Free Web NovelChapter 226: Chapter 226: I Want a Chicken Leg
Sun Jiaming and Gu’er had made their decision, so naturally, Li Zhi had to make his.
"One floor." fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
Dingzi said two words.
"What? You’re buying a whole floor? A whole floor isn’t cheap! I’m telling you, man, I never would’ve guessed you were so rich. How about you lend me some cash to spend?"
Li Zhi said to Dingzi with a cheeky grin.
Dingzi glanced at him, his eyes filled with killing intent.
"Okay, okay, I get it! You want to buy on the same floor as Jia Ming and Gu’er. Seriously, you could have just said so. Would it kill you to say a couple more words? If you’re all getting a place on one floor, then I will too. I just don’t know if there are any left."
Li Zhi grumbled. Of course he knew what Dingzi meant; he was just joking.
Gu’er and Sun Jiaming watched in amusement. Gu’er couldn’t figure out how Li Zhi and Dingzi had become friends, let alone such good buddies. ’One is so talkative, and the other barely says a word—it seems like it would be a struggle for them to even communicate,’ she thought. ’But they’re both good guys. And you don’t always need words to connect.’
"Hey, when you guys have free time, you should all find an instructor and learn to drive. Bring the instructor a couple bottles of liquor as a sign of respect so he’ll give you some extra lessons. Once we’re big bosses in the future, it’ll look bad if we don’t have cars."
The mere mention of cars made Li Zhi’s heart itch with excitement.
Gu’er knew that men loved cars. Li Zhi’s father and her own father, Lin Shan, both had access to cars at their work units. They would take them when they had to go out for work inspections and such, but they never used company vehicles for personal matters. They were what you’d call good cadres.
"You three go ahead and learn. I don’t want to. Just thinking about it scares me. Once you all know how, you can be my chauffeurs. How great would that be? I’d have three drivers just like that."
Gu’er said with a chuckle. She had no objection to buying a car.
"Dream on! When I buy a car, I’m going to be driving it around to find a girlfriend. I’m not chauffeuring you. Let Jia Ming drive you."
Li Zhi pouted.
"Drive."
Dingzi said a single word, nodding at Gu’er.
Sun Jiaming smiled so wide his eyes seemed to glisten. He loved this atmosphere, loved seeing Gu’er like this. The sadness was gone from her, and she seemed to have regained her youthful energy and liveliness.
"Brother Dingzi is the best."
Gu’er nodded back at Dingzi.
"You’re just trying to make trouble. She has a boyfriend, what are you offering to drive her for?" fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
Li Zhi glared at Dingzi.
"Drive. I’ll drive."
Dingzi said another three words, infuriating Li Zhi. Gu’er and Sun Jiaming couldn’t stop laughing. Sometimes, Dingzi was just too adorable.
The next day, Gu’er was at the Sun Family’s home visiting Grandma Sun, while Sun Jiaming went back to the village. He wanted to invite Aunt Zhao, Uncle Zhao, and the others over, because they were all leaving for Wenzhou the next day.
That evening, Gu’er went home and told Lin Shan and Chen Fengjiao about the trip to Wenzhou.
Lin Shan was very supportive after hearing Gu’er’s plan. He thought it was a good thing that young people like them had flexible minds and dared to venture out and work hard. He just reminded Gu’er to be careful and stay safe while she was away.
Chen Fengjiao, however, had her reservations. She felt Gu’er was too wild-spirited and couldn’t stay put at home, not at all like a proper young lady.
But since her daughter was going to marry Sun Jiaming in the future, and the Sun Family hadn’t said anything, she didn’t feel it was her place to object, so she kept quiet.
Gu’er didn’t think too much of it. ’My relationship with my parents is a little strange,’ she mused. ’In other families, the father is quiet and the mother is talkative. When a daughter leaves home, her mother will nag her endlessly, reminding her of this and that, afraid she’ll forget something, afraid she won’t eat or sleep well, afraid something will happen to her. They’ll fuss over everything, but that just shows how much a mother loves her daughter.’
