Yang Xia's family returned home in the morning. After being away for more than half a month, the first thing they did was to tidy up the house. Fortunately, Yang Xia's mother Xiao Yun had already cleaned the house before they went out. When they came back, they mostly just plastered and mopped the floor, which was done in no time.
Yang Xia brought gifts to her friends, said she had an appointment, and then went out. Yang Xia's father Yang Yuewen made himself a cup of tea, sat leisurely in the recliner, and felt that this trip was very rewarding.
Their family has many relatives in Chengdu. During every holiday, he would send Yang Xia to her grandmother's house in Chengdu. In fact, he also hopes that she can have more exposure to the environment of Chengdu.
During this summer vacation, they first went to Beijing, then traveled to Shanghai, and finally returned to Chengdu. They visited several universities including Peking University, Tongji University, Sichuan University, etc. On the one hand, it was to prepare Yang Xia's mind in advance and see what a good university is like. There are still two years left in high school, and now it is time to start establishing goals to work hard for.
It is said that sons should be raised in poverty and daughters should be raised in wealth. Yang Yuewen felt that Yang Xia had seen a lot during this trip to Chengdu. His uncle bought a new car, a black Passat, saying that the total cost was more than 200,000 RMB. He took them to dinner, and when the lights came on, the paint looked extremely beautiful.
Their relatives in Chengdu are all business leaders. In addition to her uncle, there is also a cousin. The family often adds antiques. Recently, they bought a jade table for tens of thousands of yuan, which makes ordinary working-class families today speechless.
Grandma Yang Xia was a retired woman from the Cultural Bureau. She was able to provide some benefits to her descendants, and all of their children and grandchildren were doing well. Unfortunately, Yang Yuewen came to Shanhai to work, and was far away from them, so he didn't enjoy some of the benefits. This made him feel sad sometimes. He always thought that if he was in Chengdu, with such opportunities and resources, he would probably be the best in the family, at least not worse than Luo Chen.
Luo Chen's father and Yang Xia's grandmother used to be in the same system, and the two families had a good relationship. Luo Chen became rich in the 1980s, and now he owns several properties, lives in a small single-family villa, and drives a luxury car. In comparison, the achievements of the Yang family are much weaker.
At least Yang Xia's arrogant uncle and the cousin who always looked calm and composed had to respectfully address Luo Chen of the Luo family as "Brother Luo". Whenever they encountered any difficult problems in business or outside, they would ask Luo Chen for help. Sometimes, when they talked about the other party's abilities and means, their tone would be three points weaker.
This time, Luo Chen was quite enthusiastic about their visit to Rongcheng. The two families had dinner together several times. Every time Luo Chen came, their family seemed very serious. After all, the Luo family helped the Yang family with many things in Rongcheng, and Luo Chen's enthusiasm for them was actually to create more opportunities for his son Luo Zhixian and Yang Xia to get along.
Luo Zhixian was well-known in the big circle of Chengdu for his excellence in all aspects. He was praised everywhere and was handsome. His mother Jiang Ying even had the intention of "appointing" Yang Xia as her daughter-in-law. Moreover, most of Luo Chen's enthusiasm for them and his actions of inviting them to dinner to get closer to each other were all instigated by Jiang Ying behind the scenes.
Jiang Ying even hinted that if the two families really established that kind of relationship, they could directly help Yang Xia arrange in the future. Whether she wanted to choose to stay in the country or go abroad with Luo Zhixian, the Luo family could pave the way.
Since the Luo family had such an idea, the Yang family was no exception and was vying to be lobbyists. The two most prominent people in the family, Yang Xia's uncle and cousin, treated her like their treasure, even more than their own daughter.
Of course, needless to say, Yang Yuewen was a proud person. He thought that if he had stayed in Chengdu, he would be no less powerful than Luo Chen. He was not as servile to Luo Chen as his relatives were. However, facing the goodwill shown by the Luo family, he was still quite vain.
Sometimes he would compare himself with others, thinking back to when he went to Chengdu and saw Luo Chen being treated with respect at many drinking parties, he couldn't help but sigh that sometimes a platform and an environment can really make a big difference in your horizons and the things you come into contact with.
It's like the children in this unit's compound can't be compared with the children raised in a wealthy family like the Luo family.
But we can't just respond to the Luo family like that. They are not a good match to begin with. If we show that they are eager, the man might look down on our daughter in the future. On the other hand, a good iron must be made with strength. Yang Yuewen has set his sights on the Luo family. Yang Xia still needs to be trained well. She has good grades now and is in the top five in the class. She can also be ranked between 30 and 50 in the grade. If she works harder in the future and aims for a 985 university, then with this capital, our daughter will not be far behind by then.
