172 When Aunt
The next day, Lin Ting still got to eat ice cream.
Gu Mannian went on a business trip, so Gu Yu was sent to stay in Ginkgo Hutong for a few days. As soon as school was over, she would drag Jiang Guiying to the supply and marketing cooperative, and skip home with an ice cream in her hand.
"It'll melt if you don't eat it soon." Jiang Guiying quickened her pace a few steps before realizing that Gu Yu was actually able to resist opening her mouth.
"Grandma, hurry up and go!"
As soon as she got home, Jiang Guiying started preparing dinner. Gu Yu went straight to Aunt Fang's house next door, where she found Lin Ting sitting on the small wooden bed, hugging and chewing on a cloth doll.
When Aunt Fang saw Gu Yu come in with ice cream, she wasn't surprised. Gu Yu could eat popsicles or ice cream two days a week.
But she didn't expect that in the blink of an eye, Gu Yu's ice cream was already at Lin Ting's lips. Lin Ting licked it once, her eyes lit up, and she quickly licked it again. She even reached out to grab Gu Yu's hand impatiently.
"Oh dear!" Aunt Fang exclaimed, both amused and exasperated. "There are two gluttons in the family!"
"That's enough, that's enough, just lick it twice." Aunt Fang pried Lin Ting's fingers apart and let Gu Yu hold them to eat.
Gu Yu was obedient and stuffed the ice cream into her mouth without hesitation, adding tactfully, "If I go out to eat, my sister won't be able to see it!"
After that first incident, Lin Ting seemed to have a radar installed; whenever she saw someone holding an ice cream or popsicle, she would open her mouth and say "ah" several times.
Even Guan Yuehe didn't dare to eat popsicles in front of her anymore. Otherwise, Lin Ting would keep tugging at her mouth before going to sleep at night, trying to see if she had anything delicious hidden inside.
One day, Guan Yuehe came home from get off work and saw Lin Ting, with tears in the corners of his eyes, tightly holding a white steamed bun in both hands. No one could reach out to take it, as his face was buried in the bun, and after eating for a long time, he could only eat a little bit of the bun skin.
The baby looked cute, but Guan Yuehe couldn't help but frown.
Is it possible for Lin Ting to understand how to eat such a big steamed bun? Isn't this a waste of food?
Jiang Guiying was helpless. "In the blink of an eye, Guyu shoved the steamed bun into her hand. She couldn't take it away. You didn't see how agonizingly she was crying just now."
It looked like she had been abused.
Guan Yuehe tried, but to no avail; Lin Ting's crying made her ears hurt.
At this moment, Jiang Guiying gloated, "Look at this stubborn temper, isn't it just like yours?"
When Lin Yiku came home from get off work, she received a white steamed bun that had been peeled, with the outer layer torn and pitted.
"Did you gnaw on this or was it gnawed by a rat?"
"Your daughter gnawed on this." Guan Yuehe felt very thoughtful, so she specially tore off the outer layer that was smeared with Lin Ting's saliva and fed it to Lin Ting.
"Look how filial your daughter is. She only ate the crust of that big steamed bun and left the rest for you to have as a midnight snack."
Lin Yiku listened to the whole story and found it funny. She ate the steamed bun in a few bites and then turned to ask him where his dutiful daughter had gone.
"Watching TV at my parents' house."
As Guan Yuehe followed him in and out looking for a change of clothes, she said, "I suspect that Gu Yu is treating Lin Ting like her doll."
"Um?"
"She was feeding Lin Ting, giving her toys, and even digging out old clothes for her to bring over..." Guan Yuehe chuckled. "Gu Yu was coaxing Lin Ting to call her aunt."
"What aunt?" Lin Yiku wondered if she had misheard.
Guan Yuehe laughed heartily at his reaction, "Guyu, coax Lin Ting to call her aunt."
Gu Yu's friends have recently been keen on playing house. While everyone was vying to play the Eighth Route Army soldier or their parents, Gu Yu chose to be "Auntie," and no one competed with her for the role.
But no one is her nephew.
“Look, we have someone in our family who won’t resist, so Gu Yu chose Lin Ting as her eldest nephew.” Guan Yuehe said, her shoulders shaking with laughter.
At first, the adults were just wondering why Gu Yu had been acting so strangely lately, always feeding Lin Ting.
