☆ 35. Ready

In these years, televisions and refrigerators were rare items. If a family bought a TV, everyone would come over to join in the excitement.

Since Ji Meng returned, neighbors from the alley had been trickling in to see what was going on. It was the first time she had seen so many people in her house since coming back to the city.

If the television and refrigerator hadn’t been outside, there really wouldn’t have been enough space for all these people.

Some of the people in the yard had bought TVs for their homes and watched “Huo Yuanjia” every day, so it wasn’t particularly unusual, but a color television felt a bit special.

However, they were more curious about the picture quality than the plot, so after watching for a while, they paid less attention to the storyline and began asking other questions:

“Hey, Xiao Su, how much did you pay for this television, and where did you buy it?”

“And what about that refrigerator? It must not have been cheap…”

Su Cheng had just moved closer to Ji Meng to talk to her but ended up getting surrounded instead.

Su Cheng: “…”

“The television and refrigerator were brought back through friends from Shenzhen, they really weren’t cheap…”

Now that they were asking, and they were all neighbors, he couldn’t avoid answering. However, once he started, the questions just kept coming, and soon someone asked:

“So expensive! You guys are really willing to spend, huh? Xiao Su, what rank did you reach in the army? Your salary must be pretty high, right?”

“Old Ji is so used to being frugal that he wouldn’t splurge on something like this…”

“By the way, can your friend help bring another one? I have a black-and-white TV at home, but no refrigerator. I’ve wanted to buy one for a long time, especially since summer is coming. It would be perfect for chilling drinks and storing leftovers, I can’t let that go to waste…”

The questions kept piling up. At first, Su Cheng could handle them with a calm expression, but gradually he started to feel overwhelmed. Seeing Ji Meng next to him enjoying sunflower seeds and chatting with the neighborhood aunties about the plot, looking so happy, he couldn’t help but quietly reach over and pinch her hand resting on her waist.

Ji Meng found his flustered expression amusing and didn’t pay him any mind. She calmly withdrew her hand to grab some seeds and continued munching away.

At this moment, she was watching the scene in “Huo Yuanjia” where he was accepting his disciple Chen Zhen and found it quite interesting.

Thinking back, “Huo Yuanjia” was part of her childhood memories, many of the storylines she didn’t quite remember anymore, making it a nostalgic experience.

Ignoring him…

Su Cheng started to feel a bit troubled. He glanced at Ji Meng again, thought for a moment, then reached over to grab a handful of sunflower seeds, helping Ji Meng shell them while continuing to “entertain” the guests.

The lively scene in the yard continued, with people arriving and departing one after another.

Su Cheng was busy with wave after wave of guests.

By 5 PM, the aunts and neighbors who weren’t working needed to go home to cook dinner and started to leave, but more children who had heard the news began to arrive.

At this point, “Huo Yuanjia” was no longer playing, instead, “^[1]“Red Boy” (红孩儿) is a character from the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West (西游记). In the story, Red Boy, also known as Hong Hai’er, is a powerful child demon and the … Continue readingRed Boy,” a children’s cartoon, was on.

The kids gathered around the television, completely focused, occasionally turning to chat excitedly about the plot, and Qiuqiu was clearly among them.

Ji Meng had been busy outside these days, and both she and Meng Ling were basically coming home late, leaving Ji Qinghe to take care of the kids.

She didn’t even know when Qiuqiu had made so many friends in the neighborhood, as she could call each of their names.

Zhuangzhuang, who had come late after school, couldn’t even squeeze in beside Qiuqiu.

Ji Meng had a premonition that her home would be lively from now on.

The kids watched television until their families called them for dinner, although they were reluctant to leave, their stomachs were growling, so they had to go.

At that moment, Su Cheng had just finished cooking for the family. Seeing that only family members were left in the yard, he hurriedly closed the gate.

The moment the door closed, he felt a sense of relief wash over him.

“Dad, should we move the TV to your room?” Su Cheng suggested to Ji Qinghe, glancing at the two little ones who were reluctant to leave the screen while he was bringing out bowls and chopsticks from the kitchen.

