After Lin Yingtao finished her meal, she leaned on the sofa and rested her head on her mother's knees.
Mother Lin reached out and touched her daughter's head. Her palm felt warm, a feeling that only parents have. She stroked her daughter's forehead and heard Lin Yingtao whispering coquettishly, "Mom, I'm so tired..."
The only children of the 1990s generation have been labeled "spoiled" since childhood. In the first two years after entering the workplace, they still couldn't help complaining to their mothers.
"Is everything okay in the garden?" asked Mom.
Lin Yingtao sat up, moved closer to her mother, and observed the reading glasses on her mother's nose: "Mom, come with us to have your eyes checked this weekend."
Mother Lin frowned: "No need! Just put on your reading glasses."
The light in the master bedroom was on. Jiang Qiaoxi chatted with his father-in-law for a while and came out with a few new invitations. He wanted to invite very few people, unlike Lin Electrician's family, a state-owned power company. In such a large company, everyone was an old acquaintance. When someone's child got married, everyone would give money. Lin Electrician was also a well-known good man.
Jiang Qiaoxi put all the invitations together and put on his suit jacket. He said to his mother-in-law, "I'm going to go with Yingtao for a checkup this weekend. Let's go see Mom together."
"Physical examination?" Mother Lin looked up at Qiaoxi and suddenly realized something. She turned to her daughter and said, "You should go!"
Lin Yingtao and Jiang Qiaoxi went downstairs together. She was holding the invitations to Uncle Yu's family, while Jiang Qiaoxi was holding the tea and rapeseed oil that his parents were going to bring to the Yu family. These were sent by Yingtao's uncle Wang who was doing business in Qingdao some time ago. Electrician Lin said that he couldn't finish the food, so he gave one bag to Yingtao and Qiaoxi to take back to their home, and the other bag to his old brother, squad leader Yu.
There are many people walking in the provincial capital headquarters area at night.
"Cherry!" Uncle and aunt called out enthusiastically when they saw the two of them, "Is this Qiaoxi? You're back from Hong Kong!"
Two years ago, rumors began to circulate in the headquarters community that Lin Yingtao, the daughter of Lin Haifeng, and Jiang Qiaoxi, the son of Jiang Zheng, the former second-in-command of the headquarters, had registered their marriage at the age of 22.
Many people don't believe it.
Soon, Lin Yingtao went abroad and returned to China 13 years later. Various rumors were spread to different families: Lin Yingtao came back from the United States, a kindergarten teacher, and found a good job with a monthly salary of over 10,000 yuan. She was beautiful, had a good personality, and knew everyone well. For a while, people wanted to introduce her to someone. As a result, Lin the Electrician said that his daughter was really married, and really married the son of the Jiang family, Jiang Qiaoxi. Some people still didn't believe it. That summer, Lin Gong's family went to see a house with Cai Yue, Manager Cai. Manager Cai hadn't bought it yet, but Lin Gong's family paid the down payment.
Manager Cai didn't hide anything at all: "Jiang Qiaoxi has been very promising since he was young! He graduated from the University of Hong Kong. Fang Yuan said that he now works in a large investment bank in Hong Kong with an annual salary of one million! The residential complex that Engineer Lin and I looked at is near the kindergarten where Yingtao works. It's a bit expensive, but it will be very convenient for work in the future! Look at what Engineer Lin, the father-in-law, does. He doesn't have to pay a penny for the down payment! The son-in-law loves his daughter very much!"
Lin Yingtao, this little girl, has been loved by everyone since she was a child. Jiang Qiaoxi, the legendary male protagonist of the early love story at the construction site in the mountains, also seems to really love her.
The two of them were holding hands as they walked, with wedding rings on their hands. They could be vaguely seen under the light of the street lamp.
"Cherry, when is the wedding?"
"Will Qiaoxi leave again after coming back this time?"
"I was taking a walk just now and heard the guard say that a Mercedes-Benz drove in. I thought it must be Cherry coming back to visit her parents!"
Lin Yingtao met many people along the way, and she introduced them to Jiang Qiaoxi. Jiang Qiaoxi listened and greeted the elders. Everyone praised him as a handsome man, and Yingtao, a perfect match.
The impression of Jiang Qiaoxi in Power Construction people is often not a real person.
While other children were talking and laughing, Jiang Qiaoxi was wearing a school uniform and a black jacket in winter. He looked pale, went out early and came back late, sitting in his father's luxury car to participate in a math competition.
He "had an older brother who died young" and he himself was also a "top mathematical genius". He could have been "admitted to Tsinghua University", but he was "selfish, ungrateful, and broke up a family."
