In the afternoon of the next day, Jiang Yumo’s Uncle and his colleagues had a good catch while fishing. They called at three or four o’clock and invited the whole family to come over for a feast of whole fish.
Jiang Yumo’s Aunt was a culinary master, and she used the head of a fat-headed fish to make a fresh, spicy, and crispy chopped pepper fish head dish. She also hand-made tender fish balls for the hot pot at the last minute. Jiang Yumo loved fish and had already thrown the idea of losing weight out the window. She ate two small bowls of rice in one breath.
“Speaking of which, Old Jiang’s colleague sent some beef bones for the Mid-Autumn Festival, and I haven’t had time to deal with them. It just so happens that I’m off tomorrow. How about you guys come to our house and have a meal?” Mother Jiang asked.
Jiang Yumao’s Uncle and Aunt looked at each other, and her Uncle shook his head helplessly, “Tomorrow won’t work. We have to go to the provincial capital early in the morning. We might even have to stay there overnight.”
Father Jiang drank his beer in one gulp and asked, “Going to the provincial capital for something?”
Aunt eagerly nodded her head and, seeing that everyone had finished eating, began to tidy up the dishes and chopsticks. Uncle also helped clean up the mess on the table. Aunt said, “It was Old Chen’s colleague who told me. He said there are a lot of newly opened real estate projects in the provincial capital. We discussed it and happen to have some money on hand. Moreover, we can still get a loan to buy a house now. Shuhang is already in university. I’ll get his wedding house ready first, so that the girl’s family can be assured.”
Jiang Yumo asked in surprise, “Does my brother have a girlfriend?”
Uncle smiled, “No, don’t you think your Aunt worries too much? He doesn’t even have a girlfriend, why buy a house?”
Jiang Yumao quickly shook her head, “No, I think Aunt is too amazing, too visionary! Aunt, I support you!”
She knew that future house prices would rise, but she had talked until her mouth was sore, and her parents didn’t listen.
She hasn’t heard of anyone around her going to the provincial capital to buy a house. Aunt is the only one with such a far-sighted vision.
Aunt laughed happily, “Look, Momo’s words touched my heart. What do you mean by worrying too much? We will eventually need to buy a house, and it’s better to buy it early.”
Mother Jiang, who was originally not interested in buying a house, seemed to be pondering and said, “Indeed, Shuhang is getting married, and as a boy, he needs to prepare a new house.”
Jiang Yumo : “…”
On the way back, seeing her daughter not speaking, Mother Jiang teased, “This little mouth can hold an oil pot. What’s wrong, not happy?”
Jiang Yumo had been holding it in for a long time and couldn’t help but say, “I envy Aunt for her far-sighted vision.”
Father Jiang thought his daughter envied Chen Shuhang. When they crossed the zebra crossing, he turned his head to look at his wife and daughter and said with a smile, “Don’t envy, girl. When you grow up and get married, Mom and Dad will give you money, and the dowry we give you won’t be less than the down payment your Aunt gave to Shuhang now!”
“Why are you talking about this in front of the child?” Mother Jiang frowned at her husband. “Momo is still young. What’s the point of talking about getting married or not? You’re just talking nonsense because you’ve had too much to drink!”
Jiang Yumo muttered, “Then why does my brother get a house when he gets married, but I just get money and not a house?”
“You heartless child!” Mother Jiang poked Jiang Yumo’s forehead. “Your situation is different from your brother’s. Your brother is a boy, and boys need a house when they get married.”
“It’s not different at all.” Jiang Yumo deliberately provoked, “You’re just favoring boys over girls!”
At her age, she actually doesn’t have much thoughts about money or houses.
Even if her parents bought a house, it’s still their property. She just felt a bit anxious… She knows that the housing prices will rise, but her parents don’t listen to her. It’s like she knows which lottery numbers will win, but she doesn’t have the money to buy the ticket!
Mother Jiang couldn’t help but laugh, “Favoring boys over girls? If I was, I would have had a second child already.”
Jiang Yumo was annoyed by her mother’s words and asked stubbornly, “Then why is it that when my brother gets married, Uncle and Aunt buy him a house, you say it’s necessary to prepare a set, but when I get married, you say it’s not necessary? Aren’t my brother and I both the same human? My brother is Uncle and Aunt’s child, and I’m your child. Don’t you think it’s favoring boys over girls?”
Father Jiang had already sensed that something was wrong and didn’t want to get involved in the mother-daughter argument, so he quickly distanced himself and didn’t plan to participate in this “battle”.
“…” Mother Jiang clearly couldn’t win the argument with her daughter, so she used a universal reply, “You don’t know anything, you’re just a child!”
