Durian

This was the first time in the girls' lives that they had such a grand meal, sitting at the same table with their most admired professors. Something they had never dared to imagine in their dreams actually happened in reality.

Although everyone kept their heads down while eating and hardly dared to pick up their chopsticks, the excitement in their hearts was beyond words.

Chai Shanjing and Guo Qianlan, two girls majoring in science and engineering, were shaking in the hands that were holding the chopsticks.

Song Shixia and her mother-in-law had no choice but to pick up dishes from the plates in front of them one by one.

Song Shixia pretended to tease: "Professor Ji doesn't eat people, stop shaking your hands and eat quickly."

Guo Qianlan held her right hand with her left hand, and finally her fingers stopped shaking.

Chai Shanjing asked Song Shixia for a spoon. She was so nervous that she couldn't hold the chopsticks.

Song Shixia was amused: "Okay, I won't keep you guys after dinner. Look how scared you are."

The girls felt relieved. Fortunately, they didn't have to chat face to face with Professor Ji after dinner, otherwise they would probably suffer from indigestion.

Song Shixia noticed that his roommates started to wolf down their meals. It seemed that eating at the same table with their idol was really stressful.

Song Shixia sent his roommates to the small pavilion. The sentry saluted and continued to stand guard with his eyes fixed forward.

Song Shixia put the lunch box given to her by her mother-in-law on the table in the duty room.

"Xiao Liu, these are the buns that my mother-in-law just steamed. Remember to eat them when you change shifts. Just bring the lunch box over next time you're on duty."

The sentry nodded imperceptibly.

"I'll take you here. Be careful on your way home and make sure to keep an eye on your belongings. Keep your change close to you and be alert if you fall asleep at night. I heard there are many pickpockets on the train who can steal money from people without anyone noticing."

Ding Jiajia is a local. Her home is on the other side of the city, far away from the school. To get home, she has to take a two-hour bus and then transfer.

The remaining girls all had to take the train, and the train didn't go directly.

Guo Qianlan's home is the farthest away: "Don't worry, my parents taught me where to hide the money before school started, nothing will happen."

Hao Guihua said proudly: "Me too, I hid the money in a place where thieves can't find it."

Song Shixia reminded them seriously: "If you go to the bathroom, remember to ask the people sitting next to you to help look after your luggage. In short, be vigilant and don't eat food or water given by strangers."

Several girls remembered it clearly. When the school term started, their parents would send them to school, and when they returned home, they would have to take the train independently. This was the first time they went far away from home to go to school and come home alone.

When Song Shixia returned home, her mother-in-law was holding a durian in her hand and said it had a smell.

"Is this fruit rotten? Why does it smell bad?"

Song Shixia's lips curled slightly: "Mom, this thing is durian, a fruit produced in tropical areas. It smells stinky but tastes sweet inside."

Han Rong smelled her hands.

"I feel a stink on my hands. Can this thing really taste sweet?"

Song Shixia couldn't explain.

"This one looks cooked, right? How about we just open it and take a look?"

Song Shixia doesn't know much about durian. She doesn't mind it but doesn't eat it much either, so she doesn't know whether durian can last for a long time.

Han Rong glanced at the kitchen and said, "Then I'll go find an axe so that the knife won't get smelly."

Song Shixia quickly pulled her mother-in-law and said, "You don't need to use an axe to cut the fruit. We are going to eat it."

The two little guys were covered in soup after dinner and were taken back to their room by their dad to change clothes. They put on clean clothes and ran downstairs.

Ji Yang and his brother curiously ran to the durian, lay down and watched, and then were disgusted.

Ji Yuan covered his nose and stepped back: "Mom, this stinks."

Ji Yang pinched his nose, stood on tiptoe and took a look at the durian.

"Is this hedgehog dead?"

Han Rong's face was full of smiles.

"My dear, this is called durian. Your mother said it is a fruit that grows in the tropics. Hedgehogs are black and white in color."

Ji Yang thought the hedgehog was joking and hid on the sofa with a red face.

Song Shi and Xia Chong waved to the brothers.

"Don't hide, come and identify the tropical fruits. These are not common fruits."

Ji Yang poked his head out from behind the sofa, his cheeks slightly red.

Professor Ji came down the stairs with an empty water cup in his hand.

"Did you send your roommate away?"

Song Shixia complained quietly: "After sending them off, they will take the train tomorrow. Your school's arrangement is too unreasonable. They could have had a half-month break earlier, but they forced the exams for each subject to be spaced one week apart, from the end of November to the end of December, so the winter break is only one month."

Ji Weiqing was not angry: "The dean took into consideration that students have too much knowledge to memorize at the end of the semester, so he specially left time to prevent students from failing the course."

Song Shixia shrugged and said, "It's proven that it's useless to give more time to failed subjects. You still need the teacher to highlight the key points to be efficient. You can't finish memorizing a thick book in a week."

Ji Weiqing shook his head and laughed: "You are a student, I won't argue with you." After that, he poured a cup of tea and continued to go upstairs to write his thesis.

Song Shixia took the cubs to wash their hands and taught them to recognize mango, durian, pineapple, longan and orange.

Ji Yang took the orange and ran to the coffee table in front of the sofa and picked up an orange.

