☆ 38. Romantic Qixi Festival

“Mom, Teacher Yanzi, Qiuqiu is confessing, please don’t get too angry.”

The three adults all wore serious expressions, and the label of “bad kids” weighed heavily on the children’s hearts. Zhuangzhuang was directly frightened to tears, and Qiuqiu and Qingyu both had red eyes. Qingyu was even a bit more timid than Qiuqiu, she was so scared that she couldn’t speak clearly. Seeing her mother Ji Meng’s reddened eyes filled with anger, Qiuqiu hid her little hands behind her back and, with a trembling voice, said,

“We just wanted to make some money…”

Qiuqiu honestly explained what they had been doing for the past few days.

She and Qingyu were both children who, when properly guided, would achieve great things in the future. Their ideas were indeed different from others. Originally, the two of them collaborated with Hu Tian, the child from the widow Hu’s family.

Hu Tian was nine years old this year and should have been in the third grade. However, widow Hu lost her husband two years ago, and last year she broke her leg, rendering her unable to work. They relied on street subsidies and relief to get by. Since her leg hadn’t healed properly and she lacked care, she had to let Hu Tian stop attending school this semester.

If Hu Tian wanted to go to school next year, he would have to find a way to earn money for tuition himself.

Hu Tian was the biggest child in the alley. When Hu Tian’s father was alive, he was the leader of the kids, and Qiuqiu got to know him through Zhuangzhuang.

Usually, Hu Tian made some money by collecting various scrap materials from the recycling station. As the weather warmed up, he noticed that the ice pop business at the corner grocery store was doing well, so he thought about starting a mobile ice pop business.

When Hu Tian’s father was alive, he was an engineer and loved tinkering, he had strong practical skills and managed to assemble a rickety tricycle using scrap materials from the recycling station.

He was doing quite well with the ice pop business, but sometimes he would have some leftover pops. Since the ice pop business typically operated on thin margins, any leftover pops that accidentally melted would lead to losses. However, he sold his pops too late, by the time he finished, the ice pop factory had closed, so he couldn’t return any unsold products.

At that moment, he recalled that Qiuqiu’s family had a refrigerator. One day, while he was in the alley and saw Qiuqiu playing with Zhuangzhuang, he approached her and asked if she could talk to her family about storing the ice pops and ice creams he hadn’t sold yet in their freezer, offering to cover the electricity costs.

Previously, Qiuqiu had learned to make dolls from Grandma Erhua, but after injuring her hands and failing to learn how to make the dolls, her plan to make money fell through. She was feeling frustrated about a new money-making idea when she heard Hu Tian’s words. Her eyes lit up, and she proposed to Hu Tian that she could help sell the pops he couldn’t finish.

Having attended Yuhong class for more than two months, Qiuqiu had realized that the kids in Yuhong class all had some pocket money. While they might not have enough to buy other toys, they could afford ice pops, so she thought of this idea.

Hu Tian was initially reluctant to agree, fearing it would cause trouble, but Qiuqiu’s words made him hesitate. The electricity costs for running a refrigerator overnight were quite high, and his leftover pops weren’t worth that expense.

However, if he sold them on credit to Qiuqiu, he wouldn’t have to pay for electricity, and he could clear out the leftover pops.

After thinking it over and considering that Qiuqiu kept saying no one would find out, he agreed.

In this way, Qiuqiu started her ice pop business. At first, she didn’t involve her sister Qingyu, only asking her to help provide cover. But after a few times of providing cover, Qingyu discovered what was going on.

Qingyu noticed that Qiuqiu was very eager to make money, and she wanted to as well. She knew that she had spent a lot of money since coming to the provincial capital, as learning to paint and buying art supplies and paper were quite costly.

During this time, Ji Meng and Su Cheng had been busy, creating the illusion that the two families needed to work overtime to earn extra money. As a result, the ice pop business expanded from one person to two.

They went from selling in one class to two classes.

This May was especially hot, and for the children, having an ice pop before school ended was a particularly happy experience. Their ice pop business was thriving, and the demand was significant, almost enough for Hu Tian to sell an extra box of pops every day.

In order to avoid being discovered by their teacher, they even dug out the dog hole behind the playground of Yuhong class again. Every day, they would meet Hu Tian there at the right time to pick up their supply. Any unsold pops were wrapped in a blanket and brought back to their freezer.

