Chapter 84 Jiang Ling
The ones who came back from the yard were Gao Cuifen and Old Zhang.
How did Shi Yue know it was them? Of course, it was because he heard Gao Cuifen's signature loud voice.
"It's all your fault. It took you so long to get out that the discounted canned goods were sold out by the time we got there! Look at you, you're just a lousy old man. Why bother dressing up to go out? Now look what happened! You didn't even buy a single discounted canned good!"
"You know what? Today they're selling five cans of braised pork for only twelve yuan. That's a pound to a can. It's even cheaper than buying meat and stewing it yourself! Pork at the market is two yuan a pound these days! And then there's the oil, the smoke, the seasonings, too!"
"What a shame, what a shame! If we had bought that can of food today, we wouldn't have to stew meat for the New Year. It would have saved us money, energy, and trouble!"
Gao Cuifen kept muttering to herself, and it was obvious that she was really sad that she didn't get the discounted canned food.
"Don't be angry, old lady. If you didn't get the canned food, then you didn't get it. We bought some melon seeds instead. They're on sale and very affordable! Such a big bag, several kilograms, for less than five yuan. It's really a good deal!" Old Zhang said to Gao Cuifen.
"Hmph." Gao Cuifen snorted and said, "By the way, go back and put this bag of melon seeds away. We're not busy right now. Save it for when people come to visit during the New Year. That way, we don't have to buy melon seeds during the New Year."
She raised her eyebrows complacently and said proudly, "During the Chinese New Year, melon seeds and peanuts are so expensive. If we don't buy them, we can save a lot of money!"
Old Zhang said cheerfully, "Okay, I'll take it home and put it away."
He sighed with admiration: "Old woman, you are really good at scheming. I didn't even think of this just now."
Gao Cuifen: "Of course, don't you see who I am..."
The voices of Old Zhang and Gao Cuifen gradually faded away. It was estimated that the two had already entered the house. Shi Yue turned over in bed and once again had a deep understanding of the saying that two people cannot sleep in the same bed.
Although he knew that Gao Cuifen and Old Zhang were both equally stingy, the fact that they had saved a bag of melon seeds for the New Year still refreshed his perception of stinginess.
The melon seeds have been stored for so long, they should have become peeled!
Not long after, someone came back to the yard. From the sound of their voices, it was Yao Dazui and Li Xiuying who came back.
They both work in the cafeteria, and their only job is to prepare food and do prep work, so it's normal for them to get off work earlier than others.
Li Xiuying and Yao Dazui walked into the yard while gossiping about the young couple in the next alley who fought every day. Then everyone else in the yard came back.
The yard suddenly became lively, with adults chatting, children playing, and the sound of bicycle bells coming from the alley outside the yard. It was very noisy.
Shi Yue was hesitating whether he should get up. After all, he had been pretending to be sick for a whole day and it was time for him to get better.
He was just hesitating when he heard Ma Yulan's voice outside the door: "Shi Yue, Shi Yue?"
Shi Yue quickly responded, "Hey—the door is not locked, Aunt Ma, please come in."
As he spoke, he got out of bed and walked towards the main room in his slippers. Ma Yulan pushed the door open and saw Shi Yue coming out. She hurriedly said, "Hey, Shi Yue, don't come out. Aren't you feeling unwell? Then go back to bed and lie down. I'm not a stranger, so there's no need for you to come out."
Shi Yue smiled and said, "Auntie Ma, I'm fine. My stomach doesn't hurt anymore. Besides, I've been lying down all day and I'm exhausted. It's a good time to get out of bed and move around."
Ma Yulan: "Are you really okay?"
Shi Yue: "Yeah, I'm really fine now. I feel much better after taking the medicine."
Ma Yulan stared at Shi Yue's face for a while and said, "Well, you're much better. You have color on your face now. This morning, your face was completely colorless, so pale that it was scary to look at it."
Shi Yue smiled embarrassedly.
He thought to himself, it seems that I applied too much whitening powder this morning, which scared Aunt Ma.
