Li Jia's family
It was already 11 o'clock when we arrived at Li Jia's house. Her family lived in a village relatively close to the town. They had contracted a grove of pomegranate trees, and now was the time when the pomegranate seeds were at their fullest.
The pomegranate harvesters will be coming tomorrow, so Mr. and Mrs. Li went to the orchard early this morning to get busy. If Nanqi hadn't come, Li Jia would have had to go and help too.
"Oh ho, you're as close as ever now, unlike a while ago when you weren't talking to each other at all?" Li Jia said sarcastically, looking at the two of them holding hands.
Nanqi loosened her grip a little, embarrassed, but Song Zhao held on even tighter, as if deliberately showing off. There's a saying, "to assert sovereignty," and that seems to be the idea.
Unable to avoid it, Nanqi took the initiative to wave their tightly clasped hands in front of Li Jia and said cheerfully, "We've always been on good terms."
"Hey, where's Duan Peng? Didn't he come with you two?"
"His parents locked him in the house."
"Oh~" Li Jia said meaningfully.
Nanqi leaned close to Song Zhao's ear and said, "As soon as the midterm exam results came out, his parents started their 'tiger parenting' mode."
Song Zhao immediately understood and nodded.
Once inside, Li Jia showed them the pomegranates piled up like a small mountain. "I'll pack them into bags for you two, two bags each. Come back for more when you're done eating."
Song Zhao said, "There are few people in my family, and we can't eat all of this. Just give it to Nanqi. I'll take two back to try, and that will be enough."
"Don't be so polite with me. If you can't eat it all, share it with your relatives and friends. It's all homegrown, unlike what you buy outside."
“That’s right.” Nanqi nudged her with her elbow. “If you can’t finish it, I’ll take care of it.”
Li Jia said, "How can you be so shameless? You have them every year, and you're still stealing other people's."
"I'm willing, the class monitor is willing, it's none of your business."
"Pooh."
Song Zhao laughed as she listened to their banter. She looked around and saw that Li Jia's house had three rooms. The one on the left was the kitchen and could not be lived in. The large room where they were was both the bedroom and the living room, with a large bed, a small bed, and a worn-out wooden sofa. The small room on the right had its door half-closed.
One wall of the large house was covered with many photos. In the center was a family portrait, with the two older men presumably Li Jia's parents. A robust young man stood next to Li Jia, presumably her brother. Next to the family portrait were many photos of the siblings as children, including a group photo of Li Jia, Nan Qi, and Duan Peng when they were young.
Seeing that she was staring intently, Nanqi put her arm around her shoulder and said casually, "So? Wasn't I cute when I was little?"
In the photo, Nanqi has a round face and two braids. Everyone else is smiling, but she is frowning, pouting, and twisting her face into a funny expression.
"Hmm... you're even cuter now." Song Zhao said affectionately, crossing his arms over his chest.
He then asked Li Jia, "May I take a picture of this?"
"Go ahead and take the picture, are you trying to make fun of Daqi with this?"
"Go away, do you think everyone is like you, full of bad ideas? Besides, my quirky and mischievous appearance is so cool."
"Cool, cool, cool. You and Duan Peng have faces that are all squished up like dumplings, and you're drooling with your mouth wide open. You're definitely the landlord's big idiot and second idiot."
"Hey, you're asking for it."
"Your class monitor is here, I don't believe you dare to lay a hand on me."
"Don't get cocky, wait until we get back to school."
Li Jia glanced at her disdainfully, then stuck her tongue out at her in a cheeky manner. Nan Qi would occasionally playfully fight with Duan Peng, but with Li Jia, she would only talk about it and never actually lay a hand on her.
Song Zhao smiled and said, "I think this photo is quite good, and I like it very much, so I wanted to take a picture and keep a copy."
Song Zhao asked in confusion, "I saw in your family photo that you have an older brother, but your house only has two bedrooms. How do you sleep at night?"
Li Jia immediately lost the playful banter she had just displayed with Nan Qi, her expression turning serious. Song Zhao realized she had misspoke and quickly said, "Sorry, I just asked casually..."
Nanqi patted her shoulder and said, "Don't ask about his brother. He's rarely home, and it's hard to even see him during holidays."
“Yes, I hardly ever see him either,” Li Jia said. “By the way, how about I stew a goose for you guys for lunch? You guys take care of the ‘ingredients,’ and I’ll take care of the cooking.”
"Hey, didn't you see our class monitor is all dressed up in white today? How am I supposed to get you the ingredients?"
"Don't blame your class monitor. It's clearly you who's afraid of chickens, ducks, and geese." Li Jia whispered to Song Zhao, "When she was little, she caught a chicken and it scratched her face when it flew up. She cried for a long time, and ever since then, she's been afraid of any poultry that can fly."
Seeing Li Jia expose her past, Nan Qi was furious. "If you say another word, I'll tear your mouth apart."
"Anyway, my word is: no work, no food."
Song Zhao shrugged and said, "I'll go catch it. I've never caught one before, and I want to give it a try."
Song Zhao smiled and patted Nan Qi's hand before following Li Jia out.
The geese in Li Jia's house were clearly raised on feed, each one robust and with large wings. The three geese held their heads high, arrogantly driving away the chickens and ducks that were smaller than them.
"I'm telling you, you just need to find the right moment, grab its neck and don't let go, and that's it."
