Chapter 33
Seeing Jiang Jiawei frozen in place as if she had been struck by lightning, Mu Zhengxi pointed at the two who insisted on coming and said, "These are my classmates." His disdain was obvious, and his face clearly showed that he had told them not to come, but they insisted on coming anyway.
See? This is the brother who's been inseparable since childhood.
Yan Yuheng looked down on it.
Jiang Jiawei took a few seconds to process the message, accept the two new faces, and walked into the store. She put on a friendly smile and greeted them, "Hello."
Mu Zhengxi kicked Xu Zizhao, who was standing there dumbfounded. Xu Zizhao immediately stood up and bowed respectfully, "Hello, hello, I am Xu Zizhao."
This grand gift was so formal that it left one feeling quite awkward.
Jiang Jiawei glanced at Mu Zhengxi subconsciously, but he gave her a look that said "ignore him." Jiang Jiawei squeezed Xu Zizhao's fingertips and bowed back, "Um... my name is Jiang Jiawei."
Yan Yuheng: "Hello Jiang Jiawei, my name is Yan Yuheng."
That's normal.
Hello, hello.
Jiang Jiawei brought the milk tea she had just bought to the table, opened it, and said, "I'll treat you to milk tea~"
Look at that attitude, look at that tone.
What does it mean to treat people well? What does it mean to be polite and courteous?
Mu Zhengxi rolled his eyes at the accusatory look Yan Yuheng was giving him.
A group of people of similar age, with the support of Sister Zhenzhen, played some word chain games while stringing sticks together, and soon became familiar with each other and started joking around.
Jiang Jiawei turned her head to watch Mu Zhengxi skewer chicken wings with practiced ease and skill. "Do you often barbecue?"
Mu Zhengxi raised an eyebrow. "Every summer vacation, my grandma would send me to a military summer camp for training. That's how I got trained." He showed Jiang Jiawei how he pierced a whole chicken wing with a needle. "Impressive, right?"
Jiang Jiawei took it, glanced at it, and nodded affirmatively, "Very impressive."
"Then teach me."
"Look closely, for this kind of whole chicken wing, you should start with the meat in the middle of the wing tip..."
"Hey, don't put your hand near your head, or you might accidentally poke yourself through it."
"How is it? Is it up to standard?"
Mu Zhengxi, adopting the airs of an instructor, commented: "It's alright, barely passable."
"I'll try one more."
Sitting opposite Mu Zhengxi, Yan Yuheng bit his lip to suppress a laugh. He looked up but couldn't meet Xu Zizhao's gaze. Xu Zizhao, who looked like a primary school student, was racing Jiang Jiawei's younger brother, Jiang Jiayi, to skewer pineapple beef. Zhenzhen was the referee for them.
Xu Zizhao smugly provoked, "I'm the fifth one, little brother."
Jiang Jia pouted, her whole face straining, "I'm almost there too."
"It's settled then, the loser has to do twenty squats."
"It's definitely you who did it."
"I'm faster than you now."
"I'm done for the fifth one."
"Damn it, no, I can't talk to you anymore."
Zhenzhen: "There's only one minute left."
"OK, countdown, ten, nine, eight... one!"
Congratulations to Jiang Jiayi on her victory!!!
Yan Yuheng mocked mercilessly, "Hahaha, Xu Zizhao, you're so useless, losing to your younger brother?"
Jiang Jiayi: "See, I told you you had to do squats!"
Although unwilling, Xu Zizhao had to accept his loss and obediently stood up and did twenty squats.
"Again."
Jiang Jiayi: "Okay."
Zhenzhen: "Then this time, we'll have a competition to string cauliflower together."
Finding it uninteresting to string together his own creations, Yan Yuheng applied for a spot in the competition.
Zhenzhen: "Okay, do you want the other two to join?"
Mu Zhengxi raised his hand, "Yes!"
Jiang Jiawei: "I won't—"
Mu Zhengxi answered before she could finish speaking: "She wants one too!"
Zhenzhen: "Okay, everyone get ready. This time there's no time limit. We'll just string them all together and see who can string the most."
Zhenzhen's eyes darted back and forth between the group of people. "What's the punishment for last place? Squats are boring, how about singing a song as punishment?"
Xu Zizhao and Jiang Jiayi: "Okay!!"
Jiang Jiawei's eyes widened. "I can't."
Mu Zhengxi: "You can."
The remaining people joined in the jeering and echoing, "You can do it."
"Sister, you can't say you can't!"
