CH 72

Zhao Donglin went on a study tour with his professor, and after he left, Jiahui was really a bit uncomfortable. From the time they got married until now, they hadn’t been apart for such a long time.

Without her husband, Jiahui decided to find something to do by herself. After not making clothes for a long time, Jiahui was a bit itchy, so she asked her mother-in-law to go to the mall with her.

“Mom, I heard that there is a batch of new clothes in the mall. Let’s also go and take a look if there are suitable pieces to buy.”

The season had changed, and with every change of seasons, Jiahui would always add two new clothes to her wardrobe. This is a habit leftover from her previous life. In addition to the adults, there was Heidan and several children at home. Heidan grows very fast. The coat he wore last year was too small for him this year, especially the pants. The trouser legs were short.

And Shitou also grew especially fast. Although Zhao Donghe loved his child for such meticulous things, his thoughts were not as comprehensive as Jiahui’s.

As soon as Zhang Qiaoer heard that they were going to the mall to buy clothes, Zhang Qiaoer waved her hand and said, “Oh, I have clothes.” I don’t need to buy new ones. If you want to buy them, go and see them for yourself. Don’t take me. “

“Mom, your daughter-in-law wants to be filial to you. Just go with me. If everyone had it, but you don’t, then I would feel uncomfortable. “

This daughter-in-law was too good at talking. Zhang Qiaoer smiled and giggled, “Who can say you’re not filial? If others ask me, how’s your daughter-in-law? I would say, “She’s good; everything’s good about her. I can’t say anything.

This is the truth. Zhang Qiaoer never says how Jiahui is in front of outsiders. In the same way, when mentioning her mother-in-law, Jiahui would also use the word “good”.

“This is because my mother is kind to me. I call it “toss a peach, get back a plum.” [1]

Zhang Qiaoer’s education level is not high, and she doesn’t know much about idioms, but it doesn’t affect her ability to understand Jiahui’s words. She laughed happily.

The mall in the provincial capital is a two-story building. The two got off the bus. They held Fang Fang’s hand and walked into the mall together.

Fang Fang was impressed by the places selling food, especially those flowery iron boxes, which contained all kinds of delicious food.

He pulled Jiahui to the right and turned to the counter selling food, pointing to a box with a red background and a white rabbit, and said he wanted it.

“That’s a biscuit. If you want to eat it, let’s weigh it. You don’t have to buy it in an iron box. “

Fang Fang flattened his mouth and wanted to cry.

They didn’t know when he had learned this skill. Whenever he is naughty and mischievous and being educated by adults, he will begin to flatten his mouth and cry. Zhang Qiaoer was willing to eat this set, but Jiahui didn’t.

This time, he flattened his mouth, but Jiahui insisted on declining it. But Zhang Qiaoer, who was behind her, couldn’t bear it. Even though she had misgivings about how her daughter-in-law taught the child, Zhang Qiaoer didn’t lift her foot forward.

Fang Fang was cleverer; he knew that she couldn’t escape from his mother, so he directly hugged Zhang Qiaoer’s legs. He tilted his head, with his eyes shining with tears. Zhang Qiaoer’s heart directly went soft. 

“How about we just buy a can?”

Well, now more than one person has looked at Jiahui pitifully, and even her mother-in-law has joined the team.

“Then let’s buy a can, take it back and share it with your brother and sister, okay?”

Jiahui and Zhao Donglin were now students, and the school doesn’t issue any other tickets except food stamps, so Jiahui’s sugar, milk powder, and cookie tickets were all given by Shen Nianru.

She really treats Jiahui as her daughter and takes great care of the children in her family.

Hearing that her mother finally agreed, Fang Fang broke his tears into a smile and nodded again and again.

After buying a can of cookies, the two of them took the children to see the fabrics and ready-made clothes.

“We need to add new clothes to the children. Their pants are short. I also want to make two more for Meixiang. She has to work and needs to dress decently. Mom, see if you have any clothes or fabrics you like. “

“I don’t need to buy them. The ones you made for me before are not bad or broken. They are still very good to wear. “

“Then you have to choose one. It’s not good that everyone in the family has new clothes but you don’t. Then it will be your daughter-in-law’s fault. “

After Jiahui’s persuasion, Zhang Qiaoer chose a piece of fabric. The ready-made clothes were too expensive. She was really reluctant to spend the money.

The last time she came back from New Year’s Eve, Zhao Donglin had helped her move her sewing machine over. Jiahui had bought a lot of fabric and was ready to do it herself, not that she couldn’t afford to spend the money, but mainly because she didn’t like the clothes here.

