Lin Yingtao and Jiang Qiaoxi went to her cousin's house for dinner on New Year's Eve. The cousin was allowed by the hospital to be discharged from the hospital in a wheelchair for a short period of time. He had not been home for New Year's Eve dinner for four years. The whole family gathered around him. The cousin hugged his child, and the baby could call dad. The cousin looked at the family and cried with happiness. Jiang Qiaoxi said, "You don't have to cry like this even if you are touched."
The cousin cried, "The place you live in is too small." Amid the laughter of his family, he reached out, held his wife's hand, and brought it to his lips to kiss it.
At the dinner table, Jiang Qiaoxi hugged Lin Yingtao in front of the whole family. He suddenly said to his uncle and aunt very seriously that his cousin would be discharged from the hospital soon, and this might be the last New Year that Jiang Qiaoxi would spend with the two elders.
My cousin's wife, who was sitting opposite me, was stunned.
My uncle smiled and nodded. My aunt said, "Oh, don't be so harsh. What if your family of three comes to Hong Kong to celebrate the New Year someday—"
The cousin teased the child and said, "Qiaoxi, you should leave room for maneuver when you speak."
Lin Yingtao sat aside, and she gradually understood what it meant from the looks her family gave her. She raised her head to look at Jiang Qiaoxi's profile while he held her in his arms.
My cousin's wife poured herself a glass of wine at the dinner table. It was Japanese sake, which looked like white wine. She picked it up and said to Jiang Qiaoxi that this was what she had with her uncle Jiang Zhengxue in the past: "Thank you, Qiaoxi, for helping our family over the years, especially for Ruocheng, who has been with my parents for so many years. Ruocheng can't drink, so today is the New Year, so I drank for him."
Lin Yingtao watched Jiang Qiaoxi stand up. Jiang Qiaoxi hurriedly asked his cousin's wife to stop drinking. Jiang Qiaoxi was not used to this. Why should his family members do this
Lin Yingtao received New Year red envelopes from her uncle and aunt. She saw Jiang Qiaoxi being called by her aunt to the baby's room. She didn't know what they were talking about, but she heard them speaking Cantonese. Her aunt stuffed a wooden box in front of Jiang Qiaoxi. Jiang Qiaoxi opened it and took a look, but refused to take it. Later, her cousin's wife came over and insisted that Jiang Qiaoxi accept it.
Lin Yingtao held a pot of daffodils and said goodbye to her family. Her cousin's wife gave her a small bag of candied lotus seeds and fried taro chips, which were placed in the bag that Jiang Qiaoxi was holding. Lin Yingtao was walking in Hong Kong on New Year's Eve. She asked Jiang Qiaoxi, "Are you not going to spend the New Year in Hong Kong next year?"
Jiang Qiaoxi put his arm around her waist and lowered his head to ask, "Don't you want to spend the New Year with Uncle Lin and the others?"
Lin Yingtao listened, she lowered her head, her ears red, and looked at the flowers in her arms.
When he was 17, Jiang Qiaoxi called Lin Yingtao late at night and said that he was about to turn 18 and he couldn't always go to his cousin's house because his cousin had his own family. Jiang Qiaoxi said, I want to be independent.
Although this night came more than four years late, Jiang Qiaoxi really seemed to be able to let go of all his burdens and start his life again.
Lin Yingtao placed the daffodils next to the pot of evergreen on the windowsill. Daffodils are beautiful and have a short blooming period, while evergreens are long-lasting, symbolizing auspiciousness, eternity, and peace.
Every autumn, small red fruits grow among the green leaves of the evergreen, bringing joy to the whole plant.
On the second day of the Chinese New Year, Lin Yingtao and Jiang Qiaoxi went to watch the fireworks over Victoria Harbor. Before leaving, Lin Yingtao told Cai Fangyuan and others about it in the WeChat group.
Cai Fangyuan knocked on her privately: "You haven't proposed yet?"
Lin Yingtao bit her lip in front of the phone screen. Suddenly, Jiang Qiaoxi closed the closet door and gave her a red sweater that he had just bought with Lin Qile yesterday.
"Change your clothes, and let's go early." He said, without any sign of anything unusual.
Lin Yingtao put on the earrings, she wore a red sweater, a white long skirt, and a pair of boots, and drove with Jiang Qiaoxi to the vicinity of Victoria Harbour. Du Shang said in the group that he wanted to take his girlfriend there before, but heard that there were too many people at the scene: "Why don't you book a hotel? It's just a little more expensive, Jiang Qiaoxi doesn't need this little money now."
Lin Yingtao turned to look at Jiang Qiaoxi. She thought, maybe Jiang Qiaoxi wanted some fun and the atmosphere of everyone celebrating the New Year together - coincidentally, Lin Yingtao also liked it this way.
The sunset glow could still be seen in the sky. Lin Yingtao was held by Jiang Qiaoxi's hand and walked forward in the increasing crowd. Jiang Qiaoxi stopped at an intersection and looked at the night sky across the Victoria Harbour. "That's where I work."