"Jiang Jiawei, don't be a coward!!"
Okay, okay.
"You're not allowed to laugh if you sing off-key."
"Haha, okay."
"Definitely not!!"
"I promise it won't!!!"
Mu Zhengxi couldn't help but laugh when he saw her worried face; he had never heard Jiang Jiawei sing before.
"Ready! Go!"
"Hey, I took that!"
"Hey, this basket needs to be placed in the middle!"
"Where are the skewers? I'm out of skewers!!!"
"Mu Zhengxi!!!"
"Sis! That's mine!"
"Xu Zizhao, you've put it on the wrong side!"
"Damn it!! How did I end up with only one string of them! Yan Yuheng, did you take me?!"
"I'm an idiot standing right in front of you!"
Jiang Weichao stood at the shop entrance, smiling and shaking his head.
The sun is slowly setting in the west.
"Come on, count off."
Mu Zhengxi: "8 skewers."
Yan Yuheng: "8 skewers."
Jiang Jiayi: "7 skewers."
Jiang Jiawei: "Ah, I'm number 6!"
Xu Zizhao: "Report! Jiang Jiayi just secretly gave a string of coins to his sister!! He cheated!!!"
Jiang Jiayi: "I didn't!"
Xu Zizhao: "I saw it!!"
Mu Zhengxi turned to look at Jiang Jiawei, "Really?"
Jiang Jiawei laughed and hid behind his back, avoiding his gaze, without denying it.
Xu Zizhao: "Haha, I found out about you two siblings."
As a fair and impartial referee, Zhenzhen firmly stated that cheating should not be allowed to happen, so the two of them were punished together, but sang separately.
Jiang Jiawei: "Can't we sing together?"
Mu Zhengxi, Yan Yuheng, and Xu Zizhao all said in unison, "No way."
Jiang Jiawei pleaded with Zhenzhen, "Please~"
Mu Zhengxi: "Alright then."
Yan Yuheng and Xu Zizhao both looked at him with disdain and speechlessness.
Jiang Weichao: "It's okay, Jiajia, sing bravely and loudly! Dad supports you!"
Jiang Jiawei turned to look at her father, and the mental preparation she had just made was replaced by laughter because of his words.
Jiang Jiayi laughed along with her, "Sister, stop laughing."
Hahahaha.
Then, for some reason, everyone laughed.
Zhenzhen once again took on the responsibility of hosting the entire event, saying, "Everyone has thirty seconds to calm down, and anyone who laughs again will be punished."
Thirty seconds later.
Jiang Jiawei moved her mouth open and cleared her throat.
"alright."
Zhenzhen: "Jiang Jiayi?"
"alright."
"Don't you two need to discuss which song to sing?"
"Need not."
"Playing the siblings' teamwork game? Okay, three, two, one, go!"
"I am a salted fish."
"I'm a salted fish... Pfft, hahaha."
Zhenzhen: "Jiang Jiawei, don't you dare laugh!!"
Don't pity me for being stupid and praise me for being naive...
What was originally a punishment for two people somehow turned into a punishment for everyone, and then it became a song chorus.
I'm silly, not stupid.
I will prove it with my life.
Is it wrong for me to have dreams?
You only understand more when you miss out.
Understand what perseverance is
If I had a dream, it would have to be crazy enough.
Before the barbecue officially started tonight, Jiang Weichao cooked a simple bowl of soy sauce noodles for each of them to fill their stomachs.
After eating, we went up to the rooftop to prepare for the barbecue.
The setting sun is like a steamed crab, its shell already turning red, still struggling to fall from the building back into the ocean.
Mu Zhengxi took out the camera he had brought from his backpack. "Jiang Jiawei, come here."
Jiang Jiawei, who was helping to set the table, came over in surprise, "Where did this camera come from?"
"I had Yan Yuheng bring it."
Mu Zhengxi adjusted his clothes, and the person standing next to him leaned closer to look. The wind blew Jiang Jiawei's hair and brushed against his cheek, making him feel a little itchy. A slightly impatient voice came down from above, "Jiang Jiawei, your hair is brushing against me."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
Mu Zhengxi reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear before she could react. "It's fine now."
Mu Zhengxi said, "Stand there and I'll take a picture of you."
"OK."
Jiang Jiawei moved according to his instructions.
"Here?"
"right."
Jiang Jiawei leaned against the wall, tilted her head slightly and smiled, looking somewhat reserved and unnatural, which was quite unusual.
"Are you done?"
"No."
