The children of the Qiao family

Chapter 26

Qiao Yicheng felt a little embarrassed, and stammered a little: That's good, maybe you will wear sunglasses when you go out on the street, and someone will ask you for an autograph, haha.

Hu Chunxiao's head lowered further, and the forehead hair fell down to cover his eyes, and suddenly said: "Yicheng, let's not do this, we are the same identity, take care of each other more, okay?"Otherwise, life here is really difficult.Do you think TV is a noble place?Let me tell you, a group of villains, with hundreds of pairs of snobbish eyes up and down.How many of them are actually doing shows?What's wrong with me competing for the position of host?To provoke them to discuss in front of and behind their backs, saying that I am relying on my husband's family's face to climb up.I am a graduate of a prestigious university. I received a scholarship back then, and I published articles in magazines when I was a teenager.

Qiao Yicheng said leisurely: You are not an ordinary person now, we are no longer the same identity.

Qiao Yicheng got up and fled out of the office door. He didn't like to have such a little private conversation with this woman again, it was so tiring.

In contrast, Qiao Yicheng gradually fell in love with Ye Xiaolang's straightforwardness and rough lines.He also wanted to change the current living environment, Qiao Yicheng was burying his head in hard work, Ye Xiaolang just wanted to gain a firm foothold with his own efforts, but Hu Chunxiao was thinking about how to fly to Gaozhi as quickly and with less effort.

Different ways do not conspire, Qiao Yicheng thought, fortunately, he and Hu Chunxiao used to have only a little bit of ambiguity.

Qiao Yicheng and Ye Xiaolang got along so naturally. Ye Xiaolang was very active and seemed to have boundless energy. The two of them rarely had time to spend a weekend. Xiaolang took Yicheng to travel all over the city. Every corner of the place, Yicheng said with a smile: You, a foreign girl, are more familiar with this place than I, a native Nanjing native.

Xiao Lang said: I like this city, the atmosphere is a bit dull, it is a bit earthy if you say it is modern, and it is a bit extraordinary if you say it is earthy, it makes people feel good and easy to get close to.

Yicheng jokingly said: Is this place better or the people here?

Little Langton didn't say a single word: All good!

Qiao Yicheng was quite moved by how she showed her thoughts so defenselessly.

Ye Xiaolang shared a house with a friend, and shared the kitchen and bathroom. Xiaolang often said that it would be nice to have a space that really belonged to her. Hit it once on purpose.

Why didn't he think so.

Since he was a child, he lived in a small space. Up to now, he shares a bedroom with his younger siblings, but when they grow up, the bedroom is divided into two with thin wooden boards. The younger sisters are inside, and he Apart from Er Qiang, the old big bed was replaced with bunk beds, except that there was only room for a desk and a chair on the bed, and the room was full.

He was really tired of living with such a large group of tick-tock-tick-tock-tick-tock-tick-tock-tick-tock-tick-tock-tick-tock-tick-tock-tick-tick-tock-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tock-tick-tock-docks-in-a-basins-in-a-basins-in-the-summer.

On the anniversary of being with Ye Xiaolang for three months, he asked Xiaolang out.Originally, I wanted to have a good meal in the restaurant, but it happened that I didn’t know what happened that day. After walking for a long time, the decent places were full of people. Walking slowly and aimlessly along the street.They were very busy those days, and they all felt that their legs were sore from walking.The dark surroundings are all straight metasequoia, and the ground is covered with fallen needles of old years. The thick and soft layer is like a blanket under the feet.

Suddenly, several buildings appeared in front of them, with lights on in the windows, and the lights were fluffy, in groups.

Ye Xiaolang sighed and said: I really hope there is a window there that belongs to me.

Qiao Yicheng also looked at the balls of light. Their family also likes to use this kind of lamp in winter. Sanli said that the yellow light looks warm, but in summer it is cooler with incandescent lamps. She took the trouble to change the bulbs according to the seasons. .

They are brothers and sisters who have lived in such a house for more than [-] years, cooking in the small lean-to, smoking the fire, washing clothes under the faucet in the yard, and arguing with neighbors in order to get some good sun and dry the quilt. Taking turns with Sanli to empty the toilet and clean the toilet, the girl Simei complained a lot as she was doing it.

20 years is a long, long time, even the best days, 20 years is also a long time.

Qiao Yicheng shook Ye Xiaolang's hand and said to her: How about, let's get married.

Qiao Yicheng went home and announced to Qiao Zuwang and his siblings that he was getting married and moving out. The whole family was shocked.

It was Qiao Zuwang who reacted first, put down the chopsticks in his hand and said, "Let's get it done."I said earlier that from now on, you will each take care of yourself and save your own money. I have no objection to getting married, but I have no money.I have a little savings, and I have posted all the appliances I bought in the past two years.

Qiao Yicheng became so busy that he would sneak out to look at the house when he was at work.

Finally settled on a two-bedroom, one-living room, on the fifth floor, a house in the 80s, fairly new, with a bit of western exposure, so the rental price is not high, but it is very clean.

