While the salon apprentice was preparing to blow-dry and style Mother Jiang’s hair, Liu Zhi entered with two cups of milk tea. He placed the milk tea in front of them and tried hard to control himself from calling her “sister-in-law,” smiling calmly, he said, “Hello, here are two cups of milk tea for you. Please come again in the future.”
Mother Jiang exclaimed, “Oh my.”
Indeed, mother and daughter, their tone and expression when saying “oh my” were almost identical. Mother Jiang asked, “So polite?”
Liu Zhi smiled and replied, “It should be.”
Jiang Yumo suppressed her smile.
Well, one of the cups happened to be her favorite chocolate milk tea.
It was acceptable. Two cups of milk tea weren’t too expensive, and it was Liu Zhi’s thoughtfulness.
This gesture also touched Jiang’s mother. After paying and coming out, she praised, “Not bad, this shop knows how to do business. Milk tea doesn’t cost much, but buying it makes me feel comfortable in my heart! Even if they didn’t achieve the hairstyle I wanted, I don’t intend to make a fuss!”
Jiang Yumo sipped her rich and fragrant chocolate milk tea and secretly smiled.
No way, according to Zhao Zheng, Liu Zhi is very stingy and never offers to pay when they go out to eat or hang out.
But Liu Zhi knows how to be grateful. He’s stingy with everyone else, except for his own grandparents and Duan Ye.
Jiang Yumo really enjoys hearing stories about Duan Ye.
She knows that in the eyes of many people, Duan Ye has many flaws, even in her Mom’s eyes, her Mom doesn’t have high hopes for her future with Duan Ye.
Others think that she likes Duan Ye because of he was known to be fierce but he was considerate to her.
Yes, and no.
She liked it when he read her wuxia novels. She liked that he had a loyal character, even though he didn’t express it in words as much as others did.
He had always been protecting the friendships he valued in his own way, so whether it was Guo Shichao and Zhao Zheng at school or Zhang Chao and Liu Zhi, who had already entered society, they all had tremendous respect for him. Perhaps in the eyes of adults, this kind of respect was laughable, but in their eyes, Duan Ye was worthy of it.
Duan Ye was truly very good.
To like him and be liked by him, it was also very good!
Mother Jiang brought Jiang Yumo to a buffet steak restaurant.
Today was a working day and a school day, so the restaurant wasn’t crowded. Mother Jiang bought two tickets and chose the best seats for herself and her daughter.
Jiang Yumo’s family background couldn’t be considered very good, but in Ningcheng and among her classmates, it was quite decent. Both her parents had stable jobs, especially her father, who worked hard driving a bus. He would leave early and return late every day, and even during the Lunar New Year, he would only have a day off. His salary was considerable in Ningcheng, and Mother Jiang knew how to manage the household well. So their small family never had to worry about food, clothing, and they had a warm and harmonious home.
Sometimes when Mother Jiang was in a particularly good mood, she would take Father Jiang and Jiang Yumo out to eat.
There would be one or two times like this every month.
These past two days, Jiang Yumo had been itching to ask about the matter of buying a house. Seeing her Mom in a good mood now, she finally couldn’t help but ask, “Mom, a few days ago, you went to the provincial capital with Aunt to look at houses. How did it go?”
Mother Jiang was cutting the steak and gave her daughter a disdainful look. “Is this something you should be worrying about? The most important thing for you right now is studying. You’re still a child, so don’t worry about unnecessary things.”
“…,” Jiang Yumo retorted, “I’m not a child. In just ten months, I’ll be turning eighteen and officially an adult. Mom, I’m just curious!”
Mother Jiang calmly replied, “We can’t afford to buy. Your aunt hasn’t decided which property to buy yet.”
Can’t afford to buy?
Jiang Yumo didn’t actually have a concept of housing prices. Before she bought clothes and watches for Duan Ye, the peak of her little savings was only a couple of thousand yuan, and that was from her parents during the Lunar New Year. One hundred yuan, one thousand yuan, ten thousand yuan, she understood the differences, but when it came to several hundred thousand for buying a house… she couldn’t imagine it. Of course, her current mood could be described as disappointed, but it was her own fault for not considering it enough.
She lowered her head and curiously asked, “Mom, how much money do we have at home?”
Mother Jiang didn’t blush or hesitate, “A few thousand yuan.”
Very few parents would actually disclose how much money they have at home to their children.
Not even Father Jiang knew how much money they had.
Mother Jiang was absolutely secretive about this matter.
Jiang Yumo : “…”
She was so angry that she took a bite of the juicy steak and said, “Mom, don’t treat me like a fool.”
Mother Jiang chuckled, and the mother and daughter bantered for a while. Mother Jiang looked at her daughter’s pouty cheeks, resembling a little hamster, and softened her tone for a moment. “Your Aunt indeed hasn’t made up her mind yet, so this week I have to take another trip to the provincial capital with her.”
“She hasn’t decided yet??” Jiang Yumo asked incredulously, “You spent a night in the provincial capital, looked for two days, and still haven’t made a decision?”
“Do you think it’s like buying cabbage?” Mother Jiang found it amusing. “This is a major matter. Don’t you think we should take a good look? The location needs to be chosen carefully. We have to consider the transportation, whether there are parks, hospitals, and schools nearby. And we need to find out if the relevant authorities have any plans for the next few years. Lighting in the house is also important. We have to visit in the morning and in the afternoon, on sunny days and rainy days. Not to mention the layout of the house, whether the developer is reliable, and the process of obtaining the necessary permits.”
Jiang Yumo was dumbfounded. “It’s so troublesome?”
Mother Jiang glared at her. “What do you think? You’re always haphazardly jumping into things without considering the consequences. You don’t know how troublesome the follow-up can be. So, don’t worry about these matters. Focus on your studies, do you understand?”
Jiang Yumo shrank her neck and obediently replied, “Okay, Mom.”
She finally understood.
It seemed that there was no point in trying to predict the future in advance. With her age and intelligence… What good was it to know that Weibo would become popular when she only had a little over two hundred followers? What good was it to know that housing prices would soar when she couldn’t handle the complicated process of buying a house and didn’t have the money…
She felt so frustrated!