Lin Yingtao stood on tiptoe and saw the tallest building in Hong Kong, the International Commerce Centre, across the street.
There were so many people that Lin Yingtao heard many mainland tourists talking around her, speaking Dongbei dialect, Shanghainese, Minnan dialect... It was amazing. Lin Yingtao hugged Jiang Qiaoxi's waist and waited in the bustle. She had never been afraid of crowds since she was a child. She looked up at Jiang Qiaoxi's face, wrinkled her nose, stood on tiptoe to touch his lips, and kissed him playfully.
Lin Yingtao has this kind of personality. The happier the people around her are, the more excited she becomes.
She looked at Jiang Qiaoxi. She knew that Jiang Qiaoxi had never liked being in a crowd since he was a child. Maybe he did that for her.
When the fireworks started, Lin Yingtao felt that the crowd around her was like boiling water. Screams appeared. She turned around and looked around in Jiang Qiaoxi's arms with her eyes wide open. She also began to jump excitedly. The crowds, the heat, and the pain in her calves were all forgotten by Lin Yingtao. The fireworks "bang" and "bang" rose into the sky, and then suddenly exploded. Rows of them continued to shine like diamonds at the zenith.
The stars only burn for the most beautiful moment, then they dim and scatter on the sea.
Lin Yingtao looked at it for a while, and the reflections of the fireworks appeared in her big eyes, as if fireflies were scattered everywhere.
The little boy with the schoolbag on his back disappeared from her sight.
Lin Yingtao raised her head and looked at Jiang Qiaoxi amid the noise of tourists and fireworks.
Jiang Qiaoxi also looked down at her.
Fireworks rose from behind him, illuminating his young shoulders and his short hair blown by the wind. The brief, fleeting light instantly illuminated Jiang Qiaoxi's face.
"Cherry," Jiang Qiaoxi looked at her, "Marry me, please."
Lin Yingtao opened her lips, and tears welled up in an instant.
The group waited for a long time, but Lin Yingtao didn't take a single photo. The fireworks lasted for more than 20 minutes. Tourists were holding up their phones and cameras to take photos, screaming excitedly, and cheering for the fireworks and wishing a happy new year. However, Lin Yingtao was crying loudly in Jiang Qiaoxi's arms. Jiang Qiaoxi hugged her and covered her head in his coat. Jiang Qiaoxi raised his eyes and saw the fireworks. Many people around were startled by Lin Yingtao's loud crying and turned back to look at the young couple. The cheerful New Year songs were still playing. I don't know why the girl cried like this.
Lin Yingtao's eyes were red, and her face was full of tears. She was sitting on the bus, sobbing from time to time. Jiang Qiaoxi reached out from the side and wiped the tears from her face. Lin Yingtao looked out the window, leaned in his arms, and let him hold her. They returned to their residence together, holding hands, and went upstairs together.
Lin Yingtao and Jiang Qiaoxi took a bath together. The bathroom was very small, and the two of them squeezed together under the small light bulb. Lin Yingtao lowered her wet eyelashes and hugged Jiang Qiaoxi's waist. Jiang Qiaoxi reached out and rubbed the foam on her hair, and then smeared the foam on Lin Yingtao's cheek.
Lin Yingtao put on her pajamas, wiped her hair, opened the quilt and sat on the bed. After returning from Victoria Harbour, she had not said a word to Jiang Qiaoxi. She didn't know what to say. She only knew that she was eager to hug him, hold him tightly, kiss him or do something else.
Jiang Qiaoxi was only wearing pajamas, his upper body was naked, and there was a concave curve on his back. He opened the closet door, reached into the pocket of the suit he wore to work every day, and took out a small black velvet box.
Lin Yingtao sat in the gentle light at the head of the bed. She was dazed as she watched Jiang Qiaoxi sit down beside the bed.
He opened the small box, and a pair of rings reflected the light inside. Lin Yingtao lowered her head and stared at them for a long time.
"Lin Qile." Jiang Qiaoxi suddenly called her.
"Ah?" Lin Yingtao choked.
Seeing her like this, Jiang Qiaoxi seemed about to cry again.
He reached out and gently pinched her face.
He put the ring box in Lin Yingtao's hand. Lin Yingtao raised her eyes and saw Jiang Qiaoxi walked back to the door, took the schoolbag, and took out a wallet from it.
He sat back in front of her, pulled out a HSBC card from his wallet, and stuffed it under the ring box and into Lin Yingtao's palm.
Lin Yingtao raised her eyes, pursed her lips, puffed up her cheeks and smiled. There were still tears in her eyes, and she held the thing in her hand tightly.
Jiang Qiaoxi probably saw that she finally smiled, so he also smiled.
Lin Yingtao lay in his arms and whispered in his ear, "I am Jiang Qiaoxi's wife..." Her voice sounded like crying and laughing.
The wooden box that the aunt gave to Jiang Qiaoxi contained a pair of old dragon and phoenix bracelets, weighing six taels. This was the aunt's dowry. She gave it to her cousin's wife, who kept it at her parents' home. She found it just before the New Year and brought it back.
"This..." Lin Yingtao was stunned, "What is this..."