Just when Yang Yuewen was summarizing the gains of this trip, his wife Xiao Yun, who was visiting outside, knocked on the door and came in. Yang Yuewen frowned, and Xiao Yun, who was always quiet and gentle, seemed rash at this time, with a face full of astonishment, "Old Yang, I heard that Xiao Shitou from Zhao Qing's family was hospitalized. He has heart problems and is said to need a pacemaker... Hey, he has been transferred to a large hospital in Rongcheng... This person is really, unlucky... Also, you know that Cheng Feiyang is moving away, right? Fulong is setting up a factory over there, and Xu Lan and her family are all going to move. Their Cheng Ran is said to have been admitted to Rongcheng No. 10 Middle School... Everyone in the unit knows about it!"
…
Yang Xia went to Liu Ying's house carrying a lot of bags. Before that, she called her friends one by one and told them to gather at Liu Ying's house in a while. She helped with the cleaning at home, took a shower, changed clothes, and then went to Liu Ying's house with the gifts. Everyone was there.
It had been a long time since we last met, and everyone greeted each other warmly. Yang Xia saw Cheng Ran and Yu Xiao in the crowd, and greeted them generously.
She then opened her pockets and handed out gifts to everyone one by one, "Liu Ying, this is the Mentholatum lipstick you wanted. You said you liked it last time, so I brought you two."
"Yao Beibei, don't you want a bracelet? Here."
"Dong Jia, the little stuffed doll I brought you."
"Yu Xiao will give you an alarm clock so that you won't be late for class because you always sleep in."
Yang Xia handed out gifts to everyone one by one. When it came to Cheng Ran, he took out a long model box.
Everyone was shocked when they saw it, "A model of a space fortress!?"
The pattern printed on the long box is the battleship model of the Space Fortress that drove teenagers crazy back then. In fact, the real name of this cartoon is "Maross", which was translated as "Space Fortress". When it was first broadcast in the 1990s, it was once the enlightenment robot cartoon for Chinese people. At that time, a group of teenagers, including Cheng Ran, watched it with their eyes wide open and drooling.
No matter how calm Yu Xiao was, he couldn't help but say, "This is so expensive!"
A group of people looked at Yang Xia. They had good eyesight and knew from the packaging that the model was imported. At that time, no toy factory in China could make such a model. And if it was imported and it was such a large model, the price would definitely be high, probably several hundred yuan.
Even if Yang Xia is financially well off, this should still be a huge sum of money for her.
Yang Xia said with obvious discomfort, "There is only one in the mall. I thought about how you have been thinking about this thing since you were a child, and I have never given you any expensive gifts. I will give it to you because I have worked so hard to raise you. Although it is a bit expensive, even if you owe me..."
“What does it mean to be brought up with a lot of shit and piss…” Cheng Ran didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, his first reaction was a bit expensive.
This kind of space fortress model is limited, and generally speaking, it will be out of print once it is released. In the future, these model figurines will be in the hands of collectors, and those of certain years may even appreciate in value. Cheng Ran remembered seeing a figurine released by a company in the 1990s, which was sold for hundreds of thousands of yuan in the hands of some model collectors. He estimated that the figurine Yang Xia bought, although not so exaggerated, would still be a rare item after 20 years.
Yu Xiao wanted to grab it, "You are leaving soon anyway, there is no time to fight, you are traveling with only a few people, why not just leave it with me for safekeeping!"
Yang Xia was stunned for a moment, "Go? Where to?"
At this time, the excitement of the people present suddenly subsided a lot. Liu Ying said softly, "Cheng Ran is going to transfer to Rongcheng No. 10 Middle School, and his family is moving there."
Yang Xia was stunned and looked at Cheng Ran, her long eyelashes trembling slightly.
At this time, Yao Beibei quickly interrupted and explained the whole situation, and finally said, "I was waiting for you to come back and tell you."
Yang Xia was silent for a moment, but in fact, everyone around him could accept it. When they heard the news, their reactions were actually similar.
After all, we have been living in the same courtyard for so many years. Some of us have been together since childhood, and some joined later, but we have also spent a very long life together. Suddenly, Cheng Ran is about to leave.
You'd say that if you had no future, you could just keep a low profile and leave, but he suddenly jumped up into the sky. This was shocking, and no one knew what to feel. Some were envious, some were a little jealous, and some even dreamed of exchanging identities with him. They also felt a little reluctant to let him go.
"Oh." Yang Xia nodded, then looked up at him, her pretty eyes twinkling, "When are you leaving?"
"Maybe in a few days. The main thing is to move our things over there in advance. We'll be living in the factory, and everything needs to be done before school starts." Cheng Ran said.
"That's great!" Yang Xia smiled lightly, but for some reason, her voice was not loud. "We have to celebrate! No matter what, you treat us!"
Cheng Ran shook the model in his hand and said, "I should spend some money on this. How about tonight?"
