37 Winter (2)
This matter is indeed much more serious than asking for money.
"Sister? Sister? Did you hear that?"
"I heard it, I heard it, don't act like you're calling a ghost."
"You didn't say anything, I thought—"
"You haven't had any contact with your family for more than half a year. Even if it weren't for your parents, grandma would still be thinking about you all the time."
When talking about grandma, Jiang Yi fell silent.
Jiang Yi and Jiang Si were both raised by their grandmother.
Now Jiang Yi was silent.
When the call was finally hung up, it was left unresolved.
Jiang Si just told Jiang Yi to think about it carefully.
But as the New Year gets closer day by day, Jiang Yi still hasn't made up his mind.
Li Yaya also noticed that Jiang Yi was unhappy and wanted to persuade him to go home, but every time she brought up the topic, he would make jokes to avoid it.
Just like, you can never wake up someone who is pretending to be asleep.
Li Yaya had no choice but to give up.
On the third day before the New Year, Jiang Yi was waiting for Li Yaya to get off work at the cake shop. They agreed to go buy New Year's goods together.
In previous years, Li Yaya spent her days alone, just casually enjoying the occasion. Like so many other days, she didn't enjoy holidays or the atmosphere of reunions. Then she'd just sleep in her room.
But this year is different, because of Jiang Yi, I have expectations for everything.
Jiang Yi greeted the sisters in the store in a familiar manner, chatting and laughing. Sister Honghong and Sister Juan smiled brightly. After all, who would not like such a handsome little boy, not to mention that this little boy was so sweet.
After handing over their shift, they walked out, holding hands. The moment they opened the shop door, a puff of cold air blew into their mouths. The two of them smiled at each other, then snuggled up together and walked into winter.
Looking at the backs of the two people leaving, Rui Le showed envy and couldn't help but sigh, "When will I have a boyfriend who is handsome and treats me well?"
Sister Juan gently stroked Ruile's head and said, "It will happen. Our little Ruile is cute and interesting. He will eventually meet a very good little boy."
"Of course."
In this small bakery, the mutual affirmation between women has allowed them to accompany and support each other to this day. They are more like relatives without blood ties. If you are happy, someone will cry before you.
In fact, Li Yaya felt that there was nothing to buy, but Jiang Yi was very stubborn and insisted on buying some. He wanted to make the house more festive. This was the first New Year they had spent together, so how could it not be formal?
Li Yaya had no choice but to give up and let Jiang Yi do what he wanted. Part of the debt had been paid off, and Li Yaya had a little more money on hand, enough to support their lives.
But Li Yaya hadn't fully understood that besides singing at the bar at night, Jiang Yi also worked other jobs. Often, while hunched over that small workbench, he wasn't just working on his creations; he was also completing his assignments. Everything could be done online.
After walking around for nearly three hours, Jiang Yi finally gave up shopping when his hands were full and he couldn't take anything else. He ate a bowl of noodles and went home.
Then the two of them rested for a while before going to the bar.
The cake shop is open until noon on New Year's Eve, and the bar is closed at 3:30. As locals in Ruile, there is no need to go home for the holidays, and the two of them don't have any work worries.
It was only a half-day shift, and Ruile volunteered to go. Otherwise, she would have to endure a lot of nagging at home, so it would be better to go to work.
But Li Yaya still came to the shop in the middle of the morning. She wanted to make another cake because she felt that her pastry skills had improved recently and she wanted to prove it to Jiang Yi.
As for what she was trying to prove, she couldn't explain it clearly.
Li Yaya carefully carried the cake home. There were people walking in groups of three or four on the road. Some were families out shopping, and some were good friends chatting and laughing. There were lights and decorations everywhere.
New Year is here again, Li Jianren, I seem to be getting happier and happier, Li Yaya said silently in her heart.
When they got home, Jiang Yi hadn't gotten up yet. After putting the cake away, Li Yaya curled up on the sofa, scrolling through her phone boredly, sending out the blessings that needed to be sent. The contact list slid to the name "Lin Jing". Li Yaya was stunned for a moment, then continued to scroll down.
Lin Jing had already slipped away from her life. The meal they didn't have time to eat might have made their farewell a little regretful. But life is always like this, regrets outweigh perfection.
Guozi sent her a video showing a lively gathering in his hometown and asked her when she would come back.
Li Yaya hesitated and did not answer.
Jiang Yi yawned and came out of the bedroom. Li Yaya hung up the phone. The two of them had a simple meal and started preparing the New Year's Eve dinner.
Things like cooking are easy if two people know how to cook, and they are also easy if neither of them knows how to cook. As long as it’s not just one person who knows how to cook and the other who doesn’t, it’s fine.
There wasn't much for the two of us to do, so we just had hotpot, which was slowly boiling, and ate while watching the Spring Festival Gala. The only problem was—we had to make dumplings.
