113. The reason why 113 is sometimes near and sometimes far.
The school approved the application in early July, and I was supposed to return in mid-September. If I returned any later, the protective forest would be covered in snow, and I wouldn't be able to come back.
Su Yu organized a farewell banquet for Ning Jin when she came to start her work, and asked Er Ya to bring Da Ya and Xiao Hu along. This was the second time the two of them had come.
Xiao Hu is currently attending the primary school in the brigade. His classmates are from several surrounding villages and they don't know about his family situation. They also heard that he moved from the central region and are quite curious about him. They are friendly and Xiao Hu is adapting well. This time when he came, he spoke with a local accent.
"What is Daya doing now?" Su Yu asked Daya, who was peeling garlic, while she was cutting meat.
“I wash dishes at a restaurant in the east of town. Sometimes when there are many customers, I also help wash and chop vegetables.” Daya said with a smile, “Auntie, do you think I’ve gained weight? I eat my fill every day at the restaurant, and there’s meat too. Everyone in the village says I’ve gained weight and look better.”
"You've gained weight. You were too thin before. You look better with a little more weight."
“That restaurant is run by my cousin’s wife, who tutors my child. The owner is very kind and even invited Xiaohu to come over for dinner after school,” Er Ya said. “Although there’s a lot of leftover food from the restaurant, if she doesn’t ask, Xiaohu will have to cook for himself after school.”
“Cooking for yourself is fine, it’s not difficult. When you and Da Ya were seven or eight, you were already cooking for the whole family. My Xiao Yuan and Ping An were eight or nine when they cooked for themselves at lunchtime. We’re not a wealthy family. One of you is in school and earning money, and the other has to pay for medical treatment. Don’t spoil the kids.” Su Yu said to Er Ya, “It’s perfectly legitimate for your sister to eat at the restaurant; it’s her work meal. But if she brings Xiao Hu along, that’s a favor you have to repay. Try not to go if you can avoid it. Buy rice, flour, and cooking oil at home so Xiao Hu can cook for himself. What will happen to Xiao Hu’s meals if Da Ya gets married or stops working at the restaurant? We need to cultivate good habits in him from a young age before he becomes rebellious.”
"Then I won't let Xiaohu go anymore. I've prepared rice, flour, and cooking oil at home." Er Ya was enlightened. She didn't know much about social etiquette, but she was grateful that someone was willing to teach her.
The dishes were all from their hometown. Er Ya was fine, but Xiao Yuan, Ping An, Daya, and Xiao Hu couldn't stop eating. Ping An rubbed his stomach and said, "Mom's cooking is still the best. Mom, when you have free time, please invite us back and cook us a meal of our hometown dishes."
Ning Jin stopped eating and looked at her clueless son. "Your mother is hiding from you all, she's practically hiding in the Northwest Desert. If you say a few more words, she'll be too scared to come back."
"Okay, I'll make it for you when I have free time." Su Yu thought about how she hadn't seen her son for two months and that he would be assigned a job again in less than three months after returning. So she was extra easy to talk to.
After dinner, Xiao Yuan and Ping An washed the dishes, while Su Yu let Xiao Hei and Xiao Hua go out to pee. Looking at the two dogs, she was a little worried. If she went to the Northwest, she definitely wouldn't be able to take the dogs with her, so she would have to leave them with Xiao Yuan to take care of. Their home wasn't far from the school, and most of the forestry professors and students knew them, so she could tie them up near the forest farm.
She hadn't even left yet, but she had already started preparing for her departure, which shows that her previous claim that she wasn't sure if she could go to the Northwest was just a lie.
"Come on, let's go out and play. We've never gone out together before." Xiao Yuan wiped his hands and came out, suggesting, "Xiao Hu hasn't been to the zoo yet, has he? Let's go to the zoo first, and then go buy some things." He looked at his parents and chuckled, "Mom, I want to buy leather shoes, and Ping An wants some too."
"Go ahead and buy them. Why bring peace along when you're buying a pair of shoes? It's not like I didn't give you money or forbid you from wearing pigskin shoes." Su Yu gestured to Ning Jin, "See? This kid is so big, he has money, but he still needs to ask for permission to buy shoes."