Since Ji Meng and the others were rarely home, leaving early and returning late, it was difficult for the people in the alley to run into them, making it inconvenient to bring things over for help with freezing vegetables. Currently, the home refrigerator was only used for freezing their own vegetables and fruits. Worried that the two kids might overindulge in ice pops, Ji Meng and the others did not buy ice pops or sodas to freeze at home, leaving plenty of space for the leftover pops.

Thus, their ice pop business progressed smoothly. However, the pocket money of the kids in Yuhong class was limited and couldn’t support their daily ice pop consumption. After just over a week, Qiuqiu and the others faced a setback in their ice pop venture, as leftover pops began to accumulate, and sometimes they couldn’t sell them all by the next day.

After more than a week, Qiuqiu and her friends had drained the pocket money that the children in both classes had saved for many years, earning a considerable amount for kids. Having tasted success, they were unwilling to see their venture come to an end.

During one of the classes in Qingyu’s group, a classmate mentioned they didn’t have money to buy ice pops and asked if they could have them on credit or work to pay it off. This sparked an idea in Qiuqiu’s mind.

She thought about having the Yuhong class kids work to pay off their debts, so she went to discuss it with Hu Tian?.

At that time, Hu Tian was doing well with his street business, but he also noticed that his sales at the small market were thriving. He was pondering how great it would be if someone could help him keep an eye on the market while he continued selling ice pops on the streets, and unexpectedly, Qiuqiu came to him with a proposal.

Children often don’t consider many factors, and for poor kids like Hu Tian, who were in dire need of money, it was even harder to think about the consequences. Therefore, he almost instantly agreed to Qiuqiu’s suggestion without much hesitation.

Thus, the classmates from both Qingyu’s and Qiuqiu’s groups began a journey of taking turns to request leave.

With just her own influence, Qiuqiu had led two kids astray, and Ji Meng felt a pounding headache, her temples throbbing as if she were suffering from heat exhaustion, on the verge of fainting.

She couldn’t care less at this moment. She informed Yanzi and the two teachers from Qingyu’s class that she would personally apologize to the parents of the students in her class and took the two kids away from Yuhong class.

Passing by the post office, she called Su Cheng, urging him to come home quickly and then detour to Ji Qinghe’s clinic to close it down and return home.

Ji Meng had always been calm and restrained, she would act a bit temperamental in front of Su Cheng to get her way, but she rarely got truly angry. This was the first time she felt this furious.

So angry that when she called Su Cheng, her tone was as cold as the ice and snow in the sky. When she told Ji Qinghe to close the clinic and come home, her face was so grim it could freeze ice, making everyone hesitate to delay and rush home instead.

Su Cheng was extremely worried that something had happened to Ji Meng. He didn’t care about anything else, even postponing the factory meeting, and immediately drove the factory’s car, arriving home almost at the same time as Ji Meng and Ji Qinghe.

Once home, as soon as he entered the living room, Ji Meng didn’t even take a seat. She immediately recounted what Qiuqiu and Qingyu had done:

“Do you know what Qiuqiu and Qingyu have been up to this month…”

Ji Meng spoke furiously, growing more agitated as she went on, her chest heaving and her eyes red.

“I always thought they were well-behaved, never made mistakes. When people told me, I couldn’t believe it. How could that be? Their schoolwork has always been so good, and Qingyu has even started learning to draw comic books. How could they do something like this? And in the end, they not only did it but also got two classes of kids involved!”

“How could they have the audacity? Did you two ever think about how your actions would affect whether anyone would want to play with you in the future?”

As parents, the thing they detest the most is having their own child led astray by others. What Qiuqiu and Qingyu did was enough for parents to label these two kids.

Once a child is labeled, it can only bring negative consequences for their future and hinder their emotional and psychological growth.

Ji Meng was prone to overthinking, and just the thought that the two kids might face exclusion or be pointed at as “bad kids,” with others warning, “Don’t play with them,” made her breathless. As they grew older, they might even be isolated or bullied at school, which made her feel suffocated.

“Don’t be anxious. Come over, sit down, and have a glass of water. I’ll handle this, you should take a break first.”

