Chapter 1: The First Year of Junior High School
When Nanjiu was in the first grade of junior high school, her stepmother gave birth to a younger brother. Nan Zhendong, her father, was so overjoyed that he spent a whole day and night in the hospital, completely forgetting that he had a hungry daughter at home. When Nan Zhendong remembered Nanjiu, he rushed home and the first thing he did was send her to her biological mother's house.
Nanjiu's biological mother and stepfather's daughter had just learned to walk. The little sister was unsteady on her feet, often getting hurt here and there. The whole family was busy with her. Nanjiu's stepfather disliked Nan Zhendong; they had fought years before, and he also disliked the daughter he had sent to him. Ever since Nanjiu came to his house, the stepfather had always been making noise and arguing with Nanjiu's mother. Whenever they argued, the little sister burst into tears, and the house was in chaos.
Nanjiu left after just a few days, taking only her backpack and the money her father had left her. No one knew how a little girl could travel a hundred kilometers to find her grandfather. When asked about it later, she said she had taken a bus.
The minibus Nanjiu took finally stopped in a town thirty kilometers from Nancheng. She followed the crowd out, her money almost gone. The road was bare, with no green belts to provide shade. Her limbs were limp, and she was starving.
After a while, the people who got off the car with her walked away, and she was the only figure left on the scorching asphalt road, along with a black Passat in the distance.
Nan Jiu walked dazedly towards the Passat. The few hundred meters she'd covered felt more strenuous than the hundred kilometers she'd walked here. The Passat's hood was open, smoke billowing from somewhere inside, and a man was halfway under the hood.
"Is your car broken down?" Nanjiu grabbed his backpack and looked around.
The man paused, perhaps unprepared for a child to suddenly appear on this deserted road. He leaned forward, glanced sideways, and saw a young girl in tracksuit, a ponytail, and a face full of collagen standing next to the car.
"Are you from out of town?" The man had slightly long hair, with a few strands hanging at his temples. His almond-shaped eyes, hidden in his hair, had a naturally sharp look.
"Why should I tell you?" Nan Jiu was much shorter, with his neck held high and his hands raised to cover his forehead to block the sun.
"Where are you going?" The man had his black short-sleeved shirt lifted to his chest, revealing a narrow waist and abdomen. As he spoke, he had already pulled the hem back up.
"Can your car be repaired?" Nan Jiu asked instead of answering.
The man's brows were slightly furrowed by the sun, and his raised brow bones cast a shadow: "Not necessarily."
After about ten minutes, the car started. The man lowered the hood and saw the little girl squatting by the car door, backpack in hand. She had been silently helping him fix the car for more than ten minutes, her face flushed red.
Nanjiu called out "Mao'er Teahouse." The man opened the car door and let her in, throwing the only bottle of mineral water in the car to her.
The Passat drove all the way back to Maoer Lane. The moment Grandpa Nan saw his granddaughter, he spat the tea leaves back into his cup and hurriedly stood up to greet her. He touched his granddaughter again, and she was burning hot, dizzy with fever. Grandpa Nan immediately called the man and drove directly to the hospital.
In the hospital's infusion room, Nanjiu lay on the bed. The young man driving the Passat left for a moment, then returned. He bought a box lunch, raised the bed, opened it, and placed it in front of Nanjiu. He then sat back on the plastic chair a few steps away.
Mr. Nan was on the phone in the hospital corridor. It was his son, Nan Zhendong, on the other end. He cursed furiously for five minutes until a nurse reminded him to do so. Then, he hung up, cursing profusely.
Nanjiu filled her stomach and drank a bottle of water, feeling much more refreshed. Seeing that the man who had brought her back not only hadn't left, but had been dragged to the hospital by her grandfather to watch over her, she whispered to her grandfather as he walked back, "Why did you call that man here? Did you give him the fare?"
Old Master Nan was still angry. He blew his nose and glared, "Why give me fare? He's my godson."
Nan Jiu, a young and inexperienced woman, groped her way to her grandfather's house. Instead of encountering human traffickers, she met her uncle, Song Ting. As for when her grandfather adopted her as his godson, Nan Zhendong didn't even know, let alone Nan Jiu.