Fortunately, he didn't apply it on his face when he came back, otherwise Aunt Ma, who is kind-hearted, might have kindly sent him to the hospital.
Ma Yulan: "Okay, I just came to see how you're recovering. Now that I know you're okay, I'm relieved. So, I'll go back."
Shi Yue: "Then let me see you off?"
Ma Yulan waved her hand: "Well, we live in the same courtyard. How many steps are there from your house to my door? What's there to send? Why don't you send me off? Don't send me off. I can walk by myself."
She was halfway out when she suddenly turned around and said, "Yes, well, Shi Yue, I have to remind you again. You can't eat leftovers. Food spoils easily in the summer and you might get food poisoning. Since it's just you and your daughter eating at home, when you cook, make less and try to finish it in one meal."
Shi Yue nodded: "Okay, okay, Aunt Ma, don't worry, I will pay attention."
"Okay, I'm leaving now." Ma Yulan pushed open the door. As soon as she stepped out, Shi Yue heard her shout, "Hey, Xiaoqiu is back?"
Then came Shi Qiushui's sweet voice: "Hello, Grandma Ma."
Shi Yue also stepped out, and sure enough, he saw that Shi Qiu Shui had returned.
When Shi Qiu Shui saw Shi Yue coming out, her eyes lit up instantly. She couldn't wait to ask Shi Yue if he had collected the bonus, but because Ma Yulan was still there, she could only purse her lips and swallow the words that were on the tip of her tongue.
She called out, "Dad."
"Oh." Shi Yue responded. He was afraid that Shi Qiu Shui would not be able to hold back and reveal the truth, so he winked at Shi Qiu Shui behind Ma Yulan, hinting that she should not forget that she was still pretending to be sick.
Shi Qiu Shui and her father had a very good understanding of each other, and she immediately understood what Shi Yue meant.
She pretended to be a little bird returning to its nest and pounced on Shi Yue, asking with concern, "Dad, how are you? Is your stomach still uncomfortable?"
Shi Yue hugged Shi Qiushui and said, "My dear little Qiu, Daddy is no longer feeling bad. But you, are you hungry? Daddy didn't have time to cook for you this morning."
Shi Qiushui shook his head: "Dad, I'm not hungry yet."
Ma Yulan looked at the affectionate look between the father and daughter, and raised the corners of her mouth slightly, revealing a standard aunt's smile, and said: "It's okay, Xiaoqiu, if you are hungry, just tell your Grandma Ma, and Grandma Ma will cook for you."
Ma Yulan: "Yes, Shi Yue, why don't you just not cook today and come to my house to eat."
She thought that Shi Yue was sick and Shi Qiu Shui was a child, so she couldn't cook for herself. So she might as well let the father and daughter come to her house for dinner. It would just be a matter of having two more pairs of chopsticks.
Shi Yue smiled politely, shook his head and said, "No, Aunt Ma, no need to trouble you."
Ma Yulan: "Well, what's the trouble? Even if you two don't come, I still have to cook. Don't be so polite to me. Just come with me. We have such a big family. It won't be too much trouble to give you two more pairs of chopsticks."
After she finished speaking, seeing that Shi Yue and Shi Qiu Shui didn't react, she simply grabbed the father and son and walked towards her home.
Shi Yue really couldn't resist Ma Yulan's kindness, so he could only follow Ma Yulan into the main room.
Shi Yue and his daughter Shi Qiu Shui entered Ma Yulan's house, feeling somewhat restrained. He rolled up his sleeves to help Ma Yulan, but before he even reached the kitchen door, he was stopped by Ma Yulan.
Ma Yulan: "Hey, Shi Yue, what do you mean? Go sit on the sofa and have a rest! If others knew that you came to our house for dinner and had to work for us, who knows how they would mutter behind my back about me, Ma Yulan, being a bad person!"
Shi Yue: "No, Aunt Ma..."
Ma Yulan: "It's nothing, don't talk nonsense to me, or I'll let Xiaodong carry you to the sofa!"
