Chapter 128 Crabs
Perhaps because it was the day before school started, Luo Hong's shop was very lively, with many people coming to buy or repair cars throughout the night.
Especially those bicycles that have been exposed to wind and sun all summer, each one needs a major overhaul.
Luo Hong was too busy, but since a childhood friend was there, he naturally took the opportunity to order him around.
Luo Yan was engrossed in the ending of the novel, so Zhou Weifang was also working with great enthusiasm. However, he vaguely felt that something was strange. Suddenly, he looked down and realized that he had been wearing clean clothes that night, and now they were all ruined.
Even so, Luo Hong said to him, "Why are you wearing white clothes? Tsk tsk, there aren't enough for you to wash."
He never wears light colors.
Zhou Weifang kept giving him the middle finger, mouthing a hundred curse words.
Come on, let's start cursing!
Luo Hong leaned closer, taunting, "If you're so capable, speak louder."
Zhou Weifang hesitated for a moment, then punched him and locked his neck: "Pretty smug, huh?"
Who's the villain?
Luo Yan closed her book temporarily, looked up, saw the two of them wrestling, and reminded them, "Don't damage the car."
Luo Hong had recently brought in a lot of goods, making the already cramped space even more crowded. It was indeed possible for someone to bump into someone with the slightest movement. But as he pondered his sister's words, he realized something was amiss: "No, it's okay if someone bumps into you?"
Luo Yan shrugged: "Anyway, you're tough as nails."
Luo Hong nudged his childhood friend: "Did you hear that? I'm talking to you."
Zhou Weifang also elbowed him: "You're so delicate and tender."
The two started arguing again, only stopping when they saw customers. They continued working on and off until 10 o'clock.
Zhou Weifang was in a hurry to get back to the store to hand over his shift. Before leaving, he asked, "Yanyan, what do you want to eat for lunch tomorrow?"
Luo Yan frowned in distress, and Zhou Weifang knew it, saying, "Then I'll decide what to buy."
With the helper gone, Luo Hong was left to finish up.
He finished his work, turned around and saw his sister still reading a novel. He went over and flicked her head: "You're having a good time, aren't you?"
Luo Yan said earnestly, "Don't rush me, don't rush me, this is my last page."
What do you mean the last page? Luo Hong clearly saw her flip through seven or eight pages in a row. He thought that she could get a good night's sleep after reading this, so he didn't say anything.
Luo Yan jumped up, saying, "No, the bathhouse will close soon if we stay any longer."
Instead, she became anxious and straddled the bicycle, shouting, "Hurry, hurry, hurry!"
Luo Hong locked the door: "You're really one to believe anything you hear."
He rarely rambled on like that: "Ride your bike slowly."
Luo Yan said, "I know, I know," and felt even more energized thinking about the shower gel she had just bought today. After arriving home, she hurriedly went back to her room to get her clothes.
But no matter how fast she was, she still timed it perfectly to coincide with the moment when people were about to wash in the pool.
Aunt Liu, who was cleaning, also lived in this alley. When she saw her, she said, "It's okay, you wash yours, I'll sweep mine."
That's what people say, but Luo Yan can't really wash it slowly.
She came out shortly after, almost at the same time as her brother.
Luo Hong looked at her suspiciously and asked, "Did you get this wet?"
Luo Yan retorted irritably, "Do you think I'm like you?!"
She then raised her hand to show off: "My new shower gel, doesn't it smell great?"
Although Luo Hong had never seen this thing before, he knew what it was for as soon as he heard it, and said, "No matter how fragrant it is, it's still a bathing thing."
"I really can't talk to him," Luo Yan said. "I wish I had an older sister or a younger sister."
Good heavens, Luo Hongguang was terrified just imagining it: "If they have a pair of trumpets, will this family ever have a peaceful day again?"
Luo Yan was speechless for a moment, so she could only kick her brother: "You're no better than him."
Luo Hong gasped in pain: "Then Zhou Weifang and I are equally bad."
