Chapter 113
As I recall, the tangerines we had during the Chinese New Year when I was a child were sour and bitter. My mother bought them from the vegetable market and usually kept some for entertaining guests, and the rest were used to fill the fruit plates at home.
My father always brings people home to visit. He says that the home should have a Chinese New Year atmosphere and should be hospitable.
Therefore, Pei Zhao was never allowed to touch the fruits in the fruit plate. He could only wait until they were hard and dry due to the heater, and then they would be replaced with a new plate. Only then could the replaced fruits fall into Pei Zhao's pocket.
The peel of fresh tangerines is soft and fluffy. Just dig it lightly with your fingernails and the peel will fall off with white threads.
Pei Zhao remembered that in the past, whenever he wanted to eat tangerines, he would always scratch his nails until they bled.
"Where are the orange peels?" Pei Zhao asked.
Zhou Yuli looked at him with some confusion, took out a complete one from his pocket, opened his palm to show Pei Zhao, and asked him: "What's wrong?"
Pei Zhao didn't say anything, he just took the orange peel and gently squeezed it in his hand.
It turns out that orange peel is soft.
Smells good.
·
When he arrived at the puppet shop, Pei Zhao was still holding the orange peel, but it had become much harder after being blown by the heater.
Because of the cold, the emotions on Pei Zhao's face were particularly obvious.
Seeing that he looked depressed, Zhou Yuli took the orange peel from his hand, helped him wash up, and coaxed him to sleep. Then Zhou Yuli went to the living room to look through his wallet and happened to meet Bai Zhou who was about to go out.
"Are you going shopping?" Bai Zhou asked.
"Yeah." Zhou Yuli nodded and took a card from his wallet. Maybe because mobile phones are not allowed in high school, Pei Zhao always has a kind of traditional stubbornness when it comes to online payments.
I have several supermarket cards at home.
Zhou Yuli put the card in his pocket and asked Bai Zhou, "Are you going too?"
"Lan told me to buy some compressed food because there will be a lot of people in the supermarket tomorrow." Bai Zhou spread his hands and shook the phone in his hand, "I'll pay with my phone."
"Let's take them together." Zhou Yuli took one more card, thinking it should be enough.
In the supermarket, there are many people buying New Year's goods, but there are not many people selling compressed foods.
Bai Zhou carefully compared the onion-flavored compressed biscuits and the cheese-flavored ones to see which one tasted better. Zhou Yuli watched him for a few minutes, then felt overwhelmed and simply turned around and went to the fruit section.
There are two middle-aged aunts picking fruits in the fruit section. He looked at the quality of the strawberries, shook his head and put them down, then looked at the cherries, filled a big bag, and finally walked towards the tangerines.
"Take two boxes of this," he said to the supermarket staff nearby.
The staff took out two boxes from under the table and carried them to the car for my aunt.
Zhou Yuli thought about it and packed a portion of the same fruits that his aunt had bought. Finally, he said to the staff, "Let's have two...three boxes of this fruit." And he also brought a box for Sudi.
The staff agreed and moved three boxes into Zhou Yuli's cart.
Zhou Yuli continued walking with his aunt. In the New Year’s goods area, the aunt bought melon seeds and Zhou Yuli followed her; the aunt bought nuts and Zhou Yuli followed her; the aunt bought candy and Zhou Yuli followed her; the aunt bought donkey-hide gelatin and Zhou Yuli followed her.
"Young man, this is for girls. Boys don't use it." The aunt couldn't bear it any longer and turned to Zhou Yuli and said, "Don't you young people like to drink Coke? Go get that, get a box or two. And those decorations, have you bought them all? If not, go get that."
Zhou Yuli was not at all shy when he was caught. He obediently went to pick up three boxes of Coke.
"No, you buy this bunch? This is enough for us to eat for a month!" At the checkout counter, Bai Zhou looked at the full cart of things, then looked back at his own cart, carefully selecting the right amount of compressed food, he was really overwhelmed.
"I've already bought it. If I can't finish it, I can put it in the refrigerator." Zhou Yuli checked the prices on the list and calculated quickly in his mind, "I bought so much and only spent so little? New Year's goods are so cheap?"
When he was in school, he never went with his family to buy New Year's goods. He used to think that his parents cared about his studies and wanted him to study at home during the New Year. Later I realized that it was just a ruthless demand for a substitute.
They took the things back and got off at the hotel where Sudi was staying. A portion of the New Year's goods was delivered to the upstairs. Bai Zhou and Zhou Yuli went upstairs together.
"You're so polite, Pinocchio. Happy New Year and see you tomorrow." Sudi rarely showed any sarcasm and waved to the two of them with a smile.
When he got home and saw Pei Zhao was still asleep, Zhou Yuli began to decorate the living room.
The fruits should be placed properly. It is best to put a few in each place so that you can just pick them up when you want to eat them. The rest of the box can be placed under the coffee table for easy access.
The Coke was put in the refrigerator. Pei Zhao had a cold and couldn't drink cold drinks, so the remaining half was left at room temperature.
The remaining snacks were placed in a fruit bowl and all on the coffee table.
Pei Zhao took the medicine and slept very deeply. When he woke up, it was almost dark. Someone outside had already started setting off fireworks, and the colorful lights reflected on the window made Pei Zhao a little dazed.
The room was quiet and dark, with only the light from the fireworks shining through.
