"What kind of gift is usually suitable for a girl on her birthday?"
Lin Jingran looked up from the pile of food: "Girlfriend?"
"No, just an ordinary friend. To be more precise, she is a brother's sister."
Lin Jieran pointed his chopsticks at my nose and cursed: "Beast, you can kill my brother's sister."
I rolled my eyes: "Can you be more pure in your thoughts? You can have so many associations with a gift."
"If you don't plan to soak it, I suggest you don't give it as a gift."
I was instantly defeated by her, "Forget it, I won't ask you. I'll go to the street and take a look myself."
With that said, I put down the dishes and went out.
Lin Jingran shouted at me from behind: "If you really only treat me as a sister, then don't give me dolls, clothes, jewelry, cosmetics, etc."
I suddenly felt a headache. If I couldn’t give these things, what else could I give? Aren’t these the only things girls usually like?
I sneaked out to the street and entered a relatively high-end department store to browse around. The products in the mall were dazzling, but they only came and went: bags, clothes, jewelry, cosmetics, dolls, and of course umbrellas and
Shoes, but I knew I couldn’t give the last two items without anyone reminding me. Generally, Chinese people are taboo about giving umbrellas and shoes.
I left the mall without finding anything and wandered aimlessly on the street. I scratched my head and couldn't think of what I should buy and take with me. Originally, ordering a cake would have solved everything, but damn Pitang Zhang insisted on cake.
Order it yourself, isn't this deliberately trying to embarrass me?
There is still an hour left before the agreed time. Pitang Zhang's home is in another suburb and I have to take a taxi there. Time is running out. If I can't solve the problem of the gift, I may be late.
It would be very rude to be late when visiting someone's home for the first time. Of course I don't want to leave such a bad impression on others.
"Watermelon, a big red and sweet watermelon, cooked and sweet. If it's not sweet, it's free." There was a farm truck parked on the side of the road, filled with round and big watermelons, and a watermelon vendor stood there.
The people beside the car kept shouting.
I was like a drowning man who suddenly grabbed a life-saving straw, ran to the farm vehicle and asked: "Big pot, how do you sell watermelons?"
"It costs one yuan a pound, and it contains sweet stuff. Once you pay, you can open it and take a look." The watermelon seller greeted him warmly when he saw business coming to his door.
"Choose a big one for me."
The vendor picked up a big watermelon, weighed it in his hand, patted it with his palm, and said to me: "This one is definitely from Shaxin."
"I believe you, that's all."
The hawker weighed me: "You pay 20 yuan for 21 pounds." He took a knife and started to cut it open.
I quickly stopped him: "No need to cut, no need to cut."
Are you kidding me? I bought this watermelon to give as a gift. How can I use it after you cut it in half with a knife?
The hawker smiled happily: "Actually, it doesn't matter if you don't cut it. There will definitely be no problem with the ones I selected. However, some customers are worried about it, so we cut it and show it to them."
I readily paid the money, picked up the big watermelon, hailed a taxi on the roadside and went straight to Pitang Zhang's home.
In the car, I suddenly received a call from Lin Jingran: "Have you bought the gifts?"
I said dissatisfied: "You still care about this. I asked you to come up with an idea just now, but you didn't give it to me. I've already bought it."
"What did you buy?"
"I bought a big watermelon."
Lin Jingran laughed so hard on the other end of the phone, "I say you are a nerd, but you are really a nerd. Nowadays, when I go to someone's house as a guest, there is no one who gives me watermelon. You might as well not give it. Not giving it can prove that you are close friends and don't care about this.
If you use false politeness and give me a big watermelon, it shows that you don’t understand the ways of the world.”
I said: "I can't give you clothes, jewelry, cosmetics, dolls, and my brother firmly reserves the right to order cakes. What else can I give besides fruits? Besides, I've already bought them."
Lin Jeran patiently explained, "It's not impossible to give fruits, but you can't give watermelons."
"We celebrate Juneteenth at our place, and when people come to our house to visit relatives, they give us watermelons."
"That's for you, not here."
"You can just say that we are in the countryside and you are in a big city."
"You are taking a taxi now. Hurry up and give the watermelon to the taxi driver, and then ask him where there is a higher-end fruit shop nearby. Go in and buy some cherries or cherries. You don't need to buy too much. There is one for two or three hundred
It only costs 1 yuan, but you are right to listen to me."
I knew that Lin Jingran would never harm me, so I followed her advice.
After hanging up the phone, I asked the driver: "Master, do you want to eat watermelon?"
The driver must have gotten an idea from the phone call between me and Lin Jingran, "I remember there seems to be a fruit shop not far ahead. I'll take you to have a look."
"Thank you very much."
The driver smiled slightly and said nothing.
Sure enough, there was a fruit shop in front of me. I got out of the car and ran in with a bang, "Does the boss have any cherries for sale?"
