After the National Day holiday ended, Jiang Yubai came to school carrying a gift bag.
Jiang Yubai’s playroom was filled with countless car models, airplane models, Transformers, and Lego blocks. However, he had almost no plush toys. He took his father as a role model. He believed that an iron-willed man like his father would generally not be obsessed with plush toys.
That day, after visiting the industrial park, Jiang Yubai found a plush kitten toy in the gift bag, so he decided to pass this on to Lin Zhixia.
This morning, as Lin Zhixia entered the classroom and walked to her seat as usual, Jiang Yubai immediately took out the gift bag and stuffed it into her desk drawer. This series of actions was smooth and seamless, and he explained simply and directly: “A gift for you, you’re welcome.”
“Is today a special holiday?” Lin Zhixia asked him, “Why are you bringing me another gift?”
Jiang Yubai couldn’t answer. His series of actions seemed like he was trying to win over a competitor. He couldn’t help but fall into deep thought.
Lin Zhixia tugged at the gift bag and said seriously, “Jiang Yubai, you’re always giving me things, and I feel a bit embarrassed. Because I can’t repay you with gifts of equal value. When you give me things, it’s like you’re losing out.”
Jiang Yubai refuted: “No. My father says that money is not the only standard for measuring value.”
Lin Zhixia tilted her head: “Your father is right.”
Jiang Yubai nodded: “Yes.”
Lin Zhixia opened the gift bag and saw a plush kitten toy. She became so excited she could hardly contain herself. Her eyes were clear, sparkling with light: “A kitten, a fluffy little kitten.”
She continued to rummage through the bag and found a greeting card, as well as a vacuum-packed dairy pastry.
“Thank you, Jiang Yubai!” Lin Zhixia turned her head to tell him.
This gift was only something Jiang Yubai was passing on to Lin Zhixia, not something he had prepared himself. But he didn’t explicitly tell Lin Zhixia this. He felt an inexplicable shame and pretended as if nothing had happened: “These aren’t that great.”
Lin Zhixia suddenly tightened the gift bag, took out her “Human Observation Diary,” and eagerly wrote: Today in the morning, I once again received a gift from classmate Jiang Yubai. Between good friends, there should be reciprocity. When I find something that can repay Jiang Yubai, I will give it to him.
Jiang Yubai had everything he wanted. Any item that could be bought with money, he did not lack.
But he still had one urgent wish that had not yet been fulfilled.
He wanted to far surpass Lin Zhixia and hear her say with his own ears: Jiang Yubai, you’re amazing! I lost to you! I lost so completely!
So far, the hope seemed slim.
Nevertheless, Jiang Yubai would never give up!
Someday, Lin Zhixia would become his defeated opponent.
*
For Lin Zhixia, today’s school life was extremely pleasant.
During the afternoon class meeting, the students of Class 4(1) received another piece of good news. The school had decided to organize this semester’s autumn excursion in mid-October, and all fourth-grade students would visit the city’s marine aquarium under the guidance of their teachers.
Marine aquarium!
These two words made the students incredibly excited.
Lin Zhixia was especially happy. She had never been to a marine aquarium before.
She felt that today was truly her lucky day. She had received a kitten plush toy and could now plan for an aquarium trip. Moreover, she now had a good friend, and she could go observe all kinds of aquatic creatures with Jiang Yubai.
The only problem was that this autumn excursion operated on a “voluntary registration” principle, charging each student 76 yuan.
That evening, the first thing Lin Zhixia did after returning home was to find her mother and ask for money with slight shyness: “Mom, our grade is having an autumn excursion to the marine aquarium, and each person needs to pay 76 yuan. The teacher said this is the discounted group price, including lunch fees. Mom, can you give me 76 yuan?”
While Lin Zhixia was speaking, her mother was cooking. The iron knife swung down, chopping onto a piece of ribs, making a loud “bang,” which startled Lin Zhixia. She hid outside the kitchen door, showing half her face, looking at her mother with longing eyes.
