Chapter 9 Shopping: My Mom is Amazing!
Qin Zihang tiptoed off the bed. Shh, don't wake Mom. Let Mom rest.
Qin Yizhou took him to brush his teeth
After washing their faces, the father and son walked out the door hand in hand to go to the cafeteria.
The next moment, Qin Zihang pulled his hand out of Qin Yizhou's palm and hugged the door.
"What's wrong?" Qin Yizhou didn't expect his son to be like this. Wasn't his son just fine a moment ago?
"Dad, you're not thinking of selling me, are you?" Qin Zihang hugged the door and stared at his father. "Dad, even though I'm valuable, I can't leave Mom."
Qin Yizhou was speechless. "Who told you I was going to sell you?"
"The child from the house next door, the house next door, is missing," Qin Zihang said.
The father of one family took his child to the train station and abandoned her. The child was a girl, and the family didn't want a girl. Plus, the girl hadn't spoken for a long time, and the grandmother kept saying there was something wrong with her. In a fit of anger, the father threw the child away. He didn't abandon her at the capital's train station, but rather took the train to another station to abandon her.
The story spread throughout the neighborhood, with people gossiping about it, some even saying that the family had sold the child. In such cases, the authorities don't investigate unless the people report it, especially since there was no evidence.
Song Fenglan's aunt had even remarked about this at home, and Qin Zihang overheard it, worrying that his father would sell him. Some adults also like to talk nonsense in front of children, saying things like children who misbehave will be sold.
"It wasn't lost, it was sold," Qin Zihang said. "It can be sold for a lot of money."
Some people even stopped to take a look as they passed by.
Qin Yizhou wanted to cover his son's mouth, but if he did, his son would only think that he was really going to sell him.
“Your mother and I only have you as our son, we would never sell you,” Qin Yizhou said. “We, the People’s Liberation Army, do not sell children.”
"Not for sale?" Qin Zihang asked cautiously, still unwilling to let go of the door.
"What are you selling?" Zhang Chenghai stood to the side, a steamed bun still in his mouth. He was on his way to the army base when he happened to see this scene at the door.
The two families are neighbors, so it's easy for them to run into each other when they go out. And here we are, meeting each other.
"Nothing's for sale." Qin Yizhou walked up to Qin Zihang, picked up his son, and said, "Let's go to the cafeteria to buy breakfast."
"I didn't make breakfast," Zhang Chenghai said.
"I'm leaving now," Qin Yizhou said. He couldn't let Qin Zihang continue talking; if he did, people would laugh at him.
Qin Zihang didn't fuss; he was happy being held by his father. Qin Zihang was still young, how could he not miss his father? He envied other children who had their fathers holding them. But since his father wasn't around, Qin Zihang didn't dare talk much about his father to his mother; his mother was already very good to him.
Qin Yizhou suspected that his son might want him to hold him, which was why his son was talking nonsense.
When the father and son returned with breakfast, Song Fenglan had also woken up. During breakfast, Qin Yizhou recounted Qin Zihang's actions that morning.
"Surprised?" Song Fenglan took a bite of her meat bun. "Other kids who don't want to go to school hug the gate, but he's afraid you'll sell him, so he's hugging the gate."
Our son has done this more than once or twice, so as parents, we have to get used to the possibility of him getting scared at any moment. If it happens too often, we'll get overly sensitive, but we'll still eventually get scared.
"I haven't seen him in a long time, so I'm not familiar with him." Qin Yizhou made up an excuse for his son, afraid that he might say something unpleasant and upset him. He hadn't spent much time with his son and already felt guilty, so Qin Yizhou had to coax him.
Song Fenglan glanced at Qin Yizhou, "Well, you two haven't seen each other for too long, you'll get used to it."
"Yes, you'll get used to it." Qin Yizhou nodded.
"..." Song Fenglan couldn't help but glance at Qin Yizhou again. It made sense; Qin Yizhou had work to do, and he didn't often take his son with him. Men are also more thick-skinned and don't need to worry about getting into trouble.
"Dad, are we going out in a bit?" Qin Zihang asked. "Do we need to buy anything?"
"Yes, I need to buy something," Qin Yizhou said. "You eat."
