Lin Qile clearly felt that Jiang Qiaoxi was not in a good mood. For several days, Jiang Qiaoxi refused to smile at anyone and had a gloomy face from morning to night at school. When he came to Lin Qile's small room at night to do homework, he didn't talk to her much and was only immersed in his own Olympiad math problems.
He even put extra effort into writing and doing exercises. He would not erase his mistakes but would, contrary to his usual behavior, roughly crumple up the calculation paper and throw it aside.
Lin Qile sat next to him and could only watch him quietly and pick up the elf quietly to avoid being hit by his paper ball.
Cai Fangyuan said that he had never thought there was anything strange about Jiang Qiaoxi before.
"During this winter vacation, I ran into him at a cram school in the provincial capital," Cai Fangyuan told Lin Qile and others during the break between Saturday cram school classes while sitting on the school's heating duct. "He seemed like a different person in the provincial capital."
Lin Qile didn't understand and asked, "Has he become a different person?"
"Anyway..." Cai Fangyuan said bitterly, "When I first met him, I didn't dare to say hello! You know, he seemed to not recognize me!"
Lin Qile didn’t know why Cai Fangyuan had such an idea: they had been classmates for half a year, how could they not know each other.
"Today is March 4th!" Lin Qile opened the Saint Seiya in his hand, and several boys around him exclaimed "Wow!" Several bright red coins appeared in the comic book. "Tomorrow is Jiang Qiaoxi's birthday!" Lin Qile looked at them and said happily, "What should we buy him?"
Du Shang was very proud to have ten yuan in his pocket. "Is this your New Year's money?" Du Shang asked, "Cherry, are you going to spend it all?"
"No," Lin Qile shook her head. She took out a hundred-yuan note from the book and put it back into her pocket. She counted the remaining eight hundred yuan. "I want to spend these!"
Cai Fangyuan raised his squinting eyes and looked at Lin Qile, Du Shang and Yu Qiao with a very intriguing look. Eight hundred, even for Cai Fangyuan, this was too much.
Even though Cai Fangyuan knew that Lin Qile was always a hot-headed, self-acquainted fool.
Lin Qile said, "Each of you can give me some money and we'll pool our money to buy it for him, okay?"
"Okay," Yu Qiao heard it, and casually reached into his pocket, took out two steel balls, and threw them directly to Lin Qile, "What are you going to buy?"
Jiang Qiaoxi came out of the classroom. He couldn't find his exercise book no matter how hard he tried. He wondered if he had forgotten it at Lin Qile's house yesterday. The classroom was full of classmates, so Jiang Qiaoxi couldn't rashly search Lin Qile's desk and schoolbag.
He stood in the corridor and heard people around him laughing: "Look, look, Lin Yingtao from Class 1 is sick again—"
"Yu Qiao always provokes her, why doesn't he go and provoke Qin Yeyun?"
Jiang Qiaoxi recalled that last night, Lin Qile asked him to play house with her several times. Jiang Qiaoxi was busy doing his homework and was in a bad mood. He couldn't stand it anymore and said, "Can you be quiet for a while?"
After hearing that, Lin Qile kept silent. Even on the way to school today, she didn't bother him anymore.
Jiang Qiaoxi stood at the corridor, and he saw Lin Qile and Yu Qiao chasing and fighting fiercely on the playground outside. Yu Qiao was so tall, and in his hand was the Saint Seiya that Lin Qile had been cherishing for the past few days. No matter how hard Lin Qile chased him, he couldn't reach it.
Jiang Qiaoxi turned around and went back to the classroom to continue studying.
After school in the afternoon, only Cai Fangyuan and Jiang Qiaoxi walked together. Jiang Qiaoxi stood at the school gate with his schoolbag on his back, stunned for a moment, looked forward and backward, and realized that Lin Qile and the others had really disappeared long ago.
Cai Fangyuan said beside him: "She and Yu Qiao went to the Qunbai Building to buy that-" At this point, Cai Fangyuan paused, probably remembering someone's request, "They went to the Qunbai Building to play!"
