The children of the Qiao family

Chapter 22

Qiao Yicheng left home this year, which was a big earthquake for the younger brothers and sisters.

1
Many years later, Qi Weimin still remembers the first time he saw his wife Chang Xingyu. She smiled and said in a crisp voice: "The New Year is over, and I don't have any lucky money for you!"

When the two of them recalled this incident sometimes, Qi Weimin would laugh and joke: You are such a ghost, you made me call your teacher for a long time for nothing.

Chang Xingyu smiled and replied: You misunderstood yourself.

Qiao Qiqi's new class teacher is actually Chang Xingyu's eldest sister.

That day, Qi Weimin talked with Teacher Chang for a long time.

Occasionally, through the open door of the study room, Qi Weimin could see a tall figure in a big red sweater, walking back and forth gently in the living room. The girl was eating a big and red apple, and suddenly stretched her head into the study room. Look, Qi Weimin's eyes met, and she couldn't help laughing.

That day, it was Chang Xingyu who sent Qi Weimin out of the courtyard, and Qi Weimin said politely: Goodbye, Chang... uh, classmate.

Chang Xingyu held back a smile and said: Goodbye, Brother Xiaoqi.

In Qi Weimin's memory, every time she saw Chang Xingyu, she always looked at him and smiled. This beautiful girl surprised Qi Weimin to find that she turned out to be such a person full of sense of comedy.

Chang Xingyu's elder sister is a very caring teacher, and she is indeed worthy of being advanced. After she taught, she quickly discovered Gu Jun's tricks and criticized him severely.Qiao Qiqi gradually became less self-closing. Although his grades did not improve much, he was still a lazy child who had no interest in studying and was very clingy. But, after all, he was considered normal. child.

He is so beautiful, quiet and well-behaved, enough to make people forgive his sloppy and lazy.

Once Qiao Qiqi felt a little uncomfortable. When Qi Weimin went to pick him up, he found him leaning in the arms of Teacher Chang who was correcting his homework, imitating "soft white sugar" and sucking a biscuit with his front teeth, Qi Weimin was completely relieved.

Qiao Yicheng didn't care much about everything that happened to Qiao Qiqi.

However, the things that need his attention are still one after another.

Qiao Simi left home on her own initiative and ran away without a trace.

Qiao Yicheng asked Sanli Erqiang carefully, but did not get any clues.

Qiao Yicheng thought that maybe he was reincarnated from the Nine-Life Cat Demon, otherwise, why he was exhausted by all these messy things at home for so many years, and then he could still be a whole person after packing up the wreckage.

When the whole family was dizzy with anxiety, Sanli found a letter under Simei's bed, with cobwebs rubbing against the snow-white envelope.

Probably it was stuffed under the mattress at first, and then fell to the ground.The letter was very short, written in Simei's crooked handwriting: I will go to Beijing with some old classmates to meet our dear brother Fei Xiang. He will hold a concert there. I will be back soon, don't worry.

Qiao Yicheng was furious: Where did she get the money to buy the train ticket?
Er Qiang faltered and said: I, I, I... I gave it to her.

Qiao Yicheng yelled at the top two: You burned too much money, didn't you?You give her money every month?
Er Qiang said aggrievedly: She asked me for it, but if she didn't give it, she secretly rummaged through my pocket and took it.And Sanli, Sanli also gave her money, why don't you say Sanli?

Qiao Yicheng let out a sigh, and had already decided in his heart to buy a train ticket and rush to Beijing immediately.One day and one night on the train, I have to take two days off from school, and then make up for a Sunday, hoping to have enough time to find and bring Simei back.

Just when he was about to leave, he heard a piece of social news, saying that there was a girl in Beijing who committed suicide by lying on the train because her courtship to Fei Xiang was politely rejected. of.