“My dad doesn’t wear them. Didn’t you say you should wear slip-on shoes with smelly feet?” Xiao Yuan always felt that he was still young and that pigskin shoes were for married men. He felt uncomfortable wearing them, but now that some people at school are wearing them, he wanted to try them out again.
"And now there are also 'three-section' leather shoes, can you help me find out which one suits me?"
"Okay, let's go buy shoes first." Su Yu went inside to get her bag and said to the man who followed her in, "How about that? I wasn't wrong, was I? You still think it's because you're still in school? You were already thinking about getting married when you were eighteen or nineteen, weren't you? You still need your grandma's opinion when buying a pair of shoes?"
Ning Jin pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "I didn't insist that it was because of school, but you're practically trying to kill me with that stick."
"I can't bear to part with you, you're my man..."
Under her man's gaze, she couldn't help but burst into laughter, hugging his waist and leaning back, retorting, "I didn't make any difficult requests this time."
"You know what you're doing," he snorted.
Five people stood in the courtyard, watching the bright and cheerful laughter inside the house. Ping An tapped his foot and said jokingly, "Wait a little longer, give the old couple some time for their sweet romance."
Xiao Yuan elbowed him. He dared to joke about his parents in front of strangers; he deserved a beating.
When the two came out, Ping An saw the barely suppressed smile on his father's face and couldn't help but click his tongue twice, thinking, "A man's springtime."
"Can we go now?" he asked.
"Come on, you all go out and close the door first. I need to unleash the dog." Su Yu told them to go out. When no one was home, she would put the dog out in the yard so it would have more space to run around.
"Get out, I'll untie you." Ning Jin pushed her away.
Ping An couldn't take it anymore; his teeth were practically aching. "Alright, alright, everyone, leave. I'll untie it. It's only a matter of a few seconds, why are you still pushing and shoving? You could have walked out of the alley by now." He herded everyone out of the yard like chickens, his face full of disgust.
“I’ve written it all down. If Ping An ever does anything for his wife in the future, we’ll laugh him to death and make him act all high and mighty.” Su Yu pointed at him. “I’ll write it all down in your little ledger.”
"Remember, you remember, I'm not afraid." He made a face while pouting.
Xiao Hu chuckled, then stopped laughing when he met Ping An's gaze. After the door closed, he said, "Brother Ping An, that was so much fun."
“His mental age is the same as yours right now,” Su Yu complained.
There were supply and marketing cooperatives around the school, but they didn't have many things. They needed to go to the three-story supply and marketing cooperative in the city center, which required taking a tram. There were seven people in the group, and only Xiao Hu was curious about the tram. He stood under the tram looking at the wires and sat on the tram staring at the driver.
"Mom, which of these two leather shoes suits me better?" Xiao Yuan asked, holding up the shoes.
"Try it on."
Xiao Yuan glanced at the sales clerk by the counter, relieved that she hadn't walked much today and her socks weren't sweaty.
"Buy the three-section shoes, Ping An too, and buy your dad a pair of slip-on pigskin shoes." She looked at Ning Jin and said, "Go try on the three-section shoes as well, and if they look good on you, buy both pairs."
"No, I don't want to. I'm uncomfortable driving in leather shoes. I'll wear canvas shoes or shoes with thick soles."
Su Yu frowned. She had bought him a lot of soft-soled shoes, but he still wanted canvas shoes. "Take a pair to wear when you're not driving, and wear them alternately. Even if you only wear one pair for a day or two, don't stick to one type of shoe."
"Hello comrade, could you please get me two pairs of size 41 and one pair of size 43 three-section leather shoes, and one pair of size 43 pigskin shoes?" Su Yu made the decision herself, without asking the man's opinion.
"When you two buy new clothes and shoes in the future, if you see something that suits your dad and is the right size, buy it for him too," Su Yu instructed her two sons, then jokingly said, "If we don't dress up, the four of us will look like an old father taking his eldest daughter and youngest son out shopping."
"So what?" Ping An said in a strange, drawn-out voice, "He's just wearing an old man's undershirt, and you like it too."
