After the National Day holiday, Jiang Yubai came to school carrying a gift bag.
Jiang Yubai's toy room is filled with countless car models, airplane models, Transformers, and Lego bricks. However, he has almost no plush toys. He regards his father as a role model. He believes that a man of integrity like his father would not be obsessed with plush toys.
After visiting the industrial park that day, Jiang Yubai found a plush cat doll in the gift bag, so he planned to give it to Lin Zhixia.
That morning, Lin Zhixia walked into the classroom and walked to her seat as usual. Jiang Yubai immediately took out the gift bag and stuffed it into her desk drawer. This action was smooth and seamless. He explained simply and straightforwardly: "It's a gift for you. You're welcome."
"Is today a special holiday?" Lin Zhixia asked him, "Why did you bring me a gift again?"
Jiang Yubai couldn't answer. His series of actions seemed to be pulling his opponent. He couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
Lin Zhixia grabbed the gift bag and said seriously, "Jiang Yubai, you always give me things, and I feel a little embarrassed because I can't give you gifts of the same value in return. You give me things, which is equivalent to you losing money."
Jiang Yubai retorted: "No. My father said that money is not the only criterion for measuring value."
Lin Zhixia tilted her head: "Your father is right."
Jiang Yubai nodded: "Yes."
Lin Zhixia opened the gift bag and saw a plush cat toy. She was so excited that she could hardly control herself. Her eyes were clear and sparkling: "Kitten, a plush cat."
She continued to rummage through the bag and found another greeting card and a box of vacuum-packed milk cakes.
"Thank you, Jiang Yubai!" Lin Zhixia turned and said to him.
This gift was just given to Lin Zhixia by Jiang Yubai, not prepared by him personally. But he didn't tell Lin Zhixia. He felt inexplicably embarrassed, and pretended that nothing had happened: "These are not very good things."
Lin Zhixia suddenly tied up the gift bag, took out the "Human Observation Diary", and wrote impatiently: This morning, I once again received a gift from my classmate Jiang Yubai. Good friends should reciprocate. When I find something that can give back to Jiang Yubai, I will definitely give it back to him.
Jiang Yubai basically has everything he wants. He has everything that can be bought with money.
However, he still has an urgent wish that has not been realized yet.
He wanted to surpass Lin Zhixia by a long way and hear Lin Zhixia say with his own ears: Jiang Yubai, you are so awesome! I lost to you! I lost so completely!
So far, there is little hope.
However, Jiang Yubai would never give up!
One day, Lin Zhixia will become his defeated general.
For Lin Zhixia, today's school life is extremely enjoyable.
In the afternoon class meeting, the students of Grade 4 (1) received another piece of good news. The school decided to organize the autumn outing activity of this semester in mid-October. All Grade 4 students will visit the city's ocean aquarium under the guidance of their teachers.
Oceanarium!
These five words made the students look forward to it.
Lin Zhixia was even happier. She had never been to an oceanarium before.
She felt that today was her lucky day. She received a kitten doll and could plan a trip to the aquarium. Moreover, she now had a good friend and she could go with Jiang Yubai to observe all kinds of aquatic creatures.
The only problem is that this autumn outing adopts the principle of "voluntary registration" and charges each student 76 yuan.
That night, the first thing Lin Zhixia did after returning home was to find her mother and shyly asked her for money: "Mom, our class is going on an autumn outing to the ocean aquarium, and each person has to pay 76 yuan. The teacher said that this is the discounted price for group purchases, including lunch at noon. Mom, can you give me 76 yuan?"
While Lin Zhixia was talking, her mother was cooking. The iron knife swung and chopped a piece of pork ribs, making a loud "bang" sound, which scared Lin Zhixia. She hid outside the kitchen door, revealing half of her face, and looked at her mother eagerly.
"Mom, Mom," Lin Zhixia said in a sweet voice, "I want to go to the oceanarium."
After processing the ribs, Mom turned on the tap and washed her hands quietly.
At the bottom of the kitchen window sill stood an old cast iron water pipe. A water meter hung on the side of the old water pipe. At the end of every month, the staff of the water plant would come to check the water meter and ask the users to pay. Many families have their own unique ways to save money, and Lin Zhixia's mother is one of them. She held the handle of the faucet and tightened it slowly. The water meter stopped rotating, but drops of tap water still slipped from the outlet and fell into a ceramic basin.
The water meter has stopped.
The water drops are still dripping, little by little they add up to a lot.
