Qiuhua and Meiying were lying on the bed, chatting and not wanting to sleep at all.
Just now, the two of them pushed each other for a long time over half a bottle of malted milk, and Meiying finally couldn't resist Qiuhua and gave in.
"Qiuhua, I'm actually quite envious of you."
Zhao Meiying looked out the window. She hadn't seen her parents for almost a year. They would only return to the countryside for a while during the Chinese New Year. During those few days, the whole family would always revolve around her younger brother.
Qiuhua knew what she was talking about, and she felt sad for Meiying. Who doesn't want to grow up with their mother?
"Oh, don't say that. Every family has its own way of living. I have many brothers and sisters, but my eldest brother is so old and no one wants to get engaged to him. My second brother hangs around outside every day without doing any work. My father earns few work points, and now Chunhua has come into the family. Life is very difficult."
"It's no big deal if life is a little hard, but your family treats you well. Look at my family, there are only three of us on weekdays, and my brother and my wife can't even get along."
Zhao Meiying sighed and continued, "You know what? My eldest brother and my younger brother will take over my parents' jobs in the future. One will take over my father's job, and the other will take over my mother's job. Only I, they didn't consider anything for me!"
Hearing this, Qiuhua was shocked. This was something she had not expected. It was really unfair, but she was only secretly shocked and did not show anything, for fear of arousing Zhao Meiying's emotions.
However, Zhao Meiying was already feeling sad when she spoke of this. She turned around and remained silent for a long time with her back to Qiuhua. A tear slid down from the corner of her left eye and dripped onto the pillow. Another tear slid down from the corner of her right eye and jumped onto the bridge of her nose. She felt a little itchy and wiped it away with the back of her hand.
Amidst the gentle breathing, Qiuhua heard a slight, unconcealed sniffing sound.
She knew Zhao Meiying was crying, and she was at a loss as to what to do. Anyone would be heartbroken if something like this happened to them, and if she didn't know how much she was going to cry, how could she comfort her? Would comforting her be of any use?
It's useless.
"Meiying, stop crying."
Qiuhua still tried to comfort her, but this was like opening the valve of her grievance. Her tears burst out and her crying became louder and louder. Qiuhua panicked and clumsily patted her back with one hand, as if she was coaxing Chunhua.
"Don't cry... You... You want to be a teacher, don't you? Teachers are much more educated than workers!"
I don’t know if this sentence worked, but the crying stopped and she turned around with red eyes.
"What's the point of being educated? Everyone knows being a worker is better." She wiped her eyes with the quilt and added, "They only care about my eldest and younger brothers. I think I was just picked up on the ship."
"Although your family's conditions are not good, everyone treats you very well."
Qiuhua knew this, and the whole family, even the idle Erhua, was particularly concerned about her affairs.
However, if my father had not been transferred to the lower level, I would not have been able to take on his job in the future.
"We are all the same. If my father hadn't moved from Shanghai to the countryside, do you think he would have let me take over?"
Zhao Meiying moved her lips but didn't say anything. Yes, it wouldn't be Qiuhua's turn either, unless there were no brothers at home.
"My eldest brother will definitely take over. It won't be my turn."
After that, both of them fell silent.
I don't know what time it is now. The moon in the sky is covered by clouds, and the room is pitch black. I think it must be very late. I feel sleepy and drowsy. Qiuhua said to Meiying:
"Don't be sad. If you don't want to take over, then don't take over. Being a teacher is also very good. Being a cultural person is also very good. We can live a good life on our own..."
At night, Qiuhua and Meiying each had their own dreams.
Qiuhua had a beautiful dream. She returned home, and her house looked very different. The yard had grown, and so had the house. There was a small garden in the yard, and when she looked over, she saw a dozen chicks and ducklings, some of them already grown. There was also a chicken coop in the garden, and a hen clucked out of it. Qiuhua discovered a large nest of eggs inside!
She was ecstatic and ran into the house. Everyone was eating at home. The table was filled with various dishes: braised pork, braised fish, hot pot with big bones, cabbage and pork slices...
Her eldest brother invited him to eat, but she didn't even bother to pull him outside.
"Let's eat first! Look at how many dishes Mommy has cooked!"
The eldest brother didn't go, but instead asked her to sit down and eat.
Qiuhua was extremely anxious, but she couldn't utter a word, and her heart ached from holding it in.
"There's a nest of eggs in the chicken coop! Come with me and pick them up!"
Finally, Qiuhua burst out in one breath and was able to speak!
"Eggs? Really?"
The eldest brother was also very excited when he heard this, and followed Qiuhua to the small garden. Yes, there was a whole nest of eggs, which looked like there were at least thirty of them!
"I'll go get the basin, you wait here!"
Dahua rushed in happily and came out with a wooden basin for washing vegetables. The two of them put the eggs into the basin carefully one by one, for fear of accidentally breaking one.
"So many eggs, hahaha, let Mom make seven steamed eggs for us tonight, one for each of us!"
"Well, I'll sell the remaining ten, and I'll take five back for your sister-in-law to eat."
Qiu Hua stopped what she was doing and asked, "Sister-in-law? What sister-in-law?"
"You went out for fun and even forgot about your sister-in-law? Isn't your sister-in-law in confinement? Eat some eggs to replenish your body. You didn't forget about your little nephew, did you?"
Dahua was talking nonstop, and Qiuhua was confused. What was wrong with the prince today? He was different from before, talking too much. He was totally different from the usual honest and taciturn prince. Moreover, when did he marry the mistress of the house? Why didn't she have any recollection of it?
"Bring it into the house quickly." Dahua urged.
Qiuhua didn't have time to think about it. She picked up the wooden basin and walked home. The basin became heavier as she walked. She looked into the basin. Just now, there were only a few dozen eggs, not even full. How could it be so full now? She continued walking, adding an egg with each step. Before she even entered the house, the basin was full of eggs and was about to fall out.
"Brother, come here quickly, it's too heavy for me to hold!"
"Brother, brother!"
After shouting for a long time but no one came, Qiuhua had to use all her strength to carry the basin forward. At this time, there were so many eggs that they blocked her vision, and she staggered forward.
Suddenly, Qiuhua tripped over something and fell to the ground along with the wooden basin and eggs.
Qiuhua woke up from his dream with sweat all over his back. When he looked again, it was still dark!
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