Why bring him up out of the blue?
Luo Yan instinctively wanted to retort: "I wasn't talking about now, I was talking about when I was a child."
Now they're even speaking up for others," Luo Hong said sarcastically, drawing out the last syllable.
Luo Yan tugged at his sleeve: "Brother!!"
"Alright, alright," Luo Hong said, ruffling his sister's hair. "You're so good at acting cute."
Luo Yan was really clever; she managed to get ten yuan from her brother's pocket in the end, after going through all sorts of twists and turns.
Luo Hong suspected that if he hadn't just come to the bathhouse without much money on him, he would have been "swindled" out of his entire fortune.
For some reason, he began to feel sorry for his childhood friend, thinking that given Zhou Weifang's current obedient nature, he probably wouldn't have a good future.
However, in his opinion, Zhou Weifang should be quite happy with it. Since that's the case, why should he bother?
Luo Hong murmured, "He deserves it."
Who? Luo Yan looked at her brother while holding the money, then realized she should be talking about herself. She calmly put the money in her pocket and happily said, "I'm going to sleep now, goodnight."
Luo Hong suddenly remembered that his biggest wish when he was a child was that his younger sister could be happy every day—the simplest meaning of these four words was that he hoped she wouldn't always cry.
He still holds this view, only now it can be interpreted in a wider range of ways.
Just as her family wished, Luo Yan has indeed grown into a happy person every day. She even has wonderful dreams. The next day at breakfast, she shared, "I dreamed that I would get first place in this semester's exams."
To put it bluntly, Liu Yinfeng wasn't really hoping her daughter would get first place. After all, her daughter was already studying hard and had excellent grades, so she wouldn't have to worry about finding a job in the future, and she could even take some time to play with her friends from time to time.
If you really want to be number one, wouldn't you have to study incredibly hard, like hanging your head from a beam or pricking your thigh with an awl? It's not worth it, really not worth it.
But she couldn't dampen her daughter's enthusiasm, so she said, "Of course she can. Who's more capable than our girl?"
That was Luo Yan sitting proudly in the chair, swaying slightly, her braids bobbing back and forth.
Luo Hong glanced at his younger sister and, unusually, noticed: "Is that a new dress you're wearing today?"
Luo Yan rolled her eyes slightly: "You said the same thing when I wore it last time."
"Really?" Luo Hong couldn't remember, but knowing that he would be scolded no matter what he said, he simply pretended to be deaf and dumb and brushed it off.
But Luo Yan wouldn't let him off the hook. She criticized him vehemently and even chased after her brother as they left.
"Finally gone!" Luo Xinmin, who had been shivering like a quail all morning, breathed a sigh of relief. "I also thought Yanyan was wearing a new dress."
Liu Yinfeng, who hadn't really wanted to laugh before, was now delighted: "It's new anyway."
Huh? Luo Xinmin shook his head helplessly: "My son is right, my sister is sometimes full of bad ideas."
Luo Yan, who is full of wicked schemes, is now riding her bicycle with a smug smile on her face.
Luo Hong thought his sister was happy because school was starting. Although he found it strange that someone would like studying so much, he thought it was a good thing that he was spared. He even sped up as they approached Jiaotong University.
Luo Yan was already slow at riding in a skirt, and now she couldn't keep up at all.
But the first day of school was nothing more than distributing textbooks and holding meetings, so she wasn't in a hurry and leisurely made her way to school.
Even so, she had already anticipated this.
The classrooms, which were empty all summer, were covered in dust. Students who gathered in a particular classroom were responsible for cleaning that classroom.
Since Luo Yan had nothing to do anyway, she took out the cleaning tools she had brought—her brother's old towel—and wet it in the bathroom at the end of the corridor.
After wiping a few tables, the students gradually arrived and, under the class monitor's direction, divided the work among themselves.
With so many people around, dust flew everywhere, but nobody cared, chattering away. Even Luo Yan was no exception, joining Ji Ning to wipe the windows.
