Liu Jingze took the persimmons and took out a handkerchief from his shirt pocket, handing it to Zhang Hongmei.
"Wipe it off before eating. You can peel it; I've eaten it before."
"You men are so careless. Since you've already eaten it, why don't you try to get some saplings so you can plant them at home?"
"Yes, yes, I was careless, I was wrong. Hurry up and eat. I'll go find a sapling in the spring, okay? When I find one, I'll have my mom plant one in your yard for you."
“Okay, that works. I always go up the mountain, how come I haven’t found any persimmon trees there? That doesn’t make sense.”
"Alright, stop worrying about it. The train has already started moving, and there will be more people getting on at the next stop. Are you hungry? Want some peach shortbread?"
"No, I don't like them. I'll just eat one persimmon. Once I'm feeling better, I'll go wash the black dates. I can't let my mouth be idle."
"I'll go wash it in a bit, you just wait to eat."
A little while later, a flight attendant pushed a cart over and offered cigarettes and sunflower seeds.
"Hongmei, would you like some melon seeds?"
"Great, better than eating black dates."
Liu Jingze bought four teacups for two cents.
"When I wash my hands, they always feel sticky."
"Go ahead, I'll pack some sunflower seeds for you to eat when you get back."
"No need, I can eat it myself."
"Go to hell."
"I washed the black dates myself." Zhang Hongmei took out a lunchbox and went to the water dispenser.
While eating sunflower seeds, Zhang Hongmei listened to Liu Jingze rambling on about the situation at Capital University.
"I'm not eating anymore, my stomach is already bloated."
"If you're not going to eat, just take a nap. I'll wake you up when we get to the station."
"What do you mean by eating and sleeping? I'll read a book for a while, Jingze, you should take a nap."
"I'm not sleepy, and you shouldn't read either, it'll strain your eyes. We can get off the bus the day after tomorrow morning. Hang in there."
"Oh dear, this has been going on for so long. Let's chat instead, otherwise it'll get boring. Brother Jingze, could you help me put these two bundles into your bag?"
"Okay, they're all your treasures."
"That's right. If we have a carpenter make a screen frame for it in the future, it will definitely look especially beautiful."
"If you like it, that's fine. I'll find something else for you if I see it when I go out."
"Yes, buy me any old items you see, but you have to charge me. If you don't charge me, I won't take them."
"Okay, I understand."
"Young lady, you like old things? What kind?"
The middle-aged man opposite interrupted and asked.
"Anything is fine, as long as it's an old item that I still like, I'll take it."
"Then take a look at this, do you want it?" The middle-aged man pulled out a leather bag from under his seat and took out a cloth bag from it.
"Look, this is a jade pillow from the palace, look at this water."
Zhang Hongmei looked at it, not quite understanding, and then glanced at Liu Jingze.
"Comrade, this jade pillow is made of ordinary material; we are not interested."
"How could that be? This was brought from the palace by my great-aunt."
"Hehe." Liu Jingze just smiled and didn't say anything.
"No, take a look at this one." The middle-aged man took out a wooden box, opened it, and inside was a set of garnet jewelry.
"This is just average. What do you want?"
"Fifty?"
Liu Jingze remained smiling and silent. This outfit was actually worth fifty, but the water content wasn't particularly good. It didn't inspire any immediate attraction.
"Wait a minute, I don't believe it. Look at this." He then pulled out a wooden box containing jewelry made of mutton fat jade.
"This is my great-aunt's best possession."
Zhang Hongmei was truly dumbfounded. Inside was a ring whose material was indiscernible, looking just like a storage ring.
How did this ring come to be?
"Oh, I don't know either. It's been inside the whole time. How is it? Is this set okay?"
"Uncle, how much is this set of mutton fat jade jewelry?" Zhang Hongmei asked, tilting her head.
"At least seventy."
"Too expensive. If these two sets were a hundred, I might consider it."
"That's too little, no way. No way."
Neither Zhang Hongmei nor Liu Jingze said anything. In fact, Zhang Hongmei was very anxious, but she didn't show it. Instead, she leaned back against the backrest.
"Give us more, it's too little," the middle-aged man kept trying to persuade them, but the two men just kept smiling and didn't say anything.
“If you give me 150, I’ll give you this jade pillow too. This jade pillow really was used by the Emperor. You can believe me, even my great-aunt said so.”
Zhang Hongmei smiled and said, "One hundred and twenty, not a penny more."
"What do you need this for?" Liu Jingze asked Zhang Hongmei, puzzled.
"It's useless. It just looks alright, and I bought it because the price was right." Zhang Hongmei now believes that it was taken from the palace.
Listening to their conversation, the middle-aged man knew that the man was not very willing to spend money, and the girl did not show any particular liking for him.
Forget it, give it to them. There's no use for it if I keep it. It was exchanged for 20 jin of sorghum rice, so 120 yuan is a good deal.
"Alright, here you go. I wouldn't sell it for a penny less if I weren't short of money."
"Hehe, uncle, please don't force me. I can take it or not."
"Here you go, here you go."
Liu Jingze took it and stuffed it into his briefcase along with the two bundles from the morning, making it quite full now.
Zhang Hongmei counted out twelve large bills and handed them to the man.
"Go ahead and spend it. Now you won't have any money for food this semester. Will this even cover your meals?"
"Don't say anything more. We've already bought it. I'll just eat less."
The middle-aged man was packing his things; it seemed he was about to get off the bus.
Zhang Hongmei finally realized that things were getting serious; she had been too high-profile, so she decided to stay put. This time, she didn't get off the train when it reached its stop.
Liu Jingze looked at the dejected Zhang Hongmei but didn't comfort her. He just smiled and patted her head.
The train arrived at its stop, and the man opposite him got off. "Hongmei, aren't you getting off?"
"No, I'm broke. What's the point of going? I'd only be envious if I saw it."
"Alright, I'll go take a look. You wait here."
Zhang Hongmei angrily turned her head away and ignored Liu Jingze. How infuriating!
Liu Jingze smiled indulgently and got out of the car. This place was a bit wealthier than M City, but there really wasn't much of value here. He looked around but couldn't find any old items for sale. Could it be that the girl's luck was just too good?
I saw some rattles for sale, so I bought one, and then I bought a roly-poly toy. Only then did I get on the bus.
When Zhang Hongmei saw what Liu Jingze had bought, her face turned green. She thought it best not to tell him it was for her.
"Hongmei, look how beautiful this handicraft is! Here, you can play with it. Do you like it?"
"I'm not a child anymore."
"Yes, you're a big girl now, but the size of the toy doesn't matter much. Just play with it if you like it. Be good and play with it."
"I don't want it, you play by yourself."
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