As she spoke, Li Jia began to demonstrate to Song Zhao. She bent over and followed a large white goose, walking forward. The white goose was obviously not wary of its owner and was "singing to the sky with its neck bent," calling out happily incessantly.
Seeing that the distance was about right, Li Jia suddenly stretched out her hands. As if sensing the danger, the big white goose flapped its wings and slid its feet quickly, leaping several meters away. Unfortunately, the goose was not very bright and ended up crashing into Song Zhao's arms.
Song Zhao paused for two seconds, then quickly regained control of it, grabbing its neck with one hand and its feet with the other, preventing it from flailing about.
"Wow, this is so easy!" Nanqi poked her head out of the house and saw the coincidence clearly.
The white goose was still struggling in Song Zhao's arms when suddenly its beak shoved towards Song Zhao's mouth. Song Zhao was so startled that he immediately looked up. Seeing this, Li Jia used both hands to grab its neck, making it unable to move.
Nanqi was also startled and ran over, "How are you? Did it peck you?"
"That was close, almost there." Song Zhao smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.
Li Jia joked, "Isn't it because you're so attractive that even this goose wants to kiss you?"
"Pah, pah, pah! How could we let our class monitor's mouth get away with this? You dead goose!"
"Why are you so agitated? Don't argue with an animal," Li Jia said speechlessly.
"It's all because you don't speak human language."
Li Jia didn't take it seriously: "It'll really be a dead goose in a little while."
"Do you need our help?" Song Zhao asked.
"No need. It's your first time at my house, how can I let you cook? You and Daqi go out for a walk. I'll call you when the food is ready. Daqi, please keep your class monitor company for me."
"You don't need to tell me."
Li Jia went inside to prepare a meal, while Nan Qi took Song Zhao to dig vegetables in the nearby fields.
Once in the field, Nanqi skillfully picked up a small hoe and began digging. Song Zhao said embarrassedly, "This land belongs to someone, right? Are we stealing vegetables?"
"You mean this?" Nanqi waved the vegetables she had dug in front of Song Zhao and laughed, "This is shepherd's purse, wild, it used to be called weed. Even if I don't dig it up, the people who grow vegetables have to remove it."
"Then why are you digging this?"
“It can be used as filling. My mom makes dumplings with shepherd's purse and pork filling.”
Song Zhao said "Oh," and excitedly joined in, "I'll give it a try."
Nanqi handed her a small hoe, and Song Zhao imitated her, quickly digging up a large area, her white sneakers covered in dirt.
"Next time we go out, don't wear white, it gets dirty easily," Nanqi said, touching her shoulder.
"I've learned a lot from you today, so even getting my shoes dirty was worth it," Song Zhao said with a smile.
"Given how clean you usually are, I thought you might be a germaphobe."
"It's not that serious, I just don't like being a mess."
Soon, the bag was full of shepherd's purse. Nanqi said, "You're amazing, you dug up so much."
Song Zhao narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "You taught well."
"Hehe, let's go rest over by the big tree for a while."
Nanqi and Song Zhao found a large tree with low grass and sat down on the ground. Sunlight filtered through the leaves and fell on them, warm and pleasant, a very comfortable temperature for November.
"How is it? Isn't this place relaxing?" Nanqi asked.
"Yes, it's very quiet and the air is fresh, but it's a bit far from the school."
Nanqi sighed and said, "Most of the girls in this village are day students, just like Jiajia. They go to school during the day and come back to do housework at night."
"His son is never home, but he's very good at bossing around his obedient daughter," Song Zhao said with a hint of sarcasm.
“If I ever manage to make something of myself in the future, I’ll take Li Jia and escape from that cannibalistic family of hers.” She rolled her eyes and pinched her chin, saying, “If I do really well and make a lot of money, I’ll bring my little brothers along too, so they can stay with me and avoid being bullied.”
As Nanqi was lost in thought, someone suddenly hugged her from behind, silently covering her back like a bear, sending chills down her spine. Then, a nauseating, pungent smell of cheap tobacco forced into her nostrils. Before she could utter a sound, she already guessed who it was—Li Jia's brother, Li Cheng.
Li Cheng hadn't been home for a long time, and when he saw Nan Qi, he was very enthusiastic, saying, "Long time no see, I've missed you so much, brother."
Nanqi never liked Li Cheng. When she was a child, she was annoyed by his nonsense and ramblings. As he grew up, Li Cheng's behavior became more and more unruly, no different from that of a hooligan. However, because of Li Cheng's tall and strong appearance, and because of her relationship with Li Jia, she managed to hold back from turning on him on the spot.
Song Zhao shoved him away angrily, pulled Nan Qi over to her side, and shouted, "What are you doing?!"
"Oh? Who are you?"
Li Jia came over to find them at this moment. When she saw Li Cheng, she said in surprise, "Brother? You're back."
"Yes, I'm back."
Li Cheng had a bruise on his cheekbone, indicating he'd probably been in a fight again. For Li Jia and Nan Qi, his bruises were commonplace; nothing unusual about them.
"I forgot to introduce you, this is my classmate, Song Zhao." Then he said to Song Zhao, "This is my brother, Li Cheng."
"Why is this little beauty so fierce?" Li Cheng said, his face coming closer. Song Zhao didn't tolerate him and slapped him across the face.
"Men and women are different, please respect yourselves."
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