A group of people responded loudly.
…
Then everyone went home to put their gifts away, made appointments for lunch and singing in the afternoon, and called to book a private room.
They had lunch at "Si Hai Sheng Yan", a very high-end Chinese restaurant in Shanhai. After some thought, Cheng Ran roughly recognized that this seemed to be a chain restaurant opened by Zhao Haihua, the same one that Qin Xizhen had complained to him about for a blind date.
When everyone reunited, the girls seemed to have dressed up specially, and most of them changed into new clothes. Yang Xia put on a small waistcoat over her floral dress in the morning, put a hairpin in her hair, and put on light makeup, looking fresh and clean, showing how much she valued this.
Everyone drank a lot of wine and talked about the current affairs of Fulong. Liu Ying said that in fact, her parents now privately admired the abilities of Cheng Ran's father. Now that Cheng Ran has become the young master, he must not forget everyone when he becomes rich in the future.
Cheng Ran smiled and said that he would never forget it. If the company moved there, everyone's family would still have shares. Maybe when the new building was completed, everyone would have a house in Chengdu, and there would be a place for them to move to Chengdu. Everyone's eyes showed a look of longing.
Everyone talked mostly about their childhood and their own embarrassing moments, as if they were back in the old days.
After finishing the meal around eight o'clock, they all went to KTV to sing. As early as when it was mentioned during the dinner, Yao Beibei took out her mobile phone to book the place.
A large group of people divided into several cars and went to KTV. They booked a large private room in the karaoke club and provided plenty of wine and fruit. Anyway, Cheng Ran was treating everyone. Everyone understood that Cheng Ran was now a small rich man. The previous "Four Seas Feast" meal cost more than 800 yuan, but he didn't even frown.
Everyone sang one after another. Yao Beibei requested "Hiroshima Mon Amour", followed by Liu Ying who sang "Thousands of Songs", and then Yu Xiaozhong sang "True Hero" with full energy.
Then it switched to Zhou Huajian's "Friends", which is a must-order song almost every time we go to KTV. Yu Xiao was singing and drinking at the same time this time. I don't know if it was because she drank too fast that she choked and cried.
Later, even Liu Ying, Yao Beibei, Zhang Xin and other children from the compound were all on the same side, each singing a paragraph. Yao Beibei held the microphone and said, "How annoying, Cheng Ran is still so annoying even after you leave. If we go to school and go home together in the future, without you, where will we find topics to talk about!"
Everyone suddenly remembered that Cheng Ran had indeed always been the focus of discussion among the children in the compound.
When he was the most naughty, all the adults told their children to stay away from him. Later, when he was in class, everyone brought up Cheng Ran's grades. In fact, it was not because of his grades. Yu Xiao and many people in the courtyard had worse grades than Cheng Ran. But every time he did poorly on the test, Cheng Ran never admitted it. He always acted like he was actually very smart and did not do well on the test because he did not like these things, which made people always want to rip open his stubborn face. Later, of course, he had a secret crush on Yang Xia, which was worth talking about in the courtyard for a lifetime.
Later on, Cheng Ran suddenly turned around. Not only did he get admitted to the No. 1 Middle School in the city, he also dominated the school, causing all kinds of unrest.
Now he is leaving.
Suddenly, this young man had gone from chasing behind to surpassing them, and it seemed that it was a little difficult for others to catch up with him.
Chengdu is a new world, which is his life and stories elsewhere.
It seems... it has nothing to do with them.
Everyone expressed their feelings when they were not optimistic about his admission to Shanhai No. 1 High School, and talked about the confrontation between him and Song Shiqiu in Shanhai... and talked about Xie Feibai, but it was a pity that Xie Feibai had transferred to another school in advance.
Everyone was talking about the Shanhai Music Festival. When Cheng Ran stood in front of teacher Qin Xizhen on the stage, Liu Ying said, "So handsome!" Yao Beibei also nodded, but couldn't say a word of praise.
Later, everyone realized that they had never heard Yang Xia sing before, and they surrounded her and asked her to sing a song.
Yang Xia couldn't refuse, so he went up, ordered a song, picked up the microphone and started singing.
That was the song "I Suffer the Cold Wind for You".
Her voice is clear, pleasant, magnetic and full of charm.
The opening was quite surprising. People exclaimed in admiration from time to time, and she responded with a faint smile.
"Someone asked me whether it was right or wrong. I said yes or no, but who really cares about who...
I will try to let go of the past, no matter how beautiful it was…”
Her eyelashes fluttered rhythmically, and she held the microphone with both hands. As she sang, her eyes looked across the relative distance at Cheng Ran, as if there was nothing else on her.
"I wish I could just let go of the past and forget how beautiful it was.
I don’t hope that the relationship will end, but I still have mercy, although I once thought so.