Lin Zhixia walked over and grabbed her mother's apron: "Mom, turn off the faucet. We can't steal water..."
Mom finally answered her: "Xia Xia, your brother is in junior high school. He will take the high school entrance exam in two years, and then he will have to go to high school and college. You, too, must continue your studies. Mom and Dad have to save money for you. Your grandparents want to renovate their house in their hometown. Your grandparents' neighbors have all built new houses, all made of red bricks and cement roofs..."
"How much money do we have at home?" Lin Zhixia suddenly asked, "Can we invest in stocks?"
Mom touched Lin Zhixia's face with her cool, wet fingers. "How can stock trading be so easy? Mom and Dad don't have stable jobs, and they rely on this small store to support you and your sister. There's a Jin Run Fa supermarket in front of our community, a Century Lian Hua on North Street, and a Carrefour is being built at the East Gate. Once they build Carrefour Fujian, we'll have even fewer customers here."
Doing business requires both reputation and luck.
Back then, when Lin Zhixia's parents first came to the provincial capital, they managed to buy this store by selling iron and scraping together some money. The business was the best in the first two years, and they did make a lot of money, and they also paid off all the debts owed by the family, with only a bank loan left. However, since the emergence of genuine chain supermarkets such as Jin Runfa and Century Lianhua near the community, the customer flow of the Lin family store has obviously dropped a lot.
There is nothing we can do about it.
Lin Zhixia's mother turned on the gas tank and poured oil on the stove to heat the pan. While cooking, she said to Lin Zhixia, "If you want to buy books and counseling materials, I'd give them to you even if it's 76 yuan, not to mention 76 yuan. But what's the point of you going to the aquarium? Xia Xia, you didn't go to such an expensive place during the fall outings from the first to the third grade in elementary school. Why did the price suddenly increase to 76 yuan for the fourth grade? Don't other students' parents have any objections?"
"I don't know," Lin Zhixia replied in a baby voice, "Mom, Mom, I really want to go..."
"Don't act like a spoiled brat! You act like a spoiled brat all day long." Mom shouted sternly.
The fumes from the iron pot spread outward, emitting a pungent smell. Lin Zhixia sneezed, her fingers tightly grasping her mother's apron: "Other students can go, why can't I go?"
Mom held the spatula and stir-fried the braised spareribs in the iron pot. Her tone became hurried: "Because your family is poor. Your family is poor! Remember? Your parents are not from the provincial capital. They came to the provincial capital with nothing. They have no relatives or friends. Is it so easy to make money? Don't always compare yourself with other classmates in school. Are you going to school to study, or to compare your family background with others? If you want to have everything they have, how can our family survive? Think more about your parents and brother, and don't be a selfish person."
Lin Zhixia was full of grievances, and tried hard to hold back tears: "Our school is organizing an autumn outing. I just came to ask you, why do I become a selfish person? If you don't want to go, then don't go. I didn't say you must go."
The spatula made a chaotic clattering sound on the bottom of the pot. The mother turned her back to Lin Zhixia and asked her, "Do you know how much food you can buy with 76 yuan? You and your brother are growing up and need nutrition. We can't stop having eggs, milk, pork and fish at home. You spend 76 yuan in a day at the aquarium. Can you afford it?"
Lin Zhixia remained silent. She stood there, waiting for her mother to come and comfort her.
But today, Mom was in a bad mood. Lin Zhixia was about to cry, and Mom didn't say a single soft word to her.
My mother just said, "Your school is the top-ranked elementary school in the city. The leadership team made the decision without considering the economic conditions of the students' families. It's not that I can't afford the 76 yuan, but I just can't bear to let you waste it. You are not the only one in our family. You should think more about others and don't let everyone revolve around you and see how selfish and useless you are! Do you understand?"
Lin Zhixia became more and more sad and began to cry silently.
She wasn't crying because she couldn't go to the aquarium. She didn't know where this sadness came from. Why do people shed tears when they cry? This way, anyone who saw her crying would know that she was in pain.
Lin Zhixia stood at the kitchen door, hesitant to speak.
Half a bowl of red peppers was put into the pot. Light white smoke swirled around, and my mother sneezed because of the smoke.
There was a small fan installed on the side of the stove. The shaft of the fan had long been solidified by the grease, so my mother poked the fan blades with a chopstick, giving the fan an initial momentum to rotate and blow away some of the fumes in the kitchen.
Lin Zhixia called out, "Mom."
Her mother asked her, "Do you still want to go to the aquarium? Did everything I said to you go in vain?"
