In the first two years of his marriage, Jiang Qiaoxi worked hard at Morgan Stanley's Asia Pacific headquarters, working eighteen hours a day, often working all night. Especially during the six months when Lin Yingtao went to Portland to study for exams, he basically didn't take a day off.
Lin Yingtao passed the exam and returned to China. It was the summer of 2013. Lin Yingtao originally planned to get an AMI certificate to go to Hong Kong to find a job and accompany Jiang Qiaoxi. She thought that she could not find any decent Montessori kindergarten near the provincial capital that could give her a suitable position and salary. However, she did not expect that the domestic development was too fast.
In 2013, housing prices across the country skyrocketed, with an increase of more than 20%. Lin Yingtao went back to her alma mater, Beijing Normal University, to visit her teacher, who told her that just a few days ago, a large real estate developer from the provincial capital of Lin Yingtao’s hometown had cooperated with a domestic education group to open the first Montessori kindergarten in the provincial capital: “They came to us and asked if there were any students willing to go to the United States to take the AMI certificate. They would reimburse tens of thousands of tuition fees, but they would have to sign a five-year contract. If you have the certificate, call them now!”
Just like that, Lin Yingtao inexplicably became one of the first certified Montessori teachers in the provincial capital, with an annual salary of 180,000 yuan in the first year.
This matter was so unbelievable that even the other kindergarten found it miraculous that they could recruit a young teacher who graduated from a 985 university and held an AMI certificate in the provincial capital.
"This certificate is very expensive and difficult to obtain," the other party said during the interview. "What made you think of taking the exam?"
Lin Yingtao didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "It was my husband who suggested that I take the exam because my original salary was too low..."
The other party said: "You are only 23 years old and you are already married? Miss Lin, your husband is very far-sighted!"
Lin Yingtao said: "He went to Montessori School in Hong Kong."
She called Jiang Qiaoxi and told him that the kindergarten had a cooperation with the real estate developer: "I wonder if I can take this opportunity to ask for a discount... Uncle Cai came with my parents today to look at the apartment, and they all thought it was pretty good. Uncle Cai seemed to want to buy a house here, too."
Jiang Qiaoxi said: "Then buy it."
"Are you really buying it?" Lin Yingtao asked in a low voice.
Jiang Qiaoxi smiled helplessly: "What if the price goes up again and I can't afford it anymore?"
Lin Yingtao also laughed.
"Then let's buy it. Mom and Dad told me today that they have a fund that is about to expire and they can lend us 200,000 yuan, but I think our money should be enough," Lin Yingtao said, "The price is rising so fast now. The sales hall is full of people. What size should we buy?"
Jiang Qiaoxi said, "Cherry, I have something urgent to do. I'll call you this afternoon."
In the afternoon, Lin Yingtao was asking Huang Zhanjie on WeChat how to look at apartment layouts. Huang Zhanjie studied architecture in college. Huang Zhanjie said that he spent all his time writing novels in college and didn’t know anything except drawing CAD and making models. “You should ask Cai Fangyuan instead of asking me. He knows!”
Lin Yingtao suddenly received a text message from the Bank of China, saying that a sum of money had been remitted from the Bank of China in Hong Kong that morning and had just arrived in Lin Yingtao's personal account, totaling more than 700,000 RMB.
Lin Yingtao stared at the number for a long time. She called Jiang Qiaoxi, but Jiang Qiaoxi was probably still in a meeting and didn't answer.
At 11 o'clock in the evening, he called me. He must still be working. His voice sounded tired and a little hoarse. "Is the down payment enough?" he asked.
"It's definitely enough," Lin Yingtao said distressedly, "but isn't your money all in the fund?"
Jiang Qiaoxi said: "This is the money that was previously deposited with my cousin's wife. My cousin has no use for it, so we just save it in our own home." He thought for a moment and said: "Buy a bigger house!"
Lin Yingtao smiled: "How big do you want it to be?"
Jiang Qiaoxi smiled and said, "I will be able to go back after the renovation is completed."
Lin Yingtao felt very sad. Jiang Qiaoxi was too tired in Hong Kong every day and only had a little time to call her. Jiang Qiaoxi was the kind of person who would completely ignore the quality of life when living alone. He worked hard day and night, sometimes even risking his life.
For a while, Lin Yingtao hoped that Jiang Qiaoxi would stop working in the investment bank. But Cai Fangyuan said that "Morgan Stanley" was the lifelong dream of many elite students, and it was impossible for him to quit after only one year: "He should work for a few more years so that it would be convenient for him to change jobs later."
Jiang Qiaoxi needed to quickly accumulate wealth in a short period of time. Lin Yingtao understood that he didn't want to return to the provincial capital empty-handed because he left in such a mess and in such a hurry.
