Seeing that they were empty-handed, they probably weren't there to mail anything, but rather to pick up a package. However, it seems that none of the Hua family's packages were there.
"You're doing pretty well now, kid. No more delivering messages?" Zhuo Tianhe was a year older than him and lived in the courtyard across from theirs. They used to play together a lot when they were little.
When he took over his grandfather's job, he could only work as a postman, delivering mail to various villages. It was summer then, and within two months, he turned completely tanned. But after only two years away, he regained his former fair complexion.
"I haven't been there for a long time. I've been working these past few days. I heard you were back, but I haven't had time to visit you."
I was thinking of getting together with you during the next couple of days when I have a holiday.
Hua Zhian didn't take those words to heart. If he really wanted to go, how could he not have the time? It was just that they weren't close enough. But since the other person was being polite, he smiled and replied, "You're welcome anytime. Please let me know if you receive any mail or packages from my family in the future."
"You're too kind. By the way, I don't think I heard from your family today."
Hua Zhian looked at Hua Xiangyun, who was staring at the stamps in the cabinet.
"My sister wants to come in and take a look; maybe she needs something."
Hua Xiangyun was now captivated by the stamps in the cabinet.
A vast blue sky, a complete victory, Mei Lanfang's stage art—all of these are included.
She also remembered that the monkey stamps wouldn't be available for another two years, and she could wait that long, but she really wanted these stamps right now.
"Brother Tianhe, are all these stamps in complete sets?"
“Yes,” Zhuo Tianhe walked over, took out a box from the cabinet at the bottom, and opened it to find a box full of stamps. “There are a lot of people sending mail before the New Year. The previous ones just sold out, and this is the first batch we just got. See where you want to send it, and I’ll help you calculate how many stamps you need.”
Hua Xiangyun said, "I'm not sending any now; I'm buying some to keep at home."
"No need for that. It's so close by, and the post office has plenty of stamps. We can come anytime." Zhuo Tianhe glanced at Hua Zhian. Wasn't this just ridiculous?
Hua Xiangyun said, "To be honest, Brother Tianhe, I think these stamps are very beautiful and I'd like to collect some to keep at home. I don't think there's a limit here, right?"
“No, not at all,” Zhuo Tianhe said, seeing that Hua Zhian remained silent. He carefully laid out the stamps on the cabinet. “Then you can choose; they’re all here.”
Hua Xiangyun saw the ticket prices listed in cents and didn't hold back, picking out several different versions. This surprised even Hua Zhian, who thought his sister was just curious but thought this was going too far.
Touching her small cloth bag and licking her lips, she said, "Xiangyun, we can't possibly use all of this."
Besides him, no one else in their family lives outside, so having so many stamps is a waste.
Besides, Grandpa and his old friends mostly used parcels and telegrams, rarely writing letters. It would take forever to write a letter.
“Yes, Xiangyun, buy more when you’re done using them. If you like these, just come over anytime. Brother Tianhe can make that decision.” Zhuo Tianhe didn’t want Grandma Hua to come back and return the goods after Xiangyun bought them.
Hua Xiangyun had originally wanted to make more selections, but at this point she had no choice but to stop. "Thank you, Brother Tianhe, but I've already made my choices, these are all I want."
I glanced regretfully at the other stamps in the box. It seems I'd better not buy any more in this area in the future.
I reckon that once she leaves through this door, she'll gain another reputation for being a spendthrift.
Hua Zhian breathed a sigh of relief and agreed to buy things for his younger sister. It would be really embarrassing if he couldn't pay for them.
I did a quick mental calculation, and it should be okay...?
"Do you really need so many?" Zhuo Tianhe looked through them. There were dozens of stamps in total, some eight cents, some five cents... It wasn't a small number.
Hua Xiangyun nodded firmly, "That's all I want."
Zhuo Tianhe looked at Hua Zhian questioningly, and only after Hua Zhian nodded did he sigh and silently do the accounting.
After taking the money, he didn't forget to add, "If you regret it today, you can still take it back and I'll refund it for you. It won't be so easy to process it after this afternoon."
This was the maximum he could do. Hua Zhian had settled the account, and he had seen that all the money in that small cloth bag had been emptied.
Hua Zhian was secretly relieved that he hadn't lost face in front of his younger sister and Zhuo Tianhe, and that the money he brought was just enough.
Hua Xiangyun asked Zhuo Tianhe for a piece of old newspaper, carefully wrapped up all the stamps, and said, "Second Brother, I'll give you a share when we get back."
This time, she was very careful in her selection, ordering three of each type, so that each of the three siblings would receive one.
“No need. Second Brother can just come to the post office to stick it when he needs it. You can keep it if you like.” Hua Zhian didn’t take it to heart. “You know I’m careless. It wouldn’t be good if I forgot where I put it.”
Hua Xiangyun also considered this possibility. Stamps like these are usually just casually tucked into books and could easily be forgotten.
"I'll keep it for now and give it to my second brother later."
Hua Zhian didn't take it to heart. "Great, now our family won't have to come here to buy stamps for a whole year."
Hua Xiangyun, “…” Can I say that we still need to buy it in the future? This isn’t for sending letters anymore.
Thinking of letters, it seems Grandpa received a few letters before, but I don't know about the stamps on them...
Thinking of this, Hua Xiangyun wanted to go home as soon as possible.
Back home, I put the stamps in my room. Only Tian Guihua and Xun Liangfen were there.
That's when I found out that the two men in my family had gone fishing.
Hua Zhian looked at Hua Xiangyun with some nervousness; his nightmares were there.
Hua Xiangyun shook her head slightly. As long as Yuan Tianjing couldn't leave that mountain, he would have to rely on these people who came up the mountain to get information, so he definitely wouldn't hurt anyone.
"How about we go pick up Grandpa and the others?" Although Hua Zhian was scared, he was also afraid that something might have happened to his grandfather and the others, which is why he made this suggestion.
"Go where? They're not three-year-olds, why do you need to pick them up?" Tian Guihua was preparing to roast some melon seeds and peanuts today, so she called them over, "Pick them out, throw away any shriveled or bad ones."
Fearing that the two children would run off to the reservoir in the west of the city again, Tian Guihua simply found them some work to do.
Hua Xiangyun took the items and arranged them, then playfully gave a military salute, saying, "Reporting to Comrade Tian Guihua, I guarantee the mission will be completed!"
Tian Guihua was amused by her, "You silly child."
The two siblings sat together, heads touching. Seeing that they were the only two people there, Hua Zhian asked in a low voice, "Little sister, are Grandpa and the others alright? Did Dad run off to the mountains?"
Hua Xiangyun said, "It's alright. Yuan Tianjing has been there for so many years, and I've never seen him hurt anyone."
"That guy's name is Yuan Tianjing," Hua Zhian said with some curiosity, "but didn't he almost make it out of here last time?"
Hua Xiangyun said, "Second brother, you might be implicated because of me. He sensed that I am a cultivator and wanted to test me..."
Xun Liangfen, who was kneading dough in the kitchen, kept looking outside. It seemed that the brother and sister's relationship was deeper than she knew.
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