Lin Zhixia said listlessly: "I'm not going. I don't want to eat dinner either."
Instead of inspiring her mother's sympathy, she only made her rage even greater.
The fan's humming sound stopped at that moment. Mom put down the spatula and said calmly, "If you don't want to eat, then don't eat! Who are you trying to scare? Go back to your room now! Come out when you figure it out."
Since she learned about the autumn outing this afternoon, Lin Zhixia has been very excited. She was looking forward to going home early and sharing the good news with her parents, but she didn't expect this to be the result.
During the spring outing last semester, each student had to pay 34 yuan, and my mother readily gave the money to Lin Zhixia.
And...last month's class fees, library book borrowing fees, subway transportation fees, and provincial library Internet fees, a total of 74.45 yuan, were all paid by my mother.
Why didn't it work this time? Was it because 76 yuan was too much?
Lin Zhixia was very confused. She sat in her room and thought: So my happiness is based on money. Have I really studied transcendentalism and transcendentalism? Both of these doctrines advocate that a person give up material enjoyment.
It was half past six in the evening and it was dark.
The moon outside the window was so round and bright, and the stars were glowing softly. Lin Zhixia saw the "Bifida" in the Andromeda Galaxy.
The so-called "Bisu II" is the brightest star in the Andromeda Galaxy.
Scientific research in recent years has shown that the distance between the Milky Way and Andromeda is getting closer and closer. In a few billion years, the Milky Way will collide with Andromeda.
Lin Zhixia looked up at the sky and said to himself: "Andromeda, Milky Way, you two galaxies should not be fooled by the gravity of each other. The closer you are, the easier it is to be swallowed up. Do you know why a term in the Lagrangian of quantum chromodynamics will destroy the CP symmetry? Do you know about Pei-Quinn theory? The mass of the universe cannot be equal to zero. If Pei-Quinn symmetry exists, I think there is dark matter in the universe. Can you sense the dark matter in the universe?"
Looking up at the sky and expressing her thoughts and ideas made Lin Zhixia feel relaxed. The only problem was that her stomach was growling with hunger.
Gurgle, gurgle, it keeps making the sound.
Being hungry is really uncomfortable.
Lin Zhixia fell on the bed, hugged a little cat doll tightly, and buried her whole face in the plush fabric.
She heard the sound of dishes and chopsticks in the living room; her father, mother, and brother were all eating.
Tonight's dishes include stir-fried cabbage, stir-fried wormwood with dried herbs, braised spareribs, and tomato egg soup, all of which are Lin Zhixia's favorites.
She felt so wronged and wanted to eat.
But she said she didn’t want to eat it, and she meant she didn’t want to eat it!
A man of integrity will not accept food given out of pity.
Even if Lin Zhixia fainted from hunger today, she would definitely not run to the living room to get a bowl of food!
Absolutely not!
Lin Zhixia is very strong-willed!
In the living room, Lin Zhixia's father whispered, "That's enough, call her out for dinner."
Mom's voice became even quieter: "I left half of the ribs for her. The cabbage and dried tofu are all in a bowl. I'll heat them up for her later."
"What's wrong?" Lin Zeqiu asked suddenly, biting his tongue, "Why did you scold her and not let her sit at the table to eat? Is this a rural custom that doesn't allow girls to sit at the table to eat or what?"
Dad glared at him and said, "Stop talking and stop making your mom angry."
Lin Zeqiu sighed inaudibly: "Mom, why are you angry?"
The mother looked at Lin Zhixia's closed door and answered tiredly, "It's nothing serious. I encountered some trouble when I went to buy goods this morning. It's all solved. I just feel sullen. You and your sister are both in school. Your father and I have to support two children. There are some things that are completely unnecessary to buy and unnecessary to spend... Your sister's school organized an autumn outing. Each person had to pay 76 yuan to go to the ocean aquarium. The tickets to the aquarium are so expensive. Your sister wanted to go, but I scolded her and she refused to eat dinner."
"It's just a habit. Let her wait and see for a while and think about it herself," Dad agreed. He picked up his chopsticks and lunch box, ran back to the front door, and continued to take care of business.
Lin Zeqiu took two bites of rice and felt very unhappy.
He is Lin Zhixia's older brother. He grew up with Lin Zhixia and knows Lin Zhixia's personality very well. Lin Zhixia loves to eat. Her favorite fruit is strawberry, her favorite dish is braised spareribs, and her favorite soup is tomato egg soup.