Jiang Jiawei turned her head away. "Wait a minute, I want to sneeze, achoo!" Her nose was itchy, so she sneezed a second time.
"Are you done yet?" The voice had a nasal tone.
"alright."
Jiang Jiawei rushed over impatiently, "Can we just take this film to a photo studio and get it developed?"
Mu Zhengxi looked at her and answered irrelevantly, "Are you cold?"
"It's not cold, let me try it."
Mu Zhengxi took off the camera strap and hung it around her neck, then pulled out two braids that were pinned down; they were smooth and really looked like fish tails.
As Jiang Jiawei bent down to fidget with her camera, a windbreaker, still warm from her body, pressed against her shoulders.
"I'm not cold, you're still suffering from a cold." She said, pulling her clothes off.
“My cold is all better now.” Mu Zhengxi pressed down on her shoulder, his gaze falling on the camera. “Didn’t you want to try it? I’ll teach you.” Her face and ears were burning hot.
Mu Zhengxi suddenly noticed, "Jiang Jiawei, you seem to have gotten fairer." A white ginkgo fruit appeared inside her maple-red coat.
"It will turn whiter in winter."
So you got a tan in the summer?
Jiang Jiawei looked up at him, her expression blank, her tone neither warm nor cold, "What, is being dark-skinned not okay?"
Mu Zhengxi swallowed nervously, blinked his big eyes innocently, and shook his head. "No, being dark-skinned is fine too...it's healthy."
Jiang Jiawei looked unconvinced, but seemed unwilling to confront him on this topic. "Teach me."
"oh."
Start by learning the simplest shutter speed and focus adjustment.
Jiang Jiawei said, "I'll take a picture of you."
"I don't want to."
An unexpected, instant rejection.
"Why?"
"I don't like taking pictures."
"Alright then, I'll give it to you—"
"Alright, alright, I'll let you practice once."
Mu Zhengxi took a few steps back and stood there perfunctorily, but before he had even stood there for ten seconds, he asked, "Are you done?"
It looked like they were being photographed for a kidnapping. The budding photographer made a request, "You have to smile, like me." He even demonstrated, "Like this, smile~"
The man with his hands in his pockets wouldn't listen, "Are you done yet?"
“You look so beautiful when you smile.” Jiang Jiawei wrinkled her nose. “Then I’ll take a picture of your back, and you turn around.”
I did heed that instruction.
"Wow, Mu Zhengxi looks so good."
"uh-huh."
Fiery clouds at sunset.
"This sunset is so beautiful."
"Isn't it because I'm good-looking?!"
Mu Zhengxi turned his head, baring his teeth in anger.
"Ha ha ha ha."
Successfully captured the image.
Mu Zhengxi: "Jiang Jiawei!!"
"But you just filmed me sneezing!"
Mu Zhengxi retorted, "How can that be the same? You just happened to be sneezing."
Jiang Jiawei didn't bother arguing with him. Her face peeked out from behind the camera. "What does this mean? Are you out of film?"
Mu Zhengxi walked over in an annoyed manner, checked the situation, and then turned around and called out, "Yan Yuheng."
The person who had just come upstairs to help carry things over asked, "What's wrong?"
"How do I exchange this roll of film? I've forgotten."
"Where's the new film?"
Mu Zhengxi took a new roll of film out of his bag and handed it to him.
Yan Yuheng was about to take it apart when Mu Zhengxi stopped him abruptly, saying, "Slow down and teach her."
"Oh, look, you need to take this off after you've finished using it, and then pry out this ring..."
Jiang Jiawei watched very carefully.
Out of the corner of his eye, Yan Yuheng noticed that Mu Zhengxi reached out and lifted Jiang Jiawei's oversized coat, which was slipping down, and pulled on the sleeve, saying, "Put your hand inside."
Jiang Jiawei made the movement subconsciously.
The cuffs were a bit long, so Mu Zhengxi folded one section down for her.
"That's good." Yan Yuheng handed the adjusted camera back to her.
Mu Zhengxi: "Have you learned it?"
Jiang Jiawei shook her head honestly, "No."
Mu Zhengxi took it apart again and taught her again.
"Give it a try."
Jiang Jiawei carefully began, “First, pry open this ring, then turn it around like this, right?” She looked up at Mu Zhengxi after each step, and only continued to the next step after receiving his nod of approval.
"And then like this?"
"uh-huh."
...
"Have you learned it?"
Jiang Jiawei nodded, "I understand."
"Here, you can play with this."
