Chapter 29: Second Update

Two rooms? Separated by a wall, the shouting from next door grew louder and louder. Even with the strong wind outside and the windows shut, the commotion was still audible. The argument spilled from the apartment, out to the main entrance, and into the hallway, where the volume only intensified.

Lin Xuexia set down her vegetable basket, walked to the door, opened it, and asked, "What’s going on?"

Fu Wei followed her at a leisurely pace. He leaned against the wall with his hands in his pockets, completely uninterested in the shouting outside. His eyes, however, were bright and fixed intently on Lin Xuexia’s back.

No matter what happened outside, he felt wonderful inside. He had already paid for his meals and agreed with his wife-to-be that he would come over for dinner every day. After the meal, the remaining time would be theirs alone—just the thought of their cozy time together made his heart race. Right now, nothing could ruin his good mood.

"Auntie Chunyan, what’s the matter?" As soon as Lin Xuexia opened the door, she caught sight of an aggressive-looking Gao Chunyan and a little girl with red eyes. The girl was around eight or nine years old, in the third grade of primary school—Gao Chunyan’s eldest daughter, Liu Yanqun.

The girl wore her hair in a ponytail, pink trousers, and a pale yellow top. Tendrils of hair curled slightly at her temples, and her face was round, with prominent, rosy apple cheeks.

Gao Chunyan complained, "Why is this child so disobedient? Why doesn't she think of the family at all? If I’d known you’d be like this, I would have left you back in the village to fend for yourself."

The little girl’s eyes welled with tears as she retorted stubbornly, "Fine, send me back! I don’t want to stay here anymore!"

"You make it sound so easy! Do you know how much money your father and I spent to get you into school here? You never consider your parents. You’re disobedient and disappointing. We sent you here to study so you and your brother could focus on your education. With such good learning conditions, you should be putting your heart and soul into your studies..." Gao Chunyan was so fired up that she felt like she was breathing fire, while bitterness bubbled up inside her. She couldn't fathom it; she and old Liu had already tried their best to provide the children with good conditions, yet the girl was still ungrateful. They satisfied whatever they could, but she kept asking for more, never thinking about how hard her parents worked to earn money.

Lin Xuexia intervened, "Auntie Chunyan, please, don't get so worked up."

"How can I not?" Gao Chunyan clutched her chest. "This girl is actually throwing a tantrum because she wants a pair of thirty-yuan leather shoes! She’s going to be the death of me!"

The very thought of that price made Gao Chunyan’s soul tremble. If the girl were an adult about to be married, she might agree to a thirty-yuan pair of shoes, but at her age, how long could she even wear them? In her view, children grew fast, so cheap shoes were fine. They weren't letting her go cold or hungry, so why so many demands? Gao Chunyan was currently scrimping and saving to build a house, and she felt that money should be saved wherever possible.

"My old ones are broken, is it wrong to want a decent pair of shoes?" Liu Yanqun cried, feeling deeply wronged.

Gao Chunyan retorted, "Where are they broken? They look fine to me."

"The soles are ruined. Every time it rains, they leak."

Gao Chunyan insisted, "We’ll go get them patched tomorrow and put an extra insole in."

"Didn't we just buy these not long ago?"

Liu Yanqun replied, "Everyone says I wear these same shoes every day. I just want a decent pair to rotate them. Mom, if you buy me a size up, I promise I can wear them for a long time."

Gao Chunyan said, "I'll take you to the farmers' market tomorrow to pick out a pair."

"I don't want those—" Liu Yanqun stomped her feet, eyes red. She knew her mother would just buy her something cheap again.

"What do you mean, 'you don't want'?" To Gao Chunyan, ordinary cloth shoes costing a few yuan were perfectly functional. "You should go back and reflect on yourself. Do you think it’s easy for your parents to earn money?"

"They all have them, but I don't..."

"They are them, and you are you. Get back inside and stop making a scene!"

Lin Xuexia listened to their exchange and roughly understood what was happening. She sighed internally; in her past life, the relationship between Auntie Chunyan and her daughter had always been strained, and she suspected it was rooted in these very issues.

Liu Yanqun had been a cheerful, smiling girl back in the village, but she had grown increasingly withdrawn over time. Gao Chunyan felt she hadn't mistreated her daughter, providing everything she needed, but she failed to realize how difficult the sudden move from the countryside to the city was for the child.

At the village school, the students were all from poor backgrounds, so there wasn't much of a gap. With Liu Xigui’s previous stable job in the village and their decent income in the city, Liu Yanqun had been above average back home.

But here, it was different. The gap between the rich and poor at school was immense. Even setting aside the wealthy families, ordinary dual-income households earned five or six hundred yuan a month and lived in company housing. With the policy limiting families to one child, parents pampered them, spending lavishly on piano and violin lessons.

When Liu Yanqun transferred, she suddenly dropped to the lower-middle tier of her class. She couldn't mentally adapt. The children from well-off families lived too well—they had been to amusement parks, museums, and on vacations, and they learned all sorts of talents. She couldn't even join the conversation.

