The little girl sat among the presents, her braids hanging down, clumsily unwrapping the boxes.
"Mom!" She looked up and held up the big Iron Man glove in her hand, "Look at the birthday present Uncle Cai gave me!"
Lin Qile was sitting next to the closet, packing his daughter's clothes for summer camp, when he accidentally found a thick stack of photos from his wedding five years ago in the drawer of the closet.
She looked down at the photos one by one, and saw that in the photos, Uncle Yu was drunk at a banquet. He was wearing a suit, and he and his father, Uncle Cai, and driver Shao were hugging each other and crying.
In fact, most of the people in the photo were smiling. Lin Qile, who was outside the photo, lowered his head and smiled, but her nose felt sore again.
"Mom!" the little girl called her from the other side.
Lin Qile came back to her senses, sniffed, and smiled with curved eyebrows: "Is Uncle Cai good to you?"
The little girl hugged the gloves and said excitedly: "I like Uncle Cai the most!"
Lin Qile wiped away her tears and turned to look for another bag in the closet, because her daughter's school bag was too small to hold many things. She took out a bag and found it was the computer bag that her husband Jiang Qiaoxi brought with him on a business trip. She took out another one and found it was her husband Jiang Qiaoxi's briefcase. Lin Qile frowned.
"Why did you buy so much for him?"
She pulled another bag out from under the closet, thinking it would be her own.
Lin Qile was extremely surprised.
It turned out to be a small black square leather backpack.
The little girl stood up from the pile of gifts and walked to her mother. "Mom..." she said anxiously, "Don't be sad, I'll give you one of my birthday gifts..."
Lin Qile sniffed. She didn't know Jiang Qiaoxi still had this little schoolbag, hidden in the corner of the closet at home. She raised her head.
"Mom doesn't want your birthday present."
Lin Qile lowered his head and opened the small black square schoolbag, saying, "This is the small schoolbag your father used to carry when he was in school..."
The little girl pinched her skirt and asked in surprise: "Dad also carries a small schoolbag?"
Lin Qile lowered his head and smiled, "Yes, there used to be an old plane ticket in there, which was when he wanted to go to the United States..." Lin Qile reached into the ten-centimeter square inner pocket.
The smile on Lin Qile's face disappeared.
A red rope fell from Lin Qile's hand, with a tender red cherry amber hanging below.
It was a Friday, and the City God Temple was crowded with people going to the temple fair early in the morning. Lin Qile stood on tiptoe and looked in front of each store. Jiang Qiaoxi was about to leave, and she wanted to buy souvenirs for him.
"Lin Qile," Yu Qiao asked from behind, "Where's your amber?"
The little girl asked, "Mom, what is this?"
Lin Qile's brows were furrowed into a knot. She lowered her head and looked at it again and again. It seemed that this was really her amber.
How did it get into Jiang Qiaoxi's schoolbag
She raised her head and looked at the little girl's face.
This little girl looks like her father when he was a child, except that she has a pair of big eyes like Lin Qile, which makes her look smart and a little silly.
Lin Qile untied the thin red string in his hand, tied it behind his daughter's head, and hung the small red amber on his daughter's chest.
"This is cherry amber." said Lin Qile.
"What is amber?" asked the daughter.
Lin Qile said softly: "It is something that will not change for thousands or tens of thousands of years."
The little girl was so happy that she carried her father's small schoolbag on her back, put on a little yellow hat on her head, and ran out of the house cheering.
Lin Qile was walking behind. She stopped at the door and looked outside.
Jiang Qiaoxi had taken a day off today. He rolled up his shirt sleeves and had just finished cleaning the family car. When he saw his daughter running towards him with her arms outstretched, he bent down, smiled, and picked her up.
Jiang Qiaoxi looked up first and saw his wife standing by the door. He turned his head again and heard his daughter showing off to him: "Dad, look what Mom gave me, Cherry Amber!"
…
He sat in the back seat of the car, turning his head to look back from time to time. For a few seconds, he wondered if Lin Qile would show up - he was gone like that, he would never go back to the mountains again, and she would definitely cry.
There was no one else in the car, only Jiang Zheng's driver was driving in front. Qunshan was a poor place, and the road was full of tricycles and bicycles. It was also the morning market that day, and the road was crowded with people, and the car was stuck in a traffic jam.
The driver caught a glimpse of it in the rearview mirror.
"Qiaoxi?" he turned around and asked.
Jiang Qiaoxi was raising his arm to wipe the tears from his eyes.
The driver was also surprised: he had been driving Manager Jiang's son to and from school for so many years, but this was the first time he saw him cry.
