Chapter 8: Leaf Do you want to hit me? Or how about you hit me? ...
Every morning at 7:20, Zheng Yi would appear downstairs at Jiang Haoxiang's house. Not a moment later, Jiang Haoxiang would come running out, backpack on her back. Her hair had grown longer, tied into a ponytail that swung back and forth.
"It's so slow." This is Zheng Yi's usual opening line.
He habitually walked outside, letting her stay on the inside of the road and stopping her when crossing the street. He remembered what flavor of potato chips she liked and would buy her a bottle of water when he went to the canteen.
The same thing happened at the end of school. The first-grade bell rang earlier than the third-grade bell. But Jiang Haoxiang never left on her own. She would wait at the classroom door, and Zheng Yi would definitely come to pick her up.
Zheng Yi's classmates had long been accustomed to this little tail, and sometimes they would tease her: "Little one, are you waiting for your brother again?"
Jiang Haoxiang nodded.
Zheng Yihui pulled her to his other side, separating her from the other classmates: "Go away, go away, don't tease her, if she cries later, will you comfort her?"
On Zheng Yi's side, protecting Jiang Haoxiang started as a task assigned by his mother, then became mixed with loyalty, and now has become an instinct.
He didn't think about her all the time. When he was distracted in class, he would think about game strategies and where to go on weekends. When he was playing with his classmates, he completely forgot that there was a little girl behind him.
But he had no choice but to look for Jiang Haoxiang. If he couldn't find Jiang Haoxiang, Zheng Yi would be anxious.
His ears would automatically pick up her voice, his eyes would search for that tiny figure in the crowd. Passing by a grocery store, his hands would automatically reach for her favorite snacks. Seeing her frown would preemptively annoy him. Seeing her smile, he'd want to pinch her face.
During free time in PE class, he and a few classmates were playing Three Kingdoms Kill in a corner of the playground. It was clearly a board game, but they were sweating profusely. Zheng Yi stopped without warning and looked up at the first grade activity area. An Fengyang patted him: "What are you doing? It's your turn!"
Zheng Yi squinted his eyes and looked for a while, but didn't see Jiang Haoxiang, so he said casually: "I seemed to hear the teacher calling for assembly." He threw down the card and walked towards the first grade. As a result, he found that Jiang Haoxiang was playing finger paper-scissors with several classmates. Whoever won would go up a step and reach the second floor first.
Zheng Yi stood there and watched for a few seconds, feeling a little stupid, and went back angrily.
An Fengyang asked him what the teacher shouted, and he said vaguely: "I heard it wrong."
The atmosphere in the Jiang household grew increasingly tense as her stepmother's pregnancy progressed. Jiang Hao didn't know why, but the older she got, the more things she disliked. While she craved more, she also developed dietary restrictions. As if Xiang Li's joke was true, the number of things she "didn't want" was growing.
But the joke wasn't actually that funny, because Jiang Hao couldn't stop doing something, whether she wanted to or not. She only wanted to eat something she didn't want to eat, and no one could force her mouth open and stuff it in.
At the dinner table, the stepmother smiled and said to Jiang Cheng, "Do you think you should change your picky eating habits? Balanced nutrition is the most important thing for children nowadays."
Jiang Haoxiang's favorite cola chicken wings were moved to the farthest position from her, replaced by scrambled eggs with carrots. Jiang Haoxiang simply ate plain rice.
After dinner, Jiang Haoxiang discovered that a noisy doll in the living room was missing. It was a gift from Zheng Yi. Rub the doll's belly and it would make a waaa sound. Jiang Haoxiang was about to go upstairs to look for it when her stepmother touched her bulging belly and gently called her, "Haoxiang, come and touch my belly. Your brother or sister is moving."
Jiang Haoxiang was a little scared and didn't dare to go over...
The stepmother sat still, as if she wouldn't leave until Jiang Hao could get over it. Her eyes were like the paper in a simple rock-paper-scissors game, completely enveloping the rock—Jiang Hao always lost at rock-paper-scissors because she loved playing rock the most. Anyone could beat her, let alone these eyes.
So Jiang Hao wanted to walk over.
Her stepmother took her hand and gently placed it on her belly, asking Jiang Hao to feel the baby move. Jiang Hao wanted to run away as soon as she put it on her belly, but her stepmother held her tightly, preventing her from breaking free. She couldn't feel the baby move, nor did she want to. She didn't understand why she should feel the baby move. Wouldn't it be better to ask her father to do it? Her father did it every day anyway, so why did it matter to her whether she touched it or not?
But Jiang Cheng watched from the side, did not stop it, and was very happy.
