In Suicheng, the days are short and the nights are long in winter; it's completely dark before seven o'clock.
A cold wind howled outside. Ha Yue had just finished get off work, carrying her laptop bag in her left hand and two takeout meals from the canteen in her right, and quickly walked out of the factory gate to catch the commuter bus.
The employees at the auto parts factory generally work in three shifts. The shuttle bus runs between the employee dormitory and the factory area in six shifts every day. It is currently stopped at the station 100 meters away, waiting for the employees on the day shift to get off work.
On the way to the commuter bus, an elderly woman with gray hair and a hunched back was selling her family's newly dried goods to everyone she met.
As the winter solstice approaches, the weather is freezing cold. After all, people don't have any fur, so no matter how thickly they wear, the dry, spiky cold still seeps straight into their bones. On windy days, staying outdoors for even a second longer is torture. Many employees don't even lift their heads, let alone go to business. They wave their hands and jog to get on the commuter bus one after another.
Ha Yue's teeth were chattering from the wind, but as she passed the old lady's stall and saw that the lady wasn't even wearing gloves and that there wasn't much dried goods left in her bamboo basket, she stopped, stamping her feet to warm them, and asked, "Auntie, how much is this?"
Upon hearing Ha Yue inquire about the price, the old lady immediately flashed a set of missing teeth and said, "Cheap! Girl, I'll give you a discount, buy some."
"Hey, could you weigh all of these for me and tell me how much that would cost?"
When the old woman heard that Ha Yue wanted to buy all the dried sea buckthorn berries, she immediately understood that the other party was showing her kindness. She hesitated for a moment as she poured the dried sea buckthorn berries into the bag, and couldn't help but say a few more words: "You've never seen this before, have you? You can't eat it dry. You have to soak it in water when you get home, and you can add some to stews. It's bitter and astringent. It's not sweet; I didn't add any sugar."
At this point, the old woman, fearing that Ha Yue might change her mind and suddenly not buy it, sped up the bagging process again, her dry lips making a loud, booming sound, "But it's good for your health. Our family eats it. I eat it, and my grandsons eat it too! I'm not lying to you."
Ha Yue smiled and helped her lift the bamboo basket. She took out her phone to scan the QR code hanging on her chest and nodded to show her trust: "Sea buckthorn, I know it. When I was a child, there were so many of them here. They were everywhere by the roadside and in the fields in September."
Sea buckthorn belongs to the shrub family. Because of its drought resistance, wind and sand resistance, and ability to survive in saline-alkali soil, it is widely used in windbreak and sand control projects in Northwest China, just like other plants such as jujube, sand willow, and sand wormwood.
Decades ago, Suicheng also followed the national policy and vigorously implemented the soil stabilization campaign. Sea buckthorn is found all over Suicheng. In late summer, the orange-yellow and brownish-red fruits grow vigorously under the lush green leaves, and are picked by hungry children even before they are fully ripe.
A small bunch can yield dozens of sea buckthorn berries the size of pearls. They taste sour and slightly bitter. This fruit has medicinal uses from the peel to the pit, relieving coughs and asthma, and invigorating the spleen and stomach. However, eating too much can cause acid reflux.
However, in recent years, as desertification in the Northwest region has been alleviated and people's living conditions have improved, there are many kinds of fruits, each juicy and sweet. No one would pick sea buckthorn by the roadside to eat anymore. Gradually, sea buckthorn has become rare on roads and in fields due to large-scale logging caused by urban construction planning.
"Oh, you know that's good. It really is a good product. It's just that young people these days don't recognize its value. My son won't let me plant it next year either; he says he wants to cut down the sea buckthorn trees at home and replace them with fruit trees. My granddaughter-in-law is pregnant again. We need money." The old woman smiled as she handed the plastic bag to Ha Yue. As soon as she saw Ha Yue take out her phone, she immediately covered the sign on her chest and stood on tiptoe, anxiously saying to her, "Young lady, do you have cash? If you do, could you give me cash? I don't know how to use this QR code; it's my son's WeChat."
“If you buy this, all the money will go to him… I can’t make much money selling this all day…”
In the end, the old lady felt a little embarrassed about her act of secretly saving money for herself without telling her children and grandchildren. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that the commuter bus was almost full, but she didn't mind. She quickly closed WeChat, took out cash from her wallet, and handed it to her.
Carrying five kilograms of dried sea buckthorn fruit, Ha Yue clutched crumpled change, gloves in her mouth, and luckily managed to squeeze into an empty seat in the last row before the commuter bus departed.