At the end of May, the sun was blazing down. During midday, the living room of the Ji family was directly exposed to the sun, making it feel like a sauna inside. Su Cheng noticed that Ji Meng was shaking with anger and her face was pale, with sweat beading on her forehead. He was worried she might suffer from heatstroke, so he quickly turned on the fan in the living room and pulled her over to sit down on a stool. While soothing her, he poured her some water and offered it to her.

What the two kids had done caught the entire family off guard, and Su Cheng was surprised as well. But at this moment, he needed to prioritize his wife and ensure she didn’t get too worked up.

Ji Meng poured herself a glass of water and took a sip. She felt tightness in her chest and was very uncomfortable, her vision blurring. She couldn’t speak and didn’t know how to guide the children.

At this moment, she felt particularly defeated.

“I went to pick up Qingyu and Qiuqiu a few times. One time, they said they had stomach aches, and another time, they said they were dizzy. I took them, examined them, gave them medicine, and sent them back home to rest. When I came back in the afternoon, they seemed fine, and I didn’t think much of it.”

Ji Qinghe didn’t expect the two kids to behave this way. Their actions were a result of neglect caused by his busyness. With the clinic’s business booming, he wanted to earn more while he was still able to work.

In addition, after receiving the document Ji Meng wrote on identifying fake medicinal herbs, Fu Junyan came to him for guidance and collaboration, which kept him even busier. Sometimes he couldn’t pay attention to everything.

The two kids didn’t tell their parents they were feeling unwell, fearing it would worry them. Since he saw the children had recovered, he didn’t bring it up or think much about it.

Ji Qinghe went to check on the two kids, and they might have been startled, standing in a corner by the door with their small hands behind their backs, their eyes red and filled with tears, too afraid to speak.

Seeing this was heart-wrenching, Ji Qinghe couldn’t help but sigh.

“Qiuqiu, Qingyu, how did you two learn to lie?”

“And, we’re not poor at home, whatever you want, your grandfather and aunt and uncle will buy for you. Why do you want to make money so badly? Don’t you know that this is a crucial time for your studies?”

Upon hearing their grandfather’s words, Qiuqiu and Qingyu finally couldn’t hold back their tears any longer.

“Grandpa, we were wrong.”

They spoke while crying, looking very pitiful. Qiuqiu wiped her tears and couldn’t help but say, “We just wanted to earn a little money so that Mom and Dad wouldn’t have to work so hard and come home so late. We didn’t neglect our studies.”

Indeed, the two of them hadn’t fallen behind in their studies, painting, or dancing during this time, Qingyu had even started to draw different versions of picture books based on stories.

Because of this, Ji Meng and Su Cheng had never imagined that the kids would make mistakes, and when they did, it would be such a serious one.

Hearing Qiuqiu’s words, both Ji Meng and Su Cheng fell silent.

Who should be blamed? Don’t the adults have any responsibility in this matter?

For more than a month, ever since Su Cheng started working, the time they’ve truly spent with the kids can be counted in hours, sometimes, the couple works overtime even on weekends.

They promised to take them to the amusement park and the zoo, but not a single trip happened.

Are they really that busy?

In reality, it doesn’t have to be this way. So why is it? They want to achieve results as soon as possible.

But why do they want to achieve results?

For the children.

They want to have the resources to support their children’s dreams in the future.

But if they don’t guide the kids well while they’re young, how can they talk about the future?

In an instant, both adults began to ponder this issue deeply.

They lack parenting experience and rely entirely on trial and error, they are still in the exploration stage.

Ji Meng tightened her grip on the cup in her hand, confusion and bewilderment appearing in her eyes. In her past life, she liked making money, but she never felt this urgent about it. Now, in this era, when the economy is just beginning to grow, she could have taken her time and still achieved something. So why is it like this now?

Su Cheng also lowered his gaze in thought. He had taken this job to spend more time with his wife and children, but what was he doing now? He was still just a deputy, did he really need to rush? Couldn’t he find a balance?

“Go wash your face. Later, Dad will take you to apologize to your classmates’ families.” Finally, Su Cheng said to the two children.

This wasn’t just the children’s fault, the adults had their share of responsibility too. Right now, it wasn’t useful to just scold the kids, they needed to talk things through, really break it down.

With Su Cheng’s words, the two little ones looked at their dad, then at their mom and grandfather, obediently responding before heading out.

