??Chapter 42: Chapter 42: Feeling wronged, missing mom
Chapter 42: Chapter 42: Feeling wronged, missing mom
Xia Lin was about to say sothing else, but Gao Shu next to her pulled her back, “Linlin, what’s gotten into you today?”
Xia Lin countered by looping her arm through Gao Shu’s, “What? Are you afraid I’ll quarrel with her?”
“Not at all, I know you wouldn’t condescend to argue with her. Besides, Jingqiu isn’t so headstrong anymore. With a family mber gone, she’s grieving. Let’s not bother her too much.”
“Jingqiu, Jingqiu, you sure say her na sweetly.”
“Linlin, you know, you’re the only one in my heart.”
Hearing the words she wanted to hear, Xia Lin smiled playfully and pulled Gao Shu outside. There was nothing to do at ho today, so Xia Lin specifically brought up Gao Shu’s parents’ situation, leading to a ntion of the old family house they had left behind.
Xia Lin said she wanted to take a look, and that’s why they went out.
As Lu Jingqiu made her way ho, her mind was filled with the image of Xia Lin’s flat belly. Had her rebirth really changed so things? Xia Lin hadn’t gotten pregnant, and this inexplicable change left Lu Jingqiu feeling very uneasy.
She lost the appetite to cook and sat on the second-floor balcony with Hua Hua for a long ti.
It was only when her father ca ho that she snapped out of it.
“It’s past six, it’s completely dark outside, why haven’t you turned on the lights?” Lu Xianrun went upstairs and called out twice, but his daughter did not respond. If it weren’t for Hua Hua’s cries, he wouldn’t have turned on the lights and might have thought she wasn’t ho.
“Daddy, I forgot.” Seeing his daughter’s listless spirit, he hurried forward to touch her head to see if she was ill. Unexpectedly, his daughter suddenly said with a quiver in her voice, “Daddy, I’ve co back, so why did Mom still leave, why?”
Faced with such a response, Lu Xianrun didn’t know how to begin.
Lu Jingqiu, as if deeply aggrieved, couldn’t stop the tears from falling one by one.
Lu Xianrun had always thought his daughter was more optimistic than he was, but now it seed all just a fa??ade.
Feeling helpless, he patted his daughter’s head, and Lu Jingqiu, hugging her father’s arm, went from silently shedding tears to uncontrollably crying out loud.
It was as though she wanted to vent all the injustices from two lifetis.
By the ti she stopped crying, half an hour had passed.
Lu Xianrun tried to console her, “Stop crying, or you’ll be just like Hua Hua. You haven’t eaten yet, have you? Co on, Dad will take you out to eat.”
Lu Jingqiu wiped her nose and shook her head, “No, I don’t want to go out looking like this. If Aunt Cuihua sees , she’s sure to start asking all sorts of questions.”
Lu Xianrun laughed, “Then why cry so loudly? She doesn’t need to ask; she can hear it.”
Lu Jingqiu said, “Still, I don’t want to go. I don’t want to run into Gao Shu and Xia Lin.”
It was then that Lu Xianrun realized that so of his daughter’s sorrow was because of those two, “What’s there to avoid? We don’t owe them anything, and we haven’t committed a cri. When you see them in the future, hold your head up high. Be as proud as you should be.”
“Dad, honestly, I don’t care.”
“If you don’t care, you wouldn’t cry so bitterly.”
“I just miss Mom.”
Lu Xianrun didn’t argue with her. Seeing that she really didn’t want to go out, he went down and made a bowl of noodles for his daughter, and told her to use a hot towel to soothe her eyes—she couldn’t go to work tomorrow with swollen eyes.
After such a long cry, Lu Jingqiu felt much better. Now, eating the noodles her dad made, she was back to her state of mind from yesterday.
They talked about Older Cousin coming back with his wife this year and where they would have the New Year’s Eve dinner.
There were programs and activities in the military compound, and family mbers could participate.
At ho, it was just the two of them, with only a radio for entertainnt.
In the end, the father and daughter decided to spend it at the military compound. That night, they divided the dried goods and brown sugar, as well as White Rabbit Creamy Candy, into four portions, made into four packages. Dad put a letter in each, containing money and tickets.