It wasn't until Aunt Fang saw Gu Yu playing house at the entrance of the alley and telling the other children that she was Lin Ting's aunt that she finally understood the reason.
However, while other children ate leaves and dirt when playing house, Gu Yu was much more generous. She paid out of her own pocket to buy Lin Ting ice cream and steamed buns.
One was fed to its heart's content, and the other ate happily.
"No wonder Lin Ting has been so eager to eat whenever she sees Gu Yu lately." Lin Yi realized with a sigh that she had been captivated by food.
She glanced at Guan Yuehe, who was smiling happily beside her. Gu Yu had been clinging to her like this when she was little.
No wonder Gu Yu wants to be an aunt. In Gu Yu's eyes, an aunt is probably someone who can buy lots of delicious food.
"By the way, have you found a job yet?" Guan Yuehe was thinking about her daughter, but she didn't forget to ask about Lin Yiku.
Unlike her previous uncertain attitude, Lin Yiku's tone was much more confident this time: "There should be results soon."
When Guan Yuehe met his gaze, she knew that the outcome was 80% likely to be good.
Unlike Lin Yiku, she couldn't hold back her emotions, and since there was no one else around, her happiness was written all over her face.
"Once things are settled, Lin and I will treat you to a meal at a restaurant."
"good."
The atmosphere was just right, and the two had just embraced when Lin Ting's wailing came from the No. 3 courtyard.
"Our daughter's voice is getting louder and louder."
“She must be hungry,” Lin Yiku explained to her daughter. “She only cries like this when she’s hungry or craving something sweet; she doesn’t usually yell like that.”
“Your temper is just like hers.” Guan Yuehe was the first to turn the tables, refusing Lin Yiku’s rebuttal, and walked out, saying, “I’m going to pick her up.”
When Lin Ting was carried out of courtyard number three, she was holding a small piece of pastry in her hand and muttering something under her breath, as if she were complaining to her.
Guan Yuehe didn't understand, but she still responded with "oh oh" in agreement. When Lin Yiku came out looking refreshed, the family of three took a walk around the alley a few times.
Lately, the nights haven't been peaceful. Someone in the alley ahead was robbed after being knocked down at night, and the perpetrator hasn't been found yet.
If it were just the two of them, Guan Yuehe wouldn't be afraid to drive around the entire city of Beijing at night. But... when she met Lin Ting's round eyes, Guan Yuehe gave up the idea of taking a stroll in the alleyway late at night.
Just then, the elderly folks at the alley entrance were talking about how that gang of thieves had returned, having broken into the daily chemical factory's residential compound and stolen money just a few days ago.
“We should also be careful in our alley. I’ve seen several unfamiliar faces loitering around here recently.”
"Who's so blind as to dare steal from our Ginkgo Alley?"
There really are some blind fools.
Guan Yuehe and Lin Yiku had to end their studies early due to a sudden power outage. Just as they were about to lie down to sleep, Lin Yiku suddenly pressed Guan Yuehe's shoulder, signaling her to listen carefully.
The two men tiptoed into the small room, where they could hear the sounds more clearly, though the words were fragmented. But they both agreed that a thief had arrived.
Just as the two were discussing how to catch the thief, someone outside suddenly shone a flashlight and shouted, "Who's standing under the tree?"
There was a flurry of running sounds outside the wall. When Guan Yuehe and Lin Yiku opened the back window to look, all that was left was Chang Zhengyi, who was waving a flashlight around, shouting "Catch the thief!" and whose legs were weak and hands were trembling so much that he almost couldn't hold onto his bicycle.
The Ginkgo Alley, which had been quiet due to the power outage, suddenly became lively again.
Because of the thief, the neighbors have been living in fear, worried that their homes will be burgled. Now, as soon as they hear that a thief is coming, everyone grabs a stick or broom and goes out, asking, "Where's the thief?"
The thief wasn't stupid; after Chang Zhengyi shouted, he naturally ran away.
But Chang Zhengyi said that the three suspicious-looking people had their heads covered, so he couldn't see their faces. It was pitch black, and he couldn't even make out their figures. He couldn't provide any clues to the police.
Guan Yuehe, on the other hand, was quite pleased.
"He finally straightened his mind and stopped shouting about ghosts."
Lin Yiku: "..."
But it's funny to think about it now.
