Ji Xia jumped off her bicycle and waved vigorously at Secretary Ji and Ji Zhijun: "Dad, Big Brother, we're back."
"Go home for dinner."
Secretary Ji waved to the surrounding villagers, chuckled, and led Ji Xia and his two sons home.
Back home, Ji Zhijun suddenly said in a low voice, "Little sister, I heard you're making money by sewing clothes in the city, is that right? Don't you have a job?"
"I do have a job, but I just earn some pocket money with a few colleagues."
Ji Xia explained for a while, then asked, still puzzled, "Who told you that?"
“Yang, the educated youth, came back to the brigade today and told us that a university professor has taken a liking to you, saying that your drawings are very beautiful and that he wants you to go to university.”
Ji Xia raised an eyebrow. So it was Yang Zhiqing who said it. She thought Liu Pianran had told someone else.
When Ji's mother saw her son and daughter return, she was overjoyed but then hurried back to the kitchen, as she hadn't cooked enough dinner.
Ji Xiangjun called out to her, "Mom, I bought meat buns, steamed buns, and a roast chicken. You don't need to cook any more!"
Ji's mother took the large bag of meat buns and white steamed buns, feeling both happy and distressed, and kept muttering to herself.
The son and daughter are the same; once they have a little money, they spend it recklessly.
Ji Xia then handed the brown sugar, milk candy, red dates, milk powder, and other items she had brought back to Zhang Hong.
Most of the nutritional supplements were given to her, and two packets of milk powder were left for Ji's parents.
When Zhang Hong saw her sister-in-law handing her bags of food, she couldn't help but smile. Her sister-in-law was indeed different from before.
She took Ji Xia's hand and looked at her face: "It seems you've really let go. I was wondering if you were still feeling down because you didn't want to come back for half a month at a time!"
"No, that's not true. I've just been a bit busy lately."
"I've heard about it too. I heard you make money by drawing and making clothes with other people, is that right?"
Zhang Hong looked at her sister-in-law with amazement. She had heard that a university professor had said she was talented and offered her a place at his own school.
The two chatted privately for a while, and then Zhang Hong looked curiously at Ji Xia's other large bag: "What's in this bag?"
"Good stuff, sister-in-law. I brought this back especially for you to make money."
Ji Xia rummaged through the scraps of cloth in her pocket and took out seven or eight samples of hair clips and hair ties. She then showed them to the hair clips on her head: "Sister-in-law, don't you think these are pretty?"
She tied three hair ties, each made of different scraps of fabric and sewn together with a rubber band, and showed them to Zhang Hong as she tied her hair.
Several hair clips were made of scraps of fabric, with flowers, stars and moon patterns pasted on them, and with the butterfly pattern on her head, each one was more beautiful than the last.
Zhang Hong had noticed the hair clip on her sister-in-law's forehead at first glance, and her eyes lit up when she heard this: "Making money? How does it make money?"
"I'll teach you after we eat. But your wife is pregnant now, so we'll call Chen Qiuyu tonight. You can't work too hard by yourself."
The two sisters-in-law walked out of the courtyard chatting and laughing. Ji Zhijun grinned and handed his wife a meat bun: "Ah Hong, come on, have a meat bun."
Mother Ji had already brought out a large pot of sweet potato porridge and placed it in the yard to cool. She also brought out the prepared steamed eggs, stir-fried vegetables, meat buns, and a whole plate of roast chicken to the dining table.
Ji Xia shook her head. Without the roast chicken and meat buns that Ji Xiangjun brought back, this dinner would be completely devoid of any oil or fat.
The group sat around the table enjoying their meal. Ji's mother put a meat bun in her bowl and suddenly asked, "Did you make a wedding dress for Liu Zhiqing?"
"Hmm, what's wrong?"
Everyone looked puzzled. Zhang Hong asked suspiciously, "Liu Zhiqing stole your fiancé, so why are you still making her a beautiful wedding dress?"
Ji Xia smiled dismissively: "Sister-in-law, you saw the wedding dress? You think it's beautiful too?"
"I didn't see it, but when Liu returned to the brigade, she wore the wedding dress in the educated youth courtyard for everyone to see. Everyone said the dress was beautiful, and Liu was as beautiful as a fairy..."
Ji Xia looked up and asked her mother, "Mom, what did Aunt Lin say? Does she like it?"
Ji's mother looked at her suspiciously: "Why ask her? With her personality, how could she possibly like it? I think she's very angry, as if she wants to tear her new clothes to shreds."
Ji Xia chuckled: "Is she angry? Mom, do you think she'd feel comfortable letting Liu Zhiqing go to school with her, given how pretty she is?"
After finishing a meat bun, Zhang Hong looked up at the question: "Let her go to school with you? Isn't Aunt Lin worried that Lin Haodong will make her forget her own mother in the countryside?"
Ji Xia gave a meaningful smile. Secretary Ji glanced at her with complicated eyes, but said to his wife and daughter-in-law in a deep voice, "Eating is someone else's business. Why bother with so much?"
Once the group moved on from that topic, Ji's mother asked about the university teachers.
Ji Xia briefly mentioned the university teacher she met today and her advice, and Ji's mother couldn't help but get excited.
"So, the teacher also told you to take the college entrance exam and go to university?"
Ji Xia nodded: "Yes, she mentioned it. The requirements for the academic subjects in the art academy entrance exam are not high. The most important thing is the professional subject. She told me to give it a try."
Upon hearing this, Ji's mother became excited: "So, my daughter will have no problem going to university."
"Don't spread rumors about things that are still far from being finalized."
After giving his wife and children some instructions, Secretary Ji earnestly told his daughter, "If you want to learn, then go ahead and learn. Don't worry about things at home."
Ji Xia smiled at her father and said, "Dad, don't worry, I know what I'm doing."
After dinner, Ji Xia went to Uncle Chen's house to find Chen Qiuyu.
The Chen family, a dozen or so members, were having their meal around the table when they saw Ji Xia standing outside the courtyard gate. Chen's mother stood up with a smile.
"It's Xia! Have you eaten yet?"
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