"Would you like cherries or cherries?"
Me: "Cherry cherry."
Boss: "You want to do it all, right?"
Me: "I just want the same thing."
The boss was confused, "Would you like cherries or cherries?"
"Ducheng, just come and do whatever you want."
Lao pressed his hand and pointed: "They are all over there, you can pick them yourself."
I walked over according to the boss's instructions and saw that the cherries and cherries on the shelf were so good. They looked the same. After looking at them for a long time, I didn't recognize which ones were cherries and which ones were cherries, so I chose the best ones.
The expensive one is 150 yuan per catty, and buying two catties is exactly 300 yuan.
In my opinion, Happy Community is not happy at all. It is a famous shantytown on the outskirts of the city. Sewage flows across the ground, and the water is covered with rotten vegetable leaves and used sanitary napkins. The environment is very bad.
When I brought passengers to a place like this, I felt that the driver had lost money on the original fare of 100 yuan. However, the driver insisted on giving me 20 yuan in watermelon money. He is really a good and honest driver. I will take the bus again if I have the opportunity.
Of course, his car will never sell watermelons to him again.
Pitang Zhang's parents died early, and the brother and sister depended on each other. There was nothing in the four-walled house, but on the square table made of wooden pallets, two expensive Honor game helmets and a box of beautifully packaged games were neatly placed.
birthday cake.
Several fat aunties were busy in the dim kitchen. Pitang Zhang's sister was sitting in a wheelchair, with a thick blanket covering her knees. Her face was as white as wax paper. There were several young boys surrounding her wheelchair.
With a bright smile on his face.
When they saw strange guests coming to the door, a few young boys immediately jumped to the corner of the room like wild cats, but their eyes were fixed on the bag I was holding.
I suddenly regretted that I shouldn't have listened to Lin Jingran and left the watermelon in the car. I should have brought it with me.
Pitang Zhang introduced me, "This is my brother's good friend Chen Hui." Then he pointed to his sister, "This is my sister Shiqi."
"Those are all neighbor kids."
Shi Qi smiled at me: "Hello, brother Chen Hui, my sister is not feeling well, I'm sorry."
"Shiqi, what a beautiful name." I praised.
"Mom gave it to me."
I put the things on the ground and said to Pitang Zhang: "Go out and smoke a cigarette."
As soon as we turned around and went out, we heard Shiqi shouting from behind: "Don't grab it, everyone has it."
When I got outside, I realized that he, like me, is a non-smoker.
"How is your sister doing?" I don't think you need to beat around the bush with this kind of thing, just ask directly.
Pitang Zhang sighed deeply, "Leukemia, if she doesn't get a bone marrow transplant as soon as possible, the doctor said she has at most one year left."
I patted his shoulder: "Don't worry, I can figure out the surgery fee together."
Pitang shook his head weakly: "The most important issue at the moment is not the cost of surgery, but the lack of suitable bone marrow."
"You are her brother, why can't we use yours? Why are we still looking for it?"
"There are only four matching points. I tried many people and searched for half a year but couldn't find one." As he said this, the grown man couldn't help hiding his face in front of me and started crying. "I promised my parents that I would take good care of my sister, but in the end, I didn't find any."
To do this, I...this brother of mine is really irresponsible."
I know nothing about medical matters, but after hearing what he said, I vaguely understood that it might be difficult to find bone marrow that could be transplanted into Shiqi.
I finally understood why he worked so hard to exchange for a gold item with me. He wanted to relieve his inner guilt. I patted his shoulder and comforted him: "Don't worry, there's still a year, right?"
I’ll definitely find it, I’ll try it tomorrow too.”
Pitang Zhang sobbed and said, "Good brother, how can I thank you."
I put my arm around his shoulders: "Good brothers don't say this. Since we are good brothers, your sister is my sister."
"If tomorrow is really suitable, my life will be yours from now on."
"You're saying something stupid again. I'm not a gangster, so why do I want you to risk your life?"
"In short, regardless of whether it is appropriate or not, we, brother and sister, owe you a favor. From now on, your business will be my business."
"I like to hear this." I patted his shoulder, "Even if I am not suitable, I will always meet the right person. China has a population of more than one billion. I don't believe that there is no one who can be like my sister."
The person with a successful bone marrow match will come."
At this time, the aunts called for dinner, and we walked in together. Several men from the neighbor aunts also came through the yard carrying drinks.
Two tables were set up in the simple yard. Although the food was simple, it felt warm. If Shiqi hadn't encountered such a thing, the life of the brother and sister would have been happier.
After dinner, she started to blow out the candles and make wishes. Shiqi was so excited that her little face turned red. She clasped her hands together and solemnly made a 20th birthday wish: "I hope that after I fall asleep at night, I will never wake up again. This way...
You can go to another world to accompany your parents, so you won’t be a drag on your brother."
