novelhk Chapter 152 Empty
Chapter 152 Empty
When Zhang Liangjun was a little over one year old, he was able to move around freely. At first, Wu Fenglan was worried about a one-year-old baby running around, so she followed behind to protect him. Later, she found that Zhang Liangjun walked very steadily, so she just chased after him to make sure he didn't get lost.
By the time Zhang Liangjun was two and a half years old, he was able to move around freely in a small area, which refers to a radius of 30 meters around Wu Fenglan's house.
Zhang Liangjun had already figured out his location: Sha Mao Lane in Yingtian Prefecture!
The family living next door has a very famous name: Qiao Zuwang! A notorious scumbag father, even worse than Zhou Daqiang! The most infuriating thing he did was forgive Li Heman!
Wu Fenglan is the same Wu Aunt in the TV series. She was the neighbor who accompanied Wei Shuying to the hospital during her delivery.
Zhang Liangjun was on his way to find Qiao Sanli! The two houses were very close; just around the corner, he saw Wei Shuying carrying Qiao Sanli on her back, washing clothes in the yard. Wu Fenglan had nothing else to do, so she went along for a visit.
Qiao Sanli is almost a year old, and Zhang Liangjun often sneaks over to see her.
Wu Fenglan and Wei Shuying had a good relationship. They had similar personalities and were close in age, so they got along very well.
Wu Fenglan also had a job, taking over her husband's shift and being assigned to logistics. Section Chief Liu Aixia knew about Wu Fenglan's family situation and that Wu Fenglan had adopted a child, so she took good care of her. This year, barring any special circumstances, she only needed to work at the factory for two hours a day. In case of emergencies, she would ask Wei Shuying to look after Zhang Liangjun.
Zhang Liangjun had met Qiao Sanli before; on Qiao Sanli's still-unopened face, there was a faint resemblance to Zhong Xiaoqin.
"Sister Wu is here! Oh my, Xiao Jianjun, did you buy new clothes? They look so good!" Wei Shuying thought Zhang Liangjun was here to show off his new clothes, so she praised him.
Although Wu Fenglan found the three characters "Zhang Liangjun" in the swaddling clothes, she did not intend to call him by that name directly. Instead, she changed the middle character to "Jian" like his older brother and called him Zhang Jianjun, so that his biological parents would not come looking for him and kidnap the child they had raised with such difficulty! So when registering his household registration, she wrote Zhang Jianjun and hid the swaddling clothes.
These days, it's quite easy to get a household registration if you have some connections.
Zhang Liangjun didn't care much about a name; if it was Jianjun, then so be it!
Wei Shuying put down Qiao Sanli, whom she had been carrying on her back. "You've come at the right time. Please watch Sanli for a while! There are just too many clothes to wash today!"
Wei Shuying was very thin and suffered from long-term malnutrition. Even after giving birth, she did not experience any anxiety about her figure.
Wu Fenglan stepped forward and took Qiao Sanli. Qiao Sanli was also very thin, much smaller than Zhang Liangjun. She hugged her and rubbed her for a while, saying, "Shuying, your third daughter is really light! Where are Yicheng and Erqiang? Why aren't they home?"
Qiao Sanli was wearing a light blue shirt that looked like it had been altered from an adult's clothes. The workmanship wasn't very fine, some of the edges weren't finished properly, and it had been washed so much that it was almost whitish and the original color was no longer visible.
This shirt originally belonged to Qiao Zuwang. After it got old, it was altered to be too small. Qiao Yicheng wore it, Erqiang wore it, and now it's on Qiao Sanli. In those days when money was scarce, clothes were never voluntarily discarded. They were only cut up and repurposed when they were no longer wearable, such as making rags or shoe soles.
"School started today. Yicheng went to school. Erqiang was taken away by his second aunt. She said that his second aunt's husband's factory gave him a piece of meat and wanted him to try some meat." Wei Shuying took out a washboard and started washing, her movements very skilled.
"Time flies! In the blink of an eye, Qiao Yicheng will be starting school soon!" Wu Fenglan exclaimed. It felt like just yesterday that Qiao Yicheng was born.
Qiao Sanli wasn't still while being held by Wu Fenglan; she kept pawing at Zhang Jianjun with her little hands, wanting to play. Wu Fenglan then held both Sanli and Zhang Jianjun on her lap. Zhang Jianjun, without any hesitation, hugged Qiao Sanli and gave her a quick bite on her delicate face. Qiao Sanli, unaware that Zhang Jianjun was being indecent, thought it was a game and bit him back, leaving a few small teeth marks, which amused Wu Fenglan and Wei Shuying greatly!
As they were talking, Qiao Yicheng walked in from outside. "Mom! I'm home from school!" He suddenly saw Wu Fenglan and Zhang Liangjun and quickly greeted them, "Aunt Wu!"
"Hey, Yicheng, why are you back so early? How was your first day of school?" Wu Fenglan put her arm around Qiao Sanli's lap, and when she saw Qiao Yicheng, she opened her arms, asking for a hug, muttering "brother, brother" as if she were hiccuping.
Qiao Yicheng often helps Wei Shuying take care of her younger siblings. In Sanli and Erqiang's hearts, Qiao Yicheng makes them feel safer. Even though Qiao Yicheng has only just started elementary school, he is more like a father than his scumbag father, Qiao Zuwang.
"It's my first day today. The teacher said I just need to get to know the classroom and school in the morning, so I came back a little early at noon. I have to go again this afternoon!" Qiao Yicheng carefully took off his precious schoolbag, a military green crossbody bag. Wei Shuying had saved up to buy it for him since he started school, and Qiao Yicheng cherished it very much. Compared to his brand-new schoolbag, his clothes looked rather old.
Qiao Yicheng didn't hug Qiao Sanli, he just patted her head, and then he went to the kitchen to find something to eat, wanting to ease his mother's burden. But Wei Shuying still stopped what she was doing and went to the kitchen to cook for Qiao Yicheng.
Zhang Liangjun held Qiao Sanli without moving, so he didn't know what was being cooked in the kitchen, but the food at the Qiao family's house certainly wasn't good.
In comparison, the Zhang family's meals were quite good. With Zhang Xingshun's pension and Wu Fenglan's salary, they lived a reasonably comfortable life.
After waiting for Wei Shuying to come out of the kitchen, Wu Fenglan said that she was leaving, "Shuying, you go ahead and do your work! I should go back and cook for Jianshe too. I should be back soon."
Zhang Jianshe is in the fifth grade of elementary school. The school doesn't really supervise him, and Zhang Jianshe himself doesn't like studying. You can tell from his big face that he's not very bright! It's quite remarkable that he's grown up like this in this era of scarcity! Perhaps this kind of talent is better able to adapt to harsh environments.
Wei Shuying casually agreed. The two had been neighbors for many years and often visited each other, so she never bothered to get up and see her off.
Zhang Jianjun obediently followed Wu Fenglan. There's plenty of time in the future! Anyway, it's right next door, there'll be plenty of time later.
Wu Fenglan went to cook, but Zhang Jianjun didn't go back to the house. Instead, he spent his time in the yard drawing and writing with a twig. The yard was paved with tiles, but there was a thin layer of dirt along the walls that was usually not swept up. Zhang Jianjun would draw there with a twig, and if anyone got close, he would rub the drawing with the sole of his shoe to destroy the evidence instantly.
He was so bored! There wasn't even a TV here. The Qiao family had a radio, but Wu Fenglan didn't have one! Wu Fenglan liked to do housework when she had nothing to do, and she kept the house very tidy, but the lack of furniture and other items made the house seem empty.