Volume 6: Summer Chapter 1: Solid
After waking up the next day, Jiang You and Lin Yu checked out of the hotel and took the train back to Tangjiang.
Holding Jiang Mo, Jiang You got off the taxi, took his luggage, and looked up at the three words "Cultural Street" on the stone tablet at the entrance. He let out a long sigh, "I'm finally back."
He walked slowly towards home.
The weather is great.
The sun shone on the road.
When they reached the door of Xiaofangzhai, Old Yin, who was standing by the door smoking, saw Jiang You and asked, "You're back?"
"Yes." Jiang You walked in front of Lao Yin.
"Is your son having fun?"
"He is so happy, but he makes me so tired."
"He's over six years old, right?" Old Yin glanced at Jiang Mo and threw the cigarette on the ground. "Let him walk around more by himself. Don't hold him all the time."
"Did you hear that?" Jiang You said to Jiang Mo, "Come down and walk the rest of the way by yourself, okay?"
Jiang Mo turned his head and looked forward.
"Look at him," Jiang You sighed, "Forget it, I'll go back and put my things away while I can still carry him. I'll come over for dinner later."
"Okay, I'll treat you to a meal today."
"Okay, I'll go over first."
"Go ahead."
He walked to the gate of the yard, took out the key from his bag and opened the door.
He heard the sound of water in the pond.
The two golden characters on the insect house were shining brightly in the sunlight.
The weeds in the cracks of the bluestone road have grown much taller and are now lush and green. The Jiarong flowers in the flower beds have faded, their leaves have become larger and darker in color, but the lush leaves of are now dotted with red.
The camphor tree has grown a little taller and its trunk has become thicker.
Jiang You carried the box and stepped onto the stairs
The door opened.
Jiang You put down the minced ginger.
He walked to the counter, threw his bag on the counter, took a peanut candy from the sugar bowl, and sat in the soft chair. He held the candy in his mouth and looked through the store door at his yard and the pedestrians coming and going in front of the door.
"Home is still the best."
"Milk, the milk in the refrigerator is all expired. Let's go to the convenience store later." Jiang You yawned and closed his eyes.
A few minutes later, he said, "Xiaoya, I want to listen to some music."
Xiaoya: "Network connection failed, please try again later."
…
More than half an hour later, Jiang You sat in the small room.
On a weekday, before dinner time, he was the only customer in the store .
Old Yin brought out a bowl of pickled mustard greens and shredded pork noodles, a plate of fried pork chops, and a plate of fried wontons, and he sat down opposite Jiang You.
Jiang You picked up the chopsticks, flipped the noodles, and then started eating.
Old Yin looked at him and said, "Where have you been? You are so hungry."
Jiang You drank a mouthful of soup and swallowed the noodles in his mouth. He said, "Chu Cheng."
"Chucheng is pretty good. I've been there before. The mutton soup there is delicious."
"Yes, I drank mutton soup and ate donkey meat." Jiang You picked up a wonton and ate it in one bite. "But this time I went out for business, and no matter how good the hotel is, it is not my home." He looked up at Lao Yin, "I just sat at home for a while and felt at ease. Really, home is still the best. I won't go out this year."
"Where's your son? He didn't eat either, did he?"
"He drank some milk and fell asleep."
Lao Yin picked up the chopsticks, picked up a piece of pork chop, dipped it in soy sauce, and took a bite. "A few days ago, Lao Cai came to see you. He saw that the store was closed, so he came to ask me."
"Lao Cai? Why did he look for me?" Jiang You took out his phone and glanced at WeChat. "He didn't send me a message."
"It seems to be related to his niece." said Old Yin.
"He is very attentive to his niece."
"From what he said," Old Yin glanced at Jiang You, "it seems that she wants to talk to you again. Maybe the people she meets later don't have as good conditions as you."
"No, no, I was alone at that time and I had some ideas. Now I am living a good life with my son," Jiang You finished his noodles, "and little girl, it's troublesome."
"I think Lao Cai thought the same thing, so I didn't contact you directly, but came to me first to inquire about the situation."
"I guess so. What did you tell him?"
"I said that you just carry your son around and have no other thoughts."
"That's right, this year is really tiring."
"You really have no idea?"
"You know..."
"I know, I know. She's the bookstore owner."
"Your son is going to junior high school, right?" Jiang You changed the subject.
"Yes, next year, his brain is like mine, and he can't concentrate on studying," Old Yin sighed. "I have to stay behind at every parent-teacher conference. The teacher told me that parents can't just think about making money, but should spend more time on their children. I want to, too, but where can I find the time? After closing every day, I have to clean up and prepare materials for tomorrow. When I go back, the kid has already fallen asleep. In the morning, before he wakes up, I have to come and prepare. My wife says that our family is a widow-style parenting, but I don't care about this. The whole family is starving."
"As a teacher, the environment is simple and it is easy to be idealistic."
"My wife thinks I can hire someone so that I don't have to watch over the store all the time. But one person has a cost, and the other is that this store is mine and I care about it. Others who have different ideas from me can stop working here and go somewhere else. So I relax for a day or two, and it may be okay. But over time, the quality and taste will definitely be different. Once the reputation is damaged, it will be difficult to revive it. So I have been thinking about what to do."
"Is your wife still working now?" Jiang You asked.
"No, she's having a hard time. The elderly at home are all in poor health and rely on her to take care of them," Old Yin complained to Jiang You, "Last month, my mother kept complaining of dizziness, and my wife accompanied her to the hospital several times. Fortunately, the examination showed that there was nothing wrong, just high blood pressure. She also knows how hard I work, so she just said it."
Jiang You ate the fried wontons one by one, "I'm not worried about my son. He will inherit my shop and sell postcards anyway. It doesn't matter if his grades are good or bad, as long as he can do addition, subtraction, multiplication and division."
"You say that now, but when he goes to school, you won't think so."
"No," Jiang You said confidently, "Besides, my son follows me, and all the teachers who taught me like me very much."
"Are you still going to open this store this year? Halfway through the year is almost over."
"Let's open it next week. We'll officially start business next Monday. I'm also planning to hold an art exhibition for my son." Jiang You put down his chopsticks and sat back. "I ate too much. All the weight I lost a while ago has grown back."
"You really are getting fatter as I watched you blow up a balloon."
"Yes, it's easy to gain weight but hard to lose it."
