Li Dawei came back just after nine o'clock this evening. He had a briefcase under his arm and a flower pot in his arms. His glasses were crooked on the bridge of his nose. His shoes and clothes were covered with mud, as if he had rolled in a field.
Made a circle.
"Did you get into a fight with someone or something?" Wang Xiaojuan asked in surprise, "Why did you come home so dressed up!"
Li Dawei smiled and took the flowerpot in his arms like a treasure, "I got a pot of orchids from a fellow villager's house. Director Jiang likes orchids the most. I will send it to him when I get the chance. He will be very happy."
Li Manjun and her brother and sister gathered around him. Seeing that their father was still smiling despite being covered in mud, they knew it was nothing serious.
"Dad, what's wrong with your glasses?" Li Jianjun asked with a heartless laugh.
Li Dawei waved his hand, "It's okay. I was chasing someone in the countryside today and accidentally fell and broke the frame."
Xiaojuan took the briefcase in his hand, opened the zipper and checked it again. Only a few cents of loose money were left in it, and her face suddenly turned ugly.
"How much did you pay for this orchid?"
Li Dawei smiled and said he didn't need any money, it was a gift from a fellow villager, and it was all over the mountain behind his house, so it was worthless.
"I'll leave that money to my parents." Li Dawei winked at his wife, telling her to save some face for him in front of the children.
Wang Xiaojuan took a deep breath before holding back the questions that came to her lips.
Although twenty or thirty yuan is not much, as long as it is given to the parents-in-law in my hometown in the countryside, it will definitely go to the eldest uncle's pocket.
No matter how many times she has experienced this kind of thing, Wang Xiaojuan gets angry every time.
"Why are you back so late today?" Wang Xiaojuan asked, "We have no food. Can I order you a bowl of noodles?"
Li Dawei nodded, as long as there was something to eat, he didn't choose.
Li Lijun brought a handkerchief and asked her father to wipe his face quickly, complaining that he didn't look like a cadre.
Li Dawei raised his hand as if to hit someone, but Li Lijun ran away with a smile.
"No big or small." Li Dawei said angrily.
"You weren't beaten, were you?" Li Manjun asked tentatively.
Those who go to work in the countryside these days are all warriors. The country people only accept death and will not reason with you at all. They only know that you are here for their unborn "son", and it will be fine if they don't beat you to death.
Li Dawei stopped washing his face and quickly turned back to the kitchen. Seeing that Wang Xiaojuan didn't notice, he reminded Li Manjun not to yell.
He didn't get hit, but it was really thrilling today. If he hadn't been a local and his eldest brother and sister had arrived in time, he and the other two lesbians wouldn't have been able to go home today.
Li Manjun hissed and his eyes fell on the pot of orchids on the table. Is this thing really useful?
Wang Xiaojuan cooked the noodles and brought them out. Li Lijun and Li Jianjun had already gone back to their rooms. If the student party didn't stay up late, they would have to get up for class tomorrow morning.
Li Manjun and the other three were the only ones in the room. Li Dawei was eating noodles and looked like he couldn't bear the hunger. Wang Xiaojuan felt strangely distressed.
She touched the long slender leaves of the orchid and asked curiously: "What kind of orchid is this? I have never seen this kind."
Li Dawei shook his head. He didn't know. Anyway, it was orchids that Director Jiang liked. Maybe if he was happy, he wouldn't have to go to the countryside.
"Dad, be careful in the future. You are getting older. If you fall somewhere, it will be the end of our family." Li Manjun warned worriedly.
Li Dawei responded and said he understood, but he did not dare to say more for fear of revealing his secret and being questioned by his wife.
After eating the noodles, Li Dawei said with a pity on his face: "Sister Daniel is not going to school anymore and is going to go south to work."
Wang Xiaojuan and Li Manjun were both shocked.
Li Dalong has four children, two boys and two girls. Li Daniu is the eldest son, followed by two younger sisters and a younger brother who is in elementary school.
The second sister did not go to junior high school and got married when she was sixteen.
The remaining third sister, Li Lanfang, worked very hard in her studies and was always ranked first in the school in elementary school. Later, she went to junior high school in a town middle school near her home and her grades were also very good. She ranked first in the class every year.
All in all, the third year of junior high school this year will soon be the critical moment for the high school entrance examination.
Every time Wang Xiaojuan talks about Li Jianjun, she always says, "Look at your cousin, she is number one every year, and you are number one from the bottom every year. You don't know how to learn from her!"
Everyone thinks that Li Lanfang can be admitted to a high school in the city and become the first person of Li Manjun's generation to go out.
However, now Li Dawei actually said that she wanted to go south to work?
"Your elder brother is confused. Such a good girl is not allowed to go to school and work? What kind of job can a girl like her do when she is only sixteen years old?"
Without asking in detail, Wang Xiaojuan had already guessed that it was her elder brother and sister-in-law who were responsible.
Li Dawei sighed, he had tried to persuade him, but Li Dalong asked him directly: "Then you plan to help your niece pay the tuition?"
"How can a family like ours afford the tuition for high school? What's the use of a girl studying so many books? It's better to go to work early and earn more money to send back to the family to build a new house."
Li Dawei still wanted to persuade him, but the little girl Li Lanfang smiled bitterly at him and said, "Second uncle, I think it's good to work part-time."
It made Li Dawei look like a human being inside and out.
Li Manjun really felt sorry for this cousin, who ended up in such a family.
"It's a good thing we don't live with them."
Wang Xiaojuan rolled her eyes and said, "Children, don't talk nonsense about adults' business."
Li Manjun was speechless. Come on, she, a child, should go back to her room to sleep.
Before going to bed, I vaguely heard Li Dawei say that Li Lanfang would come to stay at home in the next few days so that he could catch the morning bus into the city to catch a train or something, so Wang Xiaojuan was asked to prepare.
Later, the couple said something more, but Li Manjun could no longer hear clearly and fell into a deep sleep.
She got up early the next day and went out at the same time with Li Lijun and Li Jianjun who were going to school. First, she went to meet up with the Liu Yan siblings. Together, the three of them collected the toothpaste rinds in the town. They were busy until about eight o'clock, sending the two of them off.
I got on the shuttle bus to the countryside and then went home alone.
Wang Xiaojuan is not at home, probably chatting at the house next door.
Since being laid off, Wang Xiaojuan has not gone out to look for other jobs. Instead, she has stayed at home to cook for her two school-going children, and wait until Li Lijun has passed the high school entrance examination before making plans.
The kitchen stove was covered with leftovers. Li Manjun ordered a bowl of noodles for himself. After eating to fill his stomach, he went back to the room and took out the bowl from under the bed.
Afraid of being seen by the couple at the recycling station, Li Manjun packed it in a denim bookcase and carried it on her back to the bus stop to wait for the bus.
There was a shuttle bus into the city at nine o'clock, and she could catch it just in time.
It's not a big gathering today. There are only two or three people walking on the street, which is a bit deserted.
Before the shuttle bus came, Li Manjun stood under the stop sign and saw an unfamiliar blue-covered medium-sized truck across the street. He curiously looked over and suddenly saw a familiar tall figure walking out of the side of the vehicle.