Jiang Qiaoxi transferred to Qunshan City on September 6, 1999. One day in late September, Lin Qile was walking on the street reading a comic book.
In the comics, when faced with the love letter handed over by the heroine Kotoko, the hero Naoki put on a sour face and rejected it in public: "I don't want it!"
Lin Qile turned the page and looked back. On the next page, all the classmates were laughing at Qinzi: Why did you do such a thing? You are overestimating yourself. You know he won't pay attention to you.
Cai Fangyuan was walking beside Lin Qile, and was talking to Yu Qiao, Du Shang, and Jiang Qiaoxi about the rumors about the end of the world in the millennium. He glanced at Lin Qile and found that Lin Qile was fascinated by a comic called "Mischievous Kiss".
"Naughty little darling?" Cai Fangyuan leaned forward and read the title of the book in a strange voice, "Lin Qile, what kind of pornographic comics are you reading?"
Lin Qile closed the comic book and went over to hit Cai Fangyuan on the head.
In fact, Lin Qile also thought that the heroine named Aihara Kotoko was stupid. Why did she confess to him when he obviously didn't like her
Lin Qile looked back and looked around:
Yu Qiao was holding a milk bag in his mouth and reading a sports newspaper while walking. He had always been uninterested in the war between Lin Qile and Cai Fangyuan, and he didn't care much about her either.
Not to mention Cai Fangyuan, who always said that Lin Qile was sick and mentally ill, and always fought with her and made her unhappy.
Now even Duchamp has been infected by Cai Fangyuan. Many times, Lin Qile heard Duchamp say things like "Lin Qile is a shrew", which was really annoying.
Only Jiang Qiaoxi heard Du Shang's words and did not agree. On the way to school, every time Lin Qile finished fighting with Cai Fangyuan, when she turned around, she would find Jiang Qiaoxi looking up at her, looking at her crooked braids, or her torn schoolbag, and looking at her panting face.
Is this a sign of concern for her? Lin Qile was not sure.
In math class, Lin Qile was no longer afraid to go to the blackboard to do exercises. She would quietly turn her head every time and look in the direction where Jiang Qiaoxi was sitting.
Yu Qiao and the others were talking nonsense in the back, grinning wickedly, waiting to see Lin Qile's joke. Only Jiang Qiaoxi occasionally raised his head and saw Lin Qile shaking her ponytail and looking at him pitifully.
The math teacher walked by. Jiang Qiaoyi sat looking at the sweet-scented osmanthus tree outside the window beside him, and wrote the transparent answer on the window with his finger.
If Lin Qile wanted to write a love letter to someone, she would be the only person.
As October approaches, people on the streets are filled with excitement and anticipation. The State Council has set a "National Day holiday" this year, which means that we will have a long holiday on National Day in the future.
Electric power construction workers are usually so busy with work that they don’t even have weekends. Except for the Chinese New Year, they only have a few days off throughout the year. Now they can finally take a break.
But Lin the electrician and his wife could not rest. They finally had a holiday, and everyone wanted to rest, but the project could not stop for a day. On the first day of the holiday, the construction site arranged for Lin the electrician to be on duty. Lin the electrician thought it was easy: workers are used to hard times, and when they have a holiday, they really don’t know what to do at home, so it’s better to be on duty.
Besides, my daughter won’t be lonely even if she is alone at home.
At 10 a.m. on October 1, Lin Qile, Yu Qiao, Du Shang, Cai Fangyuan, and Jiang Qiaoxi sat on the sofa in Lin Qile's home, staring in amazement at the live broadcast of the "Century Military Parade" on TV to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Yu Qiao stared at the air force fighters on the screen without blinking. Even Jiang Qiaoxi and Cai Fangyuan, who were more experienced, were amazed at the tanks and intercontinental missiles. Lin Qile sat on the side, not understanding what was being said, but afraid of being left behind, so he could only hold up his face and keep watching.
Dushan said to her: "Look, Cherry! This missile is so big!!"
