Chapter 40

Although Maimiao was a little confused about Xia Qingning spending three yuan on a pile of useless scraps, seeing He Shanshan like a peacock, showing off in front of others, she couldn’t help but retort:

“He Shanshan, why are you so persistent? People can buy whatever they want, it’s none of your business!”

“I’m just curious, I wanted to see what kind of good things someone who doesn’t like this beautiful dress would buy. Haha, so it’s just these.” He Shanshan said while laughing, her teeth showing.

Maimiao looked at the red dress on her and suddenly felt that the dress wasn’t pretty at all. As Xia Qingning said, it had a kind of tacky vibe.

“She looks good in anything! You can only be jealous.” Maimiao said disdainfully, glancing at He Shanshan.

He Shanshan patted her newly bought dress, looking proud:

“That’s funny. I’m wearing a twenty-yuan dress, and she’s wearing three yuan worth of scraps. What am I jealous of?”

“Jealous that she’s prettier than you, duh.” Maimiao said bluntly.

At this time, the saleswoman had already tied up the fabrics and handed them to Xia Qingning. Looking at her ribbon braid, she couldn’t help but compliment her:

“Your hairstyle is so beautiful. You’re so skilled, the clothes you make must be beautiful.”

Xia Qingning smiled and took the fabrics. She wasn’t ashamed because of He Shanshan’s sarcasm, but instead said confidently:

“When I run out, I’ll come back and buy more from you.”

He Shanshan was very unbalanced. She had bought such an expensive dress and put on careful makeup, but no one complimented her. Xia Qingning, wearing a plain work uniform, was praised wherever she went. She looked at Xia Qingning with a sneer and said:

“Heh, buying scraps and getting addicted to them. I think you’re only fit to wear scraps.”

Then, she raised her head, puffed out her chest, and squeezed past Xia Qingning and Maimiao, striding towards the exit.

“What are you pushing for? Your eyes are on top of your head, can’t you see?” Maimiao was filled with anger and growled at He Shanshan’s back.

Compared to Maimiao’s anger, Xia Qingning was very calm, even a little happy. She had so many beautiful fabrics, she could make several sets of clothes.

Then, when she made her own clothes, He Shanshan would only be envious and jealous.

The two of them bought the fabrics, and seeing that it was getting late, they went downstairs to meet up with Wu Xiaodong.

At this time, Wu Xiaodong was captivated by the cameras on the counter. In those days, cameras were a rare commodity, only sold in department stores, and they were more expensive than bicycles and sewing machines.

Seeing him so engrossed, Xia Qingning and Maimiao also gathered around. Wu Xiaodong didn’t notice them and was muttering to himself:

“What do these numbers mean?”

“They’re the aperture and shutter speed values. You adjust them left and right to control how much light comes in and the size of the exposure.” Xia Qingning said unconsciously.

The owner, who hadn’t been paying attention to them, suddenly walked over after hearing Xia Qingning’s words, saying in surprise:

“Girl, you know about cameras?”

Wu Xiaodong and Maimiao also looked at Xia Qingning in confusion. Xia Qingning realized that she had mentioned some knowledge that was beyond the original owner’s understanding, but she didn’t panic. She said softly:

“I saw a reporter using it when a newspaper came to the factory to take promotional photos.”

“You understand so much just by watching? It seems like you have talent. How about buying one and trying it out?” the owner said with a smile.

Xia Qingning wasn’t interested in the “Three Major Pieces” of that era. Seeing these cameras, she thought they were pretty good. It would be interesting to use a camera to record some of the marks of this era.

She lowered her head and looked at the price, over four hundred yuan. Although she was interested in cameras, it was far beyond her current spending level.

She looked up, smiled, and said:

“No need.”

The owner didn’t insist, just said to come back if she needed one.

The three of them walked out of the department store. Wu Xiaodong asked curiously:

“Sister Qingning, you really know about cameras? Oh, right, why haven’t I seen any reporters interviewing at our factory?”