Ji Qinghe also noticed that his granddaughters were already captivated by the TV and worried that the kids would become overly absorbed, but after thinking it over, he said,

“Let’s keep it in the main room. I estimate that the little ones from the neighborhood will still come over to watch TV, and putting it in my room would feel like we’re trying to kick them out, which wouldn’t sound good.”

Most families living in this neighborhood either worked on the street, in government offices, or at nearby factories such as machinery, steel, or textile factories, so their living conditions weren’t bad. Some families had bought TVs, while others hadn’t, but children always loved to join in the fun, making it hard for the Ji family to stay quiet for long.

Maintaining good neighborly relations was also important, often, close neighbors were more helpful than distant relatives. People, after all, sometimes needed assistance, and one couldn’t just close the door and focus solely on their own life.

However, the potential issue of the granddaughters becoming addicted to TV couldn’t be ignored, so Ji Qinghe said,

“I’ll keep an eye on Qiuqiu and Qingyu. They won’t get to watch TV unless they finish their homework.”

Ji Meng was washing her hands by the well when she heard this and laughed, “Dad, do you really have the heart to refuse their pleas? I don’t believe it.”

If anyone in the family spoiled the two little ones the most, it was definitely Ji Qinghe. Usually, when Qiuqiu made some unreasonable request, Ji Meng could refuse firmly, but Ji Qinghe simply couldn’t do that.

Take breakfast, for instance, Qiuqiu loved to eat the buns sold on the street, and their family hadn’t made pancakes at home for a long time, they just bought them.

Ji Qinghe hadn’t yet encountered a time when the two little ones were particularly disobedient, so he felt confident and answered without hesitation, “Of course they can.”

“Qiuqiu and Qingyu are also obedient children.”

Ji Meng didn’t comment on this. The kids were obedient, but even obedient kids had their moments. When she was little, she had zero resistance to TV, and now that she was older, she also had no resistance to reading novels on her phone.

However, she didn’t want to contradict her father’s words, so she simply said, “Let’s just see how it goes.”

After deciding to put the TV and refrigerator in the main room, Su Cheng turned off the power and began moving them.

The two little ones couldn’t see the TV anymore, which left them feeling very disappointed. During dinner, Qiuqiu looked at her dad, then at her mom, and finally at her grandpa, and couldn’t help but ask,

“Dad, why can’t we watch TV while eating?”

See, she couldn’t hold back anymore.

Ji Meng couldn’t help but smile as she held her bowl, while Su Cheng handed her a shrimp and glanced at the two little ones, who were eagerly waiting for his reply. “If the TV is on, can you still eat seriously?”

“Yes, we can!” Qiuqiu immediately nodded without hesitation and nudged Qingyu with her elbow, prompting Qingyu to nod quickly as well.

“We will, Uncle!”

“Alright, Dad believes you.”

“But in our family, we value concentration and dedication when doing things. When we eat, we focus on eating, when we do homework, we focus on that. The same goes for watching TV. In the future, after you get home from school every afternoon, you can watch TV with your friends for one hour. But when it’s time for dinner, the TV has to be turned off. In the evening, regardless of whether we have guests, both of you need to stay in your room to do your homework.”

Su Cheng said this calmly, not knowing when he had started to harden his heart as a doting father.

“Oh.”

Qiuqiu responded with a particularly dejected tone. One hour of TV time meant she could only watch one episode of her cartoon, which was way too little. She wanted to argue, but these days she felt her dad had become stricter with her and had set boundaries, so she looked over at her mom and grandpa instead.

Ji Qinghe had previously sworn that he would manage this aspect, and seeing his granddaughter’s eager gaze, he felt reluctant. However, he couldn’t undermine his son-in-law’s authority or his own, and the main issue was that they really shouldn’t watch TV for too long. So, he picked up his bowl and started eating, resolutely pretending not to see his granddaughter’s gaze.

Ji Meng noticed this and smiled. After thinking for a moment, she looked up at her daughter:

“Baby, your dad is right. Didn’t I tell you before that we need to focus on whatever we do? Just like how you and your sister practice painting every day without fail. Watching TV should be the same, we can watch every day, but we need to set a time for it. Otherwise, what about your painting and homework?”

