第十章

Aunt Chen brought a pot of silver ear soup and asked everyone to eat together.

Qingqing scooped a lotus seed.

Cheng Kun reminded her: "My mother didn't remove the lotus seed core, don't eat it."

Qingqing didn't believe it. She looked at the lotus seed, white, and thought it must be delicious.

But as soon as she ate it, her face wrinkled.

Too bitter.

Cheng Kun immediately laughed out loud.

Chen Ming held back his laughter and said: "Drink the sweet soup quickly."

Qingqing took several sips, but her mouth was still bitter.

She was both embarrassed and angry, staring at Cheng Kun and said: "Do you want me to tell?"

Cheng Kun immediately stopped smiling.

It was completely dark.

People enjoying the cool slowly went home, and the alley became quiet.

Chen Ming was carrying potatoes and raisins, following his mother. He wanted to speak, but held back several times.

At the doorstep, he whispered: "Mom, Cheng Kun is going to join the school's summer camp. I want to go too."

Mom was looking for the keys, and said indifferently: "Cheng Kun's family is rich, they can travel everywhere. We can't compare."

Chen Ming said in a low voice: "I got first place in the final exam. The school said the transportation and accommodation for the summer camp are free."

Mom did not answer immediately.

After entering the house, Chen Ming turned on the electric fan.

The room was small and hot. The wind from the fan was also hot.

Mom brought water and told him to wash his face.

After a while, she asked: "Really no money needed?"

Chen Ming nodded.

Mom sighed.

"It's not that I'm reluctant to spend money. It's just that you can't only think about playing now. You need to study hard."

She added: "I have already asked Teacher Wang to teach you math Olympiad. The competition is in October. How do you have time for the summer camp?"

Chen Ming said in a low voice: "I see."

Mom looked at him, her tone softened a bit.

"It wasn't easy for us to return to Shanghai. You don't have a household registration here, many things are harder for you than others. You can only rely on studying."

Chen Ming didn't speak anymore.

He sat on the edge of the bed, turned on the desk lamp, and took out a book to read.

On the other side, Qingqing followed her grandmother home.

Yang Xiaojun had just taken a shower and was sitting on the sofa watching TV.

Grandma said: "It's time to sleep."

Yang Xiaojun said: "The attic is too hot, can't sleep."

Qingqing glanced at the TV and surprisingly recognized the actor inside. Yang Xiaojun was a bit surprised.

Qingqing said: "We also watched these TV dramas in Xinjiang."

Grandma looked at the clock and urged Yang Xiaojun to go to bed.

She also asked: "Where is Aiyu?"

Yang Xiaojun said casually: "She went to her parents' home, not coming back tonight."

Grandma's expression turned a bit unpleasant.

"Why did she go back without even saying a word?"

Yang Xiaojun didn't want to say more. He turned off the TV, took out a canvas bed and mosquito incense, and went downstairs to sleep in the alley.

Yang Zhixia had gone to night shift. Grandma tidied up her bed, put down the mosquito net, and told Qingqing to sleep.

Qingqing lay down inside the mosquito net.

Grandma tucked the mosquito net for her, and put a thin blanket over her stomach, then went back to her own bed.

But Qingqing couldn't sleep.

Whenever the bed board creaked, she didn't dare move. She was afraid of waking Grandma.

In Xinjiang, the nights were dark and quiet.

But Shanghai was different. Outside the window there were lights, in the distance there were car sounds, and on the roof there were cats meowing.

It took Qingqing a long time to fall asleep.

In her dream, she returned to Xinjiang. She held her younger brother's hand and played with friends on a slope. The sky was very blue, wind blew over large fields of flowers and grass.

The next morning, Qingqing was woken up by itchiness.

It was not yet dawn, the room was dim and gray.

Grandma had already gotten up and was sweeping the floor.

Hearing the noise, Grandma came over and lifted the mosquito net.

"Qingqing awake?"

As soon as she finished speaking, her expression changed.

"There are bed bugs!"

Grandma pulled Qingqing out of bed in one motion.

Only then did Qingqing see that there were several red dots on her arm, both itchy and painful.

Grandma quickly applied medicine to her.

Yang Xiaojun also came to help. He rolled up the bamboo mat and took it to the alley to beat it.

Qingqing leaned on the balcony and looked down.

Yang Xiaojun stood below, beating the bamboo mat one stroke at a time.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Abao was woken up and opened the window, shouting: "Early in the morning, what are you doing?"

Yang Xiaojun said without looking up: "There are bugs!"

Then, he lifted his slipper and stomped down heavily.

"Okay, dead!"