This time, Chang Zhengyi didn't say that the alley was haunted; instead, rumors started circulating outside that Ginkgo Alley was haunted.
Li Xuelian, who lives in the coal mine's residential compound, heard about it and said with a smile that Ginkgo Alley is still the most interesting.
"Why don't you find someone to move to a different place?"
Li Xuelian quickly waved her hand and said she couldn't.
As the rumors outside grew increasingly outrageous, a flurry of happy events began to emerge in Ginkgo Hutong.
Tingting got into high school with the highest score in the middle school entrance exam, clearly aiming for university. Aunt Xie straightened her back immediately, declaring that the Xie family was really good at academics.
Seeing that she was happy, everyone kindly refrained from mentioning her other son, Xie Zhenxing.
Southwest was accepted into the city's teachers' college, which suited her perfectly well since she didn't want to attend the factory's technical school.
Jinhua from Aunt Bai's family was admitted to the accounting class at the factory's technical school, which made Aunt Bai very happy, saying that the talismans she had burned for the past six months had not been in vain.
After a while, they said that the feng shui of Ginkgo Alley was good, and that the girls there were all exceptionally good at studying.
As Luo Guifang waited anxiously each day, news arrived that Zhou Baoning had been admitted to the Shanghai Municipal College of Political Economy; now all that remained was for the admission notice to arrive.
"It's better to raise daughters. Look at Guifang's three daughters. Baoning has also been admitted to university. Guifang will be able to enjoy a comfortable life in the future."
"Why did we end up in Haishi? It's so far away."
Luo Guifang was overjoyed. Getting into university was already a good thing, let alone getting into a four-year university. Staying in Beijing or going to Shanghai made no difference; either way, her child would have a bright future.
"What's the big deal? Yuehe already said that there's a direct train from Beijing to Shanghai. It's not like we'll never come back."
But in my heart, I also thought that as long as I could make something of myself, staying in Shanghai wouldn't be bad.
When Guan Yuehe returned home from get off work, she received an invitation from Luo Guifang, who said that she would be hosting a dinner for old neighbors in mid-August.
"Congratulations again, Sister Luo!"
Luo Guifang praised her three daughters for being so promising.
After Luo Guifang left, Guan Yuehe didn't linger. She locked up her motorcycle and went to No. 3 Courtyard to pick up Lin Ting, and also asked Jingjing where she got into high school.
"You got into high school." Jiang Guiying's expression wasn't exactly happy.
"Oh? Oh, going to high school is good too. You can try to go to university later."
"Is it that easy to get into university?" Jiang Guiying sighed. "Only the top ten students in the factory's high school dare to say for sure that they can get into university. Bao Ning, who just got in, always had top grades. Jingjing's grades in junior high weren't that good... I only just found out that Jingjing secretly changed her application and didn't apply to the factory's technical school or vocational school."
Based on Jingjing's grades, if she hadn't changed her application, even if she couldn't be admitted to the factory's technical school, she could have been admitted to the teachers' college.
After graduating from teachers' college, you can be directly assigned to a school as a teacher. Although it is difficult to be assigned back to the factory's school as a teacher, it is still a job.
"Your older brother and sister-in-law are angry about this."
Jiang Guiying said worriedly, "I'm just hoping she can get a job. If she doesn't pass the exam... oh, I mean, if she does pass! She absolutely has to pass!"
Jiang Guiying clasped her hands together in prayer.
"How come this child changed their college application without saying a word?"
Guan Yuehe scratched her head. She didn't know how to comfort her. After all, no one could predict whether Jingjing would be able to get into university after graduating from high school.
If it were her, she would have chosen a vocational school. But not everyone is like her.
"The results are in, what else is there to say? You should burn more incense for your grandparents in the future and ask them to bless you."
Are you suggesting we force Jingjing to give up high school and go back to junior high to retake the exam?
"......"
"Didn't you say this was all feudal superstition?"
Guan Yuehe laughed, "From now on, it depends on whether she can live up to expectations and whether her ancestral graves can still emit auspicious smoke."
"I'm too lazy to argue with you," Jiang Guiying said. "I'm going to the new family compound tomorrow to see what your older brother and his wife are really thinking."
That's what she said, but when Guan Yuehe heard her say, "If the child gets into college, then let him go. When things were so hard before, your father and I were able to support several of you through high school. There's no reason why we can't afford to support one high school student now that things are better!"
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