The night is getting deeper and deeper.
Ai Qiao leaned against the bedside, unable to wait any longer. Her clear eyes were full of worry, so she got up and got out of bed to put on her shoes.
As she was walking towards the door, she stopped again because she didn't know where to look for him.
Will Ji Huai leave? He left her alone and disappeared completely, leaving the money for her to have an abortion.
Thinking of this, Ai Qiao's eyes were filled with fear, and a bone-crushing coldness hit him from the soles of his feet upwards, making his body stiffen.
The child in my belly was fussy.
The powerful little feet kicked her again and again. Ai Qiao felt the pain, her whole face wrinkled, and she quickly sat down on the edge of the bed.
She put her hand on her belly, panting heavily, and her chest heaved violently. This child, who was connected to her heart, was her hope for the future.
Her mother has been ill for a long time, her father has cheated on her, and her family has failed. She has lived a life of despair since she was a child. This child and Ji Huai are the light of her life.
"Baby, be good." She touched her belly again and again, her eyes filled with moisture.
Since becoming a mother, her tough temperament has gradually softened, her heart has become softer, and she has had a soft spot since then.
Ji Huai saw such a scene when he came in.
She sat on the bed, covering her belly with her hands, her thin shoulders shaking slightly. She raised her head when she heard the voice, and looked at him with slightly red eyes.
"What's wrong?" He frowned and walked over quickly, "Is your stomach uncomfortable?"
Ai Qiao shook her head, made an excuse for herself, pointed at her stomach, and said with a hint of grievance unconsciously, "It kicked me so much."
Also a bit of a complaint.
Ji Huai's eyes flashed, he leaned down, put his big hand on her belly, and said in a low voice, "It's time for you to sleep."
If you listen carefully, it's a bit preachy.
Before the last note had finished, his palm was lightly kicked, and Ai Qiao could feel his hand suddenly pause, and his expression became unnatural.
Only Ji Huai knew that at that moment it was like being hit by a strong electric current, which quickly spread to every cell in his body.
The wonderful feeling continues.
"It's been unsettled recently, and the more it kicks, the more painful it becomes." Ai Qiao spoke up, then changed the subject, "Where have you been? Why are you back so late?"
She was worried and couldn't get in touch.
"Working overtime at the construction site." Ji Huai said, taking his hand back and lifting the bag in his hand, "I brought you a midnight snack."
Ai Qiao feels sorry for money, "I'm not hungry, so don't spend money randomly."
"I didn't buy it. It was cooked in the canteen at the construction site." Ji Huai said and walked to the sofa and sat down. "Originally, I could only eat there. I came out late and there was half a pot left, so I shamelessly asked for some and brought it back. you."
When he was off work, he was so scheming that he naturally ate very slowly. He took the opportunity to chat casually with the foreman. His relatives were cooking at the construction site. He found an opportunity to pack a portion and bring it back. If he went out to buy it, he would still pay a dollar and a half. Woolen cloth.
"Can I get it back?" Ai Qiao also stood up and sat next to him, found a bowl and poured the fried noodles into it.
There aren't many ingredients in the fried vermicelli, just a little leek and onion, but there are a few pieces of meat, which are quite large.
She was living in a haze today. Sometimes she was worried about him, and sometimes she was worried about herself. She only bought one dish when buying food, and she had no appetite.
Ji Huai nodded, smelled himself, stood up with a look of disgust, and quickly took off his shirt, "It stinks like hell, I've been sweating today."
Ai Qiao looked over and saw that the skin color of his exposed arms and upper body was a shade different. Before he could speak, he took out the money from his pocket and said, "Twenty-two dollars a day, overtime allowance of twelve yuan, not bad."
After saying that, he handed the money to her as usual, as before, and muttered, "I spent one yuan on breakfast today, and I keep the rest."
"I went to take a shower. The sun is so hot today. It's too hot."
He said, already carrying the bucket, draping the towel on his shoulders, and heading out the door.
