Chapter 12 Chapter 12
That was more than ten years ago.
At that time, Qiao Jiaxin was only three or four years old. Because her parents were gone, she was sent to live with her grandparents in the countryside.
The completely unfamiliar environment filled her with anxiety and fear.
Even though she was with the person closest to her, Qiao Jiaxin was very cautious. She either sat on a small bench in the yard, gazing at the leaves on the trees outside, or sat in the house watching her grandmother do housework.
She wanted to go home and sleep next to her parents.
At that time, she didn't know why her parents hadn't come to pick her up, so she ate the popping candy in her pocket very sparingly, only eating a small piece as big as a needle tip every day.
"Shall we go to the movies tonight?"
That evening, when Liu Shuqin came back from outside, she made her a bottle of chrysanthemum crystals and filled a basket with some sun-dried peanuts. "The projection team is coming to the village to show a movie today. Let's go and watch the fun."
Liu Shuqin was worried that Qiao Jiaxin would get bored after being stuck at home all day.
The projection team happened to be there to watch a movie, so taking her to a crowded and lively place might help her feel better.
"Movie?"
Qiao Jiaxin hasn't seen the movie yet.
Listening to her grandma's description of the movie, she found it very novel and interesting, so she took her grandma's hand and went out with her.
Knowing that the screening team was coming today, grandpa went there early in the afternoon to reserve a seat and got them a good place in the front row.
The place where the movie was shown was the village's threshing ground. When we arrived, there were already quite a few people sitting there.
The younger ones sat in the arms of their family members, while the older ones sat huddled together like sparrows on the trees at the back.
"Auntie, you're here too. How about dinner tonight?"
"Just ate."
"Is this my sister's girl? She's so pretty!"
"When she was about to be born, she looked like her father, but now she looks more and more like her mother."
Looking at the aunt who was chatting with grandma, Qiao Jiaxin blinked her big eyes and called out in a childish voice, "Hello, auntie."
The woman who was speaking was Wang Xichun, the daughter-in-law of Hai Youfu from the Hai family.
"Jiaxin is so smart!" Wang Xichun smiled from ear to ear as he touched Qiao Jiaxin's head. "It's better to have a girl. Unlike that bad boy in my family, he's like a bandit and makes me worry every day."
Speak of Cao Cao and he will appear.
While they were chatting, Hai Youfu came over with his son in his arms, like he was catching a chick.
That was the first time Qiao Jiaxin met Hai Yan.
Auntie was right, he really looked like a naughty little boy.
Seeing that he was holding a bag of popcorn, Wang Xichun raised his hand and slapped him on the butt. "Didn't you say you wanted to buy marshmallows? Who told you to buy popcorn?!"
Hai Yan was not afraid of the pain. He shamelessly pretended not to hear and took out a plump popcorn from the bag and put it into his mouth.
"You too, bought it for him."
"I was taking out my money and he reached out to someone else's stall without paying attention."
Thinking about watching a movie today, Hai Youfu took Hai Yan to buy some snacks, just for fun.
We agreed to buy only one marshmallow and bring some melon seeds from home before leaving.
When he arrived at the convenience store, Hai Yan was attracted by the popcorn pot.
Don't be fooled by his young age, he has a very smart brain.
He knew that crying and acting like a spoiled child would be of no use, so he changed his mindset and reached directly for the corn kernels mixed with sugar and oil in the bowl.
Since he had touched it, he naturally couldn't sell it to others, so Hai Youfu had no choice but to buy that bowl.
In order to teach him a lesson and prevent him from touching other people's things, he was given a good scolding in front of the stall owner.
When he was beaten, he cried a few times symbolically, but as soon as he got the popcorn, he stopped crying instantly.
It was fair to get beaten for making a mistake, but he also got to eat popcorn.
Freshly popped popcorn smells so good. When you eat it, why would you care about the pain in your butt?
The two children sat next to each other in the middle of the adults. They glanced at the girl in the little skirt next to them and generously handed her the popcorn. "Want to eat?"
Qiao Jiaxin pursed her lips and shook her head.
She wanted to eat it, but she was just embarrassed.
She wasn't envious because she also had snacks brought from her home in the city.
She took out the bag of popping candy that she had been eating for a week from her pocket, carefully opened the mouth, reached in and picked out the broken sugar crystals inside.
"What are you eating? Let me see?"
Hai Yan casually stretched out his hand, wanting to see what was in the bag.
Unexpectedly, Qiao Jiaxin didn't hold the bag firmly, and when he pulled it, all the sugar crystals in the bag spilled out.
The ground was covered with sand. After being eaten for so many days, only a small handful of the orange-pink sugar crystals remained. As the sky was getting dark, the sugar crystals mixed with the fine soil as soon as they were sprinkled on the ground.
