———————
Mi Yang held his pillow and went to the small room upstairs with him to rest.
Bai Luochuan lived in a suite by himself, with a carpet on the floor and some toys piled around. Although messy, each one was very new, but it seemed that the little owner threw it aside after playing with it for a short time. The bedroom had wooden floors, which made walking barefoot quite comfortable in the summer. Mi Yang went over and put down his little pillow first, then went to wash his face and brush his teeth. Master Bai had everything complete and plenty of spares. He even found a pink children's toothbrush when he unpacked it.
Bai Luochuan was very pretty when he was a child. Mrs. Bai even secretly gave him little skirts to wear and occasionally bought him some brightly colored gadgets. However, she had to let Mr. Bai choose what to use based on his personality. If he was in a good mood, he would like a pink toothbrush, but if he was in a bad mood, she would just throw away the blue and white striped towel he usually used.
Mi Yang opened the little pink toothbrush and used it. After he was done, Master Bai considerately put it back in his toothbrush holder.
One red and one basket, two children's toothbrushes are placed side by side.
Mi Yang took a look at it and was too lazy to take it out and put it aside. He yawned and went to sleep.
Mi Yang always slept well, lying on his back with his hands on his stomach and eyes closed, he fell asleep quickly. Bai Luochuan was not as well behaved as him, tossing and turning, and then turned over and poked his arm. Mi Yang asked in a daze, "What's wrong?"
Bai Luochuan turned over and looked at him, saying, "You haven't stayed with me for a long time."
Mi Yang: “Ah?”
Master Bai curled his lips and lowered his voice a little: "Ever since your grandma came, you won't play with me anymore."
Mi Yang closed his eyes and laughed, then reached out and touched his little head, touching it as a comfort, "My grandma only comes once a year, I miss her..."
Bai Luochuan said anxiously: "But I miss you too."
Mi Yang said: "We see each other every day."
Bai Luochuan said dissatisfiedly: "I miss you even if I see you every day."
Mi Yang was still lying there smiling, and Master Bai's expression changed from sunny to cloudy, with his little eyebrows raised, but before he could lose his temper, Mi Yang calmed him down.
Mi Yang patted him and coaxed him like an adult would coax a child: "Then I'll tell you a story. Will you fall asleep after listening to it? My grandma told me a story about a little horse crossing a river. It's so nice. Once upon a time, there was a big horse and a little horse..."
Bai Luochuan just wanted to listen to him talk to him, and he was satisfied with just a few words. He slowly closed his eyes next to Mi Yang. At night, the person who said he only ate one bowl of porridge ate two small bowls of porridge, and when he went to bed, he occupied most of the small bed. He fell asleep after listening to the story for a while.
When Mi Yang left the next morning, Bai Luochuan hadn't woken up yet, his belly was exposed, his cartoon pajamas were askew, and he was lying across the small bed, a typical sleeping posture of a little bully.
Mi Yang covered him with a thin blanket, washed up and went downstairs.
The nanny at home had already prepared breakfast. Grandpa Bai was reading a newspaper and talking to his son. When Mi Yang came down, he passed by the restaurant and greeted them, saying, "Grandpa, Uncle Bai, I've slept well. I'm going back to my home first." After thinking for a while, he said, "Wait for Bai Luochuan. Tell him that I'm going out with grandma in the morning and will come back to play with him in the afternoon."
Mr. Bai put down the newspaper in his hand and said with a smile: "Okay, go ahead."
Political Commissar Bai also treated him with a friendly expression and asked, "Would you like to stay for breakfast?"
Mi Yang shook his head, thinking that his grandma must have done his part at home.
While waiting for Mi Yang to leave, Madam Bai just happened to bring out a portion of freshly prepared side dishes. Seeing this, she asked, "Is Yang Yang gone? Oh, I even specially made his favorite vegetable and mushroom porridge."
Political Commissar Bai glanced at her, smiled and shook his head, saying, "You treat Yangyang as well as your own son."
Mrs. Bai said with a smile: "Of course, after all, I have watched him grow up since he was a child. I was thinking the other day, why not just adopt another godson? The more I look at this child, the more I like him!"
Political Commissar Bai shook his head and said, "Forget it. If Mi Zehai sees me now, I will try to avoid him. Why are you messing with his son? If this godparent accepts him, I think Mi Zehai will ask for a transfer this year."
Mrs. Bai asked, "What's wrong?"
