Chapter 16 Chapter 16
The very next day after they returned, Qiao Jiaxin accompanied Liu Shuqin to see the village chief to discuss burying the old man.
There is no custom in Yu City to display photos of relatives at home.
After a person dies, photos should be buried with the ashes in the family’s ancestral tomb, so that the life can be considered complete.
My uncles said they would come back to handle the matter when they had time, but it ended up being delayed for more than half a month and no one mentioned the matter again.
In a few days it will be the 57th day after her grandfather's death, and Liu Shuqin hopes that he can rest in peace as soon as possible.
But the village chief told her to wait, saying that there would be a meeting soon and that the village might be included in the demolition area, and to wait until the dust settled before making a decision.
That's why I kept my grandfather's photo and urn at home.
Rustle...rustle...
After knocking on the faucet that was venting again, Liu Shuqin, holding the pot, said indifferently: "Whether it's real or not, that's none of our business. We're just ordinary people. Whether it's demolished or not, there's nothing we can do about it."
After returning, Liu Shuqin heard a lot about demolition.
After decades of hardship, who wouldn’t want to become rich overnight?
They said they would compensate me and give me a house, and the rumors sounded so real.
But Liu Shuqin didn't hold much hope.
She had never encountered any good things in her life, so she didn't think that relying on demolition would bring her any good results.
Getting rich overnight? She didn't dare to think about it. She just wanted to leave a place for herself and her granddaughter to live.
After dinner in the evening, Qiao Jiaxin came to the study corner in the village with a few books.
Liu Shuqin is right, summer vacation is the time to have fun.
In the past, there would be people reading here, but since the holidays, there are not many people here. However, there are many aunts and grandmothers here, playing cards in the cool air under the fans above their heads.
There were originally two mahjong tables, but they were moved outside by the village chief on the grounds that they would "affect the academic atmosphere." Villagers who loved playing mahjong could only play in the yard.
In fact, no matter what the surrounding environment is like, as long as she calms down, she will not be affected.
"Jiaxin, you're going to high school this year, right?"
The aunts and sisters in the room were very considerate. They would not talk to her when she was doing her homework seriously. They would only try to find topics to talk to her and deepen their understanding when she copied the questions wrong.
Qiao Jiaxin: "Well, the school starts as a senior year."
"I remember you were born in 1977 or 1988? Five years older than my Xiaojing."
"What? Born in 1979. About the same age as the eldest son of the Hai family."
"Oh, yes, yes, they are in the same grade, and Hai Yan is a little older than her."
When mentioning Hai Yan, Qiao Jiaxin's hand holding the pen couldn't help but pause.
She recalled the words her aunts and uncles used to tease her when she was a child.
As I was talking, another aunt lowered her voice a little, "Have you got a boyfriend at school?"
Qiao Jiaxin: ...
Her aunt's words made her face turn red.
Qiao Jiaxin has never been in a relationship, either in the past or now.
For a high school student, studying is naturally the top priority, especially in the current situation.
She wants to work hard, she wants to get into college, and she wants to give her grandma a good life.
Falling in love? These words don't belong to her vocabulary.
"No," Qiao Jiaxin turned the page of her notebook and straightened her back. "Studying is the most important thing. I don't have the time to think about so many messy things."
Her tone was like a pledge, telling them that her priority now was studying and she wouldn't think about anything else.
It also implies that I hope they will stop talking about their childhood, as those were just jokes said casually when they were young and ignorant.
The aunts did not mention it, but encouraged her by following her words.
"Well, that's good. Focus on your studies and get into a good university in the future."
"I've always known you were smart since you were little. You're sure to achieve great things!"
Yu City is a very evil place.
The aunts didn't mention it, but the person who flashed through her mind still appeared.
"Brother Haiyan and the others are back!"
When they heard the news, the group of children playing "Ace" outside stood up and ran towards them.
Hai Yan came back from the "war" with seven or eight men.
They held a flashlight in their left hand and a net bag in their right hand that contained many plastic bottles, which were their "trophies".
They went to catch the fork.
The cicada is also called the cicada monkey. Its scientific name is golden cicada, which is the nymph stage of the cicada.
It is an indispensable delicacy on the table every summer.
Generally, you can go catching them in Henan City from the end of June, and the most can be caught in July. Now it is the end of August, and I think there should not be many climbing forks to be found.
But God knows where they dug them up. Although not as many as they caught in July, each plastic bottle can still hold several.
Especially the plastic bottles in Haiyan's bag, which were filled with the most.
Put salt water in the plastic bottle in advance, and you can fry it and eat it after soaking it overnight.
He casually threw his clothes over his shoulders and took the initiative to distribute the plastic bottles in the bag. "Don't grab them. One bottle per person. If you grab them, I won't give them away."
Half squatting on the ground, he was like a businessman selling happiness, and every child walked away with a smile on their face.
It's really embarrassing...
Qiao Jiaxin looked out the window curiously for a while, and within a minute, her eyes met Hai Yan's. She was so scared that she quickly looked away guiltily.
But it seems a little late.
After entering the house, Hai Yan handed a few plastic bottles to his aunt who was playing cards.
"Auntie, this is for you."
"So many! Oh, I just said it casually, and I actually caught them."
"Then tomorrow when your uncle goes to buy some spicy noodles, I'll keep them all for you and let you choose first."
"middle!"
Qiao Jiaxin was still looking down and pretending to study hard, but with a "pop" sound, a plastic bottle filled with salt water and more than ten forks appeared in front of her.
"Are there any fried skewers in the city? They taste better when fried than meat."
Huh? How dare you look down on fairies?
What hasn't the fairy seen?
Putting down the pen in her hand, Qiao Jiaxin didn't rush to thank him. Instead, she unconsciously raised the back of her neck proudly like when she was a child, "Of course I have. My grandma fries fried shrimp every year. It's very delicious."
Raising his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, Hai Yan said calmly: "It's good to have eaten it. I thought you people in the city didn't eat this kind of thing."
There were countless of them in the bottle, most of them were motionless, only a few above the salt water were moving helplessly a few times.
Pulling the corner of his lip, Hai Yan pushed the plastic bottle towards her again, "Then I have finally compensated you for today's portion."
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