Chapter 146 Chat
On the second day of the National Day holiday, Luo Yan had a lot planned for herself.
She got up early to meet Wu Huifang. The two girls sat on a park bench, eating breakfast and talking badly about others.
Wu Huifang had so much to say, she kept holding the steamed bun in her hand without taking a bite, and chattered on and on: "He He Wuwei is the most amazing person in the whole world, he always has that sour face, I don't know who he's showing it to, like everyone owes him a hundred or two hundred yuan..."
Luo Yan knew who He Wuwei was, because his name was so unique that she would never forget it after hearing it just once. Moreover, her friend complained about him two or three times a year. She just asked in confusion, "Why did he move into your yard?"
Wu Huifang looked up at the sky and sighed, "So it's heaven's will to kill me. My mother always compared me to him, and now they've moved next door. I really can't go on living like this."
Luo Yan comforted her, "I remember he was studying in Tianjin and didn't come back often."
Wu Huifang held her friend's hand with a sigh: "The New Year is just around the corner."
Luo Yan laughed out loud: "Even a thoroughbred horse wouldn't be this fast, and it's only been October."
He added, "How about this, we can study together on weekends from now on. As long as you do well on your final exams, your aunt and uncle shouldn't say anything more."
Wu Huifang immediately let go of her hand: "Then I'll let them nag me a bit, at least that way I'll still be alive."
Luo Yan feigned anger: "Is learning from me that scary?"
Wu Huifang clicked her tongue and shook her head: "You don't even let people get distracted."
What kind of talk is this? Luo Yan: "How can you study if you're distracted? Besides, you're distracted far too much."
Wu Huifang covered her ears: "I don't want to hear it, I don't want to hear it."
Then she teased, "So you're not going on a date?"
Luo Yan rubbed the soles of her shoes on the ground, touched her face, and thought of Zhou Weifang.
Wu Huifang nudged her with her shoulder: "You're hesitating? Are we still good friends?"
Luo Yan immediately took her hand: "Of course."
Wu Huifang was just joking, and then changed the subject.
As they chatted, Luo Yan brought up what happened yesterday: "I don't understand why we have to spend the New Year at my husband's family's house after getting married. I can barely handle my own relatives, let alone have to go to someone else's house."
Wu Huifang echoed this sentiment: "I also feel it's unfair. Can't we just live comfortably in our own homes?"
Anyway, Luo Yan had made up her mind: "I'm not going anywhere, I'm going to stay at home."
That's great, Wu Huifang: "Your parents will definitely agree. My parents would just say that you're married now and can't be so willful."
"How can this be called willful? I think they're being too..."
Because they were her friend's parents, Luo Yan was more restrained in her choice of words.
But Wu Huifang didn't care: "It's extremely feudal, especially my father. He probably inherited all the genes from my old scholar ancestors."
Since they themselves said so, Luo Yan launched into a scathing critique of these old traditions, and the two of them went back and forth.
Finally, Luo Yan slapped her thigh and said, "I need to have a talk with Zhou Weifang."
What to talk about? Wu Huifang: "Isn't it too early to talk about marriage now?"
Luo Yan felt, "I'm sentimental. It would be too heartbreaking if we couldn't reach an agreement later."
"That's right," Wu Huifang nodded, and seeing that it was almost time, she said, "Let's go, I need to get to Grandma's house before noon."
Luo Yan was going to the Beijing Hotel, which was in a different direction from her friend's.
She rode her bike alone, trying to find the right words, but for some reason, the more she thought about it, the angrier she became, and she was aggressive whenever she saw Zhou Weifang.
Did you have a fight with your friend? Zhou Weifang, keeping a low profile, asked, "What happened?"
Luo Yan looked slightly serious: "I have something to tell you."
So this is my problem? Zhou Weifang really couldn't figure out what he had done, but seeing her not-so-good expression, he said nervously, "Shall we go inside and talk?"
Standing here doesn't seem like a big deal, so Luo Yan followed him inside.
The waiter led them to their seats and brought them menus to wait on the side.
What could Luo Yan say? She could only place her order first.
Zhou Weifang watched her cautiously the whole time, and her heart clenched when the menu was taken away.
Luo Yan: "We made a three-point agreement before, and I only mentioned one of them, didn't I?"
Zhou Weifang was startled: "I didn't tell anyone, but your school already knows?"
Luo Yan: "No, I meant to say the second point."
Zhou Weifang was so frightened that he almost broke out in a cold sweat. He breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Tell me, I will definitely do it."
Luo Yan first laid the groundwork: "Our family is small, there have always been four people."
Zhou Weifang waited for her to continue, his heart slowly rising, hoping that she wouldn't say something like "the fifth person is not welcome" in the end. He felt like everything was going dark.
Seeing that he had frozen in place, Luo Yan asked, "Are you even listening to me?"
Zhou Weifang nodded absentmindedly: "Yanyan, is there something I did wrong?"
Luo Yan felt that he was like a broken vase that had been poorly glued back together, about to fall apart again with the slightest breeze: "What are you thinking? I was just saying that if we get married in the future, I also want to spend the holidays at home."
Zhou Weifang said with a sigh of relief, "Yanyan, next time let's not beat around the bush when talking about these things, okay? I was scared to death."
He finally caught his breath: "Whatever you say, we'll go wherever you want."
Luo Yan's eyes lit up, but she still felt she was being reasonable: "If you're not going to listen to me, do you want to come?"
Zhou Weifang took a sip of water to calm himself down, and hesitated for a moment: "Yanyan, our family is different from yours."