Jiang Yumo quietly straightened her chest, “I’m not a child anymore. I’m already 17, and I’ll be 18 next year!”
Mother Jiang… Mother Jiang could only defend her dignity as a mother and reached out to twist her daughter’s ear while saying, “Don’t talk about being 17, even if you were 57, I’m still your mother, and you have to listen to me!”
“Dad!” Jiang Yumo yelled, “Mom is going to twist my ear off! It hurts!”
Mother Jiang coldly smiled, “If it comes off, we’ll cook it with some pig ears for dinner.”
Maybe because Mother Jiang was angered by what her daughter said.
She couldn’t sleep at night, tossing and turning. She heard her husband’s loud snoring and got angry. She kicked him to wake him up.
“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?” Father Jiang woke up, looking around.
Mother Jiang lay calmly in bed and said, “I’m going to the provincial capital with Brother and Sister-in-law tomorrow.”
“Huh?” He rubbed his mouth and realized, “Are you also buying a house?”
“My sister-in-law wanted me to help her out.” Mother Jiang closed her eyes. “I’m just going to take a look.”
Mother Jiang didn’t come back the next night.
Jiang Yumo asked around and found out that her Mom, Uncle, and Aunt went to the provincial capital. Her Mom and Aunt stayed overnight in the provincial capital, only Uncle came back. After figuring out the twists and turns, Jiang Yumo tried hard to hold back her laughter and returned to her room. She almost burst into beatboxing to express her excitement.
Despite being addicted to mahjong on a daily basis, Mother Jiang was undoubtedly a model worker in her job.
As far as Jiang Yumo could remember, her Mom had never taken a day off except for the two times Jiang Yumo had a high fever. It was rare for someone who had been steadfast in her job for a decade to take a day off. Jiang Yumo felt that buying a house had a chance of success. Even if Aunt tried to persuade her Mom, her Mom wouldn’t have taken a day off if her Mom wasn’t interested; taking a day off meant losing salary, which was a life-and-death matter for her Mom.
Jiang Yumo lay on the bed holding a pillow, rolling back and forth, as if foreseeing the future of making a big profit by buying a house before the housing price soared.
Hiding under the quilt and scrolling through her phone, she was surprised to find that her Weibo followers were about to reach one hundred!
She clicked on her followers…
Suddenly, she didn’t know whether to be disappointed or not. Most of the Weibo nicknames were a string of numbers, with even the profile pictures blank.
The remaining small portion had usernames like “Brother_Duan’s_Buddy_1” and “Brother_Duan’s_Buddy_5”. Without a doubt, all of her new followers were due to Duan Ye’s efforts. He must have mobilized people he knew to follow her.
Jiang Yumo promptly messaged her “hero” Duan Ye : [My Weibo followers are about to reach one hundred! So happy!]
At this hour, Duan Ye surprisingly hadn’t gone to sleep and instantly replied : [As long as you’re happy.]
Jiang Yumo couldn’t hold back any longer under the quilt. Seeing the five words and a period he sent, she felt like he was also under the quilt, whispering in her ear. For a moment, the air under the quilt felt thin, and she even had a suffocating sensation. She emerged from the quilt, took a deep breath, and pressed the keys to reply : [You haven’t gone to sleep yet?]
Duan Ye : [The circuits at home were old, I has just fixed them.]
Jiang Yumo was surprised : [Did you fix them yourself?]
Duan Ye : [Mm.]
Jiang Yumo : [You know how to fix electrical circuits?]
Duan Ye : [It’s not hard. My grandfather used to be an electrician, and I watched him when I was a kid.]
Jiang Yumo : [Wow, you’re amazing!]
No matter how mature Duan Ye is, he’s still just a 17-18-year-old boy who can’t resist the admiration shown by the person he likes.
He sits by the bed, with an old air conditioner running, making a loud noise in the quiet night. There’s also a standing fan blowing beside the bed. He’s young, and he has an endless amount of energy, and he’s also afraid of the heat. He’s already turned the air conditioner to a very low degree, and the fan is still blowing at him, but he still feels it’s not enough.
Being alone at home, he doesn’t have to worry too much, so he’s just wearing loose beach pants. He’s somewhere between mature and upright and the unique thinness of youth. That’s what an 18-year-old boy is like, living in a very vague boundary line, occasionally like a man, and occasionally like a boy.
Duan Ye…Duan Ye doesn’t know how to reply to this message.
Feeling that the temperature in the room is still too high, he picks up the air conditioner’s remote control to lower the degree.
Jiang Yumo : [Are you going to sleep now?]
Having known each other for so long, Duan Ye understands the meaning of her words. Without hesitation, he calls her number.