“Oranges and tangerines look the same?”

Song Shixia patiently explained: "They are different. The skin of an orange is tighter and cannot be peeled by hand. You have to use a knife to cut it into pieces. A tangerine can be peeled easily."

Ji Yang tilted his head back: "Mom, can I have an orange?"

Song Shixia touched his head and said, "Not for now. Oranges are not fully ripe yet and taste more sour than tangerines."

Ji Yang and his brother couldn't help but shudder when they thought of the sour oranges.

He quickly put the orange back: "We won't eat it."

Song Shixia smiled and reminded: "You can eat it when it turns golden yellow. It is sweeter than oranges."

Ji Yuan couldn't understand why an orange that was so sour could change its taste just by changing its color.

He tilted his fair little face up and asked, "Can we color it with crayons?"

Song Shixia and her mother-in-law couldn't help laughing.

"My dear, no, you have to wait for the fruit to change color naturally."

The little guy is so cute.

Han Rong put the fruit into the rice jar.

"Has the lunch box been delivered?"

Song Shixia cleaned up the table and said, "It's Xiao Liu's turn today. It's cold outside, and the north wind is like a knife cutting my face. It's really hard for the sentry on duty."

Han Rong couldn't help but sigh: "They should be able to take a few days off during the Chinese New Year. Alas, they are all children who are pampered by their parents."

Song Shixia and her mother-in-law prepared a large number of New Year gifts to take back to their hometown. Her mother-in-law was even more enthusiastic than her and wanted to buy everything in the supply and marketing cooperative.

"Mom, there is a supply and marketing cooperative in our town, so we don't have to buy daily necessities."

Song Shixia bought cotton jackets for her parents last year, and they are expected to be brand new this year. So this year, she bought two pairs of cotton shoes for each of her parents, one pair for work and the other for visiting relatives.

"Your mother can make cotton shoes. The shoes she made for our two good kids are really warm. I am clumsy and cannot make delicate things."

"Mom, you are still clumsy. Your hands have saved countless lives!"

Song Shixia called her brother. This year, her brother would still drive a truck home and could help bring back the New Year gifts.

After discussing with her mother-in-law, Song Shixia decided that the family would take the train home and then take the bus when the time came.

Song Qiusheng went to the train station to inquire about the itinerary.

"At the end of the year, the trains will temporarily stop in our county town for two minutes until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month."

The county train station only becomes busy during this time every year. I wonder how my elder sister’s business is going.

After packing up all the bags at home, Chen Jiao ran to find Song Shixia. The two checked their words and pretended not to know each other when they returned to the village to prevent Chen Jiao's parents from looking for Song Shixia again.

Song Shixia teased Chen Jiao with a smile: "You must have made a lot this year, why are you still so frugal? You even put your curly hair back."

Chen Jiao said angrily, "What kind of people are in my family? If they see me with a perm, they will blame me. I would rather pretend to be poor and be laughed at than be bothered by my family."

"That's right. You can tell from the first glance that your sister-in-law and brother are not good people. Your brother said that his wife is controlling him, but in fact, he is just trying to save face, so he lets your sister-in-law be the bad guy."

Chen Jiao seemed to suddenly understand.

"I never thought of that. I always thought it was not easy for my brother to get married, so I was soft-hearted and always gave in to my sister-in-law. Every time I wanted to quarrel with my sister-in-law, I didn't do anything too harsh for my brother's sake. As a result, my sister-in-law bullied me again and again."

Song Shixia looked at her sympathetically: "Comrade Chen Jiaojiao, are you a little deceitful? If your brother is on your side, would he allow your sister-in-law to bully you again and again?"

"Look at my brother. I didn't have a very good relationship with him before. But when I got married, the first thing my brother did was to come to the city to see me. Has your brother ever seen you?"

The expression on Chen Jiao's face is hard to describe.

"You have a good relationship with your brother, don't you? I remember in the village, if anyone scolded you, your brother would hit them with stones. I envied you so much."

Song Shixia felt a little ashamed: "I mean, before I got married, everyone had trouble with their family when they were young. I didn't get along with my whole family at that time. Do you understand? I broke the hearts of my whole family at that time."

It is difficult for Chen Jiao to understand this feeling, because her family will not feel sad for her. They just want to use her to exchange for a dowry to renovate the house for her brother.

"Fortunately you are sensible, otherwise I would want to beat you up on behalf of your family. If I had parents like you, I would wake up laughing in my dreams."

Song Shixia put his arm around her shoulders and said, "Since we can't change our origins, let's work hard to change our fate. You are now a person with a small fortune of 100 yuan. I calculated that next year will be your year of fortune, and you will definitely become a person with 10,000 yuan."

Chen Jiao smiled and said, "Thank you for your good words. If I really become a millionaire, I will come to you to repay you."

Song Shixia was speechless for a moment. She didn't want Chen Jiao to repay her!

In the original novel, Chen Jiao made a lot of money in the third year. Although there were ups and downs afterwards, this was the first pot of gold that Chen Jiao earned in her life, the first ten thousand yuan.

Song Shixia used a joking tone to offset the favor.

"Okay, I'll be your benefactor now."

Just treat it as a joke and Chen Jiao won't take it seriously when the time comes.