On their first day in Shenzhen, Li Qiumei and Wang Hao found a house they liked, borrowed some money from Li Zhonghua, and bought it.
I paid for expedited processing and got the property certificate and relocation permit in one afternoon.
Li Zhonghua and Wang Hao bought train tickets that very night and returned to their hometown, intending to transfer their household registration there.
Li Zhonghua said, "Qiu Mei, you can come and stay at my house, the one next to mine. It used to be where your parents and Xiao Xiao lived, but they don't live here anymore."
Li Qiumei firmly disagreed, "No, brother, let's rent a place ourselves. We've already troubled you too much."
Li Chunmei said, "It's settled then. Don't be stubborn. After Wang Hao comes back, we won't care where you live."
Sun Erni said, “You’re a woman with two children and you’re not familiar with Shenzhen. It’s so dangerous to rent a place here. If you need to go out to run errands, you won’t even have anyone to take care of the children. Don’t be fooled by the fact that Shenzhen seems safe. In recent years, the number of families losing children has been rising one after another.”
Li Chunmei said, "That's right. Just look how happy Xiaoqi and Xingxing are now. Children need playmates."
Li Qiumei was also moved by the laughter of the two children. It had been a long time since she had heard the children laugh so happily. After they left their hometown, the two children's personalities gradually returned to their former state.
Under everyone's persuasion, and more importantly for the sake of her two children, Li Qiumei had no choice but to put aside her pride. If she really lost her children, she would never have peace of mind for the rest of her life.
That evening, Xia Jianguo treated everyone to dinner. After dinner, Wang Hao and Li Zhonghua boarded the train back to their hometown.
Li Chunmei and Sun Erni held Li Qiumei's cold hands and said, "Everything will be resolved smoothly."
Even in this sweltering summer heat, Li Qiumei's hands were still icy cold, perhaps due to nervousness, worry, or fear.
Li Chunmei vaguely remembers that Li Qiumei's hands were always warm all year round.
After Wang Hao left, Wang Qi and Wang Xingxing immediately burst into tears. They finally stopped crying with the help of Li Qiumei's comforting words, but the two children were no longer as lively as they had been during the day.
Li Chunmei and Sun Erni, as mothers, couldn't bear to see this and kept wiping their eyes with their hands.
During the day, Li Qiumei would bring her two children and Li Qing to the small supermarket to play.
The waiting time was always long, and Li Qiumei couldn't rest easy until she received accurate news.
That noon:
"Hello, is this Qiumei? This is Wang Hao."
Wang Hao's voice came from the other end of the phone.
"Wang Hao, I'm here. How about it? Can we transfer our household registration here?"
Li Qiumei gripped the telephone receiver tightly, her expression anxious.
"Qiu Mei, don't worry, all the household registrations have been transferred out. My brother and I bought train tickets for tonight, and we'll be there tomorrow."
Wang Hao's tone became very relaxed on the phone.
"That's good! That's good!"
Tears streamed down Li Qiumei's face. She was finally able to relax. These past few days, she had been on edge, terrified that something might happen.
Although Wang Hao called to say that the matter was resolved and the household registration had been transferred, Li Qiumei still felt uneasy because she didn't see him standing in front of her.
On the day Wang Hao and Li Zhonghua arrived in Shenzhen, Li Qiumei, disregarding everyone's objections, took her two children to the train station early to wait for Wang Hao.
Wang Hao saw Li Qiumei at the exit of the station. The couple, who had gone through many hardships, immediately embraced each other and wept bitterly.
After the little incident, everyone's life returned to its usual peace.
Xia Minmin's junior high school life is about to begin.
"Xiaomin, it's been a long time. This is a gift for you."
My best friend, Tang Meng, whom I haven't seen in a long time, is finally back.
Xia Minmin accepted Tang Meng's gift, "Thank you, Mengmeng. I came back in such a hurry this time that I didn't even have time to buy you a gift."
"Aren't we best friends? Don't be so polite. Let's go to junior high registration together tomorrow, without our parents."
Xia Minmin gave an OK sign.
That afternoon, the two chatted for a long time at Xia Minmin's house. Having not seen each other for ten days, they had so much to say to each other.
Tang Meng complained about her relatives who favored sons over daughters, and about her bunch of unruly kids. "I don't want to go back next year. It's so boring. All they do is compare themselves to others. They even compare having a son."
“My parents invited us to dinner at home, and my naughty child ran into my room and tore up all the books I brought back.”
Xia Minmin stared at Tang Meng in disbelief, "How old is this child? Why is she still tearing up books?"
Tang Meng said, "The youngest is 7 years old, and the oldest is 10 years old."
Xia Minmin was puzzled. "That shouldn't be the case. They're so old and sensible, why would they tear up books?"
Tang Meng felt speechless when she thought about this.
"The reason is hilarious. It's because their parents told them that I was previewing the first year of junior high school material, while they played all summer and didn't even finish their summer homework. Then their parents beat him up and, to get revenge, tore up all my first year of junior high school textbooks."
Xia Minmin was dumbfounded. "Do you still need the first-year junior high textbooks? I've almost finished reviewing them. I can give them to you if you need them."
"No need, school starts tomorrow, then I'll get my new textbooks."
"Okay, see you tomorrow at the same time and place."
"See you tomorrow."
After agreeing on a time to meet the next day, Tang Meng went home.
When Li Chunmei got home that evening, she borrowed a new schoolbag for Xia Minmin.
"New semester, new beginning. Xiaomin, you'll be carrying this backpack to school tomorrow. Your old elementary school backpack is too childish; your classmates will probably laugh at you."
Li Chunmei's new schoolbag is a black backpack that looks spacious and can hold a lot of things.
Xia Jianguo moved a stack of books out of Xia Mingming's room and put them in a backpack. After trying it on, he said, "This backpack is well-designed. You clearly feel it's heavy, but it's not heavy when you carry it on your shoulders. Xiaomin, you try it."
Xia Jianguo slung the schoolbag over Xia Minmin's shoulder. "How is it? Is it heavy?"
"It's not heavy, much better than the previous one. It's comfortable to carry." Xia Minmin was surprised. She had heard of this brand of backpack in her previous life. It was said to be easy to carry. When she learned about this kind of backpack, Xia Minmin had already graduated from university and had not yet had a chance to use it.
Li Chunmei smiled mysteriously, "I spent a lot of money to have someone buy this for me. This backpack alone cost more than 500 yuan! Including the agent's fee, it'll be 600 yuan."
"So expensive?"
Xia Minmin had expected it to be expensive, but she hadn't imagined it would be this expensive.
Li Chunmei explained, "As long as it suits you, it doesn't matter how expensive it is. You are still young and growing. Using an unsuitable backpack can cause irreversible damage to your spine."
Xia Jianguo took the schoolbag off his daughter's shoulder.
“Dad made an appointment with a specialist before and asked the specialists. They all said that he was too young and his schoolbag was too heavy, which would bend his spine and make it difficult to recover. Besides, the price is not too expensive, and Dad and Mom can afford it.”
"Thank you, Dad, Mom."
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