Shi Yue: ...
Okay, Shi Yue really refused Ma Yulan's kindness and could only lead Shi Qiu Shui to sit on the sofa.
The old man poured two glasses of boiled water and pushed them over, saying, "Come on, Shi Yue Xiao Qiu, have some water."
Shi Yue picked up the cup and touched it lightly. Unlike the polite Shi Yue, his daughter Shi Qiu Shui picked up the cup and drank it in one gulp.
Old Niutou was stunned and quickly took Shi Qiu Shui's cup and poured another glass of water.
Shi Qiu Shui took it again and drank it in big gulps.
The old bull head smiled and said, "Oh, Xiaoqiu, are you really thirsty?"
Shi Qiu Shui raised the cup and nodded slightly. To be honest, after walking all the way back from the martial arts gym, she was really thirsty.
Old Bullhead: "Drink if you are thirsty. Xiaoqiu, just treat this place as your own home. Drink as much as you want."
Feeling that there wasn't enough boiled water in the teapot, Old Bullhead stood up and said, "You two sit here now. I'll go pour some more water to dry it."
Shi Yue and Shi Qiu Shui nodded, but just as Lao Niutou left, someone from Lao Niu's family came.
The person who came to the door was Guo Pozi, who lived closest to the door. He walked in shouting, "Auntie Ma, Auntie Ma!"
When he entered the room and saw Shi Yue and Shi Qiu Shui, father and daughter, sitting on the sofa, he was stunned for a moment, but quickly reacted and said, "Shi Yue, you two are here."
Shi Yue smiled and said, "Well, I brought my daughter here to eat."
Guo Pozi nodded and asked, "Where's Aunt Ma?"
Shi Yue pointed to the kitchen nearby and said, "Auntie Ma is cooking."
Just then, Ma Yulan in the kitchen heard Guo Pozi's shout and came out while wiping her hands with her apron.
"Hey, Xiao Guo, why are you here?"
Guo Pozi pointed to the gate and said, "Auntie Ma, please come out with me and take a look. There's a very strange girl at the gate."
Ma Yulan frowned: "A particularly strange girl?"
Guo Pozi: "Yeah, she's standing at the gate of our yard right now. She's really weird. I just came back and saw her standing outside our yard looking in. I had already changed my clothes and washed them, but she was still standing at the gate. I don't know what she's doing here, she's just standing there, not coming in."
After hearing what Guo Pozi said, Ma Yulan also felt something was wrong.
"I guess that girl is still in trouble. If she wasn't, she wouldn't be like this. So, I'll go out with you and ask her what's going on."
Ma Yulan took off her apron and walked out. Guo Pozi hurriedly followed. Shi Yue and Shi Qiu Shui looked at each other and followed decisively. They both wanted to watch the fun.
When Ma Yulan walked out, she saw a tall and thin girl with big eyes and two long pigtails standing at the door. Her face was red from the sun and her head was covered in sweat, but she didn't find a shady place to hide. She just stood there at the door of their yard.
This girl looked about the same age as her second daughter, Niu Xiaoxi. Ma Yulan couldn't help but feel distressed when she saw how badly the girl was sunburned.
She waved to the girl and said, "Come here, girl."
The girl came running over with a cloth bag in her arms: "Auntie, you called me?"
Ma Yulan took out a piece of toilet paper and handed it to her, saying, "Well, girl, I'm calling you, so you can wipe the sweat off your head first."
"Oh, okay, thank you, Auntie." The girl took Ma Yulan's tissue, wiped the sweat off her head, and asked, "Auntie, is there something you want to talk to me about?"
Ma Yulan: "Ah, yes, girl, let me ask you, why are you standing at the gate of our courtyard? You've been standing here for quite a while, right? Is there something going on, or are you looking for someone?"
Seeing the nervous expression of the person in front of her, she added, "Look, I'm the director of this hospital. If you have any problems, you can tell me. Maybe I can help you solve it."