Tucked away in Mao'er Alley, off the bustling city, Old Man Nan runs a teahouse. His longtime tea-drinkers have been here for decades, and they've built a close friendship with him. Mao'er Teahouse holds a place in Mao'er Alley like an ancestral hall. Neighbors come to the teahouse to mediate disputes, discuss weddings and funerals, and even decide on dates for building renovations. With the passage of time, many of Mao'er Alley's old shops have been replaced by trendy milk tea shops and convenience stores, but the teahouse remains, welcoming its customers.
Besides Old Man Nan's presence, the most important people in a teahouse are undoubtedly the waiters. With the growing prosperity of the adjacent Old Street, the number of tea patrons from other places has also increased in the past two years. Waiters not only have to deal with a wide range of customers, but also with tourists from all corners of the world. With so many people, conflicts are common. A strong body and a sharp mind are essential; without some underworld skills, it's difficult to handle the complex situations that often unfold in a teahouse.
For this reason, Old Man Nan still held Song Ting in high regard. In the two years that Song Ting had been at the teahouse, Old Man Nan had hardly worried about him. In his spare time, he could still find time to play with birds and flowers, living a semi-retired life.
Song Ting drove Nan Jiu and Old Man Nan back to Maoer Lane from the hospital. The car stopped at the entrance of the lane, and Song Ting got out and bought two pieces of hot osmanthus cake.
Nanjiu's return was sudden, and Old Man Nan was not prepared. After returning to the teahouse, Old Man Nan discussed with Song Ting and decided to clean up the side room on the first floor and give it to Nanjiu to stay.
In the evening, Nanjiu sat on a low wooden stool and ate osmanthus cake, while Song Ting was busy going back and forth beside her. He swept the house once and mopped it twice. Sometimes he carried a few wooden stools, sometimes he lifted a wooden board, sometimes he brought a quilt and a blanket, and a bed was built out of thin air in the empty house. He went up to the attic again. A few minutes later, steady footsteps appeared on the stairs. He was holding a standing fan in his hand and placed it beside the bed. He plugged it in, turned around and said to Nanjiu who was sitting at the door: "If your grandfather turns off the air conditioner later, you can turn on the fan."
Nanjiu stuffed the last bite of osmanthus cake into his mouth, puffed out his cheeks and nodded at him.
In the corner of the first-floor teahouse, there's an old standing air conditioner, which is only turned on during the day when the teahouse is open to the public. At night, when the sun sets and a breeze blows through, the first floor of the teahouse feels less stuffy, perfect for sleeping with a fan. Old Man Nan would then turn off the air conditioner to let his old friend rest for the night.
Song Ting lived in the teahouse's attic, where miscellaneous items had been stored. After he arrived, he cleaned it up and made a bed. When Nanjiu was little, she'd always come to her grandfather's house to play hide-and-seek with her cousins, always hiding in the attic. This time, her grandfather told her that Song Ting lived upstairs and told her not to go there unless necessary.
The next day, when Nan Jiu woke up, the teahouse was already packed with customers. She went to the kitchen to find something to eat and happened to see Old Man Nan talking to Song Ting in the hallway.
"The attic is so hot, why don't you give the fan to Xiaojiu? How did you get here last night?" Grandpa Nan asked him.
"I can't feel it when I'm asleep."
"I think we should install a wall-mounted system upstairs. It will be more comfortable in the summer."
"Let's talk about it later." Song Ting waved to the old customer who had just walked in, and then went to do his work.
Old Man Nan turned around and saw Nan Jiu standing in the corner. He poked his cane and frowned, "What time did you get up? Is the fever gone?"
Nanjiu came forward with a playful smile and said, "I returned it. The bed is too hard and it's not comfortable to sleep on."
"You deserve it. You didn't sleep on the Simmons mattress at home, so you came here. If you run around again, I'll break your legs." Old Man Nan raised his crutch and hit Nan Jiu's calf.
When checking the accounts in the evening, Mr. Nan mentioned this to Song Ting, asking him to ask Dasheng if he knew the owner of the bed store in their furniture store, and to ask Song Ting to install an air conditioner in the attic.
Song Ting didn't install an air conditioner, but he did drag a bed back the next day. Old Man Nan's back wasn't in good condition, so he couldn't lift it. Nan Jiu went to play video games at Sister Liu Yin's house next door, and only returned to the teahouse after dinner.
Song Ting moved the bed in the side room out by himself, carried the new bed into the room, put the mattress and the newly bought mat on it, and wiped it three times with warm water.
