Chapter 10 "For Me."
In early September in Jiangcheng, the sycamore trees began to shed their yellow leaves, but the weather was still hot.
Xu Jiqing was already sweating when he rode his bike back to the entrance of the alley.
He figured out how to ride a tram on his own.
He had a pair of broad and slender hands, and all the twisting was done with the base of his palms. His wrists were against the handlebars, and he could pull the brakes with just his index finger.
After parking the snack cart at the entrance of the building, Xu Jiqing walked around the debris piled in the corridor and went up to the fourth floor in the dark, where he met the landlady who came out to relieve herself.
A common problem of old tube-shaped buildings is that there are three or four households on each floor, sharing a kitchen and bathroom, and there are several rows of electricity meters densely packed outside the building walls.
They have been in Jiangcheng for more than a week and this is their second home.
When I first arrived, I lived in a shared house with a cement floor and white putty walls. The small house had six bunk beds crammed into it, with men and women living together.
Xu Jiqing was fine, but when Lin Yuezhen took Xu Jiaojiao to change clothes, they could only use a curtain to cover themselves. Someone could push the door open at any time, so there was no privacy at all.
No matter how many problems the tube-shaped building has, at least it is quiet and can leave them with a little dignity.
Xu Jiqing greeted the old lady, took out his key and went in.
The room was not big, and a sliding door separated a small bedroom where Xu Jiaojiao slept wrapped in a small blanket.
It was dark outside. Lin Yuezhen was squatting on the ground packing her luggage, her thin body curled up. When she heard the door lock click, she moved a little and turned back. "Ah Qing is back. Are you hungry?"
Xu Jiqing shook his head and said, "I ate it when I picked up Xu Jiaojiao from school."
There is a fast food chain in front of the primary school. The chicken leg set meal is 18 yuan, and you can add as much rice as you want.
Xu Jiaojiao was small and had a small appetite, so she was hungry after finishing the meat. With the remaining meat scraps and the side dishes, Xu Jiqing ate two bowls of white rice.
He is not particular about food, as long as he can fill his stomach.
Xu Jiqing put down the pink schoolbag on his back, bent down beside Lin Yuezhen, and put the old clothes that the woman had folded into the closet.
They didn't bring much stuff with them this time when they came to Jiangcheng. The pile of clothes looked quite high, but a closer look revealed that most of them were cotton coats and sweaters for autumn and winter.
Almost all of them are women's styles.
Xu Jiqing’s several school uniforms were placed on the top, some from his previous school and some newly issued today.
He was tall, so unlike Lin Yuezhen, who needed to stand on a stool, he could just raise his hand to put the bedding up high.
Lin Yuezhen stood up, looked at Zi's back for a moment, and spoke carefully, "How was your registration at school today? Did the transfer procedures go smoothly? Did the school leaders give you any trouble?"
"No," Xu Jiqing said without turning around, closing the cabinet door, "It's all done."
Lin Yuezhen breathed a sigh of relief.
"Teacher Li called me this afternoon and said No. 1 Middle School is pretty good. Although it's not as famous as some other provincial key schools for math competitions, they're willing to spend money, and it's gotten better and better over the past two years."
Mr. Li was his competition coach when he was studying in Ontario.
When he heard the name of his old friend, he didn't react much and just said "hmm" without any emotion.
The air in the room was stuffy and there was only a small electric fan blowing towards Xu Jiaojiao's feet.
Amid the humming of the fan blades, beads of sweat trickled down the boy's forehead. Lin Yuezhen saw this and felt so guilty she could barely speak. "...A Qing, will you blame Mom?"
"If it weren't for transferring Jiaojiao's enrollment so she could go to school, you would have had a better school to choose from. But Jiaojiao's situation is too special. If it weren't for you, no normal elementary school would be willing to accept her..."
She reached out and tried to touch his back.
Xu Jiqing pursed his lips and hid, "As long as I can make the provincial team, it doesn't matter which school I go to."
He doesn't like physical contact, and even hates it.
Whether it's her or anyone else.