Guo Pozi chimed in, "Yes, young lady. If you have any problems, just tell Aunt Ma. She's the manager of our courtyard, and she's also familiar with the street office that manages our alley. She can help with most things."
The girl bit her lip, hesitating whether to speak or not.
Aunt Ma: "Girl, is there anything you are embarrassed to say?"
In just a few seconds, countless thoughts flashed through Ma Yulan's mind. Could this girl be someone in their hospital who had come to her to repay a debt of love?
She took the girl's hand, patted it gently, and said, "Don't be afraid, girl. If you have anything to say, just tell us directly. No matter what happens, we will handle it fairly and impartially for you."
She pointed at Shi Yue and said, "This is Shi Yue, the deputy director of the security department of our factory, the machinery factory. Don't worry, he's here. We can take care of anything for you. If you're worried, there's a director of the security department in our backyard. I'll call him for you right away."
"No, no, Auntie Ma, no need." The girl bit her lip and said, "I'm here to participate in the etiquette training."
"What?!"
"Etiquette training?!"
"What Miss Manners?!"
"What is that?!"
The girl's answer was totally unexpected to everyone present. They were all confused. What kind of etiquette training was this? Did it have anything to do with their hospital?
The girl looked even more bewildered than they were. She frowned and said, "It's the etiquette training, the training for the Asian Games etiquette? Don't you know?"
She opened the messenger bag she was carrying, took out a notice, and said, "The address written on the notice I received is here. I followed the address and came here, but I saw that there are people living in your courtyard. It doesn't look like the training base written on the notice, so..."
She didn't say the rest, but everyone present understood.
It was just that she felt strange, so she didn't go in, but because the address written on the notice was here, she didn't dare to leave, so she kept wandering around the gate of their courtyard.
Although everyone understood what was going on, they were still confused.
What kind of Asian Games etiquette training is this? Or is it held in their hospital?
How come they haven't heard about this?
Ma Yulan: "Miss, are you sure you've found the right place? Is the address on your notice really our courtyard, No. 28, Ping'an Hutong? Don't misread the address. We haven't heard of any Asian Games etiquette training."
"Yeah, I haven't heard of that."
"What kind of etiquette lady? I've never seen one before."
The girl anxiously handed the notice to Ma Yulan and said, "I'm not mistaken. It's right here, Courtyard 28, Ping'an Hutong. It's clearly written on the notice. Look, that's what it says here."
"Well, okay, girl, don't be anxious. Let me take a look." Ma Yulan took the notice in her hand and looked at it carefully.
She quickly found the line on the notice with the address.
"hiss--"
She looked at the address curiously. It was indeed their courtyard, No. 28, Ping'an Hutong, but...
Ma Yulan frowned and said, "Well, girl, is it possible that the address on your notice is wrong? Can you contact the company that issued you the notice?"
She said, "Although the address on the list is indeed here, our hospital is not a training base for etiquette ladies. We are just an ordinary family compound with people living here. It is not a training place!"
Hearing this, the girl was almost crying.
She said with a trembling voice, "What should I do? This is the only address I have. I don't know any other contact information for that company. If the address is wrong, I won't have any other way to contact them."
Ma Yulan was also confused.
But she was someone who had experienced many storms after all, and she knew that in this situation, she couldn't panic, otherwise the girl would be even more panicked.
She took the girl's hand and said, "Hey, girl, don't worry. Let's think about it slowly. There must be a solution to this problem. Let's think about it slowly. Don't worry."
She said, "Girl, let me ask you first, what is your name? I have been chatting with you for a long time, but I still don’t know your name."
The girl sniffed and said, "My name is Jiang Ling."
Ma Yulan: "Oh, Jiang Ling, good, Jiang Ling is good, it's a good name. So where are you from?"
Jiang Ling: "I, I'm from Northeast China."
Ma Yulan: "Oh, you are from another place?"
Jiang Ling nodded: "Yes, my family is from another place. I came all the way from the Northeast to attend the etiquette training."
