of a palm. However, there were only three people living in the Xu family, and their son did not live at home all the time, so the space seemed much larger than hers.
Bei Bitang was curious about the cubicle where her boyfriend had lived since he was a child, and looked inside to explore.
"When did you come back?" Xu Zhengqing asked to break the deadlock.
Bei Bitang averted her gaze, sat upright, and replied, "I've been back for a few days, but I didn't think I was ready, so I came late."
Xu Huiqiu turned around to spy on the enemy. Xu Zhengqing exchanged glances with her and said, "Give him a glass of water."
Xu Huiqiu curled her lips and pretended to stand up to pour water.
Bei Bitang quickly waved her hands and said, "No, uncle and aunt, I'm not thirsty."
When Xu Huiqiu heard Bei Bitang say she wasn't thirsty, she immediately sat back down.
Bei Bitang wasn't terrified or worried that she couldn't bear Xu Huiqiu pouring water for her. Rather, she couldn't stand drinking from someone else's used cup.
It's okay to boil it with boiling water, but she can't say, "Auntie, please boil the cup with boiling water first."
Everyone in the family knew about her habit. Her mother and elder sister often scolded her for being too picky and not having the destiny of a lady but having the habits of a lady.
At that time, she told Xu Zeli about her worries. What should I do when she comes to visit your parents in the future? Saying that I don't want to drink the water is too cold. If I pour it and then don't drink it, will your parents think I'm looking for trouble?
Xu Zeli said gently, "What are you afraid of when the time comes, with me here? I'll pour you some water, but I'll pour boiling water over it before pouring it."
Bei Bitang said affectionately, Xu Zeli, you are so nice.
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