Manager Jiang did not return to the construction site after get off work, so Jiang Qiaoxi had to eat alone at Uncle Lin's house.
Even Electrician Lin and his wife could clearly feel that Jiang Qiaoxi was in a bad mood recently.
As soon as Lin Qile and Yu Qiao got out of school, they took the bus to the Qunshan Department Store. The children were only ten years old, each one was bolder and more opinionated than the other. There was no place they dared not go, whether in the mountains or in the city, which only made the adults worry.
Jiang Qiaoxi finished his meal, picked up his schoolbag and prepared to leave: "Uncle and aunt, I'm going home first."
Electrician Lin said, "Qiaoxi, you're not staying to do your homework?"
Jiang Qiaoxi shook his head and pushed open the screen door.
It was already past eight o'clock in the evening when Lin Qile returned to the construction site in Qunshan. Team leader Yu drove to the Qunbai Building to pick them up. On the way, Yu Qiao was scolded by his father. Du Shang was beside him and was also trembling with fear.
Lin Qile held the small paper bag in his hand, looking out the window at the city at night, slightly lost in thought.
No one knows what she is thinking.
Jiang Qiaoxi was doing his homework under the desk lamp when he heard a knock on the door.
At the beginning, it was just the normal “dong dong dong”.
Then he asked loudly with a little trepidation: "Jiang Qiaoxi, are you home?"
Jiang Qiaoxi was still working on a problem. He thought, I'll finish this problem first. As he thought this, he involuntarily put down his pen and stood up.
The door opened and Lin Qile was standing outside.
At the construction site in the mountains at night, every light represents a family reunion.
"Jiang Qiaoxi, happy birthday," Lin Qile looked up at Jiang Qiaoxi's face and smiled sweetly, "We bought you a birthday present together!"
Jiang Qiaoxi might have been in a bad mood. He looked down at Lin Qile's face and unconsciously took a step back to let Lin Qile come into his house.
Not as crowded and cozy as Lin Qile's home, Jiang Qiaoxi's home is more like a man's simple bachelor apartment, with an extra small room for his child.
Lin Qile took out the paper bag in his hand.
It was a pure black paper bag that looked very high-end. There was a familiar logo printed on the bag. If Jiang Qiaoxi was not mistaken, he had just seen it a few days ago.
Lin Qile's eyes widened, and she looked happy and excited. Perhaps in Lin Qile's opinion, she was doing something extraordinary.
"Here," Lin Qile came over and put the small paper bag in Jiang Qiaoxi's hand, "Open it and take a look!"
Jiang Qiaoxi listened to Lin Qile's words and glanced down at the contents of the paper bag in his hand.
His face was very stiff for a moment. Jiang Qiaoxi pushed open the bedroom door, sat on the bed in front of Lin Qile, opened the paper bag, and took out the box inside.
A pure black watch lay inside.
Jiang Qiaoxi lowered his neck and calmly looked at the black strap, black dial, and black hands.
Jiang Qiaoxi raised his head and asked, "Who bought this?"
The expectation and nervousness on Lin Qile's face froze the moment he saw Jiang Qiaoxi's expression.
"I..." Lin Qile said, "We bought it together."
Jiang Qiaoxi just looked at Lin Qile like this, as if he had no interest in the box in his hand. Even though this was a very expensive watch in the watch counter of the Qunshan Department Store, it was the only American product, and it was exactly the pure black color that Lin Qile was looking for. The owner of the watch counter also told Lin Qile that only their counter had two in the entire Qunshan City, and they were of the highest quality. It would not be embarrassing to give it to the children from the provincial capital: "I just sold one a few days ago, and this is the only one left!"
Lin Qile had never been looked at like this by Jiang Qiaoxi before, and he was at a loss for a moment.
"Don't you like it?" Lin Qile asked, "I... I thought you would like it..."
Jiang Qiaoxi asked: "Why do you like it?"
Lin Qile said: "Don't you like black?"