The Zhou family didn't have a very close relationship, and many trivial matters even arose that caused him a lot of annoyance. Every time he received a phone call, he would think to himself, "What happened now?"
Even just talking about it, he felt inexplicably tired, touching the side of the cup: "Actually, my parents weren't that good or bad to me. When I was a child, everyone was poor. It was normal to not have enough to eat or wear. The adults were busy making money and didn't have time to take care of me. Anyway, if I made a mistake, they would beat me. If one beating wasn't enough, they would beat me twice."
"Maybe I'm just naturally rebellious. I never seem to behave when I'm punished, and they probably think I'm hard to teach. When I went to the countryside..."
“I didn’t have to rush to go to the countryside. After all, my older brother and sister had already gone, and I was still quite young. But my parents wanted me to go, saying that my personality was the best fit for them to get some experience. I knew it was because my brother was getting married and there was no room for us at home. They only valued my eldest brother, since he was the eldest son.”
Zhou Weifang paused here, saying helplessly, "All of this combined is not as deadly as this one tear you shed."
Luo Yan pressed her palms against her eyes, biting her lip to try and hold back the tears, but they still dripped down. Afraid that others would see, she quickly lowered her head.
Zhou Weifang wiped her face with a tissue: "Don't cry, okay? I won't say anymore, I'll buy you ice cream."
Luo Yan sniffed: "But I also want to know about you."
Zhou Weifang teased her on purpose: "Don't you keep all those old grievances in your books?"
Luo Yan smiled faintly and extended her hand: "Let's hold hands."
Just a moment later, Zhou Weifang squeezed her fingers and then called over a waiter: "Hello, could we change to a private room?"
The waiter politely said, "Our private rooms require an additional charge of ten yuan."
As expected of a hotel catering to foreign guests, who would be willing to give up money that earns them RMB?
But Zhou Weifang readily agreed without much hesitation, adding, "We'd also like an ice cream."
The waiter led them to a small private room, rearranged the tableware, poured tea, and then left.
Perhaps because no one was around, Luo Yan's emotions, which had calmed down considerably, were stirred up again.
She sat down next to Zhou Weifang, rested her head on his shoulder, and hugged his arm.
Normally, Zhou Weifang would be overjoyed.
But he couldn't laugh now. He gently patted her head and coaxed her, "Actually, I was quite happy when I was in the Production and Construction Corps. I'll take you to see it sometime. It's a huge place, with vast skies and open fields. When herding sheep, you can lie down on the grassland and feel so comfortable. Just imagine, it's a pastoral area, so it's so convenient to get meat, and..."
Luo Yan sat up straight and stared at him, her lips pursed in a pitiful manner.
Zhou Weifang immediately surrendered: "Such days are rare. The Corps is there to do construction, planting trees, blasting mountains, clearing wasteland, you name it. I originally thought Beijing would be the place to work, but I had a nosebleed for the first week. Back then, I would often look towards Beijing while working, but I couldn't see anything."
He took a deep breath as he said this, thinking to himself: I can't believe I still remember all of this.
The two looked at each other in silence. Just then, the waiter came to serve the food. Seeing this, the waiter put down the plate and left without saying a word.
Zhou Weifang said, "Eat first, or it will get cold."
He coaxed her, "Shall I feed you?"
Luo Yan's voice was still trembling with sobs: "I'm not a child."
Zhou Weifang: "Okay, then let's have a proper meal first, big kid."
Luo Yan didn't want to swallow her tears; she just ate one bite and glanced at him.
Zhou Weifang joked, "How do I make you look good with rice?"
Luo Yan finally smiled: "Shameless."
Zhou Weifang grinned and leaned closer, saying, "No, you can have them all."
Luo Yan pinched his cheek: "Okay, I'll take it."
Zhou Weifang was taken aback: "I feel like I'm being teased."
What should flirting be like? Luo Yan pouted and tried to whistle a rascal's tune, but the sound came out broken and incoherent.
It would be unreasonable for Zhou Weifang not to kiss her; he had a roguish look on his face.
Luo Yan glared at him, and he immediately became obedient and compliant.
She said, "You weren't like this in the military, were you?"
Zhou Weifang: "I swear, you are the only girl I've ever liked in my life."
When asked about this, Luo Yan said, "I just feel that you are very different from when you were a child after you returned to the city."
Zhou Weifang: "No matter what, Beijing is our own territory."
He was born and raised here, and he was quite influential in the small alley. At fifteen or sixteen, he was at the prime of his life, and he certainly suffered a lot.
Luo Yan hadn't seen much of the world, but she could guess what was going on, and she held his hand.
This time, she didn't shed tears, and Zhou Weifang even praised her, saying, "She's very strong."
Luo Yan rarely swore: "My ass is being strong."
Look how angry Zhou Weifang is: "People say that great things come from small beginnings, and I've definitely made it big now. All that suffering wasn't for nothing."
Luo Yan, having seemingly opened the floodgates, added, "Bullshit! Accumulated knowledge and experience leading to a breakthrough."
Zhou Weifang really wanted to laugh, so she pinched the little mouth that had just made her swear: "I feel really good right now, really, God has finally been kind to me."
He had been dissatisfied and resentful, but the youthful rage was like a knife that only wounded himself, gradually wearing him down in the distance.
Luo Yan said solemnly, "We will definitely get better and better."
She was talking about us, and Zhou Weifang beamed with joy just thinking of those two words.
As a child, he often fantasized about what a real home should look like, and now he has finally sketched out a rough outline of it.
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Author's note: Goodnight
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