Chapter 235
The house was warm and cozy. Jiang Xinfeng had heard her granddaughter come back a long time ago, but she hadn't disturbed her since she was talking to Li Yan outside. Only when she saw her come in did she smile and say, "Are you freezing? Put your things down and warm yourself by the fire."
Jiaping and Jiaan were doing their homework in the room. They looked up and greeted her, then jumped up when they saw the fruits and snacks in their sister's hands.
"It's okay, not too cold." Zhou Jiani handed the fruits and snacks to her grandmother and asked her to share them with the twins.
She took the dishes to the kitchen, put the suitcase back in her room, and came out to help her grandmother make lunch.
At noon, neither Yu Huifang nor Zhou Wanli came back. They went out to queue up for supplies. Jiang Xinfeng left some food for her son and daughter-in-law so that they could heat it up and eat it when they came back.
Zhou Jiani asked in surprise: "What did my parents steal?"
"Kelp and fish will arrive at noon today."
Zhou Jiani: "If I had known earlier, I would have lined up first."
"It's useless. Once the goods arrive, all the lines will be in chaos." Jiang Xinfeng laughed. "You won't be able to handle it either. Those shoppers will squeeze you out because you're young. Your parents are with colleagues, so there are more of them."
Zhou Jiani almost knew what the scene was going to be like.
After lunch, it was almost time for their parents to go to work, so Zhou Wanli and Yu Huifang hurried back.
Both of their feet were covered in shoe prints, and Yu Huifang's hair was a mess, but she walked in with a smile on her face. When she saw her daughter, her smile widened and she asked, "When did Nini come back?"
"Dad, Mom, I just got back before lunch, you should eat quickly."
Zhou Jiani hurried to heat up food for her parents. The couple quickly ate a mouthful of food and went back to work at the factory. Jiang Xinfeng began to pack the frozen fish they had bought.
Li Yan came to find her, and Jiang Xinfeng chased Zhou Jiani and said, "You little sisters, go play by yourselves. Let's go out and have some fun together."
Zhou Jiani guessed that Li Yan wanted to talk to her about something, so she went out with her.
Li Yan really wanted to talk to someone. She was almost suffocating, and you could tell from the pale face she looked at.
But she didn't know who to talk to, because her parents and her friends didn't quite understand her frustration.
"Didn't I reject my boyfriend's family's proposal of marriage?"
Li Yan was a little glad that she listened to Zhou Jiani's advice and asked her boyfriend. She also considered it seriously and politely declined the proposal from her in-laws.
Her boyfriend didn't see anything wrong at the time, but his family was very unhappy.
Last year, her boyfriend took the college entrance examination again, but still failed. As a result, there were more conflicts between the two of them. Her boyfriend started to visit their school more frequently, fearing that she would have any contact with male classmates in the school. He was suspicious and always tested her with words.
Li Yan complained to her parents about this, and they said, "Who told you not to get married then? If you had been married, people wouldn't be so worried."
When she mentioned this to her old acquaintances, they just laughed and joked, saying that her boyfriend was very nervous about her, and that Wang An had a formal job and a well-off family. In the eyes of many people, this was a very well-off in-law family, and they thought Li Yan was showing off to them in disguise.
Li Yan was too lazy to tell those little sisters about her own affairs. She was so angry that she had a quarrel with her parents and also with Wang An. She made it clear that if he continued to be so suspicious, they would just break up.
"His attitude has changed a bit since that argument, but I still feel irritated and increasingly reluctant to see him. How should I put it? Whenever my classmates call me and say someone's looking for me outside, my scalp goes numb."
Li Yan herself didn't know why. Zhou Jiani was obviously younger than her, but she felt very reliable when she interacted with her. Moreover, Zhou Jiani looked at problems from a different perspective than others. She should be able to understand the irritability in her heart, so she kept waiting for Zhou Jiani to come back and talk to her.
"What's his attitude?" Zhou Jiani asked instead of trying to smooth things over.
Li Yan sighed, "Things were pretty peaceful for a while. A while ago during winter break, he invited me home for dinner. He stopped talking nonsense, but then his parents suddenly suggested we have a wedding banquet first. I said I couldn't get married while I was in college, and his parents insisted we have the wedding banquet first without getting a marriage certificate and keep it a secret from the school... I was so pissed I left before finishing the meal and had another fight with Wang An."
"But in recent days, he's been coming to my house all the time, helping with chores and bringing me New Year's gifts... He's made my parents really happy, and they're all on his side.
When she told her family that she wanted to break up with Wang An, it was like stirring up a hornet's nest, and her father almost attacked her.