Jiang Qiaoxi suddenly sneered.
Lin Qile said: "And you want to go to America—"
"Who told you I like black?" Jiang Qiaoxi said.
Lin Qile gradually bit his lips.
She didn't know what was happening to Jiang Qiaoxi now.
She only knew that she didn't like Jiang Qiaoxi talking to her like that.
Jiang Qiaoxi casually placed the watch box and the paper bag on the side of the bed and went into his small room alone.
Cai Fangyuan said at school today: "It feels like he has become a different person in the provincial capital."
“… When I see him, I don’t even dare to say hello!”
Lin Qile suddenly remembered these words and walked into Jiang Qiaoxi's room.
Jiang Qiaoxi didn't seem to care about the gift Lin Qile bought, even though it cost almost all of Lin Qile's New Year's money for the whole year. For a child of her age, this was sometimes the savings for the next year. Lin Qile, Yu Qiao, and Du Shang went to so many counters, picked and chose, and pooled their money together to buy this watch that suited their heart the most.
Lin Qile was not willing to give in, so she went to Jiang Qiaoxi.
Jiang Qiaoxi sat under the lamp and continued to work on his Olympiad math problems. He suddenly said, "I met Chen Minghao in the provincial capital."
Lin Qile was stunned. She was still thinking about how to tell Jiang Qiaoxi how good this watch was.
Jiang Qiaoxi raised his head and looked at Lin Qile's ignorant face, which was always carefree and innocent because of being too happy: "He doesn't remember who you are."
Lin Qile stood there, looking at Jiang Qiaoxi, quietly.
Jiang Qiaoxi looked down at his Mathematical Olympiad book and said, "I reminded him. He said, is it the little girl who wore a red plastic bead and thought it was amber?"
The room was very quiet.
Lin Qile left. Jiang Qiaoxi raised his head. He did not hear Lin Qile crying, nor did he see Lin Qile being angry, resentful, or even hating anyone.
Jiang Qiaoxi wanted to lower his head and continue writing on his topic, but he was unable to continue for a while.
What did he just say to her
Electrician Lin pushed open the screen door and saw Jiang Qiaoxi standing outside. He was stunned: "Didn't Cherry... go to give you a birthday present?"
Jiang Qiaoxi said: "She just left."
Electrician Lin smiled and said, "She didn't go home, so she must have gone to someone's house to play."
Jiang Qiaoxi said goodbye to Uncle Lin. For a moment, Jiang Qiaoxi thought that if Uncle Lin knew how he had just spoken to Lin Qile, he might never be so nice to him again.
Before reaching Yu Qiao's door, Jiang Qiaoxi heard Du Shang's voice.
"Cherry, look at me, look at me!" Duchamp said, and suddenly the crisp sound of bamboo clappers was heard.
"The bamboo clappers hit like this, we won't praise anything else! I'll praise it-"
Duchamp's imitation was very lifelike. Even though Jiang Qiaoxi had never watched this year's Spring Festival Gala, he had heard Guo Donglin's segment on the radio in the streets and alleys. He knew it was very funny.
He didn't go into Yu Qiao's house, but through the screen door, in the night, he saw Lin Qile sitting on the sofa, laughing and wiping tears.
Lin Qile could laugh happily even when she was crying. She had a black hairpin on her head, which she hadn't taken off yet. Yu Qiao's mother was also beside him, being amused by Du Shang. She peeled the roasted chestnuts in her hand and stuffed the peeled chestnuts into Lin Qile's palm, as if she was treating her own daughter.
It was past ten o'clock at night. Jiang Qiaoxi was studying at his desk when he heard a knock on the door in the living room.
Jiang Zheng opened the door from outside and said unexpectedly, "Cherry is here!"
Jiang Qiaoxi stood up subconsciously and left the desk.
Lin Qile was not here to look for Jiang Qiaoxi. She was holding a basket of hot jujube buns in her hand, and she looked up at Jiang Zheng and said, "Uncle Jiang, my mother asked me to come and give you this."