But the stepmother wasn't happy. She wasn't satisfied, very dissatisfied. She felt that Jiang Haoxiang, as the older sister, had no love for her upcoming siblings. This wasn't okay. This was her child, her precious baby, and she wanted the whole family to love him. "Haoxiang," the stepmother said, "you're the older sister, so you should be more considerate of your siblings. That toy is too loud, and it's bad for the baby's hearing. Can you put it away?"
It turned out that the doll had been put away. I hadn't asked her about it. I only informed her after it was put away.
Jiang Cheng spoke at this moment: "It's just a doll, just put it away, what's there to say about it." He didn't care.
Jiang Haoxiang was forced to touch her stepmother's belly for a while, and then she was called over to drink milk. Jiang Haoxiang wanted to turn on the TV to watch cartoons, but her stepmother came out again while holding her belly. She frowned and said to Jiang Cheng who was sitting on the sofa: "I have a headache recently and can't stand loud noises."
Jiang Cheng immediately asked Jiang Hao to turn off the TV.
Jiang Cheng could see his daughter's grievance, but he was more concerned about his pregnant wife's mood and their unborn child. His approach was to smooth things over.
"I miss you so much. Be obedient. Mommy is not feeling well."
"You are a sister now, you should be sensible."
"It's just a toy. Daddy will buy you a better one next time."
“When can’t I watch cartoons?”
As autumn deepened, Jiang Haoxiang was sitting in her seat when her head teacher called her out: "Jiang Haoxiang, your grandma is here to see you."
Jiang Haoxiang was stunned for a moment. As she was being led away by her teacher, she saw an elderly woman in a purple coat. It was her grandmother! Jiang Haoxiang didn't even realize she was crying. She thought it was raining.
She hadn't seen her grandmother in almost two years. Her father rarely took her there, saying it was too far and that her grandmother was old and they didn't want to bother her all the time. She didn't dare to bring up the idea of wanting to visit her grandmother.
"I miss you so much! My baby, I miss you so much!" Grandma also saw her, her eyes turned red, and she reached out to touch her.
Jiang Hao wanted to run over, holding her grandmother's hand tightly, tears streaming down her face: "Grandma... Grandma..."
"Grandma is here." Grandma wiped her tears with her hands, but she couldn't stop crying. "You've lost weight. Is it because you haven't eaten well?" Jiang Haoxiang just shook her head.
Grandma pulled out a bag, and inside was a scarf with a very poorly embroidered cat pattern on each end. At first glance, it was completely unrecognizable, and I could only guess it was Mimi by the yellow thread. There was also a pair of gloves in the same color.
"It's getting cold, so grandma knitted this scarf for you. Look at this kitten, does it look like Mimi?" Grandma shook out the scarf and let Jiang Haoxiang try it on. When she thought it fit well, she took it off and put it back in the bag.
Grandma touched her head and said, "Would you like to go to dinner with me after school?"
Jiang Hao wanted to nod.
During the afternoon break, Jiang Hao wanted to go to Zheng Yi's class and tell him she wouldn't be going home with him after school because her grandmother had arrived. Zheng Yi nodded and offered her some money, telling her to eat with her grandmother and take a taxi home. Jiang Hao refused, saying she had enough money. Zheng Yi then returned and gave her a jelly roll, which Jiang Hao wanted. Not only did she take it, she also asked if they had any left, hoping to bring one back for her grandmother.
Zheng Yi had no choice but to ask An Fengyang for another one. An Fengyang saw Jiang Haoxiang outside from half the classroom and simply gave the whole bag to Zheng Yi.
When the school bell rang, Jiang Haoxiang carried her schoolbag with a bag of jelly in it and followed her grandmother without hesitation.
Because Jiang Cheng had sensed Jiang Haoxiang's frustration the previous night, he'd finished work early and come to the school to pick her up, hoping to surprise her and ease the tension between them. Jiang Cheng waited at the school gate, watching the students file out, but there was no sign of Jiang Haoxiang. Even after the entire first-grade group had left, there was still no sign of her.
Jiang Cheng was a little anxious and was about to go find the teacher to ask when he saw Zheng Yi walking out of the teaching building alone with a schoolbag on his back.
"Zheng Yi!" Jiang Cheng called out to him, "Do you miss me after seeing this?"
Zheng Yi wanted to run away when he saw Jiang Cheng, but now he couldn't. He felt very uncomfortable.
He knew Jiang Cheng was reluctant to see Jiang Haoxiang interact more with Lin Ran. Zheng Yi's mind raced as he said, "Uncle Jiang? I really want to be picked up by my mom. My mom said she'd take her shopping."
Jiang Cheng was suspicious: "Xiang Li took him away? Then why are you still here?"
Zheng Yi's heart was pounding, but he pretended to be calm and pointed to the teaching building. "I stayed because my math teacher wanted to see me about something. He wanted to give me extra lessons."
