Chapter 51 Confidence
◎Family, big news...◎
After they tidied up a bit, Zhou Hong called and asked them to go for breakfast.
Zhao Yan didn't think there was anything wrong, but Jiang Siyue thought of what happened last night and pulled him.
He turned around, his eyes full of questions.
After thinking for a moment, he said, "The countryside may be different from Yunjing. The houses are different, and the people are different."
Zhao Yan nodded. Jiang Siyue took a breath and said, "If there's anything you don't want to do later, just pull me and I'll take care of it." Zhou Hong would definitely pull Zhao Yan out to display him like a human standee. By then, who knows what those unruly aunts and uncles might say, so she had to take precautions in advance.
"Or you can wait here and I'll bring it to you." Jiang Siyue thought of another way.
"No need." Zhao Yan then squeezed her hand lovingly and said, "Can you stand up for me now?"
"Of course." Jiang Siyue agreed reluctantly. She might not be able to outsmart the old ladies with words, but she could overturn the table if she got angry. "This is my territory."
"Okay!" Zhao Yan pursed his lips and smiled, then bowed slightly. "Then it's up to you, Teacher Jiang."
This made Jiang Siyue feel a little guilty. She hugged Zhao Yan's arm with a smirk and said, "Let's go."
At this moment, the sun had not risen completely, and the frost and dew on the roadside were very heavy. If you were not careful, your clothes would get wet. Jiang Siyue walked in front and "inadvertently" swept away all the dew.
As soon as they stepped into the family's yard, various questions followed. Jiang Siyue introduced them while quietly observing Zhao Yan's expression.
There was a faint smile on his calm face, and there was no impatience or disgust in his eyes. He would occasionally chat with those uncles and aunts, and was very decent when refusing their cigarettes and alcohol.
After chatting for a while, the aunt came up and handed her a white handkerchief. Jiang Siyue, who had been paying attention to Zhao Yan, did not miss the rejection that flashed in his eyes.
"Just roll it up like this and wear it on your head." Auntie handed it forward enthusiastically. Jiang Siyue took it quickly and put it in her own hands.
"Aunt, I can help him later." Jiang Siyue retorted, dragging Zhao Yan to the dining table, "Let's eat first, he has been hungry for a long time, you are busy!"
Afraid of being questioned further, Jiang Siyue and Zhao Yan sat at the children's table.
Zhao Yan had just put down his chopsticks when Zhou Hong called him over. Looking at the "gossip brigade" behind Zhou Hong, he was overwhelmed and just as he was about to stand up, he was held down by Zhao Yan.
"Haven't you finished eating yet?" Zhao Yan glanced at her bowl. "Eat slowly. Didn't we agree that I'll come back to you if I can't handle it?"
It seems so.
After observing for a while, Zhao Yan, who was at the center of the gossip, had a clear brow and a calm expression, as if this was not a country banquet, but a high-end dinner in Yunjing.
On second thought, his worries were unnecessary. He could discuss cooperation with the business community and communicate with his group of stupid students. He could easily deal with a few gossipy people.
Soon, before he even finished his meal, Zhao Yangong left and placed a cup of tea beside her. "Are you going to stay here all day today?"
"No need." Jiang Siyue opened the tea and drank it. "Just go back to my room and rest. I'll call you for dinner."
Zhao Yan frowned, "Have you been here all this time?"
After recalling it, he nodded, "I think so."
Most people must have finished their meal, and the funeral music started playing in the mourning hall. The tune was so mournful that I couldn't understand a word.
"Eh? Zhao Yan, why didn't you bring a handkerchief?" Auntie appeared again and said enthusiastically, "Siyue doesn't know how to fold it, right? I'll help you. Later, we'll be filial sons together."
The dialect of Qianshui Village was not difficult to understand. After Zhao Yan understood it clearly, he asked again, "Filial son?"
"That's it." Aunt pointed into the mourning hall.
People wearing white turbans knelt and worshipped, the leading ones had wooden expressions, while the ones at the end were laughing and chatting, with a mixture of indifference and sadness.
Not to mention Zhao Yan, Jiang Siyue didn't want to think about being a filial son, so she laughed and said, "Okay, we got it. Thank you, auntie. We can just get the white handkerchief ourselves."
Auntie was very busy, and after a while someone else called her. Jiang Siyue breathed a sigh of relief, and then - a loud sneeze was heard, right behind Zhao Yanzheng.
The faint smile on Zhao Yan's face disappeared. Jiang Siyue touched the two pieces of white cloth in her pocket, but ultimately did not take them out.
"You should go back and rest first." After saying this, he lowered his head and thought for a while, then said, "After you have rested, it's okay to go back to Yunjing."
If Zhao Yan stayed here any longer, she felt he would be unbearable. The gossipy old woman, the inexplicable kneeling ceremony, the people laughing at the funeral...it would be best to stop now before he saw more of it.
"No." Zhao Yan pushed the stool away and stood up. "I'm going back to sleep for a while. Call me in the evening."
His back was straight and his clothes looked more expensive than those of others. The sunlight swept across the Patek Philippe on his wrist, making it so dazzling that it was out of tune with the surrounding environment.
In a trance, Li Rongbo's question of which Yunjing family's daughter she was from flashed through her mind, and she felt self-deprecating.
