Chapter 81 (Second Update)
No matter how much his childhood friend hinted or suggested, Zhou Weifang kept staying until closing time.
Luo Hong knew his business was good, so he said to his sister when she wasn't looking, "Let's see how late you can stay up tonight."
Zhou Weifang thought to himself, "I'll just have to endure it." He said, "It doesn't matter. I'm pretty good at enduring hardship."
Besides, he didn't feel that it was bitter.
After all, they were best friends for over twenty years, so Luo Hong advised, "Let it go."
They didn't explicitly say which matter was left unresolved, but everyone knew.
Zhou Weifang smiled and said nothing. He walked with the siblings for a while, then they went their separate ways at the intersection.
The brother and sister turned into the alley and met He Lei as they entered the courtyard.
Although we all grew up together in the same alley and are collectively called childhood friends, there are always degrees of closeness between people.
Luo Hong wasn't actually that familiar with him, but he still exclaimed with delight, "It's been so many years since we last met!"
He Lei also stopped to exchange pleasantries with him, and the two of them blocked the passage.
Luo Yan was too embarrassed to ask people to move aside, so she could only stand there holding onto the handlebars, lost in thought.
Fortunately, they didn't have much to talk about; they exchanged a few polite words, then sat down and that was the end of it.
Luo Yan breathed a sigh of relief and showed her arm to her brother after everyone left: "If you hadn't finished talking, I would have bitten myself into a hornet's nest."
Luo Hong said with disdain, "Why do you attract so many mosquitoes?"
Luo Yan was still aggrieved: "If I had known, I would have been bitten like this?"
"That's true," Luo Hong said, parking his bicycle and stepping into the wide-open front door. "Mom, your daughter is going to be eaten alive by mosquitoes."
She can't even speak properly. Liu Yinfeng: "Don't make it sound so scary."
Then she said, "Yanyan, let Mom take a look."
Luo Yan whined and pleaded with her mother. After taking a bath, she used floral water to "marinate" herself. Without realizing it, she rubbed her eyes and was so irritated that tears streamed down her face.
Liu Yinfeng was in the room applying ointment to the areas her daughter couldn't reach when she chuckled and said, "How can you be so careless?"
Luo Yan looked at her mother with teary eyes and sniffled.
It was truly pitiful, but Liu Yinfeng really wanted to laugh, so she held it in and said, "Go wash your hands."
Then I'd have to wear a vest, Luo Yan said, "I'm too lazy to move."
She pulled her clothes up and lay down, her eyes almost closed.
Liu Yinfeng helped her daughter turn off the lights and close the door. She went to the living room and saw the father and son whispering to each other. She leaned over and asked, "Who are you talking about behind their backs?"
Luo Hong retorted, "Can't we talk about something positive and uplifting?"
Liu Yinfeng: "Okay, okay, go ahead and try. I'm going to sleep now."
Luo Xinmin was just chatting with his son when he heard this, so he stood up as well.
The couple also turned off the living room lights as well.
In the pitch black, Luo Hong shouted, "I'm still here!"
I almost forgot about him. Liu Yinfeng said, "You should go to sleep early too, don't waste electricity."
After saying that, he didn't turn on the light again, went into the room, and closed the door.
Using the faint light coming from his parents' room, Luo Hong felt his way back to his own room.
He didn't go to bed that early; he lay in bed reading a few more pages of a martial arts novel. Just as he was about to close his eyes, he heard his sister tap the wooden board in response.
It wasn't even midnight yet, and there were still a couple of people scattered around in the alley.
Grandpa Wang from courtyard number 34 moved his reclining chair to the doorway, fanning himself with his palm-leaf fan, and opened his eyes wide whenever someone passed by.
Luo Yan was easily startled; her eyes widened even more than others', her heart pounding, and she complained in a low voice, "Just going to the toilet, and it's fraught with danger."
Luo Hong: "When I have money, I'll buy you a house with a toilet."
Luo Yan: "I don't doubt that you will have money in the future, but I'm afraid that even if you have the money, you won't be able to buy it."
Nowadays, only high-ranking officials in Beijing can afford to live in those kinds of houses. There aren't enough houses for all the employees in each work unit, so who would be willing to sell them off?
That sounded good to hear, so Luo Hong said, "Then I'll build one for you."
Luo Yan couldn't decide for a moment whether it was more difficult to build one or buy one. She was still thinking about it after using the restroom, saying, "I really meant it."
Luo Hong: "A man's word is his bond."
Luo Yan felt increasingly pleased with herself, even dreaming about it during her nap, and telling her mother about it the next morning.
Speaking of this, Liu Yinfeng said, "He should think about how he'll get married first."
These three east-facing rooms belong to the Luo family; their per capita living space has always been above the Beijing average. But if their son had stayed at the bicycle factory, the factory would have provided him with a dormitory when he got married—unlike now…
She feels pressured just talking about it, but she doesn't mention it when her son leaves his room.
However, the house was only so big and not soundproof at all. Luo Hong actually heard it, but he pretended not to hear it and sat down to eat breakfast.
As the family of four ate, Liu Yinfeng finished the last mouthful of porridge and said, "I'm sweeping the streets today, so just leave the bowls after you finish eating. I'll clean them up when I get back."
There is a duty roster in the alley, and each household has to take turns sending someone to clean. At most, it happens twice a year.
