All day long, Zhao ii muddled through, her eyes on the teacher, but her mind kept replaying the scene she overheard in the bathroom with Wang Jiayue, like a little movie.
At dinner, Zhao ii was a bit absent-minded, but her parents didn’t notice.
Liu Dazhuang was recently troubled by the factory’s buyout issues, sighing all day long.
Liu Xiue picked so food for Zhao Dazhuang: "Don’t think about it, hasn’t the matter not been decided yet?"
Zhao Dazhuang took a bite of food and mumbled a response: "It’s already settled, just hasn’t been officially announced yet."
Liu Xiue paused in her action of picking food: "Then what are we waiting for?"
Zhao Dazhuang sighed: "Waiting for money! They want the buyout, won’t they have to pay? The benefits we were owed for a year and a half have dragged from the beginning of the year to the end, and now it’s the New Year, if they don’t pay up, how can people work!"
Liu Xiue nodded: "That’s true, it’s not a small amount, is it twenty thousand?"
Zhao Dazhuang: "Is it that much? Who knows, they say the house will also be privately owned, based on seniority, it needs so extra money."
Liu Xiue was shocked: "Really? Is the news reliable? How much extra do we need for our house? Is the little wage they owe enough to cover it?"
Zhao Dazhuang shook his head: "Who knows, the specifics haven’t been issued yet, I’m just worried, if the factory really buys out, what do I do?"
Once the factory buys out, employees will definitely be laid off, having to find other employnt, there’s no other way.
Liu Xiue was also troubled by this, the household expenses, Zhao ii’s tuition, and the monthly allowance to the grandparents all weighed heavily on them.
Now the factory’s poor performance affected even her grocery store business, with a monthly revenue less than half of what it used to be, if Zhao Dazhuang gets laid off, life at ho would really be tight.
Zhao ii snapped out of her tangled thoughts, looked blankly at her dad, and asked: "What does a buyout an?"
Zhao Dazhuang deflected: "Nothing, hurry and eat, then go do your howork."
Liu Xiue comforted him: "Don’t think too much, it’s the whole factory’s issue, not just yours. There will be a way when the ti cos, we’ll discuss it then."
Zhao Dazhuang put his chopsticks down, feeling a blockage in his stomach, he scratched his head: "I know, it’s just troubling."
That night, Zhao Dazhuang and Liu Xiue took out all their savings and tally books, sitting at the living room coffee table to figure out how much savings they actually had, calculating how long it could last if they got the buyout money, and to prepare Zhao Dazhuang for finding a new job.
They talked while calculating, thinking Zhao ii was studying in her room.
Zhao ii huddled by her study desk, eavesdropped for a while, pieced together everything her parents said recently, thought it through, and understood it all.
Once the factory bought out, her dad would get laid off, her mom’s grocery store business was declining, and the family was going to face a financial crisis, her parents were worried sick.
Zhao ii held the pen, aimlessly writing her Brother Yangyang’s na over and over on the paper in wild cursive, square characters, round fonts, cartoon letters.
By the end, the strokes beca chaotic, from clear characters to a blurry ss, just as she was about to tear the page out of the textbook, her phone chid with a text ssage.
Shi Yang: Studying?
Just those three simple words pulled Zhao ii away from her agitated mood, she clutched her phone and quickly typed back: Brother, I miss you.
Shi Yang: Tell , what’s going on.
Zhao ii obediently started to talk, sending ssage after ssage, first about Wang Jiayue, then about her dad’s layoff issue, rambling on until she’d poured out all the words bottled up inside her.
On the other end, it fell silent.
Zhao ii held onto the sent ssages, counting them carefully, having sent 25 ssages in one breath, each filled to the brim before sending, figuring it would take a while to read.
Zhao ii set her phone aside, propped her chin up, and started daydreaming, feeling a bit lancholic. Growing up, she’s been carefree, but as she grows older, she becos more sensitive, bringing about many more worries.
Zhao ii waited a little while longer, just when she was about to send another ssage to ask, her mom called for her from the living room.
Zhao ii went out, drank a cup of milk, then got pulled by her mom to wash her hair and blow it dry. By the ti she returned to her room, it was almost ten o’clock.
The phone was still silent, no ssages, no calls.
Zhao ii felt inexplicably anxious, stuffed all her textbooks into her school bag, then flopped onto her bed, initially planning to think about sothing, but once she lay down, found her mind blank. Her freshly washed hair was soft and comfortable, and she started feeling sleepy.
The phone rang, not a text but a call.
Zhao ii hurriedly sat up and answered: "Hello, brother."
The background noise on the phone was quiet, unlike the earlier bustling sounds.
"What are you doing?"
Zhao ii held the phone, laying on the bed: "Lying down."
"So early?"
Zhao ii groaned: "Headache, mood swings, brother, why haven’t you replied to my ssages?"
A tempest of frustration trying to escape.
"The stars are particularly beautiful tonight, can you see them?"
Stars?
Zhao ii suddenly got interested. Her bedroom had no window, to see outside, she’d have to go to the balcony.
Zhao ii opened the bedroom door, the living room was empty, from the master bedroom ca the sound of her parents’ conversation, the topic was heavy, they were especially engrossed.
Zhao ii tiptoed to the balcony, quietly closing the door.
Zhao ii looked up at the night sky, indeed, stars scattered across, with a single bright moon hanging alone.
Zhao ii exhaled, feeling so of her unease fading, she smiled and said, "It’s pretty."
"How pretty?"
Zhao ii tilted her head, seriously looking at the few brightest stars in the sky: "I can’t really say."
"Is it prettier up there or down here?"
Down here?
Zhao ii instinctively leaned over the balcony to look down, with just one glance, she saw a dark area below with a beam of pale light, like a flashlight.
Zhao ii’s sharp eyes suddenly widened: "Brother?"
The phone, and downstairs, laughter rang out simultaneously.
Clear and nearby, the sound slipped through her eardrum into the ear canal, tracing along the walls all the way to her heart.
Distant and faint, like a sigh, quickly dissipating in the air, leaving not a trace.
Zhao ii suppressed her voice, filled with surprise and joy: "Brother! Wait for !"
A gentle reminder ca through the phone: "Take your ti coming downstairs!"
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