It was true that a young lady and a young man were a good match, but he and I were not a good match. This was a fact and we had to admit it. She believed that if she asked Zhao Yan to follow these rituals, he would do so, but Jiang Siyue did not want to and would not ask him to integrate.
If possible, I still hope he didn't come, but——
Jiang Siyue happened to see Zhou Hong alone, her brows drooped, and she walked over with big strides. There were not many people around, so Jiang Siyue said bluntly: "Didn't I tell you not to ask him to come?"
"Why shouldn't I call him? I have nothing to do during the summer vacation anyway." Zhou Hong said in a bad tone, "You didn't even have a wedding, so how would anyone know you got married if he didn't come? These people are saying such rude things. Zhao Yan's coming will just give them a slap in the face. Weren't you also annoyed by their nonsense yesterday? I called you here for your own good."
This logic of challenging the robber successfully annoyed Jiang Siyue, and her tone became worse. "But I feel bad now! And the slap in the face was your idea, not mine."
Zhou Hong looked her up and down with an impatient look, "I'm too lazy to talk to you!"
"Are you too lazy to talk to me?" Jiang Siyue's eyes flashed with disbelief. "You've never spoken to me properly! You only care about yourself and don't care about my feelings! You've been like this since childhood."
Zhou Hong: "You——"
"Hey, what are those two mother and daughter whispering about here?! They're so red in the face and thick in the neck." Someone passing by teased, and Zhou Hong immediately put on a smile, "No, she said she was dozing off, and I asked her to hold on. Ignore her, let's go and watch them play cards!"
Zhou Hong, who was very concerned about her reputation, kept telling lies as usual. Jiang Siyue turned her face away, not wanting to watch her performance.
After the man walked away, Zhou Hong turned back and immediately put on an impatient expression. She warned softly, "Find a place for yourself and don't come around in front of me."
Her eyes suddenly felt sore, and the wind made them dry and astringent. Jiang Siyue stuffed the white cloth in her pocket to Zhou Hong and hurriedly left.
They rushed into their home. The moment they opened the door, Jiang Siyue met her grandparents who were making bamboo weaving in the yard. Her angry expression froze for a moment and then quickly dissipated.
Grandma Xie Chunhua stopped what she was doing and asked in confusion: "Siyue? Why are you back? Where's your mother?"
"She's downstairs." Her tone was cold and unfamiliar. They had been separated for a period of time, and in recent years, Jiang Siyue and her had become very unfamiliar with each other.
He slowed down his pace and walked forward to help them cut bamboo strips. Just as he took it, Xie Chunhua snatched it away and said, "I don't want you to do this. You can't do it well. It's a waste of my bamboo."
Jiang Siyue let go of her hand awkwardly, looked around for a while, and then lay down in the lounge chair in the shade.
The bamboo lounge chair was cool and comfortable. Jiang Siyue stared at the rose hedge in front of her in a trance. A small yellow butterfly flapped its wings and passed by, trembling.
Many things flashed through my mind, from childhood to the present, from Yunjing to Wanjiang... Finally, they came together and became a tangled mess. I stood in the middle of it, and no matter how patient I was or how much time I spent, I couldn't sort it out.
With the shade of the trees as her companion, the afternoon sun was only lazy, and before long, she fell asleep.
At 4:30 in the afternoon, Zhao Yan was awakened by a call from Zhou Yan.
After the call was connected, Zhou Yan asked excitedly, "Where are you?"
Zhao Yan was so tired that he rubbed his brows and said impatiently, "Speak to the point."
"Brother, I'm ready to propose, but I'm still short of a diamond ring. Come to Linglong and show me your favor!"
"Look for Xia Qing." Zhao Yan sat up and added, "I have something to do in Wanjiang right now, so I can't go back for the next two days."
"Oh. Then please send me your assistant's phone number." Before Zhou Yan finished speaking, he heard a few loud dog barks from the other end of the phone.
"You're in the countryside of Wanjiang?" Zhou Yan didn't know this was Jiang Siyue's hometown. "Research?"
After a few words, Zhao Yan was no longer sleepy. He simply got up and said casually: "No, my wife's relative passed away. I went to the funeral and hung up."
Zhou Yan, on the other end of the line, held the phone tightly in his hand, his heart pounding. Zhao Yan, who had always been cold at the dinner, had actually come to the village to attend the funeral. Zhou Yan knew some rural funerals, and they were incredibly complicated. He couldn't believe Zhao Yan would be willing to go.
Shocked, he quickly sent a message to his friends: Family, big news...
After drinking some water, Zhao Yan regained consciousness and looked around the room. It was very small, with a bed and a bedside table taking up almost all the space.
There were not many things on the bedside table. The upper layer contained things they often used, and the second layer contained a plastic bag that was covered in dust. It must have been something that had been there originally.
I opened it out of curiosity and a stack of photos fell out.
A little girl with two ponytails smiled cutely at the camera, looking like a smaller version of Jiang Siyue.
There was a thick stack of photos, most of which were photos with Jiang Lingling. After careful selection, there were only three photos of Jiang Siyue herself, and one of them was ruined.
The remaining two photos, one half-body and one full-body, have two small pigtails on the sides of their ears and are smiling happily.
Zhao Yan curled his lips slightly, took out his cell phone, took three photos, and put it back in its place.
The author has something to say:
It's snowing here. I went out to take pictures. I was so excited that I got cold...
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