Ai Qiao lowered her eyes and looked at the money placed on the simple table. There were three pieces of ten yuan and two pieces of five yuan.
Forty in total.
She carefully put the money away, buried her head, and ate the vermicelli in small bites. She didn't know if what he just said had an effect. The fetus that had been noisy for a day also calmed down, and her tense nerves slowly relaxed. Come.
When Ji Huai finished taking a bath and closed the door, Ai Qiao was already lying on the inside of the bed, covered with a thin blanket.
"Sleep with the lights off?" he asked.
"Um."
With a "pop", the room became dark, and the weak moonlight outside the window could not shine in. There was no ventilation, so the room was a bit stuffy.
Ji Huai slowly climbed onto the bed, pulled off the quilt, and fell asleep directly.
Everything slowly became quiet. He didn't move or speak. Ai Qiao said softly, "What are you going to do at the construction site today?"
He didn't reply immediately. He yawned and said in a drawl, "Shovel cement."
She calmed down for a while, "Are you used to it?"
He has many small shortcomings, such as being conceited, bragging, and a bit chauvinistic. He doesn't want to do dirty work, especially when he is sweating and disgraced on the construction site.
In the past, he thought the factory work clothes were boring. When he was on vacation, he would wear trendy jeans and shirts, buy the latest sneakers, and get the latest haircut.
She still felt sorry for him.
Ji Huai turned over and stared at her with his deep black eyes in the dark night, "My wife and children are about to starve to death. Do I still care about the dignity of this job?"
"If you can make money, just do whatever you want. It doesn't matter whether you shovel sand or move bricks."
…
He said it calmly, then closed his eyes and put a hand on her bulging belly, "I'm going to sleep, I have to go to the construction site tomorrow."
"… good."
Xu was extremely tired, and not long after, the sound of his even breathing could be heard.
Ai Qiao's mind was surging and she couldn't calm down for a long time. She looked at the ceiling and blinked. A tear slowly slid down the corner of her eye and soaked into her hair.
Life is not easy.
She pursed her pink lips and gently put her hand on the back of his hand. She arched her eyebrows slightly and closed her eyes.
The next day.
Ji Huai put on discarded dirty clothes and wore dirty pants and shoes. Anyway, the construction site was extremely dirty, so he had to wear unwanted or discarded clothes.
He bought two fried dough sticks and a cup of soy milk today. While eating, he walked to the construction site. When he saw that the construction site was not open yet, he sat down next to Zhang Qi.
Now he no longer has to rush in.
"Brother Huai," Zhang Qi called him with a smile. If he had doubts yesterday, he completely believed him today.
It's really a bit technical, so I have to keep fawning.
"Would you like to eat fried dough sticks?" Ji Huai said as he handed over a fried dough stick.
"No, I ate two sweet potatoes." Zhang Qi pushed back, approached him and said with a smile, "Don't tell me, I really want to introduce you to my job."
"I have a relative in my family who has been allocated an apartment. He is currently renovating the house and is looking for a plumber."
"What's the price?" Ji Huai turned his head and asked him, deliberately not showing that he was flattered, as if he was used to it.
Zhang Qi: "I don't know. Please quote a price. I'll go back and ask him. The house is 80 square meters."
"I don't know how he wants to decorate. In fact, it's not easy to give a price. Let's do it this way. Because it was introduced by you, you will definitely not cheat anyone you know. You tell him that it is calculated on a daily basis. The market price is twelve yuan a day and six yuan a half day. What does he want? Decorate as you like, and if you go to work for a day, it will be counted as a day's pay, and if you don't make other money from him." After Ji Huai finished speaking, he lowered his voice and said to him, "When the time comes, you come with me, and you will be counted as eight yuan a day."
"If we don't work overtime here, we'll work half a day at night to earn some cigarette money."
If the benefits are enough, Zhang Qi will naturally help him fight for it. The other party is a local and must have wider connections than him.
Especially the villagers' own buildings, I don't know how many have been built in the past two years.