Li Yan's parents said that when she was in school, Wang An often came to their home, and everyone in the dormitory knew that he was Li Yan's boyfriend. Everyone praised the boy and said that if she broke up with such a good man, it would be so embarrassing, and the gossip of the neighbors would bury her.
In short, they just don’t agree and they can’t afford to lose face.
Moreover, they thought Wang An was very good and decided to make him their son-in-law.
There was a deep sense of fatigue in Li Yan's eyes, and she seemed to have lost all her energy.
Zhou Jiani asked, "Is Wang An still taking the college entrance exam this year?"
Li Yan shook her head. "He said he didn't want to take the exam anymore. He said the purpose of taking the college entrance exam was to find a job in the future. Since he already has a stable job, there's no point in taking the college entrance exam."
Zhou Jiani laughed and said, "How can he not continue to take the exam? People still have to be ambitious. When they graduate from university, the starting point for the job they'll be assigned will be higher than his current one. So you have to urge Comrade Wang on too. His family keeps pushing you to get married, and he keeps annoying you at school. Combine all that energy. Whenever you're out, urge him to take the college entrance exam. Next time you're out, just grab your textbook and go straight to the point of explaining the exercises to him. Don't talk about anything else."
"Go to his house and persuade his parents. Tell them that revolutionary comrades should make progress together. She's already been admitted to university, so their son can't be any worse than you. Tell them that for Comrade Wang's better future, you won't get married until he gets admitted to university. Say that you're willing to sacrifice your own happiness to encourage Comrade Wang's progress..."
Zhou Jiani looked at Li Yan's haggard face and said, "Use magic to defeat magic. Don't let outsiders drain your energy and spirit. If you become ill from the torture, no one can replace you."
Li Yan's eyes gradually lit up. After a moment of hesitation, she suddenly took a long breath and burst out laughing: "Yeah, why didn't I think of it? This method works, haha, this method is great."
Zhou Jiani winked at her and said, "What a wonderful college life, what a wonderful winter vacation. Don't make yourself so unhappy. You have to remember one thing: if you are unhappy, make those who make you unhappy unhappy too."
Li Yan exhaled heavily, as if to clear out all the turbid air she had been holding for a while. Her expression suddenly became less gloomy. She took Zhou Jiani's arm and said in high spirits, "Let's go shopping. We won't be back for dinner tonight. I'll treat you to a meal."
The two of them discussed it and decided to go for 200. Naturally, there were a lot of people and it was hard to squeeze in front of each counter. The two of them were just trying to join in the fun by squeezing in and out.
But Li Yan was lucky enough to grab a few taels of wool, including three taels of red wool. After she came out, she said, "Jia Ni, I'll knit you a red scarf and try to let you wear it during the New Year. It's the New Year, so it's festive."
Zhou Jiani didn't bother to be polite with her and said, "Okay, Sister Yan, I'll be waiting for your scarf."
The two came out of No. 200. It was still early, and it could be seen that Li Yan was in a much better mood. She dragged Zhou Jiani to go somewhere else for a walk.
Zhou Jiani spotted a familiar figure. She quickly pulled Li Yan behind the door and said, "Wait a minute."
Li Yan followed her gaze and saw Liu Ailing not far away. She had a bag on her shoulder and a few things in her hands. She chatted with people coming in and out from time to time, showing them the things in her hands. Some people stopped to look, while others shook their heads and walked away.
"What is she doing?" Li Yan whispered again, "Ailing bought a lot of things for the family when she came back from vacation. She bought herself new clothes and shoes, and even bought meat for the family. She said it was the remaining allowance from her school."
She also saved some subsidies, but was reluctant to spend it like this. Liu Ailing was generous.
Zhou Jiani had already seen what Liu Ailing was holding in her hand, the circle of friends.
So, she picked up scattered customers around the department store and sold hair bands.
I have to say that this is indeed a way, and I have to say that Liu Ailing is really good at scheming, but it makes her feel a little uncomfortable to be scheming by stepping on her shoulders.
Li Yan seemed to have noticed something and exclaimed in a low voice: "Oh my God, she is so brave."
She was also very cautious, because she turned around and left in a hurry after staying for a while, otherwise they wouldn't have seen her when they came in just now.
"Let's go!" Zhou Jiani pulled Li Yan out.
It can be seen that Li Yan really doesn't want to go home and listen to her parents' nagging, so she drags Zhou Jiani to a nearby state-owned restaurant, orders two dishes, and then strolls back after dinner.
