024. I miss you too
In a blink of an eye, it was the 28th day of the lunar year. The driver drove to Chunjiang Huajingyuan on time to pick people up. Wei Yuhuan couldn't get enough of hugging Xie Xiaojiang, who was ready to go.
Xie Xiaojiang was also a little reluctant to leave. He was in love for the first time. He was greedy for Wei Yuhuan's embrace, the smell of his body, and even more greedy for his seemingly endless pampering... They had been together for less than a week, but Xie Xiaojiang felt like they had been together for a very long time.
Wei Yuhuan touched Xie Xiaojiang's forehead with his and asked in a low voice: "When will you come back?" Maybe it was because this little guy had run away twice before, leaving a deep shadow on Wei Yuhuan. Now that the other party was going to leave him, Wei Yuhuan was very uneasy.
Xie Xiaojiang blushed and said, "After the fifth day."
Wei Yuhuan raised his hand, rubbed Xie Xiaojiang's lips which were red from his kiss with his fingers, and said with a wicked smile: "Let's do it when you come back."
Xie Xiaojiang's face suddenly turned red, but he was very unhappy. They were both grown men, so why did he feel like he was always being teased by Wei Yuhuan
Damn, what's there to be shy about! Xie Xiaojiang gritted his teeth and mustered up the courage to say, "Okay, you, you just wait for me at home!"
Wei Yuhuan was stunned for a moment, and by the time he reacted and laughed out loud, Xie Xiaojiang had already run out with the suitcase. He looked so anxious, like a cat with its tail burned.
When going downstairs to see him off, Wei Yuhuan saw Xie Xiaojiang huddled in the car, with half of his face wrapped in a scarf, acting like an ostrich.
Wei Yuhuan smiled and knocked on the car window. The driver cooperated and lowered the window on Xie Xiaojiang's side. There were already two boxes of New Year's goods that Wei Yuhuan bought for Xie Xiaojiang in the car. He smiled at Xie Xiaojiang, took out a big red envelope from his pocket and handed it to him, whispering, "Here, take it. This is your New Year's money in advance. Go back and buy something delicious for your sister."
Xie Xiaojiang's face lit up with joy: "Give me a red envelope!" He weighed the red envelope, and his eyes immediately widened and became bright and round, like a puppy who got a bone, and said excitedly, "It's a lot of money!"
Wei Yuhuan narrowed his eyes. He saw a contradictory kind of innocence and cunning, simplicity and worldliness in Xie Xiaojiang. However, such a contradiction did not make people disgusted. Instead, he felt frank and real.
Xie Xiaojiang was also shy. He took the red envelope, looked up at Wei Yuhuan, and said with emotion: "Thank you."
"Thank you for what?" Wei Yuhuan couldn't help but reach out and pull down his scarf, lowered his head and kissed him, and said softly, "Just remember to think of me."
Xie Xiaojiang: “…”o////o
Wei Yuhuan told the driver to drive carefully and to report safety when they arrived, then waved his hand and urged them to get on the road.
Xie Xiaojiang leaned against the car window, watching Wei Yuhuan, who was wearing home clothes, gradually disappear from his sight. He felt empty in his heart and suddenly felt a little lonely.
What should he do? They had just separated and he already missed Wei Yuhuan a little.
After opening the red envelopes, Xie Xiaojiang began to count the money inside one by one: five thousand, ten thousand, fifteen thousand, twenty thousand... twenty, twenty-eight thousand! (=口=)
When Xie Xiaojiang weighed the red envelope, he knew there was a lot of money in it, but he didn't expect there would be so much. Xie Xiaojiang had never touched so much cash in his life, and now his eyes were wide open.
After a year of frugality, Xie Xiaojiang managed to save tens of thousands of yuan, including the salary for the two months after signing the contract with Hengyu. The total amount was less than the red envelope given by Wei Yuhuan.
The money he saved was only enough to pay for his sister's living expenses and tuition for one year in junior high school in the city. He wanted to live a tight life and save some money to give his aunt a red envelope to thank her for taking care of his sister. Although his sister went to a boarding school in the city, she went back to her aunt's house during the winter and summer vacations.
But now, with the red envelope given by Wei Yuhuan, Xie Xiaojiang felt like he had instantly become a millionaire, and he felt more confident when he returned home.
That’s right, for a worker like him, how much money he can earn and take home at the end of the year means everything.
Xie Xiaojiang was so moved holding the red envelope that he wiped his wet eyes and swore secretly in his heart that no matter what Wei Yuhuan asked him to do in this life, he would go through fire and water without hesitation!
For fear of attracting too much attention, Xie Xiaojiang did not let the driver drive him to his doorstep, but instead parked the car near the town bus station. He insisted on walking the remaining mile back by himself.
Everything was fine in his hometown, and his sister had grown a lot taller. His eldest aunt had two daughters, so Xie Xiaojiang gave each of his two cousins a red envelope of 200 yuan, and gave Xie Xiaoxi a separate red envelope of 500 yuan. He then gave his eldest aunt 3,000 yuan, and gave all the New Year goods that Wei Yuhuan had bought to his aunt's family.
Money makes the world go round, let alone family affection.
After receiving red envelopes from Xie Xiaojiang, the cousins would be friendly to Xie Xiaoxi, and after receiving money from Xie Xiaojiang, the eldest aunt would treat Xie Xiaoxi as her own daughter. In the next two days, he accompanied his three sisters to go shopping, watch movies, and bought them some small things that girls like.
Seeing that he was obviously generous this time, his aunt asked him indirectly how much he could earn in a year. Xie Xiaojiang smiled innocently and said, "Actually, after paying my sister's tuition, I spent most of it during the Chinese New Year. I saved a few hundred yuan for my own travel expenses, and I can earn more when I go back."
