Washing off the soap suds, Jiang Xiaobai came out in his big shorts and walked behind Qin Xianglian, chuckling, “Auntie, I’m dressed.”
Turning around, Qin Xianglian saw Jiang Xiaobai’s bare upper body and couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for his thin, bony frame.
“Xiaobai, I guess you don’t cook well for yourself.
Whenever you’re free, just come to Auntie’s house to eat.
An extra pair of chopsticks isn’t a big deal.”
Jiang Xiaobai laughed, “Auntie, in that case, I’ll take you up on the offer.”
“Come on, let’s go inside.
I have something to talk to you about.” Qin Xianglian walked lightly into the house, swaying her slender waist.
Jiang Xiaobai followed her, his eyes glued to the sway of her hips, and his mind couldn’t help but drift to the scenes he’d watched earlier in the evening.
Entering the house, Qin Xianglian saw the big color TV Jiang Xiaobai had just bought and laughed, “Xiaobai, you’ve really struck it rich, haven’t you?
Hauling back such a big TV.
In our entire village, only Liu Changhe’s and Lai Changqing’s families have such big TVs.”
Jiang Xiaobai laughed, “It’s not worth much; it’s secondhand.
Auntie, if you like it, I’ll buy one for you tomorrow.”
Qin Xianglian picked up the remote control on the TV and pressed a button.
The screen lit up, but what appeared next stunned her.
Jiang Xiaobai had forgotten to remove the DVD in the player.
Lai Xiaoxia had come to find him earlier, and he had turned off the TV right after.
Now, when Qin Xianglian turned it on, the embarrassing scenes filled the screen.
“How do you turn this off?”
In her haste, Qin Xianglian didn’t know how to turn off the TV and didn’t know how to use the remote control in her hand.
After a brief moment of panic, Jiang Xiaobai snatched the remote control and pretended not to know how to use it.
Instead of turning off the TV, he accidentally turned up the volume.
“Auntie, I don’t know how to turn it off either.
It’s newly bought, and I haven’t learned how to use it yet.”
Jiang Xiaobai pretended to be flustered, internally laughing at Qin Xianglian’s bright red face.
She looked like a ripe peach, and young Jiang Xiaobai couldn’t help but want to take a bite.
“Jiang Xiaobai, turn it off quick, hurry!”
Qin Xianglian turned her back to the TV.
She could avoid looking at the screen, but she couldn’t block out the sounds.
Unconsciously, her body temperature rose sharply, her cheeks burned, her ears felt hot, and her heart was pounding.
Her whole body was almost melting, and her breathing became abnormally rapid.
“Auntie, don’t rush me.
The more you rush me, the more nervous I get.
I don’t know how to use this remote either!” Jiang Xiaobai shouted, pretending to be equally anxious.
Qin Xianglian’s eyes scanned around and found the power outlet.
She dashed forward a few steps and pulled the TV plug out.
The screen flickered and then went dark.
The annoying noise finally disappeared, but Qin Xianglian seemed to have gone through a serious illness, her face covered in tiny, sparkling beads of sweat.
Her breathing was rapid and irregular, and she was utterly exhausted, leaning against the door with her neck slightly tilted, her eyes looking somewhat dazed.
“Jiang Xiaobai, I won’t let Xiao Lang play with you anymore.”
“Why, Auntie?” Jiang Xiaobai asked.
Qin Xianglian said, “Because you’re not a good person.
Even at such a young age, what are you always thinking about?”
Jiang Xiaobai argued, “Precisely because I’m young, I have to think about it.
When I’m seventy or eighty, I won’t even be able to think about it anymore.”
Qin Xianglian said, “I’m not arguing with you about this.
Anyway, you’re not a good kid.
You’re cheeky!”
“Auntie, what’s wrong with you?
Why are you sweating so much?” Jiang Xiaobai suddenly changed the topic.
“… It’s none of your business!”
Fearing that Jiang Xiaobai would keep questioning her, Qin Xianglian quickly shifted the topic, “I came to ask you about the three thousand yuan.
Why did you give Xiao Lang money again today?”
“That’s what he deserved,” said Jiang Xiaobai.
“What do you mean he deserved it?” Qin Xianglian questioned, “What have you two been up to these days?
Where did all that money come from?”
Jiang Xiaobai said, “You can ask your dumb kid about that.
He should have told you.
My money is all earned fairly, not stolen or robbed.”
Jiang Xiaobai guessed right.
Qin Xianglian had indeed asked Moron, and Moron had already told her that Jiang Xiaobai had earned the money by selling shrimp.
Moron couldn’t lie, and Qin Xianglian knew this.
She was just puzzled.
Jiang Xiaobai had been selling shrimp for a while, so why had he suddenly earned so much money recently?
“Xiaobai, Auntie isn’t dumb.
How much can you earn selling shrimp in a day?
Earning three to five hundred is the most, right?
How could you have so much money to give Xiao Lang?
Be honest, where did your money come from?”
“Auntie, I’m not lying.
Since you don’t believe me, there’s nothing I can do.
How about this, you come with me tomorrow to sell shrimp.
You’ll believe what you see with your own eyes, right?” Jiang Xiaobai spread his hands, showing he was helpless.
Qin Xianglian said, “I’m not going with you!
If people see us, who knows what they’ll say about me.”
Jiang Xiaobai said, “You can go to the city first.
When I get to the city, I’ll call you, and you can follow me to sell shrimp.”
“We’ll see,” Qin Xianglian said, “Before I leave, let me say a few words.
You’re Xiao Lang’s best friend.
This child has gone through a lot, so please don’t trick him or harm him.”
After saying this, Qin Xianglian turned and left Jiang Xiaobai’s house.
The next morning, Jiang Xiaobai hadn’t gotten up yet when Moron arrived at his house and woke him up.
“Xiaobai, my mom asked me to bring you breakfast.”
Half-awake, Jiang Xiaobai opened his bleary eyes and saw the delicious-smelling fried dumplings.
His stomach immediately growled.
Jiang Xiaobai got out of bed straight away and, in three to five minutes, stuffed over thirty fried dumplings into his stomach.
“Delicious.”
Moron said, “Xiaobai, are we going to the city today?
I still want to eat ice cream from the city.”
Jiang Xiaobai said, “Yes, we’ll go in a bit.”
He had Moron load the broken jade stones into the burlap sack onto the cart.
Jiang Xiaobai washed his face and left Nanwan Village with Moron.
He didn’t actually need to leave this early.
The main reason was that Fat Tiger was getting out of the hospital today.
He was afraid Fat Tiger would come looking for revenge, so he thought it better to hide rather than get cornered at home.
Jiang Xiaobai didn’t go directly to the town.
Instead, he had Moron ride the cart to the reservoir on the west side of Songlin Town, where they jumped into the reservoir and swam happily until it was almost noon.
Only then did they go to the town.
Like yesterday, they collected all the nearly dead lobsters that the shrimp sellers couldn’t sell.