"Mom, grandma, I'm going to the county town." Lu Haici was going to buy a gift for his sister today, so he got up very early. He made an appointment with Qin Ming and Ji Yang to go together. The three boys walked to the county town, so they had to get up early.
They were all third graders, so Lin Qingqing was not worried about them. These children were very smart. However, she still had to give them the necessary instructions: "If you encounter any problems, you must go to the police station to find a police comrade. You can't solve it yourself, understand?"
Lu Haici nodded obediently and said, "I know, don't worry, Mom."
Lin Qingqing added: "If you encounter other people's problems, don't rush in. As I said before, leave everything to the police." I am afraid that these children are "chivalrous". They grew up in the army, surrounded by brave soldiers, so they also have heroic dreams.
Lu Haici: "I know, I will listen to my mother." Every time they went to the county town, his mother would remind him like this. Lu Haici didn't feel annoyed because he knew that this was his mother's love for him.
Lin Qingqing added: "One last thing. Don't talk to strangers. Be wary of strangers."
Lu Haici: "Yes, I will keep my mother's words in mind."
After listening to his mother, Lu Haici put on his schoolbag and went to find Qin Ming and Ji Yang. It took the three boys half an hour to drive from the family compound to the county town, and they walked for two hours. Fortunately, they set off early, leaving at seven o'clock and arriving at the county town at nine o'clock.
At the same time, Yu Xiuyao finished her housework and went to Lu Cheng's house to tell Lin Qingqing about Lu Haici's self-criticism. When they talked, Lin's mother was there too. When she heard this, she couldn't help but mutter, "These people are just like the women in our country, they are always busy."
Yu Xiuyao also said: "That's right. According to what I said, children should also be taught a lesson, otherwise they will be in trouble when they grow up. So don't blame Haici for this matter."
Lin's mother: "That definitely won't happen. He should be beaten."
Of course, I only say this at home.
…
After Lu Haici, Qin Ming and Ji Yang arrived in the county town, they went straight to the department store.
"Let's go look at the skirt first. Let's go look at the skirt first." Lu Haici said.
"The skirt is on the second floor." Ji Yang said, "I've been here with my mother, and she went to the second floor to buy fabric."
"I know." Lu Haici said, "My mother and I have been here before." Moreover, he has been here many times. Every month after his mother gets her salary, she will come to the county town to celebrate, so he has been here many, many times.
The three boys ran directly to the second floor and came to the counter for buying clothes and fabrics: "Sister, I want to buy a skirt." Lu Haici said to the salesperson. Mom said that when you meet a young lesbian, you should call her sister.
The salesperson saw that the customer was a boy who looked very young, and asked in confusion: "Little brother, what kind of skirt do you want to buy?"
Lu Haici said: "I want to buy the skirt that my sister wears. My sister was just born six days ago."
The salesperson: “…” was very speechless, “Little brother, we don’t have skirts for such young children here. Either you buy a bigger skirt and have it altered to be smaller, or you buy the fabric and ask your family to make it.” However, a boy so young would buy a skirt for his sister, he is really a good brother.
Lu Haici: "Ah?" He had never bought a baby dress before, so he didn't know that there were no baby dresses here. "Then..." He looked at Qin Ming and Ji Yang, "Then what should I do?"
"Then let's buy some cloth." Ji Yang suggested, "Aunt is so good at making clothes, you buy some cloth and let her make a skirt for your sister."
Lu Haici imagines that it is also possible: "What kind of cloth should I buy?"
Qin Ming said: "Ask this elder sister... Sister, what kind of cloth should we buy for my younger sister?"
The salesperson thought for a moment and said, "It's the end of September now, and the weather is going to get cold soon. Why not buy some thicker cloth, like corduroy? But you need cloth coupons to buy cloth. Do you have any?"
"Yes, yes." Qin Ming took out the cloth coupons.
"I have some too." Ji Yang also took out the cloth coupons.
Lu Haici didn't want his mother to know that he bought a skirt for his sister. He wanted to give his sister a surprise, so he didn't ask his mother for cloth coupons. Fortunately, he had two friends who were well-off. The two friends plundered the cloth coupons at home. Especially after Xu Huijuan and Zhang Hongping knew the purpose of their cloth coupons, they gave them without saying a word and promised to keep it a secret and not tell Lin Qingqing.
After getting the cloth coupons, Lu Haici bought some corduroy cloth. The salesperson was very responsible and knowing that it was for the newborn baby, she asked Lu Haici to buy more because newborn babies grow very fast and if too little cloth was bought, the clothes would be too small and easily wasted.
After buying the cloth, Lu Haici still felt a little bothered about not having bought a finished skirt. He said, "I want to buy a red hairband for my sister."
