Chapter 34
The next day, when she opened her eyes, she found that it was already daybreak. Jiang Jiang rubbed her head, stepped into the bathroom in her slippers to wash up, and when she came back, she saw He Guijuan helping her make her bed.
"Up so early?"
"I woke up."
"Go change your clothes." He Guijuan glanced at the clock. It was not yet half past six, so it was still early. "Mom will help you tie your hair."
When Jiang Jiang heard her words, he took out a red woolen sweater and a set of white spring clothes from the closet and went to the bathroom to change into them.
This white dress was made of the cloth that He Guijuan bought with Jiang Jiang at the department store before school started last time. He Guijuan didn't have time, so she asked a familiar craftsman to help her make the clothes. The stitches were very fine, and the craftsman also embroidered flowers and butterflies on the white spring shirt, which was very fresh and elegant.
Another piece of material with a white background and crushed flowers was also made into a new dress of similar style, but that dress had no embroidery on it. However, the buttons on that dress were very unique. They were not the common shell buttons, but were made of wood and carved into the shape of flowers.
"Turn around and show me."
When Jiang Jiang heard this, he opened his arms and turned around in front of her.
He Guijuan couldn't help hugging her and kissing her, "She's beautiful, you're worthy of being your mother's precious daughter."
A white spring shirt is paired with a red sweater, and the butterflies on the corners of the clothes seem to be about to fly out into the wind, fresh and brilliant. The red sweater makes Jiang Jiang's skin look whiter and more transparent.
When she didn't have children before, she couldn't help but wishing she could have a child, preferably a daughter. She dressed her child up beautifully every day, and now her wish has finally come true.
Jiang Jiang felt a little embarrassed by the compliment.
He Guijuan took a comb and first combed Jiang Jiang's hair, then braided her hair into two pigtails, and secured the ends of the braids with a yellow hair tie.
She has nimble hands and can braid her hair in many different ways.
The first ray of morning light shone in, and Jiang Jiang looked at He Guijuan's serious reflection in the mirror and smiled slightly.
Suddenly, two pieces of paper were stuffed into Jiang Jiang's hands. Jiang Jiang unfolded them and found that they were two dollars.
She looked at He Guijuan behind her, "Mom, what is this?"
"Here are two dollars. Buy whatever you like with it. Keep the rest for yourself."
"No, I still have plenty of money. I didn't spend my New Year's money before."
"Be obedient and keep it for yourself." He Guijuan thought of something. "By the way, ask your brother Zhong Xing and his family when they are free so we can go visit them. It was thanks to him that we saved the last avalanche, but I haven't had the chance to formally thank you, brother Zhong Xing."
"good."
He Guijuan kissed her on the side of her face and said, "Let's go out for breakfast."
Breakfast is white porridge, steamed buns, pickles and boiled eggs.
This pickle was given by a colleague from the hospital. When He Guijuan took it back, she washed off the salt on the surface of the pickle with clean water, cut it into fine strips, and fried it with oil. It was not too salty and was just right to eat with porridge.
Just after breakfast, Zhong Xing came to the door.
After staying at home for one night, he tidied himself up, trimmed his hair that was swaying across his eyebrows, tucked his white shirt into his trousers, put on a pair of white Warrior shoes, and put on the Enicar watch he had taken off earlier on his wrist.
Jiang Jiang opened the door and saw the person coming. Her eyes were filled with joy that could not be hidden. "Brother Zhong Xing."
"Xiao Zhong is here. Have you had breakfast?" He Guijuan invited him in.
"Thank you Auntie, I've already eaten, how about you?"
“We’ve eaten it, too.”
Zhong Xing's eyes fell on the little girl in front of him.
The little girl was wearing a red sweater and had her long hair braided into two pigtails that hung behind her head. The ends of her hair were slightly curled up, and it was like a layer of powder on her fair face, making her look sweet, well-behaved and smart.
Damn, this is too damn well behaved.
Zhong Xing controlled the urge to pinch the child's face and said, "Auntie, I'll take Jiang Jiang out first."
"Go ahead." He Guijuan then reminded him, "Don't buy her anything. You're a recent graduate and you don't have a lot of money."
"knew."
Zhong Xing took Jiang Jiang downstairs.
He Guijuan packed her things and prepared to go out to work at the hospital.