Wang Mei wore a plaid-striped modified Zhongshan suit. She stepped off in high heels to the mall to buy things. She fell in love with a rose scarf. She missed a batch of goods last time. This time, she had an agreement with the familiar salesperson in advance, and they left one for her. She came to get the scarves today.

When passing the first-floor stairs to the second floor, Wang Mei turned around violently, as if she had heard the voice of her former mother-in-law.

“Isn’t this too good for me to wear this kind of pattern? How can an old woman over the age of 50 or 60 wear such a bright dress? “

Zhang Qiaoer said and smiled. Jiahui gave a piece of cloth with black background printing. Zhang Qiaoer had worn blue, grey, and black before and had not worn this kind of printing.

“This looks good; it suits you best.”

Zhang Qiao’er laughed.

“Your godmother looks good in this kind of fabric. I am an old woman from the countryside, it is not appropriate for me to wear.”

“I also bought something for my godmother. This is yours.”

What else does Zhang Qiaoer want to say? The salesperson who had been watching silently smiled and said, “Grandma, your daughter-in-law was showing her filial piety to you. You can rest assured and go on. “

Most of the salesmen in the shopping mall look after people. Jiahui bought so many pieces of cloth at once and chose the best ones. The salesmen knew that their conditions were good.

Wang Mei found out that she was not being overly sensitive; that the old woman was really her former mother-in-law, Zhang Qiaoer.

Wang Mei’s heart is full of doubts. How can Zhang Qiaoer appear in the provincial capital? or an upscale place like a mall? Who is that good-looking young woman beside her? Who is the kid sitting on a small bench eating cookies? Is he the new grandson of the Zhao family?

She was afraid that her position would be exposed, so Wang Mei found another place to observe and found that they had bought a lot of things. They bought seven or eight pieces of cloth alone. The woman is called Zhang Qiaoer’s mother, and the little child is called Zhang Qiaoer’s grandmother.

She thought that after she left, the days of the Zhao family would not be good. Zhao Donglin could only find a rural wife with little insight. Unexpectedly, the Zhao family’s life was better, which made Wang Mei’s calm heart ripple.

In the morning, after eating dinner at a house behind the dormitory, Meixiang walked towards school in the sunlight.

The students who attend the first middle school are those whose families live nearby, so the school does not have a canteen, and the teachers who live in the dormitory share meals with the residents’ homes. Meixiang also joined the team, paying five yuan a month for three meals.

In recent days, she has eaten meat and vegetables. Although she can’t benefit as much as herself, she has been very moved to eat hot meals on time every day.

On the way, she met many students from No. 1 middle school. When they saw Meixiang and knew that she was a new intern teacher at the school, they called her “Teacher Zhao” politely.

When she heard the name “teacher” for the first time, she was so touched that she almost cried. For her, as long as the students call her teacher for one day, she is their forever teacher.

When the car bell rang, Meixiang turned around, and it was Cui Zongyi.

“Good morning, Miss Zhao.”

Cui Zongyi is from Yunxian County. Time has not left too many marks on him. He is still so handsome and bright. His smile was still so sunny and good-looking, just like the youth in Meixiang’s memory.

The two are in the same office. They looked down and didn’t see each other every day. Meixiang had a good relationship with other teachers, except with Cui Zongyi. They always do not feel comfortable talking to him alone. They would feel embarrassed when they got too close.

Cui Zongyi took the initiative to say hello, and Meixiang nodded with a smile.

“Good morning, Mr Cui.”

She thought he would leave after greeting, but I didn’t expect Cui Zongyi to come down from his bike and push his bike to go forward with Meixiang.

“You—”

Both of them opened their mouths at the same time and froze at the same time when they heard each other speak.

Cui Zongyi looked at Meixiang with red cheeks and smiled.

“You say it first.”

After a few seconds, Mei Xiang shook her head and said, “I don’t know what I’m going to say. I forgot.”

Cui Zongyi smiled and said, “So, you’re still as quiet and not very talkative as before.”

He said this in a very soft tone. His eyes were also looking at Meixiang. Meixiang was not a little girl who didn’t understand anything. When he heard this, she turned her head and looked at him in surprise.

One reason was that She did not expect him to say this. If not for her own sensitivity, she would not have noticed the ambiguity.

On the other hand, she didn’t expect Cui Zongyi to have an impression of her. When she was in high school, she was not a top student. Because of her introverted attitude, she often didn’t speak; she was just like an invisible person.

Cui Zongyi, on the other hand, was attractive, had good grades, and was from the county. Many girls liked him.

She always thought that such an excellent male must have married early. The result is that he is still unmarried.

These days, the teachers in the office always make fun of her, saying that they want to introduce her to someone, and some teachers put her together with Cui Zongyi.