Qin Yizhou found a car. This time, they were going to the city to buy fabric and other things, and they also needed to carry back a sewing machine and a radio. Qin Yizhou thought that his wife and children didn't have any other entertainment at home, so he wanted to buy some things to keep them from getting bored. Since they bought so much, Qin Yizhou couldn't carry it all back by himself; they needed a car to transport it.
The city center in the south can't compare to the capital, but there are still plenty of things to buy in the shopping malls. Qin Yizhou had prepared his money and tickets, so buying things would be very convenient for him.
"Let me see the blue piece of fabric." Song Fenglan had arrived at the fabric shop, and she needed to examine the fabrics and compare the different types.
Some fabrics feel rough and uncomfortable. Children have delicate skin and love to run and jump around. Rough fabrics can easily chafe their skin. If they're sitting still and not moving around much, a rougher fabric is fine. But for active children, softer fabrics are necessary.
The shop assistant watched Song Fenglan comparing different fabrics but didn't say much, showing no concern that she couldn't afford them. These fabrics weren't from the shop's store; selling more fabric wouldn't earn the shop assistant more money, so she didn't care. She just didn't like serving fabric to customers; she preferred customers to simply look at a piece and say they wanted it, so she could avoid having to do much.
Song Fenglan didn't care about the shop assistant's attitude; in those days, many shop assistants had the same attitude. These items were considered relatively scarce, so there was no worry about selling them; thanks to the national planned economy, there was a safety net.
"Look." Song Fenglan held up the fabric and held it up to her son's body.
"Be careful," the shop assistant said impatiently. "These fabrics are all delicate; don't tear them. Also, are your child's hands clean?"
"Of course it's clean." Song Fenglan frowned; the shop assistant's attitude was terrible.
"It's spotless." Qin Zihang stretched out his hands to show the shop assistant.
"It looks clean on the surface, but who knows..."
"Who knows what?" Qin Yizhou's face turned cold. He had come to buy things happily with his wife and children, but this shop assistant's words were too rude.
Qin Yizhou wasn't wearing a military uniform; he was dressed in ordinary clothes, showing no intention of using his military status to intimidate others. Qin Yizhou exuded a strong aura, intimidating the shop assistant, who shrugged and walked away unhappily.
"Are there any other places to buy fabric?" Song Fenglan hugged her son, not wanting anything else to happen.
"Yes." Qin Yizhou nodded; he had come here to buy fabric before.
When Qin Yizhou returned to the capital, he bought fabric to take back to Song Fenglan. Nancheng is not a small place, but a city, and it sells many things, not just in one place.
"Mom, my hands are clean," Qin Zihang said, feeling wronged. "I didn't play in the mud."
"Very clean." Song Fenglan looked at her son's little hand and gently squeezed it. "Clean."
Many children's hands can indeed be quite dirty.
Song Fenglan wasn't particularly offended by the shop assistant's words, but rather by the assistant's extremely displeased and impatient attitude. Song Fenglan didn't want to compromise with the shop assistant in front of her son. When it came to her son, it was best to be cautious; she couldn't let the child think that adults only compromised, or that even if the child wasn't wrong, he was wrong—that was wrong.
After Qin Yizhou and his family of three walked a little further away, the shop assistant muttered, "They're dressed so well, but they still can't afford fabric."
The shop assistant thought she had seen many people, some of whom were very beautiful and well-dressed, but they had already spent all their money and had no money to buy anything else.
Qin Yizhou took Song Fenglan and her son to another place, where the staff were quite friendly.
"The little one is so cute, he looks just like his dad," the shop assistant said with a smile.
"Do I look a lot like my dad?" Qin Zihang asked, tilting his head.
"Yes, it looks just like it, like it was made from the same mold," the shop assistant said.
"Dad, I'm actually your biological son!" Qin Zihang looked at Qin Yizhou with surprise.
Song Fenglan took a deep breath, smiled, and kept smiling.
“Of course you’re my biological son.” Qin Yizhou saw Song Fenglan’s trembling hands. He put his arm around his wife’s shoulder and looked at his son. “You are my and your mother’s child. If you don’t look like me, who do you look like?”
“I can be like my mother, but not like my father,” Qin Zihang replied.
"Alright, look at the fabric. What color do you like? Which one should we buy?" Song Fenglan didn't want her son to continue talking. If he did, people would think she was two-timing him.