“Mom, Mom,” Lin Zhixia wheedled in a sweet voice, “I want to go to the marine aquarium.”
Her mother finished dealing with the ribs, turned on the faucet, and quietly washed her hands.
At the bottom of the kitchen windowsill stood an old cast-iron water pipe. A water meter hung on the side of the old pipe. At the end of each month, workers from the waterworks would come to check the meter and ask users to pay. Many families had their unique ways of saving money, and Lin Zhixia’s mother was quite adept at this. She gripped the faucet handle, slowly tightened it, and the water meter stopped rotating, but drops of tap water still slid from the outlet, falling into a ceramic basin.
The water meter had stopped.
Water drops still dripped rhythmically, little by little accumulating.
Lin Zhixia walked over and grabbed her mother’s apron: “Mom, turn off the faucet. We shouldn’t steal water…”
Her mother finally answered her: “Xia Xia, your brother is in middle school, and in a couple of years, he’ll take the senior high school entrance exam, then he’ll need to go to high school and university. You, too, must continue your education, and your dad and I need to save money for you both. Your grandparents also want to renovate their old house. Your grandparents’ neighbors have all built new houses with red bricks and cement roofs…”
“How much money do we have left at home?” Lin Zhixia suddenly asked, “Can we buy stocks?”
Her mother’s cold, water-dampened fingers touched Lin Zhixia’s face: “How could stock trading be so easy? Your father and I don’t have secure jobs; we rely on this small shop to raise you two siblings. There’s already a Golden Prosperity supermarket in front of our community, a Century Union in the north street, and they’re building a Carrefour by the east gate. Once they finish building Carrefour, we’ll have even fewer customers here.”
In business, reputation is important, but so is luck.
Years ago, when Lin Zhixia’s parents first came to the provincial capital, they scraped together every penny they had to take over this shop. The first two years of business were the best; they indeed earned quite a bit and cleared all the family’s debts, leaving only a bank loan. But ever since legitimate chain supermarkets like Golden Prosperity and Century Union appeared near the residential area, the customer flow at the Lin family shop had noticeably decreased.
This was simply unavoidable.
Lin Zhixia’s mother turned on the gas cylinder and poured oil into the hot wok on the stove. While cooking, she said to Lin Zhixia: “If you want to buy books or tutoring materials, not just 76 yuan, even 760 yuan, mom would be willing to give you. But what’s the point of going to the aquarium? Xia Xia, during your first to third grade autumn excursions, you never went to such expensive places. Why has the price suddenly increased to 76 yuan in the fourth grade? Don’t other students’ parents have any objections?”
“I don’t know,” Lin Zhixia answered in her childish voice, “Mom, Mom, I want to go…”
“Stop whining! Acting like a spoiled child all day.” Her mother sternly reprimanded.
The oil smoke from the iron wok spread outward, giving off a choking smell. Lin Zhixia sneezed and clutched her mother’s apron tightly with her fingers: “Other classmates can all go, why can’t I go?”
Her mother held the spatula, stir-frying the braised ribs in the iron wok. Her tone became hurried: “Because your family is poor. Your family is poor! Remember that? Your parents aren’t locals from the provincial capital, we came here with nothing, no relatives, no friends. Is money so easy to earn? Don’t always compare yourself with other classmates at school. Are you going to school to learn, or to compare family backgrounds? If you must have everything others have, how are we supposed to get by? Think more about your father, mother, and brother, don’t be selfish.”
Lin Zhixia was full of grievance, holding back tears: “Our school is organizing an autumn excursion, I was just asking you, why does that make me selfish? If I can’t go, then I won’t go. I never said I must go.”
The spatula made chaotic collision sounds against the bottom of the wok. Her mother turned her back to Lin Zhixia and asked: “Do you know how much food 76 yuan can buy? You and your brother are both growing and need nutrition. The eggs, milk, pork, and fish at home can’t be interrupted. If you go play at the aquarium for a day, 76 yuan would be gone, is that worth it?”