Political Commissar Bai said succinctly, "He was promoted too quickly to avoid suspicion."
When he said this, Mr. Bai next to him snorted in disdain, and the sound of shaking the newspaper became louder. Political Commissar Bai explained in a low voice: "Dad, you also know that Mi Zehai is a very straightforward person. He is just like this. Didn't you like his integrity in the first place?"
Mr. Bai sneered and said, "Him? I just like his stupidity."
Political Commissar Bai carefully watched the old man's expression. Although he said so, he didn't look really angry, so he also breathed a sigh of relief.
On the other side, Mi Yang entered the house and had a hot breakfast.
Old Mrs. Cheng also made porridge, but it was white porridge. The old woman got up early and cooked it for more than an hour. The porridge was very thick, as if the rice grains had melted. It tasted refreshing. Paired with homemade side dishes, it was refreshing and appetizing. Drinking a bowl of porridge in the morning and having two fried dough sticks was the most comfortable thing.
After Old Mrs. Cheng came, she made a lot of pickled vegetables. This morning, she served a small dish of braised peanuts mixed with diced celery, and a dish of pickled cucumbers, which were specially made for Mi Yang. The cucumber strips were sweet and sour after being drained and dried, and they made a crunchy sound when chewed, and the slightly salty taste was just right with the porridge.
Mi Yang also had a small red bean paste bun, which was also a snack specially made by Old Lady Cheng. Mi Yang didn't like sweet food very much and preferred meat, so he broke off half of it and put it on Mi Zehai's side, smiling and saying, "Dad, you've worked hard in training, Dad, eat it!"
Mi Zehai was so touched that he didn't mind his son's leftovers at all. Cheng Qing, who was standing next to him, knew everything clearly and smiled without exposing his son. He just winked at him, indicating that he didn't have to eat the buns but had to finish the bowl of porridge.
Mi Yang completed this task very smoothly.
After waiting for their parents to go out for work, Old Lady Cheng also took Mi Yang out. The two of them walked slowly and in no hurry, talking and laughing as they walked, and they walked all the way to the store here.
There is still an idle sign at the door of the store, which has the name of xx Supply and Marketing Cooperative written on it, but now it has been changed to "Friendship Store".
Old Lady Cheng held Mi Yang's hand and walked in, showing him around. It was a two-story building, with clothes and the like sold on the second floor, and mostly small general merchandise on the first floor, probably with bulk sugar and tea. After they came in, they smelled a sweet scent with the fragrance of jasmine.
The two salesmen were standing at the counter chatting, and the two of them were watching slowly. Mi Yang was sensible and didn't want anything. The more so, the more Mrs. Cheng felt sorry for him. She kept asking him in a low voice: "Yang Yang, do you want this? You need it for school, right?"
Mi Yang shook his head and said with a smile: "Grandma, can you buy me some Tianzi grids? I heard from my mother that children use these to do their homework after going to school."
Old Mrs. Cheng took him to the stationery counter and bought him 50 Honda grid exercise books in one go, and a small handful of Zhonghua pencils, about 20 in total. Mi Yang held these and refused to let the old lady buy him more, "Grandma, these are enough, you see, I can write for a semester, and when I go home to see you during the winter vacation, you can buy me new ones."
Old Mrs. Cheng touched his little head and said with a smile, "Okay, listen to our Yangyang."
Although he said so, he still bought a Hero fountain pen for Mi Yang, saying: "You can use it when you practice calligraphy in the future. This is very good. Your mother used this when she was in school. It is an old brand for many years. After grandma passes away, Yangyang must study hard and learn all the characters that grandma taught you, ah."
Mi Yang nodded and agreed. Just hearing the old lady say she was leaving, he felt reluctant to let her go.
The old and the young walked outside for a while before returning home together.
There was a cold drink vendor on the roadside, and the old lady bought Mi Yang a cup of iced orange soda. Mi Yang drank half of it and gave the other half to the old lady. The old woman shook her head and said she had a toothache, and watched him finish the small cup with a smile.
Old Mrs. Cheng came to visit her relatives and stayed for nearly a month. After taking care of her daughter and grandson, she still couldn't bear to leave her family, so she bought a ticket and left.
Cheng Qing personally sent her to the train station. This time Mi Yang didn't need to be held. He stood on the small platform and waved goodbye to his grandma, watching the old lady slowly walking away through the glass window. He didn't let go of her little hand until she could no longer be seen.