It was almost eight o'clock in the morning and the street was already crowded with pedestrians. Zhong Xing's bicycle was parked downstairs.
"Brother Zhong Xing, where are we going first?"
Zhong Xing thought about it for a while. It was still early. "Let's go for a walk outside the city."
The mornings in March are when spring is at its most intense. The dew on the leaves has not yet disappeared, but people are already coming and going on the streets, some working, some going to work, and some going to the city to buy things or do business. The radio is broadcasting current affairs news, and various red banners are posted on the streets.
Jiang Jiang sat on the back seat of Zhong Xing's bicycle, facing the morning breeze, passing through the crowded streets, out of the ancient and dilapidated West City Gate, and arrived at a hillside next to the Chengguan River.
In the spring, the Chengguan River flows with muddy yellow water, the mountain flowers are in full bloom, the scenery is beautiful, and tender green grass sprouts emerge from last year's dead grass. Occasionally, you can see a pair of young lovers walking together.
There is no park in Qingjian County, and the area around Chengguan River is the "park" for the people of Qingjian County.
Zhong Xing locked the bicycle, and the two walked along the path by the river, feeling the cool breeze from the river. Jiang Jiang suddenly remembered the task He Guijuan had assigned to her, "By the way, brother, my mother asked me to ask you and your family when it would be convenient? We want to visit your home, is it appropriate?"
Zhong Xing thought for a moment and said, "Let's do it after your birthday at the end of the month. I'll take two days off and stay in the county for one more day."
"Okay."
The two walked down the hill and passed by the county primary school. They saw an old man pushing a popsicle cart. Zhong Xing didn't expect that someone was already selling popsicles. He asked Jiang Jiang next to him, "Do you want some popsicles?"
Jiang Jiang licked his lips and nodded, "My mother gave me two yuan this morning, I'll buy it."
Jiang Jiang lowered her head and looked through the money. Zhong Xing was a recent graduate and didn't have much savings. He even bought gifts for their house yesterday, so she couldn't let him pay for anything anymore.
"How can I let you spend money when I go out with my brother? Okay, I'll go buy it."
Zhong Xing smiled and rubbed her head, then walked straight towards the popsicle cart.
From Jiang Jiang's perspective, he saw Zhong Xing talking to the old man selling popsicles. After handing him two banknotes, the old man skillfully took out two popsicles from the foam box and gave them to him.
When I came back, I had two popsicles in my hands.
"Is it tasty?"
"Delicious." Jiang Jiang licked the popsicle and nodded excitedly. This was her first time eating a popsicle. It was sweet and icy. When she bit off a piece and held it in her mouth, it melted into sugar water.
"Where are we going later?" It was still early, not even noon, and it was a rare opportunity for Jiang Jiang to go out, so he didn't want to go back so early.
"Is there anywhere you'd like to go?"
She shook her head.
"Then you can accompany your brother to the scrap collection station to have a look."
"Okay, then we'll go to the scrap collection station later."
After they finished eating the popsicles, Zhong Xing got on his bike and took her to a scrap collection station in the county.
Nowadays, many people sell their old and useless items at home to scrap collection stations, which not only solves the problem of idle items at home, but also earns them some change.
When they arrived at the scrap collection station, he parked the car first, then took her hand and walked in.
The person in charge of the scrap collection station is a man in his fifties who wears a pair of reading glasses.
After entering the door, there is an open space filled with various waste.
There are chicken and duck feathers, waste batteries, toothpaste tubes, turtle shells, orange peels, broken glass, torn cotton wool, cloth scraps, various bottles, various "worn shoes", long and short braids, light bulbs and fluorescent tubes, various books and newspapers, scrap copper and iron, etc., all classified and neatly stacked. It is not as dirty and messy as imagined, but rather has a sense of orderliness.
"What do you want to sell, young man?"
Zhong Xing's eyes fell on the bundle of books tied with nylon rope on the old glass cabinet. "How much is this book?"
"This is a high school textbook. If you want it, I'll sell it to you for five dollars."
Zhong Xing smiled self-deprecatingly. When he graduated from the county high school, he sold all these books as scrap by the kilogram for only fifty cents. He didn't expect that now he would have to spend ten times the price to buy them back.
The young man's expression contained some self-mockery and loneliness.
"Give it to me."
When Jiang Jiang heard five dollars, her eyes lit up. She had seven dollars in her pocket. "Brother, I'll pay for you."