After returning home, Zhou Jiani drew a few patterns, found a piece of cloth from her stock, and went to find her grandmother, Comrade Jiang Xinfeng, to ask her grandmother to help her make a few hair bands. She also told the old lady to make them at home and not let outsiders see them.
Jiang Xinfeng naturally followed whatever her granddaughter said. As she was almost done with the busy New Year holidays, she could just sit by the stove and warm herself by the fire and sew.
The next day, Liu Ailing rode her bike out again, still carrying the backpack.
Zhou Jiani was not specifically following her. It was Liu Aifang who chased her out and called Liu Ailing. She only realized that Liu Ailing was going out again when she heard it from inside the house.
It seemed that Liu Aifang wanted to follow, but Liu Ailing didn't want to take her with her.
Zhou Jiani came out with a pot of water to poke the stove, glanced down, and saw Liu Ailing pushing her bicycle away.
Liu Aifang came back with a pout and went home angrily.
In the afternoon, Zhou Jiani went to the factory and received a call from Bai Haoyang.
"Sister-in-law, I asked someone, and they said it was a gay man who contacted them. His last name is Xin, and he's even trying to hype up some New Year's special offer. It should be for the end of the year..."
She had already confirmed that Liu Ailing was involved, and now after hearing Xing Xin's words, it was even more certain.
"Anything else besides scrunchies?"
Bai Haoyang said on the phone: "It seems that this is the only one."
Yes, woven products are not easy to imitate. Hair ties are the simplest. As long as you don’t care about the workmanship, anyone who can sew can make it.
After hanging up the phone, Zhou Jiani returned home.
On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, Li Yan came over to give Zhou Jiani a scarf, wishing her a prosperous new year. She then whispered to her, "Wang An came to my house yesterday afternoon. I was very nice to him in front of my parents, praising him profusely. I said he was excellent at his work and that if someone as talented as him got into university and was assigned a job in the future, he'd definitely have a higher starting point than he has now. In front of my parents, I asked him if he had the confidence to work harder and strive for a better life for us. He was a very proud person, so after that, he changed his words vaguely. I then pulled him into our living room to explain the problems to him, asking him from time to time, 'You don't understand, do you?' or 'We worked on this problem together before. Do you remember? You shouldn't have forgotten it!'"
Li Yan was overjoyed. "My brothers and sisters are watching right here, as are my parents. He has to hold on no matter how much he doesn't want to. Isn't he happy to pretend to be a good person in front of my family? I'll give him a chance to behave well. I'll come back every week and visit him at his workplace. I'll tell everyone I meet that I want to tutor him..."
If she changed her approach, she would indeed not be so angry anymore. Thinking about how he had tortured her and kept her awake every night before the New Year, it really wasn't worth it.
At 9:30 in the morning, she ran to the factory and made some phone calls to wish people a happy new year. At exactly 10 o'clock, Qiu Zeming called and they talked for about ten minutes.
On the morning of the third day of the New Year, Bai Haoyang came to Qi Yang. On the fourth day of the New Year, Su Meiqiao came to Zhou Jiani's house to ask her about Bai Haoyang's situation.
Zhou Jiani was impartial and spoke directly about what she knew.
Su Meiqiao nodded and said, "That kid looks pretty good and is very polite, but he's too far away. We might not be able to share the same job in the future. What if..."
Su Meiqiao had an impression of Bai Haoyang as she had met him before at the Canton Fair. She was worried that if they didn't succeed after a few years, it wouldn't be a big deal for a boy, but for a girl, her reputation would be greatly affected.
Zhou Jiani silently lit a candle for Bai Haoyang in her heart.
But on the sixth day of the New Year, Xiao Min and Bai Haoyang came to visit her. Seeing Bai Haoyang's smug look on his face, she guessed that he must have dealt with his future mother-in-law and father-in-law, and had officially confirmed his relationship with Xiao Min.
It was almost time for school to start. Zhou Jiani was worried about the department magazine, so she returned to the capital a few days in advance with the hairband that she had asked her grandmother to help her make.
She still needs to work on it and wants to add some accessories.
It's just that these days, no one knows where to buy those things. For example, if she wants to add some sequins or some beautiful small glass beads, if she can get these things, she can expand her range and make some beautiful hair flowers to match the hairpins.
I'll have to ask about this when I have time.
I first went to the Qiu family to pay New Year's greetings and received a pile of thick red envelopes. Then I went to Professor Fu's house, and then returned to school. I found that the class committee members and several classmates who had already confirmed the manuscripts had arrived. Everyone directly plunged into the intense printing preparation work from the relaxation of the holiday.
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