Jiang Cheng was skeptical, but then he thought about Xiang Li's character and said, "Okay, I understand."
As soon as Jiang Cheng left, Zheng Yi immediately took out his cell phone, his palms sweaty, and wanted to call Xiang Li to tip him off.
Xiang Li was surprised to see Jiang Cheng calling her. She wondered if something had happened again. She was very upset.
As soon as Jiang Cheng got through, he asked, "Did you take Haoxiang away?"
Xiang Li said "Ah?"
Fortunately, Jiang Cheng didn't care much about Jiang Haoxiang. In fact, he didn't doubt her at all. He just wanted to call and vent his anger.
It was strange that he needed to vent. Jiang Haoxiang usually went home with Zheng Yi, but Xiang Li would pick her up at least once a week. Xiang Li picking Jiang Haoxiang up was perfectly normal. Jiang Cheng, on the other hand, didn't pick her up more than two or three times a semester. If he didn't pick her up once, he'd feel like the whole world owed him something.
Jiang Cheng ignored him and continued, "Why didn't you tell me that you took Haoxiang away? I only found out after asking Zheng Yi. This is so worrying."
You're worried about shit! Xiang Li rolled his eyes. But then he realized that Zheng Yi was probably lying.
Xiang Li could only go along with Zheng Yi's lie and laughed it off, "Sorry, I had something urgent to do here. I happened to be passing by the school and picked up Hao Xiang. I was so busy that I forgot to tell you!"
Jiang Cheng was still a little unhappy when he heard her say that, but he couldn't get angry anymore. He just said, "Where are you guys now? I'll go pick her up."
"No, no," Xiang Li said quickly, "We'll be back soon. I'll take her home directly. Don't worry."
After finally dealing with Jiang Cheng, Xiang Li breathed a sigh of relief. When he answered the phone just now, it kept showing that there was a new call. He knew it was his son without even looking.
Zheng Yi called for a long time but the line was always busy. When he finally got through, before he could say anything, Xiang Li asked on the other end, "Zheng Yi, I just got a call from your Uncle Jiang. He asked if I had taken Hao Xiang away. What's going on?"
Zheng Yi quickly explained the situation.
Xiang Li said helplessly: "Alright kid, I understand."
Xiang Li hung up the phone with her son and rubbed her brow. She understood Jiang Cheng's feelings for his ex-mother-in-law's family and how much he missed his grandmother. She was trying to figure out how to smooth things over, but she couldn't come up with a plan. She decided to focus on the work at hand.
After dealing with it for a while, the phone rang again.
"Mom! It's bad! Jiang Haoxiang's stepmother ran into Jiang Haoxiang and her grandmother in the maternity and baby store at the mall! What should I do, Mom?"
The worst situation has happened, and it can no longer be concealed. With Jiang Cheng's temper and that stepmother, he will definitely suffer if he goes back.
"Mom, please think of a solution quickly! Otherwise she will definitely be scolded when she goes back!" Zheng Yi was so anxious on the other end of the phone that he was almost begging her.
Xiang Li made a quick decision: "Okay, don't worry. I'll go over now. Remember, if Uncle Jiang asks you, just say that I asked you to help keep it a secret and put the blame on me. Do you understand?"
The incident ultimately didn't cause a major stir, not only due to Xiang Li and Zheng Yi's help, but also because final exams were approaching. Jiang Cheng was still concerned about Jiang Haoxiang's studies. But what made Jiang Haoxiang panic was that her father and stepmother began to express dissatisfaction with her frequent visits to Zheng Yi's house.
The next day after school, Jiang Hao wanted to finish his homework at Zheng Yi's house before returning. As soon as he entered the house, he saw Jiang Cheng sitting on the sofa with a gloomy face.
"Going next door again?" Jiang Cheng asked in a bad tone.
"Well, I went to do my homework."
"Auntie Xiang has her own family to take care of. How can you always bother her? In the future, if you don't have anything to do, don't go to other people's homes. Can't you stay at your own home?"
The stepmother added lightly, "Yes, if you always go to other people's homes, outsiders will say that our family has bad upbringing. If they don't know, they will think we are mistreating you."
Jiang Hao didn't understand why she went to Aunt Li's house and it was troublesome to others, which meant she had bad upbringing.
This obstruction reached a climax on the day of the exam.
Jiang Haoxiang was in the exam room when a naughty boy snatched his eraser. During the argument, he was pushed and fell to the ground, scraping his palm a little, but it was not serious. But when he saw Zheng Yi after school, Zheng Yi saw it at a glance.