The shop assistant laughed when she heard Qin Zihang's words. She had thought the little boy was going to say that there was another uncle who looked like his father. Kids are just so funny. Fortunately, the child looks a lot like his father, so there was no misunderstanding.
"Buy more fabric," Song Fenglan said. "Besides summer clothes, we also need to make autumn and winter clothes."
“Okay,” Qin Yizhou said. “I brought the tickets.”
Qin Yizhou had quite a few tickets, but he hadn't had a chance to send them back to Song Fenglan before she arrived. Qin Yizhou brought all the tickets with him, fearing he wouldn't have enough to buy things. Qin Yizhou usually ate and slept at the military base and didn't need those things at all; he had been saving them up.
After buying the fabric, the family of three also bought some needles and thread, as well as other odds and ends. They also bought some pastries and fruit, so the child could eat if he got hungry.
eat.
When they returned, the driver even helped them carry their belongings inside.
While the plump woman next door was watering her vegetables in the yard, she heard a noise outside and went out to check it out.
"Did you buy a sewing machine?" the plump woman exclaimed in surprise. "You can even sew clothes?"
“Yes, my son and the clothes I’m wearing are all handmade by myself,” Song Fenglan said with a smile.
"Did you used to work in a cotton mill?" the plump woman couldn't help but ask.
“No, I used to be a teacher,” Song Fenglan said.
"A teacher?" The plump woman thought Song Fenglan was useless, but she didn't expect that the clothes she made were so beautiful, and that she was a teacher. "Does she teach elementary school, middle school, or... kindergarten?"
"I teach junior high school," Song Fenglan replied.
"Then...we have a middle school here, would you like to go and be a teacher there?" the fat woman asked.
"It depends." Song Fenglan didn't necessarily want to become a teacher. The college entrance exam would be reinstated next year, and she would have to take it. Song Fenglan didn't want other people's sons to say their parents were scientists or translators, while her son would say, "My mother graduated from high school and was a middle school teacher."
That doesn't sound powerful enough.
There are too many powerful people in the capital. Qin Yizhou's sister-in-law looks down on Song Fenglan. Song Fenglan needs to perform even better. She can't let her son's face be trampled on by others.
"If I could, I could become a teacher." Song Fenglan wondered if people would say she was lying and that she wasn't a teacher at all if she didn't go to work and teach students.
Song Fenglan herself wasn't afraid of what others would say; the main concern was her son. He needed to go out, and she couldn't let him be looked down upon.
"My mom is amazing! Lots of people like her." Qin Zihang seized the opportunity to sing her praises. "My older brother and sister all love me. They say I'll be as smart as my mom when I grow up. She's a really great teacher, my mom..."
"That's enough," Song Fenglan stopped her son from continuing.
“Mom, you’re amazing,” Qin Zihang said. “Everyone says so.”
Qin Zihang straightened his back, feeling proud that he had such an amazing mother, while other people's mothers were not as amazing.
"I just arrived, and the job situation hasn't been finalized yet." Song Fenglan looked at her chubby sister-in-law. With her son's big mouth, she figured people would soon find out that she was a very capable teacher.
Song Fenglan had a bit of a headache. She didn't know how the students here differed from those in the capital, nor did she know if they would like her teaching style. Song Fenglan looked down at her son. It wouldn't matter if she went to teach the students; her son was going to kindergarten.
"Mommy, I need to pee." Qin Zihang lifted his little feet a few times, looking like he was in a hurry to go to the toilet.
"I'll take him inside first," Song Fenglan quickly told the plump woman, and then led the child inside.
The houses here all have bathrooms built inside. Originally, these houses didn't have separate toilets. Since many people didn't want to live in the houses and preferred to live in the better-equipped tenement buildings, the relevant departments simply built separate bathrooms for these houses, which can be considered a balance between the living conditions of the two sides.
The plump woman didn't stay any longer and turned to leave. She loved to talk to people, and that afternoon she told someone about Song Fenglan.
"Her son said she's amazing, a really great teacher."
"She made the clothes for herself and her son."
"I never expected that she could sew clothes, even though she can't cook."
...
"Could it be fake?" someone said sarcastically. "Could it be that she's just trying to save face, not wanting people to think she's a rich bourgeois heiress, and that's why she's saying this on purpose? You can't believe a child's words. Maybe the adults taught the child to say it."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