Tonight, she was willing to give up the braised spareribs and the tomato and egg soup, which showed that she was extremely sad.
There are three bedrooms in the house, the largest one belongs to Lin Zhixia and the smallest one belongs to Lin Zeqiu. The family status is clear at a glance.
Lin Zeqiu didn't want to care about Lin Zhixia at first. He always felt that his parents were too partial and overly cared for this sister with an IQ higher than that of an average person. But when he thought that Lin Zhixia might be hiding in her room crying, Lin Zeqiu's meal tasted like wax.
The incandescent light in the living room flickered, perhaps he was dazzled.
The cold wind whistled past the window. A cold wave hit tonight, the temperature dropped, and a thin layer of mist formed on the glass windows. How could I not eat in such freezing weather?
Lin Ze ate the rice in his bowl without even picking up any vegetables. Then, he returned to his room and hesitated for about two seconds before opening a locked drawer.
In the drawer, there lies a yellowed old photo.
This photo was taken ten years ago, when Lin Zhixia was not yet born. Mom and Dad took a family photo with Lin Zeqiu. Lin Zeqiu sat on his father's lap, and his mother held his hand. He looked like an only child who had received all the attention of his parents.
Lin Zeqiu picked up the photo and found a hundred yuan note underneath it.
Last year, when she went back to her hometown for the Spring Festival, her grandmother secretly gave Lin Zeqiu a hundred-dollar bill. But she didn't give Lin Zhixia a penny.
Grandma said to Lin Zeqiu: "Grandsons are grandsons, and granddaughters are granddaughters. Granddaughters are all daughters-in-law of other families. You are the root of our Lin family."
Lin Zeqiu had kept this hundred yuan for more than a year and never wanted to spend it. Now, he held the bill in his hand, and his palms were slightly sweaty. He left his bedroom and pushed open Lin Zhixia's door.
Lin Zhixia closed her eyes and lay flat on the bed, with her hands crossed over her chest, as if blocking out all sounds from the outside world.
Lin Zeqiu was startled by her, and seeing her eyes swollen from crying, he felt a sour taste in his throat. He shouted, "Lin Zhixia, get up! It's only a few o'clock, and you're already asleep. Are you a pig?"
"Don't bother me," Lin Zhixia said, still not closing her eyes, "I'm cleaning my consciousness."
"What the hell! Get up quickly." Lin Zeqiu pulled her.
She shook his hand off: "You are so annoying."
Lin Zeqiu reached out again and pulled her pillow. She frowned and said, "Why are you a brother and not a sister? Other people's sisters are so gentle, but you are the most annoying brother."
Lin Zeqiu was so angry that he lied, "It's a hundred yuan that my father gave you."
He let go of the piece of paper and placed it next to Lin Zhixia's bedside table: "If other people's children can have it, you will also have it. You don't have to envy others."
After finishing her words, Lin Zhixia immediately sat up from the bed.
She refused, "Thank you, Dad. Please give the money back to me. I don't want to go to the aquarium anymore. It's not necessary."
Lin Zeqiu was at a loss, and stood there rubbing his hands and stamping his feet: "I told you to go, so you went. Why are you talking so much nonsense! It's not like our family is poor. Even mom and dad, you know, they only think about saving money and have no foresight..."
The bedroom door was already ajar.
Mom brought a tray of steaming food and soup. She kicked the wall and asked, "Why are you two here?"
The aroma of braised pork ribs wafted into the bedroom.
Lin Zhixia was like an old monk in meditation, unmoved.
Lin Zeqiu was quick to act. He stuffed a hundred yuan into Lin Zhixia's schoolbag. He was relaxed and doing arm swings. Seeing his mother bringing food to coax his sister to eat, he quickly helped out: "Lin Zhixia, your stomach is growling. I heard your stomach growling."
"I'm not hungry." Lin Zhixia said stubbornly.
The mother sat down beside Lin Zhixia's bed. She picked up a porcelain bowl, shaved the pork off the ribs with chopsticks, scooped up a spoonful of rice with a spoon, added some cabbage, dried tofu, and ribs, and passed it to Lin Zhixia's mouth: "Xia Xia, have a bite?"
Lin Zhixia shook her head: "No, I don't want to eat!"
"Xia Xia, are you planning to not eat for the rest of your life?" her mother asked her. "Are you so angry with your mother just because she said a few words to you?"
Lin Zhixia opened her mouth and bit the spoon.