"My candy!"
Qiao Jiaxin's eyes suddenly turned red.
She paused for only a second, and before Hai Yan could say sorry, her tears flowed like a torrential rain.
Liu Shuqin: "Okay, okay, stop crying. Let's go buy another bag later, a big one."
Wang Xichun: "Look at you! Are you naughty? I think your father didn't hit you lightly!"
One was coaxing the child, the other was beating the child. They were clearly sitting next to each other, but the picture was divided into two completely different scenes, attracting the attention of many people around them.
Liu Shuqin held her and coaxed her for a long time before Qiao Jiaxin's tears stopped. In order to apologize to her, Hai Yan also honestly gave her the bag of popcorn.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it."
While watching the movie, Hai Yan tentatively pulled the hem of her skirt and apologized to her in a low voice.
Chewing the popcorn she had just put into her mouth, although Qiao Jiaxin had stopped crying, she still couldn't help sobbing twice while breathing.
"My popping candy can last for ten thousand days. It's all your fault. I won't be able to eat it anymore."
Ten thousand is the largest number Qiao Jiaxin can count.
Hai Yan said aggrievedly, "I've already given you the popcorn. How about I ask my dad to buy you another bag tomorrow?"
Qiao Jiaxin pushed away his fingers that were pinching her skirt, "No, that's something my dad bought specially for me. It's different from what your dad bought."
Hai Yan: ???
Aren’t they all popping candies? What’s the difference?
Having been cooped up in the countryside for too long, Qiao Jiaxin longed to be able to throw a tantrum like other children.
Her parents were not with her, and she didn't have the heart to trouble her elderly grandparents, so she could only take this opportunity to vent a little to Hai Yan, who was the same age as her.
It might be a little unfair to him, but...
"Then I will compensate you little by little, until it's enough for you to last for ten thousand days." Hai Yan didn't care about the details, but promised her.
Qiao Jiaxin was a little surprised, "Really?"
Hai Yan: "As a man, why would I lie to you? Come to me if you want to eat anything in the future, and I will compensate you."
Hearing his generous promise, Qiao Jiaxin pursed her lips and silently placed the popcorn in her arms between the two of them.
She didn't say she forgave him, but just said calmly, "I can't finish it, you can eat some too."
Hai Yan laughed twice, then put his little hand into the plastic bag filled with popcorn...
Hai Yan didn't lie to her.
From that day on, he would bring her delicious food from home every day.
"Jiaxin? Do you want to eat dates?"
"eat."
"Jiaxin? My mom made some steamed buns. Can I get one for you?"
"middle."
"Jiaxin? There's nothing to eat at home today, so I picked some sour grass to compensate you."
"I don't want to eat grass, so today won't count. I'll add another day later."
The Hai family and the Qiao family live close to each other, and every day you can hear Hai Yan shouting Qiao Jiaxin's name through several walls.
Well, the relationship between creditors and debtors seems to be reversed.
Qiao Jiaxin didn't have to go and collect the debt, Hai Yan just happily brought the delicious food over.
Moreover, he would not only bring her food, but also take her to play with the brothers and sisters in the village.
Qiao Jiaxin was not familiar with the children in the village, and was inevitably a little introverted when she first met them.
Hai Yan stood in front of her and explained for her: "My father said that Jiaxin's parents are both gods who can go to heaven and into the earth, so she is also a little fairy in heaven. Fairies are silent. If you can play with a fairy, just be happy!"
In order to maintain the "fairy" persona that Hai Yan gave herself, she did not dare to get too close to the children in the village for a long time.
Even though she really wanted to play games like Three Words and Hide and Seek with them, she had to pretend to be uninterested. Only when Hai Yan took the lead in inviting the fairies to descend to the earth could she "reluctantly" accept.
That day, Hai Yan took Qiao Jiaxin to Naodan's house to play again.
Seeing Qiao Jiaxin chewing a chicken leg in one hand while Hai Yan held her hand with the other, the aunts in the village joked, "Jiaxin, you and Hai Yan go out hand in hand every day. Do you want to marry him in the future?"
After staying in the village for a long time, Qiao Jiaxin became much more cheerful.
She didn't understand the meaning of marriage at the time, and just smiled and responded to the aunts' jokes, "Yes, he spilled my candy, and he hasn't compensated me enough yet."
After saying that, she handed him the remaining half of the chicken leg.
This chicken leg was given to her by Hai Yan as compensation today.
"Hai Yan, if Jiaxin wants to marry you when she grows up, will you marry her?" the aunts asked again.
Taking a big bite at the place where Qiao Jiaxin had bitten, Hai Yan also answered simply: "Marry me~"
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