Lin Qile really couldn't understand this excitement. Wow! What a big iron missile! It looks so scary! She took out her copy of "Mischievous Kiss" from the gap between the sofa cushions and opened it to continue reading.
The live broadcast of the military parade ended at noon, and Yu Qiao and the others went home to eat. When they left, Yu Qiao was still arguing with Cai Fangyuan about the models of the planes. Lin Qile went to feed the rabbits and waited for her parents to come back from get off work to cook for her and Jiang Qiaoxi.
In the afternoon, Yu Qiao and his friends came over again. Yu Qiao brought a basket of fried shrimp chips made by his mother, and Cai Fangyuan brought a big Want Want gift bag and several boxes of big rolls.
Duchamp had nothing in his hands. He ate shrimp chips, chewed big rolls, and drank Coke from Lin Yingtao's house. A group of nine-year-old elementary school students sat in a circle on bamboo mats on the ground. Each of them held a book in their hands, reading it while sitting or lying down.
Lin Qile's "Naughty Kiss", Duchamp's "White Horse Roaring in the West Wind", Yu Qiao's "Sports Weekly", Cai Fangyuan's "Popular Software", Jiang Qiaoxi's "Mathematical Olympiad Lectures"...
Duchamp put down the Jin Yong novel in his hand and suddenly suggested that everyone go to the city to play dance machine. Cai Fangyuan and Lin Qile were the first to reject him.
Cai Fangyuan complained about being tired. Lin Qile said that every time Dushan occupied the dance machine alone, dancing to the hot songs from the first to the last, not letting others play at all!
Jiang Qiaoxi worked out an answer on his calculation paper and was just filling it in his book when he heard Lin Qile say, "Why don't we go on another adventure? Let's go to the countryside to see the white geese!"
"What are you looking at?" Cai Fangyuan said incoherently while lying on the ground with his mouth full of fried shrimp chips. "The road is blocked! Don't waste time."
Duchamp also said, "How can we get there without a bridge?"
Jiang Qiaoxi pursed his lips when he saw Lin Qile.
"Hey Cherry," Duchamp said suddenly, "let's see the little white rabbit that Grandma Zhang gave you!"
"No." Lin Qile said, burying his head in the comic book.
Duchamp's eyebrows drooped: "Why?"
"My little rabbit is very introverted! He's afraid of strangers!" Lin Qile was furious. She felt that no one supported her big white goose journey at all.
Yu Qiao sneered from the side and lowered his head to read the sports newspaper: "I won't even read it even if you show it to me."
At night, after dinner, the group came again. Yu Qiao was ordered to bring a basket of fried crispy meat that his mother had just made to Lin Qile's house. Cai Fangyuan was supposed to be playing games at home, but he followed after smelling the crispy meat.
Lin Qile's parents were not at home that night. Du Shang looked through the tapes on Lin's father's bedside, looking for some music to listen to.
Yu Qiao sat on the sofa in the living room, holding the remote control and constantly changing channels. He said to Du Shang, "Uncle Lin has a Black Panther, let's put that on!"
Dushan didn't like to listen to Black Panther. He looked around and walked into Lin Qile's room: "Where is your hot tape?"
Lin Qile was also sitting on the ground, concentrating on studying "Mischievous Kiss".
Lin Qile raised her head and glanced at Du Shang. She thought for a moment and turned her head away.
Jiang Qiaoxi was still sitting beside her, working on his homework with his head down. He frowned, muttered to himself, and kept calculating some new numbers.
"What song do you want to hear?" she asked him.
Jiang Qiaoxi was working on a complicated geometry problem. It was too noisy outside, so it was relatively quiet inside Lin Qile's room. When Lin Qile asked the second time, Jiang Qiaoxi finally realized what was going on and looked up at her.
"What?"
"Ask what song you want to hear."
"All right," he said.
After saying this, he lowered his head and continued calculating.
Lin Qile blinked and asked him again: "Don't you have any favorite singers?"
Duchamp was standing next to the wardrobe, and he was looking over here curiously.