When the aunt heard this, she immediately smiled and praised Xie Xiaojiang for being sensible, filial, and promising.
Xie Xiaojiang was not stupid. Even though Wei Yuhuan gave him 28,000 yuan, he did not dare to spend it recklessly.
The old saying that wealth should not be exposed is very reasonable. When his father was alive, he would be coaxed into gambling whenever he had a little money in his pocket, and he would not come back until his pants were stripped off. When his fellow villagers cheated him, they were also eyeing the few thousand yuan he earned from the winery. Xie Xiaojiang had already understood the evil of human nature. If his aunt knew that he had tens of thousands of yuan on him but only gave her three thousand yuan, she would say he was stingy.
Although Xie Xiaojiang still had a lot of money in his pocket, he didn't tell anyone, not even Xie Xiaoxi. However, in order to improve his sister's life, Xie Xiaojiang privately bought her a lot of new clothes and new school supplies.
Yanghe Town has developed rapidly in the past two years, but Xie Xiaojiang's aunt still lives in an old public housing unit with two bedrooms and a living room, and the conditions are not very good.
Xie Xiaoxi was already a "big girl" and could no longer sleep with her brother, so she had to sleep on the floor in her cousin's room. As for Xie Xiaoxi, she could only sleep on the steel bed on the balcony.
The balcony was drafty, and the old cotton quilt was nothing compared to the down quilt Xie Xiaojiang had in Chunjiang Huajingyuan. The radiator in the room hadn't been replaced for more than ten years, and the temperature couldn't be raised at all. Even though Xie Xiaojiang had a good temper, he was shivering from the cold.
When he went to bed at night, he missed Wei Yuhuan especially.
Xie Xiaojiang felt very strange. He had been alone for so many years and had only slept in Wei Yuhuan's arms for a few nights. Why wasn't he used to sleeping alone now
On New Year's Eve, Xie Xiaojiang curled up in bed and called Wei Yuhuan: "What are you doing?"
"I miss you." Wei Yuhuan returned to his room early, wearing warm flannel pajamas, leaning against the window, smoking and looking towards the north.
Listening to Wei Yuhuan's voice, Xie Xiaojiang felt sweet in his heart and whispered, "I miss you too." There is a custom of setting off firecrackers in his hometown. Just as he said this, there was a sudden "crackling" sound of firecrackers outside the window.
Wei Yuhuan didn't hear what he said clearly, so he called "Hello" twice on the other end to ask what he said. Xie Xiaojiang took advantage of the loud noise and shouted into the phone: "I miss you, too!"
Xie Xiaoxi happened to bring him a peeled apple to eat, and was stunned for a moment. When the sound of firecrackers died down, she asked with a smile: "Brother, who are you thinking about?"
Xie Xiaojiang: “…”
Time flies, and soon it is the fifth day of the first lunar month, the day when Xie Xiaojiang and Wei Yuhuan agreed to return to City S.
Xie Xiaojiang was very excited early in the morning and took out his favorite clothes from the box to wear. Xie Xiaoxi squatted beside his brother, touched his brother's down jacket, and said, "This clothes looks really handsome."
Xie Xiaojiang coughed lightly and said, "This is work clothes, issued by the company." In fact, they were all bought for him by Wei Yuhuan.
Xie Xiaoxi said with envy: "Big cities are great. I want to apply to a university in S City in the future. Then I can accompany my brother and cook for him every day."
Xie Xiaojiang chuckled and said, "Can you cook?"
Xie Xiaoxi: "Yes, my aunt taught me how to make fried rice with scrambled eggs."
Xie Xiaojiang pinched her face, but felt reluctant to part with his sister.
But he had to go reluctantly. The driver sent by Wei Yuhuan called Xie Xiaojiang and said that they would arrive at the bus station in their town in half an hour.
Xie Xiaoxi insisted on seeing him off, and Xie Xiaojiang couldn't resist, so he took her with him.
When he arrived at the bus station, Xie Xiaojiang saw the familiar black car from afar. It had already stopped at the agreed location.
He said to his sister, "Okay, that's it. Go back soon, be a good boy and study hard."
After hearing this, Xie Xiaoxi immediately recalled the scene a few years ago when her brother gave up going to college for the sake of the family. She knew that her brother had good grades, and her grandmother had always asked her to learn from her brother. But when her brother received the admission letter after the college entrance examination, he didn't say a word for ten days, and stayed in his room in a daze all day. Later, he went to work in the town's winery. Grandma told her that Xie Xiaojiang sacrificed himself for her.
Xie Xiaoxi hugged his brother and said "hmm", his voice choked with sobs.
"What are you doing?" Xie Xiaojiang smiled and touched her head, "Are you so reluctant to leave me?"
This sentence made Xie Xiaoxi cry completely. Xie Xiaojiang felt a little distressed and comforted her, "You are so grown up and still act like a spoiled child. Okay, don't cry. I'm here for you."
As they were about to leave, Xie Xiaojiang thought for a moment, counted out a thousand yuan from his underwear and gave it to her, and told her, "Take this, and when you go back to school, buy things that your classmates have, and don't let yourself down."
Xie Xiaoxi held the stack of money in surprise, and refused in fear: "Brother, don't give it to me. You have already bought me a lot of things. Keep it. You still need to eat and rent a house when you go back."
Xie Xiaojiang patted his bag and said with a smile, "Don't worry, I still have more. But you have to hide the money well, don't let your aunt and cousin know."
Xie Xiaoxi nodded sensibly: "I know."
The two were reluctant to part when a familiar voice suddenly sounded behind them: "Xie Xiaojiang."
Xie Xiaojiang's heart skipped a beat. He turned around and saw Wei Yuhuan, wearing a smoky grey coat, walking slowly towards him from the direction of the black car.