Chapter 31
Xie Jinyan is one year older than Jiang Jiang and is in the second grade at the county primary school.
He was wearing a loose army green jacket, and in the March weather, the gentle sunlight shone across his eyes.
"Brother Jinyan."
Although Jiang Jiang had only met him once, she still felt very close to him when they met at school.
"Did Teacher Tian punish you to stand?"
"Well, I did something wrong." Jiang Jiang said with his head down.
Xie Jinyan stood next to her and said, "Will you go back together after school this afternoon?"
Jiang Jiang was stunned for a moment, "Okay."
During the past two days, Jiang Jiang went home by herself after school. The county party committee compound was not far from the county primary school, and she could walk back in just a few minutes.
"Then I'll wait for you at the school gate after school."
The two of them decided to go together after school.
Teacher Tian's voice came from the office, "Time is up, Jiang Jiang, you can go back now."
"Thank you, Mr. Tian."
"Brother Jinyan, I'll go back to the classroom first." She was still hungry.
"good."
When Jiang Jiang returned to the classroom, Sun Zhaodi in the back row had her head buried in her arms and could be heard sobbing faintly. There were a few classmates standing next to her watching the fun. She pursed her lips but still walked forward to ask a question.
"Student Sun Zhaodi, are you okay?"
Sun Zhaodi buried her head and pretended not to hear.
Jiang Jiang ignored her and went back to her seat. Luckily she hadn't opened the box when she went out, so the food was still warm. He Guijuan had prepared pumpkin and millet rice for her, as well as shredded pickles to go with the rice.
She picked up the iron spoon beside her and started eating.
The millet rice is mixed with golden pumpkin, and every bite is soaked in the sweet taste of pumpkin.
Chen Qiannan looked at Jiang Jiang who was eating, and heard the sobbing behind her. She couldn't help but stood up and slapped the table.
"Sun Zhaodi, stop it! Lin Jiangjiang was punished to stand because of you. Did she say anything?! You are complaining about it?! If you couldn't finish your homework and kept crying, why would she stand up and help you with your homework?"
"You didn't do your homework yesterday. It was your fault in the first place. Now it's her fault?"
Sun Zhaodi raised her tear-stained face, looking a little surprised.
Chen Qiannan's noise was too loud, and after she finished speaking, the classroom instantly became quiet.
The looks of several classmates towards Sun Zhaodi changed from watching the fun to looking at her with disdain.
After Chen Qiannan's quarrel, Sun Zhaodi didn't dare to cry anymore. She wiped her tears and curled her lips, "I didn't ask her to help me write."
After school, Jiang Jiang stayed at the school gate to wait for Xie Jinyan as agreed with him. There were two male classmates who came out with Xie Jinyan. Xie Jinyan asked them to go first. The two said see you tomorrow and went back.
Jiang Jiang and Xie Jinyan walked home leisurely. After walking for a while, they passed by a small cart selling malt sugar. Xie Jinyan asked Jiang Jiang to stand there and wait for him, and he took out two banknotes from his pocket and walked forward.
"Give."
Jiang Jiang took the maltose in surprise and said, "Thank you, Brother Jinyan."
Maltose is sour and sweet, and very sticky. After you put it in your mouth and chew it for a few times, it will stick to your teeth. When you eat it, you can also smell a strong wheat aroma, sweetness and a taste of happiness.
"I did something wrong today."
"What?"
Jiang Jiang told him what happened in school today.
"If I help that student with his homework, the teacher will not only be unhappy with my behavior, but will also blame that student."
Xie Jinyan pondered for a moment, "Since you already know that this behavior is incorrect, why do you still do this?"
Jiang Jiang was silent.
When she was in Dongxi Village, Yinhua and her brother bullied her, and the other children in the village stood around and watched the joke. At that time, Jiang Jiang wished someone could stand up and help her.
When seeing Sun Zhaodi today, Jiang Jiang suddenly thought of her past self.
Even though she knew it was wrong to help Sun Zhaodi with her homework, Jiang Jiang still stood up.
"Eat quickly." Xie Jinyan didn't ask her any more questions, but instead reminded her to eat the maltose in her hand.
When Jiang Jiang and Xie Jinyan returned to the compound, someone had already started cooking. Smoke was coming out of the kilns, and the aroma of millet rice seemed to be in the air.
Jiang Jiang and Xie Jinyan said goodbye at the gate of the compound. When she got home, Lin Youqing and He Guijuan had not yet finished get off work. Jiang Jiang took out the key and opened the door. After arriving home, she first washed the lunch box with water, put it on the table to dry, and then went to her room to do the math homework assigned by the teacher today.
After a long while, He Guijuan came home from get off work. She first went to the door of Jiang Jiang's room to look at her, and made sure that she was home before she started to pack up, put on an apron and sleeves, and prepared to cook dinner for today.
Jiang Jiang stopped doing his homework and went to help in the kitchen.
With the arrival of spring, there are more types of edible vegetables. He Guijuan buys the vegetables at the market after get off work, and they are certainly not as fresh as in the morning, but they are a dual-income family and there are no elderly people at home to help, so this is the only way.
Today I made braised carrots in oil and fried celery with dried tofu. The staple food was sweet white flour steamed buns. After cooking the last dish, He Guijuan boiled some water in the pot, cut a handful of green onions, beat an egg, and made a big bowl of green onion and egg soup.