Qiao Yicheng and Ye Xiaolang rented a house and began to decorate their new home.

According to Qiao Yicheng, furniture and electrical appliances should be purchased according to the current economic capacity, and those that cannot be afforded for the time being should be kept and added slowly in the future.Xiao Lang had a different opinion, and wanted to do it all at once, saying that she had two young sisters who were close friends, and she could borrow some first, and then pay it back slowly after they got married. Anyway, both of them have fixed salaries, so they are not afraid to owe some.Qiao Yicheng resolutely refused, saying that what he hated most in his life was owing money to others.The two of them were so busy that they got a little angry, and it was inevitable that they would stumble in words. Fortunately, Xiao Lang knew how to retreat. Qiao Yi softened his intentions and changed the 21-inch color TV that he originally planned to buy into a 25-inch one, which made Xiao Lang hug him happily. Hanging on his neck, hanging on him like a monkey.

Two days before the wedding, both Sanli and Erqiang made a red envelope for Qiao Yicheng.Simei said, "Brother, I don't have any deposits, and you know it. I'll give you a vase. Don't be disgusted. By the way, I can be a bridesmaid for the bride without any red envelopes."

Talking crazy laughing.

Qiao Yicheng secretly returned Er Qiang's red envelope to him and asked him to keep it for himself.

Er Qiang got angry and refused to take it back, so Qiao Yicheng had no choice but to accept it.

Opening the red envelope given by Sanli, Qiao Yicheng was shocked. In the middle of the night, unable to sleep anymore, he tapped on the wall and called Sanli to the yard.The two brothers and sisters were talking while shivering in the cold winter wind.

Yicheng said: Don't you plan to marry Yiding yourself?Give such a big red envelope.

Sanli said: I still have more.It's not like you don't know that I can save money.

Yicheng said: I know, if you continue to eat vegetables and stir-fry potherb mustard all day long, you will soon become a potherb mustard yourself.Be obedient, brother, take a little, and you put away the rest.

Sanli cuddled up suddenly: brother, I really didn't expect you to get married so soon, I look at you like this, as if I went back to the time when my mother just died.I was young at that time, and I didn't know how to be sad. When I saw someone crying, I would cry, not as sad as I am now.

Yicheng's body was a little stiff, maybe it was too cold.

They had never hugged each other like this before, and Sanli didn't seem to be used to such intimacy, so she retracted after sticking for a while.

Qiao Yicheng said: You listen to me and take the money back.Otherwise, I would be uneasy about getting married, and you don't want me to feel uneasy during my good days.

Sanli shivered and said, "Then you take a little bit."

Ten percent agreed.

The next day, Sanlila Yicheng went to her room, opened the box where she usually put her clothes, pointed to the box full of all kinds of crocheted goods, and said, brother, you pick two and put them in the new room.

Yicheng said, "I'll just take a tablecloth. Xiao Lang wants this one, but she's clumsy and doesn't know how to hook it."

Sanli kept silent, lowered her head, and spent a long time picking through the boxes. She picked out an ivory-yellow curtain and a tablecloth with intricate patterns and wrapped them up for Qiao Yicheng.

When Xiao Lang saw it, he said, "It's so beautiful. It takes a lot of work, but it doesn't block the light too much."

Qiao Yicheng said: If you don’t block the light, you have to hang it up.

They didn't hold a banquet. On the one hand, Qiao Yicheng thought it was troublesome. On the other hand, they really didn't have any extra money.

Xiao Lang's parents also came from the north. The two families stayed together and had a meal in a Sichuan restaurant. Even Wang Yiding and his second aunt didn't invite them. They only gave wedding candies.The second aunt still sent some money, but her face was a little unsightly.

Qi Weimin and Chang Xingyu discussed what to give, and Chang Xingyu said that red envelopes are to be given, and it is best to give something practical.She actually got Yicheng a gas bag, and Yicheng was very grateful.

Xiao Lang's sisters didn't come, so they also followed the ceremony.

Xiao Lang's parents are very honest people, they said they don't want to live in their daughter's house, the young couple always want to be alone, don't mess up their new house, they stayed in the guest house for two days and then went back.But Joe couldn't bear it, so he asked someone to buy a ticket for the sleeper berth and sent them away.

When Qiao Yicheng finally lay down peacefully on the bed in his new house, the numbers in his passbook had changed to two digits.

However, he thought, at last, with a home of his own, he could be considered a propertied class.

Qiao Zuwang finally accepted the fact of being laid off, and began to enjoy the fact.

After such a free time, his old problem occurred, and he started to go out to play cards during the day.

In the past two years, the control has been relaxed, the children have grown up, and they are farther away from him. No one cares what he does. Qiao Zuwang feels that living like this is quite nourishing.

The old friends got together again, and for some reason, they all started to drink a kind of tonic wine. Qiao Zuwang became addicted to it, and felt that his health was much better, and he went out to get excited.

