Ideal type
After they finished eating, Zhou Qianling and she helped clean up the mess on the table.
"No need, just sit down." Wu Mei came and saw that there were a few drops of soup on her clean coat, so she took out some tissue to wipe it for her.
Zhou Qianling didn't move, feeling itchy inside.
Wu Meilai was very close to her. When she bent down to wipe it, a strand of her hair brushed against the tip of her nose, bringing with it a refreshing scent of orange peel.
"Okay." Wu Meilai gently pushed her aside, stacked the bowls and carried them into the back kitchen, then came back to wipe the table clean.
"I just heard from the aunts that your mother doesn't allow you to marry out, and your partner is also a local?" Zhou Qianling hid some thoughts and asked knowingly.
"No one."
"Oh, what kind do you like?"
Wu Meilai put on plastic gloves to wash the dishes and said casually, "It depends on how you feel. How about you?"
Zhou Qianling walked to the back kitchen door and leaned against it, saying, "I like fair and good-looking women with gentle and calm personalities."
"Oh, there should be very few boys like this."
“But there should be quite a lot of girls.”
"Indeed." Wu Meilai didn't notice anything wrong. After she finished the third run of water, she turned the bowl upside down on the bowl rack. Turning around, she saw Zhou Qianling staring at her again. She smiled, "Are you bored?"
Occasionally, children would come into the store to do their homework. When they were bored, they would stare blankly at me busying myself.
"Do you want to play hopscotch for a while?" Wu Meilai stood on tiptoe and took down a checkers box from the kitchen ceiling.
"Okay." Zhou Qianling sat across from her and continued the previous topic, "It would be even better if the other party could cook noodles."
Wu Meilai placed the two beads and agreed, "Indeed, men who can cook are caring." She didn't know whether it was true or not, but everyone said so.
Zhou Qianling raised his eyebrows slightly. Wu Meilai seemed to have no idea that a woman could also be another woman's object.
Zhou Qianling's mind was not on the chessboard. Except for the first game where he was ceded to Wu Meilai, he lost again and again.
After filling the opposite chessboard again, Wu Meilai looked up at her: the woman's delicate eyebrows were frowned, as if she had encountered some difficult problem.
Worried about not finding your ideal type?
Somehow, Wu Meilai felt a little regretful.
What is there to regret?
Wu Meilai touched the nearest bead with the tip of her index finger and turned it gently. The glass surface rubbed against the plastic chessboard, making a sound that made one's teeth ache.
"Will you get married?"
The shrill sound stopped abruptly. After a few seconds, Wu Mei came and asked, "What about you?"
She looked into Zhou Qianling's eyes and found that he had been staring at her, which made her feel nervous again.
This is probably the social etiquette of city people.
Zhou Qianling returned to normal, looked at her deeply, and said, "If allowed, I really want to fall in love with her and then get married."
Boom, boom, boom.
Wu Meilai lowered her head and found that the glass beads on her fingertips had been pulled out by herself at some point and were bouncing on the ground.
The feeling of regret became a little stronger.
She watched the beads roll all the way out the door without looking away.
"Then what kind of person is he?" After saying this, she felt that this was nonsense because Zhou Qianling had already said it before.
Zhou Qianling stared at her profile. She was so beautiful that she almost wanted to reveal her cards regardless of the consequences. However, her reason told her: No, it's too early.
She slowly probed: "She is from Qianzhou."
Wu Meilai's expression didn't change much.
"Surname Wu."
Still nothing happened.
Zhou Qianling frowned, not sure for a moment whether this man was too slow or just pretending to be stupid.
She just threw it all out: "I'm 26 years old this year, and I live in Biji City..."
Wu Meilai frowned, and Zhou Qianling stopped talking in time, waiting for her reaction. If she felt disgusted, he would just say the name of another town.
However, Wu Meilai's old-fashionedness never disappointed her.
"Is he younger than you?"
"What's the problem?"
Wu Meilai shook her head, "I just think that if we get married, the man should be older than the woman."
"No need, there is no law prohibiting marriage." Zhou Qianling looked gloomy.
"This isn't normal. The whole village is..."
This supposedly joyful reunion ended in silence.
In the evening, Wu Meilai washed the dishes and wiped her hands and returned to the bedroom when her mother called her.
"Did the girl from the Zhou family stay in your store all day today?"
Wu Meilai nodded, wondering why her mother started paying attention to the business in her store.
"How much did you eat? Did you pay?"
Wu Meilai felt a flash of impatience in her heart, "Give it to me, I don't need this little money."
"That's good. People like them, who show kindness for no reason, what's the saying? If you show kindness for no reason, you're either a thief or a robber."
Wu Meilai didn't answer and went into the bedroom.
It is called a bedroom, but in fact it is just a small room for storing miscellaneous items.
Wu Meilai's home is not like Zhou Qianling's aunt's home. Both families live together as one family. Her family lives together with her uncle's family.
On the left is Dabo's family, and on the right is Wu Meilai's family. The main hall and back room in the middle are the common areas. A statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva is enshrined in the center of the main hall, while water jars, pig feed, and other daily necessities are stored on either side of the hall. The back room, separated from the main hall by a wall, is where the two families store their pickled vegetable jars and any plastic waste they're reluctant to throw away.
Because her uncle's children were away working, she occupied the back room as her bedroom. Her parents lived in the main bedroom, while her brother lived next to the pigpen.
Wu Mei came into the room, closed both the left and right doors, took off her shoes and clothes, and curled up in the quilt. Even though her socks and sweater were still warm, she shivered from the cold. Fortunately, she had sufficient energy and blood, so she warmed up after an hour or so.
Outside, both families' televisions were on, and laughter could be heard from time to time. Wu Meilai couldn't sleep, so she took out her phone to play a game, but when she unlocked the screen, she found herself in a circle of friends she hadn't looked at in centuries.
The screen is full of photos of a junior high school classmate’s baby, which is still boring.
After logging out, Wu Meilai caught sight of the kitten avatar at the bottom of the list. She re-entered the Moments and swiped back to where she was just now.
It was a selfie. The woman was leaning one hand on the table, with test papers covering her elbow.
Her hair was loose, and her fine bangs covered one eye, so that only the pupil underneath could be vaguely seen. She looked extremely pitiful.
Zhou Qianling raised her chin slightly, her neck fully exposed in the camera, and below was her delicate collarbone...
Wu Meilai took a deep breath and shifted her gaze back to her face.
Although it was only a glance, she could clearly see the round and white curves that could not be covered by the loose suspender nightgown.
City people are really bold.
Wu Meilai felt embarrassed to scroll down any further, so she returned to the desktop and opened the game, but she couldn't play it anymore.
She felt a little regretful and wondered why she said that to Zhou Qianling.
It's not her fault that she likes someone younger than her...
Wu Meilai stopped and was thinking, why can't women's be bigger than men's?
Is it because people prefer younger women?
Or do you prefer older men?
But... Wu Meilai couldn't help feeling a little annoyed. She thought Zhou Qianling was very good. She had thought so since the first time they met.
Age is not the standard for measuring a person. Let alone 26, even 16 is not worthy of Zhou Qianling.
Wu Meilai was filled with resentment. This dissatisfaction came out of nowhere, making her feel somewhat displeased with Zhou Qianling and slightly hostile towards the person she wanted to marry.
After analyzing it to no avail, she attributed all these emotions that arose out of nowhere to envy, her envy of Zhou Qianling.
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