Ha Yue put the things down at her feet, sniffed, put her gloves back on, started the car, and looked back. The old woman's slowly receding figure outside the window quickly became a blurry black dot, completely impossible to follow with her gaze.
The commuter bus bumped along the way, slowly swaying to the dormitory area. Ha Yue's thoughts drifted back to her childhood as the bus swayed back and forth.
The sour and astringent sea buckthorn berries shone brightly in her childhood memories, giving her a bold idea.
After getting off the bus, Ha Yue carried her things to her temporary dormitory building. As she went upstairs, she couldn't help but laugh as she weighed the dried fruit in her hand. The old lady had indeed given her a discount. The five pounds of dried sea buckthorn fruit was not only not shortchanged, but was extremely heavy. After only four floors, her right hand was already feeling a bit sore and tired.
It must weigh at least six or seven pounds.
Ha Yue took out her key and opened the dormitory door. Overwhelmed with emotion, she didn't even eat. Instead, she sat down, opened her laptop, and conducted preliminary market research online on the ideas that had just popped into her head.
After staring intently at the screen for half an hour, Ha Yue's progress in reviewing literature and agricultural reports was finally interrupted by a red notification in her email.
There's a time difference between overseas and domestic clients. She quickly checked her email and website backend to browse client messages before realizing she was too excited and hadn't even taken off her clothes when she entered the room. The dormitory room, heated by the heating, was a full 28 degrees Celsius. She was wrapped in a winter coat, and her armpits and chest were sweating profusely. Plus, after running around the factory all day, she was covered in the smell of machine oil. She immediately decided to take a hot shower first, and then eat while working.
After a quick ten-minute shower, Ha Yue, wearing only a short-sleeved shirt, still felt flushed from the heat. She didn't blow-dry her hair, letting the water droplets fall onto her shoulders. She boiled water, made a cup of dried sea buckthorn fruit, and placed it in the entryway. Then, she began to systematically reply to clients' emails.
As soon as the news of the domestic opening came out, previously dormant customers suddenly sprang up like mushrooms after rain, and she couldn't keep up with them all with her two hands and ten fingers.
Whether or not to go abroad to participate in exhibitions after the first batch of orders in Suicheng is one thing, and whether or not to go south to Yuecheng to re-contact the small suppliers she had previously cooperated with according to the customer's needs is another matter entirely.
She's currently overwhelmed with work, especially with order processing. Although the company hasn't turned a profit yet, she simply can't handle it all by herself. Perhaps she should expand the business and hire a few more employees to start a business together.
So when Xue Jing finally knocked on her dormitory door after driving a hundred kilometers through winding roads, Ha Yue was chewing her food while her mind was full of business.
After confirming through the peephole that it was Xue Jing standing outside, Ha Yue opened the door without even glancing at him, turned around and ran back to her chair, starting to type furiously on the computer.
On the way here, Xue Jing had already imagined many scenarios of the two of them being "better off than newlyweds," but no matter what the scenario, Ha Yue would be surprised and delighted. As for how people would react when they were happy, she would naturally be affectionate towards him in every way.
So when he stood there with his back to him, holding a large bouquet of white roses, being left out in the doorway, he was completely dumbfounded.
Like a small animal raising its head and closing its eyes, waiting for its owner to pat its head, only to open its eyes again and find no one in front of it.
Moreover, Ha Yue, who was busy with public relations, didn't seem surprised at all. She wasn't even curious about how she suddenly appeared at the door. Forget about a passionate kiss and a hug. She didn't even spare him a glance.
He stood outside the door for two minutes, then suddenly called out "Hey!" to Ha Yue, who was still picking up food with chopsticks inside.
Ha Yue was startled by the sound, turned around to look at Xue Jing, and muttered, "Why don't you come in?" Then she shifted her gaze back to the screen, typing and speaking at the same time with great skill, "Hungry? I know you probably haven't eaten, so I bought two boxed lunches. I've put them on the radiator to keep them warm."
"Have some water, I've prepared something good for you."
"You've never tried sea buckthorn before, have you? It's good for your cough. I bought it for you right after get off work. Drink more of it, and take all the dried fruit home with you when you leave so you can continue drinking it."
There was indeed a boxed lunch on the radiator under the window, and a glass of yellowish water in the entryway. Xue Jing's muscles twitched for a long time. After confirming several times that his plan had failed, he reluctantly went into the room and turned around to close the door.
The surprise failed, and there was no need to hide the flowers anymore; they were simply thrown on the table. Xue Jing gulped down some slightly sour warm water, his stomach growling loudly. Before going to eat his boxed lunch, he couldn't help but walk around to her side and ask, "Wait, how did you know I was coming?"