Qin Ming: "Then go buy it. Do you have any money? I brought some."
"I brought money too." Ji Yang took out his coin purse.
Lu Haici: "No, no, I still have more."
Then, the three boys went to buy red hairbands together. After buying the hairbands, they went home.
Family Courtyard
"Mom, I'm back." It was already 12 o'clock when Lu Haici got home, and the family was preparing to have lunch.
"Are you back? Did you have fun outside?" Lin's mother had just finished making lunch and was waiting for Lu Cheng to come back from get off work. She didn't expect Lu Haici to come back so soon. She thought the boy had to eat outside before coming back.
"Happy, grandma, I bought fabric for my sister, made a skirt for her, and bought a red hairband for her." He ran into the house. Seeing Lin Qingqing teasing the baby, Lu Haici said again, "Mom, I bought fabric for my sister to make a skirt, and bought a red hairband for her."
"Ah?" Lin Qingqing was very surprised, "How did you think of buying cloth for your sister to make a skirt? Where did your cloth coupons come from?" She knew that the child had money, as she had been counting the money in the piggy bank every day these two days, but she didn't know that the child had cloth coupons.
Lu Haici said: "It was given to me by Qin Ming and Ji Yang. Mom, the department store doesn't have my sister's skirt, and the saleswoman said I have to buy the cloth and make it myself. Mom, I bought the cloth for my sister, can you help me make a skirt for her?"
Lin Qingqing didn't expect that little Lu Haici was so capable, so she certainly wouldn't refuse: "Okay, after the confinement period, I will use this fabric to make a skirt for my sister. Make it bigger, and when my sister grows up, tell her that this is the fabric that my brother bought for her and the skirt she made from it."
"Yes." After Lu Haici took out the corduroy cloth, he took out the red hairband, "When my sister has hair, use this to tie her hair."
"Wow, our Haici is really thoughtful. Thank you, Haici." Lin gently raised the baby's hand, "And our little baby wants to say thank you to the big baby. Say it quickly, thank you brother."
Lu Haici also reached out and held his sister's hand: "You're welcome, sister."
Lin's mother: "Lu Cheng is back... Hai Ci, come out to eat." As she spoke, she served Lin Qingqing some rice and dishes and brought them in.
Lu Haici walked back and forth for four hours today and was really hungry. He picked up the bowl and started to eat voraciously.
When the Lu family had finished their meal and Lin's mother was cleaning up, a voice came from outside: "Is Comrade Lin here? Is Captain Lu here?"
Lu Cheng was taking a break. When he heard the noise, he went out to see that it was a soldier standing guard at the gate of the family compound. He asked, "What's going on?"
The soldier said, "Hello, Captain Lu. It's like this. A few people came to the door and said that their children had a conflict with Lu Haici, Qin Ming and Ji Yang when they were in school yesterday. They are here to apologize to the three children. What do you think?"
Is there such a thing? Lu Cheng said: "Please go and tell us first, we will be there soon."
Soldier: “Yes.”
Lu Cheng replied: "Lu Haici..."
"Dad, what's the matter?" Lu Haici was looking at his sister in the house.
"It seems to be Xiao Zheng's voice outside?" Lin Qingqing also said. Xiao Zheng was the soldier on guard.
Lu Cheng: "It was Xiao Zheng, who said..." He repeated what he said, then looked at Lu Haici, "Did you have a fight with your classmates at school yesterday?"
Speaking of this, Lu Haici's heart tightened, fearing that his mother would know about writing a self-criticism, but he didn't know. His father had known about it a long time ago.
“I… I…” Lu Haici pursed his lips. He was very brave when he was a child and was not afraid of his father at all, but as he grew older, he became a little afraid of his father.
"I know about this." Lin said softly, "Sister Xiuyao came here this morning..." She told him about this matter again, and then said to Lu Haici, "Haici, boys can have their own secrets, but if the matter is serious, you must tell your parents."
Lu Haici nodded: "Mom, I understand." In his heart, he cursed Qin Dawang. Dawang said that he would not tell his parents and that Dawang was a lying dog.
Lin Qingqing didn't say much, because privately, she also thought that her son was not to blame. But she couldn't say it directly. "Now that they have come to apologize, you should go meet them."
Lu Haici: "Hey, I'm going out now."
"I'll go too." Lin's mother said, "They have several friends. What if Haici is bullied when he goes out alone? I'll go with you."
Lin Qingqing: "Mom said so, then let's go together."
When Lin's mother took Lu Haici out, Ji Yang also came with them. Ji Yang was also one of the parties involved, so the soldier naturally called him. However, only Ji Yang came to his house, and Xu Huijuan was still working in the cafeteria.