"Uncle," Jiang Qiaoxi said, "Can you drive back to the dormitory at the Qunshan construction site?"
The driver asked, "Do you want to... say goodbye to your little friend?"
Their car had just turned around with difficulty when Jiang Qiaoxi suddenly said, "Wait a minute."
He looked out the window and saw the group of four people disappearing at the entrance of the City God Temple. Jiang Qiaoxi opened the car door and ran out.
The Chenghuang Temple was crowded with people, and even children were walking inside. It was so noisy that you couldn't even hear a word, let alone people. Jiang Qiaoxi, carrying his schoolbag, squeezed in and out. He looked around, but didn't see any trace of Lin Qile, Yu Qiao, Du Shang, or Cai Fangyuan.
By the time the temple fair was almost over, Jiang Zheng's driver was so scared that his face turned pale. He found Jiang Qiaoxi behind a button shop that was closing up. Jiang Qiaoxi was carrying a schoolbag and holding a red amber he had picked up, which was trampled on and covered in dust.
"This belongs to my neighbor," Jiang Qiaoxi said to the driver, "I'll return it to her when I get back."
Jiang Zheng's driver had something else to do today, but he almost lost his boss's son. With this problem, he had no choice but to agree to Qiao Xi's request. He drove the car back, and the driver turned on the radio in the car. Today was July 13, 2001. In a few hours, the result of Beijing's bid for the 2008 Olympic Games would be announced.
The driver was listening to the news and noticed Jiang Qiaoxi sitting in the back, looking out the window, wondering what he was thinking.
The guard at the dormitory at the Qunshan construction site was wearing a military green uniform. He saw their car from a distance and asked in surprise, "Manager Jiang's car? Why is it back again?"
It was almost afternoon and some workers were leaving get off work and were riding their bicycles past their cars, ringing their bicycle bells.
The club's door was open, and family members of employees were practicing chorus inside. A child, led by his grandmother, sat on the steps and played with the water in the fountain. Duchamp, wearing a vest and slippers, stood at the door of his single dormitory in row 11 and said to his mother, "Cherry is crying, and I'm telling a skit to amuse her!"
The driver drove the car around the staff club and the staff canteen where the aroma of food was wafting from, drove inside, and stopped at the curb of row 24.
Jiang Qiaoxi opened the car door and got out.
It was summer vacation at the construction site in Qunshan. The parents had gone to work, and the children from every dual-income family were at home playing. Yu Qiao was at home flipping through an English book and watching the American movie "Air Force One" on TV, while Cai Fangyuan was lying on a mat, eating potato chips and reading comics, the kind that he could only read secretly behind his parents' backs.
Lin Qile didn't play, she sat on the steps in front of her house, alone.
She seemed very sad, so sad that she buried her face in her arms and wiped it with the back of her hands from time to time.
Jiang Qiaoxi stood at the intersection.
Suddenly, he didn't want to return Amber to her. Jiang Qiaoxi lowered his head and clenched the things in his hand. He knew that he was very selfish, he was extremely selfish.
He was about to leave, Lin Yingtao had the mountains, but he had nothing.
He would most likely never see her again.
He will go to the United States in the future. He wants to fly away, the farther away from all this, the better...
"Cherry!" Jiang Qiaoxi suddenly shouted from afar.
She was still sitting on the steps wiping her tears.
"Jiang Qiaoxi..." She saw him.
The little red shoes rubbed against the brick-red path. The child ran towards the child.
Cherry Amber
End of article
The author has something to say: Jiang Qiaoxi held his daughter in his arms, saw Cherry Amber, and recalled the past. Back then, he took the amber and walked away, and he had no hope for his future. Now in 2019, when he is approaching 30 years old, he will call out "Cherry" when he recalls the past with today's mood.
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The main part of the story "Cherry Amber" ends here. I am very grateful to the readers of this story, whether they are in the past, present, or perhaps in the future. Cherry was originally just a short article written to recall her childhood and youth. By the end of the article, she had gained so much. I hope that every child can grow up safely and happily, and I wish everyone can burst out courage at the critical moment and hold on to their own happiness. Looking back on the past, there must be some sincere things that are always hidden in our hearts. If you see this and feel moved by this story, it must be that the emotions that already exist in your heart and mine have resonated. Thank you again, readers, for reading here. Cherry will have several extra chapters next, about Cherry and her friends, mostly some casual writing. After the end, I will start to write the next novel "Nymph Run in Colorful Clothes". The story about Captain Yu Qiao is also posted in the column. There are more materials to read, and it may take a long time to prepare. Interested readers are welcome to collect it in the column in advance. The publication of Cherry's novel and more follow-up news will also be posted on my Weibo. That's it, friends, see you next time.