Loneliness melted away in the darkness, perhaps because sick people like to daydream. Pei Zhao recalled the many New Year's Eves when he was forced to study. It was just as lively outside, but the only things that kept him company were endless homework.
"Awake?" There was a knock on the door and Pei Zhao turned around suddenly.
Outside the door, Zhou Yuli's voice was gentle and soft, "Would you like to come out and eat something?"
Pei Zhao frowned, wondering why Zhou Yuli didn't come in, but he still stood up hesitantly and walked towards the door.
My legs felt weak when I stepped on the ground, and my muscles were sore and I had no strength.
"Zhou..." The moment the door opened, Pei Zhao's name stopped abruptly.
In the red and lively living room, small golden lights and red plastic lanterns are hung, with tassels hanging down and resting on the red wintersweets.
The blessings written with a brush and the window decorations and window papers are pasted neatly.
There are two Chinese knots hanging on the central chandelier, with a series of blessings below.
"Happy New Year!" Lan Ji and Bai Zhou sat on the sofa, one holding the dough in his hand and the other holding the stuffing.
Pei Zhao felt his eyes ache and swell. He looked at Zhou Yuli standing beside him and said in a trembling voice: "Did you prepare this?"
"Happy New Year, baby." Zhou Yuli smiled faintly and handed over a box, "New Year's gift."
·
Pei Zhao doesn't think he is an emotional person.
More often than not, he is willing to be the most rational person in a team.
Pour cold water, raise demands, and let everything proceed step by step. They may even be given the title of "cold-blooded little robot".
Pei Zhao never thought that one day he would be so excited that he would cry because of anything, like those people who were dominated by emotions.
But not now.
When he felt himself crying, he was already sobbing uncontrollably.
Tears slid down both sides of her neck, wetting the collar of her home clothes.
In her hand was an open box, with two wedding rings lying quietly inside.
"It's just a simple style that I saw in the mall downstairs when I was leaving the supermarket. If you don't like it..." Zhou Yuli explained, but Pei Zhao shook his head.
"I like it very much." Pei Zhao said, wearing the ring on his hand, the size was just right. It was as if I had a tranquilizer in my heart.
Bai Zhou and Lan Ji also came over.
"Zhou Yuli said that dumplings should be eaten during the New Year, and they should have both skin and fillings. We made them according to the online tutorial, and it was amazing!"
There are no dumplings in Hall City, and Pei Zhao has never made them himself.
In previous years, only children who were not yet in school could participate in this kind of activity.
"I can only try." Pei Zhao said.
So the evening activity became making dumplings.
This was the first time they were making these, so Bai Zhou and Lan Ji cooked according to the standard for six people and added a lot more meat stuffing. Zhou Yuli simply put the meat stuffing in a bag, cut a small hole at the bottom, and prepared to make the meatballs.
The dumplings and meatballs were cooked, piping hot, and Pei Zhao ate a lot of them. After cleaning up in the middle of the night, he lay on the bed in Zhou Yuli's arms. The cold ring made his body tremble uncontrollably when the cell phone on the bedside table suddenly rang.
Half an hour later, Zhou Yuli took the phone and handed it to Pei Zhao.
Pei Zhao lightly cut it open with his fingers.
It's a text message, and the sender is Yu.
The content is very simple.
[Need help?] 】
Pei Zhao suddenly woke up.
·
"Yu sent me a message. What's going on now? Did he skip your side?"
Sudi's voice was a little distorted on the phone.
"That shouldn't be the case. I was asking him, why would he take the initiative to find you? Shouldn't he have your number?"
Pei Zhao was held in Zhou Yuli's arms and sat on the bed: "I don't know. How can I know if you don't know? What should I do now? Should I reply to him?"
Sudi scratched his head: "No... Tell me the number. I'm still arguing with him here. It seems that he is not very willing to cooperate. Why did he come to you?"
Sudi didn't have any other thoughts, he just felt strange.
Pei Zhao gave a phone number, and Sudi compared it and said, "Hiss...it's exactly the same. What's going on? Is he kidding me?"
Pei Zhao's brows never relaxed, and he sighed: "I don't know, brother, did you not make it clear to him that we are together?"
Sudi was speechless: "I might as well give you the phone to show you the chat history tomorrow. I really made it very clear, but he did not express his willingness to cooperate."
"Then I don't know either." Pei Zhao glanced at Zhou Yuli, "Or should I not reply to him first?"
"You should agree to his request first." Sudi said, "We don't know what the situation is now, but it's always right to agree to it. It's a good opportunity for you to talk to him first and test the waters."
Pei Zhao agreed. But after this match with Sudi, he no longer trusts Yu so much.
This person is not honest. He hides many things from everyone, and he is also two-faced. He drags Sudi while approaching him privately. Who knows what his plan is.
[I am your high school classmate, do you remember, Pei Zhao? 】
Pei Zhao narrowed his eyes. Another classmate? Is it the same tactic used against Sudi?
Pei Zhao sneered. What? This high school is a joint high school spanning two worlds?
But Pei Zhao’s content was: Oh, really? But I don’t remember much about people from high school…I do remember a little bit from elementary school and junior high school. Your name...
This is pure nonsense from Pei Zhao. He has just graduated from high school less than a year ago, so how could he remember elementary and junior high school more clearly?
Pei Zhao just wanted to give him some room to play and see what he could come up with...
After a few seconds, Pei Zhao looked at the name on the screen and fell silent.
…
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