Qiao Yicheng's legs went limp when he heard that, and he almost fell to the ground in the classroom.It took me a long time to turn my head around, and I made a long phone call, asking my old classmates in Beijing to help me find out where and what the name of the girl mentioned in the news was, and I ran to the train station to change the ticket to the earliest one. Even the ticket to Beijing, even the luggage was too late to get on the road.

I didn’t even have a toothbrush along the way. When I got off the train, I almost lost my airs. I could smell the stench on my body. I hid in the toilet of the train station and washed my face with cold water twice in front of the blurry mirror. Fortunately, an old classmate picked him up when he left the station.

The old classmate told him that the girl who committed suicide came to Beijing from Shandong, but she was not dead, she was rescued in time, and Fei Xiang's concert ended last night.

Of course, Qiao Yicheng did not find Simei in Beijing, because Simei went home by herself.Travel-stained, high-spirited, eyes bright like wild cats at night.

When Qiao Yicheng returned to Nanjing and saw Simei, the girl came up to her somewhat ashamedly and said, "Brother, I've boiled the bath water for you, so you can rest."

Qiao Yicheng didn't have the energy to get angry with her anymore, he shook his hand tiredly and said, "Leave me alone, go and marry your brother Fei Xiang, as long as he is willing to want you, you can marry me tomorrow, how far away will you marry me?" How far.

Qiao Yicheng didn't talk to Qiao Simei for more than half a year, and Qiao Simei didn't take it seriously, and she was still cheeky every day.

For a long time after that, she described to the people around her the scene when she met Fei Xiang in Beijing like Mrs. Xianglin, and how the tall and handsome singer with half Chinese blood worked hard on stage. The performance, how the scene was boiling, and how she tried so hard to squeeze to the front, threw a rose into Fei Xiang's arms and shook hands with Fei Xiang.

Sanli said mockingly: You haven't washed your hands for half a year, have you?Are you planning to never wash it again for the rest of your life?
How can I not wash it for a lifetime.

Qiao Simei's infinite enthusiasm for Fei Xiang gradually cooled down with the arrival of the Little Tigers.

Qiao Erqiang laughed at her: Good guy, there are three this time, you can choose slowly and see which one to marry.

The days passed quickly amidst trivial gossip, and Qiao Yicheng was still doing odd jobs while reading.

But this time, he stopped serving dishes in restaurants. He started writing articles for newspapers and magazines, and also became a special correspondent for a TV station, responsible for writing some social news articles. Compared with the past, his income was Pretty good.

Qiao Erqiang still works in the factory honestly, and enjoys the secret and slightly guilty pleasure with his master Ma Suqin.

When no one was around, they secretly hid in the corner and ate, affectionately feeding each other, touching their knees together, and fighting.

While watching a movie, under the cover of darkness, they held hands tightly together, so that both of them were sweating.

Ma Suqin's husband is still using his wife's hard-earned money to do various businesses, constantly losing money, and his unfulfilled dream of getting rich makes him more and more like a trapped animal.

Qiao Erqiang is still the one who is not taken seriously in the family. This slender young man has a very weak sense of existence, because in the past two years he has become more silent than before, which has weakened his sense of existence even more.

Yet he was happy.

He even handed over part of his monthly salary to his family and left some to his master. Ma Suqin opened a bank account for him and helped him save money.

Er Qiang thought that one day, with enough money saved, he would be able to live a brand new life with his master.What kind of a brand-new day is and where is it, Er Qiang is actually very confused in his heart.He had a poor imagination since he was a child, and that day was just a ball of warm colorful light, not far in front of him, if he kept walking, maybe tomorrow, he could walk there.

Sanli is still living peacefully and harmoniously with her Yiding. They are like two little ants loving each other, managing their future life bit by bit.

Sanli learned how to crochet, bought a lot of cotton thread, white and ivory yellow, and began to crochet her dowry, curtains, tablecloths, coasters, and pillow covers on the sofa.On Sundays, the two of them would go to furniture stores one by one, and Yiding would secretly write down the styles of the furniture, draw the patterns when they got home, and prepare to buy the wood to make by themselves.Each time, they only had enough money to buy part of the wood, and piled it up in the small lean-to house built by the Wang family, waiting for one day when they had enough materials, they started to make furniture.