Making dumplings is one of the main obsessions of northerners during the Spring Festival. Moreover, northerners insist that making dumplings starts with kneading the dough themselves.
Li Yaya carefully followed the tutorial on her phone, adding more dough if there was too much water, and more water if there was too much dough. In the end, the dough was formed. Jiang Yi volunteered to mix the filling. Anyway, they managed to make some dumplings before the Spring Festival Gala aired.
Freeze them in the freezer.
The TV was turned on for the first time. The two of them fiddled with it for a long time before it finally started to work. Fortunately, it could be used normally.
The hot pot had moved from the living room to the sofa, where the two of them huddled around the coffee table, a bowl of food in front of them. Jiang Yi opened a can of wheat juice and handed it to Li Yaya. The laughter on TV, the gurgling sound of the hot pot, and the moment the wheat juice slid across her lips became her fondest memories.
Years later, Li Yaya still remembers this scene vividly. Back then, she wasn't as brave, but she could face everything with equanimity. She wasn't rich, but she had her lover by her side. At 23, after moving past a past she didn't want to recall, she finally embraced a new life.
The phone rang, it was my cousin.
Li Yaya answered the phone, and on the other end was her aunt's family enjoying their New Year's Eve dinner. They warmly exchanged greetings and expressed New Year's blessings. Her aunt asked Li Yaya when she would be home, and she simply said she would wait until after the New Year holiday.
Li Yaya had never hidden her love affair from her family, so they all knew about Jiang Yi. She greeted everyone with Jiang Yi, and her grandmother told her to bring Jiang Yi with her next time she went home.
Without waiting for Li Yaya to answer, Jiang Yi quickly agreed.
After hanging up the phone, Jiang Yi felt a bit distracted and kept glancing at his phone. Li Yaya knew that Jiang Yi also had someone he cared about.
"Why don't you call home? Even if you don't call home, at least call your grandma." Li Yaya couldn't help but spoke.
"No. They must be together now. I'll wait until later when there's less people around."
Li Yaya shook her head and continued eating.
As fireworks and firecrackers occasionally rang out outside the window, they said the first "Happy New Year" to each other together.
Apart from working, the two of them spend the rest of their time staying at home.
It was past noon on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year. Jiang Yi was still dating Zhou Gong when his cell phone rang, waking him from his sleep. Without checking who was calling, he answered the call out of habit, and a hoarse voice called out, "Hello."
"Jiang Yi, you haven't woken up yet, what time is it? You are really lazy like a pig." Jiang Si's roar came from the other end of the phone.
"Well, I'm a pig. What can I do for you?"
"Well, my grandma and I came to Xiangyuan to play. Let's have dinner together tonight. Bring your girlfriend along."
"Yeah." Jiang Yi, half asleep, hung up the phone, and fell back asleep. Two minutes later, Jiang Yi suddenly jumped up from the bed. Wait, something wrong, what did Jiang Si just say? She said she and her grandmother came to Xiangyuan? He couldn't be dreaming!
I opened my phone and found that the contact in the recent call log was indeed Jiang Si.
He rolled and crawled to his feet from the bed. What kind of surprise attack did Jiang Si launch? He didn't even tell me in advance, leaving me completely unprepared.
I have to have dinner with Li Yaya tonight, what if she refuses? They've only been together for a short time, and I need to meet her parents? What if, what if I make Li Yaya feel uncomfortable?
In just a few minutes, Jiang Yi went through many scenarios in his mind.
When Li Yaya pushed the door open, she saw Jiang Yi like this, with an irritated look on his face - like he was having a seizure.
Li Yaya stood at the door, "What's wrong with you?"
"I--" The moment I opened my mouth, I didn't know how to start.
Li Yaya stood at the door, her hand still on the door handle, and was reluctant to come in.
"Come in first, and we'll talk later."
Li Yaya shook her head. "No, tell me what you want to do first. Then I'll consider whether to come in or not."
"You go in first."
"You speak first."
"You go in first."
"You speak first."
.......The two of them were deadlocked at the door. In the end, Jiang Yi was defeated.
"I told you you can't leave."
"You want to say."
"Well, my sister just called me out of the blue. She brought my grandma here and asked us to have dinner together tonight."
"kindness?"
"Oh, she didn't tell me in advance. When I found out, they were already in the hotel. If you don't want me to reject them."
Li Yaya moved her body, which had been stuck at the door. She had been a little numb from the stalemate. She thought something serious had happened, but it turned out that only her sister and grandmother had come.
It seems that the Jiang family really misses each other.
Jiang Yi couldn't guess what Li Yaya would do next, so he had to stare at her.
Li Yaya came in.
Fortunately, she got in.
"So, you want to come with me?"
Li Yaya wasn't someone who didn't know etiquette. Since they had come all the way here, having a meal together was basic courtesy, especially given the current relationship between the two of them.
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