The items I bought for my aunt were sent off yesterday, and today, upon arriving at the unit, there was still a eting, so I took the opportunity to mail the package.
In the afternoon, the person in charge of the agricultural market delivered our goods on a tricycle.
A pound of eggs, a pound of red dates, and two pounds of dried vegetables.
The welfare was quite good, and Lu Jingqiu got her share too, and she also received her salary today, a total of eleven yuan.
After receiving her salary, Zhang Miao said with a smile, “Do you want to go shopping at the mall during the holidays?”
Zhang Miao had recently got married. Her husband worked at the thermos factory, and the newlyweds were currently living in the factory dormitory.
She cooked her own breakfast, had lunch at the unit, and dined with her husband in the thermos factory cafeteria in the evening; their usual living expenses were quite low.
Both of their salaries weren’t bad, and after getting paid, Zhang Miao always enjoyed browsing the departnt store.
“I heard the departnt store has new clothes in stock, let’s go have a look.”
Wang ilian, who was about the sa age as them and unmarried, also looked over and said, “Let’s go together.” Then, turning to Qin Xuehua beside her, she said, “Sister Qin, do you want to co with us?”
Taking a sip of water, Qin Xuehua shook her head: “I can’t compare with you guys. I have two kids at ho, and everything from firewood, rice, oil, salt requires money and tickets.”
As Luo Xinyue passed by, Zhang Miao asked, “Editor Luo, would you like to join us?”
Luo Xinyue replied irritably, “The clothes at the departnt store aren’t that great.” With that, she walked away with an arrogant air.
That left the three of them with embarrassed faces.
The unit was about to close for the last day of the year, and the staff were discussing plans for the next year at their desks, as well as talking about how they would spend this year’s Spring Festival.
Around three in the afternoon, the director announced the holiday, and Zhang Miao hurriedly led them out.
All three of them rode their bicycles, reaching the departnt store around four o’clock. With the New Year approaching, the store was packed with people, especially in the daily goods section.
They headed straight for the second-floor clothing section.
At this ti of year, the selection of winter clothes was mostly Sun Yat-sen suits and army green cotton-padded jackets, as well as items like sweaters and knitted pants.
Lu Jingqiu took a fancy to a light yellow sweater and spent fifteen yuan on it.
Zhang Miao also liked a sweater and bought an army green cotton coat for her husband.
Wang ilian browsed around for quite a while but didn’t buy anything.
Thinking she hadn’t found anything to her liking, Zhang Miao took them for a tour around the fabric section. Wang ilian still didn’t find anything she liked, but Lu Jingqiu took a liking to a piece of fabric with a gray and yellow check pattern, made of thick material suitable for ladies’ winter tops.
Lu Jingqiu thought she could make a skirt to go with the sweater she had just bought, creating a very Hong Kong-style look.
The fabric cost ten yuan.
After browsing the second floor, the group went to the first floor and browsed so more. Zhang Miao bought a bar of Fragrant Cream and also so candies, while Lu Jingqiu, thinking of the kids at ho, followed suit and bought half a pound of milk candies.
Wang ilian asked with a smile, “How’s the candy?”
Lu Jingqiu handed one to Zhang Miao, Zhang Miao also gave one to her, and both agreed that White Rabbit candies were tastier.
They thought Wang ilian would buy so too, but after two hours of shopping, she left with empty hands.
On the way back, Zhang Miao and Lu Jingqiu took the sa route and gossiped, “I’ve figured it out, Wang ilian just followed us to mooch off our snacks.”
Lu Jingqiu laughed and didn’t say anything. She hadn’t interacted much with Wang ilian these days but knew so of her bad habits well: she was vain and quite concerned with appearances. However, she had many siblings at ho and had to give up a significant part of her salary to support the family. Her mother favored sons over daughters.
Tomorrow she didn’t have to go to work, so Lu Jingqiu felt much more relaxed and was ready to play with Hua Hua and start lying flat, when her second cousin ca ho.
Reviews
All reviews (0)