Her emotions, which had been gradually calming down, became agitated again because of this question. Tears welled up in her eyes as she said, "I took a train for a whole day and a whole night to get here from my home, but now I can't find the training base at all. Aunt Ma, what should I do?"
Ma Yulan is so regretful.
If she had known that Jiang Ling would become emotional again because of this question, she would not have asked Jiang Ling who she was from!
She suppressed the urge to slap herself and said with a forced smile, "It's okay, it's okay, don't worry. Even if we don't know the address, your notice is here, right?"
Jiang Ling grabbed the notice in her hand, as if it were a life-saving straw and said, "Yes, the notice is here. I have the notice."
Ma Yulan: "This notice has the name and official seal of the relevant unit, right?"
"Yes, yes, we have all of these." Jiang Ling nodded vigorously.
Ma Yulan: "That's it, you have all these things, so why worry? At worst, we can take these things to the Public Security Bureau and ask them to find their address and contact information for you."
Jiang Ling asked worriedly, "Is this okay? Can the police help me?"
She has never had any dealings with the police since she was a child, and she is still quite afraid of the Public Security Bureau.
In fact, Jiang Ling’s mentality is not surprising. For ordinary people these days, they would rather avoid dealing with the police if possible.
Even Ma Yulan had the same idea before.
Of course, Ma Yulan doesn’t think so now.
Ever since she saw Shi Yue calling the police and getting commendations and rewards, she finally realized that the Public Security Bureau is not a scary place. On the contrary, as long as you abide by the law, the Public Security Bureau might be a place where people can make a fortune!
So now Ma Yulan had no objection to going to the Public Security Bureau. When she heard Jiang Ling's question, she nodded immediately: "Of course, as the saying goes, if you have any difficulties, go to the police. The police comrades are very enthusiastic and kind. In your situation, they will definitely help."
Jiang Ling was excited: "Then, then, then, can you take me to the Public Security Bureau?"
Without waiting for Ma Yulan to answer, she quickly added: "No, it's okay if it's inconvenient for you. Just tell me where the Public Security Bureau is and I can find it myself."
Ma Yulan waved her hand: "Oh, you are so polite, it's okay, Auntie, it's convenient, very convenient, I will accompany you."
She turned to Shi Yue and said, "Well, Xiaoshi, I'm going to the Public Security Bureau with Jiang Ling. You take Xiaoqiu back to my house first. Yes, when you go back, tell my old man that I have something to do and don't have time to cook. Let him cook for me."
She paused after she finished speaking. Although the Public Security Bureau was not far from them, it might take a long time for the police to help Jiang Ling find the address.
Ma Yulan thought for a moment and said, "I don't know when I'll be back. When the old man has finished cooking, you guys can eat first. Don't wait for me."
Shi Yue nodded, then shook his head.
Ma Yulan was confused when she heard Shi Yue say, "Auntie Ma, let me go to the Public Security Bureau with you."
Ma Yulan: "Ah? Come with me."
Shi Yue: "Well, I'll go with you. They say it's easier to get things done with someone you know. After all, I'm quite familiar with Captain Xu. Maybe I can be of some help if I go with you."
Of course, the reason he wanted to go along wasn't just that simple.
More importantly, he felt that something was wrong with Jiang Ling, so he wanted to go with her to see what was going on.
Ma Yulan didn't know what Shi Yue was thinking, but she felt that Shi Yue was right. It would be easier to get things done if you had an acquaintance.
Thinking of this, she nodded and said, "Okay, then you can go with us."
Shi Yue was going to the Public Security Bureau, so how could Shi Qiushui not go? She tugged at Shi Yue's clothes and said, "Dad, I want to go too! I want to go too!"
If I don’t bring her with me to receive the award during the day, I will definitely have to bring her with me to the police station!
Shi Yue had no choice but to nod and agree to take her with him.
In this way, Shi Qiu Shui was added to the team heading to the Public Security Bureau.
Because Shi Yue and Shi Qiu Shui were going with them, Ma Yulan went home to say hello to Lao Niutou.
After saying hello, they finally set off for the Public Security Bureau.
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