It feels like I haven't done anything all morning, and time just slips away like that.
It was almost lunchtime when Luo Yan, carrying her newly issued textbooks, went to the car dealership. She was calling out "Brother, brother" from three meters away from the store entrance.
Instead of Luo Hong coming, Zhou Weifang rushed out and, with great tact, took the things from her hands, saying, "Why didn't you ride your bike out?"
Luo Yan added, "The bicycles are parked haphazardly today. Mine is surrounded and I can't move it out."
Zhou Weifang: "I'll move it later."
Luo Yan was also worried that it would be difficult for her to walk home from school at night, so she didn't refuse and waved her hand, saying, "I have a lot of classes this semester."
Zhou Weifang knew the weight as soon as he picked them up, put them on the shelf, and said, "Wash your hands and eat first."
Luo Yan said "Oh," then realized, "Where's my brother?"
She initially thought her brother hadn't come to help because Zhou Weifang was there.
Zhou Weifang: "They asked him to come and collect the car from their door."
No wonder.
Luo Yan washed her hands, sat down, and unceremoniously opened the lunchbox lid, exclaiming with delight, "There are crabs!"
With the eighth month of the lunar calendar approaching, it's the perfect season for crabs. Zhou Weifang said, "I happened to see some at the market today."
"Bought it at the market?" Luo Yan smelled it. "Then did you make this?"
Her eyes instantly shifted from anticipation at the sight of food to distrust. Zhou Weifang said, "Don't worry, it wasn't me. I only have one packet of salt in my shop, how could I possibly make such a big dish?"
That's true. Luo Yan picked up her chopsticks with peace of mind, but when she reached out to eat, she remembered to be polite and looked up at him.
Zhou Weifang: "Don't worry about me, you eat. I still have two cars to repair."
Seeing her hesitation, he urged, "I brought this especially for you, and it's all cold now."
Luo Yan touched the edge of the lunchbox: "Have you been here long?"
Zhou Weifang: "I took it to Hongmin's shop to cook. There were a lot of customers at noon, and I felt bad taking up his stove, so I cooked it a little early."
That's to be expected. Luo Yan used her molars to bite open the crab claws: "But it's still very delicious."
Zhou Weifang, holding a screwdriver, said, "If you like it, I'll buy it tomorrow."
Seafood is expensive every year, especially live seafood like crabs.
Luo Yan: "No need, just want to try something new."
Zhou Weifang: "We only eat this for half a month a year, so we can afford it."
"Who's 'us' to him?" Luo Yan didn't respond, only asking, "What are you doing at the market?"
Zhou Weifang: "Go and see how other people sell fruit."
Luo Yan had actually seen very few of them, saying, "My mom says the fruit at the market isn't very good."
Since the fruit and vegetable company was a state-owned enterprise, the best quality produce was naturally sent to the state-run stores first, and the rest were sold wholesale. Therefore, the produce sold at small stalls in the vegetable market was of slightly lower quality.
Zhou Weifang: "It's really just average, but quite a few people still buy it."
Of course, people would buy them. After all, during the years when supplies were most scarce, even bananas had to be bought by the piece with ration coupons. People developed a tolerance for food during those difficult times, and they didn't pick and choose anything they could eat.
Luo Yan: "When your store opens, there will be many people."
"Then I'll take your good wishes."
When the topic turned to Ji, Luo Yan shared her dream from the previous night with him.
Zhou Weifang was surprised that she even dreamed about studying, and said with a mix of amusement and exasperation, "First place, I'm sure I can get first place."
Luo Yan knew it was unlikely: "I'm here eating crabs now, while the top student in our class has already read ten pages of the new book."
Zhou Weifang was truly impressed by these people, saying, "Crabs are much more delicious than knowledge."
That's true. Luo Yan ate with even more relish, and after finishing, she patted her stomach and thought: I've had quite a haul today.
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Author's note: Goodnight
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