"Then I'll go tell him." Zhang Qi wanted to learn skills, but his heart was itching. When he saw the door to the construction site opened, he said to Ji Huai, "I have to squeeze in today, and I will tell you in detail then."
In fact, he just wanted Ji Huai to help him, after all, the other party ran really fast.
"Isn't that easy?"
As soon as Brother Qiang, the contractor, came out, Zhang Qi didn't even react. Ji Huai pulled him and squeezed him wildly. As soon as the other party saw Ji Huai, he let him go and he followed in.
It's really easy.
In the next few days, Ji Huai took to the construction site like a duck to water. The routes on the construction site were very messy and often broke. He could not only repair circuits, but also simple wall building and ceramic tile laying.
Brother Qiang is a half-baked person, he doesn’t know many Chinese characters. He is not a professional in this area. He always tries to figure it out on his own. He sometimes doesn’t always understand clearly when holding drawings, and he often makes miscalculations when picking out materials.
At this time, he would secretly find Ji Huai and ask him to take a look at him.
"Brother Qiang, haven't you drawn it all? Just go this way. Don't want it here. These people also have problems with the drawing design. Isn't it too troublesome to look at it?" He wouldn't say that Brother Qiang doesn't know how to do it. He just doesn't want it here. Will put the responsibility on others.
As cunning as he is, he never knows what face is in the face of interests. While holding the other party, he looked like he had gained a small advantage, smiled and stretched his hand forward, "Brother Qiang, you smoke such good cigarettes, I will take one It’s so fucked up.”
"Here." Brother Qiang waved his hand and threw the lighter over. As if he had thought of something, he took out a pack of Xu Lan cigarettes from his pocket and threw it to him. "It was given to me by someone else. Take it and smoke it. By the way, I heard them say that the route in the cafeteria is a little bit... Question, you go and take a look after lunch."
The group of electricians on the construction site were all very proud. They had to pay or be given some benefits to do extra work. Ji Huai was a free labor force.
"Even if I don't have a cigarette, I will definitely go as soon as Brother Qiang opens his mouth." Ji Huai smiled and quickly put the money in his trouser pocket.
Xu Lan's cigarettes are cheap, only two yuan and a half a pack, but there are many people on the construction site who are only willing to smoke blue brand cigarettes that cost two yuan.
The other party was very happy to be complimented by him, and he was very pleased with him.
Everyone likes smart people, especially smart people who can not only talk but also do things.
Ji Huai has always been a very purposeful guy, cunning and scheming. When he goes to the kitchen to repair circuits, he should also observe whether there is anything profitable.
Apart from cucumbers and tomatoes to nibble on, there really wasn’t much to take out. He installed a few sockets, and the aunt who was nibbling cucumbers and cooking vegetables talked about how her eight-month-pregnant wife at home couldn’t forget the fried vermicelli she made the other day. Very greedy.
The taste is really different, it’s really good, much better than the ones sold outside.
"Every day there's only half a bowl left. If you can't finish it, you have to feed it to the pigs. If she likes it, just take it back and give it to her." The aunt said with a smile, "I'll leave some for you today."
"Nice young man."
This sounded a little weird, but Ji Huai decided to ignore it. After chewing the last bite of cucumber, he pulled the wire over and said, "I'll help you pull the wire inside to avoid tripping."
"Yes, yes, it's inconvenient to have many wires." The aunt was very satisfied.
Once the cafeteria lady was satisfied, the fried vermicelli left for him was full of meat.
That night.
Ai Qiao looked at the bowl of fried vermicelli filled with meat. There was more meat than vermicelli. She swallowed and was still surprised, "Do you all eat so much meat on the construction site?"
"No." Ji Huai put the money under the bed board and said while taking the clothes, "Some people don't eat and there will be leftovers every day. Auntie said if you can't finish eating, you have to feed the pigs."
Ai Qiao stopped with the chopsticks at her mouth: "..."
This year is the Year of the Pig, and she happens to be pregnant with a piglet.