Ning Jin liked hearing this and happily went to pay the bill while carrying his shoes.
Su Yu's face turned red from laughing; this brat was so annoying.
"Baozhi? Oh, it really is you."
Er Ya turned around and saw Min Min. She squeezed his hand and greeted him, "You're here to buy things too?"
“I brought my little niece to buy something to eat. It’s been so long since I’ve seen her, she doesn’t recognize me anymore.” Min Min looked at the others. She recognized Aunt Su, and the other two tall boys must be her two sons.
“This is my sister and brother, this is Aunt Su, Su Yuan and Ning Ping’an. We’re just out for a stroll,” Er Ya introduced, then pointed to the counter and said, “That’s Uncle Ning, Aunt Su’s husband.”
"Wow, they actually took their father's surname and their mother's surname, how interesting."
Another one making a fuss over nothing, Ping An secretly rolled her eyes.
"Anything else to buy? If not, let's go to the zoo. Oh, did we run into a classmate?" Ning Jin walked over carrying four pairs of leather shoes and handed them to his two sons.
"I won't buy anything. I'll just buy some food for Xiaohu when we leave." Su Yu glanced at Er Ya and asked, "Excuse me, we're going to the zoo. Who are you?"
“Aunt Su, my name is Min Min. My name is composed of the characters for ‘literature’ and ‘scholarship’. I’d like to go to the zoo with you. It’s not fun without my niece.”
“Okay, let’s go together.” Su Yu didn’t mind having one more person. When she left the supply and marketing cooperative, she bought a few bags of snacks, which were shared with everyone except Ning Jin and Xiao Yuan Ping An.
Once inside the zoo, Xiao Hu and Da Ya went wild, along with the equally excited little girl. Min Min shook his arm and complained, "The little girl is a bit chubby, she's made my arm ache, but she's finally willing to get down and walk."
"They're quite cute, chubby, and have fair skin. You just want to tease them," Su Yu said.
"He's cute. When he's happy, he's sweet and charming, but when he's being naughty, he's absolutely awful. You just want to beat him up." Min Min looked at Er Ya and asked, "Bao Zhi, is your brother like that too? Or is he always very well-behaved?"
“He was naughty. Before he could talk, he cried a lot, day and night. I didn’t get a full night’s sleep during the first year I slept with him. Once he could talk, his mouth was never still. If he couldn’t see someone, he would shout at the top of his lungs. If I ignored him, he would cry. He could cry a lot. He was also naughty and didn’t know any better. When I took him to class, he wouldn’t pee after class, but he would squat under my desk to pee during class. If I told him not to talk, he would insist on talking.” Er Ya stared at Xiao Hu, who turned around and smiled at her, and smiled back. She continued, “But that’s probably how kids are. When they’re well-behaved, they’re very considerate, they know how to comfort people, and they care about people.”
Her feelings toward Xiaohu were complicated. In the past, when she was still a child, she took care of the child like a mother. But with the same mother, she became the child who was disliked and hated, while the child she took care of became the obedient baby in her mother's arms.
Does she like Xiaohu? Absolutely. She raised him from birth, caring for him until he could walk, run, and care for others. Undoubtedly, she loves him dearly. But the contrast also creates conflict within her. In front of her mother, she feels like a servant girl attending to a young master, but she's not truly a servant; they are siblings.
Now things are better. She has climbed out of her predicament. She can see more and do more. Her complicated emotions from the past have gradually become simpler as she left that family. To her, Xiao Hu is a younger brother who loves her wholeheartedly.
"You're working so hard. If I had to take care of the child day and night, I would have beaten her so badly she'd be terrified of me by now." Min Min chuckled. "You have such a good temper. Your brother seems to really like you. He can even take care of a child!" She glanced at her niece holding Xiao Hu's hand. When this little rascal came the day before yesterday, she tried to coax her with a doll, but she wouldn't let her hold it.
“My brother is very popular. When he’s home, all the kids in the alley play with him.”
Su Yu smiled, then quietly walked away, making room for the two girls who were engrossed in discussing children.
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