“And also, Mom heard from Grandpa that you’ve been learning to sew dolls recently? Look, you have a lot of things to do now, and you also have school, so an hour of TV is already quite a lot, right?”

Qiuqiu thought about it and agreed. She hadn’t told her mom yet, but yesterday, Grandpa took her and her sister Qingyu to the Cultural Palace to play. She saw some older girls dancing and really liked it, she wanted to learn to dance too.

“Mom, can I tell you something?”

“What is it?” Seeing her daughter agree with her point of view, Ji Meng felt very happy and asked her in a gentle voice.

“Yesterday, Qiuqiu went to the Cultural Palace with my sister and Grandpa. The older sisters there danced so beautifully. Can I learn to dance?”

“Learn to dance?”

Ji Meng’s hand, which was about to pick up food, paused, and beside her, Su Cheng’s hand, which was also reaching to serve her, stopped as well.

In the book, after Qiuqiu wandered the streets for a year, she was picked up by a dancer from a bar. Qiuqiu then followed that person to dance, and later, when she turned eighteen, she was sold to the bar owner by that person, enduring a lot of suffering to barely keep her innocence.

Later, Fu Junye paid to buy her, and she had no choice but to become Fu Junye’s mistress.

Qiuqiu worked very hard later on, trying to make a name for herself in the film city, hoping to earn enough money to buy her freedom. However, she fell into the life of a dancer and became a mistress, and this past was eventually exposed, ruining the career she had fought so hard to build.

In the book, Qiuqiu truly loved dancing and was quite talented at it.

As the dancer said, she was blessed by heaven.

But if her daughter wanted to learn to dance, would she also enter the entertainment industry in the future?

That circle…

“Do you really like it, Qiuqiu?” Ji Meng asked her daughter, taking a light breath.

“Yeah, I really like it!” Qiuqiu nodded vigorously.

“Qiuqiu thinks dancing is so beautiful, spinning on stage is so pretty, and Qiuqiu wants to do that too!”

When the little girl said this, her eyes sparkled with excitement, and it was clear she genuinely loved it.

Ji Meng couldn’t help but glance at Su Cheng. He remained silent, only staring at Qiuqiu, seemingly lost in thought.

“So if Qiuqiu learns to dance, will she still learn to paint?”

Qiuqiu didn’t quite understand how the two were in conflict, but she nodded, saying, “Of course, Mom! You’ve been so busy lately that you haven’t checked my homework, right? I can draw apples now!”

As she spoke, she put down her chopsticks and ran out, quickly bringing back her drawing book.

“Mom, look! This is what I drew!”

Ji Meng had indeed been neglecting her children lately. She had been so busy with the store that she didn’t have time to come home for dinner and would head straight to night school. By the time she returned from classes, both kids were already asleep, so she could only quietly peek into their room. It was difficult to pay attention to anything else.

Worried that she might miss out on Qiuqiu and Qingyu’s drawing activities, she had asked Ji Qinghe to take the children to the cultural palace, hoping to find them a teacher.

According to Ji Qinghe, there were several capable teachers there who were quite fond of both Qingyu and Qiuqiu. One teacher with the last name Liao even wanted to take Qingyu as a ^[2]“closed-door disciple” (关门弟子) is a term commonly used in Chinese traditional arts, martial arts, or crafts to refer to the final or personally selected student of a master. This … Continue readingclosed-door disciple, and Ji Meng planned to take the kids to check it out this week.

She reached out to take her daughter’s drawing book, and her gaze focused intently on it.

The sketch of the apple had good lines and shading, for only two months of practice, going from zero to this level was impressive.

This child might just have a natural talent for the arts.

“Very good! Qiuqiu has learned to draw apples so well in such a short time—it’s really impressive!”

Ji Meng said this and then turned to Su Cheng, who was also looking at the drawing. “What do you think?”

Su Cheng didn’t oppose his daughter wanting to learn new things. Even though she had encountered many difficulties in pursuing her dreams in her previous life, that shouldn’t deprive her of her hobbies.

As for other issues, they could be considered later.

He looked at Ji Meng and then at Qiuqiu’s drawing, pondering before saying, “If you want to learn, then just learn both for now. There’s no harm in gaining more knowledge. If later on, you find you don’t have enough time or face other situations, we can discuss it then.”