For many years, young children in the community grew up listening to the legend of "Brother Jiang Qiaoxi". Of course, the adults only dared to tell the first half and completely skipped the second half.
"This child is very strange and hard to control," some people also said privately, "The little girl from the Lin family may not be able to control him."
The person who opened the door was Yu Jin, he was seventeen years old and in his second year of high school. He had obviously grown taller, although he was still thin and slim.
"Sister Cherry is here!" He turned around and shouted into the house, and was stunned when he saw Jiang Qiaoxi in a suit and tie behind Lin Cherry.
Mother Yu came out of the house: "Why is Yingtao here? Qiaoxi is here too. Hey, he looks so familiar. What are you talking about? We haven't seen each other for so many years!" She patted the back of Yu Jin's head and said, "Call Qiaoxi brother."
Yu Jin had no memory of ever meeting Jiang Qiaoxi at the construction site in the mountains when he was a child.
Squad leader Yu was eating fried peanuts at the table, drinking and chatting with driver Shao from the small car squad. He called out from afar, "Girl! Here you are!"
Lin Yingtao changed into slippers and happily pulled Jiang Qiaoxi over. She pulled out a chair and sat next to Uncle Yu. She squeezed the wedding invitation in her hand and asked quietly, "Uncle Yu, are you and Auntie free on National Day?"
Squad Leader Yu glanced at her with his drunken eyes, picked up the wine glass and took a sip: "What do you want to do?"
Lin Yingtao smiled and said, "Would you like to come to my wedding with Jiang Qiaoxi?"
"I'm telling you, Xiao Shao, I'm getting less and less interested in going to this wedding," Squad Leader Yu frowned, turned to Driver Shao and said disdainfully, "What are you doing? The noise, the speakers, oh, I'm getting annoyed just sitting there. I'm telling you, I don't even want to go to Yu Qiao's wedding!"
Driver Shao was laughing beside him.
Lin Yingtao frowned and looked at him unhappily.
"But!" Squad Leader Yu changed the subject and said righteously, "Our daughter is getting married! Right?! As uncles, we must show our support!"
Driver Shao said, "Brother Yu, if you don't agree, Yingtao will give me the invitation."
Lin Yingtao was laughing nearby, when the key turned the door to the living room and it opened from the outside.
The sound of a suitcase sliding on the floor, someone walked in and asked impatiently: "Mom! Is there any food?"
Mother Yu ran out of the house and exclaimed in surprise: "Son!"
Lin Yingtao turned her head at the table and saw that Yu Qiao, the frequent flyer, had returned today.
Squad Leader Yu lit a cigarette and put down the lighter: "Yu Qiao! Look who's here!"
Yu Qiao put the box by the door and took off his pilot's jacket. He wore a light blue uniform shirt, a tie, and three-bar epaulettes on his shoulders. He saw Lin Yingtao and Jiang Qiaoxi sitting at the dining table, and the red invitation on the table. He said in surprise, "Wow!"
Lin Yingtao chatted with the two uncles about the wedding preparations and her work. She said she didn't know Uncle Shao was here, otherwise she would have brought the invitations to Uncle Shao and Aunt Xie: "The baby's name is written on it!"
Driver Shao smiled and said, "You're not a baby anymore. Your brother is already seven years old!"
Lin Yingtao was stunned for a moment, but soon she started laughing again, feeling at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
"Oh yeah, I forgot... the baby was born in 2007! He's seven years old!"
Squad Leader Yu held the cigarette in his mouth, took a sip, and looked at Lin Yingtao while exhaling the smoke. He smiled and said, "Time flies, doesn't it, Yingtao?"
Lin Yingtao felt mixed emotions and nodded: "Yeah!"
Squad Leader Yu said: "Soon, your generation will understand how we felt when we watched you grow up."
Yu Qiao was eating a bowl of stir-fried noodles made by his mother. He and Jiang Qiaoxi were sitting in front of the TV watching the sports channel, which was showing highlights of the goals from the group stage of the Brazil World Cup last Friday.
Cousin Yu Jin was on the phone in his room when he suddenly ran out: "Brother! Brother! My classmate insisted that there are Winter Soldier and Falcon in the Avengers. Do you think they are true?"
He still asked Yu Qiao about everything, as if Yu Qiao was the standard for all correct answers in the world.
Yu Qiao was watching Messi score a goal and said, "Can't you check it online yourself?"
Yu Jin was stunned. A classmate was arguing with him on his phone: "Yu Jin, what did your brother say?"
Brother Qiaoxi, who had taken off his suit and was sitting next to his brother, looked back at him and mouthed, "No."