No matter how many words of heartache he said, it would only arouse the regret in Jiang Qiaoxi's heart: he didn't have time to accompany her, so he left her alone at home with all her thoughts.
So Lin Yingtao said nothing.
At the beginning of 2014, Jiang Qiaoxi called Yingtao and his parents-in-law from Hong Kong. First, he said that he had submitted his resignation, but the project he was working on had not been completed yet, so he might have to stay for a few more months. Second, he was very sorry that he could not go home for the New Year this year.
At the end of January, there was another change. Jiang Qiaoxi saw his name on Morgan Stanley's global employee promotion list.
In April, Jiang Qiaoxi finished the projects he was mainly responsible for and handed over the rest to colleagues at the same level. He submitted his resignation letter again, which had not worked before.
In June 2014, Jiang Qiaoxi returned to his hometown after a long absence. At this time, there were only four months left before the wedding date he and his wife Lin Yingtao had originally agreed on.
Hong Kong is a hot and humid city.
The provincial capital is dry, sometimes there is not a drop of rain for a month.
So when it rained that day, Jiang Qiaoxi was not prepared at all.
Yingtao told him on WeChat: "Last week the weather forecast said it was going to rain, but you didn't pay attention... I put an umbrella in your car, look for it in the storage box."
"Are you going to have a meeting with those guys in Beijing today?"
Jiang Qiaoxi was holding an umbrella and standing at the door of the Montessori International Kindergarten's parent reception desk. There were several other parents who had made reservations in advance. The teacher in charge said that he would take them to the kindergarten for a tour: "Everyone must keep quiet."
The kindergarten does not distinguish between large and small classes, but adopts mixed-age teaching.
Several parents were listening to the teacher's whispered introduction outside the corridor. Jiang Qiaoxi put away his umbrella, walked alone to the window of the "White Horse Class" and looked inside.
In the "White Horse Class", a dozen children aged three to six were sitting around three dining tables, each with a plate in front of them with eggs, meat, vegetables, and a small bowl of rice, as if they were ready to eat.
Jiang Qiaoxi saw Teacher Lin’s profile.
Teacher Lin wore a puff-sleeved shirt, a pair of wide-leg pants, and her hair was tied into a simple high ponytail. She stood by the table and gently led all the children in front of her to be grateful for the food.
“… Thank you to the uncles and aunts who prepared food for us, and thank you to the brothers and sisters who served us food. You have worked hard! Thank you!”
Lin Yingtao spoke softly and not too fast. A small group of children's voices surrounded her. She led them to say, "Then I'm going to start now!"
Jiang Qiaoxi went to meet several private equity fund managers from Beijing in the afternoon. Although Jiang Qiaoxi had worked at Morgan Stanley for two years, he was only 24 years old. The people in front of him were supposed to be his elders, and every word he said was meaningful. After the meeting, the other party invited him to have dinner together, but he politely declined. He drove back to the kindergarten. It was exactly five o'clock, and parents had already come to pick up their children one after another.
When Jiang Qiaoxi walked to the door of the "White Horse Class", the head teacher Lin Qile was no longer there. Only the teaching assistants and childcare workers were in the class reading picture books to a few children whose parents had not yet picked them up.
As soon as they saw Jiang Qiaoxi appearing tall outside the door, several children looked up at him one after another.
There was an older boy inside, probably about six years old, who stared at Jiang Qiaoxi's neat suit for a while and asked, "Are you here to pursue Teacher Lin too?"
Another girl, with naturally curly hair, hugged the younger child in her arms like an older sister. She raised her head and said loudly, "Teacher Lin is married! And Teacher Lin's husband is smart and handsome! You can't compare to him!"
Even the childcare worker and the teaching assistant looked up. Jiang Qiaoxi couldn't help but reach out his left hand and touch his face. He was wearing a wedding ring on his left ring finger.
"Excuse me, where is Lin Qile?" He lowered his head and asked the two adults.
The nursery teacher and the teaching assistant were also female college students who had just graduated. The nursery teacher raised her eyes and unconsciously stared at Jiang Qiaoxi's face for a long time. She blinked quickly and smiled at the teaching assistant beside her. She blushed and said, "Teacher Lin is really married!"
"I know," Jiang Qiaoxi nodded and smiled, "I want to ask where she went."
Teacher Lin Qile, the head teacher of the "White Horse Class", completed the day's teaching tasks. She sat in the office to record each child's work progress today, and then began to write tomorrow's work plan.
The office door was knocked open. Lin Qile looked up and stood up with a smile: "Are you Wang Yuelin's parents?"
Jiang Qiaoxi stood outside the office window, which was half open, and could hear Lin Qile's voice.
"Montessori education is mainly a mixed-age class," Lin Qile patiently told the two parents, "The older children will take the initiative to lead the younger children, and the younger children will unconsciously imitate the older children and observe how the older children work. This provides space for our children to grow themselves."