Jiang Qiaoxi saw through the crack of the bedroom door that the black hairpin on Lin Qile's hair had disappeared at some point.
Jiang Zheng said with a smile in the living room: "I just mentioned it to your father. I want some for breakfast with the driver tomorrow. Why did you take so much?"
Lin Qile smiled sweetly at him and said, "My mother steamed too much! I'll give you some more."
Jiang Qiaoxi felt strange: Why did Lin Qile recover so quickly, as if he had never heard any unpleasant or disappointing words.
"Jiang Qiaoxi," Manager Jiang called from the living room, "your classmate is here, and you didn't even come to see him off."
The two families lived next door to each other, so if there was anything they needed someone to deliver, Jiang Qiaoxi still opened the bedroom door. When Lin Qile saw him, except for a little redness in his eyes, Lin Qile showed no signs of abnormality. Jiang Qiaoxi walked over, opened the door, and sent Lin Qile home.
Today is clearly Saturday, but for the electric construction workers at the Qunshan construction site, the weekend is often meaningless.
It was past ten o'clock and everyone had turned off the lights early, after all, they had to go to work early the next morning.
Jiang Qiaoxi left the house and waited for Lin Qile to come out before closing the door.
"Cherries." Jiang Qiaoxi said.
Lin Qile, wearing a coral fleece jacket with a Mickey Mouse pattern, walked down the stairs.
"Jiang Qiaoxi," Lin Qile whispered. She walked up to him, neither humble nor arrogant. She lowered her head and found the amber from her collar and took it out. "Do you think... is this really made of plastic?"
She might as well have scolded him. Asking this made Jiang Qiaoxi even more embarrassed.
Seeing that Jiang Qiaoxi didn't say anything, Lin Qile lowered her head and looked at her "Cherry Amber" again, and said softly: "Actually, I think it's quite beautiful."
"Cherry," Jiang Qiaoxi said stiffly. He had never called her "Cherry" before. It was too intimate. "Thank you for the gift."
Lin Qile looked at him.
"I was just talking nonsense just now," said Jiang Qiaoxi.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Manager Jiang's home in the provincial capital headquarters was crowded with people of all sizes from the provincial power system. Among these people, one brought his son, Chen Minghao.
When Chen Minghao heard Jiang Qiaoxi mention the name "Lin Qile", he couldn't remember it for a while. Jiang Zheng said, "Lin Yingtao, the daughter of Lin Haifeng from the Qunshan construction site!"
Chen Minghao remembered and reminded his father: "It's the little girl who wore a red plastic bead and thought it was amber."
At this moment Jiang Qiaoxi said: "I don't know whether your amber is real or fake."
Lin Qile lowered her head and looked at her cherry amber.
"My aunt gave it to me," Lin Qile raised his head and said to Jiang Qiaoxi, smiling on his round cheeks, "Do you think it looks good?"
Jiang Qiaoxi nodded.
"Did you really meet Brother Chen Minghao?" Lin Qile asked.
Jiang Qiaoxi was stunned.
"You all live in the headquarters base compound, right?" Lin Qile said.
Jiang Qiaoxi said: "I saw him."
"Does he remember me?"
"He misses you a lot." Jiang Qiaoxi said.
Lin Qile said: "Then why didn't he call me?"
Jiang Qiaoxi said: "I'm too busy studying."
It was late at night. Lin Qile sat on the steps in front of her house, and Jiang Qiaoxi sat down beside her.
The two little kids were whispering, even quieter.
"Jiang Qiaoxi, don't you like black?"
"… "
"Then why is all your stuff black?"
"Because my brother likes black."
Maybe Lin Qile would ask, who is your brother
After all, everyone, almost everyone around Jiang Qiaoxi would mention the brother they had never met again and again.
Lin Qile asked, "What color do you like?"
Jiang Qiaoxi said: "I don't have a favorite color."
"Then think of one now." Lin Qile said.
"Red," he said without thinking, "I like red."