“Just a little bit.” Xia Qingning’s smile was a little forced as she lied. “It was last year, you weren’t at the factory yet.”

“Oh.” Wu Xiaodong nodded, looked at Maimiao beside him, and noticed that she seemed unhappy. He asked her, “Sister Maimiao, what’s wrong?”

“I ran into a piece of trash, she was chattering nonsense, ruining my mood.” Maimiao replied.

Wu Xiaodong didn’t understand what she meant by “trash.” He looked at Xia Qingning beside him, and she smiled but didn’t say anything.

He didn’t ask further. He got on his bike and drove Xia Qingning. Maimiao also got on her own bicycle, and the three of them rode home together.

As they were approaching the courtyard, they saw someone selling popsicles on a bicycle. Xia Qingning looked at Wu Xiaodong, who was sweating as he pedaled, and after thinking for a moment, she asked him to stop. She walked over to the popsicle vendor and said:

“Hello, sir, I’ll take three popsicles.”

The vendor replied happily, “Okay.”

Then he opened the blue wooden box on the back of his bike, lifted the thick cotton blanket covering it, and asked:

“We have banana and pineapple flavors, what do you want?”

Xia Qingning let Wu Xiaodong and Maimiao choose their own, then she chose a banana one.

After paying, the three of them walked into the courtyard together.

Maimiao’s anger had subsided a lot. She thanked Xia Qingning for the popsicle and went back to put her things away.

Seeing that Xia Qingning had bought a lot of things, Wu Xiaodong volunteered to help her carry them home. Xia Qingning couldn’t carry them all by herself, so she agreed.

At this time, Lu Jingzhe was reading in his room. The window was open, facing the courtyard. He turned a page of his book, then unconsciously glanced at his watch.

Usually, she would have been back by now. Why was she… He was wondering when he saw Wu Xiaodong drive Xia Qingning into the courtyard.

He frowned slightly, turned another page of the book, and then, without warning, suddenly closed the book on the table and walked out of the room.

At this time, Xia Qingning and Wu Xiaodong had already entered the living room. Wu Xiaodong put the things in his hands on the table. Seeing Lu Jingzhe walk out of the room, he greeted him politely:

“Jingzhe, you’re home?”

Lu Jingzhe stood there, tall and straight, with an innate sense of detachment. He looked at him, his thin lips parted, and asked:

“What, you don’t want me to be home?”

Wu Xiaodong was caught off guard. He had just casually greeted him, why would Jingzhe interpret it that way? And his gaze, why did it have a hint of hostility?

It must be an illusion. Wu Xiaodong immediately denied it. He had never offended Jingzhe, why would Jingzhe be hostile towards him? Besides, he drove his wife to and from work every day, he had no merit but he had hard work.

Then he thought, Jingzhe had always been like this, cold and distant, so he didn’t think much of it. He said with a smile:

“No, no.”

Lu Jingzhe looked at the smile on his face, thinking about how he had been smiling with Xia Qingning just now, he suddenly felt a little unhappy. He asked in a deep voice:

“You seem to be very free.”

This familiar attitude, coupled with the familiar question, made Wu Xiaodong immediately think of yesterday when he was asked to get soy sauce. He was afraid that he would be asked to get it again today. There were already two bottles of soy sauce at home, if he got more, they wouldn’t be able to finish it. He quickly waved his hand and said:

“Not free, not free.” Then he looked at Xia Qingning and said, “Sister Qingning, I have something to do, I’m going now.”

He was about to run out. Xia Qingning was packing things up. Seeing him running so fast, she quickly called out to him:

“Wait.” She picked up a green popsicle from the table, chased after him to the door, handed it to him, and said with a smile, “You forgot your popsicle.”

Wu Xiaodong took the popsicle, smiled and waved goodbye to her, then turned and ran quickly.

Lu Jingzhe looked at the two of them, a hint of displeasure flashing in his eyes.

She actually bought him a popsicle!