Those who work or go to school stay at home, and Liu Yinfeng is the one who does this job every year.
She brought her own tools from home and followed the instructions of Sister Liu from the neighborhood committee, sweeping from the entrance of courtyard number 55 all the way to courtyard number 76.
After finally finishing sweeping, I returned the way I came and saw a pile of coal ash at the entrance of No. 63 courtyard. I stood with my hands on my hips and said angrily, "Who is it that is so inconsiderate?"
Of course, no one would come forward to admit it, so she could only scan it one more time and walk home, waving her hands.
Before she even arrived, she overheard Chen Xiangyun bragging about her son He Lei to the neighbors again. She thought to herself that the same old thing was never going to end, and walked past without trying to hide her expression.
But Chen Xiangyun insisted on calling out to her, "Yinfeng, are you sweeping the floor?"
Isn't that obvious? Everyone in the alley knows that Liu Yinfeng and she fought, so there's no need for her to pretend to be a respectable person. She can just say, "Can't you tell?"
The two families lived in courtyards facing each other, so it was Chen Xiangyun's turn to be on duty today.
She said, "Not to be rude, but we're getting on in years, we should ask the kids to lend a hand. Our Leizi helped me out early this morning..."
Okay, okay, Liu Yinfeng said, "He rarely gets a day off, so it's only right that he helps you with the work. Our whole family is busy."
Chen Xiangyun deliberately asked, "Didn't Luo Hong resign? Why haven't I seen him?"
Everyone in the alley knows that his son is running his own business.
Liu Yinfeng brushed the dust off her clothes: "I'm off to open the shop."
Chen Xiangyun pretended to be hearing this for the first time and said in surprise, "Open a shop? I'm telling you, you still need to have a proper job..."
Liu Yinfeng got angry: "Who are you calling indecent?"
At times like this, whoever gets angry first is at a disadvantage. Chen Xiangyun covered her mouth and said, "It's my fault, I just spoke bluntly."
Seeing that things were getting out of hand, some neighbors tried to smooth things over, fearing that the two would start arguing: "Many people who run their own businesses are doing quite well. Times have changed."
Liu Yinfeng knew, of course, that most people thought that running a small business was a waste of time, especially her son who came from a good company. Even if she thought so in her heart, she would still say, "Exactly, don't you read the newspapers? A lot of people in the south have become rich."
If even she speaks ill of her son in public, how heartbroken would the child be?
There's no such thing as getting rich; there are only a handful of people who make their fortunes by setting up stalls all over the streets.
Chen Xiangyun curled her lip in disdain, her words full of sarcasm.
Liu Yinfeng couldn't stand it, so she threw down her broom and started fighting with her.
He wasn't seriously injured, but he was very upset.
There are no secrets in the alley. Sparrow came to visit Luo Hong in the afternoon and mentioned this matter to him.
Luo Hong couldn't sit still any longer: "Is my mom alright? No, I have to go back and check on her."
Sparrow: "Auntie is fine. I just saw her chatting at the gate of the yard."
That's good, Luo Hong was relieved, but he was still unhappy: "Why is it always her who talks so much?"
Actually, it wasn't just one or two people discussing this in the alley; even the sparrows couldn't quite understand it, considering how difficult it is to find a job these days.
He said, "Once you start making money, all this nonsense will definitely be gone."
"These?" Luo Hong grasped the key point: "It seems there's a lot of gossip going on."
The sparrow honestly replied, "Do you think it's possible to not have it?"
"That's true," Luo Hong poured him some tea. "Even my parents have their opinions."
Even if there were objections, I haven't heard of anything escalating.
Sparrow: "If this were my parents, they would hang me up and beat me so that everyone would know about it."
Luo Hong: "To be honest, I have nothing else to say about my life except that I was born into the best family."
Knowing that he was lucky, Sparrow took a sip of tea, looked around, and said casually, "You said it was at the entrance of Jiaotong University, I didn't expect it to be like this. Yanzi must come here every day."
Perhaps because of a precedent, Luo Hong has recently become particularly sensitive to his childhood friends mentioning his sister. He glanced at him and said, "No, she's in college and making friends, she's very busy."
There are many ways to understand the three concepts of making friends.
Sparrow's face stiffened: "Is that what I meant?"
Normally, Luo Hong doesn't like to talk about this kind of thing, since they haven't reached the point of marriage yet. But now his heart skipped a beat, and he immediately admitted, "Yes."
Sparrow paused, then asked, "Their classmates?"
Luo Hong wanted to sing Zhou Xiuhe's praises, saying, "He's from the next class, a really nice young man."
It sounds good. Sparrow: "It's suitable for geese, since they're all college students."
His affection was originally his own business; he didn't even try to win her over, so how could he lose her?
He didn't seem reluctant when he said that, and Luo Hong suspected that he now saw everyone as a "thief," so he reminded him, "Don't tell anyone."
Sparrow: "Do I look like someone who can't keep their mouth shut?"
Luo Hong still trusted him, and then changed the subject to something else.
Sparrow continued the conversation, then saw a customer say, "I'm going back. My mom is looking after the shop."
Luo Hong was busy greeting people, so he didn't see his childhood friend miss a step when getting on the bicycle and kick the rear wheel in frustration.
The one-man show that the sparrows hadn't even expected to begin came to an end at this moment.
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Author's note: Good night!
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