The kid's father suddenly asked, "Isn't it a bit like the old days... the kind of kindergarten we had in the oil field, where all the kids in the unit were together?"
“Yes, yes!” Lin Qile nodded in response. She continued, “My parents work for the power company. We also went to that kind of kindergarten when we were young. There were few children, so we were all in the same class. The children were like brothers and sisters—”
Before she finished her words, the phone on the table rang. Lin Qile picked it up and said, "Oh, yes, Xiao Jin is still reading picture books in class, and the teaching assistant is over there... Okay, you... come at 6:40? Then I'll go to the class later to check."
Lin Qile talked with the parents for a while, and the young couple felt relieved and thanked them repeatedly. Lin Qile waved goodbye to them. She lowered her head, took out her phone, opened WeChat, and typed a line quickly. She put down her phone and continued to write her work plan.
Jiang Qiaoxi stood outside the window and looked at Lin Qile's desk. It was clean and tidy, just like someone who had entered the workplace: a few books, a few folders, a pen holder, and green plants. He saw the photo frame on the desk.
In the photo frame is a family photo taken on the first day of the Lunar New Year last year of Jiang Qiaoxi, Lin Qile, and their father-in-law and mother-in-law.
He lowered his head and took a look at his phone.
Cherry: "What time do you go home after the meeting?"
Jiang Qiaoxi dialed a number and put the phone to his ear.
Lin Qile was writing down tomorrow's work plan. Without even looking up, he picked up the receiver of the landline phone on the table.
"Hello, I am Lin Qile, the bishop of the White Horse Class."
There was no sound from the other end, so Lin Qile asked, "Are you the parent of a student who is here to pick up his child?"
"Hello, Teacher Lin," Jiang Qiaoxi said, "My last name is Jiang, and I'm here to take our baby Cherry home."
After Lin Qile started working, he always spoke softly to people, being polite and a little courteous.
Jiang Qiaoxi suddenly thought, if he lost her, would he only be able to hear her calling his name in this tone
Lin Qile returned to the Baima class, squatted down, and said a few words to the little girl named Xiaojin. Xiaojin looked up at the teacher, with a picture book spread out on her knees. She opened her big eyes and nodded vigorously.
"He is my husband..." Lin Qile smiled and explained to the two young colleagues, "Yes... The wedding is coming up soon, and he has returned from Hong Kong... The invitations have just been printed, I will bring them to work tomorrow..."
The rain stopped, Jiang Qiaoxi held his wife's hand and walked with her to the parking lot on the street across from the kindergarten. Just as they crossed the street, Lin Yingtao suddenly reached out and hugged his waist, no longer looking like a "teacher", and Jiang Qiaoxi stopped by the roadside.
"Why did you come to pick me up? You didn't even tell me in advance!" Lin Yingtao jumped in his arms.
Jiang Qiaoxi lowered his eyes and looked at her.
It’s already the fourth day since I returned from Hong Kong.
"I wanted to come yesterday," he said, reaching out to smooth the hair around her ears, "who knew there would be so many things to do."
Lin Yingtao raised her eyes and looked at his face carefully again. She lowered her voice and said happily, "My colleagues said you are much more handsome than in the photo... They didn't recognize you!"
Jiang Qiaoxi listened, turned his head and glanced at the traffic light, seeming to be quite pleased.
Electrician Lin and his wife were busy cooking at home. When Lin Yingtao entered the house, she shouted, "Mom and Dad! We're back!"
Jiang Qiaoxi walked in to change his shoes. He looked up and saw "A Bite of China" being replayed on the TV in the living room.
Electrician Lin came out of the kitchen and said, "Qiao Xi, come here, take a look at this invitation. Do you want to send it to your former boss, colleagues, classmates, and teachers in Hong Kong?"
Mother Lin put the dishes on the plate and said to Lin Yingtao, "Your father has been writing invitations at home all day." Then she turned around and said, "Mr. Lin, they are coming from Hong Kong to attend the wedding. You have to reimburse them for the air tickets and hotel arrangements!"
Electrician Lin said in the living room: "The child's wedding is a very meaningful day! I just want to ask Qiaoxi, if there are any close friends, you should still invite them to witness the child's happiness together."
Jiang Qiaoxi took off his suit jacket, took the invitations written by his father-in-law and read them one by one, then looked at the list - it was full of names of uncles, aunts, uncles and grandmothers who had worked at the construction site in the mountains when Cherry was a child.
He smiled, looked up and saw his mother-in-law bringing the hot dishes over. He rolled up his shirt sleeves, stood up and took it: "Mom, give it to me."
The author has something to say: －－－－－－－－－
Notes to this chapter:
* A Bite of China: Directed by Chen Xiaoqing and produced by China Central Television, it is a food documentary. The first season premiered in 2012, and the second season started on April 18, 2014.