After transferring from the provincial capital to the construction site in Qunshan, Jiang Qiaoxi's daily life was filled with mathematical Olympiads and problem solving. He had never shown any special hobbies in front of others.
"Yes." Jiang Qiaoxi gently held the pencil in his hand and raised his head to say this.
"Who is it?" Lin Qile and Du Shang asked him in unison.
"Leonard Cohen."
Yu Qiao was watching the National Day military parade replay on TV outside, and was fascinated when he heard Lin Qile and Du Shang in the small room asking in a loud voice: "Who???"
The four of them sat in front of Jiang Qiaoxi and listened to him repeat the name: "Leonard Cohen."
Lin Qile and Yu Qiao looked at each other, then at Cai Fangyuan. Among their "Little Four", Cai Fangyuan had been to the most cities and was well-informed, but he also looked bewildered.
“I don’t know him.”
"I don't know him either."
The four of them shook their heads.
Jiang Qiaoxi couldn't finish the problem at hand for the time being. Jiang Qiaoxi also looked at the four of them.
"Actually, I don't really know him either." he said.
Lin Qile asked: "Then why do you like him?"
Jiang Qiaoxi said: "I have heard his songs at my cousin's house before."
Lin Qile asked Jiang Qiaoxi what songs this Lai had sung. Jiang Qiaoxi said something in English, and Lin Qile's eyes widened and he pursed his lips.
“Do all primary schools in the provincial capital have to teach English?” Lin Qile asked.
Jiang Qiaoxi said "hmm".
Du Shang lay on the big bed of Lin Qile's parents, closed his eyes, and listened to A-mei's songs playing on the tape recorder.
Thinking of you makes me happy, sang A-Mei Chang.
Like my mother's gentle singing, like my father's busy work all year round.
Electrician Lin worked overtime for a day and came back exhausted at around 9pm. Everyone on the construction site was on holiday, so he was the only one on duty, so naturally he was busy.
The bedroom door was ajar, probably because the children were still inside. Electrician Lin approached the door, and before he opened it, he heard Yu Qiao talking inside.
"Today..." Yu Qiao rested his elbows on his knees, sitting cross-legged, and spoke word by word, "I plan to become an air force pilot when I grow up."
Lin Qile was stunned: "Last time you said you were going to play basketball, and now you plan to be a pilot—"
"Did you watch the military parade carefully?" Yu Qiao said disdainfully to Lin Qile, "You only know how to read comics!"
Cai Fangyuan thought for a while and said, "When I grow up, I want to go to Taiwan."
Yu Qiao said: "You are going to retake Taiwan."
"What's going on?" Cai Fangyuan and Yu Qiao looked confused. He said softly, full of childish emotions, "My future lover is waiting for me."
"There was an earthquake in Taiwan two days ago." In comparison, Yu Qiao really seemed much more pragmatic. "Is your future lover okay?"
"I want to..." Dushan broke the last piece of senbei and ate half of it himself, "I want to be a doctor..."
Yu Qiao patted Du Shang on the back, snatched the other half of the senbei from his hand and stuffed it into his mouth: "The Air Force just happens to have a hospital!"
Du Shang and Lin Qile said, "Did you notice that Yu Qiao has been watching the military parade all day and has noticed something wrong?"
Mother Lin came back from Yu Qiao's house with a basket of sweaters after knitting. She pushed open the bedroom door and said, "Yu Qiao, your mother asked you to go home and help grandma set up the mosquito net again."
When Yu Qiao heard this, he stood up and was about to leave, and he didn't even take the sports newspaper from Lin Qile's house.
Du Shang and Cai Fangyuan also went home, saying goodbye to Uncle Lin and Aunt Lin before leaving. Lin Qile stood outside his house, saw them off, and watched Jiang Qiaoxi walk to the door of the next door with his Olympiad math book and a few unfinished calculation papers.
"Jiang Qiaoxi," Lin Qile suddenly called him, "what do you want to do when you grow up?"