Jiang Qiaoxi took Lin Yingtao's wrist, took one and put it on to try.
Lin Yingtao's wrists are thin, so she doesn't look ugly with the card. It just seems that this girl is covered in jewels and will be loved by her in-laws after she gets married.
Jiang Qiaoxi looked at Lin Yingtao and said, "Just think of my cousin as your mother-in-law."
"This is so valuable," Lin Yingtao said fearfully. She had never touched gold in her life. "Let's go and return it to my cousin's wife."
Jiang Qiaoxi said helplessly: "Do you know how long I have been pushing it, and my cousin's wife still wants to give me three pigs-"
Lin Yingtao was stunned.
Jiang Qiaoxi lowered his eyes: "I really don't want them, so I just took this pair. Take it."
After the New Year, Jiang Qiaoxi went back to work. He said he would be back for dinner, but something happened and he was busy until after 2 a.m. When he got home, Lin Yingtao woke up, got out of bed and poured him a glass of water. After he drank two sips, Jiang Qiaoxi hugged her, kissed her a few times, opened her collar and fell asleep.
He slept for less than two hours, and before dawn outside the window, he suddenly woke up.
Cherry will be gone in two days. Jiang Qiaoxi turned around and looked down at Cherry for a while. Cherry was sleeping facing him, her hand curled up beside the pillow, with a ring on her middle finger.
Jiang Qiaoxi lowered his head and unbuttoned the bottom few buttons of his shirt. He took off his shirt, lifted the quilt and pressed on her.
Lin Yingtao was awakened by the tossing and turning. She was dazed, her wrists were tied by the tie and hung on the headboard. Lin Yingtao opened her eyes, the tie was untied, she reached out and hugged Jiang Qiaoxi's head on her chest.
"Aren't you sleepy?" she asked softly.
Jiang Qiaoxi had been busy all day, working non-stop for nearly twenty hours. After a short break, he began to ask for the compensation he really wanted.
Lin Yingtao felt very distressed.
Is it really necessary to work so hard to start a family and build a career
She lay down, holding his face. Lin Yingtao suddenly remembered what a junior once said: Jiang Qiaoxi took a nap after taking the winter camp exam, and the first thing he did when he woke up was to ask Lin Yingtao to pick him up at the station.
At dawn, Lin Yingtao lay in Jiang Qiaoxi's arms and gently stroked his head with her hand.
Jiang Qiaoxi was hugging her and resting his eyes, but suddenly he raised his eyes.
The quilt slid off Lin Yingtao's shoulders, and she said, "Will it be effective if we touch the math genius like a baby?"
In the second semester of her senior year, Lin Yingtao went for interviews at two kindergartens.
She went to her aunt's house one weekend and seriously discussed with her about borrowing some money for tuition.
"After I pass this exam, I can get a higher salary," Lin Yingtao said to her aunt. "Otherwise, when I get married, I will have to rely on my husband to make money. He will be under too much pressure, and our family will have a hard time."
The eldest aunt laughed: "I'm beginning to feel sorry for my husband. Do you have a husband?" Then she asked: "What kind of certificate do you have? How much salary can you get?"
Lin Yingtao thought for a moment and said, "It can be five to ten times higher."
The eldest aunt was stunned: "It's so much higher?"
"Yes!" Lin Yingtao nodded immediately. She took the teacup handed to her by her cousin. "I will graduate this summer and go to the United States in the fall to study for nine months. I will finish my studies next summer. When I come back, I will work hard to make money and pay back my aunt. Aunt, please don't tell my dad. I don't want to spend the little money he and my mom have saved."
The eldest aunt smiled and stroked the hair by her little niece Cherry's ear with her hand wearing a jade bracelet.
"Go to America to study for a certificate," she muttered, "where are you going to study?"
Lin Yingtao said: "Portland and San Francisco are ten hours away by car."
"Where is that?" asked the aunt.
Lin Yingtao answered before her cousin could: "San Francisco is very close to Berkeley. Aunt, do you know the University of California, Berkeley?"
The eldest aunt said, “I don’t know.”
Lin Yingtao pursed her lips for a while, and then she said, "Anyway, it's a very good school. I plan to visit it by the way."
Lin Yingtao asked for leave soon after the school started. March 4th was a Sunday. She bought a ticket from Beijing to the provincial capital and brought two Montessori books to read on the plane. When she arrived at the provincial capital airport, Lin Yingtao sat in Starbucks and drank frappuccino and listened to music with headphones.
She checked her phone from time to time and sent WeChat messages to make sure her parents were at home—they didn't know that Lin Yingtao had returned to the provincial capital. At 4:20 in the afternoon, Lin Yingtao stood up, put on her schoolbag, packed a new cup of American coffee, and pushed the door open to go out.
There were quite a few people in the airport reception hall. The flight from Hong Kong was delayed by 20 minutes. Lin Yingtao stood there, quietly in the crowd. She felt that she was different from everyone here. She was about to marry her favorite person, and it was still a secret.
Jiang Qiaoxi came towards her, exhausted, carrying a travel bag.