Yu Jin ran back with his cell phone.
Mother Yu was busy in the kitchen. When she saw her son bringing back the bowl of noodles, she asked, "Is it delicious?"
"It's OK," Yu Qiao said, "It's better than airplane food anyway."
Mother Yu smiled and said, "Not bad! I picked you!"
Yu Qiao came out with a smile. He walked in front of Jiang Qiaoxi and gave him a look.
Jiang Qiaoxi stood up and walked into Yu Qiao's bedroom.
From elementary school to high school, we have been classmates for so many years and even sat at the same table for two years.
But the two of them were not really familiar with each other.
Even though the bedroom door was closed, Lin Yingtao could still be heard discussing the education of her 7-year-old child with driver Shao outside.
The little girl who used to only know how to cry now knows so much.
"I haven't prepared any wedding gifts for you." Yu Qiao looked up at Jiang Qiaoxi. He turned back, rummaged through his clean desk, and opened the drawer.
Jiang Qiaoxi looked at the head of Yu Qiao's bed, where various airplane models were placed.
There’s also an action figure of O’Neal.
Yu Qiao took out a small square thing, with a mirrored surface and faded stickers on it: "This thing has no earphones, just ordinary earphones. You can get one for yourself and go back and listen."
Jiang Qiaoxi accepted the "wedding gift" given to him by Yu Qiao.
It turned out to be the mp3 that Lin Yingtao listened to when she was in high school.
Yu Qiao's family was large, and there was only a partition between his bedroom and his cousin Yu Jin's. He and Jiang Qiaoxi, two men over 1.8 meters tall, stood in such a small space, and the air seemed oppressive because of the silence.
"I forgot whether it was the day you left or when you graduated that she left this thing here," Yu Qiao looked at Jiang Qiaoxi and confessed, "Although we grew up with her, now that you're married to her, she won't come to us and cry casually, no matter what happens between you two."
Jiang Qiaoxi looked at him: "What else could happen?"
Yu Qiao always maintained a very unreal friendly expression in front of him. "How should I know?" Yu Qiao said with a smile.
Jiang Qiaoxi suddenly felt that Yu Qiao was the person who disliked him the most.
This is why it is always difficult for the two of them to become true friends.
Jiang Qiaoxi said: "Yu Qiao, do you really want to beat me up?"
Yu Qiao didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Why would I beat you up?"
Jiang Qiaoxi said: "I don't know either."
Yu Qiao looked at him: "You know."
Lin Yingtao told Uncle Yu and driver Shao outside that kids nowadays are very fashionable: "I accompanied the kids in my class last week and they insisted that I play 'Little Apple'. I had never heard of it at that time. What kind of song is this!"
Uncle Yu said she was too out of date: "I know everything! Your aunt and her friends go to the front of the car class to do square dance, and they play that all day long!"
Jiang Qiaoxi stood in Yu Qiao's bedroom, playing with the MP3 player his wife used to listen to when she was a teenager. He heard Yu Qiao answering a phone call on the balcony.
"At home," Yu Qiao said directly and briefly, "someone is coming to visit... my sister and my brother-in-law... they will fly to Kunming tomorrow, we'll talk then."
Jiang Qiaoxi thought, maybe he really was such an unqualified husband.
He always thought he understood, but neither Xin Tingting nor Yu Qiao were really satisfied with him.
Mother Yu fried shrimp chips and crispy meat and brought them over, which smelled delicious. Lin Yingtao ate the shrimp chips with a crunchy sound, and took a large piece and gave it to Jiang Qiaoxi who was beside her. A group of them sat together, and Grandma Yu fell asleep and did not come out. Yu Qiao sat opposite his father, eating crispy meat with pepper and salt, and talked about the missing Malaysia Airlines plane in March.
Driver Shao asked Yu Qiao how much money he could earn per month now.
"More than 20,000 points." Yu Qiao said.
Driver Shao said to Team Leader Yu with emotion: "These kids are so good at making money nowadays!"
Squad Leader Yu was smoking opposite, looking at his grown-up son, then at Jiang Qiaoxi and Yingtao next to him.
"Over the past decade or so, prices have risen," he said softly, "but the wages of power workers remain the same as before."
Mother Yu said from the side: "Forget it, it's not as good as before. The benefits were so good before, and we gave out everything during the holidays. What do you think we give out now?"
Lin Yingtao listened and lowered her eyes. She glanced at Jiang Qiaoxi and then at Yu Qiao.
Squad Leader Yu took a puff of cigarette in silence and said, "Things have changed... Times have changed..."
Mother Yu said: "Luckily, our children are all promising! Yingtao studied such a disadvantageous major, but now she has a good future!"