Cheng Qing smiled and watched him get on the train. She turned around and burst into tears. She wiped her face with a handkerchief but her red eyes were still visible.
Mi Yang looked at her and said, "Mom, why are you crying? Are you reluctant to leave grandma?"
Cheng Qing said: "No, Mom is homesick."
She looked up at the train going away. The platform was empty except for two or three stalls selling cooked food and fruits. The voices were all in the local dialect. She had heard it for several years and although she could understand it, she still felt that she did not belong. The train was taking her family away, and the final destination was her hometown.
Mi Yang shook her hand and looked up at her: "This is also our home, my father and I are here."
"It's different." Cheng Qing held his son's hand and sighed, then smiled and said, "Why am I telling you this? You don't understand... When your dad is demobilized, we can go home."
Mi Yang recalled in his mind that his father did not retire so early. He served as a veteran in the army for more than 20 years, but he did not stay in the field military zone all the time. Later, he was transferred back to his hometown and did civilian work in the army. His mother gave the reason that he was studying, and it would be better for his biological father to come back to reunite their family.
If you calculate carefully, it is only about the first or second grade of elementary school.
I wonder if his father will follow the same path in this life.
Mi Yang followed Cheng Qing all the way back, looking carefully at the mountains from the car window. The conditions were a bit difficult, but there were also many happy times.
Thinking of this, the first face that comes to mind is that of Young Master Bai. Not the arrogant and willful guy when he grew up, but the little kid he watched grow up. Although he was also a little willful, the way he ran after him always made people want to poke him and bully him, and if they got angry, he would roll his eyes on the spot!
Mi Yang looked out the window and thought, he didn't know when they would separate in this life. If he really went back to Shanhai Town to study, would Bai Luochuan still be his classmate in junior high school? Back then, Master Bai was named the most handsome transfer student and received many love letters.
As I was thinking about all these things, I slowly arrived at the military compound.
There was a stack of grid-shaped exercise books on Mi Yang's small desk. He touched those books and made a decision in his mind.
In the past few years, when he was young, Mi Yang couldn't do anything too extraordinary, so he just spent his days playing leisurely, but he was an adult in his shell, and he couldn't continue to repeat the nine-year compulsory education with a bunch of little kids, so he thought about skipping a grade. Skipping grades in junior high school and high school was too conspicuous, and Mi Yang was always lazy, so he decided to start from elementary school and skip two grades first to give it a try.
Before elementary school started, he began to deliberately do some math problems in front of Cheng Qing and Mi Zehai, and he calculated very quickly, which made Mi Zehai and his wife very surprised and they felt that they had a little genius in their family.
Mi Yang thought that when he got to primary school, he would do two sets of papers beyond the syllabus and show them to the teacher, and the problem would be almost solved.
He had good intentions, but the reality was very cruel.
Nowadays, primary schools all rely on birthdays, especially those primary schools for children of military personnel located near military bases, which already have a shortage of teachers. When Cheng Qing took Mi Yang to register, the school saw Mi Yang's date of birth and refused to accept any students born in September or after September.
Cheng Qing could only take Mi Yang back, planning to let him go to primary school next year. She saw disappointment on her son's face, and knew that Mi Yang had done a lot of homework and was ready to go to primary school. She was afraid that the child would be hit, so she bought him a box of cream cakes on the way and coaxed him carefully.
Mi Yang was disappointed for a while, but he quickly recovered. It was not a bad idea to stay at home for another year. There were still a lot of books at home, and he would be free staying at home by himself. It would be much easier than pretending to be a child at school. Thinking of this, he quickly adjusted his mood and even smiled at Cheng Qing.
Cheng Qing saw this and felt even more distressed.
When elementary school started, Bai Luochuan lost his temper again, and this time the reason was also related to Mi Yang.
Bai Luochuan arrived very early on the day of registration. After looking around the classroom, he saw that Mi Yang did not come to study and did not say hello to his mother. He just put on his schoolbag and went home by himself.
When the guard went to pick up the child at noon, he waited for a long time but didn't see him. When he went in to ask, he found that he had already left. He was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat and went directly to find Mrs. Bai. Mrs. Bai was relatively calm. Her first reaction was to go to Mi Yang's house. Sure enough, her son was eating fruit and playing a small game console the size of a palm at Mi Yang's house.