The poker and drinking buddies talked about it at the poker table, saying that they wanted to raise funds to start a business together, buying and selling steel products. His relatives had a way to get wire rods, and they just changed hands in the middle. When money comes from the land, invigorate the economy and let some people get rich first, this is what the government calls for.Old man Qiao was moved and asked how to set up the method.The poker player said, the more people involved in this matter, the better. Everyone pools spare money together, and the business will naturally make more money.

So old man Qiao stopped playing cards, and lobbied others to raise funds together, and he really persuaded some people. For the first time, Qiao Zuwang felt that he was very talented in business, and he lost all his money many years ago. Forget all about it.

This year, Qiao Simi left the small street factory and was admitted to a newly opened foreign-related hotel as a waiter.

This is the only victory for Simei, the daughter of the Qiao family, in the exam for many years. This victory is still very brilliant. I heard that there are thousands of candidates for the exam, but only [-] were admitted in the end.

Qiao Simei is not very beautiful, but she has a good figure, well-proportioned, slender and upright, wearing a uniform issued by the hotel, a snow-white shirt, a purple vest, and a one-step skirt of the same color, and her fluffy hair is tied into a bun. , revealing a smooth and full forehead, she suddenly became a great beauty.

She was obsessed with "Selected Poems of Wang Guozhen" again, and she studied after work every day. When she was not at work, she wore a white shirt and a long plaid skirt, let down her hair, combed it neatly, and acted like a lady.Smiling quietly, she greeted Qiao Yicheng who was coming home for the first time after marriage. Sanli smiled and said: Brother, do you know what style this is?Let me tell you—ah, I'm afraid, love is also a kind of injury!
Qiao Yicheng teased with a smile: I understand, the debt of love is the heaviest, I can't repay it, how can I forget it.

The unemployed young man Qiao Erqiang found a relatively stable job again.

He succeeded his younger sister Qiao Simi and entered the street printing factory.

This small workshop-like factory is mostly housewives idle on the street, a young man came unexpectedly, and the group of women who were in a panic from idleness were as excited as a magpie that had exploded in the face of this young face that suddenly appeared. .He joked about the top two all day long, talked and laughed to the fullest, and would even use his hands and feet.

Some sister-in-laws also discussed in private: He is the little boy from the Qiao family who fell in love with the old woman.So, someone responded: Oh, committing crimes.

The director of the factory is an old man with poor legs. Seeing Er Qiang's discomfort, he simply sent him out to deliver the goods. Er Qiang often rode a tricycle to transport the bound books to the customer, and then loaded new books to be bound. return.

The city is damp and cold in winter, and hot as a furnace in summer, and the bright sun spreads like mercury on the ground.These two seasons have been disappointingly long.Er Qiang was riding on three wheels, but one of the wheels of that car was not very good, and it always made creaking noises. Er Qiang stepped on such a car, creaking back and forth in the streets and alleys every day.Basking in the sun and blowing in the wind, he became even darker and thinner, but his muscles and bones were a little thinner, but the childish appearance on his face was gone, and he looked even older than Qiao Yi, with a faint bruise between his eyebrows. Character.

The dark Qiao Erqiang, the quiet Qiao Erqiang, and the always frowning Qiao Erqiang are quite popular in the eyes of the daughter-in-law and sister-in-law in the factory. Some people say that they like the kind of Qiao Erqiang. The expression of "Takakura Ken" is more attractive than the creamy niche.

Hearing this kind of evaluation, Erqiang felt a kind of bewilderment on his face. In this way, he didn't seem to be quite like Takakura Ken.

Only Qiao Yicheng, looking secretly, always felt that Er Qiang was like a ripened fruit, and he preferred him to be as heartless as before.

Er Qiang's salary is not high, and Yicheng would give him some money from time to time, and Er Qiang would keep it.Later, by chance, Yicheng discovered that the money and most of his usual salary had been deposited in the old passbook by Er Qiang.

Er Qiang carefully sandwiched the passbook in an old diary and pressed it at the bottom of the box.

That book was the award that my mother won in the factory back then. It was yellow in paper, and the word "Award" was printed on the title page. The color has faded after a long time. I don't know where Er Qiang found it for this purpose. It was also solemnly pressed at the bottom of the box.

Yicheng saw it, and stood behind the second strong man and said: It is shameful for an infatuated person.

Erqiang didn't make a sound and didn't look back, he just gave his brother a stubborn head.

That day, Qiao Erqiang delivered the goods on three wheels. It was a rare cool autumn weather. He rode slowly along the street, trying to pass the morning and not go back to the factory so soon.

A No. [-] bus passed by him. The road was narrow, the bus was not going fast, and the windows rattled as it moved forward.

A woman poked her head out of the car, then retracted very quickly, probably because she was scolded by the conductor.

Erqiang suddenly tilted his handle and almost fell off the third wheel.

Immediately he sat upright again, and hurriedly stepped on the pedals.

(End of this chapter)