As he spoke, Jiang Jiang took out some money from his pocket and handed it to the old man.
Zhong Xing hurriedly stopped her hand, "Don't."
"Uncle, don't take her money."
When the old man heard what Zhong Xing said, he looked at him and returned the money that Jiang Jiang had given him.
"Just let me pay. I want to give you a gift, but I don't know what."
Zhong Xing heard this and said, "You want to give me a gift? Then just owe it to me first. I'll come to you to redeem it when I want something in the future."
Jiang Jiang's face wrinkled into a ball, and she curled her lips helplessly, "Okay then."
When Zhong Xing saw her appearance, he couldn't help but smile. He paid the money and carried the bundle of books out of the scrap collection station.
He rubbed Jiang Jiang's head and looked at the time on his watch. It was already half past eleven in the afternoon. "Are you hungry? Brother will take you to eat."
It was lunchtime, and there were many people in the state-owned canteen. Every table was full, so they had to share a table with a young couple who were away from home.
Zhong Xing put the book aside and asked, "What do you want to eat?"
Jiang Jiang looked up at the menu hanging in the middle of the cafeteria. She originally wanted to pay for Zhong Xing's textbooks as a gift for him, but was stopped by Zhong Xing.
Zhong Xing would definitely not let her pay for the meal.
Jiang Jiang didn't want Zhong Xing to spend any more money. The menu listed the food that would be served today. She looked at the menu for a long time and ordered the cheapest one. "I want some cornmeal porridge."
"Just eat porridge?"
"Um."
"Okay, you sit here and I'll go get in line."
When he came back, Zhong Xing was holding two bowls of shredded chicken noodles, one big and one small. The small bowl had chicken legs and a poached egg on top.
Jiang Jiang looked at the noodles with chicken legs and poached eggs in front of her, and her face instantly withered. "Brother, why are you wasting money again? And you gave me so many dishes, I can't finish them."
There were chicken legs and poached eggs in her bowl, while Zhong Xing's bowl was just ordinary shredded chicken noodles.
"It's okay. Give me more if you can't finish it." Zhong Xing was afraid that she wouldn't have enough, so he picked out the shredded chicken in his bowl and gave it to her.
Jiang Jiang was lost in thought as he looked at his almost full plate of food.
Brother Zhong Xing is very kind to her.
Even though they have no blood relationship and have only met each other a few times, he treats her well without regard for the cost and without asking for anything in return.
Jiang Jiang thought for a moment and said, "Brother, if you have time, can you write to me?"
"write a letter?"
"I know quite a few words now. If you write to me, I can understand you."
"Okay then. I'll write to you when I'm free when I get back to Dongxi Village." He took a pair of chopsticks and handed them to Jiang Jiang. "Eat the noodles quickly. They won't taste good if they get cold."
Jiang Jiang finished the chicken leg and ate half a bowl of noodles. "I can't eat any more."
Zhong Xing shook his head helplessly. Knowing that she was a child with a small appetite, he stopped forcing her. He took the remaining noodles from her and started eating them without any disgust.
Jiang Jiang looked at Zhong Xing who was concentrating on eating noodles, and saw the beads of sweat on his forehead, and felt a complicated feeling in her heart.
In the past, when Zhou Fugui’s wife asked her to eat Jinbao’s leftovers, Jiang Jiang always felt uncomfortable.
Brother Zhong Xing was a very clean person, but at this moment he was sitting here, eating the noodles she had left over and drinking the noodle soup she had left over.
The young woman next to them looked at them with envy in her eyes, "You two siblings have such a good relationship."
Unlike her brother, who is uneducated and always asks family members for money all day long and never cares about her, his younger sister.
The young woman was about the same age as Zhong Xing. Jiang Jiang looked at her, smiled sweetly, and said nothing.
Zhong Xing had already finished his noodles. There were two empty bowls in front of him. He burped and said, "I have to go back to Dongxi Village early tomorrow morning. See you at the end of the month."
"Brother Zhong Xing, see you at the end of the month." Afraid that he would forget to write to her, Jiang Jiang reminded him, "Don't forget to write to me."
Zhong Xing smiled and said, "Okay, I'll write you a letter when I get back."
The next morning, just after dawn, Zhong Xing returned to Dongxi Village with a complete set of high school textbooks found at the scrap collection station, as well as some dry food and clothes packed by his mother.
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