Chapter 110: I Know She’s Returning to the City

After leaving the Cai family’s house, He Ziqing was puzzled. “Sister Yinuo, Uncle Cai will be back soon. Why don’t we wait for him? Didn’t you want to talk to him about the peach preserves?”

“Qingqing, do you understand the purpose of today?”

“We’re here to visit Aunt Cai.”

“Exactly. We’re here to visit Aunt Cai, so we must keep the priorities in order. If Uncle Cai comes back and starts talking about the peach preserves, would you speak up or not?”

“Of course I’d speak up. We came back for the peach preserves’ market, right?”

“But some things should not be mixed together. If we use the visit as a pretense just to talk about peaches, what would that make Aunt Cai think? Anyone would wonder whether our visit was sincere.”

He Ziqing nodded. “I understand now.”

“It’s getting late. Let’s head home quickly; they’re probably hungry by now.”

The next day, He Ziqing returned to visit her aunt with pine nuts and dried hazelnut mushrooms that she had brought from the countryside.

Qiu Yinuo and her younger brother took the kids to the department store. The last time they came, they didn’t visit anywhere because they had to deal with Qingqing’s matters. This time, Qiu Yinuo decided to make it up to her brother.

From the moment they boarded the bus, Jinzi couldn’t stop exclaiming softly in wonder. Everything he saw fascinated him.

In their village, even owning a bicycle was a big deal. Who would’ve thought there’d be bicycles everywhere on the streets of the provincial capital?

“Sis, look, over there! It’s so grand! What’s that place?”

Following Jinzi’s pointing, Qiu Yinuo saw a building in a European style. From the outside, it was hard to guess what it was, but Qiu Yinuo knew that it was an office building left by the foreigners. Later, the country took it back and turned it into a bank.

“A bank!” She replied. Since the northeast was a major industrial base heavily supported by the country, the provincial capital’s development was impressive, even more so than some southern cities.

In another two years, this place would no longer be the same, and even the talent would be fleeing rapidly.

“What? A bank?” Jinzi, holding Dabao, was nearly pressed against the glass, muttering to himself, “The bank is so grand. Dabao, look quickly!”

Dabao, uninterested, pouted. He had seen even more impressive small buildings before.

In a soft voice, he reminded his uncle, “Let Erbao see!”

Let his little brother see the world.

It was unclear whether Erbao understood, but the little one immediately closed his eyes and snuggled into his mother’s arms, pretending to sleep.

Fortunately, they were squeezed into the last row. Otherwise, with Jinzi pushing like that, they would surely attract disapproving stares from others.

Facing the other passengers’ looks of disdain, Qiu Yinuo remained calm and composed. “You two take your time looking, but keep your voices down. Don’t disturb others.”

She had seen such scenes many times, and they no longer felt surprising. After all, not everyone was born in Rome.

An hour later, the bus reeked of diesel, and Dabao, feeling nauseous, gagged.

In a weak voice, he said, “Mom, I feel sick.”

Though Dabao’s words weren’t clearly enunciated, Qiu Yinuo understood right away. She pulled out a piece of preserved plum candy from her pocket.

“You’re motion sick. Sucking on this will help. Just hang in there a little longer, we’re getting off soon.”

Dabao’s face was pale as a sheet. With the candy in his mouth, he mumbled, “I miss my Rolls-Royce.”

“You sure have wild dreams!”

Qiu Qianjin was momentarily confused and didn’t quite know how to respond. “Dabao, what kind of si do you want to eat? Want some shredded radish soup or shredded potato soup for dinner?”

Dabao took a deep breath. What kind of answer was that? It was completely off-topic.

The sweet and sour flavor quickly filled his mouth, barely suppressing the urge to throw up.

He vowed that from now on, he would stay at home quietly. The travel conditions in this era were not suited for him.

Alternatively, he could let his mom put him in space, and then sneak out once they arrived.

After about an hour and a half, the four of them finally arrived at the department store.

Qiu Qianjin seemed to have opened a new door. Everything seemed amazing to him. “Sis, the stuff here is way more high-end than what we have back in our town.”

“Department stores are all about the ‘expensive’ stuff. We’re just here to look around.”

“Okay.”

They wandered through cosmetics, then men’s and women’s clothing, before heading over to the children’s section.

As they passed one of the storefronts, the siblings stopped in their tracks. They looked at the outfit on the child mannequin, then looked down at the clothes Dabao and Erbao were wearing.

It was the exact same set!

Qiu Qianjin swallowed, pointing at the price tag. “Sis, this set of clothes costs that much?”

“Six yuan for children’s clothes?”

Qiu Yinuo reached out and touched the fabric of the mannequin’s clothes, then touched Dabao and Erbao’s clothes. The feel was the same—exactly the same.

“Sis, two sets of clothes would be twelve bucks. My brother-in-law’s teacher sent more than four or five pieces. Let’s go in and take another look.”

The shop assistant had spotted them from far away. Though the adults were dressed very plainly, the kids they were carrying were wearing the store’s most beautiful clothes, costing over six yuan per outfit. In these times, not many families could afford such clothes.

So, the shop assistant greeted them enthusiastically.

“Comrade, we’ve got new arrivals! Would you like to have a look for your children?” The saleswoman smiled as she looked at their kids in their clothes. “Look, your children look perfect in our store’s clothes. They’re so pretty!”

The walls were filled with a dazzling array of clothes, but a few were particularly familiar.

After seeing the prices again, Qiu Yinuo and Qiu Qianjin were almost convinced they were seeing things. “Sis, is my brother-in-law’s teacher really that rich? These outfits easily add up to close to a hundred yuan!”

Qiu Yinuo was sure now that the person who sent the clothes was not her brother-in-law’s teacher.

Could it be Shao Chengyuan?

But then she thought about it—where would he get the money to buy such expensive clothes?

After leaving the department store, Qiu Qianjin glanced back.

“What are you looking at?”

“Sis, do you think Beijing is more prosperous than here?”

Qiu Yinuo was silent for a moment. “Yes, Beijing is the capital of our country, the face of our nation. It’s bound to be more prosperous than our place.”

After seeing the wider world outside, Qiu Qianjin realized for the first time that there were indeed people living in a world different from his.

“Sis, actually, I know that Qian Zhiqing is going back to the city.”

“How do you know?”

“I’ve been working in the city, right? So I asked Dongzi to keep an eye on her for me. I knew a little village like ours could never keep her. Honestly, it’s probably better this way. I won’t have to keep worrying about her or keep thinking that if I just tried harder, she might finally notice me. Now that she’s gone back to the city, I can finally give up completely.”

“I won’t think about it anymore,” he added softly. “It’s fine.”

Qiu Yinuo didn’t know how to comfort him. “Jinzi, how about I make you some pig’s knuckle stew tonight? We’ll turn this sadness into appetite.”