’In our family, though, it’s the opposite. Dad is the talkative one; besides discussing all sorts of things with me, he always reminds me to be safe. Mom, on the other hand, barely says anything. She just told me to be careful on the journey and to listen to Sun Jiaming and Li Zhi.’
But Gu’er wasn’t one to complain. ’Relationships are built over time,’ she thought. ’I’m never home, so maybe I just haven’t had time to connect with Chen Fengjiao. That’s why we’ve never been that close, not like a typical mother and daughter. Perhaps our connection is just shallow.’
With these thoughts in her mind, Gu’er boarded the train with Sun Jiaming, Li Zhi, and Dingzi.
They weren’t short on money now, so they had bought sleeper car tickets. They also brought a lot of food. On the small table were red sausages, meat skewers, Goubangzi-style smoked chicken, braised beef, and pig’s trotters. There were also peanuts and marinated dried tofu, and to drink, they had water and some liquor.
The four of them ate and chatted. Of course, it was mostly three of them talking; Dingzi was in charge of eating and listening.
Others in the car watched them eat with envy. Generally, people who could afford sleeper tickets were well-off, but who would bring so much food on a trip? Some, afraid of getting too hungry, tried not to look, but the aroma wafted through the car, making it impossible not to swallow.
Sure enough, sitting on the bunk opposite them was an old woman with an eight or nine-year-old boy. The boy kept swallowing his saliva and fussing that he wanted to eat.
Gu’er didn’t notice at first, but when she heard him, she quickly asked the boy what he wanted to eat and offered to give him some.
"No, no, it’s alright. We brought our own food. You eat, you eat. The child will quiet down after a little fussing."
The old woman quickly waved her hands in refusal. She then took out a flatbread and a green onion from her bag to give to the boy. But the boy slapped the bread out of his grandmother’s hand and yelled, "I want to eat meat! I want to eat chicken! I’m not eating this crap!"
Gu’er frowned slightly as she watched the flatbread get knocked to the floor. ’This boy is a year or two older than Lin Zheng, but he’s not nearly as well-behaved.’ Seeing that the grandmother couldn’t calm her grandson, who was kicking his legs restlessly, Gu’er noticed that if his grandmother wasn’t holding him back tightly, he would have come over and grabbed the food himself.
Gu’er handed the chicken leg she was holding to the boy. Sun Jiaming had torn it off for her earlier, and she hadn’t eaten it yet.
Without a word, the boy took it and started biting into it. The old woman was embarrassed, her face flushing red as she thanked Gu’er.
Gu’er smiled at her and told her not to mention it. In truth, she understood that the old woman must have felt terrible. ’Who would want to accept food from strangers? If it were just her, she’d probably rather gnaw on flatbread and drink hot water than take our food. But with a grandson like this, she has no choice but to accept.’
"I want another chicken leg! Give me another one!"
The boy finished the chicken leg Gu’er had given him. Then, without bothering about the grease all over his hands and mouth, he demanded another from Gu’er. From his tone, it was as if he felt it was perfectly normal and that he was entitled to her food.
"Tie Dan, we can’t ask for more. That’s not ours; they paid for it with their own money. When we get to Harbin, I’ll have your mom buy some for you, okay?"
The old woman quickly tried to reason with her grandson.
"Why don’t *you* buy it for me? You never buy me anything to eat! Are you even my grandma? No wonder my mom says you’re from the village, that you’re poor, and told me not to come back. You’re not my grandma! I can’t stand you! And my name isn’t Tie Dan! It’s Jinxiang! Zheng Jinxiang! Don’t you dare call me Tie Dan anymore. My mom says it’s a hick name. You can tell right away it’s from a country bumpkin from the village."
Tie Dan, or rather Zheng Jinxiang, spoke very clearly. From his tone, it was obvious he had no care or respect for his own grandmother.
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