“Okay!”

Ji Meng understood Su Cheng’s meaning. She said to Qiuqiu, “Then on Sunday, Mom and Dad will accompany you to the cultural palace to take a look. We’ll temporarily enroll you in both drawing and dancing classes. If you find that you don’t have enough time later on, we can adjust…”

After finishing, Ji Meng asked Su Cheng, “Do you have time on Sunday?”

She hadn’t yet asked him about his job transfer and planned to bring it up later in the evening.

Thinking about it, she felt he was quite clever. Despite so many people asking him about his job this afternoon, he hadn’t mentioned anything about the transfer or suggested any new job arrangements.

“Yes,” Su Cheng nodded.

“Great!”

Ji Meng nodded and looked at Qiuqiu: “Does this sound good to you, Qiuqiu?”

Qiuqiu felt it was great, and she nodded vigorously: “Mm-hm, Qiuqiu will listen to Mom.”

“Then it’s settled.”

Ji Meng smiled and turned to look at Qingyu beside Qiuqiu: “What about you, Qingyu? Your sister wants to learn to dance. Do you want to learn as well?”

In the past, Qingyu always followed whatever Qiuqiu did since she was the older sister and wanted to look after her younger sister, but this time, Qingyu shook her head and said, “Auntie, I don’t want to learn to dance. I want to learn to draw with Teacher Liao.”

At this moment, Ji Qinghe remembered something and spoke up:

“Oh, right! I forgot to mention. I went to inquire about Teacher Liao today and found out he’s quite remarkable. He can do both Chinese painting and oil painting, and everyone in the art world knows him. He has a high status, and he doesn’t often appear at the cultural palace. Qingyu was just lucky to run into him that day.”

“Did Qingyu meet a big shot?”

Ji Meng was surprised. She knew that Qingyu had great talent in drawing. Even though she started learning later than Qiuqiu, she managed to master lines and shapes better, and her control over light and shadow was impressive. Ji Meng had even tried letting her doodle, and her use of color was bolder.

This was also the main reason Ji Meng wanted Ji Qinghe to take them to find a teacher, as she considered herself a novice and worried she might hold the children back.

She didn’t expect such luck—running into a big shot right away?

“What’s the name of this teacher?”

“His name is Liao Xin. The teacher is called Liao Xin.”

“Liao Xin…”

Ji Meng had never heard of him, but the names in the books were probably fictional or altered, so she thought for a moment and called out to Sansan in her mind:

“Sansan, check what kind of existence this big shot is in this world.”

Sansan, now relying on Qiuqiu’s happiness points and the main system for a little leniency, was gradually absorbing energy to maintain its online status. It knew that Ji Meng often preferred not to be disturbed, so it rarely popped up, saving energy for important tasks. Hearing Ji Meng’s call, it appeared after flashing for two seconds.

【Got it, host. Sansan is on it.】

Sansan was quick and reported back to Ji Meng in under a minute: 【Host, I found it. According to the hidden plot, when you input Liao Xin, it turns out this was the big shot Qingyu almost apprenticed under in the previous life, but in the end, she couldn’t because the original owner stopped her from learning painting.】

【This Liao Xin is incredibly impressive! He is regarded by peers as the most talented oil painter. A single piece of his oil painting could sell for enough to buy a four-hall courtyard!】

“Dad, you have Teacher Liao’s contact information, right? Tomorrow, please take a leave for Qingyu and take the kids to pay their respects!”

“By the way, what do we need to prepare for the apprenticeship? I’ll take a half day off tomorrow to get ready.”

“Isn’t that a bit too rushed? I’ve already made an appointment with that Teacher Liao, to go on Sunday.”

Although Ji Qinghe knew Liao Xin was impressive, the Ji family had encountered countless remarkable people over the years. When Ji Meng’s maternal grandfather was around, he was an even more formidable presence, so Ji Qinghe didn’t take this matter too seriously.

For him, it was just about finding a decent teacher for his granddaughter in terms of character and other aspects.

But Ji Meng was serious about it, it was highly likely that they would have a great painter in their family—how could she not take it seriously?