"I don't even care!" Hua Qingqing said speechlessly, looking at the dust on the table and brushing it off with her hand.
What a mess! He didn't even take his trash with him when he left.
The sun was setting sluggishly.
It wasn't until the whole room had grown dim that Hua Qingqing put down the pen in her hand and stretched.
She was thinking that she'd have to find some time to talk to her teacher about skipping a grade.
"Qingqing?"
Just as she had lit the candle, a hushed call came from behind.
Hua Qingqing turned around and saw Yu Jianchuan hunched over at the door. In the darkness, he looked rather spooky.
"Little Uncle, what are you doing?"
"Cough, cough. I brought you something," Yu Jianchuan said as he walked in. He was clutching something in his hand and tried to shove it into Hua Qingqing's hand. But Hua Qingqing kept her hand tightly closed.
What was this all about?
It couldn't be that he was stuffing peanuts into her hand again, could it? She didn't like raw peanuts!
Yu Jianchuan clicked his tongue. "Hey, you little thing. You don't even want the money I'm giving you!"
Since he couldn't get the money into her hand, Yu Jianchuan just put it on the table.
The flickering candlelight illuminated the small room clearly.
There was a roll of money on the table. It was only slightly loose, but it looked quite thick. The top one was a grayish-blue bill.
Wow, a hundred yuan!
With the rest, there must be several hundred yuan in total.
Hua Qingqing didn't reach for it. Doubts welled up in her heart.
Even if he had made a fortune, he couldn't spend money like this. First, he bought a coat, then a radio, and now he was giving her money.
To be honest, she was a bit curious about what kind of small business Yu Jianchuan was doing in the south.
"Little Uncle, I can't take this. It's too much. It's not easy for you to make a living out there on your own. Take the money back," Hua Qingqing said.
"Also, even though Grandma is wrong nine and a half times out of ten, there's one thing she said that makes sense. You shouldn't just spend all your money on buying things for the family. You should save it. Don't give it all to Grandma."
"You little brat, you're even bossing me around now," Yu Jianchuan said. But even as he said this, his eyes turned red.
Thinking of the past, he let out a long sigh.
"Your mom used to be just as fussy as you. When I went fishing in the water, she'd worry and urge me several times from the shore. Don't worry. I've got money. This money is for you. You got into No. 1 Middle School. You deserve a reward. The twins are getting some too, but you're getting the most," Yu Jianchuan said in a teasing tone, lowering his voice for the last sentence.
He was almost thirty years old, but he was acting like a child.
When Hua Qingqing heard him mention her so - called mom, a figure flashed through her mind. It was a very unfamiliar figure.
Did Yu Jianchuan seem to know her very well?
Her eyebrows twitched slightly, and her eyes sparkled brightly in the candlelight. "Uncle, do you have any contact with my mom?"
Yu Jianchuan worked in the coastal areas in the south. That place wasn't far from Hong Kong Island. Maybe they had some contact. From the way the little uncle acted, it seemed that he had a very good relationship with her so - called mom.
But she was disappointed.
As soon as she asked the question, Yu Jianchuan immediately gave a negative answer.
"No. That family took Sister Yuanyuan away back then and didn't leave any contact information. Hey, don't they send things here every month? You can write a letter to Sister Yuanyuan!"
Hua Qingqing rolled her eyes at the suddenly excited little uncle. He always seemed so silly. Couldn't she think of writing a letter? The problem was that it was useless! If it was useful, would she still need to ask?
"I've written several letters, but they haven't replied to a single one. I don't even know if they've reached my mom's hands," Hua Qingqing said.
Yu Jianchuan frowned and said firmly, "Sister Yuanyuan would never not reply to your letters. It's probably that the letters you wrote were intercepted!"
You're so confident.
If that so - called mom really cared about her daughter, she would have replied to the letter no matter how difficult it was, right?
The fact that there was no news at all was quite obvious, wasn't it? Apart from sending some things every month, it was just like completing a monthly task.
Hua Qingqing didn't hold out much hope, but she also thought that Yu Jianchuan might be right. Her so - called mom might never have even seen the letters she sent. They were intercepted. That family deliberately wanted to separate them completely because they were no longer from the same social class.
What's more, what that family really wanted to do was to completely erase the traces of her real mom's life in the Five - Star Production Brigade and in the Yu family.
These people were really boring.
Who would bother to stare at others trying to find their fathers and mothers? Living a good life was the most important thing!
Early the next morning, Hua Qingqing packed her things and went to the county town.
It was the weekend today. It was Chen Mengshu's birthday.
She had made an appointment with Chen Mengshu to meet at the Cadre's Building.
Hua Qingqing actually wanted to give Chen Mengshu a schoolbag as a gift, but the factory had just finished recruiting workers and was in the training stage. Everyone was busy. She didn't feel right asking Zhou Cai to make a schoolbag for her.
She'd bring one for her later when the factory started full - scale production. It wasn't like it would make much difference.
The gifts she was bringing today should be enough, right?
Hua Qingqing looked down at the books tied up with a rope in her hand.
What wonderful gifts!
Good students would love them!
These were all her own collected and sorted books. They were priceless.
When she got near the Cadre's Building, she saw Chen Mengshu standing at the door from afar, stomping her feet boredly.
Hua Qingqing quickened her steps. As soon as Chen Mengshu saw her, she waved her hand and then ran over at full speed, like a chubby bullet.
Hua Qingqing was afraid that she wouldn't be able to stop in time and would run into her, so she quickly dodged to the side.
"Ouch!"
Sure enough, Chen Mengshu couldn't stop in time. She fell head - first onto the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Are you okay?" Hua Qingqing quickly went over to help her up. Chen Mengshu's eyes were already red.
"My new clothes! This was the first time I wore them!"
"My mom is definitely going to scold me when I get home later!"
"Hua Qingqing, why did you dodge just now?"
Hua Qingqing said, "If I hadn't dodged, both of us would have fallen. But now that I dodged, only you fell. That's a better deal."
"… It does seem so," Chen Mengshu said.
Hua Qingqing shook her head. Oh no, this girl was really silly.
"Come on, come on. It's too sunny. Let's go to your place first," Hua Qingqing said.
Only then did Chen Mengshu notice the things in Hua Qingqing's hands. There were big and small bags, and her hands were full.
"My goodness, why did you bring so many things? My parents have already prepared everything," Chen Mengshu said.
"I'm going to someone's house for the first time. How could I go empty - handed?" Hua Qingqing replied.
Chen Mengshu was so touched that her eyes were misty.
Hua Qingqing was so poor, but she still bought so many things for her birthday.
She really liked being her friend, didn't she?
To make it easier for her new friend, Chen Mengshu took all the things from Hua Qingqing's hands.
Hua Qingqing followed Chen Mengshu upstairs. Seeing her staggering, she wanted to take the things back, but was refused.
This girl was really stubborn.
Hua Qingqing decided not to bother. She started to look around the Cadre's Building. There were three three - story buildings. The Chen family lived on the second floor of the middle one. The corridor wasn't too wide but also not too crowded. There were a lot of things placed at the base of the walls.
Hua Qingqing looked down. There were some red - brick houses and tile - roofed houses below. It wasn't as mysterious as people said outside. They were just ordinary houses, a bit better than the ones in the countryside.
She hadn't had the chance to take a look inside last time when she beat up Xu Guangzong. This time, she was making up for it.
Just as she was thinking, Hua Qingqing turned her head and saw a familiar face.