"Is this funny, Yue? Did you plant a GPS tracker on me? Are you Radar Benda?"
Ha Yue finished eating, put down her chopsticks, wiped her lips with a tissue, put her left arm around the back of his neck and pulled his face up to her own height, gave him a hard kiss on the lips, then pushed him away again and stared at the computer screen, saying, "Do we still need to install location tracking? I told you it was inconvenient to video call you after get off work."
"When I ask you what you're busy with, you stammer and give me vague answers."
That wasn't all. Before Ha Yue even reached the cafeteria, he sent her another message, beating around the bush. After several voice messages, he finally asked her what dormitory building number she had mentioned last time.
"Xue Jing, I've noticed that you really do become a bit clueless when you're in love. Didn't you listen to the message you sent yourself? There was even the sound of your turn signal going off in the background."
It wasn't easy to drive from home. On the map, many roads near the factory area hadn't been updated in time. Ha Yue estimated that it would be evening by the time he got to her dormitory, so she specially bought two boxed lunches in advance.
As she spoke, Ha Yue pushed open his chest and saw the bouquet of flowers behind him. She giggled and poked his lower abdomen with her finger, "Wow, what a big bouquet! Anyone who didn't know better would think you were here to propose."
Ha Yue was definitely joking. Who would propose in the first week after breaking up and getting back together? It's not like she's some kind of marriage fanatic from a light comedy.
But Xue Jing was really about to jump up in anger, and retorted, "Damn it, I didn't!" Her ears turned bright red.
He wouldn't let Ha Yue touch him, and subconsciously took two steps back, covering the inside of his pocket. When his fingers touched the ring box, he realized that his actions were somewhat hasty, so he retorted with a stiff neck, "Where am I stupid? There was a traffic jam, and I was in a hurry, afraid of taking the wrong turn."
"Who's like you? Dating or criminal investigation? Can't you be less smart? Seriously."
The customer on the other end of the screen sent another message. Ha Yue withdrew her gaze from Xue Jing's face and said in a voice like an older sister coaxing a child, "Aren't you hot? Your face is all red. Take off your clothes and eat first, then take a shower. Look, you didn't turn off the outdoor ventilation the whole way, and your face is covered in dust."
"Huh?" As soon as Ha Yue uttered those words, Xue Jing immediately ran to the bathroom to look in the mirror. Sure enough, after being squeezed and jostled by coal trucks all the way, even his fingernails were covered in soot. Damn it, all that effort to dress up didn't make him look handsome anymore; this plan had completely collapsed.
Xue Jing washed his face, scrubbed his nails vigorously with soap bubbles, took off his coat, and walked behind Ha Yue, looking dejected. He opened his lunchbox and buried his head in his food, remaining extremely silent.
About twenty minutes later, Ha Yue finished her work, stretched, picked up the bouquet, and sniffed it deeply. Xue Jing didn't even look at her. He took the initiative to clean up the food waste, tied the open top, and threw it outside the door. Then he went into the bathroom and turned on the shower.
Ha Yue placed the flowers on the bedside table, walked to the bathroom, and leaned against the door to watch him undress. She was still smiling, teasing him like she was playing with a cat, dragging out her words, "Are you angry because I called you stupid?"
Xue Jing took off his shirt, revealing his abs. He glanced at her in the mirror, then bent down to take off his pants again. He felt quite pleased with himself for being coaxed by her, but he still stubbornly insisted, "How could that be? My girlfriend is so smart, I'm overjoyed. I'm planning to send her to police academy next year for further studies."
"Oh, I see. It's good that you're not angry. Then why are you ignoring people?"
Xue Jing tossed the trousers onto the clothes rack, frowned deeply, and said sullenly, "You didn't even acknowledge me. Aren't you curious why I came? You don't care about me at all."
More importantly, she didn't hug him or give him a passionate kiss. She just gave him a perfunctory kiss, like a child stamping a document, and even complained that there was dirt on his face.
"Hmm, of course I'm curious. So what are you doing here? You're not excited because you saw me wearing a safety helmet and work clothes during the video call at noon, are you? Tsk tsk, Xue Jing, you're really a pervert."
"Isn't your sexual orientation a bit outrageous?"
Ha Yue was still smiling. Her carefree smile was truly beautiful. Watching her make up, he couldn't help but smile along. He simply and playfully curled his lips and readily "admitted": "Yes, yes, I just came to sleep with you, okay? I've been thinking about you ever since we video chatted at noon. I'm so obsessed with you. Where's your safety helmet? Did you bring it back from the factory? Don't waste time, hurry up and put it on and come in."
"People can't wait any longer."
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