“Mei Xiang, our little comrade Cui is also a single young man. I heard that you were still high school classmates and now colleagues. How great is this fate? You may want to consider it.”

Half a month was not long, nor was it short. In April, Zhao Donglin finally came back and carried a sack of specialties, including walnuts, longans, red dates, dried persimmons, and dried peach meat. They are all delicious, and adults and children love to eat them.

They gave some to her godmother and godfather and sent some to Meixiang.

“Wife, I miss you when I’m outside.”

Although the rivers and mountains of the motherland are good, he is still comfortable at home. He can understand the artistic conception of the sentence “wife, kids, and a warm bed [2]” He thought that he was never tired when he was in the army. He just wanted to rush forward. Now he had begun to be infatuated with the warmth of the family.

Wang Mei came by every now and then over the last ten days to take a look. She had seen Heidan and Yingbao once, and Zhao Donghe, Shitou, but she had not seen Zhao Donglin.

She has inquired about Zhao’s family and knows that Zhao Donglin and his second wife are students at Wudong University. They have a good relationship and have three children.

They know that Zhao Donglin was divorced; no one knows exactly why, but they also know that Heidan was not the child of the second wife. They also said that Heidan had good grades; not only had he skipped a grade, but on the exams, he was the first.

However, it is generally not clear to them if Yingbao was not born to the second wife, and also when the second wife of Donglin gave birth to a son and a daughter.

This day, Wang Mei came again. She hid behind a tree and saw a man in an army green crew-neck sweatshirt doing carpentry in the yard. The muscles on his arms were bulging, using all his strength.

Although she hadn’t seen him for many years, Wang Mei immediately recognized him as Zhao Donglin.

The woman smiled and took a towel to wipe his sweat. Zhao Donglin kissed the back of her hand. The woman smiled and glanced at him. Zhao Donglin looked into the room and saw no one paying attention to them, so he hugged the woman’s waist. The woman bent over after being forced. Zhao Donglin kissed her on the lip. The woman was obviously angry. She hit him on the chest and turned around and went back to the house.

In April, the weather gradually warmed up, but Wang Mei felt her heart cold like winter.

In those years of marriage, when did Zhao Donglin become so close to herself?

Every time he comes back from the army to visit his family, he always keeps on visiting friends and relatives. They couldn’t say a few words all day except in the quilt. Unexpectedly, her divorce made it possible for him to marry another woman.

The sun is setting and the sunset is in the sky. Heidan leads Yingbao’s hand home, followed by a chattering Shitou.

I compared with Chen Dafang today. I hit seven, but he hit three. I was left behind. “

“Jiang Xiaocui’s braids are so long, they keep wiggling around in class, and today they had a red headband. I untied it for her. She turned around and glared at me. I glared at her too. She said she was going to tell the teacher. I said go ahead, I’m not afraid of you. My brother is Zhao Zhuojun, then she stopped talking.”

Heidan is a school grass-like figure in school. He looked beautiful, and his grades were always in the top spot. He can win prizes in all kinds of competitions.

He is not as arrogant as the average student with good grades. He will explain patiently no matter what the students can’t do.

In addition, his dress is always clean and tidy, and the desk textbooks are always neat and orderly. It’s the beginning of love when you’re in your teens, and many female students liked this type of guy.

Heidan is two years younger than girls in the same grade, but he is well-developed and tall. In addition, he has a calm personality and is not small compared with other male students in the same grade.

Wang Mei saw Heidan for the second time. Because she had just met Zhao Donglin, she felt a little uneasy and pulled out her maternal love for Heidan.

Her eyes followed several children into the yard and saw Jiahui. Yingbao shook off her brother’s hand and rushed into Jiahui’s arms.

“Mom, I miss you so much at school.”

The father and daughter said the same thing as if they were buying one and getting one free.

“Were you good at school today?”

Yingbao nodded vigorously, “Yes, very good. The teacher even praised me.”

“Brother, sister!”

Fang Fang ran out of the house, hugging Heidan’s leg and smiling. Heidan bent down and held Fang Fang, who was more than twenty pounds, in his arms.

“Go in, I cooked beef noodles today. You all love to eat them, right?”

“I love to eat whatever mommy cooks.”

“You’re a clever little devil with a sweet mouth.”

Yingbao smiled smugly, holding Jiahui’s neck and leaning on her shoulder.

When they all entered the house, Wang Mei moved her stiff legs.

The little girl is her own daughter. When she left, she was still a small little baby. A few years later, the little baby grew up and has grown into a cute and beautiful little girl, but this little girl called another woman her “mother”.

References