The mother murmured to herself: "If you want to go to the aquarium, then go. Mommy apologizes to you. Mommy is in a bad mood today and got angry with you..."
Lin Zhixia ate and cried: "Mom, why are you so mean to me and call me a waste... Whenever you scold me, I feel like you don't like me. I can't forget every word you said to me. My memory is so strange, but you don't understand. No one understands me. No one understands me. I'm so sad, Mom..."
Mom wiped her tears with a tissue. As she wiped, she almost wanted to cry. She choked up and said, "I've never seen a child like you. I don't know how to raise you. When I was a child, I worked in the fields. Locusts crawled onto my legs and sucked my blood, but I still had to continue working. The words your grandparents scolded me were much more serious than what I said to you."
Lin Zhixia sobbed and continued, "Mom is so pitiful."
Tears fell down her cheeks as she hugged her puppy stuffed animal tightly: "I can imagine that scene..."
"Go to the supermarket," Mom called Lin Zeqiu, "get a bottle of strawberry milk for your sister."
Lin Zeqiu ran very fast: "Right away."
Lin Zeqiu used the fastest speed he could in his life. When her father heard that his daughter was crying loudly, he asked his son to get two bottles of strawberry milk and strawberry-flavored lollipops. The family tried their best and finally coaxed Lin Zhixia.
However, the next morning, when Lin Zhixia got up, there were still red bloodshot eyes.
She adjusted her mood, carried a bottle of strawberry milk on her back, put a strawberry lollipop in her pocket, and went to school happily.
Today, Jiang Yubai arrived earlier than Lin Zhixia.
As per his daily routine, Jiang Yubai tore open a pack of disinfectant wipes and carefully wiped his and Lin Zhixia's desks. He wiped the desks clean and shiny.
Tang Leqin, the deputy monitor of Grade 4 (1), passed by and stopped on the spot, praising him: "Jiang Yubai, you and your deskmate's desk are so tidy."
Tang Leqin is one of the girls who listens to the teacher the most in the class. The teachers often praise her for being sensible, smart, careful, and focused in class. Usually, Tang Leqin is responsible for collecting class fees and tuition fees. Today is no exception. Tang Leqin is carrying a piece of white paper for registration, a ballpoint pen, and a plastic bag for money, and is collecting the autumn outing fees for this semester.
She stood in front of Jiang Yubai and told him, "76 yuan, for the autumn outing."
Jiang Yubai opened his schoolbag and pulled out a Dunhill wallet. Tang Leqin didn't recognize the brand, but she could tell at a glance that this wallet was definitely not cheap. The leather itself was dark blue, and the zipper was golden. The combination of the two colors unexpectedly created a harmonious aesthetic.
Jiang Yubai reached into the compartment with two fingers. Tang Leqin saw a huge stack of 100-dollar bills, and she couldn't count how many there were.
She suddenly remembered the nickname "Jiang Yubai, the richest man in the class".
Her expression froze, and she took a step back automatically: "One hundred is enough, Mr. Jiang."
Mr. Jiang handed her a banknote.
The morning sun was shining brightly. Tang Leqin took the bill, held it up to the light, and verified the watermark: "Here's your change for 24 yuan."
Zhou Bufeng, who was sitting in the row in front of Jiang Yubai, suddenly turned his head and said to Jiang Yubai, "Jiang Yubai, you are so rich! I won't change the 24 yuan to you, I will just give it to me. You don't mind, right?"
"I'll call the police right away and report you for robbery. You won't mind, will you?" Lin Zhixia just walked into her seat and said casually. From the moment she arrived in the classroom to the moment she sat down, many classmates in the class frequently cast their eyes at her.
Because Lin Zhixia tied her hair into two ponytails today.
Her hair is thick and black, with slightly curled ends. She has pink strawberry hair ties tied on both sides, making her look very beautiful and cute.
She chose to wear her hair in a double ponytail today because she hoped that her new hairstyle could distract her classmates from her bloodshot eyes. However, she found that more people were looking at her.
"You're so cute." Tang Leqin praised sincerely.
"It all depends on my hairstyle." Lin Zhixia responded modestly.
Tang Leqin lifted the plastic bag in her hand and let Lin Zhixia see the money in the bag. Tang Leqin urged: "Autumn outing fee, 76 yuan."
"I'm not going." Lin Zhixia said.
Jiang Yubai sat beside her and asked her, "Why don't you go?"
Before Lin Zhixia answered, Jiang Yubai clenched his left fist and said, "Do you want to read at home? Then I won't go either."
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