Lin Yuezhen felt so empty inside when he flashed her eyes, and her eyes quickly turned red. "It's all Mom's fault... If it weren't for what happened back then, our family would still be fine."
The same dialogue is played out several times in this house every day.
Half a year ago, she would cry to the neighbor's housewife, but after being hurt by rumors several times, she never opened her heart to outsiders again.
Xu Jiaojiao was still young and ignorant, and her grown-up son became her only emotional outlet.
Xu Jiqing could repeat every word she said next.
The tone and wording are exactly right.
The woman's voice already had a tearful tone.
Xu Jiqing didn't respond. After she calmed down for a while, he changed the subject and asked, "Is Xu Jiaojiao's hearing aid charged?"
"She was so excited on her first day at the new school that she kept wearing it."
Lin Yuezhen's thoughts were suddenly interrupted, and she looked at the small table beside the bed. "Jiaojiao charged it herself before going to bed."
"She came back and didn't say anything, but I was still worried."
Even though she knew her daughter couldn't hear, the woman subconsciously lowered her voice. "She originally bought an adult model, and the ear hooks are a bit loose. Normally, when she's sitting in the classroom and her hair is covering them, maybe no one will notice. But if she runs around in physical education class in the future and this thing falls off, I'm worried she'll be bullied in class."
The fan brought a cool breeze, and the little girl was sleeping soundly, with a small blanket covering her belly and her lips pouting.
There is a red spot behind my ear, which is caused by prickly heat from covering myself up during the day.
Xu Jiqing glanced at her and said, "Now there are those invisible custom hearing aids that can be made very small. Xu Jiaojiao can also use them."
Lin Yuezhen was stunned for a moment, "...it must be quite a lot of money."
"good."
Xu Jiqing said in a normal tone, "I'll take her there in a few months, you don't have to worry about it."
He downplayed it, but Lin Yuezhen knew that it was definitely not a small amount.
Ever since Xu Jiaojiao got into trouble, Xu Jiqing has given her money every year.
In the early years, I worked the night shift loading and unloading in a cold storage. When I started playing in the mathematics league, I joined the Ontario Mathematics Competition Provincial Team and started working as a tutor and sparring partner.
For almost three years, Xu Jiqing has not had a weekend off, and every day and night during the winter and summer vacations is filled with work.
He is obviously only seventeen years old.
He's just a child.
Lin Yuezhen knew that she had failed in her duty as a mother, but she couldn't say anything nice like asking him to rest.
Xu Jiaojiao is still young, and as long as she can have a cochlear implant as early as possible, there is still hope that she can regain normal communication ability.
Not to mention the cochlear implants that cost two or three hundred thousand dollars, just to maintain the current language ability, a lot of money will be spent on rehabilitation training every year.
She has been cowardly and mediocre in her life and owes her son too much. How can she let her daughter be inferior to others?
They are a family.
Let's grit our teeth and get through these few years together, and everything will be fine.
On the other side of the sliding door, Xu Jiaojiao seemed to have had a nightmare. She hid in the quilt with her pillow in her arms, and there was a faint sound of sobbing like a small animal.
Lin Yuezhen got up hurriedly and said, "I'll go and comfort Jiaojiao. You go to bed early."
"The landlady sent me a box of eggs. If you're home tomorrow, cook them and eat them with your sister."
Xu Jiqing said "hmm".
Just as he was about to turn around, the woman called him back, "Are you back with some candy? For Jiaojiao?"
Lin Yuezhen glanced at the black schoolbag on the ground.
Xu Jiqing raised his eyes and saw the bag of gummy candies that Su Xia had stuffed into his hand tonight. It couldn't fit in the zipper anymore, so he put it in the net bag where he usually kept his water cup.
Having just settled in a foreign land, my younger sister urgently needs something to comfort her.
He didn't like sweets, so he didn't want to fight with the child for a few bites of candy. He gave it to him as usual, but for the first time, he felt the urge to protect his food.
This emotion is so unfamiliar.
Xu Jiqing himself couldn't figure out the reason, but for once he wanted to follow his heart.
His voice was a little hoarse, "A classmate bought it."
"For me."
He added.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