After Nan Jiu came back, he jumped onto the soft new bed, rolled over several times, and ran to the teahouse in slippers. He squeezed in front of Grandpa Nan excitedly, and the laughter of the grandfather and grandson could be heard from behind the tea table.
Song Ting busied himself wiping the table, then neatly placed the chairs in their places, locked the teahouse door, and went to check the tea bowls as usual. He had a nightly habit of checking each of the tea bowls he had prepared the next day. If there were any cracks or chips, he would take them out and dispose of them, never to use them again.
Old Master Nan once told the young Song Ting that the tea lid represents the sky, the tea tray represents the earth, and the tea bowl represents people. Later, all the tea bowls in the teahouse were custom-made by Song Ting himself, who drove to Jingdezhen to find a boss he knew.
Before Nanjiu's parents divorced, they would bring her to her grandfather's house every New Year. Ever since Nan Zhendong remarried, he'd go to his mother-in-law's house for New Year's, leaving Nanjiu with her biological mother. Nanjiu hadn't been to her grandfather's house in years. Nothing about Mao'er Teahouse had changed, except for the man who sat in the tearoom every night, poring over a pile of tea bowls until late at night.
......
Liu Yin, who lived next door, was two years older than Nan Jiu. When Nan Jiu went to Liu Yin's house to play games, she saw Liu Yin's pink vest hanging by the window. Liu Yin followed her gaze, then glanced at Nan Jiu's chest and asked her, "Don't you usually wear a vest?"
Nanjiu blushed. She lived with her father, and Nan Zhendong had never told her when to wear a vest. Nanjiu's biological mother had devoted herself to her younger sister for the past two years, neglecting Nanjiu, not to mention her stepmother.
After leaving Liu Yin's house, Nan Jiu consciously hunched her back to minimize the presence of the two pounds of flesh on her chest. When she saw someone staring at her, she would unnaturally cross her arms and avoid their gaze.
When Old Man Nan noticed that she was hunched over, he tapped her back with his cane and said, "Stand up straight and walk. You are so young, but you act like an old lady."
Nan Jiu not only did not straighten her back, but turned to ask Mr. Nan for 50 yuan. Mr. Nan asked her what she needed it for, and she hesitantly said she wanted to buy clothes.
After finishing his afternoon work, Old Man Nan asked Song Ting to take Nan Jiu to the nearby old street to buy a couple of outfits. Nan Jiu's face flushed crimson, and she walked briskly, trying to shake Song Ting off. Several times, she thought she'd succeeded, only to turn back and find Song Ting calmly following her. With his long legs, his one step matched hers twice, and she felt like she was strolling through the garden.
Arriving at the old street, passing Nike and Adidas stores, Song Ting asked her to go in and browse, but she refused. Passing a few women's clothing stores, Song Ting slowed down, hesitating whether to go in. Nanjiu was already over 5 feet 4 inches tall, yet still looked childish. Wearing women's clothing would make her look mature and out of place. So, he turned around and took her to a children's clothing store.
Nan Jiu looked at it perfunctorily and said that she didn't like anything. Song Ting saw that she looked anxious and didn't know what she was anxious about, so he took out two red bills from his pocket and handed them to her.
"I'm going to buy a pack of cigarettes. You can see for yourself."
Nan Jiu saw Song Ting walking away, turned around and ran back to the lingerie store she had just passed by and bought her first pair of lingerie. From then on, she also had a pink vest.
When Nan Jiu came out of the lingerie store, contentedly carrying her small vest, Song Ting was standing under the ash tree across the street, waiting for her, a cigarette between his legs. Nan Jiu glanced at him quickly, her ears flushed, and she walked back even faster than she had come.
Seeing that she knew the way back, Song Ting slowly fell behind her, and the distance between them gradually widened.
The small vest was made of very little fabric and was placed in a palm-sized bag. When Old Man Nan saw Nan Jiu coming back with such a small bag, he stretched his head and asked her, "Did you go all the way around to buy such a small piece of clothing?"
Nanjiu glanced at his grandfather and turned back to the house.
Song Ting entered the teahouse a few steps late. Old Man Nan said to him, "Why don't you buy two more?"
Song Ting lowered his eyelids and replied, "She picked it herself."
The author has something to say:
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Long time no see. This story is written according to the heroine's growth line. I'll post a chapter for you to read. If you like it, I'll serialize it next week.
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