"Give it to me?" Jiang Jiawei pointed to herself to confirm.
"Oh right." Mu Zhengxi changed the subject, "I'm not giving it to you, I'm leaving it here with you. It's too heavy for me to carry around, so I'll leave it at your house."
Upon hearing this, Yan Yuheng turned his head and smiled.
"ah?"
"What do you mean 'oh'? You keep it for me."
"but-"
"You'll be responsible if you break it," Mu Zhengxi threatened mischievously, taking the camera bag. "There are only two rolls of new film left here. I'll bring you new ones next time I come back."
The rooftop lights up.
Zhenzhen: "Hey, what are you three doing? Come and help!"
More people gathered on the rooftop, including Zhenzhen's friends and several uncles and aunts from the neighboring shop who often hung out together.
"Little Jiawei, it's been a long time."
Wow, so many handsome guys today!
Hi everyone.
"Hi lol hi lol".
"Hello."
Are you taking pictures?
"Where did this camera come from?"
A woman, acting as if they were old friends, pulled Yan Yuheng over and said, "Come on, let's take a picture of me and this handsome guy."
"Is it okay, handsome?"
Yan Yuheng was very quick to respond, "Sis, you call me handsome, so how can I not?"
"Hahaha."
Mu Zhengxi taught Jiang Jiawei how to adjust the aperture parameters for night scenes.
"One, two, three, eggplant~"
"Want to take a picture? I want one too."
"What would you like to drink, you minors?"
"I want Fanta!"
"Cola!"
"Sprite!"
Is there anything else?
"I want Sprite too!"
"I want Wahaha!"
"Okay."
Jiang Jiayi and Xu Zizhao have already started playing with fireworks.
"Little brother, little brother, this lighter is out of fuel."
"Okay, wait a minute, I'll go get my dad to get you a new one."
"Jiawei, didn't you say you were going to be the head chef today?"
"Coming! I'm coming right away!"
Jiang Jiawei's attention was instantly diverted. She handed the camera to Mu Zhengxi, eager to try, "What do you want to eat? I'll grill it for you."
Mu Zhengxi was terrified, but pretended to be busy looking at the camera in his hand. "I...I'm not very hungry right now, I'll wait a bit."
"Okay, what about you, Yuheng? What would you like to eat?"
Pacific saury.
"Okay~"
Mu Zhengxi cast a sympathetic glance at him.
"What's wrong?"
"without."
After walking a few steps, Jiang Jiawei turned back, took off her coat, and said, "I'm going downstairs to get my own coat."
Mu Zhengxi pursed his lips as he looked at the coat that had been shoved back into his hand.
"Look at your expression, give it to Dad, he's cold." Yan Yuheng jokingly put his arm around Mu Zhengxi's shoulder.
Mu Zhengxi gave a forced smile, "If you're cold, just hug yourself."
"Ha, he really has forgotten his father now that he has a wife."
"Yan Yuheng?"
"It's just the two of us, and there's no one else around."
"Shut up."
"You're actually embarrassed, Mu Zhengxi? Seriously?"
"Looking for a beating, huh?"
"Haha, no, no."
The two started fighting again.
"Come on, let's set off fireworks."
Xu Zizhao waved to them, looked over, and saw that they were locked in a fierce battle. He shook his head and said, "Childish."
"Hey little brother, this little bee is interesting, give me another one."
"You play with this, little goldfish."
"And what are goldfish?"
"You'll see once you try it."
"Jung-hee".
"Eh."
Sister Zhenzhen waved to him, "Come over here and take a picture of me."
"good."
The firecrackers exploded in the sky, and Yan Yuheng seemed to understand why Mu Zhengxi was so happy that he didn't want to leave.
December 31, 2006.
it's clear.
A gentle breeze.
Sunset is at 5:30.
It was Jiang Jiawei's first time using a camera, and her subject was Mu Zhengxi. As expected, the saury she grilled was burnt. Yan Yuheng didn't eat it, but Mu Zhengxi did.
Around 9 o'clock, a few people set off fireworks.
Around 10 o'clock, the sound of fireworks in my ears never stopped.
During the countdown, everyone closed their eyes and made a wish.
ten.
Nine.
eight.
seven.
six.
five.
Four.
three.
two.
one.
Fireworks lit up the entire sky.
Happy New Year, Jeonghee!!!
Ursula officially murdered him.
Volcanic eruption.
Wenqing.
I finally understand now.
That's my heartbeat, not the Earth's.
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