When Lin's mother brought Lu Haici and Ji Yang to the gate of the family compound, they saw Zhang Hongping and Qin Ming were also there. There were several other people with them.
"Lu Haici, Ji Yang, you are here." Qin Ming waved when he saw them.
"Here we are."
Qin Ming: "Zhang Youcai is here to apologize to Lu Haici. Lu Haici, come quickly."
Lu Haici: “Here I come.” Lu Haici came up to them and looked at Zhang Youcai. Zhang Youcai was surrounded by his family members, who were standing behind him one by one. They were also a little nervous, after all, their son had offended a military officer.
When she saw Lu Haici coming over, Grandma Zhang said, "Youcai, go and apologize to him."
Zhang Youcai had no choice, as he listened to his grandmother very much. After his grandmother said that, he could only apologize: "Lu Haici, I'm sorry." His grandmother said that she would buy him some candy when he arrived completely.
"Lu Haici?" Qin Ming hadn't heard Lu Haici's voice. He looked at Lu Haici and saw that Lu Haici had been staring at Grandma Zhang. "Lu Haici, what's wrong with you?"
"Hai Ci, what's wrong? The kid apologized to you, what do you think?" Mother Lin also looked at her grandson.
"Little boy, I'm so sorry. It was Youcai who made the mistake. Please forgive him." Seeing the man looking at her, Grandma Zhang said nervously. She was a person who bullied the weak and feared the strong, and was most afraid of offending powerful people.
Lu Haici shook his head: "I won't forgive him, I recognized you." Lu Haici pointed at Grandma Zhang, "It's you, and you..." After that, she pointed at Zhang's mother, "Last year during the Spring Festival, our family went to the market. My mother and I met a grandma and an aunt at the door of the supply and marketing cooperative. The grandma deliberately fell to the ground and said that my mother knocked her down and asked us to pay money. It was you, I recognized you." This incident had a profound impact on Lu Haici. At that time, he didn't know what to do. In addition, his mother was pregnant at that time, and he was very nervous. So he was deeply impressed by the old lady and the woman at that time.
However, Lu Haici never thought that he would meet these two people again today, and what he never expected was that these two people were actually Zhang Youcai's grandmother and mother.
This happened a long time ago, seven or eight months ago. Grandma Zhang and Mother Zhang had long forgotten what the mother and son looked like. They never thought that they would be identified today. What they didn't expect was that this person was Zhang Youcai's classmate.
Grandma Zhang immediately said, "No, no, you've got the wrong person, it's not us." Although she said this, she felt guilty and her eyes were flickering, and she didn't have any confidence at all.
"Yes, yes, it's not us..." Zhang's mother also said, she swallowed her saliva and hid behind Zhang's father, not daring to come forward.
When Lin's mother heard what Lu Haici said, she immediately believed him. When she heard that Zhang had dared to blackmail her daughter when she was pregnant, she was so angry that she rushed up and said, "You shameless man, you dare to blackmail my daughter, I will beat you to death." She was a country woman and was used to seeing all kinds of shrews. Although the Lin family was harmonious and the daughter-in-law of the Lin family had a good temper, it was because of the harmony of the Lin family that the daughter-in-law's character was not worn away. Therefore, when Lin's mother heard about this, she got angry and beat Zhang without saying a word.
Zhang Hongping was also a little surprised when she heard Lu Haici's words. Now seeing that Lin's mother and Grandma Zhang were fighting, she hurriedly said to Lu Haici, "Go and call for help." She was here to guard against the Zhang family taking advantage of the crowd to attack, but fortunately, this was the gate of the family compound and there were troops next to it, so the Zhang family did not dare to take action.
The soldiers at the door saw this, but because no one called them, they didn't come over.
Lu Haici immediately ran towards home.
Lu Cheng was looking at his daughter. Seeing Lu Haici rushing over, he frowned and asked, "Why are you so flustered? Aren't you accepting your classmate's apology? Is it over?"
"No, no, grandma and Zhang Youcai's grandma had a fight." Lu Haici said in a panic, "Mom, Zhang Youcai's grandma and mom are the people we met at the market during the New Year. The one who fell to the ground and said that mom knocked him down and wanted mom to pay for it. I recognized them when I saw them, and I told grandma, and then grandma and grandma Zhang had a fight."
Lin Qingqing heard this and subconsciously wanted to get out of bed, but was held down by Lu Cheng: "You are in confinement, I will go." There was a sharp flash in his eyes. He always remembered that incident, but there were many people in the market at that time, so it was difficult to investigate the matter. He didn't expect that someone would bring it to his nose, "Hai Ci, come with me to take a look."
Lu Haici: “Oh.” With his father around, he would definitely feel at ease.