It was winter vacation, and Su Qingmeng came to a clothing store in Xidan. The store was elegantly decorated and brightly lit. The two shop assistants had a warm service attitude and spoke pleasantly. Few customers left empty-handed, so the business was good.
One of the two shop assistants is only eighteen years old and has just graduated from high school, and the other is twenty-six years old this year after returning to the city from the countryside. When there are no customers, Su Qingmeng chats with them. Both of them have cheerful and motivated personalities. Lin Xiuyao is good at judging people.
The younger one is called Zhao Yun. When she learned that Su Qingmeng was a graduate student at Peking University, she said, "Boss lady, you are amazing. I only scored 189 points in the college entrance examination this year. My mother asked me to take it again next year, but I know I am not good at studying." Her face turned slightly red when she said this. "Fortunately, I have a job now, and my mother finally doesn't care about me anymore." Boss Lin paid her 40,000 yuan a month, which was higher than her eldest sister's salary.
Su Qingmeng: "You are still young. Even if you don't go to college, you can consider going to night school to learn something." She knew that Lin Xiuyao needed to develop his career and master more skills in order to get promoted.
Liao Chen seemed to be thinking about something. She returned to the city last year and took the college entrance examination twice, but failed both times. What the boss lady said made sense. There was no threshold for becoming a salesperson, and Boss Lin only chose young people with good looks.
Working in the private sector is unstable, and she is afraid of unexpected changes when she gets older. Learning a skill will make people want it everywhere, so it seems she needs to inquire about night school.
Su Qingmeng stayed in the store for the whole morning. Lin Xiuyao came to pick her up at noon. "Are you satisfied with the work you did today, Madam Boss?" Lin Xiuyao asked with a smile.
Su Qingmeng said, "Very satisfied, comrade, keep up the good work." After going to the store a few times, she lost interest. Now she has time to watch the Hong Kong and Taiwan TV series that Lin Xiuyao brought back.
The discs were all in Cantonese, and she could almost understand them by guessing. Lin Xiuyao had to go out to work on business during the day, and when he came back, his wife had already watched several episodes. He skipped through them and was confused.
After Su Qingmeng finished reading, he read it again. When Su Qingmeng was bored, she came to accompany him and said, "Let's go back to our hometown for the New Year this year. My eldest brother said he wants to go back."
Su Qingmeng said, "It's up to you." After all, Songjiang Brigade was where he was born and raised, and he had no attachment to the countryside, but Lin Xiuyao might miss home.
By the time they both finished watching the discs Lin Xiuyao brought back, it was almost Chinese New Year, so they went to the mall to buy gifts.
On the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, Lin Xiuyao closed the shop and left the dog at the kennel. He called home to inform them, and the two of them set off for Jilin Province, arriving on the morning of the twenty-eighth.
It's no longer called Songjiang Brigade, but Songjiang Village. When I arrived at the village, people took a moment to recognize me. "Is that you, Yao? You haven't been back in years."
"Third Auntie, Aunt Cuihua, are you here?" Lin Xiuyao greeted them warmly.
The villagers passing by looked at the two of them curiously, and they went home under the gaze of the villagers.
The village has changed a lot. The last time I visited, most of the houses were adobe, but this time, half have been replaced with brick and tile. A chicken farm and a pig farm have opened in the village, and the villagers are smiling more.
When I returned to the old house, it was very clean and the kang was warm.
Lin Xiuyao said: "It should be cleaned up by my uncle and his family." My uncle has the key to their house.
My uncle and his family came over quickly. My aunt said, "After receiving the call that you were back, my old man asked me to come and light up the kang. It's been burning for two days now. You can just sleep on it. The kang won't get damp."
Lin Xiuyao: "Thank you for your hard work, auntie. You have helped take care of the house over the past few years. Thank you so much!"
The uncle said, "Don't be polite, we are all family, but you haven't been home for a long time!"
Lin Xiuyao was embarrassed. "I'm a little busy," he said, changing the subject. "The village has changed a lot."
My uncle said, "Now that land has been distributed to each household, every household can raise livestock. There are no restrictions on chickens, ducks, geese, and even pigs. Now every family can have enough to eat, and can eat meat every now and then. Life has become better."
Zhang Qian, the second sister-in-law, came over with her little girl in her arms and spoke to Su Qingmeng, "Su Zhiqing, your clothes are so beautiful. What kind of fabric is this?"
"Second sister-in-law, you can call me Qingmeng," she said. She had not been an educated youth for many years. "This is a puffer jacket, filled with duck down, and I don't know what the fabric is made of." It must be coated nylon, Su Qingmeng was not sure.
The second sister-in-law touched it and asked, "Is this clothing warm? It's not as strong as a cotton-padded jacket."
Su Qingmeng: "It's quite warm, warmer than a cotton-padded jacket."
The second sister-in-law showed an envious look, "I read the book you wrote, it's really well written. My family is patriarchal, and after I got married, they always asked me to help my younger brother more, saying that I would rely on him for support in the future."
"Now that I think about it, I can't count on him given his wretchedness. My family treats me very well, and my parents-in-law are also very kind. From now on, I will not give money to my parents' family except for the annual festivals."
Su Qingmeng was a little embarrassed. She didn't like sharing her writing with others, she felt a little ashamed. It was all Lin Xiuyao's fault. He was so excited when he learned her book was published that he bought a lot of it to show his support and even mailed a lot of copies back home.
However, she still said: "Parents raised us, and filial piety is a must, but there must be principles, and brothers don't need to."
She changed the subject, "What's the second child's name? She's two years old, right?"
"She's two years old. Her name is Lin Yue, and her nickname is Yueyue." Yueyue smiled at Su Qingmeng, and Su Qingmeng touched her head. "She's so cute. I brought her clothes and a doll."
She took out a red dress and gestured, "It might be a little big. I was afraid it might be too small, so I bought a size up."
The second sister-in-law waved her hand and said, "It's okay, she can wear it next year." What a beautiful dress.
Su Qingmeng handed the chicken doll to Yueyue. This little girl was born in 1981 and had the same characteristics as Lin Xiuyao.
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