I really thought so…”
Everyone had a great time.
They separated at the intersection of the compound, and the light fog from the street lamps spread out in particles, enveloping the garden where they grew up, under the flower bed of the Huangguoshu tree. Everyone thought that Yang Xia and Cheng Ran must have something to say, so they encouraged the two to be pushed together, and then they dispersed far away.
Yang Xia blushed deeply, and Cheng Ran also felt like he was being framed. He frowned angrily at Yu Xiao and others in the distance.
Finally, Yang Xia said, "You took the entrance exam to Rongcheng No. 10 Middle School without making any noise. You are amazing, aren't you?"
Cheng Ran said, "I just wanted to give it a try. I didn't say it because I was worried that if I set the goal early and failed the exam, I would be laughed at."
"Flag?" Yang Xia obviously didn't understand, but that didn't stop her from understanding Cheng Ran's entire sentence. She narrowed her eyes again, "Now that you've passed the exam, you must be very proud. After all, it's Rongcheng No. 10 Middle School, a super high school!"
Cheng Ran said, "We have to move because of the pressure of life."
"Fake!" Yang Xia rolled her eyes at him, "When are you leaving?"
"In a few days, around the 10th."
"Go away, go away... Out of sight, out of mind. Otherwise, I'll always get angry when I see you. I can live a few more years without you."
"After all, we grew up together, why are you so disgusted with me?" Cheng Ran laughed.
"We grew up together, and I suffered this loss... You stole the meat bun from my hand when I was seven, and snatched my Fujiya lollipop when I was ten. You never returned my CDs, erasers, homework books, and comic books on time. You still don't know how many things I have in your possession!... I want to take back all the things I borrowed from you, and I can buy a house with them if I exchange them for money!"
"You remember the brand of the lollipop so clearly... That's too much... You're not the kind of person who holds grudges..."
A breeze blew, and Yang Xia's floral dress fluttered in the wind, bringing with it a refreshing scent of soap.
"Cheng Ran, do you still blame me?"
Cheng Ran, who was suddenly stunned by the question, turned his head and asked, "What?"
"On the eve of junior high school graduation, that time in the ceremony hall... I scratched your face and kicked you. Did it hurt? But you deserved it!"
"You should be more sincere when you apologize! You're saying 'I deserve it' and you're not letting anyone else talk..." Cheng Ran said with a smile.
"You deserved it."
"Then why do you ask me to blame you? To ask for forgiveness?"
"It was wrong of me to kick you in public and throw the hairpin in your face, but you still deserved it!"
"Are you so stubborn?"
"I have always been clear about gratitude and grudges." Yang Xia raised her head and said.
Cheng Ran shook his head. This girl was born in the Year of the Ox. "It was actually a misunderstanding. They recorded the voice message in advance, which I had already forgotten. But someone released me at that time, and then pushed me out to give you flowers. I was stuck in a dilemma."
"Yeah, I'll take that as the explanation." Yang Xia nodded.
"What do you mean by just treat it as it is? This is it."
"Uh-huh..." Yang Xia nodded, then suddenly turned around.
Cheng Ran was stunned for a moment and wanted to go forward, but he saw that she suddenly squatted down with her back to him and buried her head between her knees.
Cheng Ran was so confused, what was going on? He started crying over a disagreement...
When he was thinking about how to comfort her, Yang Xia raised her hand and wiped her face again, then stood up with her back to him, calmed down, turned around, and her eyes were red.
Said, "Cheng Ran, I didn't sing that song in the KTV for you."
As she spoke, she took out an envelope from her bag and handed it to him.
"For me?"
"Go back and open it."
Then she added, "Rongcheng No. 10 Middle School is great, maybe I can get in... No matter what, when you go to Rongcheng, don't be so heartless. No one will supervise you. Pay attention to your living habits and various problems... After all, I raised you with all my heart..."
"Stop, stop! That's enough..."
It seems just like the past.
Finally, Yang Xia stood on tiptoe, stretched out his hand, and patted his head.
That was the farewell that night.
When Cheng Ran returned home, he remembered the letter from Yang Xia. He opened it and found a greeting card on it. It was the used greeting card that he received from Yang Xia on Christmas Eve.
At that time, Xie Feibai snatched it from her hand, returned it to Yang Xia, and said some sarcastic words to her. But this time, she gave it back to him.
But there was another line of words written by Yang Xia on it.
“I remember you cheated me of my breakfast when you were seven, snatched my lollipop when you were ten, ruined my art performance when you were sixteen, and I couldn’t give you a good Christmas present when you were seventeen… Later, when I thought about it carefully, it’s better for us to part ways when we are still laughing than to be disappointed in each other in resentment one day.
So, that's good.
goodbye.
My childhood sweetheart Cheng Ran. "
Is this chapter long? Should we update it together