Squad Leader Yu suddenly said to Yu Qiao, "Son, it's a good thing you didn't listen to me."
Yu Qiao was sitting opposite me. When he heard Laozi's heartfelt words, he suddenly laughed.
Squad Leader Yu narrowed his eyes and said to him, "You look good in this uniform! Really good looking!"
Driver Shao asked: "Brother Yu, what did you want Yu Qiao to do in the first place?"
Mother Yu smiled and said to Lin Yingtao: "You want Yu Qiao to go to the Electric Power University, but our Yu Qiao won't do that! Our Yu Qiao has his own ideals!"
Squad Leader Yu suggested, "Cherry, on your wedding day, ask Yu Qiao to be your best man! Just wear his clothes!"
After hearing this, Jiang Qiaoxi raised his eyes, and Yu Qiao happened to look at him as well.
They both laughed suddenly.
Yu Qiao said to Lin Yingtao: "Let me drive for you. Don't we have a fleet of cars?"
"Navigator!" Lin Yingtao said to him.
"Yes!" Yu Qiao said, "Be a navigator."
Lin Yingtao said disdainfully, "Navigator is a car name!"
Yu Qiao retorted: "That's wrong!"
Lin Yingtao and Yu Qiao said that the kindergarten where she works now is really amazing. The parents who come to pick up their children after get off work all drive luxury cars.
“Why are there so many rich people now?”
Squad Leader Yu rubbed her head and said, "Family happiness is the most important thing."
Lin Yingtao smiled in his big palm.
When Lin Yingtao and Jiang Qiaoxi were about to leave, Team Leader Yu insisted that they take a box of pheasant eggs, saying that they were sent by his former subordinates from another construction site. Lin Yingtao waved her hand and said that she would not go back to her parents' house: "They must be asleep, Jiang Qiaoxi and I will go directly back to our little home."
"I want you to mention your small family," said Mother Yu. She raised her head and looked at Jiang Qiaoxi and then at Lin Yingtao with a smile. "From now on, when I say your family, I mean the small family of you and your husband. Do you understand?"
Lin Yingtao took the pheasant eggs that her aunt gave her: "Thank you, auntie... Thank you, Uncle Yu!!"
Yu Jin shouted loudly in the house: "Grandma! Sister Yingtao and Brother Qiaoxi are here!"
Lin Yingtao turned around and said hurriedly, "No need to wake up Grandma Yu!"
Who would have thought that Grandma Yu would come out of the house tremblingly. "Is Yingtao here?" she asked. She was helped to Lin Yingtao and looked at her for a while: "Yingtao!"
"Hey, Grandma Yu!" Lin Yingtao called out hurriedly, "Why are you awake?"
Grandma Yu narrowed her eyes and asked, "What did you say?"
Lin Yingtao was standing outside the door, and Aunt Yu said to her, "Ask Du Shang to be your wedding MC! You see, he has been eloquent, singing, and dancing since he was young! He can even perform skits!"
Lin Yingtao laughed: "I'll ask him when I get back!"
Squad Leader Yu was standing in the doorway when he suddenly said, "How come this Lin Yingtao doesn't look big at all?"
Mother Yu said, “Yes, it’s just like before when we were in the mountains.”
Lin Yingtao went downstairs, and she and Jiang Qiaoxi walked towards the opposite community together, and parked their car opposite.
"Did you notice?" Lin Yingtao suddenly said in a trembling voice, and she raised her head, "Grandma Yu seems to be really hard of hearing. She can't hear what I say..."
Jiang Qiaoxi hugged her.
Lin Yingtao suddenly felt that many things were so close to her.
She had no choice but to press her face closer into Jiang Qiaoxi's arms to resist the fear that was gripping her heart.
“I really want to go back to being a kid…” she said.
The author has something to say: －－－－－－－－－－－
Notes to this chapter:
＊The 2014 Brazil World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, held in Brazil from June 12 to July 13, 2014. On June 16, Messi scored a goal in the match between Argentina and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
* The Avengers: In 2008, the movie "Iron Man" was released, marking the beginning of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In 2012, "The Avengers" was released, setting off a global film market. In April 2014, the movie "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" was released, and "Winter Soldier" and "Falcon" were both characters in the film.
＊"Little Apple": A song sung by Chopstick Brothers, released on May 29, 2014, with hundreds of millions of hits.
*At 00:42 on March 8, 2014, flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Beijing Capital International Airport crashed into the Indian Ocean, killing 227 passengers (153 from mainland China and 1 from Taiwan) and 12 crew members. To this day, the truth behind the accident has not been revealed.