Lin Zhixia was his competitor. How could he pay attention to his competitor’s appearance and looks? Wasn’t his pursuit to far surpass Lin Zhixia’s intelligence and make her clearly understand the principle that “there’s always a higher mountain”?
Jiang Yubai steadied himself and refocused on Lin Zhixia’s silhouette.
Lin Zhixia paused her steps and turned her head to look back. She saw Jiang Yubai and Ding Yan quickly hiding behind a utility pole and didn’t quite understand what they were doing.
Are they following me? Lin Zhixia guessed.
Then she wondered: Why would they follow me?
She walked while thinking. Before she realized it, she had arrived at her front door.
This was an old residential area.
The main entrance of the community could only accommodate one car passing through, with two pillars about three meters high standing outside the gate. Four iron wires connected the tops of the pillars, bending into an arch, resembling a bridge. A sign hung on the wires with the words “An Cheng Residential Area” written in large characters.
An Cheng Residential Area had a total of 27 residential buildings. The exterior tiles of the buildings were yellowing, cement poles stretched with disorganized electrical wires, and a few households had even secretly extended two power lines below their apartments, stealing electricity.
Some miscellaneous items were piled between the buildings. A middle-aged man riding a tricycle held a rattle drum and was collecting scrap nearby. He parked his tricycle next to the pile of miscellaneous items and bent down to pick up cardboard boxes scattered on the ground.
Not far away was a road that seemed to have been damaged, leaving a large hole. Muddy water had accumulated in the hole, forming a ditch. Lin Zhixia stepped over the ditch with one foot and quickly ran toward a small supermarket, shouting: “Dad, Mom! I’m back!”
Her mother sat on a chair next to the cash register, holding an account book. She calculated twice with a ballpoint pen and scolded: “Old Lin! Old Lin! Come over here!”
Her father immediately came over.
Lin Zhixia’s father was only thirty-three years old this year. He was still young, but his wife liked to call him “Old Lin,” and he couldn’t do anything about it. He was the same age as his wife, and when they were just twenty years old, they had set up a wedding banquet in their hometown, borrowed some money, and headed to the provincial capital to work and run a small business.
He and his wife had two children. The eldest was named Lin Zeqiu, a boy who had just started seventh grade this year. Lin Zeqiu had a heart problem when he was born and had undergone two heart surgeries, but was fine now. Thanks to Lin Zeqiu’s “heart problem,” he and his wife had successfully obtained permission for a second child, so they had Lin Zhixia.
Lin Zhixia, this child…
How should I put it?
She was very special.
For instance, now she leaned on the cash register, coaxing: “Mom, Mom, give me the account book… I’ll help you check it.”
The so-called “cash register” was a glass cabinet. The cabinet was filled with cigarettes and alcohol priced above 10 yuan. On the counter, there was a large barrel of chewing gum, and hundreds of lollipops stuck in a hemispherical piece of soft plastic.
Lin Zhixia reached out to grab a lollipop. She continued to coax her mother: “Mom, Mom, I’ll help you check the account book, will you give me a lollipop? I want a strawberry-flavored lollipop.”
Her mother sternly replied: “No!”
Lin Zhixia fell silent, with two pools of tears welling up in her eyes. Her skin was very fair, as white as snow, and her eyes were very black. Long eyelashes wet with tears, she was as adorable as could be, as pitiful as could be—her mother simply couldn’t resist, and soon softened.
Her mother gently said to her daughter, “Xia Xia, how many times has Mom told you that you can’t always eat candy? Every time I restock, I only get this many, and if you eat them all, what will we sell?”
Her father was also mediating from the side: “One piece of candy, it doesn’t matter, right?”
“Who asked you?” Her mother didn’t have the heart to get angry at her daughter, so all her anger was transferred to her husband, “Where did you record yesterday’s accounts? I can’t balance the books, there’s a discrepancy of seventy yuan in cigarettes and alcohol…”
While her parents were talking, several people suddenly came in from outside.
Her mother immediately fell silent. She opened the glass cabinet and arranged a row of cigarettes more neatly.
This group of people was all middle-aged men in their thirties and forties. The leader was Lin Zhixia’s uncle. Her uncle was the first university graduate from their rural hometown. After completing his undergraduate degree, her uncle had also earned a master’s degree, obtained a “lawyer’s license,” and stayed in a renowned law firm in the provincial capital, becoming a prestigious litigation lawyer.
Her uncle lived in a large flat in the city center and had a son, Lin Zhixia’s cousin. Her cousin was one year older than Lin Zhixia, had just started fifth grade, and attended the same school as Lin Zhixia.
Upon seeing her uncle, Lin Zhixia greeted him politely: “Hello, Uncle.”
Her uncle was dressed in a suit with a designer watch on his wrist. He introduced the people behind him: “This is my sister and brother-in-law, and this is my little niece.” Then he said to Lin Zhixia’s mother: “Four relatives have come from our hometown. My work this month is especially busy, and next month I still have to go to Shanghai on a business trip. You know my situation—my wife is very strict with me, and we have few spare rooms at home, simply not enough to accommodate four people…”
Lin Zhixia interjected: “Uncle, we can’t accommodate them either. We only have three bedrooms: one for Dad and Mom, one for me, and one for my brother. There are cardboard boxes everywhere, and no place to step in the living room. Your house is different, it’s spacious and bright.”
Her uncle was startled and stroked Lin Zhixia’s head: “Xia Xia, have you been studying well lately?”
“No,” Lin Zhixia answered, “I only like watching TV and playing games.”
She dodged her uncle’s hand and hid behind her father. She tugged at the hem of her father’s clothes, secretly looking outside, and discovered that Jiang Yubai and Ding Yan were still standing on the steps outside the supermarket.
She waved at Jiang Yubai.
Jiang Yubai reacted as if he had encountered a terrifying monster. He stepped back four paces to a farther distance. Before Lin Zhixia could say anything, Jiang Yubai turned and ran, running faster and faster, his silhouette gradually merging into the glow of the setting sun.
Inside the supermarket, more customers came in. These customers were all residents of the community and acquaintances of Lin Zhixia’s parents.
Her mother left her uncle and those four relatives standing there. After greeting the customers, she finally spoke: “Big brother, I leave home at four in the morning every day to restock, and I have to take care of the children and handle the business. If you bring people to me, I can’t manage it all, can I?”
Her uncle took a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes from the glass cabinet but didn’t pay for them. He tore open the cigarette box, lit a cigarette, exhaled a thin white mist, and put his left hand in his pocket.
One of the relatives asked: “Where will we stay? Give us a definite answer. Fellow villagers coming to the city to work, if you can help, then help, if not, then forget it!”
The others all chimed in agreement.
Her uncle waved his right hand outward: “Let’s go. Don’t worry, I’ll arrange it.”
The relatives all praised him for being righteous; no wonder he could remain in the big city as a lawyer.
Lin Zhixia watched her uncle walk away.
She leaned against the door, sighing inwardly.
*
The twilight glow dimmed, and the city’s lights began to shine.
Around five-thirty, her brother came home.