The tender green chopped green onions float on the surface of the soup, and the yellow and white eggs are smooth and refreshing. Although simple, it tastes very good.
Lin Youqing would not be back for dinner tonight, so after He Guijuan prepared the meal, she sat down with her daughter and ate first.
"How was school today?"
"It was fine. I had math and music classes today. The math teacher was Mr. Lu and the music teacher was Mr. Mo. Mr. Mo taught us to sing "Red Star Shines on Me as I Go to Battle". Mr. Lu taught us addition and subtraction and gave us math homework. I also ran into Brother Jinyan at school."
"Mom...actually, I have something else I want to tell you."
Jiang Jiang gathered his emotions and didn't know how to start.
He Guijuan hummed softly, "What's wrong?"
"I was found out by Teacher Tian when I was helping my classmates with their homework."
Jiang Jiang lowered her head after she finished speaking. She didn’t know how to face He Guijuan. Would her mother feel angry, upset, or disappointed after hearing about this?
"If you've been caught, you've been caught." He Guijuan picked up a piece of celery with her chopsticks without caring, "Did Teacher Tian punish you?"
"I was punished by standing at the door of the office for half an hour."
"Mom, aren't you angry? I helped my classmates with their homework to fool the teacher."
"I'm not angry. I'm glad that Jiang Jiang is a good kid who likes to help others. It's just that mom hopes you can be more thoughtful when helping others. You see, you didn't really help your classmates by helping them with their homework, and you also got yourself punished by Teacher Tian. It's not worth it."
When Jiang Jiang heard what He Guijuan said, her attitude was beyond her expectations. She was silent for a while and said, "Thank you, Mom."
"You're welcome. No matter what you want to do, just remember that mom and dad will always have your solid support."
He Guijuan touched her daughter's braids, smiled and picked up a carrot for her with chopsticks, "Okay, if you keep talking, we won't be able to finish the meal. Let's eat quickly."
"Yeah." Jiang Jiang took a bite of the steamed bun. Although she didn't continue this topic, she felt really touched and happy in her heart.
"By the way, your birthday is at the end of the month. I looked at the calendar and it's on the weekend. Mom will cook a table of food at home. Do you want to invite your good friends to come to your house to celebrate your birthday with you?"
Jiang Jiang hasn't celebrated his birthday for two or three years.
In the past, every year on her birthday, even though the family was not well off, her father would make her a bowl of longevity noodles, saying that eating it would allow her to live a hundred years. After her father passed away, Jiang Jiang never celebrated her birthday again.
Suddenly hearing He Guijuan mention the word birthday, Jiang Jiang was stunned for a long time, her eyes were a little sore, and she asked, "Mom, can I eat noodles on my birthday?"
"Of course you can. You should eat longevity noodles on your birthday. Only by eating them can you live a hundred years."
"Mom, can you let Brother Zhong Xing and Sister Feng Zhen come home when the time comes?"
Zhong Xing and Feng Zhen are two important people to Jiang Jiang.
Sister Fengzhen was her first friend. In that strange home, Sister Fengzhen was the first person to accept her besides her parents.
Brother Zhong Xing was a ray of warm light for her in the desperate winter. In the dark and cold winter, it was Brother Zhong Xing who carried her on his back, through the dark path that was almost blocked by weeds, and found her father in the snow.
"Zhong Xing?" He Guijuan thought of the young man. During the last avalanche, Zhong Xing saved her husband. They said at that time that they would go to his house to express their gratitude, but there had never been a suitable opportunity. Zhong Xing had been working in the production team in Dongxi Village and had never returned to the city.
"Okay, then you write a letter to your brother Zhong Xing and ask him if he has time. Mom will send it to you. If they are both free, you can ask Zhong Xing to bring your sister Feng Zhen over."
"Okay."
He Guijuan touched her daughter's head.
After dinner, Jiang Jiang continued to do the homework that she had not finished this afternoon. In order to save lamp oil, she usually went to Lin Youqing and his wife's room to do her homework at night. The table here was bigger, so when Jiang Jiang was doing her homework, Lin Youqing would be writing next to her without bumping into her.
After Jiang Jiang finished his homework, he started writing the letter on the homework paper.
Although she knew a lot of words, it was still difficult for her to write a letter independently. She had to use pinyin to replace the words she didn't know. Jiang Jiang wrote very seriously and prayed silently in her heart while writing, hoping that brother Zhong Xing could understand what she meant.
He Guijuan boiled a pot of water on the stove, poured it into the bucket, added some cold water, tested it with her hand to make sure the temperature was right, and then called Jiang Jiang to come and take a bath.
Jiang Jiang is a child who is about to turn six years old. Except for the first time they brought her back to the Lin family, when He Guijuan helped her take a bath, Jiang Jiang took a bath by herself afterwards. However, He Guijuan still helped her wash her hair every time.
After taking a bath, Jiang Jiang sat in the yard and looked up at the stars in the sky.
She was wearing a pair of plastic slippers, her soft braids were undone and draped over her shoulders, revealing her slender white ankles.
The night in March is beautiful, like a gorgeous garden, magnificent mountains and vast ocean.
Jiang Jiang looked at it for a long time before he said to one of the stars, "Daddy, I am living a good life now. Mom and Dad are both very good to me."
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