It was also during this period that the Qiao family added a rare item.

Qiao Zuwang suggested to his sons and daughters that life is better now, and they should buy a color TV for everything.

It's not the black and white color TV set in Qi Weimin's house, which is covered with a layer of transparent plastic painted with light colors, but a real color TV set.

Father Joe made a request to his children, saying that everyone should take part of the money and add some if it is not enough.

The top two and the three beauties all contributed money, and so did the old man. Simei was still an unemployed young man, and she confidently refused to take any money. There was still a shortfall of more than 300 yuan, which was waiting for Qiao Yicheng to make up for it.

Qiao Yicheng could afford the money, but he was reluctant to do so.

He had an idea to save money for his future marriage. He was glad that he didn't tell his family about getting paid for writing press releases for the TV station. He used a pseudonym.

The whole family looked at Qiao Yicheng eagerly, but Qiao Yicheng took out the money anyway.

With a thick wad of money in his pocket, Qiao Yicheng took his younger siblings to the shopping mall to choose a color TV. Qiao Zuwang also followed from a distance, just like the scene of a long, long time ago, during the Chinese New Year.At that time, the mother was still alive, and their family went to the street to play.

Qiao Erqiang looked at his elder brother's expression and asked worriedly: "Brother, are you feeling well?"

Qiao Yicheng said angrily: Liver pain.

Simei was heartless and bluffed to please: Do you want to go to the hospital to see it, brother?

Only Sanli understood and giggled, making Qiao Yicheng laugh too.

When I arrived at the mall, Yiding had already borrowed a tricycle and sat there.

The Qiao family had their first valuable item.

The modern, noisy, bright and shadowy things, full of sound and color, have brought about earth-shaking changes in the life of the Qiao family, broadened their horizons, civilized their manners, and made their relationships harmonious.

Old man Qiao didn't go out much at night, and stayed in front of the TV to watch the news and the theater.Gradually, some new terms came out of his mouth: reform and opening up, invigorating the economy, smashing the iron rice bowl, and introducing foreign capital.

Simei would watch it very late. Once she watched it late at night alone, and even printed a wet kiss on the screen. On it, a star she loved was performing hard.

When one new thing comes, the others follow.

In the second year, the Qiao family bought another refrigerator.

The single door, Suzhou factory, Xiangxuehai brand, Qi Weimin helped find someone to buy it. A friend of his had a way to buy it, and said that if he bought two, it would be much cheaper.

This time, Papa Qiao readily paid a large amount of money, but he would not miss anything to enjoy.

The light green refrigerator was placed in a corner of Qiao's main room, making a low humming sound.

Qiao Zuwang would explain loudly and solemnly after every meal, remember to put the leftovers in the refrigerator so as not to waste them.

In fact, there is nothing to put away. The children of the Qiao family have always had a big appetite and a good appetite. They eat almost every meal. If there is anything left, Simei will eat it hot when she is hungry watching TV in the middle of the night.When there was really nothing to put, Qiao Zuwang put fermented bean curd and five-spice kohlrabi in it, and served breakfast with iced fermented bean curd or iced kohlrabi every morning.

[-] passed without major setbacks.

It's [-].

In the hearts of the Qiao family, the Spring Festival of [-] is very unforgettable.

It was the day of the Lantern Festival this year when the gate of Qiao’s house was kicked open, the pot of Qiao’s house was smashed, and the color TV of Qiao’s house would have been smashed to pieces if Qiao Simei hadn’t rushed forward to protect her. .

The second strongest of the Qiao family was injured, with two broken ribs, a bruised nose, and a swollen face. He was lying on a hospital bed and sent Nian across the river.

(End of this chapter)