The two of them had already figured out how to use the hand pump, but Ji Qinghe was still worried, so he followed them out.

In the living room, only Ji Meng and Su Cheng remained. Su Cheng reached out and took Ji Meng’s hand, moving a bit closer to her as he said:

“Don’t be angry. I’m also at fault. Ever since I started working, I’ve been busy sorting things out at the machinery factory and haven’t been able to pay enough attention to the two kids. I’ll adjust my work from now on, and this won’t happen again, I promise.”

“And also, children make mistakes. It’s good that we found out in time. We can manage it well, it’s not too late. I promise you that you don’t need to worry about those things happening. So don’t overthink it, and don’t stay angry until it hurts you…”

At this moment, Ji Meng calmed down as she listened to Su Cheng. She pressed her lips together and replied, “I was also at fault. I rushed things too quickly with the collective effort, there was really no need to go that fast. It would be fine to just continue at this pace.”

In her heart, she understood that, within the collective, especially in the textile factory, by next year or even by the end of this year, when their profits come out, the textile and clothing factories would likely have their own ideas. Sooner or later, they would have to move out and establish their own business.

Moreover, her plans extended beyond direct sales. Everything she was doing now was to accumulate funds. At the current pace, they could make it work, the worst that could happen was that the initial capital wouldn’t be sufficient, but that didn’t matter much to her. She wasn’t afraid of starting from scratch, so why be afraid now?

“I actually know a lot of the material in my night school classes. Attending classes is just for me to handle my own affairs. I plan to tell the teacher that I only want to participate in the final exam, so I can have more time in the evenings to spend with the kids…”

As Ji Meng spoke, she looked at Su Cheng. Since they got together, they had both been so busy that they only shared the afternoons and nights together. This wasn’t good, no matter how deep their feelings were, they couldn’t keep this up. They still needed free time to communicate and be intimate.

Su Cheng had always been very considerate of Ji Meng, and because he cared, he made a point to understand her. With just a glance, he could tell what she was thinking. He also thought about the children and their relationship.

He believed he should spend more time focusing on his family.

Money and careers could run indefinitely, they would always be there. However, a child’s growth and the intimacy with a partner, built on love and understanding over time, required nurturing.

Hearing this, Su Cheng reached out to touch Ji Meng’s face. She had calmed down now, her complexion not as pale, though there was still sweat on her forehead and near her ears. He gently wiped it away with his fingertip and said, “I agree with you. I think we should set clear work hours. It’s not just the kids who need companionship, we need time together too, don’t we?”

The two of them reached a consensus, looking at each other and gradually breaking into smiles, feeling more relaxed.

“Then this afternoon, we’ll take Qiuqiu and Qingyu to apologize, and tonight, you’ll accompany me to the night school to find the teacher.”

Ji Meng said this and then recalled something: “Right, we should also send a telegram to Mom to inform her about Qiuqiu’s situation and urge her to come quickly.”

“You’ve had the house assigned for over half a month, and we still haven’t moved anyone in, the factory workers will start to have opinions about that.”

Su Cheng had only reported to the machinery factory for a short time when he received the keys to the assigned house, which was a unit in a newly built apartment building, about fifty square meters. It wasn’t big, but it was enough for their family.

Ji Meng had visited and found that aside from needing to use the public toilet in the hallway, everything else was quite nice. Their house was in the corner, and they could cook separately. On that floor, it was just their family, the old factory director’s family, and an engineer’s family from the machinery factory, all of whom were easy to get along with. So, on the day they got the keys, they sent a telegram to Fang Aihua, asking her to come.

However, she was reluctant to part with the few acres of land at home and kept finding excuses to delay.

Now that this issue with Qiuqiu had come up, she cared about her granddaughter and wouldn’t put it off any longer.

Su Cheng chuckled when he heard this: “Alright, let’s first send the telegram and then buy some gifts for the apologies to take to Qiuqiu’s class.”

Buying gifts for the apology was indeed necessary. At the very least, they needed to make things right with Yanzi and Qingyu’s Teacher, since their child had been thoughtless and caused them a lot of trouble, even creating a dog hole in the school, which was really frustrating to think about.

Ji Meng replied, “Okay, I’ll go wash my face and change my clothes, then we’ll head out.”

She had been both angry and anxious earlier, and now she was sweating and felt a bit smelly.