It wasn't that Gao Chunyan couldn't afford thirty-yuan shoes, but the thought that one pair of shoes equaled half a month's rent made her heart ache. She couldn't bear to spend money so frivolously. Her and Liu Xigui’s income was unstable compared to those with steady salaries, so they tried to save as much as possible for emergencies. Everyone had their own hardships.

In a few years, Gao Chunyan’s family would be better off, and the children would live better than most, but for Liu Yanqun at this age, the impact was lifelong.

"How about this, Yanqun? I have an idea," Lin Xuexia said.

Liu Yanqun looked at her, her eyes still red.

Lin Xuexia asked, "Do you really want those shoes?"

The girl nodded desperately.

Gao Chunyan said anxiously, "Xuexia, this has nothing to do with you—"

Lin Xuexia continued, "After school, come to my place to help me wash and prep vegetables, and I’ll pay you fifty cents a day. Doesn't your mom give you fifty cents for breakfast in the morning? If you wake up earlier and come help your mom and me at the stall, you can eat breakfast there. You’ll save that fifty cents. Between the two, that’s one yuan a day. You can save up for those thirty-yuan shoes in a month. Do you want to do it?"

Liu Yanqun looked down at her toes. She was conflicted. She really wanted the shoes and was willing to help Lin Xuexia, but she wasn't so sure about working at her mother’s rice noodle stall. She had heard schoolmates say their parents told them never to buy food from that street because the stalls were dirty, and the sellers would touch the food with unwashed hands after handling money. It was disgusting.

A girl who dressed like a little princess every day had looked at her innocently and asked, "Yanqun, you don't eat there, do you?" She was also a new transfer student, and the teacher had seated them together. She had moved with her parents' job transfer, and Liu Yanqun, in a way, was similar. She had agreed with her classmate at the time.

"Okay, I’m willing to do it." In the end, her desire outweighed her hesitation. Liu Yanqun thought that in the early morning, she might not run into her classmates. As long as she didn't see them, they wouldn't know.

The fifty cents for breakfast was her only pocket money. That was why she didn't want to eat at home and insisted on getting the money; she rarely spent it all on breakfast, often saving it for other things. Since Sister Xuexia had offered, if she went out with her mother and Sister Xuexia in the morning, she could at least snag a bowl of rice noodles or some porridge, save the fifty cents, and not go hungry.

Gao Chunyan hesitated, "Xuexia, this isn't very appropriate, is it?"

"There’s nothing wrong with it, Auntie Chunyan. You know how much of a hassle it is for me to wash and peel vegetables every day. Having someone help me will save me some trouble," Lin Xuexia smiled.

Gao Chunyan thought it over and agreed. "Then listen to your Sister Xuexia. Whether you get those shoes or not depends on your own hard work. Go back and do your homework." She patted the girl on the shoulder and sent her back to the room.

Liu Yanqun wiped her tears and went inside, and the area became quiet.

Gao Chunyan sighed, "Xuexia, being a parent isn't easy. Since moving to the city, the expenses are endless. Raising a child isn't as simple as it was when we were young, where just having enough to eat was enough."

Lin Xuexia smiled, "Times are changing, and everyone's life is getting better."

"Living such a good life and they don't even cherish it. We were doing farm work as soon as we got home from school, and now she isn't even asked to do much..." Gao Chunyan muttered to herself, then added, "It’s good to have her do some work, to earn her own way."

"Xuexia, I’ll be the one to pay that fifty cents. Let her help you." Gao Chunyan was determined not to spoil her daughter; buying such expensive shoes was simply wrong.

"No," Lin Xuexia shook her head, persuading her, "Auntie Chunyan, if you promise a child something, you have to follow through. If she sticks with it for a month, I’ll go with her to buy the shoes. It’s also a form of encouragement, letting her know that she can get what she wants through her own hard work."

Seeing Lin Xuexia’s resolve, Gao Chunyan stopped insisting, "Alright then, let's do that."

Lin Xuexia added, "Tell Yanqun she can come to my place to do her homework. I can help tutor her."

After she said this, her cheeks turned slightly red. At her own level, she wasn't sure if she could actually tutor a primary school student.

"This... this is great!" Gao Chunyan said. "Her father and I don't have much education, and we don't know how she’s doing with her schoolwork. If you can help look over it, that would be wonderful."

Although she wasn't sure if Lin Xuexia was capable, since she had offered, she must know her stuff.

After finishing with Gao Chunyan, Lin Xuexia excitedly closed the door and went back inside. She hadn't looked at a primary school textbook in over a decade.

As soon as she entered and turned around, she was met with Fu Wei’s face, which was as dark as the bottom of a pot.

Fu Wei could no longer maintain his leisurely, hands-in-pockets posture. He regretted it—a thousand, ten thousand times over. If he had known, he would have persuaded Lin Xuexia not to meddle, or he would have just paid for the shoes himself.

What was this now? His time alone with his wife-to-be was being interrupted? A little girl coming over to wash vegetables and do homework?

Fu Wei muttered, "I’ve been had."