Zheng Yi was furious when he saw this. He asked who it was and immediately wanted to go find someone to settle the score. But Jiang Haoxiang grabbed his sleeve tightly. He could only drag Jiang Haoxiang to the store to buy a Band-Aid and the biggest lollipop, coaxing her all the way back.
When I walked downstairs, I happened to run into Jiang Cheng who had just come back from work early. Jiang Cheng looked at the two of them, his expression even darker than his heart.
"What's going on?" he asked Jiang Haoxiang.
Jiang Haoxiang was so frightened that he trembled and didn't dare to speak.
Zheng Yi took a half step forward and answered for her: "Uncle Jiang, I feel like I was bullied by my classmates at school. My hands are all scratched."
Jiang Cheng looked at his daughter's hand covered with a Band-Aid. "You were bullied by your classmates, but you didn't tell the teacher or go home to tell your father. Instead, you went to the neighbor? Zheng Yi, I know you have good intentions, but you're our child. If anything goes wrong, we can handle it ourselves. We won't bother you."
This was quite rude. Zheng Yi was young and hot-tempered. He got angry when he heard it and wanted to refute: "Uncle Jiang, I——"
"Zheng Yi!" Xiang Li's voice came from behind. She smiled at Jiang Cheng first, "Are you off work?" Then she turned to Zheng Yi, her eyes restraining her. "How can you talk to your uncle? Take Hao Xiang upstairs and wash her face. What's the point of just putting a Band-Aid on? We have iodine at home. Find it and disinfect Hao Xiang."
Zheng Yi was full of anger. He looked at Jiang Haoxiang, gritted his teeth, and took her upstairs first.
Xiang Li then said to Jiang Cheng, "It's okay for children to take care of each other. Zheng Yi is just worried because he saw that Hao Hao was wronged. Don't take it to heart."
Jiang Cheng's expression softened slightly. "I know you mean well. But it's not a good idea to always rely on Zheng Yi like this. After all, her last name is Jiang, and she's our child. It's not right for her to always go to other people's homes."
Xiang Li's smile faded a little. She looked at Jiang Cheng and said, "A child will go wherever she feels safe. It's instinct. She seems to be a sensible child. She knows her limits. Our two families have been neighbors for many years. It would be too polite to say that we are causing trouble. If Lin Ran were still here."
She paused at this point, looked at Jiang Cheng's changing expression, and said, "Anyway, let the children get along on their own. We all hope to be happy, don't we?"
Jiang Cheng finally said nothing more and went home first.
Xiang Li knew there were some boundaries she couldn't cross, but seeing Jiang Haoxiang's expression, she couldn't just stand by and watch.
Zheng Yi gently peeled off the Band-Aid for Jiang Haoxiang. It hurt a little, but Jiang Haoxiang didn't say a word. Zheng Yi felt that something was wrong with him. In the past, when Jiang Haoxiang cried at every turn, Zheng Yi felt very annoyed. Now, seeing Jiang Haoxiang kept silent even when in pain, he felt even more annoyed.
"Does it hurt?"
Jiang Hao wanted to shake his head.
Zheng Yi didn't believe it at all and continued to ask, "Do you want to hit me? How about you hit me?" Zheng Yi didn't think it was outrageous after saying this. He even thought it was quite normal. Every time Xiang Li got so angry with him that he wanted to hit him, he always held back. So he thought hitting himself should be a very pleasant and emotional release. He didn't want to use himself as a tool for others to vent his anger, but it was completely fine for Jiang Haoxiang to use it.
Jiang Haoxiang still shook his head. Zheng Yi had no choice but to slowly tend to Jiang Haoxiang's wounds, thinking to himself that he was going to beat that boy to death tomorrow!!!
Jiujiu was running around nearby. Jiang Haoxiang tried to touch her with her good hand. Jiujiu was snoring like a tractor. Zheng Yi watched, then suddenly ran away, ran to the door, and pulled out a new stuffed animal from her schoolbag: a calico cat! Jiang Haoxiang kept looking at it, and Zheng Yi handed it to her.
This morning at school, Jiang Haoxiang complained that the doll Zheng Yi had given her had been confiscated. Zheng Yi had no choice but to admit that she couldn't possibly have stolen it. After school that afternoon, she went to the mall to look for Jiang Haoxiang, but she was distracted and noticed the Sanhua dolls on display. In her haste, Zheng Yi even went off to buy something else.
At night, Jiang Hao wanted to go back to her room and hide her kitten doll before going downstairs.
The atmosphere at home was terrible. Jiang Cheng had a sullen face, and her stepmother's words hinted that she couldn't tell the difference between inside and outside. She hurriedly ate a few mouthfuls of food and fled back to her room.
She hugged the doll and touched it, then turned on the electric fan. Actually, the temperature was low and Jiang Hao felt a little cold, but she still wanted to turn on the electric fan.
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